Eddie strolled confidently through the halls of his school; he clearly ruled this place.
It didn't matter that his dad was the principal. He was still bad-boy supreme, and his rebellious nature often helped him get into trouble that built his reputation.
Despite his coolness, he always had a secret layer of compassion right beneath the skin.
So when he heard muffled sobs coming from the girls' bathroom, his curiosities won out and he cautiously stepped in, closing the door behind him.
Sitting against the wall, an unmistakable girl in fishnets and combat boots looked up, tears staining her cheeks.
"Yacker?" What's wrong?" Eddie was immediately alarmed because he knew Patricia wouldn't be crying unless it was serious.
He didn't even care that they had broken up; he still felt that warmness grow all around him when he looked at her.
She quickly wiped her eyes and stood up. "Nothing, Slimeball. Not like it's any of your business, anyway." Typical Patricia. She was automatically defensive when others saw her at her vulnerable moments.
She stepped around him and reached for the door, but Eddie grabbed her arm.
"Wait, Yacker. Please. I know we're not together anymore, but…you know you can talk to me, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "As if. Now let me go." She yanked her arm out of his grasp, but he leaned back against the door, making it impossible for Patricia to get it open.
"What do you want?" She complained.
Eddie sighed. "I want you to tell me what's wrong."
She was about to say something, but then rethought it, before saying,
"I…I went to the doctors last week. And I…I found out some news."
Panic started to fill Eddie. She found out some news? She couldn't be…right?
"Patricia," He said carefully. "Are you…are you pregnant?"
She stared at him, jaw dropped. "What? No! Of course not, you idiot!"
He sighed out in relief. Thank god, she wasn't pregnant. But if she wasn't pregnant…than what was wrong with her?
"Yacker…why did you go to the doctors?"
Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I…" She cleared her throat. "Eddie, I don't know how you're going to react to this, but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone. I'll tell them when I'm ready, okay?"
He nodded, an uneasy feeling rising in him.
"Eddie, I have leukemia."
He didn't remember leaving school grounds, but he must've, because he ended up at Anubis house. He felt as if he was in a sleepwalk, like an invisible force was pulling him here. He pulled out Nina's necklace from his pocket and opened the cellar through the secret entrance. Once down there, he put in the combination to get into Frobisher's office, and stepped in.
He remembered wondering to himself why he was here, but a single thought floated into his mind and caused a feeling that felt like a bag of bricks hit him in the chest:
Patricia has leukemia.
He suddenly thought of something, something so crazy he couldn't believe he was thinking it.
It was an insane thought, one that was completely impossible.
But Eddie couldn't fight the urge. He started searching through books, to try to find anything, anything, that related to the one topic he needed to know everything on:
The Elixir of Life.