Chapter Five: Lord Knows How

This is a really sad chapter. Prepare your tissues!

That night my Jordan and I slept with the other Jordan in between us, just to be sure he didn't run away. I slept rather lightly due to the fact that Jordan kept reciting the prophecy over and over again. "...to the Alimighty Jak, Jordan, and Tiffany." Finally, that's gotta' be the eighth time! "Why does she keep on reciting Mar's Prophecy?" The other Jordan was wide awake. "You see...No, I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because, if I do, something terrible might happen..."

"What are you guys talkin' about?" Jordan flipped over and sat up. "Why do you keep saying Mar's Prophecy?" the he-Jordan asked. "You've been repeating it all night!" She sighed. Oh, please, Jordan. Don't tell him your real name!...Or mine! "This might sound crazy, but that squirrel, she's Tiffany, the Spirit of the Ancient Precursorian Mark." He turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, and I'm Jordan, the Spirit of the Beast... I didn't want to tell you our real names until I thought you were trustworthy enough." Jordan looked up at the sky, and so did we.

Purple clouds shrouded the sky, covering the once beautiful stars in shadows. "Jordan, I-" he began, but was cut off by a distant rumbling. "Damn!" he said, getting up off the ground. "When it rains here, it floods, hard." My best friend stood up and looked around. "It rains out here?"

"Rarely, but when it does..." He looked down at the ground. "The people caught in it usually die... We're pretty close to the city of Spargus, we should go there now." Jordan took off in a jog east of our destination. I sprinted off after, the other Jordan close behind. "We can come back for the pearl later!" she called back, keeping her eyes focused on where she was going. I jumped up onto her shoulder, growing tired of all the running we'd been doing lately.

We had managed to survive by finding an old oasis in the desert where we fed on ripe coconuts and water. Up until now I had been thanking the Lord that he had given us such luck. Now, it seems that our luck streak has just run out. Flashes of lightning and booms of thunder got louder and closer as we made our way quickly and quietly to Spargus. I'd never been there before, but by the way Jordan described it, right now it sounds like heaven.

"There's the city!" he-Jordan shouted. I could seetough yetbeat-down stone walls in the distance. "We're almost there." Oh, thank God! Suddenly, I could hear a faint rumbling noise, and it wasn't the thunder. "Damn, Marauders! We'll have to fight them!" Why do we have to fight Harry's dad? "Well, let's do it!" Jordan pulled out her Morph Gun and set it to Vulcan Fury. The rumbling grew louder, and louder. I couldn't take it anymore. "Jordan! Don't kill Harry's dad! I'll do anything if you just let him live!"

"Not those Marauders, those Marauders!" She pointed above the hill to where three dangerous looking vehicles jumped over it. "Oh...That still doesn't seem pleasant."

"You're right, rat. This'll make things a living hell!" They screeched to a halt in front of us and six bulky men hopped out. He's right. This does NOT look good... The men drew out huge swords and charged at us. I crouched onto Jordan's back as she began to fire. Never have I seen so much blood and screaming. One of them tackled the boy to the ground and raised his giant sword. But my friend was smarter than he. She kicked the man off of him and blew him a fatal shot with the butt of her gun to his head. Ouch. Yet another Marauder ran up from behind. He slashed Jordan across the back! I was lucky enough to jump off before he cut her.She squealed in pain and knelt to the ground. He held his sword high to deliver his last attack. But the other Jordan swiftly drew the pistol that Jordan had returned to him. The Marauder screamed before falling to the ground. Dead.

Jordan stood shakily and timidly touched the gash on her back. The other Jordan came around to examine it. "Yep, he got ya' pretty good." Indeed he did. The cut came from across her left shoulder all the way down to her hip. "If it's not treated, you could get a pretty bad disease."

"Jordan!" I ran up my friend's leg and hugged her neck. "If you get sick, and the disease doesn't kill you, I will!" She put she put a comforting arm around me. "Don't worry, Tiff, everything's gonna' be fi-" She didn't get to finish her sentence before a sharp whistle shrilled in our ears. "What the hell!" It was rain. Rain so heavy that it whistled as it sped across the Wasteland. "RUN!" screamed he-Jordan as we sprinted towards the city. Unfortunatley, the wall of rain caught us.

Jordan was right, it did rain hard out here hard out here, hard enough to pound the elves to the ground. Jordan slung a protective arm around me as she slid me into her backpack, but her backpack fell to the ground, her going with it. She landed on top of it, leaving me no air. I poked my head out to breath and squealed in horror. The other Jordan had managed to get up off the ground, but my friend was less fortunate. Even through the thick wall of rain I could see a deep blue fazing through her lips and her once pink face pasted over with a sickening pale color. "OH MY GOD! WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER!"

"It's the cut on her back! Plus, she doesn't have much fat or muscle to fight of the freezing rain!" He couldn't have been more right, Jordan didn't have and ounce of fat on her.Jordan had more muscle than she did and I was benifited with both fat and fur. He picked her up like a mother would her baby and trudged through the mud and rain to the city gates. We were only ten feet away, so it didn't take long for us to get there. I made it my clinging to his leg.

Once inside, the shrill of the rain became faint due to the metal covering that sheilded the city during a storm. Still, we wasted no time. We ran through the streets searching for a hospital. Sig was standing near what appeared to be the Wasteland Palace. "Sig! Jordan needs a doctor!"

"Damn!" he exclaimed, and snatched Jordan out of the boy's hands. "Let's go! I jumped onto his shoulder as we once again took off. I looked down at her pitiful looking body. Don't worry, we'll help you! Just hang in there! We reached the hospital within a couple of minutes and rushed inside. Nurses crowded around us asking for a stretcher from others. Jordan was loaded up and rolled into the emergency room where the doctors waited.

It seemed like forever waiting for them to come in and out. Everytime they would just come out and say, "She seems to be getting worse," and that only made the tension thicker. Sig had called Jak and the others to come, and they were there within a matter of ten minutes. I was surprized to see the toddlers running at their feet. "Why did you bring them? They might get scared!"

"We couldn't find anyone to babysit on such short notice since you two were the only ones we had!" said Keira. She picked up her son and sat down next to Jak. Daxter paced around. "What happened?"

"She was cut on the back," said Jordan. Everyone's eyes widened. "You're the one who blew up the Pumping Station!"

"He's also the one who saved her life!" I yelled. "Jordan here fought off the Marauder that slashed her and carried her to Spargus!" Jak lifted his eyebrow. "You're Jordan, too? Weird."

"As I was saying, the chill was so intense that immediatly infected her cut, and the fact that she had no muscle or fat didn't help. Her lips were a bright blue color and her hands were too. She didn't move much either." I nodded my head. "Damn Marauders!" Torn set his head in his hand resting on his knee. "I just hope she makes it..."

"Wow, you never cared about her before!" Little Michael looked up at his dad. "Daddy, what's goin' on?" His innosence seemed almost unshatterable. Jak pulled him out of Keira's arms and held him. "Jordi's sick. Very, very sick." Mikey'e eyes widened in fear. "Will Jordi come home?" My heart was broken. Will she come home? Tess couldn't help but let a tear drop to the floor as her son repeated the same question, and so did Nicky. The little boys began to cry, too, and so did I, but silently.

Several hours passed us by. Again, the same nurse came back. "Still no sign of improvement. You could be here all night. Let me get you some blankets." Sheets and quilts were brought to us as we propped ourselves agains stone pillars and walls. Eventually the babies cried themselves to sleep sitting in their father's and mother's arms. I wish our parents were here. They would always make everything better. Without warning, I began to sob. "What's wrong, Tiffany?" Ashlynn asked. I sniffed. "I just wish that our parents were here. Right now Jordan would be in her dad's arms while her mother would coo her and tell her that everything would be okay! My parents would do the same!" I slung myself on the ground. Jordan picked me up. His face was pale and his eyes were red. He must have been crying, too. "Don't worry, she'll make it. And I'm sure that wherever your parents are, they're praying for the both of you..."

"Where are your parents?" He closed his eyes and answered. "I'll tell you later..." His neon green eyes shined with a fresh wave of tears. Something else was bothering him, but I dare not bring it up. I jumped down onto the floor where little Bram and his parents lay. Softly, I stroked his fur and begin to sing the low tune of a song that I once sang with Jordan: Hello.

The slow mournful song brought more tears to my eyes as the rest began to cry too. "Um, excuse me..." All heads shot at the door to the doctor that was tending to Jordan. "Is Jordan okay?" I asked with a croaky voice. Everyone stared at him as he pulled out a clipboard. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm going to need you to sign these forms-"

"She's going home! Those are her release forms!" Daxter jumped up, waking all of the children. Michael got all excited. "Jordi's comin' home!" They danced in a circle in rejoice, thankful that their godmother was okay. "No, these are her death requests. Miss Jordan died at exactly twelve thirty four this morning. I'm so sorry." He turned and walked away, leaving the papers on the bench.

What did he just say? Mikey, Nick, and Bram stopped dancing. "J-Jordi?" stammered Bram. Nicky and Michael looked at each other, then back at their parents. "Daddy? What's happened? Where's Jordi?" Jak's face was pale and his eyes were fighting back tears. "Sh-she's...dead..."

"Dead?" The infants didn't understand death. They were too young, it was only natural for them to be confused. Torn stood up. "Oh my God," he whispered, covering his eyes with one hand. Ashlynn threw herself into his other arm hugging him around his muscular body. Keira, unable to contain herself, sobbed into Jak's shoulder, who quickly hugged her and set his chin on her head. The babies ran to their parents and wailed. Jordan slammed his fist into a stone pillar. "DAMN IT! I SHOULD'VE RUN FASTER!" He leaned his head up against it and choked back tears and held back sniffs. And me, I couldn't tell what was happening. I was busy sorting things out. It happened all so quickly...

Disease...Freezing...Jordi...Forms...Died...This morning...Sorry...Dead. "Jordan..." Suddenly, three nurses wheeled a stretcher out into the waiting room. "JORDAN!" Everyone but the mothers and their sons crowded around the white sheet covered Jordan. Sadly, one of the nurses pulled back the sheet revealing my best friends face. Her eyes were open. They were no longer the bright green emeralds that I once knew and loved. Instead, they were mint green bottomless pits. Her lips were white, and so was her entire face. The brown locks of hair that dangled in her face all the time were pulled back, showing her pasty forehead. The nurse covered her back up and began to roll her away.

"NO! SHE WOULD HAVE LIVED IF YOU HAD TRIED HARDER! YOU BASTARDS! YOU SICK, HEARTLESS BASTARDS! YOU!" I pointed at the he-Jordan. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU DIDN'T GET TO HER QUICK ENOUGH! JAK! YOU LET HER GO OUT THERE! YOU LET HER BATTLE RECKLESSLY! NOW JORDAN'S DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME! DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!" I threw myself on the floor as everything went black. The only things I could hear were the faint sobs of Keira, Ashlynn, and Tess along with their sons.

Has no one told you she's not breathing?
Hello, I'm your mind giving you someone to talk to...

"G'bye...pal," I whispered before I passed out from lack of air...

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping!
Hello, I'm still here,

Nothing left of yesterday!

Sorry I made you cry, Tiffany Weasley! And sorry for those of you that ran out of tissues. Sad. Really sad. The next chapter isn't as sad but still, enough to make a person cry!

P.S.- Thanks for the hug Hairy!

Hairy hops out from behind computer and hugs me again.

Awwwww!