CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Put him on the table quick" Adam said as his team burst through the doors of the med bay with Brennan carrying what seemed to be the lifeless body of the molecular.

Leaning down to check on Jesse's breathing, Adam let out a breath of relieved as he realized that the molecular still had a pulse. Leaping into action, he quickly stripped Jesse of his shirt, and wasted no time hooking him up to various machines with the aid of the other mutants.

"Brennan, go to the med supply room and get me whatever liters of blood supply we have of Jesse's, now! He's still with us but his pulse is weak. He's lost too much blood." Adam said as he examined the gaping wound on Jesse's chest trying to contain the bleeding. Adam shook his head as he discovered that the bullet had nicked an artery in the molecular's heart and was still lodged precariously in the molecular. They needed to get the bullet out and they needed to get it out now before it moved its way around and caused more damage. Adam said a silent prayer that the molecular would be able to withstand the surgery in his weak state.

The med bay was a bevy of activity as everyone worked feverishly to assist Adam. It had been a miracle that Jesse had made it back to Sanctuary alive although they very nearly lost him a couple of times during the journey back. Brennan had taken the helix to speeds that were never tested, and if there was any way that he could be saved they were determined to do it. They worked silently as the weak but constant beeping of the heart monitor fed them hope that the molecular might actually make it through this.

There was silence in the room as Adam carefully made his first incision on Jesse's chest. Adam grimaced as a steady stream of blood flowed from the cut knowing that there was not much more blood that Jesse could afford to lose. Signaling for Emma to wipe the blood, he went deeper until he finally reached the tip of the precariously lodged bullet. Taking a deep breath, and trying hard to control his hands from shaking, Adam slowly retracted the bullet.

Inch by inch the bullet slowly made its way out of its position. Adam and the rest of the mutants were about to let out a breath of relief when suddenly the final removal of the bullet was followed by a spurt of blood uncontrollably gushing from the wound.

"We've got trouble", Adam said, as he quickly motioned Shalimar to suction the blood so that he could get a clearer view of the damage the bullet had caused. "Blood pressure's dropping" Brennan said worriedly.

"There's a tear in the artery caused by the bullet. Every time the heart pumps blood he'll bleed out. I've got to go in and close it up now or we'll lose him." Adam said quickly reaching for his suture kit.

"Hurry Adam, he's losing too much blood too quickly. Pulse is dangerously weak and pressure still dropping." Emma said almost on the verge of tears.

"This is not gonna work." Adam stepped back after a while shaking his head, suture still in hand. "I can't get a clear enough view of the wound to go in and close it up. All the blood is obstructing everything. I can't go in if I can't see what I'm doing. I might cause more damage." Adam said frustrated as he threw down the suture kit on the pan in front of him and turned to Brennan. "Brennan, listen carefully. You're the only one who can do this. I need you to shoot a well aimed tesla coil right where the bleeding is, just enough to burn the surrounding tissues so that the cut will close up"

"What? Are you crazy Adam?" Brennan said shaking his head. "The wrong amount of power would kill him. I, I don't think I can do this.." Brennan stammered, horror evident in his expression at the thought that Jesse's life or death would very much depend on his control of his powers.

Suddenly, they were all interrupted by the continuous resounding beep of the heart monitor.

"Oh God! He's flat lined!" Shalimar exclaimed. "Do something!"

"Now Brennan!" Adam said as he suctioned whatever blood was surrounding the heart that had now stopped pumping, enough to give Brennan a clear view of the tear. "Remember just a slight zap to the surrounding tissue. Come on you can do it!"

After a slight hesitation, Brennan took a deep breath and said a silent prayer as he fired up a small tesla coil on his index finger and aimed it at the tear.

"I got it! He said as he quickly inspected the tissue that had seared just enough to close up the tear in the artery.

"Okay good Brennan! Now lets bring him back and quickly" Adam said as everyone cleared away from Jesse whilst Brennan gave a zap that was enough to make the body of the molecular jerk upwards. All eyes went to the heart monitor as the continuous resounding beep indicated no activity. "Come on Jesse" Brennan said as he fired up another tesla coil and repeated the process.

Shalimar who was standing at the side of Jesse's bed watched as tears flowed down her cheeks. "Please, please Jesse comeback" she whispered as Brennan threw yet another tesla coil at the inert form of the molecular.

Everyone watched in silent prayer as Brennan repeatedly threw a tesla coil at Jesse's body willing his heart to beat again.

Suddenly there was a jump in the beeping of the heart monitor followed by another, and another….

Emma who had both hands cupped at her mouth looked at Adam in almost disbelief as Adam quickly instructed Brennan to stop and inspected Jesse's vitals. "We have him back" Adam said, relieved clearly evident in his voice, as he assessed the tear that Brennan cauterized and saw that it was holding in blood that was now slowly being pumped by Jesse's heart. Satisfied, he set to work to close up the wound.

Emma took the breath she had been holding and let her tears finally fall freely as she hugged the also crying Shalimar as Brennan looked on with both hands on his head and taking deep breaths, clearly exhausted at the effort it took to jumpstart Jesse's heart.

"He's very very weak" Adam said as he took off his surgical gloves and joined the others at the viewing room outside the medical bay. "It's a miracle we got him back. He hardly has a pulse and his blood pressure is dangerously low. His brain went without oxygen for a good few minutes and there's no telling what effect that has on him now. The next 24 hours will be vital." He said grimly as the rest of the Mutant x team listened with worried faces glancing every now and again at the molecular that lay in the med bay with countless wires and equipment hooked up to his pallid form. "The only thing we can do now is pray" he said as he left the team to go clean up and change from his blood splattered clothes.

Shalimar went back into the med bay and took Jesse's limp hands and sat next to him determined to maintain a vigil as she listened to the slow beeping of the monitors. Brennan and Emma watched the scene from outside each deep in their own thoughts.

It had been a very close call and they were still not out of the woods yet. The events that happened that day kept replaying in Brennan's head. He shook his head as he tried to make sense out of it.

"Adam said his body had a foreign substance that suppressed his mutant abilities. That's why he couldn't just phase and get out of there" Brennan said repeating Adam's findings that he had reported to them earlier as much to himself as to Emma who was standing behind him as he leaned on the glass walls of the medical bay. "Jesse would have known that right? If not, why didn't he try to escape earlier or at least get out of his cuffs?" Brennan said as he continued to rationalize the events that had transpired. "He, he must have forgot" Brennan said. "I think his adrenaline just took over and he simply forgot. I mean he's so used to stepping in front of a bullet it must be like second nature to him that when he jumped between me and the bullet, he, he must have just forgotten about the suppressor." Brennan finished, his eyes never leaving Jesse's unconscious body.

Emma who had been sitting on a stool behind Brennan slowly got up and walked towards him at the med bay window, eyes still on Jesse as she stopped beside Brennan and said "He didn't forget".

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. Really appreciate it. There's even some familiar names. What can I say, you guys rock!

Here's another installment but please don't be too overly critical okay cos I know absolutely nothing about medicine and surgery. Just writing this for fun and please drop a review if you like it :-)