5
“Go get Jet!” Party cried

Puff nodded and ran back into the diner.
Party followed, taking Sharp to the back room where Jet kept all his medical supplies.
When Party walked through the opened door to the back room he saw Jet Star already laying out his medical supplies. When he heard footsteps Jet turned and he paled when he saw the state she was in.
“Put her on the table,” he said to Party.
The red head did as he was told and gently laid Sharp Shot on her good side.
“What’s wrong with her Jet? I know this ain’t just the morphine wearing off.” Party asked tapping his fingers against his crossed arms in frustration.
Jet began to examine his friend. He looked into her eyes, checked her pulse and temperature. As he worked Kobra Kid came rushing in.
“Puff said something was wrong with Jem-“ The blond stopped short when he saw said girl lying on the medical table. “What the hell happened?!” Kobra cried turning to his brother.
Party was startled at Kobra’s outburst, usually he was the level headed one.
“When we were coming back from Pony’s I noticed she was in a little pain again, I just thought it was the morphine wearing off, but then as we got here it just got… worse.” Party’s voice faltered toward the end of his explanation.
“Guys,” Jet finally spoke up, “I may be wrong, but Jem’s wound may be infected.” He spoke solemnly.
The brothers froze. Infected?! That was almost a death sentence out in the zones. There was virtually no actual doctors or medicine, all that was back in Bat City.
“She has a fever,” Jet continued “We could try to wait it out for about a day, but if her symptoms progress we have to get her some antibiotics. I’ll try to clean out her wound as best as I can right now but that’s all I can do.”
Jet began to unwrap the bandages to clean Sharp’s wound. She cried out in pain as he got close to her flesh, the bandages becoming bloodier and bloodier. He finally got them all off and began to disinfect the wound. Sharp Shot shrieked as Jet put the alcohol soaked cotton against her skin. Kobra and Party rushed too her side, both of them grabbing one of her flailing arms.
The held the thrashing girl as stil as they could while Jet worked his medical magic. He finally finished up and put a fresh shirt on Sharp. The girl was lying motionless on the table, too weak to move, tears running down her cheeks from the pain.
“Aren’t you gonna give her more morphine?” Kobra asked the older male as he held Sharp’s trembling hand in his.
Jet shook his head sadly. “It would only wear off and I don’t want her getting addicted to it. Besides, with her fever I don’t think it’s the safest to keep putting drugs into her system.”
Kobra scowled but he knew Jet was only thinking of what was best for her.
“Let her rest for now, all we can do is hope that this is a fever she can sweat out.” Jet shook his head sadly as he threw the soiled bandages into a waste bin. He left the room hearing Ghoul call his name from the main part of the diner.
Party let go of Sharp’s hand and walked towards the door, “I gotta get some air,” he said over his shoulder as he left the room.
Kobra looked sadly at Sharp Shot’s trembling form. He ran a hand over her forehead and frowned when he felt how warm she was. Although he had only known her for a few days, Kobra knew that he cared a lot for Sharp and he knew the other felt the same way. She had saved his brother’s life and was a great role model for Power Puff. He thought of her as a sister, seeing that she was a year younger than him.
He looked down at Sharp who despite all the pain she was in, had fallen asleep. Or perhaps her body was so exhausted that she had passed out.
Kobra carefully lifted his friend from off of the medical table and onto the nearby sofa. He took off his jacket and draped it onto Sharp like a blanket. Kobra left the room, gently closing the door as to not rouse his sleeping friend.

Kobra went to the booth where Ghoul and Puff were seated, both with cans of Power Pup in front of them. Ghoul slid a can with a spoon in it toward Kobra. The blond accepted it, taking a spoonful and eating it, despite his taste buds begging him not to.
“Jet told us Sharp wasn’t feeling too good,” Puff spoke up, her large eyes filled with worry.
“So that’s her new name huh?” Kobra muttered more to himself than anyone
“She’ll be okay,” Ghoul said in an effort to console both the dejected Kobra and concerned Puff.
“Where’s Party?” Kobra asked the two
“Said he needed some air so I’m guessing he’s on the roof.” Ghoul replied before shovelling more food into his mouth.
Kobra nodded. He knew his brother already felt bad for Sharp’s injury, and now with the threat of an infection he must have felt even worse.
“She gonna get better though, right?” Puff asked, glancing between the older two.
Kobra mustered up the best smile he could “Of course she will,”
Puff seemed reassured enough and finished off her food and hopped out of the booth saying something about finding Jet and her radio.
When the little girl was out of earshot Ghoul locked eyes with Kobra, his hazel eyes laced with unease.
“How is she really?” Ghoul asked, insinuating that Kobra was only putting on a brave face for Puff.
Kobra heaved a sigh. “Not too great, Jet thinks her wound may be infected.”
It was a good thing Fun Ghoul had already finished his dinner, otherwise he would have choked.
“I-Infected?!” He spluttered. Kobra nodded solemnly.
“So what are we going to do about it?” Ghoul was now frantic. He knew Killjoys that met a slow and agonizing end because of exposure and infections, it was more often than not due to the less than sanitary conditions they lived in.
“Jet said let her sleep it off, if her fever doesn’t break after tomorrow I think we should go into the city to get some actual medicine.”
Ghoul’s lips were pressed into a firm line. It was risky getting into the city, let only finding drugs. They could barely get in an out with fresh food without nearly getting ghosted.

Meanwhile, Party Poison was out on the roof of the diner. The red haired man sat deep in thought, gazing out into the starry desert night. If only he had listened to his younger brother! Then Sharp wouldn’t be lying there in agony. He had already caused her so much pain, and now she could be knocking at death’s door.
After stewing in his own self-loathing for who knows how long, Party finally re-entered the diner. He must have been sitting up there for hours, as all the other Killjoys had already settled in for the night.

Party walked past the slumbering figures of his friends and made his way to the back room of the diner. Quietly he opened the door, the dull moonlight illuminating the room just enough for him to make out the sleeping figure lying on the couch. He walked over and sat on the sofa on the edge where Sharp’s legs were resting right behind him.
He brushed away some of her lavender locks that had fallen across her face. Her lips were parted as she was murmuring in her sleep. Party suspected that her dreams were plagued by the memories BL/Ind’s drugs had blocked away.
Party Poison wished that he could help Sharp. He wished he could make all her pain go away, he wanted to help her remember who she was, but most of all he just wanted to protect her.
He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, noting the temperature of her skin as he did so. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, getting up and exiting the room.

---

Sharp was standing in the middle of the Californian desert, the wind and sand whipping in her face. She could see Battery City in the distance, the glittering metal of the skyscrapers seemed to be illuminated from the inside out.
“Jem!” A voice called. A voice she didn’t recognize, yet was so familiar.
She turned around the see who was calling her, and when she turned back towards the shining city, and a few feet away from her stood a man. He was about the same height as Party, with bright blue hair. His eyes were a piercing brown, his features were sharp and angular. His clothing looked like something a killjoy would wear, a brown leather jacket with a dark blue shirt underneath and red jeans.
“Who are you?” Sharp asked
“Jem, don’t you remember me?” He asked his voice breaking with emotion.
Sharp shook her head.
Suddenly the guy became nervous, his eyes darting around as if someone were watching him.
“Jem, you have to help me!”
“What? I don’t even know who you are?!” She exclaimed
The desert winds picked up, bringing the sand around them into a swirling cyclone with the two standing there in the eye of the storm.
Slowly, the man before her began to dissolve into sand being blown into the wind.
“Wait!” Sharp cried, desperately reaching out to him, only to grab a handful of sand.
“Come back, Jem. I’m waiting for you.” Although he was gone, his voice echoed in Sharp’s mind.

---

Sharp willed herself to open her eyes. Her memories of the previous day were foggy, she didn’t know if it was her pain or the weird dream she had. The guys had mentioned she would start seeing things in her sleep once the Bl/Ind drugs were out of her system.
She remembers Party carrying her into the diner, and Jet dressing her wound. Oh God did she remembered that, she recalled the agonizing pain as her broken flesh met the alcohol.
She slowly rolled onto her side and got into a sitting position, moving her feet from where they were propped up on the couch to the floor. Her shoes were still on and so were her jeans, but Sharp noted the new shirt she was in and Kobra’s jacket that she was using as a blanket. She concluded that Jet must had put the new shirt on her after dressing her wound.
Hesitantly, Sharp stood up and made her way to the front of the diner, using the wall to lean on as she walked through the small corridor that led to the main area. Fun Ghoul who was lounging in his booth spotted the approaching girl and rushed to her side.
“Here, I gotcha,” He said, sweeping her off of her feet and into his arms, crossing the room to where he was sitting. He put Sharp down in his booth and sat down next to her. Ghoul wrapped his arms around the fragile girl, making sure to be gentle enough as to not disturb her wound.
“You gave us all a pretty big scare there missy,” Ghoul whispered against her hair as he hugged her.
He pulled back, looking at her face for any signs of pain.
Sharp Shot gave her friend a weak smile “Sorry about that, I don’t even know what happened.” She admitted
“I’ll go grab Jet, and some food for ya,” Ghoul stood up from the booth and walked outside, probably to where Jet was working on the Trans AM.
The curly haired man walked into the room and smiled at Sharp when he saw that she was awake. He went and sat across from her in Ghoul’s booth.
“Why is it that whenever we have a conversation you’ve always just woken up,” he joked
Sharp chuckled. “So what’s the diagnosis doc?” she asked drumming her fingers against the edge of the table.
She noted Jet’s smile falter a bit. “Well yesterday you were running a pretty high fever and the blast wound on your back wasn’t looking the greatest. I was pretty sure it was getting infected, if it wasn’t already.”
Sharp’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She guess it was plausible, but she didn’t think her injury would be that bad.
“Thankfully,” Jet continued “I think we caught it in time, you’re looking a lot better.”
The lavender haired girl nodded. “I’m feeling a lot better, I can barely feel the wound now, only if I move the wrong way.”
Jet nodded and put his hand against her forehead. “Well your fever is gone so that’s a good sign. We’ll just have to be extra careful, I don’t want you to push it too far again. The last thing you need is another infection scare, or worse, re opening the hole.” he warned
Sharp shuddered at the thought.
Just then Ghoul returned with a can of Power Pup and a glass of water. He set the items on the table in front of Sharp and took his seat next to her once again. She began eating as Ghoul and Jet discussed the day’s plans.
“Ghoul and I are going to run a few errands out in Zone 3, so we probably won’t be back until nightfall,” Jet said to Sharp.
“Kobra, Party, and Puff will be here with you,” Ghoul said.
Sharp nodded. She was disappointed that she couldn’t do anything, but she wasn’t dumb enough to try to do anything. At least not when she could barely stand up.
Sharp continued her can of sludge as Jet and Ghoul chatted about this and that, she knew that at some point she would have to meet this ‘Dr. Death Defying’ that everyone was talking about. Apparently he was the one that called the shots for the killjoys.
“Don’t sweat it too much Sharp, I’m pretty sure Dr. D will love ya, especially since you made sure his favourite Killjoy didn’t get ghosted.” Ghoul smiled.
“So Party Poison is Dr. D’s favourite?” Sharp asked
Jet snorted with laughter “Of course he is! Party was the first one Dr. D found after the disasters, he trained Poison himself.”
Just as the words had left his mouth, Party Poison along with Kobra Kid and Power Puff strolled into the diner.
“Sis!” The little girl cried running over to where Sharp was sitting. She flung herself onto the older girl in a bear hug.
Sharp winced at the sudden movement but smiled none the less. The younger girl never failed to pull at her heartstrings.
“Hey, hey careful Puff, Sharp’s still on the mend.” Kobra said picking the little girl off of the lavender haired one.
“Oops,” Puff mumbles bashfully
“How’re you feeling?” Kobra asked Sharp.
She sent him a small smile, “Much better thanks,” she looked over to Party Poison but at their eyes locked he turned on his heels and left the room saying something about sending Dr. D a message.
“Don’t mind him, he was really worried about you,” Kobra tells Sharp.
Sharp nods but she couldn’t ignore the pang she felt in her chest when Party gave her the cold shoulder, and it wasn’t just from her injury.

“We better get going,” Ghoul announced glancing at Jet. The brunette nodded and they both exited the booth as Kobra slid into the spot across from Sharp. Puff accompanied the Jet and Ghoul outside.
“Sorry about my brother back there,” Kobra said, his light brown eyes searching Sharp’s features. “He’s usually very… stand offish. He tries not to get attached to new people. I guess it sounds pretty mean but you’ll understand once you get out there more. Killjoys get ghosted every day and we’ve already lost a lot of people..”
Kobra trailed off, seeming to be staring at something beyond Sharp Shot. Memories flickering behind his eyes like flames, but he quickly snapped himself back into reality.
“What I’m trying to say is,” the blond continued “that Party means well and he does care about you Sharp, he just… is still adjusting to having someone new around. So don’t take it too personally if he seems distant.”
Sharp nodded despite her confusion. What had happened to the Party Poison that held her hand as Jet changed her bandages? The one that had carried her in from the Trans AM? Maybe he was only doing those things because he felt guilty. Maybe she was reading into things too much, she had only been here a few days.
With all these thoughts swirling around in her head one stood out the most. Why did she even care if Party Poison liked her or not? Of course it would be in everyone’s best interest that they got along considering he was the leader of the gang, but they could tolerate one another at least.
Sharp flinched when Kobra waved a hand in front of her eyes. “What’s going on in the head of yours?” He asked amicably.
Sharp shook her head dismissively “Nothing…”
“Well you were out of it for so long it has to be something,” Kobra urged. Although he could already tell it had something to do with a certain red head.
Sharp explained the odd pang in her chest when Party ignored her, and why she was wondering why she should even care if he liked her or not.
An amused grin tugged at the corner of Kobra’s lips as the girl spoke. A knowing look glinted in his eyes.
“So what’s this thing that I’m feeling?” Sharp asked.
Jet and Ghoul had already filled her in on some of the emotions she was beginning to feel and re learn. She already knew fear, pain, happiness, and sadness and anger were explained to her since she had yet to feel them.
Kobra thought for a moment, running a hand through his blond locks.
“Well it isn’t one thing specifically that you’re feeling, it’s a mixture, and emotions are not in boxes in our minds Sharp. They’re fluid and can mix with each other. It’s possible to be sad and angry at the same time for example.”
Sharp nodded but took note that Kobra had not answered her actual question, however she didn’t want to push the subject further, she felt that she had enough emotional coaching for one day.

Notes

A/N

Hey guys! New Chapter finally! Sorry if it took me long. Anyway tell me what you think, all feedback is welcome.

Just so you know all future dreams/flashbacks/memories will be in italics.

Thank you sososososososo much for everyone that has commented/voted/rated/subscribed it means the world to me! I've already started the next chapter so it should be coming sometime soon.

Love MCD <3