The Texas Connection
Part 6


Kasey


When the doctor walked in, it was almost like when the President walked in -
everyone stood in unison and waited attentively. "I have news on Mr.
Seaborn." Leo slipped his arm around Mallory's shoulders, and Donna squeezed
Josh's hand. "His heart stopped beating during the surgery to remove the
bullet. We had to -"

That was all the more Josh could stand. Ripping his hand away from Donna, he
stormed out the door and tore out of the hospital like a bat out of hell.

"As I was saying, we had to start his heart again. He's more stable now, and
we're closely monitoring him, but we're not out of the woods yet. I just
wanted to let you all know what was going on."

"Thank you," Abby said quietly, being the only one left in the room with the
power of speech. CJ was looking paler than a sheet, Toby was so unreadable
he looked like a mask, without a soul behind his eyes at all. Leo literally
had to hold Mallory up so she wouldn't slide off her chair onto the floor,
trembling in terror. Donna hesitated only a moment before heading after
Josh, but stopped when she heard a small voice.

"Donna, wait," Mallory said in the best voice she could muster. Standing on
very wobbly legs, she made her way across the room and went the way Josh had
gone. Leo leapt to his feet, but Abby's hand on his arm stopped him.
Slowly, Mallory walked down the hall and out the doors, spotting Josh out on
the sidewalk, pacing, hands clenched in his auburn curls. As she got closer,
she could see he was shaking almost as badly as she was. "…Hey, big
brother," she called quietly, and he jumped, smiling very faintly at the use
of the name she'd called him when they were little.

"What are you doing out here? You can barely stand up…I'm amazed Leo let you
out of his sight, you -…You should go back inside…"

"So should you," she pointed out reasonably.

"I-…I can't go back in there…" he whispered in an un-Josh-like voice.
"It's…it's too-…too medicine-y. Too clean. Too sterile. Too impersonal.
Too-…"

"…Too reminiscent of things you'd rather not remember."

"Yeah." He hung his head.

"…I don't blame you…I can't stand being in there, either…it's-…The only
reason I haven't left is in case they come down with more news…"

"Why would you want to hear it? It never seems to be good."

"Stop it."

"Were you listening back there, Mal? Did you hear what the doctor said? Do
you realize what that means? It means he was even worse just then than I
was. And everyone kept saying it was a miracle I lived, that I came so close
to-…and if he's worse…"

"…don't say it…" she murmured.

"He could DIE, Mal, don't you get it? Don't you see? There's the very real
and very probable chance that he won't ever see another sunset!" He was
crumbling, rapidly and without shame. "He may never wake up! And I…hell,
I'm the immortal, the lone one remaining against the odds, despite the damn
odds…Everyone around me gets struck by lightening and they die, only when I
get struck I survive by some curse-"

"Stop it right now!" Mallory demanded.

"I get hit once, barely live…Sam's gotta get hit twice, which means, with the
odds, he's-…" The yelling had stopped, and Josh's voice was barely a tearful
whisper. "…He could **die**…" he whispered in such a pain-filled voice that
it would have brought tears to the eyes of someone who wasn't even connected
to the situation at all. "…he's my best friend and he-…he might not wake
up…" He scooped Mallory into his arms, needing to hold something, to feel
something tangible that wasn't going to slip away from his grasp.

"…Shhhhhh…" Mallory whispered, tears in her eyes. "…He's gonna be
okay…You've gotta believe that, Josh, otherwise what's the point?"

"What IS the damn point?" he murmured back, his own tears beginning to flow.
"We try and change the world and the price for doing so is to be shot? To
lose our lives? When I said I'd change the world or die trying, I didn't
think I'd be taken seriously, I-…"

"Josh?" Leo called from the door. "Mal, c'min here. There's more news to be
heard."

~*~*~*~

He couldn't tell where he was. It was all white blurs, shapeless,
meaningless. But there was a voice. "Mr. Seaborn? My name's Dr. Banks, can
you hear me?" He tried to speak but he couldn't, his mouth nothing but
cottony dryness. "You're in the hospital. You were shot in the chest and in
the thigh. We had to operate to take out the bullets and repair the damage.
It looks like you're going to be okay. You're one lucky young man."

He needed to know. He had to know who else was hurt. Putting all his effort
into one question, he murmured in a barely audible voice, "…who…else…h-hurt?"

"The President was shot in the neck, he's in recovery now. Other than that,
no one."

"M-M….Mal…lory…?" he murmured weakly, feeling like he could hold on no
longer to consciousness.

"You should get some rest."

He wanted to call out her name, to cry for her, but he lost his battle with
consciousness and was silent.
Part 7

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