Ari fed and watered the dogs quickly, giving them as much attention as she could in a limited amount of time. She knew that they would be okay, but she wasn't sure about Logan, so she hurried. When she got back in, it had only been a few minutes. Logan was still sleeping, so Ari made sure that her assistant, was going to be able to take care of the animals at the preserve in her absence. She was relieved to find out that Donna had already been into the hospital, and fed, watered and cleaned all of their cages today. Thank goodness she lived close... and had a snowmobile! Donna assured her that everything would be taken care of, and she was confident that it would. She had left everything in Donna's hands before. She was a capable, faithful friend. She also knew that no one would be able to take care of her dogs for a while, she was hoping that if help DID arrive that she would be able to take them with her. Next, she added logs to the dying fire.
That taken care of, she relaxed a little. She didn't know what to expect, she had taken the Professor at his word when he said that they would come, so she went upstairs to get some things packed. She was definitely not letting anyone take Logan anywhere without her. She threw some things together into a duffle-bag, hurriedly. She didn't take much... she didn't need much. She was used to hiking and camping, living with just the necessities, for days at a time. She wondered where they would go, and how long she would be gone. She shrugged it off... it didn't matter. Whatever the outcome, Logan was worth it.
On her way downstairs she heard him beginning to moan. She just about lost her balance, dropping her things and running to his side. He was trying to sit up, and he was holding his stomach doubled over in pain again. "I've got to get up..." he said, hoarsely, gritting his teeth. "Where are you trying to go, Logan? What do you want to do?" she pleaded, trying to force him to lie back down. "I ... need you to .... help me ... up ...."
He tried to stand before she was ready, but his knees buckled and he fell headfirst onto the floor. Ari let out a little shriek and fell to her knees beside him. "Logan... Logan, are you okay?" she cried, the terror rising in her again. She struggled to roll him over onto his back. He was out cold, and he seemed to weigh a ton. She finally got him on his back. "Logan, please be okay...Oh, God..." she begged. She felt his head. He was still hot.
Ari was beginning to panic, but then she remembered that she could still do something for him. She closed her eyes and willed her presence stronger inside his mind. She sent him powerful messages of comfort and calm. She begged him to fight the virus with everything he had in him. She laid down on the floor next to him and curled her body up close to his, touching him softly everywhere with her hands, making sure to avoid his stomach. She wiped his face with the rag, and then his chest, his arms, talking to him softly with her mind. She told him funny stories about her childhood, and also sad ones. She told him about how she never got along with other children at school, normal children.... how they made fun of the gray in her hair... and never understood her. She was just so different from everyone else. She told him about how her father eventually took her out of school, when she was seven, and hired a tutor to teach her at home. She told him how she had flourished after that, not caring at all that she wasn't around children her age. She and her father spent as much time together as they wanted... and they did a lot. They fished and hiked, and spent much of their time in the field, studying wolves together. She told Logan a about her wolves... how wonderful they were, so complex... she told him of their strong family ties, about their mating rituals, gestation, birth, how the parents raise their young and even how the uncles would take care of the pups that would be their nieces and nephews while their parents go off to hunt. She talked on and on until she fell asleep next to him, on the floor, her arm lying on his chest and one leg draped over his.
Ari awoke suddenly, someone was shaking her shoulder and calling to her softly. She blinked, and looked up, squinting... confused. Then, startled back to reality, she quickly looked over at Logan. She was lying with her arm and leg over... She shook her head and jumped up quickly, licking her lips and stuttering..."I..I fell asleep... Logan... he fell..... he was too heavy for me to move."
Jean and Scott stood looking at her uncertainly for a moment, then Jean knelt down quickly to look at Logan. She opened the bag she had brought with her, and took out a stethoscope. She listened to his chest and heart, then took his vitals, frowning with worry.
Scott looked over at Ari and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Scott Summers..." Ari took his hand slowly, unable to hide her gaping stare at his visor. " I'm Ari... thanks for coming... umm.......How did you get here?" she asked, barely above a whisper, still in a state of shock over everything that was happening.
"We have a jet... a pilot met us at the preserve headquarters with a helicopter and 2 snowmobiles,... he's waiting outside for us to load Logan on, then he'll take us back to the jet." he said matter of factly, smiling and nodding his head reassuringly, as if that was all the explanation she needed. "Oh," she said softly, nodding her head, eyes wide, one eyebrow raised, "I see."
Jean was finished with her exam, she stood and stretched out her hand. "I'm Jean Summers, we talked on the phone." They shook hands. Ari was amazed at how beautiful she was. Scott and Jean were dressed in colorful snowsuits, and it was obvious that they were good people, fit, strong and intelligent. Ari was feeling very relieved. Logan appeared to be in extremely capable hands. She blinked the cobwebs out of her head, and attempted to think clearly.
"Let's get him onto the stretcher, Scott." Jean said, packing her supplies. "Ari, Do you have another bottle of IV solution? This one's almost empty." she said, motioning to the bottle hanging on the lamp.
"Of course," Ari said hurrying to get one. They exchanged the bottles quickly. Scott had retrieved the stretcher and they moved Logan onto it quickly and professionally. Jean covered him in blankets and they strapped him down, looking up at each other nervously. They both knew what would happen if Logan woke up. So did Ari, and she didn't like seeing him tied there. When they had him ready, they stood, and Scott stretched out his hand to her. " Thank you for calling, it was nice..." Ari broke his words off sharply, shocked. "I'm coming with you." she said. Scott turned his head to Jean and she looked at him dubiously, unsure.
"I am going where Logan goes." Ari said loudly. " I promised him that I would stay with him, and you're not taking him anywhere without me!" her voice grew more and more panicked with every word. Jean looked down at her clothes, her eyebrows raised. She was still wearing the same thing she'd put on last night to wear to bed. "I'll throw on a snow-suit...I'll be fast, I already have a duffle-bag packed.... and we'll need to take Logan's." She ran to get her things. She was ready in lightning speed, and on her way back into the room, it struck her that they had never yet agreed to take her. She pulled her snow-suit and boots up over her father's clothes, wishing she had time to change. She shrugged the thought off... she was going... and that was that.
Scott and Jean came back in from putting Logan on the helicopter. They stood in her doorway, stomping snow off their boots and talking quietly. She walked up and handed them Logan's things... and then hers. They didn't argue. Good. "Did you say we would be meeting your jet... at my office?" Scott nodded. "Ari, can you handle a snowmobile? Jean would like to ride in the helicopter... she can start treating Logan there."
"No problem," said Ari, "I have one more quick thing I need to do. I'll meet you outside." Scott looked at Jean, exasperated. "We don't have much time," he said. "I know, this won't take long." she said running to the kitchen.
Ari grabbed her work keys, and ran out to the kennel. She let her dogs out and ran around with them to the front of the cabin. Scott was already starting one of the snowmobiles when he saw Ari and the dogs. His mouth gaped in astonishment. "Ari, we can't take..." She waved her hand, dismissing it. "I know... there's no one to take care of them here... I'm just going to leave them at the office," she yelled over the whir of the helicopter. Scott sighed. She jumped onto the other snowmobile, started it, whistled loudly to her dogs, and took off. The dogs ran after her at breakneck speed, barking wildly, they were having a ball. Scott raised his eyebrows, smiled and nodded approvingly at her back. " Okay." He followed her closely, and the helicopter rose and flew on ahead of them. It was late afternoon, and darkness was already starting to make its' way over the forest, but the bright white of the snow made visibility easy for them. They reached the jet in less then ten minutes, and Ari immediately jumped off of her snowmobile and raced to the office door, calling her dogs to her as she went. She disappeared inside, and Scott went to help Jean and the pilot move Logan to the jet.
Ari was back in a few minutes, but by that time, a scene was already well under way. Logan had come to just as the pilot was leaving in his helicopter. It was loud, and he didn't know where he was, he was confused. Luckily, he had recognized Jean's voice, and they were able to undo the straps before he displayed his claws. He was very upset, and Ari could hear him yelling, weakly. "Where the Hell is Ari?... Get off a' me... I.....I need..." Jean and Scott were trying hard to convince him that she was coming, but he wasn't listening. " I'm right here, Logan," she said, stepping up into the jet. His face was tight with pain and worry, he was half sitting, and the blankets had fallen down off of him, exposing his chest to the cold. She quickly knelt next to him, and pulled the blankets up, easing him back down onto the stretcher. She held one hand tightly, and ran her other hand through his hair and talked to him softly, calming him down immediately. "SShhh, Logan, I'm right here... I'm not going anywhere,... you're going to be fine."
Scott and Jean stared, open-mouthed, at each other. " I think we should be going." Storm said quietly. They turned quickly. "Yes, you're right." Jean looked down at Ari. "Scott, Is it okay for her to stay here with Logan?" Scott looked a little unsure, but he thought it was probably best considering the alternative option.... which was, of course, the possibility of a half-crazed, berzerker mutant going off and turning them all into shish-ka-bobs. " That's fine... I'll be careful, it shouldn't be too bumpy."
Ari talked to Logan softly until he passed out again. She put her hands on his face and told him to fight. Then she stretched out next to him, her back against the wall, holding his hand.... looking around the inside of the jet. She could tell that they were going very fast. She'd never felt anything like it. She couldn't believe everything that had happened...that WAS happening. Who were these strange people, and how did Logan know them? The thought struck her that she didn't know anything about him. She felt so close to him, like she knew him intimately after the events of the last few days, but in truth, she knew nothing about him. She thought back, and realized that she had told him almost everything about her, but that he had never really offered any information about himself. She wouldn't even know about his... she looked down at the hand she was holding. She brought it slowly up to her face, and kissed it, moaning softly, remembering, then inspected it closely. There was no evidence of ... claws... she swallowed. There were no marks, no points under the skin... she felt up farther on his arm, frowning, she could feel the strange bone-structure buried there. Definitely not your normal human arm... she felt the three long straight claws deep under his skin next to his bones, nodding with wonder. His bones even felt strange....
"We're almost there. Is everything okay back there?" Scott said, loudly, from up in the front of the jet.
"He's fine...she shouted back.... for now." she said quietly, closing her eyes and kissing his hand softly.
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