a/n: yet another chapter done, even I didn't expect it to be done. I'm sorry to people who don't like blood and gore about the last chapter and the following few, I don't know how many will contain blood and gore but I will warn you!

Ch 8 Back Home

I right away plop onto the couch. I'm sweating, drenched by my own perspiration. I am so tired that I can't feel my legs, I was happy they decided to walk me home on the roof tops.

They wiggle and writhe, they're worried about my condition. They can't have me sick, they can't do everything if I'm sick, they can't go and explore if I'm sick.

I sigh and try to lie down; Sarah and Kris are in the kitchen unloading the groceries while Bethany and Liz curl up with me.

Bethany can tell something is wrong, so can the others, but she decides to ask, "Why are you sweating, Otto?"

"I'm a bit warm, and I little tired I guess," I truly don't know why, I can never be sure of anything anymore.

"Do you need to sleep?" Liz, this time, is worried.

"I don't think so; everything from tonight actually woke me up."

"Did you have fun?" Sarah joins in from the kitchen.

"Yeah, in a strange way, I did," I don't know why, but it's the truth.

Bethany strokes my head, trying to get me to stop sweating while Liz zooms into the kitchen. She wets a towel and comes back, placing it across my forehead. Only then do I look down.

I felt a sharp pain as she was moving back. I look down to my side and see blood. I instantly sit up, sending another shot of pain through me. I pull up my shirt to reveal bits of glass that are jammed into my sides. I realize now that these are why I couldn't feel my legs.

"It's from the windows," I remark blandly, remembering how we broke through windows at the store.

"Will you be okay?" Kris asks.

"I need to remove the glass, it will only go deeper if I don't," I've seen this before, this is how Rose died, my world suddenly stops.

"Otto," I hear one of them call to me, but they sound distant and almost as if I were underwater.

"OTTO!" they yell again, I still barely hear them.

I feel one of them wrap around me, holding my shirt up. Another one races off, I think it is Liz, I felt the pain again. Liz is back now, she has tweezers. One of them removes the glass, I feel it being removed. Then I feel liquid, burning hot, searing through my wounds. Then there's a bandage of some sort put on.

None of that matters to me, though. I don't care. All I see and hear are memories of my Rose. I remember us when we first met, not knowing where our friendship would lead. I remember the poetry I read her, winning over her heart. I remember coming home after long days at the lab, and her waiting to eat with me, no matter how late it was. I remember the day before the experiment, Peter was at the house, she and I were delighted about the upcoming day and glad to talk with him. Then I remember the fateful day, the day that she left me, the day that I never wanted to remember. I saw as the glass hit her, I was looking right at her, with no power to stop the glass, if I hadn't been so foolish I would still have her today, and these things wouldn't be a part of me, just an invention that I use.

"Otto, we have to move you, you need to be awake for that."

"Please wake up."

Otto, you'll be hurt if you stay asleep."

"Please let us move you."

'Am I asleep?' I try to call out but my voice dies in my throat and it's only a thought that I project.

"Otto," one of them shakes me.

I must wake up. I will myself to wake up. I can't stay here in memories forever, memories are the past, and I still have a future...

I have to wake up. I know this fact, I keep repeating it, but to no avail.

"Otto."

"Wake up."

"You have to."

"Please."

'Help me,' once again nothing comes out. They can read my thoughts though.

"How?" one asks.

'I don't know,' I sound defeated to myself even.

"Don't give up."

"You created us."

"You can do this."

"We believe in you."

In my mind that last remark did something. It was as if I were in a pit and that remark was a ladder being dropped down for me. With every bit of strength left in me I force myself awake.

I open my eyes and everything seems so bright. They quickly shut.

"The light, turn it off," I moan, I sound like I just woke up.

They automatically take the order. I open my eyes again in the dark and see four dots of crimson staring at me. I smile at this and they relax. I know that I have worried them, I don't know whether they really care for me or not, but they do seem to want me okay, and that comforts me. As long as they care they'll keep me safe.

"Otto, we need to move you."

"Get you upstairs."

"You can sleep up there."

"But you need to be awake to get up there."

"We don't want to hurt you."

"The glass was deep."

"Your wounds are fresh."

"You can rest up there, gather your strength."

I nod my okay to them and they lift me. They carry me up the stairs and into my room. I wince at the top step only, the fall causing a wound to reopen, but it was smooth besides that.

Before I fall asleep they re-bandage the wound.

I turn over onto my left side, the one that isn't bleeding, and fall asleep, my arms still protectively watching over me, all through the night.

a/n: what did you think???? I'm going on vacation soon so I don't know if I'll get another chapter up until I return a week from Sunday, please review while I'm gone!!!! Short but still good... i hope. Please review!!!