By the time we got to the hospital, breathing was becoming difficult. I had puked three more times, with Liam rubbing my back the whole time. Then, it felt like I was trying to breathe through a pillow. My whole body felt like it was on fire, from both the fever and the pain.

Liam rushed me into the hospital while Vida went to find a parking spot in ER parking. My lips were starting to turn blue, and I could see my fingertips were as well. My body was not getting enough oxygen, but I couldn't seem to pull anything into my lungs.

"I need help! Please! She's been poisoned!" Liam burst throw the doors hollering. Within minutes, two nurses were on the scene with another pushing the stretcher. An oxygen mask was strapped to my face, but I could already feel myself fading in and out of consciousness.

One nurse stayed back with Liam while the other two rushed me back to the Intensive Care Unit. I saw the letters "ICU" on the door as we passed through, but then my eyes rolled back and I faded out.

When I woke up again, an oxygen cannula was strapped to my face. I had sweat sticking to my forehead. There was a needle sticking into my arm attached to a bag of I-don't-know-what. I look to my left, and saw no one. Then I looked over to my other side, and I saw Liam. Oh, thank God.

His face was scruffy from not shaving and his eyes were closed. The bags underneath them were prominent, and he looked generally unkempt. Probably from the days chasing after me and however many days I had already been here.

I was still staring as him when he stretched out his arms. He leaned forward to stretch his back, then straightened himself in the chair. After rubbing his eyes, he looked over to the bed.

"Ruby!" He placed his hand on my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. "Oh, darlin'."

"Hey," My voice was weak, but it was there.

"I'm so glad you're awake," He said, smiling as he leaned down and kissed my head, and my nose, and then my lips.

"What happened?" I asked, and when he pulled away, his smile had faded. "Just tell me."

He sighed. "You're still in the ICU. They can't get your fever down below 102, and that's worrying them. Your oxygen levels also keep dipping down into the 80s when they take the oxygen off."

I nodded, taking it all in. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Anything else?"

Liam brushed a stray piece of hair out of my eyes. "Whatever they made you drink, it caused ulcers in your stomach. You have internal bleeding that they are trying to get under control. Do you remember throwing up blood in the car?"

I shook my head. I only remembered throwing up, but nothing about it being blood.

"They think there might be an infection, and that's one of the reasons they can't get your fever down. They can't even figure out what they gave you to put you in this condition."

I could not remember anything about the bottle, other than it was a dark brown color, obscuring the appearance of the liquid. That, and it tasted so bitter I was wincing at the thought.

"Don't worry, we're going to get you better," Liam stroked my cheek and I closed in, leaning into his hand.

"Will you lay with me," I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

He did not hesitate. I scooted over and he got onto the hospital bed next to me. I rolled onto my side, careful not to pull the IV, and rested my head on his chest. Despite having a fever, my body felt cold and he felt warm and suddenly everything felt right.

The feeling didn't last long. I had drifted off into a fuzzy sleep; it felt like I had just closed my eyes for a second, and suddenly Liam was jolting up. I heard an alarm like beeping coming from a machine. It took me a minute to realize it was mine.

A nurse came running in, going straight to the machine.

"Ruby?" She called my name, tapping my arm. But everything seemed… fuzzy. She was blurry. Liam was blurry.

"Honey, hold still, alright?" She had a thermometer in her hand, and with a swift swipe across my forehead, she got a reading. I felt her stiffen beside me.

"What's going on?" I hadn't even noticed Liam got off the bed. He came up beside the nurse.

"Her sats dropped… her oxygen. Okay, hold on…" She frantically moved to the other size of the bed and turned a dial. The air going into my nose felt stronger and the beeping slowly stopped.

"I just turned her oxygen up. But we can't keep doing that… she was already on 3 liters, I had to turn it up to 5. We are supposed to be weaning her off of it." The nurse seemed so flustered and I felt bad. But why was everything still fuzzy and why was the room starting to spin?

Liam placed his hand on my forehead and it was freezing but it felt so good. I let out a sigh.

"What was her temp? It just skyrocketed!" I heard him say.

The nurse was quiet for a minute. "I have to contact the physician. The antipyretics aren't working. We need to get her some cold blankets or an ice bath..."

"How high is it?" Liam snapped. I could hear the annoyance in his voice, but it was mostly to mask fear. His hand was shaking, I could feel it from where it lay on my head.

"She's at 105.4." She stated.

Liam jerked a bit. He reached down and started pulling the blankets off of me, and I wanted to protest but could not find the words. When the skin touched the air, my body started to shake.

"Give her at least one blanket," The nurse grabbed one from him and covered me back up. "The shaking will just make it worse. Her body is trying to warm itself up, but it does not realize it is already burning up.

The shaking subsided a bit once I was curled back under the thin sheet.

"Well, go do something! Go find something to help!" Liam shouted. "Please. Please, you have to do something!"

The nurse hurried out. I turned my head to look at Liam, and saw that a couple tears were trailing down his face. With all the strength I could muster, I lifted a hand and grabbed his from where it dangled at his side. He jumped, then grasped it tightly and leaned down beside the bed.

"Ruby, just hang on, okay?" He tried to smile, but couldn't. His face fell and he rested his head on our intertwined hands and started to cry. It was breaking my heart.

"I will," I said. My voice was so quiet, even I could barely hear it. But Liam heard, and he lifted his head and leaned over, giving me a kiss. I tried to stay awake, but the fuzziness turned to darkness and I passed out.