*** Sorry about the last two chapters. I uploaded them onto my account, then totally forgot to put them in the book! Sorry! Anyways, I'm on a roll, so here's the next chapter =D I hope this makes up for forgetting to insert! Also, I'm sorry for being sadistic. Gumi's gonna hit some rough times in these next few chapters. Evil Grin

I DO NOT OWN VOCALOID.***

*** Gumi POV ***

That wasn't the last of the dreams. I had the same dream again the moment I went back into a deep sleep. The dream ended short this time; I was only able to see Piko's dead body and start crying. But, it was still enough to make me cry in reality, so when I was awoken by an alarm clock, my cheeks were wet. Piko still had me in his arms, so my tears were being soaked in by his shirt. I tried to wiggle out of his grip, but he held me too tight. Each time I moved, his arms held me tighter and tighter.

"Piko, you're hurting me." It was now getting hard to breathe; he was crushing my stomach. I looked up at his face, to see he was staring down at me with blood red eyes. His hands moved from behind my waist to aroun my neck. He held me tightly, but not enough to keep me from breathing. I managed to use some of my breath to whisper, "Piko. Stop. Please."

My tears continued to fall, and his grip tightened. I now couldn't breathe. I struggled in his arms, trying to push him away, but he didn't budge. I looked up at his eyes. They were still red, but growing in fury each second. I slipped into unconsiousness, letting my eyes close.

I awoke to an alarm clock. Piko tightened and relaxed his grip around my waist as he stretched. I lay there with my eyes wide open, staring at his closed ones. When they finally opened, they immediatley found mine. "Good mor-" He realized I'd been crying almost immediatley, and moved to look me directly in the eyes. Tears continued to fall out of the right side of my face, the tears from my left eye making a path to my right eye, and from there onto a pillow. "What happened this time?"

I looked directly at him. My vision was blurry from the tears, but I could see the blue and green splotches of light. "You killed me again. You strangled me this time. Right here." The tears intensified, and I started shaking again. Both my hands were unusable, locked between me and him.

He held the back of my head, pressing my forehead against his. He immediatly flinched and pulled away. He took his right hand and put it on my forehead. "You're burning up!"

I blinked a few times. "I feel fine. I mean, the same that I have the past few weeks. Maybe you're just cold?"

He felt the back of his hand with his palm, then put it to his own forehead. "No. I'm normal. You're running a fever."

I sat up to protest, but immediatley got dizzy. I think I was even visibly swirling in circles. I fell back down onto the pillow, the world still looking like it was spinning. Well, at least I know what's up with the dreams.

At the time I was only four or five. I ran into my mom and dad's room, yelling that I'd been killed in my sleep. They told me to go back to my room and forget about it.

"B-but! Mom! Dad! It's scary in there!"

My dad grunted. "Go back to your room, Gumi. And don't bother us again."

I shuffled out of the room and back into my own. Only to be greeted by the same dream again. When I woke up, I was dizzy and tired. I didn't get out of bed that day.

Piko brushed my bangs from my forehead, kissing me. "I'll go get Mom. You stay here."

"Where am I supposed to go when I can't sit straight?" Well. I meant to say that. I think what came out was something along the lines of, "I where when supposed to sit go can't am straight?" On top of that, I sounded like a drunken sailor, so he probably wouldn't have understood if I had said it right.

He looked at me, confused. "What? Nevermind. Save your energy."

I nodded, staring at the ceiling. What a pretty ceiling. So white, and bright. So pretty.

Mom came in the room and I sat up to greet her. That was a bad idea. I instantly got dizzy, and my head started pounding terribly. Now I knew I was visibly spinning. I tried to say, "Who's moving the room?" But it came out as, "Wffus mvvan zarhum?" Mom looked at me funnily, then sat on the bed. I laid back down, my head resting against the pillow. Hey, since when am I floating? No, seriously. Look at this, the ceiling is now the floor. What a pretty floor...

Mom laid her hand on my forehead, then said something to Piko. He nodded, grabbed something then left. Mom turned back to me as I sat up, watching Piko walk down the hallway towards the bathroom. He turned back for a second, and I swear I saw red eyes. He must've noticed the fear from that far away, because he waved, then disappeared into the bathroom. A hand waved in front of my face. I turned to look at Mom, where the hand had come from. She said something, but I couldn't hear it. The pounding in my head was too loud.

I looked at her in confusion, then fell onto my pillow. What a nice pillow, always catching my falls. I love you, pillow. I hope we can become married some day. If only our love wan't forbidden because you were a pillow. I'm going to name you Romeo, so that I can call myself Juliet. Our love shall be forbidden forever.

Mom got up and left the room just as Piko came in. He gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, then got up to leave. I quickly grabbed his wrist and wouldn't let go. He looked at me sady, saying something that I couldn't hear over the pounding in my head. Ignoring that, I tried to ask him why he was walking on the ceiling. As always, it just came out as mumbling and jumbled up words. But I still wouldn't let go of his wrist. I didn't know why- I thought I loved Romeo. He started talking, trying to pry my fingers off his wrist. I held on tight though, and my fingers wouldn't come off.

I managed to make out a single sentence from reading his lips. "You want me to stay?" I nodded. He sighed. At that time, Mom came in the room, a little device and the container with the tick in it in a hand. The other had a small box of water and a towel. I gasped at seeing the ailen bug, and let go of Piko's hand. I pushed myself up so I was sitting, then held my knees close to my body and hid behind them.

Mom took my chin in her hand and gently tilted it upward, holding a little device in her hand. She put in in my mouth, and it tasted disgusting. She watched a little screen with worry, then looked up at Piko, said something short, then looked back down. Piko looked especially worried, petting my head gently. Piko, I'm not a dog, why are you doing that?

I watched Piko carefully as he sat down behind me and pulled me so that my head was in his lap. Mom had disappeared now. I must've looked alarmed, because he kissed me on the forehead and whispered in my ear, "It''s all right. Are you feeling okay?"

I shook my head. "Di-i-i-i-y." I had trouble forming the 'z' sound with my lazy tounge, so I left it out, but he seemed to understand. I tried making a few more words. "Co-d." I still couldn't move my tounge in my mouth, but as long as I pronounce the first and last letters I should be fine. He pulled the blanket up to my shoulders, kissing my forehead again.

I slowly gained back my ability to hear as the pain in my head went away. I could hear it when his Mom came back in the room, but I couldn't hear what she was saying, only Piko's replies. It was like listening to a conversation on a phone from one end.

"Seriously? Come on, Mom. She looks like she's dying here. She probably is too." His eyes looked at mine and I smiled. "And with a 105, you'd think they would send her to the emergency room." My eyes widened. I was scared of hospitals. Always have been. I can never find a reason to be scared of them, but I've just always been afraid of the idea of a super-clean place. Maybe it was because of how ofen my mom cleaned when I was little...

He petted my bangs back, and I struggled against his arms to get up and run. I lost the fight, and laid down on his lap again. I suddenly felt so tired, like I had been awake for over a month. The moment I closed my eyes, I was out of it.

The moment I woke up, I remembered feeling nothing. Like my entire body was numb. I couldn't move either. Simply lifting a finger was such a challenge. It felt like I was trapped under a layer of concrete. I moved my eyes around a bit, seeing as that was the only think I could do. I was still in Piko's room. I was still on his lap, except he'd changed positions so he was facing the door like I was. He was stroking my face, letting his three longest fingertips glide down and back up my face. He was watching me carefully, and I had no doubt he'd noticed I was awake.

I smiled at him. Though, it was more of just a twitch of the corners of my mouth. He continued to scan my face worridly, reaching over and taking something out of a pile of something. It was the same device as before, that you put in your mouth. I opened my mouth willingly, and he put the little device in, and it beeped a few seconds later. He removed it, and looked at it carefully. "That's not good. It went up." I blinked, looking at him. Now even straining my eyes to see was becoming a burden. I let them fall and look at the ceiling. "How're you feeling?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing more would happen. My tounge felt like someone had coated it with lead. It was impossible to talk. He got an idea. "Blink once for 'No' and twice for 'Yes', okay?" I blinked twice. He smiled.

"Are you still dizzy?" Two blinks. "Is it as bad as before?" One blink. "Do you feel alright?" One blink. "Is this making you tired?" Two blinks. He nodded, closing my eyes for me. "Get some rest, alright? I'll be right here when you wake up." I quickly felt myself falling asleep again to his humming. It was so sweet and claming.

When I woke up next, I was extremely uncomfortable. It felt like someone gave me a big, winter jacket and long, fluffy jeans, and sent me outside in the middle of summer. I thought my skin was boiling, it was so hot. I couldn't do anything though. My body wouldn't work. I opened my eyes to see Piko laying his forehead on mine. He was shaking, too. I assumed he was crying. I hummed a little bit to let him know I was awake. He looked up, and I had guessed right- he had been crying.

"You're alright. I'm so glad." The tears started to fall from his eyes again, falling onto my cheeks. I realized that his hands were locked with mine and resting on my stomach. I wanted to reach up and wipe away his tears, but my arms wouldn't move. I managed to get out, "Don't cry. I'm alright. Right here." Sure, it might've sounded a little bit morphed, but it was still audible. The drops fell from his eyes quicker, landing on my cheeks more often. "Piko, I'm alright. Stop crying." It wasn't true, but I couldn't stand to see him cry.

"Your fever hit 105.8 an hour ago, and doesn't plan on slowing down. We have to take you to the hospital." The tears now fell like rain, almost never stopping. I shuttered at the word 'hospital'.

"No. Don't. I'm fine. Please." That was the last place I wanted to go.

"We have to. You won't get better."

"I-I'm fine. Don't take me there. Piko."

He shook his head. "If you'd been at home when this happened, you would've died. You would've been dead by now, probably. You'll die if we don't take you there."

I managed to move one of my lead arms, wiping away the tears in his eyes. It flopped down weakly as it completed the job.

"I promise, I'll get better. Please, don't take me to the hospital." I felt my tears start in the place of the ones I wiped away from him. He continued letting his fall, but this time, they fell on the shoulder of my nightgown, where his head was. Moving my arm that much made me so tired. It was such a simple task, but it made me so tired. "Piko. Are you listening?"

He nodded. "Don't take me to the hospital." My voice started to loose its volume and articulation as my last few words were spoken. "Please. I'd rather die here than an unknown room."

He looked at me for a moment, scared of something. He shook my shoulders, not letting me go to sleep. It started to fail though, and I fell asleep being shook.

*** =O Heh, it's 3 AM, and I can't think of anything to put here, so... one more chapter. Review this one first, though! Last chapter isn't the last, we're not close yet ***