It’s not called a kick start for nothing. The kick Rupert gave Sara caused air to move in her longs and stimulated her heart. Once new air entered her lunges and her heart was kicked into a beat, it pushed the blood flow and oxygen to stimulate the part of Sara’s brain that told her healing to keep going. Things may have seemed silent and still for Rupert after his kick. Sara’s heart didn’t take another beat till her the healing part of her brain told repaired the part that told her vital organs to work.

Sara’s heart started as a mumble. Then a small breath. Shallow movement started in her chest. Then the blood stopped flowing from her head. The wond didn’t start closing but what was inside started to repair it’s self.

This was a nice change. For once Luke was getting a chance to walk at night wearing his casual clothes instead of his Wraith costume. How long had it been? Since his last night out with Raina if he remembered correctly. But this evening was different. It was a chance for him to enjoy the night air by himself. A chance to reflect on everything that had happened.

The trip to the great white north had been interesting to say the least as well as enlightening. There had been the opportunity to learn a lot about himself as well as filling in some of the pieces about Raina. When all was said and done their relationship was even strong than before the trip but at the same time Luke had come to a decisions that could very well affect both of their futures. It was time to come out of the closet as it were and expose his mutant capacity to the world in general. There would be a lot of questions and for a time the paparazi would be all over him. The real question woudl be whether Raina was ready for that. Would she be OK with dealing with the paparazi once again or would she want to step back into the shadows for a shor ttime while Luke was in the lime light. There was really no way to be sure until he actually talked to her about it.

Luke's sonar continued to sweep over the vast grounds of Central Park as he walked. There had been an attack here several weeks before and a police officer had been involved. "Wasn't his name King or something like that?" Luke thought to himself as he tried to remember the small article in the newspaper, "Oh well, doesn't really matter."

The night was still cool but not amazingly cold as the blind man meandered down the path. There were no other walkers or joggers in the area but suddenly, way off near the other side of Central Park he heard something. It was a sound that was as unmistakeable as it was unforgiving. A gunshot.

***

The run across the park had been accomplished faster than Luke expected but not nearly as fast as he might have wanted. Right at the moment he was rushing through the park Luke would have given up anything to have enhanced speed. Seconds could be the difference between life and death and being only human when it came to running was deffinately a problem in this area.

"Oh no." Luke thought, picking up the pace as his sonar picked up a still form just laying on the ground about eighty yards away.

Fifty yards: There was something familiar about the figure but he still couldnt' make the connection.

Thirty yards: A sinking feeling began to form in Luke's stomach as his mind finally began to put it together.

Twenty yards: "NOOOO!"

Luke's voice tore from his throat in a mangled roar of pain and outrage as he closed the last bit of distance and stumbled down to a kneeling position next to Sara's still form. He could smell the tang of blood in the air and his sonar could just pick out the pool of liquid that was still growing on the other side of her body. Sweeping the area reflexively Luke couldn't find anyone nearby so he brought his sonar down into tight focus in order to see Sara's body. There was only a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. If she was breathing it was so minute that Luke couldn't even see her chest rising and falling.

"Damn!" Luke swore under his breath as he realized that he hadn't brought his X-Men communicator with him. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" Sure he had his cell phone but could he really take Sara to a regular hospital? He didn't have a vehicle nearyb so he couldn't transport her to the mansion and there was no way to contact them without his communicator. Pulling out his cell phone Luke hit the speed dial that would dial Raina's number only to go straight to voice mail. Why did that have to happen today? Why did that have to happen NOW?!

"Don't you die on my Sara!" Luke muttered forcefully as one hand moved to the feline's throat, frantically searching for a pulse, "Don't you dare die on me!"

Sara lay there. She was still out and even with her healing ability trying to save her, she wasn’t going to be able to just wake up and be fine, just because someone told her not to die. The fact of the matter was Sara didn’t have a choice in dieing or not dieing. In her current condition she wasn’t even aware of the options.

Look was searching for a pulse and the only movement Sara’s body made was from Luke’s search. There was a beat so light, it could easily be missed at first. The beat was slowly growing stronger, to the extent that it was painful to strain and feel it. Her breaths were growing as well. Sara wouldn’t be out of danger, just because her body was healing, but her body was a lot like her. Apparently it didn’t just give up.

Up this close, Luke's sonar could notice movement as well if not better than the human eye. His fingers weren't picking up a pulse but there had to be one because he could see Sara's chest rising and falling every so slightly. She was breathing, just barely, but still it was better than nothing.

"Just hold on Sara!" Luke said forcefully as his mind frantically tried to remember the main phone number for the mansion. He had only needed to call it once... maybe twice but it was still in his memory somewhere. Besides trying to contact the mansion what could he do anyway? He had little to no medical training and a gunshot to the back of the head was deffinately beyond his expertise. Dialing the first number Luke remember he knelt there impatiently, phone cradled between his shoulder and ear while his hands tore off a strip from his shrit to press against the back of Sara's head and begin to slow the bleeding at least a tad.

"Hello! You've reached Julie's Pizza Parlor. Our hours are..."

"Damn!" The blind man swore again as he disconnected the call and tried to think of what the mansion's number was. Doc Prof had to get here because Luke wasn't sure if Sara's healing woudl be enough to handle this kind of wound all on her own. Dialing another number, Luke pressed the phone against his ear again, noticing the slight dampness on the keypads but not really paying attention. What did it matter if his fingers were smeared with Sara's blood and were now transferring them first to his phone and then to his cheek. If she lived he'd send her a bill for his shirt but first he had to make sure she lived.

"Xavier's Sister School." A voice came on before Luke snapped at them, interupting whatever they might have been going to say next.

"This is Luke Jacbos. Connect me to the Doc Prof!"

(Permission to do a time jump to the mansion or what ever you want Luke. I really don’t have much to type till the hole in Sara’s head heals more.)

Luke pressed against the hole in Sara’s head and Sara’s body gave an involuntary shudder. Her head pushed back and a breath of air could be heard hissing into the back of her throat. Her fingers twitched, and her eyes fluttered.

On the outside, no one was home. Sara’s mind an memories starting working but things were still so scattered that even in her own head she was disoriented. She thought she heard Luke’s voice on the phone but that was the only thought was the recognizing. It soon drifted away like the rest of the things Sara just wasn’t aware of.

Mean while her body kept fighting.

(OOC: Permission to time jump accepted.)

IC:
It was an eternity before Luke's sensitive hearing could pick up the slight hum of an extremely quiet engine. Out of nowhere it seemed a plane was suddenly hovering over his location while a basket was lowered down.

"Slide the board under Sara and then hold on to be lifted up." A male voice called down from above. Moments later Luke and Sara were safely within the plan and on their way back to the mansion.

(OOC: Continued In '9 Lives to Start With, How Many Are Left?')