Chaos

Once the guy is taken away, Austin looks at Con, angry with himself. "How did we let him in here?"

Con shakes his head. "I don't know, I'm sorry." He glances over to where Katie is. "But we have her to thank for saving Jason's life."

Austin makes a couple steps to Katie, and lays a hand on her shoulder for a moment. "We owe ya, Katie..." He sighs deeply and retreats to sit outside the room again, and almost runs into Rosetta. "Oh, hey. We just had a bit of excitement here. You can ask Katie about it."

This time he chooses a chair where the door is in a constant line of sight, and flops down, joined by Mick.

"How is he?"

"The same." Austin looks down at his hands, not used to being in this position. "I don't know what to do."

Mick shakes his head. "There's nothing we can do but wait."

...And they do wait. JT reminds them that the time frame is unknown, but they remain.



Sparky listens with intrigue to Annie. "I guess I didn't realize you did all this."

The evening drags on, and no more news is heard from Austin. Nerves are tense, but exhaustion is beginning to hit everyone. Finally, some relent and go to bed, while others stay in the mess hall, dozing uncomfortably in chairs. Cindy remains awake but quiet.



Two a.m.

Several monitors in Jason's room suddenly start to beep, sending a high-pitched wail down the hall. In almost an instant, a handful of nurses are in the room, clamoring around Jason's bed, and all but ignoring Katie's presence, gently moving her out of the way.

Austin is on his feet, worry hitting him like a smack to the face. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

JT rushes past, not taking time to answer him.

The next few minutes are confused and blurred by the commotion and early hour, and Jason is taken from his room and rushed down the hall to ICU. Everyone stands numbly, unsure what just happened, and they follow after JT. For several more minutes, they're not allowed into the new room, and it's obvious by the tone of voices coming from inside that something is wrong. Austin is about ready to yell at one of the nurses, when JT finally appears again, and makes everyone sit down in the lobby. The look on his face says more than his words, and fear grips the atmosphere.

JT purses his lips grimly. "Jason has stopped breathing on his own." He pauses, shaking his head. "He's stable for the moment - we have him on a breathing machine."

Austin's jaw drops. "But...you said he was stable before... what happened?"

"I don't know." JT sits on the armrest of the small lobby couch, obviously worn out. "I don't know, Austin." He rubs a hand over his face. "It just isn't making sense. All his charts checked out fine...his scans check out fine...I couldn't have missed something, and yet apparently I did." He glances at all the faces, catching Rosetta's eye with a look of apology that he has not yet had time to talk with her, and not even knowing if she recognizes him.

All at once, a nurse appears with a clipboard and chart, frantically showing it to JT. His eyes widen in shock. "No..."

Austin leans forward. "What?" he asks sternly. "What is it?"

JT's face pales, and he reads his papers again, wishing they said something else. He looks up at everyone again, hating this part of his job. "This is the report on Jason's blood work. Apparently there is a foreign agent in his bloodstream that is attacking him, and at a rapid and deadly pace."

Con sucks in his breath. "He's been poisoned."

JT nods solemnly. "Apparently so."

"God, please no..." Austin closes his eyes for a moment. "What can you do?"

"At this stage?" JT wishes he had better news. "We're not even sure what kind of poison we're dealing with, but it's shutting him down the same as someone could walk down this hall and hit the light switches as they go."

"Are you saying that he's dying?"

JT tightens his jaw, unwilling to say yes. "I'm saying that there is a good chance that Jason will not pull through this. There's always room for something to turn around, and in a world like mine, miracles do happen. But strictly medically speaking...I won't lie to you. There's nothing more we can do for him, but continue to support his body as it fails, so he's comfortable."

The stunned silence is overwhelming.

"Why?" Con asks aloud. "Why would they do this to him?"

"To show us they mean business," Austin scoffs. "They didn't get what they wanted, and they weren't going to let him stick around long enough to rat on them." He stands up angrily, taking his cell phone with dread. "I'll be back." He walks a short ways down the hall, dialing Wes again. "Wes...it's Austin. Bring Cindy...we're not sure how much time Jason's got."

JT looks at the others, his eyes falling to Katie. "You can see him if you like," he says gently.