Not A Fairy Tale Part 7/16
Title: Not A Fairy Tale Part 7
Author: TalliW
Pairings: Lester/Cutter!clone
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Fredbassett for beta-reading. I couldn't have done it without you.
The clone didn't understand much of the medical nonsense the doctor was telling them, but he grasped the meaning that it didn't look good for James Lester.
He demanded to see him but the doctor refused, arrogantly.
Before Nick could get really angry and teach the unfriendly old geezer some manners, Danny had taken Nick in a wristlock and forced him to move away from the doctor.
The man held his aching shoulder, where Nick had gripped him brutally, and looked daggers at him before he hurried away. Nick followed him with his eyes until he disappeared into a room down the corridor.
The moment Quinn was talking with the others, Nick seized the opportunity and ran down the corridor. He had memorised the room the doctor had gone into earlier and hoped it was James' hospital room.
The man on the bed was attached to blinking machines, tubes sticking out everywhere which made him look more like a strange creature than the person Nick was familiar with.
"James," the clone whispered in despair and knelt down beside the bed. His fingers searched for Lester's hand and gently closed around the lifeless digits.
Nick's head sank down beside the unconscious man's hip as silent sobs shook his body.
That was the condition Abby and Sarah found him in.
They retreated silently and went back to inform the others and stop the frantic search for the clone. He wouldn't go anywhere and he had deserved a moment alone with the man he cared for.
Danny had another opinion and Becker and Connor backed him up, much to Abby's and Sarah's annoyance.
Before the discussion about the rights of the clone could escalate into a outright dispute, they were interrupted by loud voices from the direction of Lester's hospital room.
A nurse had tried to remove the intruder from the room and the clone had struggled to stay inside.
By the look of it, the clone's stubbornness had won out, but the angry nurse scuttling away didn't bode well.
Danny stepped up next to the clone. "Time to go. You've got what you wanted. Now let's get out of here before the nurse comes back with the cavalry."
Nick didn't budge and Danny got mad. He had finally had enough of the impertinence of the guy.
With a firm grip on the clone's arm, Danny hauled the man up and fell down to the floor a second later, struck down by a right hook.
Becker rushed forwards but was stopped by Abby and Sarah, who clung to his arms on either side.
Connor, who had watched everything, unemotionally, now walked over to Danny to help him up, blocking his way to the clone at the same time.
They all stared at the clone now gently stroking Lester's hair and whispering pleas to wake up to the unconscious man.
Connor observed the clone, so similar, yet still so different, to the person he had worshiped, now kneeling desperately beside Lester's bed, and his voice choke as he said, "Let's leave them alone for a while. Perhaps it will bring Lester back knowing he's here and if not, then he can say goodbye, at least. We don't have the right to deny them a few last moments together."
He turned around and left the room and, after exchanging a few looks, the others followed him quietly.
The young doctor, the nurse had alerted looked at Nick with a furrowed brow and finally shrugged and gave the order to let him stay.
Half an hour later, Danny tried again to convince the clone to leave the room but this time he stood clear in case the clone had the intention of getting violent again.
"If you throw me in a cell, I'll just give you trouble. And I will just sit in there and feel miserable. Here, I can at least do something useful and keep him company. I promise I will not run away," the clone declared.
Danny couldn't argue with that logic. His desire to look the guy up had lessened by now. He had respect for people who fought for things they deemed important, no matter the consequences.
"My name is Dr. Felton," the young doctor introduced himself to Danny. "Are you related to Mr. Lester?"
"Danny Quinn. I'm just a workmate. How is he doing?"
"The only information I can give you is we have managed to get the brain swelling down. But whether he will wake up looks doubtful. Is the young man beside the bed his next of kin?"
"No, no. That's... a friend."
"I see. You should get his next of kin informed. We need someone who can make decisions about his further treatment. There are alternative therapies which could be helpful."
"I'll get in touch with his next of kin, doctor, " Danny assured the medic. He looked in compassion at the clone who hadn't moved the entire time. "Can he stay?
"That's fine by me. Just make sure he stays out of the way of the nurses."
When Danny asked his team mates, he realised they knew precious little about James Lester.
Abby shook her head. "We have worked with him for three years now and I would never have guessed he fancied Cutter and is gay."
"More like bisexual, actually. He has a wife and kids," Connor declared and added sheepishly "I took a look at his personal file when we started to work for the Home Office."
"Then we'd better call that wife of his. Connor, can you get me her number?"
Danny rubbed the bridge of his nose. The high-pitched voice of Mrs. Reardon, formerly Mrs. Lester, graded on his nerves.
"But you're still listed as his next of kin. It would be nice if you could come here to talk to the doctors."
"I'm afraid that isn't possible. I have to take care of my family," she answered and cut the call off.
Danny looked in dismay at his mobile. Apparently Lester didn't belong to her family any longer.
"I will stay here. He needs me," the clone said stubbornly and crossed his arms over his chest.
A nurse had brought him a chair so he could sit comfortably beside the bed and that was the place where he was still sitting in the evening.
Danny had sent home the others, only he had stayed. He had nowhere to go other than to a small, lonely flat, anyway.
"It's late. You can't stay the whole night. He doesn't even realise you're here," Danny tried to reason with the clone.
"I will stay. If I talk to him he will know he's not alone."
"For crying out loud! He can't hear you. He's in a coma. Maybe he will never wake up again."
The clone furrowed his brow and Danny sighed. "He got hurt very badly and his body has shut down to heal. But now he's sleeping so deeply that the doctors fear he will not wake up. He could stay in a coma forever."
"When I'm with him, he always feels better. I'll not leave him. I know he'll come back to me."
"OK, have it your own way," Danny hissed and left the clone behind.