CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Hi, I'm Crystal!

24 years old. I'm trying this out. Mostly a fanfiction writer. Pretty much only for jacksepticeye egos haha.


A JSE Fanfic
Chapter Two: Pulling the plug
[This is the second part of an INCOMPLETE SERIES that I wrote in about 2018-2019. I don't know if I'll ever finish it, but I still think there's good stuff in it, and merit in reposting it here. Chase visits Jack in the hospital, making a critical decision. An old friend returns before he can act.]
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As always, the hospital was lit by fluorescent bulbs, the artificial light making the white walls even brighter. The place was so clean and sterile that Chase felt dirty just standing there, even though he’d taken time to shower and change clothes. The curly-haired nurse at the reception desk—Jan, her ID read—greeted Chase in an overly happy voice, “Hello sir! Are you visiting or are you here for an appointment?”

“I’m, uh, just visiting,” Chase mumbled.

“Great! Do you need any help finding the patient you’re looking for?”

“No, I-I know where I’m going.”

“Visiting hours end at eight tonight, so don’t take too long.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

“Have a nice visit!”

Chase had long ago memorized the hallways. Even though it had been a while since he’d been there, he still remembered every step that led to the door labeled Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He swung open the door and made his way to Room 108. Patient: Jack William McLoughlin.

The room was silent except for the steady beep of the heart monitor. Just like every other room in the hospital, Jack’s was brightly lit at all times of day. There were no windows. What good would they do when the patient was never awake to look out them? Jack lay underneath the clean hospital blankets, breathing slowly and steadily. He was hooked up to various tubes for all his bodily functions: breathing, nutrition, you name it. Above the heart monitor, another jagged green line measured brain activity. A single, uncomfortable-looking hospital chair was placed next to the bed. Chase crossed the room and sat down.

He cleared his throat. “Hi, Jack.” He wasn’t sure if his friend could hear him, but it usually helped him keep up hope. “Just, uh, came to check up on you. It’s been a while. Everyone else is doing fine, in case you were wondering. We had plans to hang out today, but, uh, things happened…”

Chase swallowed nervously. As always, there was no answer from Jack, not even a twitch. Chase continued, “The kids were doin’ fine, last I saw them. It’s almost time for summer vacation. Trevor is really excited to start his second year. He’s gonna try out for football, he says. Bobby, well, she’s never really liked school, you know. I’m worried it’s because the other kids don’t play with her. She just needs to get her temper under control, and then…and then…”

Chase trailed off, feeling tears in his eyes. “I can’t do it, Jack,” he whispered. “Bobby and Trevor…they’re everything to me. They have so much life and potential and—and they’re just kids. And now he has them. I can’t—I can’t just leave them to him. you…you get it, right? You know why I’m going to do this, right? Please. I hope you’ll forgive me. I’m sorry.”

He’d never messed with the medical equipment before. He’d never had reason to. But it couldn’t be too hard. The life support machine had to run on electricity, and that meant there had to be a plug somewhere. Chase stood up, examining the equipment. Sure enough, a long cord ran from the bed to an outlet near the base of the wall.

Still, he hesitated. Was he really about to do it? Was he really about to kill his best friend?

What other choice was there?

He knelt by the outlet, grabbing the cord. Slowly, he started to pull it out…

“What are you doing!?”

Chase looked up, only to immediately get knocked away from the life support cord. His hat flew off and he landed flat on his back. “Hey!” He pushed himself up to a sitting position. “Who even—” he stopped. There was no way. It had to be a trick of some sort.

“Doc?”

Indeed, there was no mistaking the good doctor himself, Henrik von Schneeplestein. He looked absolutely terrible. He’d lost weight, his white coat was covered in old bloodstains, his glasses were missing, and there was a terrible scar around his neck. But his eyes were alight, and he stared at Chase with an expression of shock and anger.

“Yes, indeed, my friend,” the doctor said. “I do not think you would forget so easily. But maybe I am mistaken. If what I have seen you doing is what I think it is, then maybe your mind is missing entirely.”

“Wha—no, I—oh my god, you’re alive.” Chase slowly stood up, dazed, looking over every inch of his missing friend. “We all thought the worst—I mean, we never gave up hope—well, Marvin got close, I think, but maybe that’s just the pessimist in him. And there was that fucked up postcard back in March…but you’re back now. You’re back.”

Schneep made a small sound in his throat. “Yes, yes, but not right now. I need to know why you were planning on disconnecting Jack’s life support machine.”

“I—” Chase felt the tears welling up again. “It’s not my fault. An—someone has my kids. He told me I had to—to get rid of Jack if I ever wanted to see them again.”

Schneep’s eyes widened. He crossed the few steps separating him and Chase, grasping his friend by the shoulders. “You—you have seen him?” he whispered.

Chase nodded. “Yeah, we’ve had a couple encounters. It’s…complicated. But he showed up at my house last night and…and…” he choked on the end of his sentence.

“Well then…” Schneep paused. Chase could see the gears of his mind working. “We need to get your kids back.” He whirled around, stumbling and leaning against the wall for support. “We need to find the others. We need…we need to…where are they?”

“Whoa, dude, are you okay?” Chase hurried to his friend’s side. “I mean, you look…you look like you’ve been through hell.”

“Hell? Ha. I suppose you could describe it that way. But not right now. Your kids are in danger. We have to move quickly.”

“I, uh, okay if you insist…I can text them, see where they are. And you know, tell them you’re alive.” Chase pulled his phone out of his pocket with one hand, keeping the other on Schneep’s arm in case he needed support. He selected the first contact and typed out a quick message: “Doc is back. No time 2 xplain. Where r u guys?”

A few moments passed. Then a reply came, accompanied by a cheerful ding: “were at the new house. meet you halfway, or do you want to come here?”

“Meet u @ jackies apartmnt. Close 2 here.”

“got it on our way.”

“C’mon, doc,” Chase muttered. “We’re moving on. You wouldn’t happen to know a back way out of here? I think it’d be weird to have you suddenly show up after so long.”

“What do you take me for, some kind of shady doctor? Though, of course, I must know a back way. So that I can keep an eye on the shady ones.”

“Well, let’s go then. No time to lose.”


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