A Scripta

Masonry leaned back in his chair, his head back, and almost falling asleep, when he heard a sharp rap on the window. He jerked awake, turned toward the sound.

He got up and went to the window, tugging at the sash and opening the curtain. He chuckled at the sight that met him and threw open the window. "Hey, Star."

"Hello Lodestar Nathan. You see Keen Frost?" The woman floated on her white wings in the air outside.

"Yeah."

"He better?"

"He's stable. Doctors are trying to get some nutrients in him to get his organs working right again. It's slow going." He looked down at the window pane. "He hasn't woken up yet."

"Rest heal?"

"That's what Jack says. I want to try and heal him, but I'm afraid to."

"Ummmm...N'shta say do what feel right."

He smiled a little. "When the time comes."

She nodded. "I go fly."

"You do that. I'll see you later."

She went straight up into the air and Mase closed the window.

About three hours later, Mase was gently caressing Frosty's arm, healing himself when he could no longer feel his fingertips. Frosty still generated frostbite, but it didn't mind Mase. To him it was a small discomfort.

Providence had come in to see him and drag him and Fyre away for a quick lunch. Both of them were distracted, and Prov understood that, so kept her chatter to a minimum. Food was sustenance, not something to be enjoyed yet. As soon as they were finished, they both almost ran back upstairs to their vigils.

Mase's focus was on Frosty, on caressing his arm. Mase rested his head on his own arm stretched across the bed railing and didn't hear someone come into the room.

"Mase."

Masonry jerked up at the voice, looking like a deer in headlights. He blushed suddenly and jumped up from his chair. "Hi..." he coughed, "Hi, Hisagi."

Hisagi crossed his arms and regarded Masonry with a stern look which eased up quickly. The two men switched places. "How is he?"

"No change since I called you."

"Hm." He gazed at his brother.

"I'm going to wait outside."

Hisagi nodded. Masonry went over to the busy nurse's station. One of them looked up and smiled, "Hi, Mr. Greene."

"Hey, Carol. Busy, I see."

"Shift change."

"You're staying?"

She nodded. "A double."

"That must be rough on your family."

"I don't have one."

"Not even a boyfriend?"

She looked down and blushed. "No."

"Are you serious? A pretty girl like you without a boyfriend? We should remedy that."

She blushed even more. One of the other nurses came by. "You like to make her blush," she said in heavily accented English.

"Wamuiru," Masonry said, and Jack fed him the rest of the words in Swahili, "[I am surrounded here by beautiful women, and it's only right and proper to make them happy.]"

Wamuiru laughed deeply. "[You like to see them blush, don't deny it.]"

"That too," Masonry said with a grin. "Maybe on your break, I can take you for coffee." He looked to the two of them, "Both of you."

They both smiled back at him. "Maybe," said Carol.

A male doctor glanced their way and said with a smile, "Mr. Greene, stop flirting with the hired help."

"Oh, should I flirt with you too, Dr. Eastman?"

The entire station started laughing, even while Eastman blushed slightly - and so did Masonry. He looked up at a round mirror that was mostly used for people to glance up at in case a cart was coming down the hall so they could avoid collisions. He could see the doorways of four rooms, one of which was Frosty's.

He nodded to Dr. Eastman, who came their way. "Any change?"

He shook his head. "None at all. His core body temperature is still -28 Celsius."

Masonry nodded. "Will there be any...damage if he doesn't wake up during a certain time?"

"I doubt it. His brain activity is still steady. I've seen something like this before in other heroes. He's in hibernation. If anything, he'll freeze."

Masonry's eyes widened slightly.

"I don't believe he'll freeze to death, Mr. Greene. Like I said, I've seen this before." He smiled. "As he warms up, we need to make sure there's no permanent damage to his organs because he didn't take in anything during that entire time he was on fire." He glanced at a screen. "Unfortunately the nutrients aren't going in because they're freezing as soon as they reach his skin. We need to add something to at least get it in his blood stream."

"Is his blood frozen?"

"It is very, very, very sluggish. The IV drip is down to one every five minutes."

"I can probably warm parts of his body, but not all at once, not without..." He swallowed and looked away.

"It's all right, Mr. Greene. We just need to take it slow."

Mase glanced up at the mirror again and saw Stronghold come out of the room. He glanced at Masonry, then the doctor. "This is Daisuke's brother," Masonry introduced him.

"We've already spoken," Stronghold said. He glanced around, looking like he was in a hurry.

"Oh, right. You're his next of kin, sorry." Mase turned away. "I'm going... back."

"Call me if there's any change, Mase. Doctor." He went down the hall, a man with a purpose.

Eastman glanced at Mase. Masonry smiled a little. "He's always like that." Though he acted a little more harried than usual.

"Do you want a TV in there?"

He shook his head. "I like the quiet. You get used to it after a while. Plus Jack is full of stories to keep me entertained."

"Jack? Oh, your Kheldian."

He smiled. "Does he need to sign a request for release of information, too?"

"I think the HIPPA rules don't quite apply," Eastman replied with a smile. "I'll check in on him soon."

Masonry nodded, turned to the two nurses who had gone back to work. "Remember, Carol, 'Iru. Breaktime."

"If you are not asleep, Mr. Greene," said Wamuiru.