Worked on this one yesterday and was ready to upload it but then I had to go around my stepsister's flat for the night when something tragic happened… But here it is now! Sorry for the wait…

When Valkyrie regained consciousness she had a definite pounding in her head. It was so bad she could hardly think because of it. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes to be met with harsh light. She squeezed them shut again and brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the glare, it had made her head pound even more, nearly reducing her to tears. What did I do last night? She thought to herself. She felt weak and tired which was very unusual for her.

She was hot. The memory replayed in her head, they were running after she was shot, they escaped and then she blacked out. Was she dead? Her eyes burst open and she sat up straight upright, she cried out, a burning pain in her shoulder and wrist. She looked around the white room then noticed Skulduggery sitting there.

"Skulduggery?" she murmured her voice harsh and unnatural. When he didn't respond she cleared her throat and tried again a little bit louder,

"Skulduggery!" He was meditating; she had woken up after a brush with death to him meditating. She needed him now, she was scared and in so much bloody pain, she needed him and he was bloody meditating. She glanced at the tubes and needles stuck in her and didn't think, she grabbed them all and yanked them out. She figured one of them must have been vital as her whole body took on the meaning of pain. She felt like she was on fire and burning. She gasped and breathed heavily, the pain in her shoulder and wrist forgotten. Her heart monitor a constant bleep. She screamed as the pain heightened and then it died away altogether. Valkyrie was left barely conscious by the time the ordeal finished. Skulduggery suddenly jerked his head up as her heart monitor started bleeping rhythmically again.

"Valkyrie?" he looked ready to pounce when Clarabelle came rushing into the room. A blue haired phenomenon in an over flowery top and bright green jeans. She muffled a gasp and rushed over, picking up the tubes that Valkyrie had ripped out. When Skulduggery looked at her properly he saw she was hunched over, breathing unevenly with tears in her eyes.

"Valkyrie, what's wrong?" her eyes glanced his way then returned to looking down, her pain stricken face looking relieved as all her tubes were reattached. There were three, one was a clear liquid, a little bit like morphine but only much more effective, the second one was a blood bag and the third one was just a regular drip. Once Clarabelle had finished she gently pushed Valkyrie back down into a lying position. She looked over her then shouted,

"CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Valkyrie winced,

"Stop shouting, my head hurts already," her voice was back to normal now. Clarabelle looked guilty.

"Sorry. Doctor Nye told me that when you wake up I had to check that you could hear me,"

"By shouting?"

"Well…no…but how else would I check?" Valkyrie was about to reply but Clarabelle simply smiled at Skulduggery then merrily skipped out the room.

"Strange girl," he muttered.

"Which one?" Valkyrie quipped, bringing Skulduggery from his thoughts.

"Obviously you my dear," if he had had a face he would have been smiling in relief, but then the image of her pain stricken face from mere moments before made it's way back into his sights.

"What was wrong? I heard screaming but by the time I had returned from my meditative state you had stopped," Valkyrie's eyes went wide,

"It was horrible. I had just regained consciousness and had a flashback of being shot. I called to you but you didn't respond, I had a sudden urge to take out my tubes so I did. After that it felt like my entire body was on fire, my heart stopped beating, and then when it wasn't bad enough already the pain got worse. That's when I screamed," She went silent and closed her eyes. "What's wrong with me? I've woken up from worse and things and never felt that like that. What was different this time?" Skulduggery remained silent and she sighed, "The weirdest thing is that it just went away, my heart started beating again and all that was left was the feeling that I was barely conscious, as soon as you woke up. As if your awareness meant something," Skulduggery still remained silent. Sanguine. It must have been him. He'd tampered with Valkyrie when he was in the operating theatre with her. He stood up and ran from the room, ignoring her shouts of protest behind him. He kept running until he got to Ghastly's office and burst in. Ghastly looked up shocked and surprised at the sudden entrance but as soon as he realised it was Skulduggery he jumped up to meet him.

"What is it? Is Valkyrie ok?"

"Yes, she's fine but I'm not sure for how long,"

"Why? What's wrong with her?"

"She woke up and had a sudden feeling of her whole body being on fire which shouldn't have happened. I have a theory that Sanguine has tampered with her blood," Ghastly was silent for a moment,

"With what?"

"I don't know, but I am going to find out,"

"How?"

"I'm going to find Sanguine and force him to tell me,"

"Where will you start? And what about if something happens to her here whilst your gone. What will you do then?" Skulduggery paused, stunned. He didn't know what he'd do. He saw himself as responsible for her and her well-being; it was his job to protect her, if he failed…

"I'll take her with me then," Ghastly sighed impatiently,

"You'll have to wait for her to recover then,"

"She has already,"

"Has Nye told you that?"

"No but you know Valkyrie, all she needs is a sleep and she's raring to go. She's recovered, just waiting for me now," Ghastly didn't look convinced at all.

"Keep her in for one more day please. For me. I'll send out people to look for him and if he's sighted, to report to me then I'll tell you. Save you the trouble," Skulduggery thought about it for a minute and Ghastly thought he was going to refuse when he said,

"Sure, that's what everybody's here for isn't it? To do our bidding and help us live our lives," Ghastly chuckled,

"Yes, yes they are," he shook his head and smiled as Skulduggery walked back out.

"Why is it always you Valkyrie, you're the one who keeps us sane and together." He murmured before calling the administrator. After two dial tones he picked up,

"Yes Elder Bespoke? Would you like a coffee or perhaps you…"

"Get 5 teams out searching for sanguine. NOW! And if they happen to find anything even remotely related to him then they are to report back to me," he interrupted,

"Yes Elder," he replied, a little flustered then hung up. Ghastly sighed, how he longed for the quiet, simple life of a tailor back. No ridiculous rules, robes or ceremonies. That would be the life…

He heard a familiar rumbling and turned as Sanguine rose out the floor with Tanith.

"Hello Ghastly Dear, I need a chat with you," she said, he lunged for his desk and the security alarm but before he could get there Tanith wrapped an arm around his neck, "It wasn't a request darling,"

"It never is with you, why you don't just leave me and her alone I'll never know! You… you filthy thing," he replied, regretting every insult that left his lips.

"How rude of you," she pushed Ghastly to the floor and kicked him, the last thing he saw was Tanith's slender boot as it hit his head.

There you go. Worked really hard on this chapter to get it up before school started and it was a long one! Yay on my part! Got exams starting tomorrow but I'll try again to update quick. Please review! Here's some VC's (::) (::) (::)