“Dammit!” Melissa yelled. She ran over to one of the cabinets, about to grab a tube of serum when she realized she could no longer use extra doses of serum to quell his symptoms. The one she had just administered would have to work or not.
Quantum whispered to Dawson, over and over, “It’s okay, buddy. Just breathe.”
Melissa slammed the cabinet shut and dashed over to John, not believing she didn't have anything else to save him.
Dawson continued to thrash, the whites of his eyes showed as they rolled back in his head. Soon his body began to still. Melissa’s heart was in her throat as she watched him, helplessness draping her shoulders like a weighted blanket.
“Melissa!” Quantum called. “He’s barely hanging on.”
She had to wait for his convulsions to stop before she could grab his wrist. No pulse. “Hang on, John!”
Her heart jackhammered as she jumped off the table and ran back to the medical cabinet for the AED machine.
Once she pulled it down, she rushed back over to John. Quantum had taken a step back, looking on, his hands on his head. Trigger continued to boom and bark.
Melissa cut Dawson’s shirt open with a pair of scissors, her hands quivering. She wiped down his chest and applied the pads. She powered on the machine and stood back, near convulsing herself.
“Analyzing heart rhythm…” came from the AED. “Analyzing heart rhythm.”
Tears rushed down Melissa’s face like rapids.
“Please,” Melissa pleaded, her fingers pressed to the inside of John’s wrist. She couldn't feel his pulse any longer.
She placed her hands back on his sternum to continue compressions.
Then the AED instructed, “Shock advised. Stand clear.”
Oh God, his heart really stopped.
She leapt off the table and huddled with Quantum where he stood against the wall, his hand around Trigger’s collar, keeping him from running to Dawson’s side.
The AED counted down and Melissa nearly turned away as it administered a shock. Dawson’s body thumped against the table.
Melissa was sobbing now, her forehead pressed to Quantum’s shoulder. Until she heard Dawson gasp for air a moment later.
She rushed back to his side, her breath hitching.
“What happened?” he asked, coughing, as he sat up, the dog barking like crazy.
Melissa let out a relieved cry, wiping at her face with the sleeves of her lab coat. Quantum moved to the table to stand next to them, and Trigger licked John’s hands.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Melissa breathed, resting her head against John’s chest as she powered off the AED. “I thought I’d lost you.” Her tears seeped into Dawson’s skin.
“You’ll never lose me,” John said back, still breathing heavy, his skin cold and clammy. He reached out to stroke her face with icy fingers.
“I’m going to hook you up to an IV,” Melissa whispered, pulling herself off John and regaining her composure.
Dawson laced his fingers through hers and locked her in his gaze. Despite how cold he was, he was still here, looking at her in a way she never wanted to forget.
“Get a room,” Quantum joked. Though he was clearly trying to regain his composure after the intensity of Dawson’s heart stopping. Trigger now lay at his feet, settled down since Dawson had settled down.
“Believe me, I intend to,” John said with a wink in Melissa’s direction. “Just as soon as I’m a cured man.”
Chapter 28
Melissa had put John in a chair after his near-death encounter. She hooked him up to an IV to get him plenty of fluids and electrolytes, and allow his body time to recover.
The day after the serum was administered to him, he awoke in his chair to a crushing migraine. He groaned and heard a distant scuffle from the other end of the room.
“John?” came Melissa’s voice.
Sweat started to pour down his spine. He tried to respond to Melissa but couldn't form the words. Then, he fell forward out of the chair, the IV stand toppled over and clattered beside him.
“John!” Her footsteps rushed across the lab to him before everything went black.
He awoke minutes…or hours later, it was impossible to tell how much time passed when you were filtering in and out of consciousness and seizures.
Melissa knelt on the ground next to him, her face illuminated in a soft glow. “John?”
“I’m okay.” His voice was hoarse.
She exhaled and leaned down to hug him. “I can’t take much more of this.”
He glanced around his body to see that she had taken the IV out of his arm, but there were no pads connected to his chest, and his shirt still covered him. “I guess I didn't die that time.”
A sob escaped Melissa’s throat. “You woke back up quickly. No seizure this time, you just passed out.”
He tried to nod but the migraine enveloped his entire skull.
“We need to keep you on these fluids. It’s all I can do since I can’t give you more serum.” Melissa shook her head, her hair falling in front of her face.
Dawson reached out to brush her hair away.
“I feel like I’m failing you.” She looked at the ground.
“I’m still alive though.”
She exhaled and picked herself up off the ground, helping John back into his chair. Melissa prepared another IV bag and hooked him up once more. Dawson wondered if she’d left this lab at all—even to go to the bathroom—since she’d injected him. He had fallen in and out of sleep but Melissa was always within a couple steps, ready to keep his heart pumping.
Day three after the serum injection, Melissa sat a few feet away from Dawson at her computer. She tried to concentrate on a formula on the screen, but her eyes kept drifting back to him, too afraid to let him out of her sight.
As if he felt her gaze, he turned to look at her, sleep threatening to take over him. “You should try to sleep,” she said, acknowledging how tired he looked.
“I like listening to you work.”
She half-smiled. “It’s not very exciting.”
“I’ve had enough excitement.” Dawson yawned. “I just want to absorb all of you.”
Even though they were underground, the sun edged up in the sky, above the trees outside the window. Reaper entered the lab. “How’s the recovery?”
“Pretty slow.” Dawson yawned once again.
“He’s had a couple bad spells, but it’s been a while since the last one,” Melissa said.
She had been keeping a record between encountering Dawson’s symptoms, and what type of symptoms they were. She desperately hoped this was good news that it had been almost a full day since his blackout, but this was totally new territory and there was no way to know for sure.
King joined them in the lab. “We were on our way to the war room to start looking into Rainier. Wanted to see if Dawson was up to talking yet.”
“Maybe,” Dawson mumbled, sleep overtaking him.
Reaper crossed his arms. “You’re the only one who truly knows what we’re up against. We can’t keep waiting.”
Dawson’s jaw slowly began to slacken as he drifted off in the chair. The IV still dripping into his veins.
Melissa gestured for Reaper and King to follow her into the hallway. “What do you two think you’re doing? He’s not up for questions right now.”
King’s mouth tightened. “We should have gotten the intel from him before he took the injection.”
Melissa felt her mouth fall open. “What?”
Reaper stepped between them. “Nothing. We’re all just worried about Dawson.”
I think he’s going to make it,” she said with a grudging tone.
A thud inside the lab called them all to attention. Melissa rushed back in, Reaper and King at her heels. Dawson was slumped on the floor.
His body thrashed, his arms slamming into the tiles as his legs shook. Melissa ran to him and collapsed next to him on the floor, her breathing nearly as labored as his.
“Do you need the AED?” Reaper peered down at her.
“He can’t die,” King said.
“Not this time.” Melissa held Dawson’s wrist, her fingers pressed to his flesh as his spasms slowed. No pulse.
Once his body was still, Melissa began compressions. She didn't cry this time, though her heart rate was through the roof. This was all becoming too normal, but she functioned much better under the pressure.
She took hold of his pulse again. It was there, faint, but hanging on. Finally, he sucked in a breath. Melissa let hers out. “Thank you,” she whispered.
She sat back on her heels as Dawson regained normal breathing and opened his eyes. King’s hand grabbed at his hair.
“I can hardly take feeling so helpless anymore.” Melissa looked up at them. “But he hasn't needed more serum. I just wish I knew when these symptoms would stop.”
“Hmm,” John mumbled, clearly still out of it.
Melissa stroked his arm as she continued to look at Reaper and King.
“But he hasn't been talking gibberish or anything like Quantum did when he woke up from his coma?”
Melissa shook her head. “A couple seizures. A fainting instance. It’s all uncharted territory.”
Reaper sighed. “The symptoms seem like they’re bad, but his body responds pretty quickly when you revive him, right? That must be good.”
Maybe he was right. Maybe, although it didn't seem like it, John really was recovering in his own way. His body had been practically destroyed before she administered the new serum. There was no way it could work immediately. She didn't think she could take much more of this waiting. She needed him well.
“Let’s get him back into the chair.” Reaper reached under Dawson’s arm while King took the other and they helped him up. Melissa prepared a new IV.
“Thank you,” she said once she set the IV up. “I’ll keep you updated.”
The two headed to the war room, leaving Melissa alone with Dawson again. She gazed into his peaceful face, stroking his cheeks.
“I like that,” John mumbled as he drifted into sleep again. This time it wasn't interrupted by a seizure or collapse. Melissa sat right in front of him for the rest of the morning, barely taking her eyes off him enough to blink.
Chapter 29
Quantum made his way down to the lab the next morning, when Dawson awoke. Being two stories down must’ve been helping Quantum’s recovery. He walked down here a couple times a day without any support from his cane, and he was visibly getting stronger. His pace was picking up and his spine looked straighter. John was happy for him, knowing all that he had endured before he ended up back here with his team.
“You look better.” Quantum pulled a chair up to the side of Dawson’s hospital bed. Melissa had moved him out of the chair that was supposed to be helping his body recover from the seizures, and let him rest horizontally now.
“Feeling better. Haven’t had any bad spells since yesterday. They’re less severe since that first day. I think this actually worked.” Dawson sat up straighter to face Quantum.
“She’s one good doctor, I guess.” Quantum’s eyes lingered on John and he raised one eyebrow with a slow smile spreading across his lips.
“How’d you know?” Dawson asked after studying Quantum’s face a moment.
“Remember that telekinetic bond we’ve got going on?” He tapped his temple with his index finger.
“Right.” Dawson leaned back again. “You can’t tell the guys about Melissa. Rainier needs to be our focus now.”
Quantum nodded. “Not my place. Since you’re better now, it should only be a matter of time until you’re ready to inform the team about him.”
“I’m not better just yet.” Dawson gazed at the ceiling, his arms behind his head on the pillow. “Not sure I ever will be.”
“Hey.” Quantum leaned in and gripped Dawson’s wrist. “You know how many times I thought that exact same thing? I was out for months; when I woke up I was a shell of the man I was before. Having to walk on a cane when I used to run into combat?” He threw his arms in the air and narrowed his eyes at John. “But now look, I’m getting better because of all the support I have around me. And these guys, they’ll do the same for you. You’re our brother.”
Dawson looked away from Quantum and sucked in a sharp breath. He turned back with a smile and gave Quantum a light arm punch. His muscles were starting to feel stronger, his body less fatigued.
“Why do you think we’re so bonded anyway?” Dawson asked Quantum.
He had been putting a lot of thought into his and Quantum’s odd pull to one another, but he didn't have a real answer other than that they both almost died at Rainier’s hand. But, so did Diggs, and neither of them felt themselves able to read his thoughts.
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot, too.” Quantum leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin, adorned with speckled brown stubble. “I wonder if the way they overdosed the two of us had something to do with it. Because even though Diggs was suffering, we were more, right?”
Dawson slowly nodded, locking eyes with Quantum. “You think the overdose is what fused us together? Like maybe they mixed our DNA when they did it?”
“It’s possible.” Quantum looked at the ceiling before locking onto John’s intense blue eyes again. “Son of bitch. I remember being beside you in the lab. They connected us through some kind of IV. Gave us both the same dose at the same time.”
Dawson sucked in a breath like someone had punched him in the stomach. He narrowed his eyes at Quantum. “You remember that?”
Quantum nodded. “It’s been hazy, but I get more memories every day. We were administered the same injections. I was on the verge of blacking out. Then, you seized and jerked the tube connecting us.” His eyes widened. “They did something between us. Then you stopped moving. I tried to get to you, fell off the table. There were alarms going off. Your arm—it was hanging over the table. I tried to pull the tube connecting us. Someone pulled my arm away. They shocked you back to life. And then…and then...” Quantum dropped his head into his hands.
Dawson touched Quantum’s arm for support. His head immediately buzzed.
Shit. I must have gone into the coma then. There’s nothing else.
“Melissa said you were comatose when they rescued you. That makes sense,” Dawson said.
Quantum lifted his head. “You heard that?”
Dawson held his breath. He didn’t speak what he was thinking. I felt it.
Quantum shot out of the chair, breaking the bond. Dawson stared down at his hand, his fingers tingling. Quantum, what did they do to us?
Quantum paced without answer.
He tried again. Quantum, can you hear me?
No pause in his pacing.
“Come here.” John gestured Quantum over to him. As soon as he got near, John grabbed his wrist. This is fucked up.
“Damn right it is,” Quantum muttered.
Dawson held Quantum’s gaze. We can’t tell anyone. Not yet.
Quantum nodded. Agreed.
Dawson dropped his arm and Quantum rubbed the vacated spot, and then froze. “What if he did that to the next group of soldiers?”
Melissa came in a few hours later, carrying a tray with two huge turkey sandwiches on it. Dawson was ecstatic that she’d actually made one for herself—a full sandwich, and sat with the intention of eating with him. It was as good a first date as any, even though they’d mostly eaten in silence. Melissa sat cross-legged at the end of Dawson’s bed and watched him as they each took bite after bite.
Dawson was finally getting his appetite back. He felt stronger and more alert. A smile was plastered on his face when Melissa told him she’d be right back.
“Look who’s here to see you.” John’s attention was drawn to the doorway fifteen minutes after Melissa left the room.
She stood at the lab entrance now with Laura and Faith, who clutched Princess Kitty tightly to her little chest. “I’ll give you guys a
little while.” Melissa walked out of the room, holding John’s smile as she headed for the stairs.
“Hi Daddy,” Faith said. Her speech was even better than when he saw her the night before his injection—when they’d had the best time ever dancing to their special song. Laura must’ve been working with her daily. He admired everything about Faith, that she was able to forgive him for abandoning her the same way he abandoned his team. And she was even making tons of progress working at something that came easily to everyone else. She had John’s fight in her.
“Hi Princess.” John sat up in the hospital bed in the corner of the lab. He was still hooked up to a vitamin drip. There weren’t many times over the last week where he didn't have a needle in the crook of his arm, dripping something that was supposed to help him live into his veins.
“I’m not Princess, Daddy. This is Princess Kitty!” Faith giggled as she held up her ratty cat toy.
“I could never forget Princess Kitty.” John smiled. He was tired and sluggish, but his energy was coming back in full force.
“Melissa said the injection went well.” Laura sat on the edge of John’s bed and pulled Faith onto her lap.
“Anything other than dying is probably a success at this point.” John chuckled. Faith looked up at him with her saucer-wide blue eyes and her lips turned down and he quickly realized he shouldn't be talking like that in front of her, especially since Laura had told John that Faith thought he died all those months ago when he blew up the house in front of them.
What was even worse was that Faith didn't seem that surprised about the thought that her father died—it was just normal to her like it could happen anytime.
Now though, John could tell that Faith was affected by the thought of losing him by the look in her little doe eyes. Of course he felt bad that it was a real possibility, but he couldn't help but smile at the fact she was connected to him now. And he would make sure to never take their relationship for granted again. They could live here together in this house with all his teammates and family.
Mayhem's Betrayal: Operation Mayhem Book 5 Page 14
