Family

Jake

I stand on the beach anxiously with Joey right by my side. It's dangerous for us to have a heli come out here, but I need help. Kiri needs help. And I called the one person I can trust for that. 

Joey doesn't wait for the helicopter to land. She's already running. As soon as Norm jumps out, she's jumping in his arms. He holds her up in a tight embrace. I'm sure he missed her just as much as she missed him. 

After a few moments, he sets her back down and comes over to me, Joey clinging to him like it's life or death. 

"It's good to see you." I greet, as he hugs me the best he can with Joey stuck to him. "Let's get the gear!" 

Joey lets go at this and immediately springs into action, helping us unload everything we need. Lucky for us, she spent a lot of time in the lab, and knows what I need to grab and what I don't. 

"Neteyam! Keep everyone back!" I command my son and he does as he's told. 

"How is she?" Norm has to yell over the helicopter blades. 

"She's still unconscious." I reply

He says nothing, but continues to grab gear. Max comes and joins us after greeting Joey, his face mask securely fastened.

_

Once we're in the tent with everything set up, he begins to examine her. 

"There's no bleed." Max notes. "There's no fracture. There's no effects of hypoxia.The brain looks good." 

They had set her up with an IV so that she can at least get some hydration as she sleeps. It's been a whole day, and she's still not awake. My heart is in my throat. Joey holds her hand dutifully as Max and Norm run their tests. I know Joey is not happy that this happened, but I'm definitely sure she's happy that Norm had a reason to come out here. I know she was missing her father. 

"But we still have this interictal activity right here in the prefrontal." Norm is talking under his breath, and I wish I could understand what that means. But now is not the time to ask. "She's definitely had a seizure."

"I think we can rule out toxins." Max notes, pointing to something on his screen. 

"I see that I am not needed here." 

We all look up and see Ronal has entered with a basket of supplies. 

Neytiri grabs her arm as she goes to leave. "You are tsahik!" 

Ronal looks back, thinking. "Remove these things." 

Neytiri decides to agree with Ronal. "Out! You have done nothing!"

The scientists do as their told. Jake, tries to pacify the tension. "Come on, let's just, take a break." 

Joey joins Max, Norm, and I outside of the tent. Normally I'd tell her to go back and help Ronal, as Joey was supposed to be a tsahik herself, but this is a special case. Her father is here, and she hasn't seen him in months. I don't think I could get her to leave his side if I wanted to. 

"She said that she can feel Eywa." I tell Norm as we crouch outside the tent. "She can feel her heartbeat."

"That's it." Norm sighs. 

"What?"

"That is classic frontal lobe epilepsy." He sighs. 

"Epilepsy?" Joey and I repeat. 

"You see visions, states of religious ecstasy, it's classic."

I feel immediately guilty. Should I have caught that? I mean, clearly there was something going on, I just thought that maybe she had some connection to Eywa because of Grace. "Damn."

"Plugging into the Spirit Tree is some sort of trigger." Norm continues. "You definitely can't let her do that anymore."

"What?" I ask in shock.

"Ever?" Jake has the same reaction as me. 

"Jake." Max calmly interrupts. "If she seizes underwater again, it could kill her."

"She's awake!" I head Tuk cry out from inside the tent, and we al rush in. She's crying, and being helped to sit up by Neytiri. 

Immediately, Joey and I rush to her side. I notice Joey is crying a little too as she brushes a strand of hair frrom my daughter's face. With her father here, I wasn't sure if Kiri had even been on her mind much, understandably, but now it's clear to me she was, in fact, worried.