CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY

"She's stable now," the doctor announced as they looked over her from the window. "We will be moving her out of the ICU by tomorrow morning if nothing changes,"

Relief washed over the three of them and Alec thanked the doctor. Ronnie led Jet away from the two to give them a little privacy as they continued to talk about Alice's condition. The two of them went on to hunt for the vending machine.

"So, mate, I've heard you've been taking your training seriously this past week," Ronnie started as he put a coin in the vending machine and clicked the can of cola. The clanging of the can as if fell from the machine echoed in the silent hallway. He bent down to pick it up and threw it to Jet. "That's good. That's good,"

Jet caught the cola between his hands and glared at the older man. "You know shaking the cola means I won't be able to open it right now?"

"No kidding?" Ronnie sarcastically answered as he pushed another coin into the machine and chose a can of coffee for himself. "Well, be patient then mate,"

Jet groaned as he sat down on the plastic bench with a roll of his eyes. Ronnie laughed at him before taking a seat as well. The older man finished his coffee in one gulp and threw the can to the trash bin that was placed between the two vending machines in front of them.

"Where's Ao been staying?" Ronnie asked. "I mate—she can't be inside the ICU, right?"

Jet sighed as he opened his cola. It frizzed a bit but did not overflow. "We're both at Alec's apartment. She left this morning and I haven't seen her since,"

Ronnie raised a brow at the younger man's answer. If people were to hear them talking it would be a little hard to believe they were speaking about a bird. But—Ronnie also knew that Ao was anything but an ordinary crow. Back when he was rebuilding Alice's walls for Nightmare, Ao was like a drill sergeant who gets angry whenever he does something wrong.

"Hey, so you guys were here," Alec went straight to the vending machine and bought himself a can of coffee.

"How is it?" Ronnie inquired. He wasn't that close to his little sister but with everything that had happened, it was hard not to feel a bond. "She's getting out of the ICU tomorrow?"

Alec nodded as he opened his coffee. "The doctor said her vitals have been stable these past few days. They would be taking her out of her medically induced coma tomorrow. Though, since no one can really understand her brain activity pattern they aren't sure if she'll wake up when they stop giving her sedatives,"

"No offense, mate," Ronnie started. "But you're sister's brain is weird; seeing as she got a whole monster locked up in there,"

Alec let out a soft laugh as he sat down as well. "Well, yeah. I can't argue with that,"

Ronnie stealthily poked Jet on the side, asking for help. Alec might have laughed but Ronnie perfectly saw the worry and fear in his eyes at the thought of his sister not waking up. Jet slapped the older man's finger away as he stood up and walked towards the trash bin to throw his empty can away.

"You know this is Alice we're talking about right?" he started and the two men turned to him. "That girl's a damn cockroach—even a nuclear bombing won't kill her,"

Ronnie silently signaled Jet to stop speaking, making a slashing motion across his neck in fear of offending Alec. The shoulder of the man sitting beside him started shaking and Ronnie had no idea what to do. But instead of crying our getting mad, Alec started laughing.

Ronnie stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "You're not going crazy, are you mate?"

Alec shook his head as he stood up and pulled Jet in a hug. In the same motion, he gave the younger man a pat in the head before pulling back. "Thanks, Jet,"

Jet rolled his eyes. "For what? Badmouthing your sister?"

"Anyway, let's go grab some dinner," Alec stated and Ronnie jumped on his feet as the three of them started for the parking lot.

"So, it's your treat, right?" Jet jested with a huge grin.

Alec unlocked his car and opened the door to the driver's seat. "Since when have you even paid for a meal when you're with me?"

Jet punched the air in a little winning dance before jumping into the passenger seat. Ronnie laughed at him as he entered the back seat. With a shake of his head, Alec started the car. With none of them noticing, Ao flew towards the hospital.

~oOo~

Ao pecked at the ICU window repeatedly in an attempt to open it. Alice was lying on the hospital bed in a medically induced coma. She was connected to a lot of different machines which showed her vitals and condition. The line that was showing on the ECG machine was a normal heart rate.

As Ao fluttered just in front of the window, giving up on opening it, she cawed loudly. The ECG line spiked and Alice's fingers quivered. But her eyes remained closed. The crow continued to call for her. Her heart rate continued to palpitate which alerted the doctor in charge of her.

The doctor rushed towards the ICU. But before he could even open the door, a bright, blue light exploded from the room. He covered his eyes in fear the radiance would blind him. When the glow vanished, Alice was awake. She slowly sat up. And turned to the doctor with confusion in her eyes and then to the apparatus that was connected to her.

With slightly trembling hands, she removed the needles in her body one by one. Panicked, the doctor repeatedly pressed the 'open' button of the room but the door wasn't moving. A group of nurses appeared, drawn in by the sudden, bright light.

The doctor turned to them. "Quick! Contact Alec Slade! Tell him, his sister is awake!"

Alice turned to them—her eyes glowing bright blue. And the whole building shook.