Precedent

Chapter Twenty-One

The remaining R.A.O.F. fighters look confused. Mission Leader rallies them.

"We did this!" she announces. "One of our allies jammed the R.A.C.O.'s signal. Now we have finished the R.A.C.O.'s and finished the Originator! Now that we've taken this city, we can move on to the next, then the next. We're going to keep pushing until the entire country has been purged of the Originator's influence!" Everyone cheers.

I grin. We've won battles before, but normally it's a small victory. This time there's no way the Originator can come back and take this away from us. We actually have a chance to win this war.

I turn to Sabrina.

"We should find Ryan," I suggest.

"And Danny," she adds. I wince, causing her to frown. "Shouldn't we find him?"

"Oh, you don't know," I say. Her expression turns frantic.

"Is he dead? Please tell me he isn't dead!"

"He's not dead," I tell her. She watches me closely.

"Are you just telling me that?" she asks. I shake my head.

"He's alive, as far as I know. He...he lost his arm." Her face falls.

"Oh."

"Come on," I say. "We'll get Ryan and the three of us can catch a ride back to H.Q. We can visit Danny. Check on him." Sabrina nods.

"Yeah, let's find Ryan."

We make our way through the crowd. We find Ryan talking to someone from Team Indigo, the next team up from ours.

"So," he says at the sight of us, "I'm guessing our resident time traveler knows a thing or two about why the R.A.C.O.'s powered down." I nod. I gesture for him and Sabrina to follow me.

As we walk out of the building, I explain about Taylor and his signal jamming theory.

"Apparently it's more than a theory," Ryan states.

"Yeah," I agree. "I guess so."

Sabrina glances around.

"Are there any rides going back to H.Q.?" she asks. I shrug and help her scope the scene.

"There's a vehicle," I tell my friends. We walk over to it. The driver is a member of Team Red.

"Hey, can we go with you back to H.Q.?" Ryan asks when we reach the car.

"Sure," he replies. We open the doors and get in.

The drive gives me time to think. I know for certain Franklin's dead. He would've appeared by now if he was. I don't know for sure about A-M though. It's possible, if Franklin survived being sucked down a vortex of time and lit on fire, than the bullet could have missed A-M's heart.

I try not to get myself too hopeful. The odds are stacked against me for once. I have to face the facts. Drew Mason is probably dead and Danny...well...I don't know what condition Danny's in. He could be just fine, down one arm, but otherwise good. Or he could be really bad. Unlike A-M, his odds are exactly 50-50.

I am so wrapped up in my own thoughts I don't even notice when we parked outside the gates. Sabrina pulls me out of the car and drags me over to the identification system.

We pass through quickly. All I can think about it getting to the infirmary. I can only think about getting answers about how my friends are.

I follow Sabrina and Ryan without really being aware of what's going on. I find myself walking through the doorway of the hospital. Sabrina gently shakes me, brining me back to earth.

A nurse walks over. Seeing her reminds me that, only a few hours ago, Sabrina and I stumbled upon Ivy's dead body. It was in the corridor Sabrina, Ryan, and I just walked down. Doctor Reynolds was in that doorway. His body was, that is.

"Who are you here to see?" the nurse asks.

"Daniel Emerson," Ryan tells her. She nods and leads us over to the far end of the room.

The nurse says, "We've been prepping him for surgery. You can talk to him, but it won't be much of a conversation." Ryan nods and he and Sabrina head over. I, however, get distracted by a closed curtain area.

"Who's in there?" I ask.

"Andrew Mason," she informs me. I start.

"What?" I ask, unsure whether or not I heard correctly.

She continues, "It was a very close call. He's in a coma now. Might not wake up, but..."

I don't wait for her to finish. I walk over to the curtain and yank it aside.

I breathe a sigh of relief. They closed his eyes. I don't know what I would have done, how I would have reacted, if his eyes had been blank and unseeing.

He has a lot of tubes stuck into him. He's alive though. He might never wake up again. He's alive though.

I pull up a chair. I position it so it is on the opposite side of the bedside table. I sit down and I wait.