Chapter 38: Everyone likes juice boxes

Kellen found himself in a different room with more machines. It was almost like an operation room and Taylor made it clear that what he thought was true. They needed the space in case something went wrong. They needed all of the machines in case something went wrong as well.

Kellen wasn’t stupid, he knew that, he was just allowed to be surprised that they were all so prepared for the worst case scenario. Several medical professionals moved around the room as Kellen made himself comfortable on the metal table he was supposed to lie down and get the transfusion on.

Well, he was supposed to remain seated at first, and then he would be forced to lie down if something went wrong.

Rhys was a constant as he watched everyone else move around him. Rhys was at the edge of the metal table, his hand on Kellen’s back as the rest of the team worked around the duo. Taylor wasn’t even speaking to him, instead barking orders at the other people moving around them. Carlos was going through a list, making sure that they had everything that they needed.

Isabella was also in the room, tucked against a wall in a square taped onto the floor. Whenever she caught Kellen’s gaze, she would smile and point at the taped square on the other side of the room. That was probably for Rhys once things fully started and Kellen could feel how tense the man was through his touch.

“It’ll be okay.” Kellen told him softly, sliding his good hand out and gently touching Rhys’ chest. The man let out a shaky breath.

“I’m allowed to be worried, Kellen.” Rhys said first and Kellen tensed. He didn’t like the way that the man said that, however, Rhys recovered quickly. “However, thank you for trying to comfort me.” Rhys said before Kellen heard him shift. He couldn’t see what the man was doing until he felt soft lips touch the skin of his forehead.

Kellen couldn’t see because the man kissed him above his eye patch. Kellen made a soft noise in his throat before he sighed, turning to face the other man. Kellen was crazy, he knew that since his parents had shown up that they were probably remaining nearby as he went through this treatment.

Charlie was probably nearby just to make sure that Rhys would have him around if he needed him. Everyone was prepared in their own way and Kellen honestly just felt cared for. Kellen leaned in towards Rhys, resting his head against his chest for a moment as Rhys tensed at the touch. He relaxed quickly, holding Kellen softly.

“You are allowed, but I think everything is going to be okay.” Kellen told him. Rhys chuckled. He ran his fingers through Kellen’s hair gently, the touch so soft and tender that Kellen felt his shoulders drop.

“What gives you that confidence? You said you lost your lucky rabbit’s foot in the gate.” Rhys asked him, humour in his voice. Kellen tilted his head up, smiling at the other man warmly.

“You’re here. Everything is going to be fine.” Kellen told him and watched as Rhys froze, before a goofy, silly smile touched his lips.

“You are going to be the death of me. You trust me so much?” Rhys asked, his yellow eyes soft, warm, completely different from the stressed headlights that he’d had the night before. Kellen nodded and Rhys let out a soft, disbelieving sound. “You put so much trust in me.” Rhys whispered, overcome with emotion. “I guess I am just going to have to live up to your expectations.” Rhys pressed another kiss against his forehead. “I’ll be over there, in my square, before Taylor asks me to leave. I can feel that it’s getting closer to show time. I’ll be nearby, alright?” Rhys told Kellen and Kellen nodded.

Did he want Rhys nearby? Yes, but he knew that they would be watching him like a hawk for any changes and it would do no one any good if Rhys was right there, watching them with a threat in his eyes.

Rhys willingly stepping away was also a good indication of how much he’d been guided. Did it make Kellen’s chest ache that someone else had gotten him to that state? Absolutely. But, he wasn’t too upset because they had also found a potential solution to this standstill that he found himself in.

Now, he just had to see if this worked.

~

It was another 10 minutes of Taylor and Carlos speaking to their team before Kellen was even approached. Taylor was going to be the one to do it, and Carlos was going to be monitoring him intensely with his powers. He would be able to watch the poison in his system, while Taylor would be looking after Kellen’s whole body.

They made a surprisingly good combo, but now was not the time to bring that up. Isabella and Rhys were on standby, and as soon as Taylor swallowed and had the first blood bag going, draining his poisoned blood, Carlos was there.

Taylor waited only a few minutes before she started the fresh blood, wanting to drain the tainted blood first to give the fresh blood somewhere to go. Kellen couldn’t tell that there was a difference. All he knew was that he had two needles in either arm and he was being monitored.

For five minutes, nothing happened. The time ticked on and nothing continued to happen. They changed out the first tainted blood bag and set up the second blood bag to receive the poisoned blood. Carlos was tense, and so was Taylor.

“Are we doing the whole thing right away?” Kellen asked into the silence. He hadn’t asked for that clarification until now and Taylor gave a tense nod.

“Normally, that would be a problem. It could send your body into shock due to some chemicals involved in the way we preserve blood, but the poison in your blood is…making that not be a problem for the first few transfusions. At least, that’s the theory. We tested some of your blood against it already and…let’s just say it didn’t stand a chance.” Taylor told Kellen quietly and Kellen nodded.

“Do you want me to take anything to help?” He asked and Taylor shook her head. She signaled for them to bring over the second fresh blood bag.

“No. You don’t need to take anything beyond the blood, Kellen. What I would like is for you to keep speaking though. That will give us a good indication of how you are doing mentally. If you are able to speak that’s a good sign. We might give you some juices throughout the process. We’ll also pause after four bags since that’s normally how much we can do in such a short period of time. It’ll be a 20 minute break just to monitor you before we move onto the next transfusion.” Kellen appreciated that she was explaining things to him.

Would he have maybe liked to have this explanation sooner? Well, yes, but this was a weird time and the time for explanations had probably been taken up by Taylor getting her own Guiding Session. Kellen was not about to tell her to put his mental comfort before her own health.

After all, it was clear that she could explain things to him while they were doing this.

Kellen and Taylor spoke softly to each other periodically in between Taylor speaking to the others and Carlos. It was a tense time as another blood bag was filled and another bag was brought in. There was a curiosity in Kellen about what they were going to do with that blood of his? Study it? Use it as a weapon?

Maybe both?

Kellen joked about using it as a weapon when when Carlos heard those words from his lips, Carlos gave Kellen a rather severe look.

“Don’t make jokes like that, Kellen. Bad blood can decimate a whole community.” He told him severely, his voice raspy from his injury and Kellen winced. Yeah, he should remember that everyone came up differently than he did. He was usually good at that.

Was all of the blood leaving him making him feel a little light-headed? He shouldn’t feel that way, but maybe he should tell Taylor.

“Taylor, I think I’m feeling a little light headed?” Kellen suggested and Taylor’s face hardened. She gently helped Kellen lie down on the table.

“Good. This was the point that I was expecting something to happen. At this point almost half of the blood in your body has been replaced with ’fresh’ blood. Your body is going to react to it. It’s feeling it out, trying to see if it likes it or not. We have one more bag to go before we stop and observe you. What kind of juice do you want?” She asked and Kellen swallowed, staring up at the white ceiling as he watched people move around in his peripheral on one side.

Thankfully, Taylor was on his good side, not his bad side. He was sure that was intentional on her part. She was always considerate like that.

“Fruit punch please.” Kellen told her, and while this was a tense situation, Taylor smiled slightly.

“I was expecting apple juice. You surprised me.” She said and Kellen chuckled.

“Well, there is apple juice in fruit punch. I’m just feeling a little spicy today.” Kellen said and Taylor chuckled, shaking her head. “You should give Rhys an orange juice. He likes oranges.” Kellen told her and Kellen heard Rhys chuckle from his tape square.

“I don’t need any, but thank you for looking out for me.” Rhys said and Kellen huffed.

“You’re my partner. Of course I am going to look out for you.” Kellen said and Taylor shook her head again. Someone approached with a juice box and held the straw to Kellen’s lips. He sucked, letting the sweet and sour mixture rush down his throat. Kellen watched as the medical professionals monitored him. Another bag taken away, another bag added and now it felt like the whole room was holding it’s breath.

Kellen almost felt like he wanted to play a joke on them. Maybe fake fainting, but given how tense everyone was, Kellen didn’t do that. He just told Taylor that he wanted to.

“I kind of want to play a prank on all of you since you’re all so tense. Like, fake fainting or something.” Taylor’s already tense expression grew taunt.

“Absolutely not.” She told him sternly and Kellen gave a soft chuckle. The white ceiling above him was so damn boring. It was part of the reason he didn’t like being in the Medical Bay.

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you about what I want to do instead of doing it. You’re all so tense I just want to tease you.” Kellen told her and Taylor sighed, shaking her head.

“Such a damn jokester. Just…lie there and be pretty, alright? No fainting, no nothing. Just stay nice and calm and relatively healthy.” Taylor said, her eyes glowing green. Kellen chuckled. Green eyes for Ms. Green.

That was hilarious.

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