"You don't know? That's your answer? You immediately see him and hate him. You make him cry. Then suddenly you wanna be sorry? I don't buy any of that!" He had lost it, his voice slowly started to raise. "So why do you care!"

The girls looked ready to blow up on him (except Lily) for speaking that way to Kate. Even with those facts, and with them just as confused they knew there had to be a good reason. Besides they always had her back. But they were immediately stopped by Kate putting up her arm as if holding them back. "Samuel if I knew what was happening I'd give you an answer. But I don't. Humphrey is just so different from any other man I've met. And I don't know why I suddenly care so much all I know is that I do! And that he doesn't deserve what he's going through right now. And I know that we all know for a FACT... A FACT that if he was seeing what we're doing right now he'd be devastated! So Samuel if you really have something to settle with me can it wait until after he's okay!?" She nearly shouted but she surprisingly kept her cool. Though she made her anger abundantly clear to him. She made sure to stress a few words to get it through the idiot's thick skull that she was just as confused as she was.

He looked at her angrily. Though after a few minutes of him glaring he reluctantly nodded. As much as he hated to admit it she was right. Humphrey hated it when people fought. He was a natural mediator. Naturally looking to keep the peace. In fact, he was a pacifist for most of his life. He stopped being one when his father first taught him self defense when he had turned thirteen. And he technically didn't fight once, until Junior year when Samuel and Michael got into a predicament with Randall Freeman. And that only happened because Randall had hurt Samuel and Michael to a point that they were nearly hospitalized. It was the only time Humphrey lost his cool in front of them. And honestly, that side of him was intimidating. He was such a gentle soul, but he could fight like there was no tomorrow.

After a few more seconds he sighed, then he looked at her, "You're right... I'm sorry." He said just barely loud enough for her to hear. He hated the fact that he apologized but he knew it was the right thing to do, mostly for Humphrey. His friend that somehow saw the good in everyone had seen good in this girl. He didn't understand how though. And honestly, if it wasn't a necessity he didn't want to know either.

Kate said nothing back. She honestly didn't care if he was sorry or not. The only thing that she cared about at the moment was what was happening beyond the doors that led to Humphrey's operation room. She was so worried and she had no idea why.

Not that it wasn't unwelcome. Strangely enough.


They had all sat in silence for a while after Samuel lost his cool. The time now was 7:37. The other ladies had just left wishing that Humphrey would be okay. That left only Kate, Samuel, Michael, and Sean. Soon they heard the doors open. The nurse from earlier that rushed Humphrey to the ER had looked around the room. Once met them she gestured them to follow her.

As soon as they were in the hallway Sean spoke up. "Please tell me that my friend is okay," He said, hurt and worry were eminent in his voice. He wanted nothing more than to hear the reassurance of a professional.

The nurse looked back to them with a smile, "Why should I tell you when you can hear it from him yourself?" Once they heard that relief hit them all like a semi-truck. Humphrey was okay! He somehow pulled off a miracle!

"Thank god!" Michael said a tear in his eye. Similar reactions were made by the other two guys. Kate instead let a smile come to her face. Thankfully she was behind them so they couldn't see her.

Soon they made it to their designated room. Looking ahead they saw Humphrey looking out the window. Tubes in his arm providing water and they saw a recently removed oxygen concentrator. Soon he looked toward them with a smile, "Hey guys! Why do you look so depressed? Something happen?" He had a smirk plastered on his face and his voice seemed different to Kate. It was still his gentle kind like voice but it had some extra... flair to it?

The three couldn't hold themselves back as they ran to Humphrey giving him a big group hug. Samuel basically on the bed. Kate looked at them with a smirk, they looked like they were brothers with how they acted. "Jesus guys easy there, You'll kill me with all that!" Humphrey joked as he returned the hug. He then looked at Kate. "Hey Kate, you alright?"

Did he seriously just ask her if she was alright? He literally almost died and acts as nothing happened? And he looks at her worried about her as if she nearly lost her life? He definitely wasn't like any other man she met. She gave him a smile, "You're in the hospital bed and you're asking me if I'm alright? Did you get enough oxygen?"

Humphrey laughed at the joke. He seemed much more... loose at the moment. Maybe it was the meds he had to be on. "I hope so!"

"Humphrey, what happened?" Sean asked he was curious. But mostly he still had some worry, what could have been so bad that it did that to Humphrey? What suddenly made him stop breathing?

Humphrey remained silent, his face changing from the wide smile to a saddened frown. Before they could question further though the doctor came into the room. "Humphrey seemed to have suffered an anxiety attack. It's honestly a miracle he's alive right now considering how long he wasn't breathing. But the attack seemed to be caused by severe stress. Humphrey is everything alright?" He said upon entering.

Humphrey looked on and his smile returned. "I think so. Maybe I was just balancing too many things at once?"

That's the excuse? Kate thought as she kept a blank expression. She didn't like the fact that it looked like he was hiding something. Humphrey wasn't that hard to read surprisingly. For such a quiet and reclusive kid who she knew basically nothing about she could easily read him sometimes. This was one of those times. He knew what the problem was, but he just wasn't telling them. Could it have been the hangout? He seemed fine during it though. Maybe it was something else?

The doctor nodded looking at his clipboard. "Okay, well then try not to overdo anything for the next couple of weeks and I suggest heavy bed-rest for the next three days. You need time to sort yourself in peace. Okay?"

Humphrey looked at the doctor and nodded. He knew that he needed time to think. With a sigh, he looked to the window. Peace huh? I wonder if that's possible for me. He had never known peace his whole life. For such a peaceful driven person he actually didn't know what peace felt like. Even when drama wasn't around him his mind was always working and making him anxious, he was an overthinker, he calculated every action he took. And every choice he made always was in the back of his head... haunting him. Maybe that was the reason he fought so hard to make sure others were alright because he himself couldn't say he knew about it he wanted to make sure others could experience it.

"Okay great, I'll prescribe you with anxiety medication. Now if you start feeling chest pains or dizziness then come here immediately. With that said you'll be able to leave in fifteen minutes, just need a few minutes for me to get the medication." The doctor said waving them goodbye. The nurse left soon after leaving the lifelong friends and Kate in there alone.

Honestly, it made her uncomfortable. At any point, they could... do things to her. Actually they'd be dumb to try any of that. She knew she had no reason to be like this, but she couldn't help it. It was just how she was around... them. "Hey, Kate are you okay? You seem... on edge?"

There he was again. Did he not know how to think about himself? But it wasn't like he had been wrong. Because he wasn't. Until she heard his voice. She didn't know how to explain it, but somehow his voice made her know she was gonna be alright. For some reason it made her think of Dunkin. When he yelled at Sam to shut his mouth, but somehow even though he had yelled, his voice still had a gentle tone to it.

It still confused her. His voice carried such a peaceful tone even though he yelled. And he yelled at Samuel even though he was protecting him. It was a calculated move though. And she knew he did it on purpose. He knew if he yelled at her and protected Samuel then the situation would have gotten worse. So he took out the whole situation by yelling at his friend.

Just how smart is he anyway?

All she could do was look at him blankly, internally still confused. Before finally, she sighed, "Yeah I'm fine. What about you though. It's not like you to be so talkative," She mostly meant that as a quip back hoping to draw attention away from her personal state of being.

Apparently it worked as she saw him slowly chuckle. His friends looking at him confused. Maybe it hadn't crossed their minds that he was talking like the average person. Could that mean that he used to talk more? "I think it's the medicine honestly. Oh, I just thought about it actually. Kate, how do you want me to work on our project? I'm not gonna be able to leave my dorm for a few days,"

The question caught Kate off guard, she hadn't even thought about the project this whole time. With Humphrey bedridden, they'd definitely fall behind the rest of there class. She could easily just have him email his work to her. If that was the case she ran no risk of anything happening to her. But if she decided to go over to his dorm depending on who his roommate is could really make or break her whole experience. And she ran the risk of one of them doing something or pushing her buttons the wrong way. But maybe she could just call him and they could talk as they worked. It would help them get to know each other better while they were doing their assignment.

Honestly, she didn't know what to do. Clearly the best option was the phone call as the compromise. But if she was honest she didn't want to be on the phone. Maybe she could convince him to go to the class anyway? Actually that option was immediately out the window. She could easily convince him but, she didn't want to risk his health. Maybe she should just do the email?

"Do you want me to just send an email? Or maybe you can send the doc to me and I can work on it at the same time as you," His voice came up again. He had a good point and a great idea. Sharing the doc would be really helpful for them. That way they could both type up everything. It was slightly better than the email for a couple of reasons and it was better than her going through the process of talking to the teacher about the whole thing and going to the dorm. She gave him a smile and nodded, "Okay then do you need my email? I'll text you it."

She could get used to hearing his voice if she was honest. It wasn't completely repulsive, at least for a man's voice.

Okay, honestly I don't think there is much more that I should write for this chapter. I'm happy with where it's at. So sorry for the two short chapters in a row but even so I really hope you all enjoyed the read and I'll see all of you amazing people in the next chapter!