Untouchable ~ A Jared Leto/MARS Fanfiction

Chapter Two

I can't speak. Not if my life depends on it, I cannot utter a single word.

And it's not only my mouth that's paralyzed; every inch of my body seems to be. Including my brain, which had begun plotting out how to treat the man's injuries during the walk if he turned out to be as harmless as Shelby claims. All the way here, I was calm and ready to take whatever immediate action necessary. But now, face to face with the man whose life depends on me to save it, I am frozen.

Yes, I've been living more or less off the grid for the last several years, yes, a beard covers a good bit of his features, but I recognize him immediately. Jared Leto. An A-list superstar of both film and music. Philanthroper, activist, and without question the most beautiful man I've ever seen in my life.

His eyes are still locked on mine, a mix of terror and pain swirling in their crystal-blue depths. His skin is deathly white, and his eyes are beginning to turn hazy and unfocused. A discordant, horrified part of my brain can see he's fading. But I still can't move or speak a word.

Shelby has crept up beside me, the medical kit in her hands, and she casts me an odd look as she murmurs, "Mom...why aren't you doing something?"

I have no answer for her. Panic and freeze-ups get people killed, and I've long since learned to conquer those base instincts in favor of more primitive, direct action ones. And yet here I am, gaping at Jared like an idiot while his life is draining away before my eyes.

It's not only because I'm overwhelmed by who it is I'm here to save. It's because I almost didn't.

Last night I heard him cry out. I heard him, and I left anyway. I left him, I crawled into my sleeping bag and slept like a baby. If not for Shelby, he would have died a slow, agonizing death.

 Out here. 

Alone.

Oh, God.

"Mom!" Shelby hisses and gives me a little shake.

Words finally find their way out of my mouth. "I'm so sorry," I whisper. An unfamiliar burning begins behind my eyes and I realize I'm closer to tears than I've been in longer than I care to remember.

Jared tries to smile. He's holding on to consciousness by a thread, but he's smiling. There's blood behind his teeth and a little leaks from the corner of his mouth as he says "Sorry...for what? My stupidity?" His smile fades, he grimaces, and a thin bloody substance expels from his mouth.

The sight of it snaps me back into action. I have to move fast. I have to forget who and what he is and I have to focus. The bloody vomit means the venom has taken hold in his system, and if he doesn't receive the antidote immediately, his vital organs and central nervous system will begin to shut down. "Two vials of CroFab, Shelby," I instruct. "I need the bottle of saline, a betadine wipe, and a hypodermic. We've got to get this in him as fast as we can." And pray it's not too late.

Shelby opens the medical kit and finds the items I request. Jared's weaving in and out of consciousness and he barely flinches as I administer the two injections, trying to ignore the triad tattoo on the underside of his forearm, a stark black-and-white reminder of who it is lying here before me. The jaws of death are yawning open to receive him, and I have to put everything I've got into pulling him back from them. Forget about the tattoo. Forget about that night all those years ago. You have to focus, Lanie. He needs you to focus, and do what you've been trained to do.

I inspect Jared's badly swollen forearm, in the center of which are the two deep puncture wounds of the snake bite, still leaking blood but clean, without the traces of venom mixed in that I'd expect to find. I can see that Shelby had cleaned the wound and in addition, she fashioned a splint with a couple of straight sticks, held in place with her socks. I admire her work, saying she did the exact thing she was supposed to. I'm finally in a place where I can be methodical and detached, until I catch sight of the triad tattoo again. Then I have to swallow hard and close my eyes for a moment before moving on to assess his broken leg.