Finding Jess (First Wave)

by Mikayla Lane

  “Oh Lily! I told you Grandpa Banny was going to bring them as soon as Jess was better!”

  Jess and Amun looked up as a pretty brunette woman walked up to them as she gently chastised Lily. Unsure if the woman might hurt Lily, Jess immediately put as many of the children behind her as she could.

  “Jess and Amun, I hope? It is a pleasure to meet you! I had hoped Lily wouldn’t find you until you were feeling better. Where’s my manners? I’m Dr. Maggie Jensen; I work with the little ones, and I’m the only doctor on staff here. I had been hoping to meet you both.” The doctor had shaken both of their hands effusively, but the sight of her small hand in Amun’s sent a wave of anger through Jess. She was very glad when the woman turned her attention to the children.

  “You guys go play while I talk to Amun and Jess, and then you can meet them properly and have snacks ok?”

  Jess couldn’t help but laugh as the eight little girls and one boy, grumbled and sighed on the way back to where the colorful tubes and swings were waiting.

  “Even with the abilities we have here, we can’t fully heal them physically. I’ve heard from some of the other women about the extent of your injuries and how Amun has been able to heal you. I couldn’t help but wonder if you could at least look at the children and see if you can help?” The concern in her voice when she spoke of the children told Amun and Jess how much she cared for them.

  “I would be honored to help them in any way that I can.” Amun offered with a slight bow.

  “They need Jess too. Can you be there when they are examined? Maybe talk to them?” The woman turned pleading light brown eyes to Jess.

  “Why would I need to be there? What would I say to them?” Jess asked completely baffled by the woman’s request.

  “I honestly don’t know of a delicate way to say this… the other women have been telling the little ones stories about you and their escapes and your gifts, since the day each arrived. They used your bravery in the face of what happened to you as an example for them to follow while we did what we could to treat their injuries.”

  “Some of them… I don’t think they would have made it. I think the stories helped them fight, to try to heal. And honestly, no one ever really thought you would survive. Everyone always figured that you would give your life helping one too many of them. And that only made the children more enamored of you.”

  “Some of them have been through some of the things you have. They can relate to you in a way that they can’t with anyone else. Who are you? Get away from them!” Amun and Jess were startled when Maggie jumped up and ran for the children.

  Afraid someone was going to hurt them; they took off after her and stopped short on the other side of a large purple tube, bursting into laughter. There on the ground was Tarvok red with embarrassment, covered in giggling children.

  Amun and Jess weren’t the least surprised to see him since Ivint had ordered him to guard Jess until the shooter was found. However, seeing the big, tough warrior covered in giggling children was not something either of them had expected.

  “I take it; you know him?” Maggie asked appearing breathless.

  “Yes, he is with me. This is my friend Tarvok. Tarvok this is Dr. Maggie Jensen.” Jess said, the way she’d learned from Jax.

  “I heard her introduce herself. I’m sure I can handle keeping the children busy while you finish your conversation, there are some things children should not hear.” Tarvok said pointedly to Maggie, as if to chastise her.

  “Oooh!” Was all Maggie managed to utter before she stormed off back to the picnic table.

  “Wow, you know how to make an impression Tarvok,” Amun teased.

  “Yes, I don’t understand why the little ones like me.” Tarvok said curiously, not even realizing Amun had been referring to Dr. Maggie. Amun just laughed and led Jess back to the still fuming Dr. Maggie.

  “If you’re well enough, I’d like for us to get started right away. I’m worried about some of the more life-threatening injuries a few of them have. In fact, Lily is at the top of the list of children who need to be seen.” Maggie tried to put the infuriating Tarvok out of her mind and concentrate on the children.

  “What’s wrong with Lily?” Amun and Jess asked at the same time causing Jess to blush.

  “At four years old, Lily is our youngest and most injured child. She’s been with us for six months now; Banatar heard from a source that she had been kept with a foster family that was being paid by the Relians. She was barely alive when he took her from them and brought her here.” They waited while Dr. Maggie paused to collect herself and blink away the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

  “They had kept her in a cage, and used a cattle prod on her; the repeated shocks damaged her heart. Then there're the malnutrition and dehydration she suffered and the regular beatings. The night before Banatar got her; she was severely dehydrated and they used a taser on her.”

  “I don’t understand how it happened, but where the taser had gone into her arm, it caught her arms on fire. The fire had spread to her legs before they threw some water on her to put it out. And they left her in that cage like that; until Banatar got to her the next night. She’d lain like that all…” Jess caught Maggie in a hug as the woman burst into tears. She didn’t need to finish the sentence for Amun and Jess to know that those animals had left that baby in indescribable pain and near death for hours.

  Amun looked back to where Lily was giggling with the other children and wanted nothing more than to kill the monsters who had harmed that wonderful little girl. While the women tried to pull themselves together, Amun took a harder look at the children.

  The first thing he noticed was the various limps and scars that were visible where clothing couldn’t hide them. Worse than that he thought; were the haunted looks behind the smiles and restrained giggles. These kids had been through more than anyone could understand; except for Jess and Tarvok.

  “Anyway, she needs her heart repaired. And the scars… then there’s Justin, our only little boy…” Maggie began before Amun cut her off.

  “Show me your medical area now. I may need a bigger space for my equipment. Tarvok, stay with the children while we get a MedLab set up to start treatment.” Amun didn’t wait for the woman to answer; he just led her out of the door with Jess following.

  “Ivint, we have nine, I repeat nine small children who need serious medical treatment now; one of which has a heart problem and may not be stable. I need several portable MedLab’s set up here at their medical area immediately; equipment that can be left here. I’ll see to the training of a staff personally with your permission sir.”

  Amun spoke determinedly into his comm, his long strides urging the doctor to walk faster. He needed to get started now. He couldn’t stand the thought of those children going another minute with those scars reminding them of the horror they’ve been through, o worse take a chance of one of them dying. This was the one thing he could do to help.

  “We’ve got a MedLab transport porting in an hour with everything you need. You let me know immediately if you need anything else for them. Understood?” You couldn’t mistake the authority in Ivint’s tone.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Amun stopped and looked around the large room that the doctor had led them into; other than a bunch of unrecognizable machines, six beds and a dozen counters, it was bare. It was perfect.

  “We need to clear everything out of this room before our gear arrives.” Amun said, thinking aloud.

  Maggie and Jess exchanged a look and started rolling the beds and equipment out of the room and into an empty room down the hall. By the time they stopped working the entire room looked like a MedLab aboard one of the ships, complete with a MedLab team courtesy of Ivint.

  “We’re ready to bring Lily in; we can bring the others in one at a time after we’ve had a chance to evaluate her and get her treatment started.” Amun said to the room in general. He wanted everyone to know it was going to work the same as any trauma situation
.

  “They won’t come in alone; they're too scared. They all come in together when they get treated, they don’t like to be separated. And we don’t want to traumatize them any further.” Maggie explained, hoping that they wouldn’t try to force the issue.

  “Then bring them all in at once with Tarvok. Jess I want you to stay too. Lily might be more comfortable with you here. And if the others see she’s fine, then they might not be so afraid.” Amun knew that it was a good reason, but it wasn’t his reason. He just wanted her to be with him.

  “Ok, I’ll stay. I can do this.” Jess pulled her breath in and out a couple of times to try to calm her nerves. She didn’t want to be in here for this. The thought of seeing those scars on their tiny little bodies sent a rage through her like she’d never felt before.

  Jess smiled when she saw Lily was the first in the door. The little imp ran to Jess and took a leap into her arms.

  “You’re a brave little thing aren’t you? How about Amun heals, you first and you show all the others that this is easy?” Jess whispered confidentially into Lily’s ear, pulling back to smile at the little girl and move a silky strand of hair out of her eyes.

  Lily looked really nervous, her eyes darting around the room at all the Valendran men.

  “I’ll be here the whole time baby, and I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you. Neither will Amun, Maggie and Tarvok. We’d beat up anyone who tried.” Jess said teasingly, trying to make her smile.

  “Add me to that list Jess; no one is getting past me.” One of Adaria’s MedLab tech’s said.

  “Me too.” Was the chorus around the room as each of them vowed to protect the children. The children giggled while Maggie wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “I’ll do it if you stay with me.” Lily whispered loudly to Jess.

  “I’m not moving.” Jess sat Lily in the first bed and stood to the side of the bed and held the little girl's hand while Amun ran the necessary scans with two other techs. Maggie watched him intently while mimicking his actions on her own scanner that he had given her to learn with. Once the scans were complete, Amun showed the results to Maggie.

  “I had no idea it was that bad.” She muttered before Amun’s glare silenced her from making another outburst.

  “Lily, I know Dr. Maggie’s told you that you had a heart problem right?” At Lily’s frightened nod, he continued.

  “Your heart is having a really hard time keeping up with you right now, and we need to fix it very soon. To do that, I need to be able to put you to sleep for just a little while. Can you let me do that?” Amun asked her softly. He definitely didn’t want to frighten her further, but she was going to have this done with her permission or not.

  “I promise I won’t leave you for a second. Everyone else will be in here, and they’ll tell you that I never left, when you wake up. I promise he won’t hurt you honey. He healed me, and I was in pretty bad shape too. He even had to make me a new lung!” Jess hated to see the fear in Lily’s eyes, but she knew that she had to convince her to let Amun heal her.

  “Ewww a lung? You don’t have to replace my heart do you?” Lily asked with her face scrunched up with disgust.

  “No, we don’t have to replace your heart. But we do have to fix it really quick, or we might have to replace it.” Amun tried to be as honest as he could without scaring her more.

  “Ok then, if we have to.” Lily flopped back on the bed and spread her arms out to her sides and closed her eyes. When everyone just stared at her for a moment, she opened up one eye and looked up at them.

  “Let’s get this over with already.” Lily told them with a dramatic sigh.

  “As you wish.” Amun laughed as he sent the codes for the medicine to go through the mediband on her wrist, and she was asleep in seconds. The other children watched with fascination as Amun set to work showing Dr. Maggie how to repair Lily’s heart. At Amun’s nod, the techs began the scans on the other children.

  Maggie was amazed as she watched some of the scars on Lily’s body heal almost before her eyes; in reality, it had been hours since Amun had started working on her. The new scans that she and Amun had just run showed the Nano technology had already repaired sixty-five percent of the damage to her heart. She would need daily treatments for at least a week before she would be healed completely, but there was no longer a worry of her heart giving out on her.

  “I need to see to the other children, are you alright staying here with her?” Amun asked Jess tenderly, lightly touching her shoulder.

  “I’m not leaving her side; I promised her.” Jess said rubbing Lily’s hand gently, as if hoping the child would know she was still with her.

  “You’re an amazing woman, Jess.” Amun couldn’t help it; he leaned down and kissed the top of her head then moved on to the next child.

  Jess looked up in surprise at the feel of his warm lips on her forehead, the heat seeming to spread throughout her body. Just as she started to enjoy it, he walked away. She wasn’t sure if she should be grateful or angry that he had.

  She watched Amun as he tended to each of the children, his caring nature putting each child at ease as he explained their treatment to them. Several other children needed daily treatments, mostly for the more serious scars and broken bones.

  For one little girl, it was for the multiple breaks in her leg that had never healed correctly due to lack of treatment. Jess knew exactly how she felt, so when Amun brought her over to Jess so Jess could show the girl her own legs, she willingly did so.

  It was heartbreaking to see what they had been through, but incredible to see the true smiles and excitement as they watched their scars and injuries disappear.

  Chapter Nine

  “Shhh, don’t wake them up!” The loudly spoken words woke Jess up immediately. She leaned herself up from where she’d been laying and looked at the nine smiling faces surrounding her.

  “Aww man, you woke them up!” That voice woke up Amun next; which was when she realized she’d been sleeping on Amun’s chest? She jerked her hands back from his stomach quickly and stood up. Amun caught her before she stumbled into Lily’s bed.

  “You stayed like you said.” Jess and Amun both turned to the sound of Lily’s voice from the bed next to them. Her adorable face was almost glowing with excitement and health; her eyes shining up at them.

  “I knew she would! Jess always helped, no matter what. Doncha remember?” One of the other little girls piped in.

  It was a long night, with not much sleep for any of them. It had taken most of the night until Amun was confident that the worst injuries were on their way to being healed and the minor ones already gone.

  And true to her word, Jess had never once left Lily’s side. Amun smiled as he brushed back a stray lock of hair from her eyes. She’d been wonderful last night. She’d told stories to the other children as, he and the techs worked on the other two who had to be put to sleep for the healing to be started. And she’d smiled and cheered with the children over every single scar that disappeared off of their bodies.

  One little girl with a horribly deep scar that ran from her nose to her ear, had thrown herself into Amun’s arms and cried like a baby when she saw the scar was almost completely gone and her face no longer contorted from the mass of tissue. Now her beautiful smile lit up the room, the scar nothing more than a faint thin line, that would be entirely gone by tomorrow.

  Dr. Maggie had to leave the room several times to try to control her emotions and the tears that flowed freely at seeing the happiness on the children’s faces. Even the tough Valendran males were caught wiping moisture from their eyes.

  Looking around the room, Amun could see that all of them were exhausted from the physical and emotional toll it had taken to heal them all. A few of the techs were still sleeping next to the beds of the children they’d treated.

  “Of course I stayed; I keep my promise's honey. How do you feel?” Jess asked holding tightly to Lily’s hand.

  “I feel wonderful! Thank you Jess!
Thank you Amun!” No one was more surprised than Amun and Jess when Lily launched herself from the bed and into Amun’s arms.

  Amun closed his eyes and held onto her tiny little body tightly, his beast and protective instincts warring with his emotions. His beast screaming that the child belonged to him… and Jess.

  “Oh my! You all look so wonderful!” Everyone turned at Dr. Maggie’s voice.

  Lily jumped out of Amun’s arms and ran with the other children to Maggie, so they could show her all the things that had healed since she’d gone to bed a few hours ago. Her affection for the children was evident in the way she hugged and cheered with each one of them.

  “Oh, what do you have there honey?” Maggie asked curiously.

  “While most everyone was asleep; we made a few things to say thank you for helping us.” Justin said proudly. It had been obvious to the adults early on that he, and Lily were the official speakers for the group; some; too shy to speak unless they had to.

  The techs that had been awake shrugged in response to Amun’s questioning look. Looking at his comm, he realized he and Jess had only been asleep for three hours. That meant some of the children hadn’t slept at all.

  When the adults all looked confused and didn’t say anything the children’s faces seemed to fall, thinking they didn’t want what they had made. Feeling terrible that her exhaustion left her slower than normal, Jess tried to make it up to the children.

  “That’s was wonderful of each of you! How did you manage to do something like that so quickly?” She managed to put enough excitement in her voice to perk the children right back up again.

  They had all began chattering at once; the best that Jess could figure was that each of them had used their own unique gifts to create each item, specifically for each person. Jess didn’t fully understand until Lily handed her a small, cool object.

  Adults and children watched expectantly while she turned it over in her hand. It was half the size of her palm and not very heavy at all; the details etched so vividly she could swear it was going to talk to her. They even somehow knew to carve the collar around Gibly’s neck, the black eyes carved in the black stone twinkling at her. It was the most beautiful carving she’d ever seen; and stared at the children in amazement that they could create something such as this.