Hand Me Down: Part 2

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Well, okay, in theory stress reduction was a good idea.  Jamie, Kitty, and Lockheed head out for a picnic, which is interrupted when Jamie passes out for no apparent reason.  Kitty calls it in, the Professor alerts Kurt, who plays ambulance, and Madelyn goes back to square one.



It was a beautiful afternoon, with a rare clear sky the deep, endless  blue that only happens in the fall. A few stray leaves drifted toward  the ground as Jamie led Kitty into the clearing, spreading a colorful blanket out for them to sit on.

He grinned.  "Best prescription I ever got, this.  I don't know why the docs don't get more walk-ins down there."

Kitty giggled, setting the picnic basket down on the blanket before kneeling down herself. "Come on, you know if she prescribed a picnic for some of them they'd complain that the sun clashed with their angst or the bird song was interrupting their grousing."

"Oh, they're just bitter."  Jamie hunkered down behind Kitty, propping himself up on one elbow with his torso curled around her, smiling up at her.  "I got to you first, after all, so obviously they live deprived."

"Oh, am I part of the prescription, then?" Kitty asked with a grin.

By now, Lockheed was pretty much used to Jamie. He was a part of Kitty's life, and thus a necessary evil. However, that didn't stop him from giving the boy a baleful sort of look as he climbed down off the girl's shoulder to go back to poking his nose in the picnic basket she'd put down.

"Yes you are."  Jamie stuck out his tongue at Lockheed's glare, then went back to grinning at Kitty, easily one of his favorite things to do.  "I'm supposed to avoid stress, and you were specifically mentioned as a means to that end. So as long as Lockheed doesn't get the idea I look tastier than the half-pound of hamburger I put in there for him, we should be good to go."  The latch on the picnic basket seemed to be stymieing the little dragon, and Jamie snickered at his expression.  "Doesn't seem to be getting much bigger, even considering all he eats anyway."

Lockheed could smell the hamburger but couldn't seem to get the basket open. He'd discovered the problem - there was some sort of metal thing keeping it closed - but couldn't seem to figure out how to manuver his claws to open it. He briefly considered biting it open, but discarded the idea as worthless.

"No, he doesn't, thankfully. His ballence is pretty much all better, now, though. And I do think he's not eating quite so much, nor quite so often, although it's hard to tell. He'll still happily eat anything put in front of him, but no longer coos at me until I feed him." Kitty smiled fondly at the little dragon. "Hasn't figured out flying yet, though. Don't know if I should be worried about that, or worried that sooner or later he will."

"Maybe we should think about teaching him?  Ask Jay or somebody if they're interested in figuring out lessons? Might be less chance of him falling on his nose that way." Jamie reached carefully past Lockheed's nose and opened the latch on the basket.  "Go to town, little guy."

Well, if the Jamie was going to go around giving him food and opening locks it might be permissible to do more than tolerate him, Lockheed thought vaguely as he went routing through the basket, looking for the meat he smelled. He wondered if the boy had defeated the 'fridge and aquired all the food in the world yet.

"I was actually thinking about that, yeah," Kitty said, nodding. "I think I'd have to ask Jay or Warren, really. The whole wings thing... His problem, I assume, isn't so much not knowing the physics and what not, as not being able to work his wings properly. Lockheed," she added, as she heard the sound of munching. "Bring the meat out here so we can get into the basket. It's not all for you, you know."

"Well, yeah.  I mean, birds get along pretty well without knowing the physics.  Wouldn't bet money Lockheed isn't smart enough for that, but it's probably not one of his big priorities, you know? We can start on getting it through his head that flap equals up, and not-flap equals down, maybe."  Jamie reached out to give the basket a playful nudge, and the sun glinted off the face of his watch.

Which cracked and crazed even as he looked at it, liquid crystal oozing up between the spiderweb lines. He froze, staring, hypnotized: a blink, and the watch was whole, another and it shattered again.  Flicker. Whole.  Flicker. Broken.  Flicker flicker flickerflickerflicker . . .

Jamie's vision greyed, and darkened, and he sprawled limp on the colorful blanket.

"Yeah, but I'm not qualified for that, unfortunatel. I go up on foot, not wing, so..." Kitty shrugged, grinning at the dragon. "Who do you think we should ask, Jay or Waren? I'm leaning for Jay, but I don't know if he'd want to..." She turned to see what Jamie thought and saw him sprawled out behind her. "What, object to the idea, Jamie?" She realized his eyes were closed and he wasn't moving at all. "Jamie...?" Reaching out she touched his shoulder, shaking him lightly. When this got her no response she almost shrieked, "JAMIE!"

In half a second she processed that his breathing was shallower than usual, that he hadn't even flinched at the volume of her yell, and that she was wearing the jacket she'd worn into town the last time. The one she'd put her school cell phone into. Pulling it out she hit the quick dial for the mansion, praying someone would pick up.

The first ring had barely finished when the other end of the line picked up, and the Professor's voice answered, warm with concern.  "Kitty?  What's the matter?"

"It's Jamie, Professor," Kitty said, fighting back the hysteria in her voice. "He's collapsed and I can't wake him up. He's just sort of fallen over and I don't know why. We... We're out on the grounds, near the edge of the woods past the lake."

"All right, Kitty."  The Professor's voice was soothing and calm.  "Stay calm, and keep him comfortable, and I'll have . . ."  He paused for a moment.  "Kurt will be there momentarily to transport you both to the medlab, and Dr. Bartlet will be waiting for you. Everything we can do, will be done, I promise you. Would you like to stay on the line until Kurt arrives?"

"I just don't understand, Professor," Kitty said, babbling. "Dr. Bartlet said he was fine. There's nothing wrong with him!"

"Not all problems are apparent right away, Kitty. I'm sure Dr. Bartlet did everything she felt was necessary at the time.  Would it help for you to stay with him in the medlab while the doctors run their tests?"

Given that Kitty would phase through anyone who tried to keep her away from Jamie just now, it was a safe bet that she'd be staying with him, but all she said was, "Yes." This was at least in part due to Kurt's sudden arrival.

Kurt had teleported in as quickly as possible when the Professor raised the alarm, and took in the situation in a second.  Bending down to gather Jamie up as best he could, he told Kitty, "I cannot take you both at once.  I will come back for you when he is with the doctor."

Kitty nodded, looking worried. "Go," she said. "Get him to Dr. Bartlett..." The girl picked up the dragon which had crawled closer to her at her first shriek and held him tight, biting her lip and fretting.

Kurt nodded quickly in return, and he and Jamie both disappeared.  As soon as he had handed the boy over to the doctors, and seen him safely installed in a bed, he returned for Kitty and Lockheed.

At the characteristic sound of Kurt's teleportation Kitty looked up from where she had her head burried in Lockheed's side. "Is he ok? Can we go now? I don't mean to be rude, but can we go now?" She was not crying yet but tears were visible in her eyes.

Kurt wasn't about to lie to her, but he held out a hand.  "He is in the best hands.  Of course we can go."

As soon as Kurt held out his hand Kitty was on her feet, her hand in his. "Please. Quickly."

Speed was obviously of the essence, at least for Kitty's peace of mind, so he teleported them to the medlab without another word, and stayed there to make sure both Jamie and Kitty were all right.

As soon as she found herself in the medlab, Kitty dropped into a chair out of the way but with a clear view, eyes fixed on Jamie through the flurry of activity around him and hands clasped before her.

It was all Madelyn could do to _not_ swear under her breath as Kurt brought Jamie in. She'd seen him, only recently, and told him it was probably stress... Recriminations could wait, however, as she began her examination. First things first.

Kurt had laid Jamie carefully down on a table, making sure the boy was as comfortable as he could, before he went back for Kitty.  Arriving with her, they stod off to one side, watching Madelyn work.

Jamie remained limp and unmoving as Madelyn's examination began, but he twitched at the stethoscope's cool touch on his chest and blinked, opening his eyes and trying to lift his head.  "S' goin' on?  Kitty?"

"Easy, Jamie. Kitty's right here - you're in medlab. Apparently you passed out." Madelyn lay a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Looks like I was a bit off with the whole 'it's probably stress' diagnosis."

Some days Kitty really wished she could bring herself to bite her nails. As stress relievers go, she rather thought it would be a good one. However, she'd been too well brought up to ever pick up the habit and had to settle for gnawing lightly on her thumb itself. She started up from the chair when Jamie spoke, but sank back into it, determined not to get in Dr. Bartlett's way. "I'm here, Jamie. It's ok..."

Jamie subsided back into the examination table at the sound of Kitty's voice.  "S-sorry," he murmured. "Didn't know I wasn't s'posed to take my prescription with food."

Madelyn cracked a smile. "Those pesky instructions will get you every time.  Now, just relax, we'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."