DISCLAIMER: in first part.
A Laying On Of Hands: Part Eleven
by Cascade
Rogue cried as she watched the tragic scene unfold in front of her. She felt Remy's arm encircle her waist, and she turned into him and cried into his chest. Remy held her tightly.
"Poor Petite... 'f only she could heal herself. Or we had anot'er one like her." Remy whispered as he fought his own tears.
Rogue lifted her head, startled by a sudden though inspired by Remy's comment. "We could have another..." She slipped out of his arms and moved towards Dana. She didn't know exactly what would happen, but Dana had saved her life once. She owed it to her to try. She had to hurry too. Dana had already lost consciousness.
She dropped to her knees next to Sam and gently pulled him away. She quickly removed her gloves and prayed that Dana's ability to inhibit her powers was not currently functioning. She put both hands to Dana's face, ignoring cries from the other members of the team for her to stop.
Instantly, she felt Dana's memories pour into her head, along with her powers. She could feel Dana's pain, and with that a sort of calm came over her at the knowledge that she could end that pain. She felt energy in her body being diverted into Dana's.
Sam blinked rapidly and wiped the tears away from his eyes with the back of his hand. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Both Rogue and Dana were surrounded by a diffuse white glow, the kind that usually surrounded only Dana's hands. It looked unearthly, and lit the dim interior of the plane, and cast strange shadows on the faces of the transfixed onlookers. He crawled quietly to Rogue's side and looked down with wonder as the blood stopped flowing out of Dana and the bullet hole shrunk into nonexistence. The color returned to Dana's face.
The glow began to fade gradually from around the two women. When it had disappeared entirely Rogue pulled her hands away from Dana. She looked a little disoriented. She managed to pull her gloves on before she passed out next to Dana's still unconscious form.
Rogue moaned. She had a killer migraine. She brought her hands to her head to try to stop the ringing in her ears. She squinted in the harsh lights of the Medlab.
"Chere? Y' okay?" Remy touched her shoulder gently.
She moaned again. "Dana's right. This is like havin' a hangover." She paused then, suddenly remembering the previous morning's events. "How is she? Did it work?"
Remy sighed and glanced over at the bed across the room where Sam Guthrie was keeping vigil. "Petite's alive," he said, frowning.
Rogue pushed herself painfully into a sitting position and gazed over at the other bed. Seeing Sam brought a few of Dana's nicer memories to the surface. She sighed wistfully, before she caught herself. *Woah, girl. Those ain't yours, and he ain't yours either... What a sweetheart though...*
Hank saw her sit up and came over to talk to her, and brought her a glass of water like the one he'd given the first time Dana had ended up in the medlab.
Sam watched Rogue sit up and smiled faintly. *Well at least there's one promising thing about this whole situation. If Rogue's up and around, maybe that means Dana will wake up soon too.*
Sam squeezed Dana's hand tighter. He just wanted her to squeeze back, show some sign that she'd be all right. He sighed and looked at her. *At least you're alive...* Beast's diagnosis had been a little grim. Dana's powers were still mostly a mystery to Hank. Anything could happen. Dana was exhausted when Rogue had touched her. There was not much healing energy left in her to be transferred. Dana had been healed incompletely. There was a good possibility that the new tissue grown would split under stress. She was being constantly monitored for internal bleeding, and she wasn't far away from a dialysis machine just in case her kidney didn't take well to being shot and then put back together.
He listened to the heart monitor beep regularly behind him. *As long as that monitor keeps makin' that sound, you're okay.* He nodded trying to convince himself. He'd tried to get some sleep once he'd seen Dana safely to the Medlab, but the silence had unnerved him. When he did finally get to sleep he had a dream that the heart monitor had fallen silent. He hadn't tried to sleep after that.
He shook his head at all the tubes and wires that lead toward her body. She'd never needed all that before. She'd never been out this long before. He laid his head down on the bed next to her and closed his eyes. He could hear some of the other X-Men in the background quietly talking to Rogue. He wanted to thank her, but he wasn't ready to talk to her yet. He didn't think he could talk about that morning without breaking down yet. Maybe when Dana was up.
"Sam..."
Sam lifted his head and looked up at his old instructor. "Sir?"
Nathan paused, trying to choose his next words carefully. "How is she doing?"
"She's stable," Sam said as he returned his gaze to Dana features.
Nathan nodded. "And how are you doing?"
Sam glanced up at Nathan again, not expecting that particular question. "Fine," he answered automatically.
Nathan looked at him seriously. "Really?"
Sam sighed. He knew better than to try to sneak something like that past the most powerful psi on the planet. He shook his head. "No, sir," he acquiesced. "I'm actually about as far from fine as possible."
Nathan nodded and took a seat next to him on an available chair. "So..." he started, a little unsure on how to proceed. He had lost many men and women over his years of command, but it never got any easier to talk to their loved ones. He swallowed as he thought of the worst loss he'd experienced. *Aliya...*
Sam glanced up at Nathan, puzzled by the look on his face. He'd seen it before. He tried to place the memory. A private conversation when he was still with X-Force. Nathan had been talking about... Aliya, his wife from the future that had been killed by Stryfe. It made it a little easier to realize that his mentor had been through the same thing. Nathan had made no progress coming up with something to say so Sam started.
"Sir, if Dana... doesn't wake up..." he paused, unsure how to phrase the question. "How do I keep going? How did you keep going?"
Nathan looked up in surprise. His eyes glazed over a little as he thought back. "I don't know. I just did. I just lived one day at a time." He shifted in his seat. "Right afterwards there's just a gaping hole... After a while you learn to how to fill in the hole a bit... to make it seem a little smaller, but it never goes away completely."
Sam woke up a few hours later. He'd fallen asleep with his head on Dana's bed. Blessedly his sleep had not been plagued with dreams. He stayed still and listened to the heart monitor as it continued its reassuring beeping. His neck was stiff. He stretched and ran his fingers through his hair. He started with a shock as his eyes locked with the man sitting on the other side of Dana's bed.
"Hi, Sam." Marc had shadows under his eyes and looked about as haggard as Sam felt.
A lump rose in Sam's throat. "Ah'm so sorry," his words tumbled out and tears started pouring down his cheeks again. "Ah told ya Ah'd watch out for her... Ah'd take care of her, keep her safe. She told me she was all right, but Ah shoulda been with her, when..."
Marc swallowed, his own eyes starting to water. "It's alright, Sam. Lord knows she can be stubborn..." he chuckled, "She's almost as bullheaded as dad about some things. And she won't accept help, even when she needs it..." he faded off into memories and tears.
The two men that Dana loved most stared at each other across her bed in the uncomfortable silence. Sam lowered his head, the first to look away. His longest night was turning into the longest week of his life.
"Sam, can I talk to you?" Jean approached Dana's bedside. She gazed down at the still form on the bed. Dana was still here, she could feel it. Dana was fighting to come back, it was just a matter of her body being strong enough. Right now it wasn't.
Sam looked up dazedly at her. He had shadows under his eyes and he hadn't shaved in a while. He looked terrible. Marc was sleeping in a chair on the other side of the bed. He didn't look much better.
She reached down to him and hauled him up to his feet. "Come on, Sam. You need some rest, and some food, and a shave wouldn't hurt either."
He shook his head and tried to sit back down.
She held tight to his arm as she tried to lead him away from the bed. "Dana doesn't want to see you like this! Marc and Hank are here keeping an eye on her, they'll call you if there is any change. Making yourself sick isn't going to help her get better."
He nodded his head in agreement sullenly, and allowed himself to be lead from the room. She lead him to his room and sat him down on his bed.
"Do you want me to bring you something to eat?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Do you want to talk?"
His sad blue eyes met hers. "Ah'm so selfish..." he started. "Ah sat in that cell, thinkin' Ah'd never see her again. Ah was sad, but Ah made muh peace. Ah'd gotten to say goodbye. Ah never even thought 'bout what it was like for her. Then she came 'n got me out, 'n 'fore Ah could say hello the tables'd turned. Now Ah'm the one waiting on the outside," he snorted at the irony of it all. "Funny, ain't it? Me bein' an external n' all... All Ah want is more time. Ah need to tell her so much."
Jean sat next to him and put her arms around him. "It's all right. She's gonna wake up... then you'll have all the time you need."
When he'd cried himself to sleep shortly afterward Jean laid him on the bed. "You two are just kids," she whispered. "You shouldn't have to deal with this. It's not fair," she paused to bring herself under control. "Everything's gonna be fine," she whispered to herself as she turned off the lights in his room.
Scott frowned as he watched his wife sleep in his arms. The injury of a teammate always hit the group hard. It made everyone face their own mortality. They all knew it could have just as easily been them lying on the floor of the Blackbird.
Dana was harder than most though. Just eighteen with her whole life ahead of her. She was happy and in love. This kind of thing shouldn't happen to a kid like her. She wasn't even really a member of the team yet.
He, of course, blamed himself. He should have been firmer in not letting her come along, he could have made her stay on the plane. He mentally kicked himself for letting Nathan get to him.
Everyone on the team felt a little guilt with this one. They were all thinking "If only..." It was interesting to him how many members of the team sought comfort in solitude. Logan, Remy, Rogue... his whole team had gone off to be by themselves to some extent. To be members of a team, a family, for so long, and yet when it all came down to it, they'd rather be alone. Old habits died hard.
"Sweetheart? Are you all right?" Jean asked drowsily.
He sighed. "Sorry for waking you honey." The telepathic bond he shared with Jean was nice most of the time, but at times like this it only seemed good for waking her up at night. "I'm fine. I was just thinking."
She nodded, fully aware of what he was thinking about. She moved closer to him and they held each other tightly, drawing strength from each other.
"Just thinking," he repeated quietly.
Sam awoke from his sleep and glanced up to see Jean's face.
"I was just checking to see how you were doing. You've been asleep for a long time." She smiled at him.
"Is she up?" Sam asked pulling himself quickly into a sitting position.
Jean shook her head.
Sam swallowed. "Is she..."
"No. She's just how she was when you left her: stable."
He nodded and got up and left the room. Jean followed him out.
"Uh-uh. Not that way," Jean started as he headed back towards the medlab. "You need something to eat."
Sam let himself be dragged to the kitchen.
*I thought Heaven was supposed to be white.* Dana thought about that for a while. *Ooh. Maybe I'm in the other place...* She cringed.
Her rational mind finally kicked in. *Try opening your eyes, stupid.*
*Oh yeah.* She blinked her eyes open. *Well, it's white...* She squinted until the fuzziness resolved itself into clarity momentarily. *Hmm... I didn't think Heaven had fluorescent lights.*
She heard the voice for the first time since she'd woken up. She couldn't make out what it was saying, but it sounded an awful lot like Hank. That was okay. She would miss Hank and the others if they weren't with her, and you weren't supposed to be sad in Heaven, so it made sense that he was here too, along with all the other X-Men.
She lifted her head and looked towards the voice, and tried to make the fuzzy blue blob resolve itself into Henry McCoy. Eventually she did it. *Finally, and it looks like Sam's with him too. Great! I didn't think Heaven would look like McCoy's lab, though.*
Her rational mind butted itself in again. *That's because you're not dead, moron.* Dana considered that thought as well. It didn't seem to make sense, but then again, she wasn't really thinking that coherently. Maybe it would make more sense when she was a little less punchy.
*Okay. I'm alive. Cool.* She continued to gaze at Sam and McCoy as they talked. *Now what?*
She smiled and decided just to look at Sam for awhile. She figured her rational mind would interrupt her again and tell her to do something when she needed to.
Sam listened to Hank talk. Hank was trying to prepare Sam for what was increasingly looking probable: that Dana could slip into a deep coma and then die. Sam wasn't really paying attention. He knew what was going on. The longer Dana stayed unconscious, the less of a chance there was of bringing her out of it.
He ran his hand over his newly shaven chin. She'd never been out for longer than a day before, and here it was almost a week later and Dana hadn't shown any sign of waking up. Marc had come and gone repeatedly. He was currently gone. He did have a job after all. *Maybe Ah just need to get away for a while. Ah haven't gone home in a while. Maybe Ah should fly away and focus on something else.* He shook his head. He couldn't do it, and he couldn't do it because he wouldn't abandon her. He wouldn't let her wake up or... die alone. *Yeah, that's it. That's what you can't admit. She's mortal. She might die tonight.*
On the plane, that realization had been immediate, but now, with the waiting and guessing... he couldn't bring himself to think of her not being around. He listened to the heart monitor. The same rhythmical beat that had ruled his days and nights. He closed his eyes, let his mind drift away to it, let it encompass everything.
"Sam?" Hank shook his shoulder.
"Yeah... I'm listen..." Sam paused mid-word. The beat was off now. It was... faster. "Her heart... listen..." he breathed.
He turned slowly to look back at her. His heart stopped. He couldn't breathe. She was looking back at him. She was awake!
He swallowed and ran back to her bed. Hank stood silent in joyous shock before he called Scott to tell him he needed to come to the medlab immediately!
"Dana!" He laughed as he leaned down to kiss her. He thrilled at the feel of her arms around him again.
He pulled back and looked at her, letting himself get lost in the variegated brown and green of her eyes. He kissed her again.
Dana loved the sensations that shot through her whenever his lips touched hers, but right now, she felt a bit smothered. She took hold of his shoulders and pushed him back gently.
"Easy," she whispered in a voice hoarse from disuse. She smiled at him. " I love you, too."
He was crying again. "Ah thought ya were goin' ta die. Ah thought Ah'd never..."
She nodded. She understood. She closed her eyes and held him.
She opened her eyes again at the sound of footsteps entering the medlab.
"Hank, what is it? Is it Da...?" Scott started
"Hi guys." Dana waved weakly from her spot on the bed.
He and Jean stopped at the sound of her voice and stared.
"S-someone should go call Mark." Jean said shakily, unsure of what to say at the surprise of seeing Dana awake.
Dana rolled over onto her side and glanced at Sam. She'd been transferred into her room once it was deemed that she was going to be okay. It was dark outside the window and the lights were off in her room. She was supposed to be asleep.
Instead she was wide awake and Sam had fallen asleep while waiting for her to drift off. That was all right with her. She liked watching him sleep, but he didn't look very comfortable sitting in her desk chair. She reached out and tapped him on the leg.
"Sam?"
"Huh? Wha..." He regained his faculties. "What are ya doin' up?"
"I'm not sleepy. You are, though. Why don't you go to your own room and sleep while I continue to stare at the ceiling."
He got up and stretched. "Didn't Ah tell ya Ah was going ta stay until ya were asleep?"
"Yeah."
"Thought Ah remembered sayin' somethin' like that. Ya wouldn't want me to break a promise now, would ya?"
She shook her head.
"Now, how ta get you to fall asleep..." He thought back to all the times he'd had to put his younger brothers and sisters to bed. "Ah don't think ya want ta hear me sing..."
"Oh, I don't know about that..." She grinned at him.
He chuckled. "Trust me, ya don't want ta hear it."
He thought back to the night when he thought he'd never be able to sleep. He'd been wrong. Sitting in that cold cell with Dana in his arms was so much better than sitting in the cold cell without her. They'd been able to draw strength and comfort from each other, enough to let them sleep. After she'd left sleep was impossible. Maybe holding her would work in this case, as well.
He repositioned himself so that he could lean his back against the head board of her bed. Before he could even mention his idea, she had pulled herself close to him and snuggled into his chest.
He smiled as she made herself comfortable next to him and yawned.
"Tired?" he asked, before he yawned himself.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "What about you?"
"Nah. I'll get outta here and go to muh own bed as soon as ya nod off."
"Sure you will." she mumbled into his chest.
Twenty minutes later, Dana pulled Sam away from the head board and laid his head on her pillow. She sighed as she brushed his hair out of his eyes.
"Honestly, Sam..." she mumbled before she resumed her spot next to him. She laid her head on his chest and listened to him breathe and his heart beat. Their rhythms put her to sleep quickly.