Parts One to Four
 

"Now are you sure you want to stay here?" Katie Malloy asked.

"Mom, it's not that I want to, I need to." Trent replied, sighing. "You know Carlos is on that case with Walker and we have to have someone to be at the office. Now have a good time. Call me."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaassse come to Florida with us." Tyler pleaded. "You haven't been on a vacation with us in a long time."

"I know Ty, and I'm sorry, I'll come next year, promise." Trent waved as his family piled into the car. Once they were gone, he walked back into the house and flopped on the couch with a sigh. Sure, Florida would be great, especially with all the stress he'd been going through lately.

Walker had asked Trent and Carlos if one of them would join him up in Northern Texas on a special case, and Carlos won the toss, leaving Trent with Thunder Karate, and Thunder Investigations. Kim was still with him, but now he had no assistant teacher at Thunder Karate, what with Tommy going to the Sunshine state; his main purpose most likely to pick up girls none the less. Trent was exhausted. He had stayed up until three last night (and thinking about it, the last five nights too) working on a new case, and then was awakened at six by very eager Tandy and Tyler. He rubbed his eyes wearily and relaxed, promising himself only a minute or two of shut eye.
 
 

Trent jolted awake at the sound of the phone ringing. He scrambled up and grabbed the phone.

"ello?"

"Trent? Is that you? You sound sick." Kim's cheery voice echoed through the phone.

"Kim? Oh, no, I'm fine, I was just-"

"Sleeping?"

"Yeah," Trent admitted.

"Well, do you know what time it is?"

"No."

"It's 12 o'clock Trent! The phones are ringing off the hook, you had a class two hours ago, and your new client has threatened to find someone else."

"I know Kim, I'm sorry. I guess I've just been really busy, with Carlos gone and all. I'm on my way!"
 
 

"Please let me come Trent! With Carlos gone you need a good partner." Kim pleaded

"Good point. I just hope Butch isn't busy." Trent smiled.

"AGGGGHHH! Trent, ME ME ME!!"

"Fine, come on." Trent left the office almost as soon as he got there. The executive that wanted his help finally had provided enough information for Trent to take down his former partner. Now there was just that one little thing to do, and the case was closed

As they were driving down to the scene Trent explained to Kim the whole case so that she could be informed when they got there. "Now, Mashan might be aware of the investigation, so be very careful. We're talking about a million dollar theft, so he's probably capable of anything."

"Okay," Kim replied.

Trent made sure to be on his toes when they pulled up to the home of Edward Mashan, ready for anything, or so he thought.

It was Kim who noticed the gun barrel pointed at Trent's head from the second story window. "Trent!" She screamed, "Get down!" She pushed him down as the gunman opened fire on the two. Soon the shots died down, and Trent sat up, and looked at Kim, who strained to sit up. Then he noticed the blood.

"Kim, you've been shot!"

"What, it's only a shoulder wound." Kim flinched in pain as she sat up.

Trent gently pushed her back. "Lay down," he took off his shirt and wrapped it around Kim's right shoulder. He then called 911. "Shots fired on 125 Oak Grove Lane, one down.." Trent pressed end on his cell and then saw Mashan running out the side door.

"Go Trent" Kim exclaimed. "I'm not going anywhere."

Trent soon caught up to Mashan, and pulled out one of his throwing stars and threw, landing one in the middle of his back. Mashan went down just as the ambulance was arriving, along with the police. Trent impatiently gave his statement, and then rushed to the hospital to see how Kim was doing.
 
 

"She just came out of surgery, we want to keep her here for observation for about four or five days, but she's gonna be fine. The bullet went through clean. We put her in a regular room, you can go see her now." A doctor replied to Trent's question when he demanded to know where Kim was.

Trent walked into Kim's room, concerned, but not for too long.

"I can't believe this, five days???? Five days??? I'll go crazy, I swear I will. Trent, get me out of here, right now! This is so ridiculous, I'm perfectly fine. And this ungodly food, and there's not even cable." Kim complained as soon as Trent walked into her room.

"So I take it you're feeling better?" He asked, with an amused grin on his face.

"Better?? Of course I am!! There's nothing wrong with me, I just got nicked, they didn't even need to put me to sleep to sew the dang hole up. And they have this ridiculous IV hooked up too, I DON'T NEED THIS!!!!! And besides, you need me at the office, with Carlos gone, so I can't stay here."

"Kim, take this opportunity to get some well deserved rest." Trent persuaded her.

"I'm not the one who's been running myself into the ground." Kim accused. "If anyone should've gotten shot it was YOU!!"

Trent cringed. "I'm sorry Kim, I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"Oh Trent. I didn't mean it like that. You might make yourself sick if you don't slow down. You can't do everything. I don't care that much about getting shot, I feel like a real investigator now!"

Trent shook his head, smiling. "How about I bring you your laptop so you can at least have the Internet while you're here, and I'll come visit you every day."

"Would you? Oh thanks Trent!"
 
 

"And ki ya, kick, kick, ki ya. Good class, keep it up." Trent smiled at his eager class of elementary students.

It had been since Kim had been shot, and Trent had been left with everything, and he thought he was doing okay. He was exhausted, but in control, or so he thought. He had been darting in between Thunder Karate and Thunder Investigations, teaching classes and helping those who needed help. So he worked his butt off. Carlos hadn't called, neither had his mom, but even if they did they probably wouldn't have caught him. He had two buisnesses to run, and Kim to visit and entertain daily. The stress was taking it's toll.

After his students had begun to leave, Trent raced to his office, checked the messages, returned some calls, and sped out to Thunder Investigations.
 
 

"Look, there he is," Walker whispered to Carlos. "If we can just keep up visual for a couple more days then we've got the whole deal." He sat back down next to Carlos, who was wearing a frown on his face.

"Walker, I don't know why, but I have this nagging feeling that Trent needs some help. He's got a lot to do, and I don't know if it's possible for any normal human being to handle everything."

"But Trent's not normal. He's probably doing fine." Walker tried to assure him. "Well, why don't you call him, it's only 10, he'll be up."

Carlos shrugged and pulled out his cell phone. After the fourth ring the answering machine picked up. Carlos left a hasty message and sighed as he hung up the phone. "He wasn't home."

"Try him tomorrow morning," Walker suggested. "If he really needed help, I'm sure he'd call someone."
 
 

It was two in the morning when Trent finally got home. He had skipped dinner, lunch, and even breakfast, but just grabbed a granola bar to tide him over until the next day. The lingering tickle in his throat for the past couple of days had grown into a full fledged cough, and he felt really groggy. He also felt hot but knew that there was no way he could get sick, there was too much to do. "I can't get sick, I'm not sick," he muttered as he sank to the couch to check the answering machine. His hand never reached it; he was asleep as soon as his body hit the couch.
 
 

Trent awoke the next morning with a hacking cough. He sat up, and grabbed his stomach and raced to the bathroom, and promptly threw up all of the food he had consumed during the previous day. His throat burned, his eyes watered, and his left side was starting to feel like he had just run a really long marathon. He moaned and grabbed the cough syrup out of the bathroom medicine cabinet. He gulped down some, not bothering to check to see how much he needed. He walked out of the bathroom, and his eyes caught his reflection in the mirror.

He looked horrible. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was disheveled. His eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles around them, and his face was flushed. He felt worse than he looked. He had classes, and was supposed to meet with a client about investigating into his daughter's 'extracurricular activities.' Plus there was the paperwork, and he had to work some of his students to prepare them for an upcoming tournament. There was no time for sick days, especially when there was no one to take over.

Trent forced himself to take a cold shower and tried to make himself look halfway human. It was a hard task, but finally, he looked a little more alive. He even felt a little better, but decided that his stomach probably couldn't take any food, so he drank some water and went to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Jamerson.
 
 

"So what kind of activities do you think your daughter may be involved in?" Trent asked the worried looking Jamersons.

"Well, she's been acting oddly lately" Mrs. Jamerson started.

"Oddly how?" Trent questioned, stifling a yawn.

"Well, she's been acting....Drunk almost, or even stoned when she comes home, which is usually now at about six. She leaves at about 10 AM without any explanation. Plus she's been partying late, and we've even caught her sneaking out after her curfew. Janie's only 15, I don't want anything to happen to her. That's why we came to you guys. The police won't do anything."

"We just want to get her help if she needs it," Mr. Jamerson added.

"Okay, I'll get back to you about when I can start, here's the number of my karate school if you can't get a hold of me at the office." He handed them a card.

"Thank you," Mrs. Jamerson replied.

Trent said his good-byes and walked outside to his car. He couldn't hold it anymore. He let out a coughing fit that lasted for several minutes and left him breathless and weak. He attempted to stop trembling from sudden chills and drove over to the office.
 
 

"Hey Butch," Trent greeted his friend wearily as he sat down on one of the bar stools.

"Hey Trent, what can I get for ya? And how's Kim?"

"She's as good as a caged animal can be. And get me a coffee."

"Okay." Butch set about fixing the coffee. When he brought it back, he took a good look at Trent. "Say Trent, you don't look so good. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Trent lied. "I've just been out late a-" He coughed a couple of times. "And I have a little bit of a cold, I guess." He quickly gulped down the coffee and got up. "I'll see you later Butch." He walked to the direction of the office.

"Yeah, see ya." Butch watched the young man walk away. He knew Carlos was called off to help Walker, and with Kim stuck at the hospital, he suspected that Trent was alone with all the work, but how was he really handling it?
 
 

Trent looked at the pile of paperwork that needed to be done. Then he looked at the clock.

"Shoot," he muttered. He had a class in ten minutes. He put the papers back on Kim's desk and headed back to Thunder Karate.
 
 

Trent sighed with relief when he saw that his students weren't arriving yet. He quickly got set up for class, and finished just as his students were arriving.

He decided to spend some of the class talking to the young kids about their upcoming tournament, and paired them up to work on some moves. He walked around, giving tips and suggestions, and was glad that he wasn't asked to give any demonstrations. The kids seemed content just practicing. The class ended, and Trent saw he had just enough time to get some more paperwork done before his next class.

He started walking to the office, but didn't even make it through the doorway. He felt his knees buckle, and Trent collapsed to the floor, darkness overpowering him.
 
 

A loud group of teenage boys walked toward Thunder Karate, talking about their latest tournament.

"Yeah, and I think we could even beat that Jake Lyons guy's students too!" One boy exclaimed.

"Uh huh, especially with Trent, he's the best teacher. With the tournament coming up in two weeks, he's sure to have us ready," another one piped in.

They got to the door, and the 5 boys walked inside.

"Hey, the equipment isn't set up yet. Where's Trent?"

Suddenly one of the boys caught sight of half a leg at the doorway of Trent's office. "Oh no. Trent?!"

They rushed over to his sprawled out body, and one checked his pulse. "Call 911!" he yelled. "His pulse is there, but it's awful fast."

"Trent, man, can you hear me? Trent?"

Another boy knelt down beside him. "Do you see any injuries?"

"No, it looks like he just passed out!"

The boy who called 911 turned back to them. "Is he breathing?"

"Yeah, but it's like he's having trouble, and they're short, quick breaths........Shoot, his lips are getting blue too!"

The boy told the 911 operator, and stayed on the phone, listening to some more instructions. He turned back to his friends. "There's an ambulance on the way. The operator said to get him in a flat position and to tilt his head back to clear his airway a little more."

"Should we call Carlos?"

"Who's Carlos?"

"Trent's friend. He works with Trent at their PI office, the number should be around here somewhere..........Got it!" He held up a business card.

The boys heard the ambulance sirens approaching, so the boy hung up the phone and took the bussiness card.

Another boy snatched it out of his hand and quickly called the number up. He waited, and then left a message. "Hi this is Toby, uh, Carlos, me and my friends take a Karate class from Trent and we found him when we came to class, he collapsed, they're taking him to the hospital, I think Dallas General. The ambulance is here, I better go." He hung up. "I hope he gets the message."

The paramedics came in and took over. "How long has he been out?"

"We don't know." Toby answered. "We found him when we came in for class.

"Okay, let's move him," they placed Trent on a stretcher and carried him off.

A police officer walked in the doors, and saw the teenage boys huddled over in a corner. "Are you the boys that called 911?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, you did good, now, where are your parents?"
 
 

"His temps 104.7!" a medic called out.

"His O2 levels are way too low," another called out.

"Okay, let's get him started on oxygen. That'll help the breathing. Has he come to yet?"

"No, he's not responding," an EMT quickly snapped an oxygen mask on Trent and raised the level up.

The paramedics quickly wheeled Trent into the hospital ER, and were joined up by several doctors.

"What have we got?" one doctor asked.

"Name's Trent Malloy, found by several of his Karate students. Don't know how long he's been out, temp was 104.7 in the ambulance, O2 levels way too low, he's having trouble breathing," an EMT called out.

"Okay, let's get him to exam room one and get some tests run, look over his medical history, put him on some major oxygen, and let's try to wake him up."
 
 

Carlos crept silently up to the warehouse and drew his gun. The drug dealers he and Walker had been staking out were finally going down. Walker had him covered, so he came around and faced the lone head dealer. "Police! Freeze!"

To his surprise, the large man didn't put up a fight, he just put his hands up. "Please man, don't shoot," he pleaded timidly.

Carlos looked at the man, sighed and put his gun away. "Walker, we got the wrong guy!"
 
 

"The results of the CBC are back doctor."

Dr. Anjer took a look at the CBC and compared them to the chest x-rays he had been given. "It's what I thought it was." He shook his head.

"The culture pulled up the Klebseiella strain."

"Uh huh, that explains the extended high of the white blood cells and the chest x-rays, how's Mr. Malloy doing on the O2?"

"His levels are way too low, even with the Oxygen, and we can't seem to break the fever bellow 104. And he still hasn't woken up."

Dr. Anjer looked at the tests worriedly. "Has he said anything?"

"He muttered a name I think, starts with the letter B. He also said something like Car." One young nurse replied.

"Okay, somebody find out where he works. And try to contact any family members." The nurse hurried off. "Now, about his medical history. Who got that?"

"Here doctor."

He studied it for a moment. "Oh, he had punctured lung from a stab wound about six months ago. That'll increase the infection. Now why don't we-"

Suddenly a nurse ran into the exam room that Dr. Anjer was studying. "Doctor, Mr. Malloy stopped breathing!" she ran out, the doctor and another nurse at her heels.

"Okay, start CPR and administer oxygen!" he yelled when they entered the room. "Nurse Calloway, call up ICU. Tell them to have a room and a respirator ready for our arrival," he turned back to Trent. "We gotta transfer him to ICU, so let's try to stabilize him."
 
 

"Kim?" Butch walked into her room.

Kim was busy tapping on her laptop, and quickly looked up. "Butch!" she exclaimed. She looked surprised to see him.

"Hi, I just stopped by to see how you're feeling," he looked at the sling on her arm, not being used. "Isn't your arm supposed to be in that?" he pointed.

"Oh yeah. Well, it doesn't hurt, and I have to have both of my typing hands free," She smiled.

"Good. Oh, Kim, has Trent stopped by in the last couple of days?"

Kim's smile faded. "You mean you haven't seen him either?"

"No."

"Oh no. Well, why don't you stop by Thunder Investigations and see if there are any messages? I'll walk you to the door."

They started walking to the elevator and Kim started walking back to her room. There were two nurses in front of her, and they were having an interesting conversation.

"So, Katie, how are things down in the ER?"

"As good as can be expected. How are you guys doing in ICU."

"I suppose the same. We have a patient, a young guy, up there, and he slipped into a coma yesterday. We haven't been able to get in contact with his family, but we're not sure if he'll make it. Amazing too, he's in incredible shape, a karate instructor or something."

"Wow, DaLana, that's terrible."

The nurse continued but Kim didn't hear her. She felt sick, and slipped quietly back into her room. She grabbed the phone and called Uppercuts, but the person who picked up the phone said that Butch was already upstairs.
 
 

Butch was making his own discovery. He saw the blinking light on the answering machine, and pushed the button to listen to the messages. As he heard the first message, his eyes got wide, and he raced out of the office, not bothering to close the door.
 
 

"So what you're saying is that you came into that warehouse just to meet your girlfriend?" Carlos shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe this. I don't BELIEVE THIS! Lalos and his gang are still at large, we have no idea as of where they may be, and they sick YOU to be the bait."

Walker entered the room where Carlos was questioning the man they found in the warehouse. "Carlos, we have an unidentified source who called in a minute ago and gave us the whereabouts of the gang, supposedly. There's a team ready, let's go."
 
 

Butch raced into the front of the hospital, and ran over to the receptionist. "There was a man admitted here a few days ago, Trent Malloy. Could you tell me where he is now and what's wrong?"

The woman quickly turned to her computer and looked it up. After studying the results she turned back to him. "I'm sorry, are you family?"

"No ma'am, but I'm a good friend."

She turned back to the computer."I'm sorry sir, but I can't release information about an ICU patient unless you're-" she stopped when she realized Butch was no longer listening, he was on his way to ICU.
 
 

Butch pushed open the sliding doors to the ICU unit of the hospital and rushed in. He walked down the hallway and was met with an astonished nurse.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Yes you may," he looked at her name tag. "DaLana. I've got a friend here, Trent Malloy, and I need to see him."

"Sir, I can't let you see him unless you have permission from either him or another family member, and you can't recieve any information about his condition either."

"Well, go in there and ask him then."

"Um, sir, I can tell you this: Mr. Malloy's been in a coma for nearly two days. Now if you can contact any family he has, right now, he's in critical condition and we're not exactly sure if he'll make it through the next few days."

"What!? What's wrong with him, what can I do?"

"I'm sorry sir, I've said too much already," she hurried away, leaving Butch with a whole lot of unanswered questions.

"Kim, we've got a problem," Butch briskly walked into Kim's room.

"Butch, I'm so glad you're here! I heard two nurses talking and one of them was talking about this guy in ICU, and it sounded like Trent!"

"It is Trent, and they won't let me in to see him. Where's his mom, she needs to know."

"She's in Florida with the kids, I don't know where, and I have no clue as of the number."

"Okay, I'm going to check at his house, if I have to break in I will. What about Walker and Carlos?"

"They're way north of here, and there's absolutely no way of contacting Carlos, he has to call down here," Kim explained, sighing.

"Well then, it looks like I'd better find his mom, and quick. Bye Kim." Butch smiled. "And we should do what Trent would do in this situation: Pray."
 
 

Carlos and Walker quietly approached the warehouse that Lalos and his workers were supposed to be, according to the idiot they found in the other warehouse. Guns drawn, they signaled for the backup to go in. Carlos just knew this had to be the right place, and his hunch was correct. The drug dealers weren't expecting the surprise, and, after a large scuffle, the dealers were on their way to be held until the trial.

"Well Carlos," Walker began as he put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "It looks like we've finally gotten them."

"Yeah," Carlos answered. "It sure does."
 
 

Butch sighed. He'd looked all over the house, but there was no unlocked door, no opened window and no spare key. He looked around, and decided that the best door to knock down would be the back door. He braced himself, and with one swift kick, the door came down. He quickly walked into the kitchen, looking for any kind of phone number. He opened drawers, and finally found a small piece of paper with the words 'Americano' scribbled on it, as well as a phone number and room number. Butch wasted no time in dialing the number, then, after the direction of the operator, punched in the room number.

He waited, and waited, and waited, but there was no answer. "Why would there be an answer?" Butch muttered to himself. "People go to the beach to swim, not to stay in their room all day."

He redialed the front desk and, after much pleading, convinced the desk clerk to page Katie Malloy, to see if she was on the pool deck.
 
 

Tommy thought about giving up, but he just couldn't. He was totally flaunting himself in front of this adorable brunet whom he had just fallen in love with the first time he saw. But she was just smiling, pretending to be absorbed in a huge book. He plopped into the lounge chair next to her and smiled. "Hey, let's go in the hot tub."

She gave him an amused grin. "Let's not."

"Come on, pleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssee? I'll buy you a virgin Pina Colada."

She sighed, but it was clear that she was enjoying every minute of it. "Fine." She allowed herself to be pulled over to the pool bar, and then to the hot tub.

Just as Tommy was about to get in the hot tub with the cutie, the loudspeaker came on.

'Katie Malloy please report to the front desk immediately. You have an urgent phone call.'

"Hey Tommy, isn't that for your mom?" the brunet asked.

"Um, yeah......." Tommy didn't give much thought in getting the call. "But it's probably just my brother. He can call back later," he jumped in the hot tub, sat next to the girl, and casually put his arm around her shoulders. To his delight she didn't resist.

Butch slammed the phone down. No one came after ten minutes, so the clerk told him to keep trying their room, and he might be able to catch Katie. That's just what he'd have to do.

He knew he couldn't see Trent, or even find anything about his condition, but he went to the hospital anyway. Kim was probably killing herself with worry.

"Kim?" Butch walked into her room, but there wasn't any Kim.

"Boo!"

Butch quickly turned around to see the redhead smiling at him. "Oh, Kim. What are you doing out of bed?"

"I'm going to be released in two days, and they took the IV out, so I did a little exploring."

"Well, did you find anything?"

She shook her head. "Not much. It's next to impossible to get in ICU, but I did get a little out of a candystriper. She obviously doesn't know hospital policy. It's enough to worry me. Trent's on a resperator, his oxygen levels were too low, and he stopped breathing in the ER when they brought him in. The little airhead didn't know what's wrong with him though."

"Darn. Well, I'm gonna try Mrs. Malloy again," he pulled out the piece of paper.

Just as Katie was about to run out the door of the condo to chase Tyler, the phone rang. Tandy dove to pick it up, and after a minute handed it to Katie.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Malloy?"

"Yes? Is that you Butch?" Katie wasn't liking the circumstances of the call very much so far.

"Yeah, um, I hate to have to tell you this, but-"

"Dear God, what is it Butch?" she cut him off, hysteria growing in her voice.

"Well, we don't know what's wrong with Trent, just that he's in ICU and very sick. The hospital won't tell us, we're not family. But a nurse told me that they're not even sure he'll make it through the next couple of days."

Katie sank into a chair to keep her knees from giving. She took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll be there as soon as we can," she hung up without a goodbye, tears running down her cheeks.

Tandy had found Tyler, and the two of them walked back through the open door, and saw their mother.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Tandy asked.

"Tandy, honey, I want you and Tyler to pack your bags as quickly as you can. I'll be back in a minute." She walked out, leaving her two children wondering.

"Okay Tyler, let's pack," Tandy shrugged her shoulders.

Katie ran onto the pool deck, where Tommy was talking intently to the girl. "Tommy, come on, we have to go," she said quickly, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Tommy looked up, and saw his mother's expression. "What is it, Mom?"

Katie took a deep breath. "It's Trent, B-Butch called, and they-they won't let him see Trent, apparantly Trent's in ICU, and, they're not sure if he'll make it," she fought hard to keep from breaking down.

Tommy was in shock. "Oh my gosh, the phone call," he whispered. He felt a wave of guilt flood over him. But he had to stay composed for his mother. "Okay, Mom, I'll be up in one second," he tore a piece of paper out of the girl's notebook, quickly scribbled down an address, and handed to her. "Call me or e-mail me babe," he followed his mother off the pool deck.

The Malloys finished packing at 12 noon, and Katie wasn't looking forward to the 12 hour drive back to Dallas. They checked out of the hotel, and Tommy, Tandy and Tyler knew that they could only pray that they could get there on time to see their brother alive.
 
 

Butch paced anxiously outside the ICU section, wondering if Katie would ever get there. He had tried countless times to get into ICU to see Trent, but every nurse who saw him wouldn't permit him to enter. He gave up on the pacing and flopped into one of the uncomfortable brown chairs. Just as he was about to go crazy, the whole Malloy gang rushed in. They were quite a sight. Tommy was holding a sleeping Tyler, and Katie was attempting to balance Tandy, who was also sleeping. Butch started to speak but Katie held up her free hand to silence him. She and Tommy carried the two younger Malloys into the ICU waiting room and laid them out on two of the couches there. They walked back in the hall and then Katie spoke.

"Tommy, I want you to go back in the waiting room for a few minutes until Butch and I find out what's going on, then you can go back there with us."

Tommy started to protest but he decided against it and just sighed. "Yes Ma'am," he muttered and walked back into the waiting room.

Katie then wasted no time in marching beyond those forboding doors and quickly found a nurse. "Excuse me."

The nurse looked up. "May I help you?" she asked.

"Yes you may. I'm Katie Malloy, Trent Malloy's mother. Me and my other children were on a vacation and Butch here called us. We got here as soon as we could."

"Oh, Mrs. Malloy." The nurse smiled. "It's so good that you're here. Um, you'll have to talk to Dr. Anjer, he's Mr. Malloy's physician, and he's actually on call right now, I'll page him," she quickly paged him and within minutes, the doctor strode in.

"Hello Mrs. Malloy," he shook her hand.

Butch shook the doctor's hand. "I'm Butch McMann. I contacted Mrs. Malloy."

"Butch is a dear friend, so I'd like him to be here." Katie explained.

"That's fine," Dr. Anjer replied. "Now, would you have a seat, I'll explain Mr. Malloy's condition and then you can see him." He opened a file. "Mr. Malloy has Klebsiella Pneumonia. It's a rare, but fatal bacterial strain of the disease. He collapsed about three days ago, and they brought him in. While in the ER he stopped breathing and we moved him up here. We have him on a respirator and on Gentamycin, an antibiotic that should decrease the increased rate of destruction of the tissue in his lungs and it should reduce the amount of fluid building up as well. But it doesn't work to prevent the spread until the fever is down, and his has stayed at about 104 since he was brought in. Unfortunetely, he's also in a coma, and the antibiotics aren't taking effect, yet."

Katie was in shock. She looked at the doctor. "What are his chances of surviving this?" she asked, her voice even.

"Well, right now, it's a fifty fifty chance."

"How could he have gotten this?" Katie asked. "Is it contagious?"

"No, it's not contagious. Now, Mr. Malloy had a lung injury about six months ago, correct?" At Katie's nod, he continued. "Even after an extended period of time, the injured lung is still weak and therefore it increases the chance of a lung disease. And added stress and not eating right, or even overworking can weaken the body's immune system, so a disease like this could spring up. And if it's not treated correctly and as quickly as possible it can be fatal," he looked at them, sympathetic. "I know this will be a difficult time, and the hospital will do everything we can to help. Would you like to see him now?"

"Yes please." She followed him to Trent's room. She walked over and sat down in the chair beside his bed.

Trent looked so young, so innocent, laying there. The only thing keeping his comatose body from death were the many machines that were breathing for him, feeding his body with nutrients, and measuring every heartbeat his heart took. Katie felt her eyes filling with tears. This was her little boy, her first son, and no matter how old he was, he was still her baby. She picked up a lifeless hand and held it with both of hers. "Hey sweetie," she quietly spoke. "It's Mom." She couldn't stop it, the tears came. "Honey I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I can't bear to lose another one of you." She sat back and bowed her head, praying silently, pleading to her Savior that he would let her son survive.

Butch had waited outside the doorway, but he heard every word the desperate mother uttered. He quietly walked down the hallway to the waiting room, knowing that Tommy needed to know what was going on, and that his mother wouldn't be in the condition to explain it to him.

Tommy stood up immediatly when he saw Butch, worry written all over his face. "Butch," he started.

The older man held up his hand to silence him, and motioned Tommy to follow him out to the hall.

"Tommy," Butch began. "Trent's sick, really sick. He's got pnemonia. Your mom's with him right now. The doctors, they don't know if he'll make it."

Tommy couldn't speak. He just stared at Butch. "Can, can I see him?" he asked.

"Yeah, come on." Butch led Tommy through the swinging double doors. "I'm gonna go get your mom and take her out to the waiting room to figure out what she's going to do with Tandy and Tyler," he explained when they got to a door, Tommy figured it was Trent's room. Butch disapeared inside the door, and, after a few moments, he and Katie emerged. Butch led Katie, whom Tommy realized had been crying, out the double doors. Tommy guessed that was his cue to go inside.

He quietly approached the still form of his brother, and flopped into the chair next to Trent's bed. "Hey Trent," he quietly spoke. He sat there for a moment, then his all his thoughts came out. "Trent man, you can't die. Please don't die. You've been so good to mom, Tandy and Tyler, and I don't think I could take your place. You've sorta become my dad, whether I admit it or not. You're amazing, and no one, especially me, could take your place. Don't die, please don't die," he whispered, his voice trailing off.

Tommy felt tears brimming, but he angrily pushed them away, embarrassed. He got up and walked out where his mother was walking towards him.

She pulled Tommy into a tight embrace. "It's okay, honey, Trent's gonna be okay," she mummered, stroking his hair.

Tommy couldn't help it, he started to cry. "Mom, I've never seen him like that before. He looked-he looked, dead. How, how could God let something like this happen to Trent."

"Tommy, it's just like what I've told you before, God has a plan for everything, and he will NEVER test us beyond what we can handle. You just have to believe that." She looked at Tommy, "Now, Butch is taking Tandy and Tyler home, but you have the choice. You can go, or stay. Now I'd appreciate it, if you decided to go, if you'd give the church a call and notify them of our situation, it'd be a big help. And it might be a good idea to call Carlos."

"I'll go with Butch," Tommy answered. He followed Butch out of the hospital.
 
 

Carlos was exhausted. The interogating of the drug dealers hadn't gone too well, but, after four hours, they had finally gotten enough out of the leader to make the arrest stick. The trial was scheduled, and Carlos and Walker could finally go home.

"Man, I'm wishing now that I got to stay home like Trent did," Carlos remarked. "This has been tourture!"

"Yeah, just be glad you don't have to do it often any more," Walker responded.

Carlos just nodded.
 
 

Butch had gotten a babysitter for Tandy and Tyler, and Tommy was about to follow him out to the car when he realized something.

"Oh Butch, wait one second, I gotta call Carlos." He ran back into the house and left a hasty message on Carlos' answering machine. He ran back out to the car.
 
 

Carlos casually pressed the button to get his messages, deleting most of them, until he got to the last one.

"Hi Carlos, um this is Tommy. I'm kinda in a rush, so when you get this, just come to Dallas General Hospital as soon as you can. Bye."

Carlos dropped the mail he was sorting, and, grabbing his keys, raced out to his car.