"Sick Days"
Back in the car, Arinia wasn't looking too good. She was hanging on, but she still felt bad.
"Mark..." Arinia managed to say, "I feel miserable..."
"Don't worry," he said calmly, "I'm right here for you."
Arinia smiled faintly but seemed to be really worn out and exhausted. Mark draped his arm across her and pulled her in a tight hug, only moving her slightly. Arinia snuggled against him some since she felt too bad to try to hug him.
"We're nearly at the hospital," The Admin said, "So get ready." Mark nodded and lifted Arinia into his arms. "And here we are!" He announced.
Arinia laid her head against Mark's shoulder knowing that her future was looking rocky since it would be a long road to recovery to recover from her pneumonia. Mark slowly picked up Arinia and slid out of the car since the Admin had opened the door. Arinia wasn't sure whether or not to be happy that they were there since she had a feeling that she would be getting some more shots once she'd been placed in the hospital. Mark walked up the pathway to the hospital, opened the door, and ran to the front desk.
The woman at the front desk looked up, saw Arinia in Mark's arms and then looked him dead in the eye and asked, "What happened to her?"
"...pneumonia..." he replied sadly.
"How do you know? Has someone else checked or is that just your guess?" The woman asked.
Bernard walked over to Mark and said, "I told him. I'm a doctor for Team Aqua."
The woman nodded, "Got it....." The woman then hit a button to summon a hospital doctor.
A hospital doctor came running with a stretcher. "Here, put her on this!" He commanded.
Mark hugged her quickly before he laid her on the stretcher like the doctor wanted. The doctor ran off, pushing the stretcher towards the ER. Arinia looked back at Mark and there was a slightly scared expression on her face.
Mark followed quickly.
The doctor stopped and looked at Mark, "Are you family?"
"No, but we're extremely good friends." Mark replied.
"Are you her boyfriend? If you are that is an exception by which you can go in with her, if not you'll have to wait outside." The doctor told him studying him carefully.
Mark frowned. Did he consider himself her boyfriend? He didn't really know. "I...guess...I'm her boyfriend," Mark admitted.
Arinia looked at him a little surprised that he had said that not that she minded, though it had surprised her a little. Mark stepped into the emergency room with the doctors and Arinia. Arinia coughed hard as she looked at Mark who was standing as close to her as he could so that the doctors could tend to her.
"Here you go," A doctor said, pouring some cough syrup into Arinia's mouth. "Just swallow it...it'll help, trust us."
Arinia swallowed it and tried to move a bit but got really dizzy so she quit moving.
"Don't move, it won't help," a doctor explained, placing a hand on her stomach.
Arinia nodded weakly since she still felt very dizzy.
Mark looked concerned, as he gulped. "Don't worry," he whispered, "You're gonna be fine..."
Arinia's eyelids fluttered as she fought to stay awake since something seemed to be lulling her into sleep.
"It's the cough syrup. Nighty-night..." A doctor said softly.
Arinia's eyelids fluttered once more before they closed as she slipped into sleep.
"We're going to move her into a real room now," a doctor said, as he began to move her stretcher.
Mark nodded and started to follow them.
He pushed the stretcher into the room. "Here we are..."
Arinia was sleeping peacefully by now as they moved her into the bed in her room. Once she was in the bed, Mark covered her up and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"Have a good rest, Arinia," Mark said softly.
"Should we go get that other person who came in with you?" A doctor asked Mark.
"Yeah, why not." Mark said with a nod.
The doctor nodded and went to get Bernard while the other stayed with Arinia to monitor her progress.
"She's doing fine, so far," the doctor said, looking at Mark.
Mark nodded then he said, "Bernard, the guy who came in with me is a doctor for Team Aqua, he said that he thought she had pneumonia......"
The doctor whistled. "Well, we'll check that out. Pneumonia is certainly bad."
"Bernard was taking care of her for awhile and he ran a few tests and gave her some medicine, you might want to talk to him about what he did." Mark told the doctor.
"Got it. I'll ask him when he comes in." He replied.
Mark nodded in response and his gaze fell on Arinia and how cute she looked in her sleep. Mark smiled and took her teddy bear and her plush doggie stuffed animal and carefully eased them under her arm so that they could help her feel better.
"Aawwww..." The doctor replied, smiling at how cute Arinia looked.
Mark smiled, "I know, she's precious......"
"Yeah..." The doctor answered.
Just then the door opened and Bernard and the other doctor came in.
"Nice to meet you." Bernard replied shaking the doctor's hand.
"Say, um, I'd like to ask you...how did you figure out that Arinia had pneumonia?" The doctor inquired.
"I took a blood test, and I took a cotton ball and got a sample of her saliva and then analyzed it." Bernard replied.
"Then I'll do that. This should prove if she does have pneumonia," The doctor replied, as he took a blood test quickly.
Bernard nodded and watched him do it. The doctor then took a sample of saliva and walked into his office to examine it. A few minutes later, the doctor returned frowning.
"What is it?" Mark asked.
"We were right. She does have pneumonia." He said.
Mark gulped concerned since this didn't sound good at all.
"She's going to have to stay here a while. Again." Bernard replied.
One of the doctors nodded at his words, "That's right, she does have to stay here for awhile." He paused, "By the way, do you have any idea how she might have gotten her pneumonia?"
"The tranquilizers Team Magma gave her," Bernard replied.
The doctor nodded. "Well, what's important now is to make sure that she doesn't die from it." He said firmly.
"Of course. But, um, how long will she be here?" Mark asked.
"I'd say at least a month." The other doctor replied.
"Oh well. Well, at least she'll be safe here." Mark answered.
The doctor nodded, "I hope so..... We'll do all that we can for her."
"Good." Mark replied.
The doctor nodded, and just then Arinia started to stir as she began to wake up from her sleep.
"Ah, Arinia..." Bernard replied. "Are you alright?"
"I think so......." Arinia replied pulling her covers up some more as she was feeling cold.
"How are you feeling right now?" A doctor asked.
"Cold......." Arinia replied quietly as she tried to suppress a shiver.
Mark put two more blankets on her bed softly. "There...that'll help..."
Arinia snuggled under them and held her stuffed animals close.
"That better?" Mark asked.
Arinia nodded in response.
"Good..." He replied.
Arinia smiled weakly at him.
Mark hugged her close. "Don't worry...I'm gonna be fine...you will too..."
Arinia nodded and smiled at Mark as he continued to look at her lovingly as Mark continued to hold her close.
