Fox McCloud ran through the hospital hallways faster than what he's ever ran before; his tired eyes were widened, his fur was in a mess, and his jacket had been practically flying off his body. Adding to it's rapid beating, he felt his heart sinking to the thoughts in his head. She has to be alive, she just has to!

He looked further down the hall, the tears in his eyes now finally forming, giving him a wet, oblong outline of elevator doors. He stepped inside, pushing one of the buttons; the lift slowly began it's ascent. To the vulpine, seconds felt like hours, and minutes felt like days. Can't this damn thing go any faster?

Although it felt like an eternity, it took about 20 seconds to reach the fourth floor. Looking around, The dull grey walls and black and white checkered floors added even more of a gloomy outlook to his situation. He started running once more, her room number told by a rabbit at the reception desk repeating in his head over and over again. 419.419.419.

When he finally reached her door, he hesitated to open it. For all he knew, she could have died on his way there. He knew she simply couldn't have; there was no way any hospital would just let a member of StarFox die, let alone a Cornerian hospital. He opened the door slowly, panic beginning to slam his body, fearing for the worst.

Krystal seemed unconscious in the stiff metal bed presented before him; she had multiple tubes attached to her body. She was a lot less bloody than when he found her lying in a back alley in Corneria City. He wanted to know what had happened, what type of sick asshole would do such a thing to someone as beautiful and amazing as Krystal. Fox clenched his fists in fury, taking a few more steps towards the blue vixen.

"Kr-Krystal," he asked timidly, "Can you hear me?" Her eyes slowly opened, giving Fox a flush of relief.

"Yes," she replied, her arms now in her lap, giving him a view of her tribal tattoos; simply looking at them made him smile. "I'm sorry, Fox."

"Sorry? For what? I should have went with you to the city. I could have prevented this."

"No, you couldn't have, Fox. It was Panther."

"Panther? Him? Oh, now I've got a huge reason to get rid of his nine lives." Fox's fists were clenching once more.

"Before he had beat me to a living pulp, he asked me where you were. I didn't tell him anything, and I guess that made him more pissed off, because five minutes later, you got my distress signal." She began to sob, "I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Fox."

"Hey," Fox walked up to her and held her hands gently, "It'll be okay. I'm gonna stick with you all the way up until you're out of this place, and beyond. And then, I think we'll have cat stew when we get you back to the Great Fox." He actually managed to get a little laugh out of her, at least she wasn't crying as badly.

"Thank you," she looked into his eyes. "And Fox?"

"Yes, Krystal?"

"I love you too." She had a look as if she tried to take it back with her telepathy. Fox couldn't help but smile as if they were both in the 9th grade. "I heard you say that you loved me when you had called the ambulance," she quickly added, "And before I could actually say anything, I went under."

Fox, still smiling at her, gave her a small yet nervous kiss; he didn't care if her mouth had the tiniest hint of blood left in it. "I'll always love you, you know." he whispered.

"Mm-hmm.", she closed her eyes, taking in the moment.

Fox laid his head next to Krystal's, smiling her warm fur and amazing scent making him realize that everything was going to be okay.

A/N: So, this is basically my first fanfiction. I'll admit, I'm not usually one to write them, but I've been getting bored, so y'know. A review would be nice, but if you guys want me to make this more than just a "one-shot" (if you can even call it that, it's pretty freakin' short), just say so! Oh, yeah, and I don't own StarFox!