Gods and Monsters

IV

RAF Twin Oaks - Sevenoaks, Kent

"Where's Parker?" Mike called out as he pushed past Clark and rushed over to Peggy. She was still unconscious on the table, a blanket covering her but Mike could see the wires protruding out below. Her face was covered by breathing apparatus that linked up to machine upon machine, all helping keep her in a stable condition.

Rachel and Scarlett now joined Mike and Clark around the table as they too stared over their incapacitated friend.

"Oh Peggy. What have you done to yourself," Rachel groaned as she brushed away some loose copper hairs from Peggy's face. "What happened to her, Charlie. You wouldn't say on the phone."

"Drug overdose. I found her out cold on the floor of her apartment."

"And you brought her here because...?" Scarlett enquired.

"She's a copper who's overdosed. Once is bad enough but from what I saw in her apartment and the way she's acted over the last few weeks I can't imagine that was a one off experiment. If she went to a hospital she'd be checked over and suspended within minutes, and I don't think she'd thank any of us for that. As much as I hate to admit it, Clark here is a genius doctor and if anyone can save her then it will be him, but I wanted you guys to come along and be here for when she wakes up."

"I can't say I agree with Charlie too often, but he's got a point. The best thing we can do is be here when she wakes up and help her get through this in the future," Mike said.

The group huddled round as they watched Peggy's chest slowly breath up and down, all quietly conscious of Atlin's absence. Charlie had tried calling her but her phone had gone straight to voicemail. All of the others tried to call her now themselves but were met with the same result.

"Guys," Scarlett called out from behind the green curtain as the others wandered around the hangar. "I think we've got a problem." The group sprinted over to Peggy to find her body violently shaking around on the table, the machines she was plugged into beeping rapidly. "What do we do?"

Rachel came over and stood behind Peggy. "She's having another seizure. Flip her on her side. It will help any vomit or saliva to leak out rather than be swallowed."

"Should we hold her down?" Mike asked.

"No, we'll have to just leave her and let this pass. Anything else we do could end up hurting her."

The group watched as Peggy's seizure continued for the next few minutes. They all hated watching their friend like this, so lifeless while they could only stand by and watch helplessly. Clark stepped away from the table for a moment, moving towards a shelf which he quickly flicked through before returning with a small syringe with a brightly coloured liquid inside. He jabbed the needle into Peggy's thigh causing her to settle down slowly.

"That should keep her body relaxed for now. Rachel and I can keep an eye on her. She's in a serious but stable condition," Clark said.

The others returned to wandering around the hangar, all too uncomfortable to engage in proper conversation. They were all thinking the same thing; where was Atlin? She was usually so reliable, but for all the times to let the group down this was probably the worst. Still, Charlie understood that he was probably expecting a bit too much by calling Atlin in the early hours of the morning and expecting her to travel out of London for this. She was probably wrapped up in bed, fast asleep for work tomorrow.

RAF Twin Oaks - Sevenoaks, Kent – 45 minutes later

Outside of the hangar, tyres squealed as they skidded to a stop alerting all who were inside. Peggy was still knocked out, but the others moved over to the door as Charlie slid it open just enough to peek outside and see two SUV's, not dissimilar to the ones that tried to run him off the road earlier, each with about four goons emerging with assault rifles.