Arrietty and Sho said goodbye. They had just exchanged gifts. Arrietty was leaving now. Although it had only been a few days, but they had gone through a lot together.
And Sho's heart couldn't stand it any longer.
Arrietty jumped from the post.
Sho fell to his knees.
The ground shook around Arrietty upon impact. Soon Sho's wheezing coughs filled the air.
"Sho! Sho, are you ok?" Arrietty cried, running to him.
He was wheezing heavily when he tried to speak. The coughing wasn't as bad now, but his breaths were short and shallow.
"I-" Sho coughed and winced. He shook his head. Arrietty grew more afraid with each second, not knowing what to do. Sho gripped his chest in pain, tears running down his face. She had to do something!
And that's when it hit her.
"Nina! Nina! Nina!" The small girl called frantically. A cat soon came bounding over. Being the wise cat that she was, Nina knew that help was needed. She knelt down for Arrietty to ride on her back.
"Mom..Dad..Spiller...wait for me," she whispered to no one.
Aunt Sadako was asleep. She tossed and turned but Nina awoke her by sitting wherewr she moved her head. But that's not made her scream. A little girl was sitting atop her. And that means LITTLE. Maybe 2 inches tall. Then Sadako smiled happily.
"You're one of the little people.. I've always wished to meet you," she said. "But.. Why now?"
Arrietty felt tears slide down her cheeks.
"I-I'm sorry! Its..Its...Sho! Something's wrong! He's in the back woods now, and he can't breathe and he's hurting and you need to save him!"
Sadako left all of her awe and wonder of seeing Arrietty behind her. The woman was now in emergency mode. The ambulance was dialed, as was the hospital and Sho's mother. She took Arrietty on her shoulder and found Sho, who ha resorted to lying on his back. He groaned with pain, resulting in coughs and even more shortness of breath.
By the time the ambulance arrived, Sho was unconcious.
Questions.
Aunt Sadako had millions of them. She would, in time, receive those answers. But for now, she needed to focus on Sho.
His heart had stopped shortly after arriving at the hospital. He had to have emergency surgery to save his life. He was lucky to have lived through it.
Sho was doing ok now. Well, as ok as he could be. Surrounded by IVs and wires and monitors, he looked like he was on the brink of death.
If he died, Sadako didn't know what she would do.
Arrietty didn't know what to do now.
She paced back and forth by Sho's foot anxiously. When would he wake up? She needed to be there for him.
"Relax, dear. He'll be fine. You, on the other hand, should get some rest." Sadako smiled tiredly.
"She's right," a voice said weakly, breaking into a cough. "Ow."
"SHO!" Exclaimed Arrietty.
Sho had quickly fallen asleep again. The poor boy was drained of all his energy. And so, Arrietty had decided to explore the hospital. A difficult, yet exciting task for a borrower. Not so difficult if Sadako dropped you off at your desired location, though.
Many strange floors later, she found herself in an expirimental room. A tiny jar caught her eye. It was just her size! As if it was meant for her.
"Borrower growth formula," the tiny label read. Were their other borrowers here? Did it work? Where were they now? Suddenly hope and curiosity engulfed Arrietty, leading to her taking a sip out of the teensy jar. And she did grow. She found herself standing at 5' 6", and a monster to the borrower race. No. Not a monster. Sho had proven that the human beans could be amazing.
She had to show Sho how big she was now! Arrietty loved being a bean. When she was a young preteen, she had often wondered what it would be like for her to be a bean. But she had always dismissed it as impossible.
Arrietty leaped into Sho's room with excitement, squealing with wonder.