Taking A Chance

The Bond

After he got Kosmo to take Maria, Veronia and Marco to the hospital, Keith sent him to take Adam there as well, but gave instructions to Kosmo to only bring the McClain's back here, and to stay at the hospital with them.

The younger McClain kids were sent to stay with their abuela for the night when Jorge had called Maria earlier to tell her about Lance's condition. The kids had protested that they didn't want to go there because of the way she spoke about Lance and Keith, but Maria insisted, and they did as they were told.

Keith looked after the kids and by the time he'd fed, bathed and put them to bed it was 8pm. In that time, he'd dealt with his erection three times, but there was very little relief from his need for Lance.

He showered, changed, locked the bedroom door and crawled into bed. Half an hour later, he heard the others returned. There was a soft knock at the door, but he didn't get up to answer it, or make any sound.

He barely slept as his need for Lance grew stronger and he barely got more and half an hour of relief from masturbating, and his entire body hurt as it screamed out to bond with his mate.

Keith had no idea what time it was when there was a soft knock at the door.

'Keith, can you open the door?' asked Maria.

'No...please just...leave me alone,' he said. He sobbed into his pillow as he tried to find some relief.

'You open this door right now, young man,' Maria said, sternly.

He bit back a groan as he released onto the towel on the bed in front of him.

'Keith, open the door.'

Pulling his shorts back up he shakily got up, pushed the towel out of sight, and lurched to the door and rest his hot, sweaty forehead against it.

'Please, I can't let you in,' he said.

There was a pause. 'Sweetheart, I know what's going on,' she said, gently. 'I know I can't help you, but I need to know you're okay, and in order to do that, you need to open the door. I'm the only one here, but if you prefer one of the men, I can contact Shiro or Adam...'

'No.'

He hesitantly reached up and slid open the barrel locked and opened the door to let her in. Closing the door he went back to leaning against it.

'See, I'm fine,' he said.

'Keith, it's nearly lunch time,' she said.

He frowned. 'What?'

'It's almost midday,' she said.

'Lance?'

'He's still the same,' she said. 'Dr Michaels is running tests on the fruit to make sure it's safe to use on him. He said it may take some time.'

Keith let out a sob of frustration.

'I want you to go and have a cool shower and freshen up,' she said, handing him a fresh towel she had with her.

When he returned to the room he found the bed sheets changed, the curtains still closed, but from the way the curtains moved the window was open to allow the cool breeze in. The blankets had been folded at the end of the bed and only the top sheet covered the bed. When he moved it aside, he found a fresh towel on the bed. Heat rose his has face, but he was grateful to Maria for her understanding.

On the bedside table was water and food. For the moment he felt back to normal, but he knew that was not going to last. Sitting on the edge of the bed with only a towel around his waist, he ate a few mouthful of food and some of the water.

Exhaustion washed over him, so he put the towel he had around him aside and slipped into bed, and happily let sleep claim him.

His bliss was short lived, however, when his body yearned for Lance again. It was a vicious cycle of painful yearning and exhausted sleep.

As the day went on, Maria was becoming more and more worried about Keith. He didn't eat or drink anything more, and he spent most of his waking hours sobbing with pain and need. It was heart breaking to watch.

By the next morning, he didn't have the strength to move and in her mind, Keith had given up. Bundling up the kids, she got Kosmo to take them to the hospital.

Only Jorge was there, and he was surprised to see Maria.

'Is something wrong?' he asked.

'Yes, I need to talk to Dr Michaels,' she said, handing Enya to him and popping Molly on the floor. 'Jaya you stay here.'

She hurried out of the room and down to Michaels' office to find it empty. She pulled out her phone and called his number to find out where he was just as he walked in.

'Oh, doctor,' she said. 'When are you going to give Lance the berries?' she asked.

'I'm still running test,' said Michael. 'You don't need to worry, he's stable...'

'It's Keith I'm worried about,' interrupted Maria. She told him what was going on and how worried she was. 'It's like he's given up. The need to bond is tearing him apart.'

'He's gotten that bad in just a day?'

'Yes, he hasn't eaten or drank anything since yesterday morning,' she said. 'I'm worried about the impact this is having on the kits as well.'

'Can you take me to see him?' asked Michaels.

'Of course,' she nodded.

They went back to Lance's room and Kosmo took them back home.

Keith was asleep when they went in, and Michaels was dismayed at the scene before him. He strode over to the bed, and Maria watched him check Keith over.

Keith stirred and let out a sob and weakly tried to pushed Michaels hands away.

'Let me look at you,' muttered Michaels. He moved the sheet aside and noticed swelling and redness that would make masturbating painful. Michaels listened to Keith's heart then to both kits. He pulled the sheet back up.

Michaels and Maria left the room and went downstairs and got Kosmo to take them back to the hospital. Maria spoke with Jorge quickly before returning home with the kids, while Michaels put in a call through to Shiro.

Half an hour later, Shiro strode into Lance's room.

'How confident are you these berries won't hurt Lance further?' asked Shiro.

Michaels rubbed his forehead and frowned. '90 maybe 95 percent,' he said. 'All the tests show the infection receding with the introduction of the berry, an unknown aspect is how Lance, himself, will react to it.'

'And Keith?' asked Shiro.

'We have a lot to learn about Galran bonding, and I suspect it is more important than Yola made it out to be. When I examined Keith, his heart rate was high, as were the kits'. If something isn't done soon, we're going to have him in here as well, and I don't see a positive outcome if we keep them apart much longer.'

Shiro turned to Jorge. 'Your thoughts?'

'I don't think we have any choice but to try,' said Jorge. 'Even with everything else aside, Lance can't stay like this. We have to try something.'

'So how do we do this?' asked Shiro.

'We have a hyperbaric oxygen therapy room here on the base,' said Michaels. 'Instead of raising the air pressure and oxygen levels, we can lower them to the correct levels.'

'Okay, go,' Shiro said.

It was close to an hour before Michaels was ready to move Lance into the therapy room with the aid of a nurse. Shiro and Jorge stood outside the viewing window. Michaels had a full suit on so he wasn't affected by the low oxygen levels, and he made sure Lance's levels stayed stable before he began.

Michaels opened the container with one of the berries in it, and he crushed it with a gloved hand, then smeared it over Lance's wound. Then all he could do was wait and monitor him.