DayDreamer425– Breathe, breathe. Here's a virtual glass of water and the next chapter. Enjoy!
snowflake2606– Keep reading and reviewing! Enjoy the chapters!
EmeraldRhino– Oh God! I could already imagine myself going "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! IRELAND, WHY? OH, WHY?" Here's the most awaited chapter. Enjoy!
Chocolate Spirit– Thank you for reviewing and here is the next chapter! Sadly, no but I so badly wanted to read Artemis Fowl. I really like that kind of stuff but I don't have the time because I'm always busy or just plain procrastinating, hehe.
LittleRedRiddingWolf– I hope you didn't lose it because here it is!
North's medical yetis did the best they could do to stop the bleeding and get the bullet out from Teddy's chest. All of the Guardians sat in the Globe Room, looking distraught and anxious. They should be in the infirmary, giving Teddy moral support but they could not bear to see her paler face and hear her faint breathing. So they dwell in their thoughts in the Globe Room.
A creak was heard from the infirmary door and all of them simultaneously looked up from fiddling their fingers or biting their lips. It was supposed to be a funny sight but Teddy wasn't there to laugh merrily at them. The four medical yetis looked at each other, sending secretive messages to one another. The furry creatures all nodded and look at the Guardians straight in the eye. They all shook their heads.
Dread sat on the throne in the Guardians' minds. One thought echoed in their ears. Teddy is dead. The first one to got out of their stunned stupor was Bunnymund and he ran in all fours towards the infirmary. Jack soon followed the Pooka's actions and disappeared inside the room where Teddy's death bed is located.
The rest of the Guardians looked at each other and all they could do is followed suite. They pushed the door open to see Bunny and Jack looking guiltily at the pale girl. They knew that their fellow spirit, Death, would come here sooner or later.
"No, no, no, no, no." Bunny whispered the word all over again. They knew that Aster is in his breaking point. He hugged Teddy's limp body and sobbed on her shoulder. The rabbit cannot believe that her lover's daughter is dead. He didn't make it in time. They were all too late. Jack grabbed the girl's hand and chastely kissed it. "I'm so sorry." The winter spirit mumbled and a frozen tears slipped from his eyes.
"Did you try everything to revive little girl?" North asked, anger located at the edge of his voice. The four yetis nodded vigorously and left the Guardians to lament at their lost family member. Everyone was terribly heartbroken.
… HOLD ON!
Stop reading! Stop, stop, stop! Now, now people. Kill me later but here is the real chapter.
Light. That's the first thing she noticed. A sudden burst of light. Am I dead? A groan rolled out from her tongue and opened her eyes wearily. Teddy blinked a couple of times before her vision cleared. She was in a different room this time. The ceiling was made out of wooden boards and the texture of the bedsheets was oddly different. Teddy slowly sat up and could feel a sudden jolt of pain in her chest.
The girl noticed someone gripping her right hand. A cold one. She saw Jack uncomfortably slept on his free arm as his back arched. His grip tightened when she moved, as if Jack doesn't want to let her go. "What a sight to see." An English accent filled the air. "Pitch." She gritted her teeth so that minimal sound would only be produced. "Greetings, Ross." The girl rolled her eyes at her friend's mocked politeness.
"I see you alive and well." Pitch's voice drawled from the shadows. He didn't want to reform, seeing as all of the Guardians were sleeping in the same room. "Thanks, I guess." She awkwardly whispered and let a grin plastered on her face. "Don't thank me, thank the two of them. If it weren't for them, you would be dead by now." Pitch implied cockily. One of the Guardians stirred and Pitch quickly disappeared into the shadows and escaped.
"Ted… dy?" Toothiana whispered as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Tooth stared at her awaken friend for a while, trying to comprehend everything around her. Tooth blinked a few times in order to test if this was just a mere mirage or not. The fairy inwardly gasped and now grasped reality. Now fully awake, she suddenly fluttered in front of her friend and squeezed the air out her lungs. "Not… too ti–ght. My… chest hu–rts." Teddy tried to wheeze out and the fairy eventually let her go.
"Everyone, WAKE UP!" The Tooth Fairy screamed at the top of her lungs and everyone bolted upright from the rude awakening. Teddy cocked an amused eyebrow. She didn't knew that Tooth had such power in her lungs to have shaken up the entire Santoff Claussen. The rest of the Guardians were half-asleep, trying to sink the events in their minds. Everyone tried to rub the exhaustion from their eyes.
The first one to break out from their trance is Bunny. He openly cried and let out a sound of utter relief. He hopped beside Teddy's bed and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. The next one was Sandy and the little man grinned like the Chesire cat and popped little fireworks over his head. North regained his composure and laughed boisterously and gently pat the girl's back that still managed to take the 16-year-old girl's breath away.
Jack was the last one and he looked rather shocked and in a moment of disbelief. He basked in Teddy's appearance. She was pale and looked extremely exhausted but nonetheless, happy that's she alive and breathing. Jack went out from his stupor and tackled his friend which accidentally hurt her chest and her breath dashed away from her lungs once more. The boy sheepishly let go after receiving a bark of scolding from the overprotective Pooka.
"What happened?" Teddy asked after she ate the broth Tooth had handed to her. It was kind of awkward, the Guardians watching her eat her meal. "If it vweren't for Bunny and Jack, you're probably be…" The Russian man trailed off and looked away. "Dead." She blatantly continued and all of the Guardians flinched. Teddy coolly sipped her broth as she listened to their explanation. "The yetis were the ones to get the bullet of out your chest and stopped the bleeding." The fairy distressfully informed and Teddy only nodded in affirmation.
"How long was I out?" The injured girl casually asked as she put the empty bowl and spoon on the silver tray. The Guardians glanced at each other, as if agreeing to something secretly. "Three days." Jack answered her and Teddy noticed guilt from his eyes. "I… Oh." She breathed out and suddenly felt guilty for making the Guardians worry.
"Ya had a major blood loss 'n we needed someone ta donate 'n North volunteered." Bunny crossed his arms on his chest and gestured at North. "Cool. I have Russian blood." Teddy tried to ease the tension and luckily, it worked. The Guardians tiredly chuckled at the light joke while thanking MiM that Teddy is back to her normal self. "Thank you, North." The girl sincerely said and smiled at the Cossack. Santa laughed and hugged the girl.
"We thought you're going to die." Tooth suddenly blurted out and the air tensed up again. The atmosphere went gloomy and Teddy could feel she was drowning and getting suffocated. "Arthur almost killed you." Jack ruefully muttered. "The bullet narrowly missed your heart and it almost punctured your lungs." Tooth glumly explained.
Bunny and Jack appeared in the Globe Room where North was found. He was sitting on a recliner and munching on some cookies while staring at bright lights flickering on the globe. "NORTH!" Bunny shouted and the Russian turned his seat around to see Bunny covered in Teddy's blood. He unceremoniously dropped the cookie and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "MEDICAL YETIS!"
Four yetis went to their boss's aid and was stunned to see a bloody Teddy and Bunny. They carefully took Teddy from the Pooka's stubborn grip and brought the unconscious girl to the infirmary. Jack followed suite and Bunny was about to do the same as well when North grabbed his shoulder. "Clean blood first, my friend." And for the first time, Bunny didn't argue and simply obliged.
North soon called the remaining Guardians via Aurora Borealis and a panicked Tooth and an alerted Sandy appeared before him. "Is something wrong?" The fairy threw a panicking question and North simply lead the two Guardians to the infirmary. Tooth started to imagine the worst-case scenarios. Who's hurt? Is it Jack? Is it Bunny? Is it Teddy? And she got her answer before she could ask anyone.
They stared as the yetis tried to get the bullet out of Teddy's chest. Bunny and Jack were already there, looking extremely worried at the girl. Teddy was very dear to the two of them, to all of them. She looked so pale from the amount of blood loss and all Tooth could do is cry at Sandy's shoulders. The whole Santoff Claussen turned gloomy as the yetis did their best to stop the bleeding and get the bullet out. It took them two hours before they finished the job and reported to North.
"Yetis said Teddy is still unconscious but with pulse and air in lungs." The Russian man explained in broken English and all they could do is agree with the information. They soon transferred Teddy to her room while Tooth shakily changed the blood-soaked pants and bra to a baggy sweater and pyjama pants the other yetis had sewn.
They took turns in visiting Teddy's sleeping body and all they could do is brush the hair away from her face and grip her hand, feel her pulse and hear her breathing. They soon gave up with turns and all of them would visit and stayed quiet inside Teddy's room for the rest of the night.
Unbeknownst to them, Pitch is watching from the shadows as well. Worried about Teddy's well-being too.
"Please, stop." The Guardians looked up to see Teddy pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Please, stop," She repeated again and looked at them happily, "I'm just glad that I lived and that I would see your faces again. I am grateful for what you all did. I'm not going to die and that's final. Please stop dwelling in the past." The Guardians looked stunned and suddenly tackled Teddy in a group hug. She heartily laughed, feeling the warmth of her family's embrace. "A–ir!" The squished teen wheezed out and they all apologizingly chuckled.
Soon, they all disperse and went outside the guest room for Teddy to get enough sleep but a certain stubborn winter spirit left behind. He suddenly rushed to Teddy's side and gently hugged her. "I thought I'm going to lose you." He started and the girl patted her friend's back. Sandy had secretly told her that Jack was the most worried among them (aside from Bunny, of course).
The boy would stay up late just to wait and see if Teddy is going to wake up. He would constantly brush the hair covering her face and would whisper sweet-nothings on her ears. He would continuously checked if she still has a pulse or if she's still breathing. He would never let go of her hand and would stay by her side so that when she wakes up, he would be the first one to see.
"I wasn't able to protect you. I'm worthless." The boy choked and stifled a sob. "It's not your fault." Teddy whispered back and painfully hugged Jack back. "I'm here now and that's what matters the most." Teddy reassured and the boy hummed on her shoulder. They stayed like that for a while until Jack decided to let Teddy rest. "Please, stay. I know that nightmares will come." And Jack smiled and stayed. He turned off the lights and laid beside Teddy.
She placed her arm around Jack and snuggled on his hoodie clad chest. "I'm going to protect you." He whispered and put his chin on her head. "Hmm." Was her only reply. "I'm not going to let you go." Jack reassuringly whispered and kissed Teddy's forehead before returning to his original position. "I know." And that's all what matters.
Dear readers, whether anonymous or not,
Hello. I think I'm going to receive a lot of threats so I better hide. So, do you like this chapter? The next one will be evil-ish (in my opinion). Clue, what comes into your mind when I say an old tragic love story? That's the only spoiler.
Hey guys, I was wondering if maybe after I finish this story, I start a fic entitled Extras from Frosted Pen? Will you read it? It's just stuff that didn't appear in the story and random, (hopefully) funny stuff. I will not start this proposition if a lot of people will not review and read it. Lastly, people you should really review and vote. Review because it makes me smile and vote because it will help me in the future. My classes start on June 14 so I better finish this before or on that date.
Read and review my readers, followers, the ones who favorite-d, and those who just lurk in the shadows. Thank y'all! Also, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!
Yours truly, Star.