One Day At a Time ✔️

Ch. 29 Leaving

Ratchet's P.O.V.
I'm dealing with two patients now. Drift is severely depressed, and it doesn't help that it has been two months since Jamie woke up from the coma, and she's been in another one for four days. Her vitals are stable, but we don't know if waiting for her to wake up will cause more depression. Even Crosshairs isn't sure if letting Drift go down to the medbay is good. He's able to get Drift to drink a specialty-formulated nutrition drink.
Crosshairs: he wants to see her. He said to say goodbye.
Ratchet: you know she's stable and not on life support. I just don't know if he's still continuing to spiral downhill.

Crosshairs' P.O.V.
Drift thinks Jamie is on life support, and I think he's been thinking should he let her go? We're supposed to decide with Ratchet, so maybe seeing Jamie will help him.

Drift isn't sure if he should be happy or not. Jamie is still sick and in a coma, but her vitals are stable.
"She'll be ok," Ratchet assures him.
"It'll be back to working on removing the trach, but I think she trusts us now," Jolt adds.
It sucks it took Megatron's attack to get Jamie to trust them.
Drift can hold Jamie — though it's challenging while she's on the ventilator. I can tell this makes him feel better, but there's still sadness that he couldn't protect Jamie. He'll stay here for hours, even days, holding her in his arms if he's allowed to.

We didn't have to wait long for Jamie to wake up. Call me crazy, but I believe it is partly because of feeling his touch. Drift hugs her close as tears roll down her face.
"It's ok," I assure her.
She leans on Drift, looking to go to sleep.
She's still sick with a 103° fever, but I know Drift is happy she's out of the coma. I didn't think he'd lay her in the bed, even though she's tired.
Ratchet tells us he was about to take care of Jamie when I texted. I let Drift take care of his girl.

Drift's P.O.V.
Jamie is asleep quickly as I tube-feed her. I'm terrified this is permanent. Looking at her chest, I question, couldn't Jolt and Ratchet repair the ribs? But they likely would have if she could tolerate the surgery rather than let her deal with so much pain. As it is, the flu is causing aches. Maybe it's a good thing she can't make sounds. How often would she be crying? It's troubling she's back on the ventilator. I know these settings mean she needs the machine to help her breathe. Better than the machine doing all the work, but I still hate this. Then I remember; that the flu can turn into pneumonia. I don't even want to ask Ratchet. All I know is this shit isn't close to being over. I worried this would last a year, and it looks like that will happen.

It's a long four hours before Jamie wakes up. Even with medications, she looks awful. Crosshairs walks in with a bowl of water and a cloth. It's concerning that Jamie is trying to push him away. We both look at each other, worried her temperature has gone up.
"This will help," I explain as Crosshairs takes her temperature to ensure it's not going up. Then I realize she could be trying to say something. Unfortunately, her temperature went up to 104°. Crosshairs and I both hear the fluid in her lungs. We go to tell Ratchet, but I barely make it out of the room before everything goes dark.

Crosshairs' P.O.V.
"DRIFT!"
I couldn't catch him before he landed on the floor. I get his head on my lap as Jolt and Ratchet rush toward me. Drift wakes up quickly but is afraid.
"What happened?" Jolt asks as Ratchet goes into Jamie's room. Jolt quickly follows.
"Come on."

I get Drift to stand up and take him to another room in the medbay to lie on the bed. It's hard not to worry about Jamie when there's anything concerning. Her last battle with pneumonia lasted a month and wasn't even two weeks ago. Drift is getting worse as I watch an anxiety attack begin.
"Easy, she'll be ok."
"No..."
It's scary seeing him like this, struggling to get air in. Jolt rushes in and injects a drug. I know it's a relaxant, and I hate how that's what we have to do. It's fast-acting, and Drift is out quickly.

Jamie is asleep and, unfortunately, has pneumonia. This seems like it'll never end. 
"I'm an idiot," Ratchet sighs, "I should have been giving her increases in vitamin C to build up her immune system."
"I don't think that would have helped, Ratchet," I tell him, "I don't think even a healthy human's body could have fought off what Megatron injected."
"She's still underweight, and that is a problem even if you gave her supplants to build her immune system," Jolt adds, "and you know we can't get her to gain weight fast."
It's true that Jamie has only gained five pounds in all this time. 
"What are we going to do about Drift?" I ask, uncertain if Jamie could flatline as she fights pneumonia. I know she needs him, but I don't know if he'll be stable mentally.
"I don't know," Ratchet sighs.

Drift is up in time to get dinner. He doesn't want to leave the medbay, even if Jamie is asleep and her vitals are stable. I worry about what he's thinking. I watch him stare through the viewing window rather than enter the room. I worry he will pass out again, expecting him to fall to his knees and cry, but he runs out of the medbay.
"DRIFT!" I yell.
"She'll be asleep for a while. Go after him!" Ratchet tells me, "I'll tell Prime about this."

Drift's P.O.V.
I ignore Crosshairs yelling at me as I run to the hangar, hoping to put distance between us. I drive out of the hangar and down the street as fast as possible. I don't know where I'm going to go now, but I don't want to be found.

It's midnight by the time I stop; I've been driving for six hours. I find myself in the mountains, expecting to make camp, but there's a cabin. Like before, this one hasn't been lived in for a while. I can't be there to watch her die. I sit on the couch and cry. I'm on the mountain, and I think there's a good drop in the backyard...