A Tangled Web

I still cannot believe the doctor's words. I knew my son was still alive but to hear the man apologize for a misdiagnosis was not something I was expecting. It seems that his wound was far less severe than they had originally thought and the heart was not compromised at all. The short story is that Blair is now in a recovery room and from there he will be moved directly into a regular room... there's no need for him to be in ICU. I am so relieved but then I catch a glimpse of Jim's eyes and I am caught totally off guard. I can see relief there too but through the link I can feel that there's something else troubling him.

I ask him mentally what it is but he can't really explain... as far as he is concerned what the doctor just told us makes no sense at all. He was there when Blair was stabbed and he knew how bad it had really been... in fact for a moment he had been sure his guide's heart had been punctured. Even though Jim knows a fatal wound when he sees it he had originally managed to accept the doctor's explanation that only the pericardium had been damaged in the attack, he had even felt relieved by the fact that he had overestimated how serious the situation really was. The problem is that Jim knows enough to know that this 'second' misdiagnosis cannot be explained... or rather he knows that it cannot possibly be explained by natural means. It takes me a second for the implications of what he is saying to sink in and then I realize in how much trouble we really are.

I am all too aware of the fact that we have to come up with a way to get Blair out of here before the doctors notice that they are dealing with a 'miracle'. We were lucky in that the initial and more devastating assessment was made by Jim alone so the hospital staff is unaware of it, but the second one has been recorded on his charts and since he is being closely monitored it will be only a matter of hours at best before they figure out that there is something unusual going on.

That means we don't have much time before the men in black show up. That has to be our top priority... we'll have time to figure out just what on Earth is going on later. I know most of the Scoobies have been following my little talk with Jim through the link and they are already planning possible diversions but it's not going to be that simple. If it were just the nine of us it would be easy enough but Blair's colleagues are here and the fact that they are detectives doesn't exactly help matters either. We will need to find a way to get Blair out of here legally and that is bound to be a challenge.

I turn to Methos, knowing that he is the one most likely to come up with a viable plan, but he is not sure of what to do either. Getting dead Immortals out of the morgue, he is familiar with, getting should-be-terminally-injured shamans out of recovery rooms is not his thing. I know Willow could probably take care of Blair's medical records without leaving a trail using a computer but right now there are just too many people around who know about Blair's condition for a memory spell to work, and modifying his records while he is here and they can still remember is not an option. Modifying those records is something that will have to be done once we are out of here, obviously, but I know we can't risk it just yet.

I know Jim has Blair's power of attorney and I am his father so theoretically we could demand that he be released against medical advise, but that would cause too many questions to be asked and I know Jim's colleagues wouldn't buy it. They just know him too well not to question such a move.

To make matters worse --or better, I'm not sure-- I sense that my son is beginning to stir and I know that if he is already fighting the anesthetic we are running out of time. It is just one more sign that something unusual is going on here. I let him know that we are here and I tell him to fake it, to do everything in his power to conceal the fact that he is awake. We need to keep them from asking questions for as long as we can. The good news is that given that Blair is now awake that means we can monitor the situation up in his room so that we can take desperate action should it become necessary... the bad news is that we are still one plan short and we just don't know what are we supposed to do to get him out of here.

I see Captain Banks giving me a strange look and when he pulls me aside I realize that he is aware that there is something going on between us. Not knowing what else to do I come clean to him. I know he is aware of the existence of vampires, slayers, Immortals and demons but I'm still reluctant to trust him however I know I don't really have a choice. We need to get Blair out of here and he and his men represent our biggest obstacle. The hospital I'm almost sure we can handle with a combination of misdirection, surprise and magic but I know my son well enough to realize that he would have a hard time forgiving us for messing with his friends' memories. After a long suffering 'I don't want to hear about it' he manages to get his people out of here for a few minutes, giving us the window of opportunity we so desperately needed.