HI everyone! So I decided to give romance a little break for just one chapter :). I hope you guys like it :)

Chapter 6- Caprice Cabellini

The early mornings were usually not my things ever since we started college, but today's first period already brought a smile to my face. We aced the summary. But what brought me down was that Miss Simian started discussing Wuthering Heights again. What the heck is wrong with that primate? If she wants to discuss gross things all over again, I might as well drop English. It's not actually a required subject for my program anyway.

I was walking to my next class when I saw something from a distance. It was made of glass. It had something inside of it. Oh, it was Caprice. But she looked different.

I went closer and closer to her slowly. I noticed her lace dress was torn all over. The metal on her hands were full of scars. The antennae on her cap was bent. Dried tears were all over her glass dome, and she was covered everywhere in a black substance. I went closer and tasted the substance. It was like melted M&Ms.

That must be her blood.

Sick, I said, trying to erase the sweet taste from my mouth. No matter how delicious that is, it was still my friend's blood. I drank a little bit of water. That should do the trick.

When I finally arrived at her side, I noticed many more things. Her eyes were closed. She was panting heavily like she was having a hard time breathing. Was she still okay? I held her head dome and called out her name. "Caprice?" she didn't respond.

"Caprice, can you hear me?"

Still no response.

I ran my flipper through her entire dome, making sure I didn't miss a spot. It was full of scratches. But then I noticed something deep and would make her wince every time I touched it again.

It was a crack. Her head had a crack.

"Caprice?" I said again. Oh gosh. She had a crack. She had a crack. Was she going to be okay?

"We need to take you to the infirmary," I told her. But as I tried to carry her, I realized she was so heavy. Oh yeah. She was mostly made of metal. I guess it meant I needed another person to help me carry her. But everyone has probably gone to their classes now.

Just then I heard a humming sound. It was Tobias. Maybe he could help me.

"Tobias!" I called out. He turned and smiled at me. "Oh hey Darwin, what's up?"

"You gotta help me, man! She's badly hurt and I need to take her to the infirmary!"

He looked closer into Caprice's face and gasped. "Caprice Isabella Cabellini," he whispered. He stood up with a shocked expression in his face then said, "I'm sorry, Darwin. I need to get to my next class." I tried to convince him to change his mind.

But the cloud humanoid was already gone.

"I guess I'll have to carry you on my own," I muttered. I did my best lifting her up and carrying her all the way to Lincoln Building, but geez it was like her M&Ms were made of lead. It was a good thing we made it to the infirmary, because if we didn't, I wouldn't ever hear the end of the story.

"Miss, you gotta help her," I told the Bandage Nurse. "I saw her in this condition on my way to class, but I don't know if she's okay."

The nurse looked at her for a while. "Well, she's an M&M vending machine, Mr. Watterson. I don't know if there's anything else I can do but patch her up. I'll have to call 911 on this one." She went to the phone and dialed 911 while I sat beside the bed she laid Caprice in.

"Hello?" I heard a man from 911 say.

"Hello? Oh yes. We have a badly injured M&M vending machine. I don't really know how to fix her up."

"Where are you now, ma'am?"

"Oh yes. I'm at Elmore Community College, infirmary, Lincoln Building."

"Alright, ma'am. We'll have some doctors and mechanics brought there immediately."

"Thank you." She turned to me and said, "Would you like to go back to class, Mr. Watterson?"

To be honest, I don't feel like going to class right now. Caprice is badly hurt. I need to see if my friend is okay. Besides, I am drained after carrying her to this building. The college should really place an infirmary in every building.

The paramedics and mechanics arrived not long after the call. They strapped Caprice up and we were both on our way to the hospital.

At the hospital, I paced back and forth, hoping that she was okay. I mean, I don't love her or anything. But she's my friend. Of course you have to be worried when your friend has a crack on her head dome, right?

A doctor arrived in front of me and introduced himself as Dr. Patterson.

"So Mr. Watterson, you friend has a crack on her head, two deep cuts and she lost a lot of blood. But fortunately, the mechanics brought some melted M&Ms for her transfusions. The crack was not much of a big deal. We had it all fixed up, but since it was pretty big, she'll be in the hospital for a few days, but the crack didn't affect her brain at all."

I sighed in relief. She was okay.

"Can I talk to her?"

…

"Darwin?" Caprice said as she slowly opened her eyes. She had a respirator and oxygen tube, and a heart monitor thing and all those fancy gadgets hooked up to her. She looked awful. She had some glue-like substance keeping the new glass for her crack still. She had bandages and casts everywhere.

"H…How did I get to the hospital? I passed out in the hallway."

"I found you and took you to the infirmary."

"Gee, I don't know what to say. Thanks."

"No problem. So what happened?"

"It's a long story. It's a really long one."

"I can keep up."

She breathed in and out to compose herself. The poor M&M machine looked as if she was in no good condition to talk. "It is really long, but long story short- you need to stop hanging out with Polly, Darwin."

P..P…P…P…P… Polly? What's Polly's involvement on this?

"Was she the one who-?"

"No. But she's the motive. She just doesn't know anything. The guy basically cut my glass and told me he- or she, they were using a voice mixer- was going to shatter my head into pieces if you guys didn't stop hanging out."

"What's you involvement-?"

"Okay. You and Polly have been hanging out for a week now, is that correct?"

I nodded. "Has she told you anything about her family history?"

"Well, no, but-."

"Good. Don't bother trying to get it out of her. It's really long and complicated. You have no idea how much the poor girl has gone through. But please, just at least keep a little distance from her."

"Why?"

"I told you. It's a long and very complicated story. You do not want to get sucked into the Scherkovski family's affairs. She's been through a lot of stress, and adding you to the story will make it even worse."

"But-."

"Please, Darwin. Do it for yourself. If you can't, then do it for her. It's for your safety."

Safety? I don't think Polly or her family would be capable of doing such a thing, right? No, she definitely can't.

I concentrated on the beeps on the monitor, thinking hard. I've grown attached to her already. She's a really nice girl. She's sweet, insensitive and a good listener. I don't see anything in her that could pose a threat. I tried imagining her holding a gun, or a knife, or any deadly weapon, then shuddered at the thought. She was too nice to even hold a weapon.

The beeping on the monitors slowed down. I looked down to see Caprice asleep. She was more peaceful now, but at the same time a hint of worry filled her face.

"I'm sorry Caprice," I whispered to the sleeping M&M machine. "I just can't let her go, not yet."

I slowly left the room. I just don't know what to do. I really, really like Polly. But in the first week I met her, I know that Caprice is good at advice-giving too. Should I follow Caprice's advice and leave her? I just can't. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I arrived back at school with no excuse to give to Gumball or Polly on my sudden absence. What should I tell them?

"Hey buddy," Gumball said. "How's Caprice?"

"How did you know?"

"Tobias told Joe, and Joe told me."

"Oh."

"So how is she?"

"The doctor said she needed to be at the hospital for a while. She was seriously hurt."

"Mmm. I hope she'll be okay."

"I hope so too."

An awkward silence fell between the both of us. Then Gumball finally spoke, "Dude, you better talk to Polly."

"Huh. Why?"

Gumball let out a small giggle before saying, "She's crazy jealous, man!"

"Jealous?"

"Dude, don't you know anything about girls? They get jealous. She's jealous of your 'heroism' towards Caprice. You better apologize."

"She… she's jealous?"

"Duh." Gumball rolled his eyes. "Look, just explain everything to Polly, and everything will be cool."

I looked for her around the canteen. A lot of people were around. It was so crowded I couldn't even figure out where I was. I tried jumping, but the people around me were so tall. Hello, fish with legs trying to see where he's going here?

"Excuse me," I heard Polly whisper. Oh, there she is. No, wait! I'm losing her darn it. I gotta get her.

"Polly!"

She turned around and saw me. Good, I don't have to go through this crowd.

"What's up, Darwin? Where have you been?"

"I was at the hospital. Caprice got hurt."

"Hmm."

"So, Gumball told me you were jealous."

"What? Jealous? Me? No…"

"And I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

Her expression turned from distant to surprised. The adorable blush she had also appeared. "Th… Thanks, Darwin, I guess."

I smiled. I'm never gonna regret not listening to Caprice, I thought.

Hihi... I hope you like it guys :)