XMFC/A turn for the worse

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Slowly, but surely, Darwin has become as much a part of everyday life at the school as the rest of Charles and Erik's little family. Whilst Charles still has the occasional grumble about the appropriateness of their old friend sharing a bedroom with Alex, he and the others have welcomed Darwin home as though he'd never been away. The others, too - those that had chosen Shaw's side -have been made welcome and offered a home and a job if they want them. Charles does not want fighting within mutant ranks, not when the real threat is from those not so highly evolved.

It's a Saturday morning, the school children fed and left to their homework and recreation in the grounds. With no pressing work to be done, Charles suggests a trip down to the swimming pool to Erik, which Scott of course then wants to do as well. Before they've made it as far as the pool, half the faculty seem to have decided that a morning's swim sounds like a good idea, and it's not long before the pool is full, laughter echoing around the tiles.

Charles has grown very fond of this pool, and swimming in general. Once he had conquered his initial anxieties about drowning, he's learnt that he doesn't need his legs to be a competent swimmer. The sense of independence that brings, along with the usual good effects of exercise, have led to him coming down to the pool with just Erik, or even sometimes alone, at least twice a week. Still, sometimes it's nice to have more company, and he enjoys the laughter and the splashing as much as he enjoys simply doing lengths.

Right now, Darwin is showing off his own ability to his friends, diving under the water and letting gills form along his throat, delighting his audience by swimming around beneath the surface for minutes at a time.

"Can I do that, too?" Scott asks.

"No, Scott," Charles is quick to respond. He doesn't want anybody drowning this morning.

Comments

[diecastking]

Erik frowns. "What's wrong, liebe?"

He swam back towards the side, keeping a tight grip on his lover.

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"I think I..." but he doesn't manage to finish his warning, the horrible tell-tale feel of pins and needles coursing through his body. His last thought, as he remembers to throw up his walls to keep Erik safe, is panic that he is still very much in the water, before the seizure hits him.

[diecastking]

"HELP! NOW!"

At his command, Alex and Sean swim to his side, helping him lift Charles up and out of the water.

Erik holds him as he convulses on the tiled floor, protecting his head and keeping an eye on Scott as he clings to his Auntie Raven in mute horror.

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Hank keeps a close eye, not too concerned, sure that Erik had managed to get Charles out of the water before any harm had been done. He's surprised a seizure has taken the Professor now, with none of his usual triggers present, but then he doesn't know the ins and outs of Charles' sleeping pattern. Maybe he had had a bad night.

But time ticks on, and Charles' body doesn't still, and suddenly Hank is a lot more concerned. Trying not to alarm Erik just yet, he quietly asks Sean to run for his things, kneeling down at Erik's side as he keeps a close eye on the clock. And still Charles remains locked in his fit.

[diecastking]

Erik tries to remain calm, as Raven silently removes Baby Scott from the room.

"Hank..." he says under his breath. "It's been too long."

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"I know," Hank says, likewise trying to keep his worry from his voice. He sends up a silent prayer that Sean runs like the wind to get his medical kit.

"Did he sleep well, last night?"

[diecastking]

"Fine," Erik says tersely. "He was fine last night and this morning. His mind was clear."

But that wasn't entirely true, some strange mist over Charles' thoughts today.

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"And his medication? Did he take it?" Hank questions as Sean reappears with Hank's bag. He immediately sets to making up a remedy for the Professor's seizures.

"I don't want to give him too much."

[diecastking]

"I don't know - I didn't see."

Erik suddenly realises he's not been paying as much attention to Charles' health as he should've been.

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Not wanting to risk an overdose, Hank starts with a small syringe, struggling to keep Charles' body still enough to inject. Then he sits back, waits, hoping that the Professor's body will start to still.

It feels like forever, but the medication works and Charles finally falls still in Erik's arms, unconscious but alive, breathing deeply.

[diecastking]

"Charles? Charles, can you hear me?"

But he doesn't expect a response, used to Charles' deep sleeps after his early seizures.

"Should I take him to our room?" he asks Hank.

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Hank nods, getting up and packing away his things.

"Get him comfortable. Watch him closely. I'll come and check on him when he's settled."

[diecastking]

Erik holds out his hand and Alex wordlessly passes him a towel. He bundles Charles up and carries him towards their room, upset at the way his lover lies so still.

"You will be fine," he tells him, firmly.

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Charles doesn't stir as he's carried to bed, looking pale, weak and sickly in Erik's arms. He sleeps on even when Hank appears, though their resident genius is happy with the Professor's vital signs.

Letting Charles sleep on, Hank finds the Professor's medication, counting out the remaining pills against the notes he's kept on his condition. "By my reckoning," he frowns, "he's not missed a dose. But he shouldn't be having seizures with the medication, not without a severe trigger."

[diecastking]

"Is it getting worse?" Erik demands to know.

He feels guilty about Cerebro, pushing Charles to look for Darwin when he was only just recovered from the strain of Erik's absence.

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"Too early to tell," Hank tries to be reassuring. "The best medications in the world aren't 100% effective. This may just be a one-off."

But the length of the seizure, the fact that an increased dose of medication had been required to bring Charles out of it, doesn't leave him feeling confident.

On the bed, Charles starts to show the first signs of coming to, forehead drawn in a frown and fingers twisting in the bedsheets.

[diecastking]

Erik leans down immediately, pressing Charles' hand.

"Liebe? Can you hear me?"

Charles feels distant in his mind, as if a veil hangs between them.

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Charles mumbles, weakly, far slower than usual to come back to himself. An undercurrent of static runs through his mind, as though he's not truly out of his seizure. This is, clearly, something they haven't faced before.

[diecastking]

"His mind feels wrong," Erik tells Hank, painfully aware that is definitely more what Charles might say than him. "It's...not back here."

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Hank comes closer to the bed, expression concerned, large blue hands opening and inspecting Charles' eyes with surprising gentleness.

"Let's give him a little longer," he suggests, trying to play for time himself, before swearing as Charles stiffens and starts to fit, yet again.

Thankfully the seizure passes quickly this time, without need for medication, but yet again it leaves the Professor in a deeply unconscious state. Yet Hank is still desperately concerned; he has not seen Charles this bad since the first days after the incident with Cerebro. Not even when Erik was gone, and the Professor reformed all his bad habits of forgetting to sleep, did things get like this.

[diecastking]

Erik tries to stop the panic bubbling up inside him, holding Charles' hand between both his own.

"Why is this happening?"

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Hank cannot lie.

"I don't know, Erik. He's already on a double dose of medication. We can try other things, but they take away his powers, and he hates that more than the seizures."

[diecastking]

"He cannot live like this," Erik says impatiently. "There must be something else."

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"I'll find something," Hank tries to reassure both Erik and himself.

"But it may take a while. Will you stay with him while I work?" He's sure it's a stupid question, but he needs to know Charles is being watched in this state.

[diecastking]

"I won't leave him," Erik tells Hank, but he wants Charles to hear him too. To know he's close by.

Gently, he removes the towel around his lover, his wet swimming shorts, and covers him with their blankets before lying down beside him.