The lights were buzzing, Ian awoke to the sound of a monitor beeping.
" Ugh! My head feels like mush." Ian groaned. His body ached, and although he couldn't see properly yet, he could still feel and make out three distinct shapes on his bed.
" Ian?" The voice was distorted, his ears were still ringing hard. But he could make out the faint sound of his name.
" What?" Ian asked,
Suddenly the three figures jumped up and the sound of feet rattling along the floor rang in Ian's ear.
Soon a large furry creature, who Ian assumed was McCoy just because no one else fit that description, stood over the boy.
" Ian? Can you hear me boy?" Hank asked.
" Yeah, doc. Why are you yelling? Ian asked the man. He tried sitting up in the bed, only for his body to immediately pull him back down.
" Easy son, you've had quite the troubling few days." Hank told the man.
Ian groaned and rubbed his eyes, clearing the blur from them, and allowing him to see clearly. Ian looked up to see a red eyed Noriko standing in front of him, with Laura and his mom standing beside her both of whom also had red eyes.
" What wrong?" Ian asked the girls.
Laura wiped her face and then ran out of the room.
" Hank, what happened?" Ian asked again.
" Nothing to worry about my young friend. You're awake and that's all that matters. Now, I do believe you have some visitors who would like to say hello." Hank told the boy. He wrote down a few more notes on his clipboard before stepping aside and letting Noriko and his mother approach the bed again.
" Hey mom. Hey Nori." Ian spoke.
Noriko and Sarah both jumped to the man's side, Noriko on one and Sarah on the other. This surprised Ian, he had been hurt before, but he never saw either of them act like this.
" Ian, ma boy. How are you feeling?" Miss Sinclair asked the boy. She put her hand on Ian's and the boy responded by grabbing it.
" Like a truck just rolled over me." Ian replied. " What's wrong with you two? I'm fine." Ian told the two girls.
" We were just worried about you is all. We're glad you're okay." Noriko told the man.
" Nori... You've both been crying? Nori what happened?" Ian asked again. The girl looked a reck. Her hair was all over the place, and her face looked tired. Ian raised his arm and as best he could to reach for the girl but felt he couldn't muster the energy to raise it any higher than just above his bed rails.
Seeing the boy struggle, Noriko grabbed the arm dangling in the air and raised it to her face. Hugging it as gently as she could.
"Noriko, what happened?" Ian asked again.
" Nothing, Ian. Nothing important. Just, just let me hold you for a little while." Noriko asked the man.
Ian nodded, of course he didn't have a problem with that.
Noriko and Sarah both sat down with Ian and after some time Noriko fell asleep.
" Poor thing." Miss Sinclair spoke up.
Ian looked over to the woman.
" What was that?" Ian asked.
" Nori. She's been by your side the whole time. Poor thing hasn't had more than a few minutes of sleep. Ian we were so worried about you." Miss Sinclair told the boy.
Ian looked over at the girl who was sleep at his side, still clinging to his hand.
Ian was ready to say something, but before he could Julian and Santo both came exploding into the infirmary.
" HEY, look who's come back from the dead. Hey man how are you feeling?" Julian asked the man.
" Not so loud you two. Noriko's sleeping." Miss Sinclair told the boys.
Julian and Santo both immediately pipped down, but their excitement couldn't be quelled completely.
Ian snickered at the two boys.
" Ian, I'll give you some time to be with your friends. But if you need me, I'll be upstairs okay." Sarah told the boy.
" Okay, mom." Ian replied.
" Okay." Sarah leaned over and kissed her son on his head and then quickly left the infirmary, allowing Julian and Santo time to say hello.
Once she was gone, Ian then turned to the boys.
" What's up guys?" Ian asked. " What the devil happened while I was out?" Ian asked.
" Oh man, you don't know?" Julian asked. " Dude, your heart stopped like four times in the last four days." Julian explained.
" What?!" Ian yelled. He quickly pulled his free hand over his mouth and looked over at Noriko, who didn't even seem to notice it. " What?" Ian asked once again, this time much quieter than before.
" Dude, yeah. It was scary. Josh and Noriko were barely able to keep you alive man. They had to work on you for three days straight. It got so bad; Josh actually passed out. He's in the bed next to you." Julian explained. He pointed over to Josh who was lying in the bed next to Ian.
" What." Ian asked again. He couldn't believe it. It took him a moment for his brain to accept what had happened. " Julian, what happened while I slept?" Ian asked the boy.
" Well." Julian spoke.
Flashback.
Xavier rushed into the mansion and placed Ian down on the couch.
" Hank! Get up!" Xavier yelled to the furry man.
Hank was conscious but he, just like the others, was hurt badly.
" What is it, professor?" Hank weakly muttered.
" Ian's not breathing." Xavier told the man.
Having heard the professor, Jamie and the others who were awake all turned towards the man.
Hank quickly got up from the floor, despite his broken ribs, and rushed over to Ian and started preforming CPR on the boy.
" Someone get Josh over here quickly!" Hank yelled as he continued pushing on Ian's chest.
Logan ran and grabbed Josh, who was still trying to help Colossus with his arms.
The two came running back to the main room where Ian was.
" I'm here Mr. McCoy." Josh told the man.
Hank stepped aside and let Josh reach Ian.
Josh placed his hands over Ian's chest and started to heal him as best he could.
" Jesus, there's much. I can't heal all of this, professor. I don't have the energy to do it right now." Josh told the man. He had been using his power all this time to try and heal the injured X-men. To do all that and then have to try and heal Ian on top of it, was too much even for him.
" You don't have to. Just get him breath again. I'll handle the rest." Hank told the boy.
" I can't his heart stopped." Josh replied. " I... I don't have the energy to restart it." Josh told the man.
" Just try." Hank told the boy.
Josh nodded and continued trying to heal Ian, with what little energy he had left.
However, it became clear pretty soon, that Josh just didn't have it in him.
Then, Josh felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Noriko.
She pushed Josh to the side and took her gauntlets off.
" Nori, what are you doing." Josh asked the woman.
Noriko didn't answer, instead she placed her hands on Ian's chest and sent a torrent of electricity into it.
Ian's body jolted from the current and Ian took a hard breath of air.
" You did it, Nori! Out of the way!" Hank yelled. He scooped Ian up and took him down to his lab as fast as he could.
When Hank got downstairs, he immediately began scrambling his medical devices, jabbing and stabbing Ian with just about every fluid he could find.
The others watched as Hank worked on Ian. Laura in particular was paying close attention, and when the monitor showing Ian's heart went blank once again, the girl ran. She ran out of the infirmary and straight to Logan.
Flashback end.
" Anyway, Noriko and Josh ended up having to restart your heart every few hours man. I'm not gonna lie. We were scared we were gonna lose you." Julian explained.
Ian sat back in the bed and sighed.
" Jesus."
" Yeah, man. But hey, you made it. You're here man." Santo stated.
Ian leaned back in his bed and sighed.
" Yeah. I am."