The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (38 page)

Justin felt a cold lump in the pit of his stomach.
Fitzgerald couldn't die! They needed him. There had to be a way to
pull him back, to give him a reason to live, if that was what was
wrong with him.

“
Would
it be possible to see him, Borgen?” he asked quietly.

“
Yes,
of course. I think that that is a very good idea, sir.” The
servitor stood up and motioned for them to follow him.

When they reached the front room of the house, they
found Dhalena standing at the front window, staring outside.

“
My
dear, I am taking the young ones to see Fitzgerald now,” Borgen
told her. His voice was gentle.

“
Yes,
I heard.” She turned to look at the teens and Justin was
surprised to see tears slipping down her bronze cheeks. I didn't know
that machines could cry, he thought.

“
Please,
do what you can for him, won't you? He may be the only hope for
Sanctuary.” she said, almost pleading. Maria hurried forward
and took Dhalena's hands in hers.

“
We
will do everything we can for him. I promise.”

“
You're
a good girl,” Dhalena whispered and gently hugged Maria. The
she released her and pushed her lightly toward the door. “Now
go, with my best wishes.” She turned away as if to hide her
tears.

None of the group was unaffected by Dhalena's grief and
Justin found his own eyes wet as they left the house.

“
The
medical center is only a block over,” Borgen said. “Please
follow me.”

The group followed the servitor out to the sidewalk and
turned left. As they walked along, Justin noticed just how empty the
streets were. There were only a few servitors in sight; one was
tending a garden, two more were talking as they walked past the group
on the other side of the street. But he noticed that most of the
houses were closed up and looked deserted. It gave the town a rather
sad and lonely feeling. Justin could imagine the streets bustling
with servitors coming and going and it left him a little depressed.

A few minutes later, after walking almost around the
block from Borgen's home, they reached the medical center. The
building was built of white brick, immaculately clean, with colorful
flowers growing beneath its many small windows. Borgen led them
inside.

“
Why
do servitors need a med center?” Aaron wondered.

“
When
we had replacement parts, this is where our people would come to be
repaired after an accident,” Borgen replied.

They stood in a large room with several cots lined up
around the walls, some chairs and a desk against the wall across from
the entrance. There was no one in sight.

Borgen walked over to the desk and pressed a button
centered on the top of it. Somewhere deeper inside the building, they
heard the chime of a bell.

They all stood and waited. “Do you think Mr.
Fitzgerald is okay, Justin?” Maria asked. She was whispering as
though afraid to disturb any patients.

“
No
way to know until we see him, Maria,” Justin replied in a
hushed voice. “I'm trying to be optimistic about it.”

“
Well,
if he's anything like the way you described him,” Julia
murmured, “I'm sure he's tough enough to pull through.”

Justin smiled at her in appreciation. Then he stood
there, glancing around and tapping his foot impatiently.

“
Yes?
May I help you?”

Julia gave a little scream as a servitor, dressed all in
white with a small machine attached to his belt, walked into the
room.

“
Ah,
Borgen! Good to see you,” the medical servitor continued. “And
who are these young people? Is someone injured?”

“
Good
day, Stabel. These are the visitors you may have heard about. Young
Titans all.”

The medic's eyes widened. “Titans? Actual Titans!
Why, I never thought I'd see this day. After so very long, you walk
amongst us again.” He bowed deeply to the teens and they looked
at each other, red-faced and very embarrassed.

“
There's
no need to bow to us. Stabel, is it?” Maria said quickly.
“We're just a bunch of kids, after all.”

“
So
humble, aren't they?” Borgen said admiringly. “A joy to
be around.” Justin glowered at him and Borgen winked. Justin
turned away for a moment, trying not to laugh. Borgen was just
teasing them.

“
But,
we are here on important business, my friend,” Borgen
continued, sounding quite serious again. “These are friends of
Fitzgerald, eager to check on him and see his condition for
themselves.”

Stabel peered at the teens, obviously impressed.
“Friends to a legend! How marvelous. But I am afraid that the
news is not at all good. Fitzgerald is in very serious condition.
Nothing I do seems to help. He is, I am afraid, fading away, and
there is nothing that I can do to stop it.”

“
May
we see him please, Stabel?” Justin asked anxiously.

“
Yes,
yes, of course. Please follow me. And try to be as quiet as possible.
If he can recover, he needs as much rest as he can get.”

The medic led them out of the entrance room and into a
long corridor. There were no sounds except their own footsteps. The
air smelled of a curious mixture of disinfectant and ozone. The
entire place was shiny clean.

A turn in the corridor brought them to a large door. It
was the first door that Justin had seen in ages that had an actual
handle on it. Stabel turned the handle and pushed the door open.

“
He's
in here,” he said quietly and waved everyone into the room.

The room was large, with a window covered tightly with
thick curtains, two chairs sitting against the far wall. The walls
and ceiling were white. Across the tiled floor was a bed with a thick
quilt on top. A man lay still and seemingly lifeless in the bed, his
head propped up by a couple of large pillows. Justin recognized him
at once and Aaron's gasp beside him told him that his friend did too.
It was Mr. Fitzgerald.

Justin looked at Stabel. “May I..?” he
pointed at the bed.

“
You
may approach him. I don't believe he knows that anyone is here.”

Exchanging glances with Aaron, they both walked slowly
over to the bed and looked down at Mr. Fitzgerald. The others hung
back and waited.

The man looked nothing like Justin remembered. When he
had first seen him, his first day in Sanctuary, Justin had been
impressed by Fitzgerald's air of command. Tall, immaculately dressed
in an old fashioned suit, the man had been reading papers, jotting
down notes and taking reports from Guardians, almost simultaneously.
When he spoke, he commanded the room with his mere presence alone.

Now, he looked reduced, a shadow of his former self. Mr.
Fitzgerald had lost weight from his spare frame. He wasn't skeletal,
but he looked emaciated and worn out. He was very pale and his skin
seemed almost translucent. His breathing was so shallow that Justin
had to watch carefully to see the quilt rise and fall.

“
Geez,
Just, he looks horrible,” Aaron said quietly. “I barely
recognize him.”

“
Yeah,
I know. Me too.” He turned and motioned for Stabel to join
them.

When the medic came over, Justin looked back at
Fitzgerald. “What's wrong with him, Stabel?” he
whispered.

“
As
I understand it, Fitzgerald was protecting a room where several of
your fellow Titans had taken refuge. He sealed them in and defended
the door for as long as he could.” Stabel looked down at his
patient with an expression of both of sadness and pride. “He
would not be moved. Several of the renegades fell at his hand. But he
was overwhelmed. He was pierced by titanium arrows and blades, yet it
was only when he received a massive blow to the head that he fell.
Thinking him dead, his attackers moved on and that is when one of our
people was able to succor him and bring him down here to us.”

“
Wow.”
Aaron looked down at Fitzgerald, obviously impressed. “He's
even tougher than I thought he was. But, he looks okay now. I mean,
except for the fact that he's unconscious and everything.”

“
Yes,
I was able to treat his wounds. But the head trauma, that is where
the difficulty lies. The damage is deep within his brain and I cannot
chance going in to repair it. Such an operation would almost
certainly prove fatal.” Stabel shrugged and said mournfully
“And so I stand here, day after day, not knowing if he will
live or die. It is a terrible thing to be a healer who cannot heal.
Terrible.”

Justin patted the servitor. “You've done all you
can, Stabel. I want you to know that we all appreciate it.” He
thought for a moment. “But maybe there is something that we can
do now.”

“
You?”
Stabel looked at Justin, a sudden hope in his eyes. “You can
heal him?”

With a shake of his head, Justin turned and looked at
his friends. “Not me. Him,” and he pointed at Richard.

Richard's eye widened and he took a step back. “Now
hang on, Justin. I don't know what would happen if I tried that with
Mr. Fitzgerald. Healing a Titan, okay I know I can do that. But
healing a human? Man, I might kill him!”

Justin looked sadly back at the dying man. “He's
going to die anyway, Rich. Stabel is being kind to give us hope, but
you can see it on Fitzgerald's face. He's drifting away from life
moment by moment.” He walked over to Richard and gave him a
little shake. “What more harm can you do?”

“
I'm
sorry to interrupt, but you are a healer?” Stabel asked Richard
as he walked up to him.

When Richard hesitated, Aaron spoke up. “You bet
he is! He's a descendant of Phoebe and we've seen him in action.”

Stabel's eyes widened. “Descended from Phoebe?
Truly?” He grabbed Richard's hand and almost pulled him across
the room. “Then you must try, sir. You must! Your friend is
correct.” He seemed to sag into himself. “I...I cannot do
more for him. I simply wait and watch, dreading the moment that I
must announce his death.” He looked at Richard again, who was
still hesitating. “If you can do something, anything, you would
have my gratitude.”

“
But,
but what if I can't heal him? What if I only” Richard swallowed
noisily, “hasten his death?”

Stabel sighed wearily. “Even that would be a
kindness now, I think. A man like Fitzgerald would not want to linger
like this, I believe. Do you think that lying in this bed, day after
day, humbled and broken by his enemies, is how Fitzgerald would like
to spend his final hours? No. Better to go out fighting, protecting,
than to be brought low by those...abominations.”

“
Richard,”
Maria finally spoke up. She walked over and put her arm around him.
“I know you. You're a gentle soul. Part of being a healer, I
suppose. Can you stand by and let this man linger on the edge of
death, knowing that you might have saved him?”

Richard's eyes had become fixed on Mr. Fitzgerald. He
approached the bed and looked at him intently. Justin could see the
compassion in his eyes. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took
both of the man's hands in his own.

“
No,
I can't,” he murmured and closed his eyes.

No one in the room moved. Looking around, Justin saw
Julia and Yolanda holding hands. Julia was crying quietly. Jason was
leaning against the wall, his face so intent that Justin could almost
feel him willing Richard to succeed. Maria and Aaron's expression
matched Jason's. As for himself, Justin could only hope and wait.

Without Fitzgerald's experience and wisdom, he doubted
that they would stand a chance against the renegade Titans. And, he
decided in that moment, I will not lead a hopeless attack that will
get my friends killed. I won't!

How long they stood there, staring at Richard as he
attempted his healing, Justin never knew. But eventually, Richard sat
back with a sigh and released Mr. Fitzgerald's hands. His face was
gray with fatigue and he stretched his back with a grimace of pain.

As he stood up, the others waited breathlessly. “How
is he doing, Rich?” Justin asked quietly.