Chapter Three -

Ben pulled his car up to the curb, not caring that he had stopped in a no parking zone, and used his own key to get inside the appartment building.

The elevator seemed to take forever to reach the lobby, yet Ben doubted it would be faster to take the stairs.

Eventaully Ben got himself to the 7th floor, and didn't bother knocking before barging into Riley's apartment.

"Riley!" He yelled. He glanced breifly in every room before finding Riley in his bathroom, slouched against the sink.

Ben gasped at the sight of his young friend, and rushed to his aid.

"Oh, God." He said, kneeling next to him. The phone was still resting in Riley's limp hands. Ben grabbed it and called 911.

After he was sure an ambulance was on its way, he turned his attention back to Riley.

He was as good as unconscious, with the only difference being that he was shivering and short murmers were escaping his lips.

"What are you trying to say, Riley?" Ben asked, patting his cheek gentley to see if he might wake up a bit. But Riley didn't even flinch. He seemed completely out of it, like a zombie.

"Come on, stay with me." Ben urged, though there wasn't much use, as he had obviously been like this since Ben called him earlier.

Ben sat next to Riley, with his arm around his shoulder, feeling completely useless.

All he could do was wait for the ambulance to come. After all, he had absolutely no idea what was going on, and even less of an idea as to what he could do to help.

It felt like an hour before the paramedics arrived, though he had really only been about ten minutes.

The second Ben heard them at the door, he leapt up and signalled them over to the bathroom. Ben tried to stay out of their way by waiting just outside, in Riley's bedroom.

The three paramedics said a bunch of medical stuff that Ben didn't really understand. He had taken basic first aid, but didn't know much more than that in the way of medicine.

They strapped Riley onto a stretcher, and rushed him back down to the bottem level, and out to their emergency vehicle parked right infront of Ben's car.

"Sir, I think it's best if you followed us to the hospital in your own car." The driver said as Ben watched them close the ambulance doors.

As much as Ben wanted to be with Riley, he'd been in the back of an ambulance before, and knew them to be small and akwardly spaced. One less body back there would help the doctors do a better job helping Riley.

So, Ben revved his engine and followed closely behind the speeding vehicle, thankful that the flashing lights and sirens meant traffic would be subsided for them.

As Ben parked the car, he dialed Abi and told her to meet him in the ER.

He wasn't able to give her any details because, well, he didn't know anything yet. Then, he hurried into the hospital.

Despite his best efforts, he didn't reach the ER in time to see Riley before the took him in for treatment. Instead, he collapsed on a chair in the waiting room, exausted, emotionally and physically.

Abi got the the hospital about twenty minutes later. Ben was very glad to see her, and they stood hugging for a long time, before ordering coffee and sitting there in silence, waiting for news about Riley's condition.

Eventually, a man dressed in green scrubs appeared in the doorway.

"Riley Poole's family?" He asked.

Ben and Abi jumped up so quickly, some of their coffee splashed out of the cup, and onto the floor.

"That's us." Abi said.

"Follow me, please." The doctor said, turning back toward the corridoor.

Ben and Abi looked at each other, unable to tell what was going to happen next.

They followed him down the corridoor and into a room at the end of the hall, where Riley lay before them, on the bed. He was hooked up to an IV, and still looked pretty sleepy, but he was awake.

"God, Riley." Ben said, as he walked over to his friend.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, gripping his shoulder.

"I can't complain." Riley shrugged. It was good to hear him complete a coherent sentence after barely being able to utter two actual words back at the apartment.

Abi stepped infront of Ben and wrapped her arms around Riley.

"I'm so glad you're alright." She said, starting to get kind of choked up. Riley smiled at her.

"Yeah, but are you alright?" He asked.

She dabbed her eyes and smiled back at him, nodding. Riley motioned for Ben to come in closer.

"Listen man, I really hate hospitals. When can I get out of here?" He whispered.

Ben smirked.

"I dunno, Ri. It's the doctors' call. I think this is him coming though."

A man stopped outside the room, checked his clipboard, and then walked in.

"Mister... Poole, isn't it?"

"That's him." Ben answered.

"I'm Dr. Warren. We've just gotten some test restults back."

The three treasure hunters were anxious to see what they showed.

"The reason you were found passed out in your apartment... was because your blood sugar level was 1.1." Riley looked at him, confused.

"Is that... bad?" He asked.

"It's very low." The doctor replied. "Normally it should be between 6 and 8."

"Well... what made it go so low?" Ben wanted to know.

"It could be due to skipping meals or excessive excersice, or something along those lines." Dr Warren answered.

"Okay well, the last time I ate was 9 o'clock this morning, and I went for a run this afternoon to clear my head because I started feeling sick around noon." Riley explained.

"Okay well, I guess that explains that." Ben said.

"But how come when Abi or I miss a meal, or go to the gym, this sort of thing doesn't happen to us?" The Doctor looked sympathetic.

"Exactly. This type of reaction is really only seen in diabetics. And in Riley's case, the test results show that he is suffering from Type 1 diabetes."

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A/N: So, please review, once again. Tell me what you think of the chapter. What do you think of the diagnosis?

I apologize to any American readers who may know something about diabetes. I'm from Canada, and we read blood sugars much differently from you guys.

:)