Gee, um…I can't really think of anything to say right now. Nothing sucks in life and nothing is just wonderful right now either. I am a little scared though. If you live in Minnesota, then maybe you know. My school, Orono, is having problems. Our teachers have been working without a contract and the union decided that they would only be allowed in the building from 7:30am to 3:30pm. This gives them no time at all for prep hour, where they get their stuff ready. No one can come in and make up tests anymore or anything. Fortunately, they won their "Work for Rule" but I learned that it ain't over. Their gonna vote on the new contract and if one group disagrees with the other, it could lead to strike. I'm a little scared right now. I like summer and I don't wanna go to school during it.
Well anyway, if you read this thank you and if you didn't then I curse you for not caring. (Not literally).
Declaimer: don't own zoids, duh.
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"This doesn't look good," said Doc. They all stood around in the medical vicinity of the Toros base. Bit was laying on a bed that was sort of high up and in the middle of the room. There were machines all over the room. Doc was looking at Bit as he was lying there, unconscious. Everyone was sitting in the room, wanting to know what was going on.
"What is it Doc?" asked Jamie.
"That's just the thing. I can't figure it out. He looks just fine," said Doc. He looked to all of them. "Maybe all of you should just go to bed. Perhaps Bit will wake up in the morning."
"Alright," they all answered. Brad, Taban, and Miharu all left and Leena left after them, but stayed outside the door. She knew that something was really wrong. Leon, Naiomi, and Jamie stayed in the room with Doc.
"I just don't get it," said Doc. He walked around Bit and then noticed something. There was a dark spot on Bit's shoulder. "What's that?" asked Doc. Leon, Jamie and Naiomi looked worried. The secret they were protecting was about to end. Doc touched the spot and then looked at his hand. It was slightly red. "What is this?" he asked, a little surprised. He quickly unzipped part of Bit's jacket shirt and found the bandages wrapped around his shoulder and the blood leaking through. He immediately looked to Naiomi, Jamie, and Leon. They were all tensed and seemed nervous.
"I want an explanation," said Doc sternly.
"W-why do you think we'd know something?" asked Leon.
"Because you three seem to have been spending a lot of time around Bit lately," said Doc.
"That has nothing to do with it," said Naiomi.
"Why can't you just tell me?"
"Because we're sworn to secrecy," blurted Jamie. Doc eyed him.
"JAMIE!!" yelled Leon and Naiomi. Jamie quickly put his hands over his mouth.
"So, you do know something," said Doc. "You need to tell me."
"But we can't," said Jamie.
"Look, Bit's life could depend on this. I can't help him if I don't know what happened," said Doc. There was a brief moment of silence.
"Fine, I'll tell you," said Naiomi. She then shot a glance at Jamie and Leon. "But I'm not doing this alone. Either none of us break the promise, or we all do." They nodded their heads in agreement. "Alright, I guess I should begin at the beginning," said Naiomi. "This started the day that Bit went into town and I brought him back. You see, I didn't really find him in town and the car wasn't stolen," said Naiomi. "Instead, I found Bit walking in the desert, holding his right shoulder. I offered him a ride back to the base, but he insisted that I take him into town instead."
"So what really happened to Bit?" asked Doc.
"He was shot," said Naiomi. "He was attacked by desert bandits. He was nearly killed, but the bullet they shot at him hit his shoulder and passed right through. Because they didn't kill him, the bandits blew up his car so that Bit would die in the desert, but I found him. I took him to the hospital and his shoulder was only bandaged, on account that Bit refused to stay overnight," said Naiomi.
"If I may ask, just how did the two of you find out about this?" asked Doc. He was looking at Leon and Jamie.
"Eavesdropping," said Jamie.
"Jamie let it slip out," said Leon. Jamie gave an annoyed glance at Leon. Doc sweatdropped, but his expression quickly became worried.
"Don't tell me Bit's been like this since then!" he said shocked.
"I'm afraid so," said Leon.
"You know, when he first got the injury, it wasn't this bad," said Naiomi.
"Then why is it like this now?" asked Doc. It suddenly hit him. "You three knew about this injury and you let him battle?" The three of them stood there.
"He said he'd be alright," said Jamie.
"And you believed him?!" said Doc. "Bit loves to battle and would go even if every bone in his body was broken."
"We tried to stop him. We knew the strain would be hard on him and I guess that's why his injury opened up so wide and didn't heal," said Leon.
"But I don't get it," said Naiomi. "Why would he collapse like that? It can't just be because of the strain on his shoulder and the pain he felt, can it?"
"I'm still trying to figure that out," said Doc. He went back to check the machines that were monitoring Bit's condition. "I honestly can't say what's causing it." He turned to look to them. "You should all get some sleep. It's late now," said Doc. They all nodded. Leon and Jamie left and Doc walked off to his room. Naiomi stood there.
"You knew all along, didn't you?"
Naiomi quickly turned around to see Leena standing behind her. "About the dreams, Bit, everything. You knew they were real all along," said Leena.
"Look, I didn't wanna worry you," said Naiomi.
"Oh, I think it's a little too late for that. You had the nerve to tell me they were just dreams, but they were real all along. What happened in the desert and everything after that. Those times I wasn't able to save Bit, you were looking out for him all along."
"Look Leena, I'm sorry, but I swore to Bit I wouldn't say a thing about what happened," said Naiomi.
"Well, I know now," said Leena. She walked past Naiomi. "I'm going to bed now." And with that, Leena walked off to her room. 'Things have gone from bad to worse,' thought Naiomi.
******
Bit was laying on the hard table like thing in the middle of the medical room. The only sounds that were audible were the gentle hum of the machinery as they continued to monitor Bit's condition. The clock to the side read 4:50am. Bit's breathing was normal, as if he was asleep. His expression was emotionless as he lay there. He then groaned and tightly shut his eyes. His body was trembling. He soon relaxed his face, but he began to breath very quickly, gasping for air. The machine monitoring his pulse began to beep loudly, giving warning that something was wrong. The medical vicinity was close to some of the rooms. Doc heard the beeping and quickly got up and ran to the room. The second he got there, everyone else seemed to arrive as well.
"Bit!" yelled Leena. She was the first over to him. He was breathing hard and gasping for air. "Dad! What's wrong with him?!" asked Leena. She was worried. Doc was looking at the machines.
"I don't know!" he yelled. He was also panicking. The machine that was showing his pulse went wild. It jumped around a lot.
"We have to do something!" said Jamie. They were all doing the best they could to try and figure out what's wrong. All the machines were going crazy. Doc examined one machine while Jamie was looking at another.
"I don't get it! What could be wrong?!" said Doc. Bit's condition was getting worse by the second. Doc continued to look at the machines. Leena stayed by Bit, wishing that there was something she could do for him. They were all getting frustrated.
"Doc, isn't there anything we can do?!" asked Brad.
"I wish there was, but I still can't figure out what's wrong with him!" said Doc.
"The pressure in his body is skyrocketing!" said Jamie. "I don't think we can do anything! His pulse is going to fast!" Bit was breathing hard and fast. His breaths were in short, quick motions. Doc looked over a few papers that had come out of one of the machines. He examined the results and his eyes went wide.
"It can't be…" he said.
"What is it Doc?" asked Jamie.
"It's poison," said Doc.
"Poison?!" they all said together. Bit took one large breath and then fell silent. Leena looked back to him and then the monitor. The pulse line was flat. Tears fell from her eyes.
"No…Bit…NO!" she yelled.
******
Leena sat up quickly in her bed. A cold sweat covered her face. She immediately looked to her clock. 3:45am. 'Only about an hour,' she thought to herself. She quickly jumped out of bed and got dressed as quickly as she could. She ran out into the medical room, running past the living room as well, where Naiomi was sitting. She saw Leena run down the hall and got up to follow. Leena got to the medical room and her dad was still there.
"Dad!" said Leena. He looked to her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Bit needs to go to the hospital now!" she said.
"What?"
"I don't have time to explain. All I know is that Bit needs to see a doctor now!" she yelled.
"You should listen to her," said Naiomi. Leena looked towards her as Naiomi walked up next to Leena. "If Leena says Bit needs a doctor, then he needs a doctor," she said.
"Even if we did call for an ambulance to come and get him, it would take a good 40 minutes for them to get here, and then they'd have to travel back as well," said Doc.
"No, we can't wait that long!" said Leena.
"Then we can take him," said Naiomi. Leena looked at her. "The closest hospital from here is Eastwood hospital. If we take the jeep and go at full speed, we should be able to make it."
"Are you sure you don't wanna wait until tomorrow?" asked Doc.
"Definitely," said Leena.
"Alright, good luck," said Doc. Leena and Naiomi walked over to the table where Bit was laying. They carefully took him off of the table. They put one of his arms around each of their shoulders and carefully walked with him. They eventually reached the hanger. Leena looked around until she saw the jeep.
"Naiomi, take Bit to the jeep. I'll be there in a second," said Leena. She carefully unhooked his arm from her shoulders and she ran over to the Liger Zero.
"Hey Liger, thanks for looking after Bit during the battle. And don't worry, we wont let anything happen to him," said Leena quickly. Liger gave a small roar, which Leena interpreted as a thank you and good luck. Leena quickly ran over to the jeep and jumped in. Naiomi was at the wheel. Leena jumped in back where Bit was. She sat down and lifted his head onto her lap.
"Hang on," said Naiomi. The hanger door opened and the second it did, Naiomi floored the accelerator. The car took off very quickly.
"So tell me, how long do we have?" asked Naiomi. She had to shout so her voice could be heard over the engine.
"We have about an hour left," shouted Leena.
"What's going to happen?"
"Well, it's 4:00 right now, so in 50 minutes, Bit will start to suffer and gasp for air and at 5:00, he'll die," said Leena.
"Do you know what's wrong with him?"
"Yes. It's poison."
"But how? No one could have poisoned him without us knowing."
"I know it's strange, but that's what it is. How long will it take to get there?"
"About 20 minutes from now. This is the same hospital I took Bit to the first time."
"I hope everything will work out."
"Me too Leena, me too." The ride was quiet for a while. Leena just looked at Bit and stroked his hair gently.
"Hang on Bit, we're almost there," she whispered.
"Hey, Leena?" asked Naiomi.
"What?"
"I hope you don't mind me asking this, but I gotta know something."
"What?"
"Do you have a crush on Bit, or something?" Leena began to blush slightly. She could feel herself become hot.
"W-why?" she asked.
"Well, I always thought you hated him, you know? And now, you seem to want to save him. So I gotta know, do you?"
"Well, I…"
"Yes?"
"I…"
"Yes?!"
"Um…"
"It's not that hard to say!"
"Yes, alright?! I like him, okay?" said Leena. Naiomi just smiled.
"That's what I thought," she said.
"What about you?" asked Leena.
"What about me?"
"Do you like Brad?" asked Leena. Naiomi suddenly straitened up and began to blush. "I knew it, you do like him," said Leena.
"Shut up!"
"Oh, so it's okay for you to ask me, but not for me to ask you?"
"Exactly."
"Whatever. It's not like it's a secret. You two don't do a good job of hiding it at all," said Leena.
"Look, let's forget about it. We're almost there," said Naiomi. They could see the city now and it was huge. They were soon in and they drove right up to the hospital. Once again, they both helped to carry Bit. They went as quickly as they could. They were soon at the receptionist's desk. The waiting room was empty. It was late, and no one was there. They ran right up to the desk. The lady looked about 30 or so and had short, brown hair that was in a ponytail. She wore a white doctors outfit like the rest of the people who worked there. She noticed them come in and quickly looked up.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Please, we need to see a doctor, right away!" said Leena.
"What may be the problem?" asked the receptionist.
"Look, we need to see a doctor. He needs help, please!" said Leena. The lady looked at Bit and then the two of them.
"He looks familiar, and so do the two of you," said the receptionist. It then hit her. "Is he Bit Cloud of the Blitz team?"
"Yes," said Naiomi.
"And you're Leena Toros and Naiomi Fluegel. I've seen you on TV before. I'll see what I can do." At that point, a doctor came walking into the waiting room and saw Naiomi. He walked over to them.
"Excuse me for asking, but weren't you here just a few days ago?" he asked. She looked to him.
"Yeah, I was. We need your help and fast," she said. The doctor looked at Bit and then at Leena and Naiomi.
"Alright, follow me," he said. He had them lay Bit down on one of the stretchers with wheels. They wheeled him down the hallway. "What's the problem this time?" he asked.
"He's been poisoned and we don't know what to do about it," said Leena.
"Poisoned?"
"Yes," said Naiomi. "We don't know what kind though."
"We'll get everything set up as soon as we can," said the Doctor. They arrived at a room and carefully placed Bit on one of the beds. "So, explain to me what it is we need to do," said the Doctor.
"First off, he needs the cure for this poison, and I think it'd be a good idea to do something about his shoulder," said Naiomi.
"So, it didn't heal like he said it would. We knew this would happen. Zoid battling puts a lot of strain on injuries to the body. That's why we wanted him to stay here." The doctor paused.
"So what are you gonna do?" asked Leena.
"First, we'll test for the poison. We can't do anything if we don't know what antidote to give him. Then, we'll stitch up his shoulder. I think it'd be best if he stayed here for about a week."
"Alright," said Naiomi. The doctor hooked up a few machines to Bit and then took out a needle. He took a small sample of Bit's blood and hurried off to the lab to test it. Leena looked up at the clock. 4:35. 'We only have 25 minutes,' thought Leena. "How long does a blood test take?" asked Leena.
"I don't know, but I'm sure it's not long," said Naiomi. She, too, was worried. 10 minutes had passed and then 5 more. The doctor then came into the room. He looked to Leena and Naiomi.
"So?" asked Naiomi.
"Well, you were right. He was poisoned. It's a very strong poison that slowly kills you. We're preparing the antidote right now."
"So, how long will it take?" asked Leena.
"It shouldn't be long. After we give him the antidote, we're going to put the stitches in his arm. Like I said though, I'd like to keep him here for about a week or so before I allow him to go home. If he goes back, he'll just be in more zoid battles and he'll never get better. That and it might take more than one dose of the medicine. It all just depends on the person really." Leena smiled at the thought that Bit was going to be all right, but the sudden beeping of the machines caught her attention. She looked over to Bit, who had begun to breath hard and quick. The doctor quickly ran over to the machine. "This is bad. His pulse is going too fast and the pressure in his body is rising," said the doctor.
"He needs the antidote!" said Leena.
"Right. We need the antidote now. Hurry and bring it!" he yelled out the door. A few minutes had passed and then a man quickly ran in, carrying a needle. The doctor quickly injected it into Bit. Only a few seconds later, he began to breath normally again and the pressure had dropped. 'Thank God,' thought Leena. The doctor looked relieved. He then turned to them.
"The worst is over," he said with a smile on his face. "But, if I may ask. How did you know? About the poison?"
"I, uh…know some stuff about medical treatments and uh…diseases and poisons and stuff…" said Leena. "Look, it's hard to explain, okay?"
"That's fine," he said as he walked towards the door. "Oh, and if you want to, the two of you can spend the night here. We have guest rooms prepared for things like this."
"Alright, thanks," said Naiomi. Her and Leena walked down the hallway towards the guestrooms. They went in and not long after, they both fell asleep.
******
"It feels great to be able to get out of here!" said Bit Cloud happily. "Five days in a hospital is enough for me." He was walking down the hall, talking to no one in particular. The hall seemed to be deserted anyway. No one was walking it but him. The white halls brought a sense of comfort and safety, but nothing is as it seems. As he turned the corner, he got a glimpse of someone wearing a black cloak. They were walking towards him and at the same time, reaching towards their waist.
Leena was walking out of a room and down a hall. She was looking for Bit.
"That Bit. The second he hears he can go home he just gets up and goes and leaves me here. Where is he anyway? He said he'd wait," she said to no one in particular. She was turning a corner, as she caught a glimpse of blonde hair. She smiled, but it quickly faded. There was someone in a black cloak standing in front of Bit. His back was turned to Leena.
"Bit?" she asked. His head turned to see her, his expression was one of sorrow and of fear.
"Sorry Leena," said Bit as a loud sound rang through the hall. Bit was sent backwards and then fell to the ground. The cloaked person was holding a gun, now smoking from the shot. Bit lay silent on the floor of the hall as the cloaked person put the gun back and turned away from Leena, who was on the ground, crying. The figure turned their head towards her.
"I'm sorry," they said. Leena looked on as the person walked off. Her voice was so familiar, and yet so foreign. Risai had just said she was sorry, for what she had wanted to do for so long.
*****
Leena sat up quickly in bed. She must have let out a small scream, because Naiomi also awoke.
"What is it?" she asked. By the look on Leena's face, she knew now what it was. "Another dream, huh?"
"Yeah."
"How long do we have?"
"Five days."
"Then there's no point worrying about it now. We should get back to sleep and call the others tomorrow."
"You're right," said Leena, as she lied back down on the bed and closed her eyes.
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My longest chapter yet! I'm so happy. This fic is actually far from over. I gotta reveal some more stuff. Hope you like it. See ya, or as I say it, Audi^.^