Chapter 2
As they shot through space, Thor saw Loki's grip on the tesseract's casing start to release. "No you don't, brother, I will not allow you to do that again!" He growled, narrowly managing to hook his arm around his brother's torso just as Loki lost his grip entirely.
"My boys!" Frigga started towards them as they touched down in the throne room, but her expression of joy quickly turned to one of horror and concern. Thor looked down. Loki, still clutched to his chest, dangled limp and unresponsive like a ragdoll. He felt a pang of guilt for believing that his brother had been trying to escape again.
"What is the matter? He is alive, isn't he? GUARDS!"
"He was on his feet a minute ago. I grabbed him when he lost his grip on the tesseract."
"Guards, take Prince Loki to bed and fetch a healer. Quickly! Thor, please fetch your father." She turned and followed the guards out.
After a couple of tries, Thor found Odin on the balcony outside. "Allfather." He kneeled to him.
"My son! Rise. I trust you have resolved the conflict in Midgard? Tell me of it."
"It is ended. Loki has been apprehended and brought back here to face justice, but he fell unconscious during the journey. Mother believes it real and not one of his tricks and requests that you join her at his bedside."
Loki was laid out on his bed when they arrived, stripped down to his underwear and being examined by the healer. He was deathly pale, his breathing so shallow as to necessitate a second look to be sure that he was breathing, and a pink froth around his mouth. Even Odin, half expecting one of his tricks, was a little taken aback.
The family stood by quietly as the healer worked his spells, breathing a sigh of relief that they didn't realize they had been holding as a series of spells ending in one that placed a golden bubble over Loki's nose and mouth eased his breathing slightly. The healer now straightened and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"His ribs are shattered," He explained, "and they punctured a number of organs including one of his lungs. I cannot magically heal bone, but I have healed the damage caused by the bone fragments, stopped the bleeding there and in his brain, reinflated his lung, and realigned all of his broken bones. That bubble provides additional oxygen to make up for the difficulty he is having breathing. He is badly concussed, his skull is cracked, he has lost a great deal of blood to internal bleeding, all that I can do for his ribs and broken leg are bandage them, and there may still be complications that develop from the organ damage. He will need close watching and it will not be a quick or easy recovery."
Frigga moved to sit on the edge of the bed, taking one of her unconscious son's hands in both of hers. "He will have everything he could possibly need to ease it."