A/N: my muse returned! So here's the next chapter. This part about the police was supposed to be in an earlier chapter but I forgot about it until now, so that didn't work out real well… so if it seems awkward having it in here now just, get over it! LOL :)

GoldCatMaster: yup, it did. More kudos :)

Fisharecoolies: thanks! Here it is!

Lovebug1021-ilk: thanks!

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Phil woke up to the sound of someone pushing open the hospital door very fast. It creaked and shuddered and finally went into its designated hole-in-the-wall, and Phil rolled over in his sleeping bag to face the person.

There were actually several people, and they were all wearing blue shirts with black pants and a black hat. Soon enough he figured out that they must be 21st century police. He rolled out of bed and stood up to shake their hands. Then he thought, They must know I'm from the future! He strained to keep a smile on his face as he deftly folded the bed up and rolled his sleeping bag, tossing it in a corner. He invited the police to sit down but they declined, instead, one pulled out a legal pad and pen.

"Mr. Diffy, I presume," said the one with the pen in a gruff voice. "And I suppose this must be Miss Teslow." Phil nodded in agreement. "Then we are in the right place. Mr. Diffy, please recount to us the story of Miss Teslow's passing out." Phil did, and the officer took notes. "Have you any idea as to why Miss Teslow fainted?"

Phil kept a calm look and shrugged. "I dunno, Mr. Officer sir, we were walking to Algebra and she just… passed out behind me." Of course he couldn't mention the Stain-Getter-Outer!

The policeman nodded. "And you carried her back to your house. I see, Mr. Diffy, that she has several bruises on her face and arms. Would you care to describe how those came about?"

"Yes sir, when she fell she fell forward and her books crushed her arms. Her face hit the ground too."

The officer nodded. "Tell me of your relationship with Miss Teslow."

This took Phil by surprise, but he decided it would be best just to answer the question. "She and I have been best friends for three years."

"Is that… all?" the policeman asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes sir, that is all."

"Interesting," he mused. "Well, we are here on account of the doctor. He saw the bruises and it reminded him of something he has dealt with often. Mr. Diffy, are you aware of the laws surrounding physical abuse?"

"Excuse me?" Phil shuddered, "What do you mean?"

"The bruises!" the policeman pointed, speaking in a forced whisper. "They are reminiscent of spousal or other physical abuse. I'm afraid that until Miss Teslow wakes up, we will have to remove you from this room."

Right on cue, Keely woke. "Oh thank the heavens," Phil cried as he rushed to her side. He brushed a hand over her forehead to get the hair from her eyes, and as he did he saw they were full of tears.

"Phil," she whispered, the tears escaping and threading down her cheeks, "it hurts. All over. I heard what they said. Let me talk to them." She shoved Phil out of the way and looked at the policemen.

"Sirs," she said, "I guarantee you that Phil had nothing to do with this." Of course she didn't know about the SGO incident, but she was telling the truth from what she knew. "He is my best friend and would never hurt me."

The officer didn't look convinced. "Are you sure, Miss Teslow?"

She nodded fervently. "Yes sir, Phil and I are best friends and have been. He would never ever do anything to hurt me."

The officer nodded. "Thank you Miss Teslow. We will leave this time, but if any further incidents occur we will be back." Keely just nodded happily.

As they left, she turned back to Phil, her eyes still glistening. "Phil, Phil, what's wrong with me? My entire body is aching, and I keep shivering."

Phil grimaced. "The SGO."

"The what?"

"The Stain-Getter-Outer," he explained. "The alpha wasn't post-22nd century tested. The government of 2121 anticipated people traveling in the past, even just for leisure, and knew that someday someone would be tempted to help someone with future gadgets. They test every new gadget on an array of replicas of people from past times." Before she asked, he cut her off. "The Replicator was the first approved device – it was used on the real people, and then we figured it was much more humane to just copy them and use replicas. I know it sounds immoral, but it's not. In the future, there's an all-around antidote that every device is designed to use. Anything goes wrong, just use the Antidoter and it's fixed immediately. Unfortunately, those are reserved for hospitals and testing centers, and we don't have one. Testing is required for all beta devices, since that's when people get a hold of prototypes, but not for alpha. You have to stay awake and pretend to be better. The SGO harmed you and only my parents can figure it out!"

Keely just closed her eyes to squeeze out the tears, and nodded. "I hardly understood any of that, but we can leave." She sat up, surprising considering the state she had been in the previous day, and brushed the tears from her eyes. Phil pressed the call button.

Almost immediately Dr. Hershey appeared, and Keely smiled through her grimace. "Doctor, may I go home? Please? I feel fine!"

He looked skeptical, but he changed his mind when Keely climbed out of bed and danced on the floor. Phil smiled a sad smile, because he could only imagine how badly she was hurting from that. "Yes, Miss Teslow. You may go home, as long as this Diffy lad escorts you. I apologize about the police, I must be at my most careful!" Phil nodded.

"Let's go!" Phil grabbed Keely's hand and they skipped out the door.

"I will be sending bills home!" cried the doctor behind them, but they hardly heard. As soon as they got in the elevator, Keely crumpled to the floor.

"Phil, it hurts so bad! Can you carry me?"

Of course she had forgotten about him carrying her all the way home yesterday, and his arms started to ache just thinking about it. He ignored it, though, and scooped her up in his arms again. On second thought, as they descended the extremely slow elevator, he set her down again momentarily, pulling a cell phone from his pocket and dialing. "Mom, can you come get us? Keely's released!" He hung up immediately and picked his friend up again.

Keely smiled and leaned her head up against Phil's chest, burying her face in his black shirt. It was soft. Her still-crying eyes left dark splotches on it, but she just closed her eyes again and fell asleep, exhausted from the pain. Phil grinned as he walked into the lobby after the longest elevator ride of his life, and saw his mom in the car outside. He walked to it, opened the door, and laid Keely down again across his lap. Stroking her hair, he thought about the already-eventful morning.

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A/N: how Pheely! Awwwww! Don't get on my back about the police leaving so fast or them leaving the hospital so fast, I have no idea how these things work.