Ready

Hearing the nurse, Scott doesn't move yet. He knew Justin was waiting on him as well, but it didn't make it any easier.

Finally, he lifts his head and gives Hope's hand another squeeze. "I love you too," he whispers. He probably wouldn't be back - he knew that. He'd already broken a whole list of rules and would be lucky if Brookshire didn't lock him up. It wasn't as easy as just packing up and leaving from a place like that... once in the system, there were channels, and he'd completely overstepped his bounds on this one. Justin might help him, but even so, it wouldn't be easy, and... there was a chance that Hope wouldn't survive either. Even though he didn't want to acknowledge it, it was still a fact.

Leaning down, Scott gives Hope's lips a tender kiss. He couldn't say goodbye, so he would just leave it as it was. Slowly backing away from the bed, his fingers slip from hers. He glances at the nurse before his eyes fall to the floor and he trudges out of the room.

Justin spots him and approaches slowly. "You ready?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah."

Scott looks up to see his face. "I'm ready."


Left stranded in the hall, Alec stares after Sapphire as she follows the medics. He shrugs lamely. "Okay then," he says to the empty hall. Turning around, he goes back to his apartment, only to reemerge with his keys and jacket.


The ride to the hospital is a swift one and the medical team does what it can, though Gage's eyes do not open. Once to the hospital, they take him to the ER but force Sapphire to wait outside while the doctors are summoned.

It's at least an hour later before a doctor finds Sapphire in the waiting room. "Hi, Miss... Johnson?" He smiles kindly. "I want you to know that Gage is stable and we have him in his own room now." He glances at his clipboard and sighs. "Unfortunately, we don't know long he's going to be asleep. Apparently, he's been taking a drug that is usually used to keep an individual alert, however, it's often misused as an upper and often results in an overdose. However, I think in Gage's case, it isn't that he took too much at once, but I believe his body is severely sleep deprived."

The doctor cocks his head. "You see, eventually if a body doesn't get enough sleep, it will simply shut down. Though I'm unsure, my guess would be that Gage was keeping himself awake for so long that it finally caught up with him."

He purses his lips grimly. "Though he is stable right now, he has entered into a coma. It could last only a few hours or a few days, or... well, my guess would be a few days." He doesn't voice that it could be indefinite. "Right now, the best thing is to simply let his body sleep and slowly recover. We're monitoring him closely." He gestures to the nearby hall. "Feel free to see him if you like."