A/N: Well, I know I left you on a cliffhanger, so time to see what will happen to Riley...
"You'll be okay, Sadness..." Joy murmured.
"I sure hope so," Anger muttered. "After what that thing did to her—"
Joy felt flames practically flicker on her own head as she whirled to face Anger. "Riley is NOT a thing! She's one of my best friends!"
"But Joy," Fear begged, "she hurt Sadness, she could hurt you! I can't have you get hurt by her!"
"Riley would never‚—agh!"
The cry had resulted from the ambulance swerving to avoid another car, and it was that breaking of the ride's smoothness that it hit Joy. The ambulance was in motion. Riley was still at the park! Riley probably thought Joy had abandoned her!
And if Riley thought that...
"Joy?" Disgust asked cautiously. "Are you okay?"
Joy felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach. Sure, her cousin was severely hurt, likely having to stay in the hospital at least a few days—but there was someone else who needed her more.
Someone who she had left behind.
Joy got quiet, her fists clenched, carefully waiting as the ambulance slowed its pace in the streets, coming to a stop. Must be a red light.
Now was her chance.
Joy leapt as fast as she could to the large doors at the back of the vehicle, starting to unlock them.
Fear was the first one to notice. "J-Joy! What are you doing?!" He started to hurry over to stop her, but was stopped in turn by Joy holding up a hand. She gazed at him with such a fiery determination that he could say nothing in response.
"You guys stay with Sadness. There's someone who needs me more."
"You can't mean Ri—"
Not looking back, even at the protests of Fear and the others, Joy unlatched the door and leapt out.
"JOY!" Fear shouted, his purple skin paling noticeably.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Anger roared.
Disgust's jaw hung open for a moment. "If the traffic doesn't kill you—"
Joy didn't acknowledge any of their cries. She just focused on moving forward, weaving between the stopped cars even as they began to move forward, reaching the sidewalk. Her heart pounding in her chest, she zoomed toward the park without looking back, ignoring the words of her friends and angry drivers.
"Oh please forgive me, Riley..." Joy muttered, her own heart filling with worry. "Please forgive me for leaving..."
But when she did reach the park, the pounding of her heart grew louder in her ears as she realized that Riley was nowhere to be found.
"Riley? Riley, where are you?"
There was no answer, and clouds were beginning to gather overhead and obscure the sun. Joy felt more and more worried. Riley probably didn't know the way home from here. She was a newcomer to life. And it was about to thunderstorm, something she had never experienced before...
"RILEY!"
Riley felt drops of water begin to hit her body, and she glanced upward. The sky looked a lot less cheery than it had been earlier that day, and it only had her feel more nervous as the rain began to come down in buckets.
She shivered, wrapping her arms around her knees and hunching over in an effort to keep warm. She didn't like water hitting her like this. It wasn't like drinking, and it wasn't like a bath. This sky-water was making her cold and shivery and only seemed to further her weakness.
A sudden loud, booming noise from up above caused her to scream. A flash of lightning lit up the sky, and she became more and more frightened. A storm was something she had never experienced, and there was no one around to help her through it.
The thunder boomed again, lightning streaking above, and she managed to shrink back underneath an awning to hide as much as she could, though she wasn't sure what good it would do.
Maybe the jagged lightning above was coming down to strike her.
Barely able to stand, she settled for curling up against the wall as she watched the bracelet, the numbers steadily dropping.
73... 72... 71...
How long would it be until she lost the strength to even sit as she was now? Would she just end up curling up on the floor of this stupid alley, cold and alone and scared as she died?
She tightened her arms around herself, whimpering in fear, despair, and self-loathing. Why had Joy had to pick the name Riley for her? Was it a cruel trick that fate decided to play on her? To make her thing she was destined to have hope and strength when really it was meant to be snatched away from her whenever it showed itself?
She didn't know. And she didn't care.
She felt herself grow weaker, her mind a bit more hazy as she shrank against the wall. She lay down, no longer having even the strength to lift her head as she felt the coldness of the wet pavement against her face. She thought she heard her name being called, far away, but she figured it was just her imagination. Just her mind playing tricks.
"... I'm sorry, Joy..."
Joy had been running the entire time, not caring that mud and dirt had coated her apple-green dress as if she had swam in a garbage chute. Her heart had been beating rapidly the entire time since she left that ambulance. And it became more painful as she kept searching.
She had never been more scared in her entire life. Usually when it came to being afraid, that was usually's Fear's job. But now she was very afraid, because her best friend was lost in this city, alone, wet, and possibly on the verge of collapsing or worse. Joy never forgot about Riley's arm band, and no doubt it had decreased since the incident earlier. Panic had warned them that if it had gotten to 85, actions needed to be taken, and fast.
Riley would no doubt get sick under this weather, and that combined with her stability could mean something far worse. Joy's blue hair clung around her neck as more rain poured over her. She didn't care how cold and wet she was, what mattered was that she found Riley and took her home.
Thinking back to earlier, she should have said something when Anger stated the most inexcusable. He had some nerve to say that about Riley! And to think Joy thought he was very different from his father! Some play date this turned out to be, and she doubted her friends would ever given Riley another chance after what happened. Although she hated to leave Sadness wondering why she was missing, Riley needed her a lot more.
She dashed through the streets, the lights of the city a lot dimmer as the rain poured harder. She continued calling out Riley's name, practically screaming to the skies to give her a sign of her whereabouts. Joy grew more scared, fearing that the worst might possibly occurring any moment. She stopped in her tracks, not realizing her own tears were mixing with the raindrops as they poured over her face. She just wanted to cry right now.
Just as she was about to grab her phone to call her mother, she heard a relentless shout echo from somewhere. Eyes widening, Joy turned her head and gasped aloud when she saw some limp figure huddled against the opening of a nearby ally. Her heart exceeded beyond the regular mile as she dashed forward, praying this was her sign.
As she got closer, she screamed in both relief and fright.
"Riley!" she cried.
Said person was laying her head against the wall, her skin becoming much paler and her eyes were barely opened. Her blonde locks clung to her face, her muscles appearing unmoved as she remained as conscious as she could. Joy fell to her side and looked her over, placing her hands on her cheeks. She was ice cold.
Breathing heavily, Joy looked over Riley's band. It was at 70! That was much too low!
"Riley..." Joy whimpered, tears falling down her cheeks as she looked over her friend.
Cradling her head to look over her face, Joy felt a bit of hope when the other girl's eyes slowly opened. Although weak, she managed to peer at Joy. Riley hardly moved, her mouth slightly ajar as she looked at the yellow emotion.
"Joy..." she sighed tiredly. "You...you came for me..."
Joy forced out a chuckle, more tears falling as she held Riley's face. "Of course...You're my best friend!"
The corners of Riley's mouth formed a small and weakened smile. She tried to give a laugh, but it came out more like a rasp. She was getting more tired, possibly sick, and worst of all she was fading. If Joy didn't get her back to the lab soon...
"Thanks... Joy..." she murmured, voice trailing off.
Realizing she was wasting time just keeping Riley here, Joy knew that she needed to get a move on and bring Riley back to the lab. The yellow emotion quickly got to her feet, then bent down and picked Riley up. She felt so light and rigid in her arms, it was almost like carrying a feather. Her skin being slightly fuzzy and translucent only terrified Joy all the more.
She knew calling for her mom to give them a ride might be too late. Riley needed to get there now.
Joy held Riley close, pressing her to her chest as she carried her as fast as her feet could take her. Puddles splashed in her path, the rain growing heavier. But nothing stopped her as she forced her way through the cold and chill that would no doubt leave her with a cold. She darted down the street, remembering by heart the way to get to the lab.
Oh Imagination, please let her be okay!
Panic squinted his eyes at the single card before carefully lowering it to the very top. For the past hour there was hardly much work to be done at the lab. Given that Delight had taken Riley to her house, all that was left for him to do was merely paperwork. He already informed the school and made an appointment for them with Riley, but that was pretty much it. Aggravation, Grief, and Contempt were somewhere else in the building right now taking care of their own work, and the technician thought he could dimly hear the leader of the project muttering something about Riley's stability readings.
And Panic? He was taking care of a deck of cards he kept in case things got boring. Right now he was near the finishing touches of his colosseum. All he had to do was put the last card that would ensure the final pillar of his tedious project. His tongue stuck out at the side of his mouth, grinning excitedly as he lowered the final piece down.
A slam that echoed through the entire lab made a gasp of alarm emit from his mouth. The impact of the noise had the entire masterpiece fall flat like a flapjack on the floor. Panic stared at it in disappointment, the last card slipping from his palm miserably. However, his disappointment was forgotten as he turned to see if it was Aggravation with another one of his rants or whatever.
His eyes bulged out in horror the moment he found two wet beings in front of him dripping on the floor, one of them in the other's arms.
"Girls!" he cried as she abandoned his cards and ran toward them.
He stopped in front of Joy, and his jaw fell in shock at the sight of Riley. She was cold, wet from head to toe, and much paler than he ever expected. Worse, her body looked fuzzy like a bad TV picture, he could almost see Joy's hands through her, and she wasn't moving!
"What happened?!" he cried before checking her arm band. "It's at 65! That's too low!"
Joy breathed heavily, having used much of her strength to rush over here. Her limbs shaking, she held out Riley to him, her eyes tearing up with remaining drops of rain on her face.
"Save her!" she begged. "Please save Riley!"
Panic did just that as he turned and hurried to get the machines and everything started. He had feared something like this would happen, but he never expected the number to be this low! He quickly flipped switches, pressed buttons, and ushered for Joy to hurry toward the container. As Joy carefully lifted Riley into her container, noticing that Riley's stability had already dropped another two points, Panic raced to Riley's side. The purple emotion hooked her to the machines and made sure she was up straight in her domain.
"Joy, stay back!"
Scrambling away from the container as it was closed and Panic pulled a final switch, the yellow emotion could only stand there as Riley's form began to suspend from the ground. Hovering in a vertical position, her body limp and airy as before, Joy could only wait for the numbers to rise.
She and Panic watched as the 63 slowly made its way to a 64. And then a 65, and so on. The color and solidity still did not return to Riley's face, meaning the process would be a little slower this time. However, judging by Panic's sigh of relief, Joy didn't have too much to worry about.
"Okay..." he breathed, "she's going to be okay!"
Joy believed him, but she couldn't help but feel guilt at her heart as she turned back to the container. Instead of a warm bed, Riley was back where she started from. Why couldn't Joy have tried to make things easier between her and the others?
A lone tear slid down her cheek as she slowly approached the container. Lifting a hand, she pressed it against the cool glass surface. Riley never lifted hers.
"I'm so sorry, Riley..." Joy murmured.
Panic looked immensely relieved. Seeing Riley like that had caused worry and terror to build up in his heart, and the fact that Joy had brought her there just in time was a blessing. He don't know what Joy or the team would have done if Riley had died.
"How did she get like this?"
Joy bit her lip, feeling guilty, but eventually recounted everything. The morning, their eager plans to train Riley for school, playing sports together, Sadness's injury... everything that would bring Panic up to speed not matter how much it hurt her.
Panic nodded as she spoke, with an air of fatherly patience, before he and Joy turned when they heard the door open. It was Delight and her eyes widened in shock the moment she saw Riley suspended in her old container.
"What happened?!" Delight practically flew over in worry and looked at the unconscious girl. Her percentage of stability was steadily rising, but her skin still remained somwhat paie.
Panic sighed, indicating Joy who had her hand still placed as close to Riley's palm as she could get. "That playdate with the others didn't go so well."
"Oh no..." Delight looked closely at the recovering part-emotion, wishing she could pull the girl into a tight hug and tell her everything would be alright.
"S-She should be fine," Panic assured her. "I hope." He glanced at Joy. "I'm very glad that you've been so willing to stay with Riley and take her in."
"I'd do anything for her," Joy replied, looking determendly at the container where Riley slept once more. And she meant it. With the twinges of guilt she felt at nearly leaving her behind and contributed in her sadness that resulted, she wanted to find a way to make it up to the girl. She's train Riley and help her to feel at home, to feel like part of their family even if everyone else thought she was some kind of freak.
Panic looked at the monitor readings. "Her stability's steadily increasing, she should be okay in a few hours."
Joy let out an immense sigh of relief. Now this was news she was happy to hear. Then she could comfort Riley, and get her some pizza, and do anything that would help restore Riley's self-esteem and desire to live.
"I'll make it up to you, Riley. I promise."
While she also hoped Sadness would be doing alright at the hospital, Riley's condition was a lot more worrisome to Joy. At least they had made it on time, and her friend would be fine soon enough. She hated to leave Riley even for a second. After what blow up earlier, she never wanted to leave her side again. Which meant even more agony when she had to go to college and Riley would be at her first day of elementary.
If this play date had not been terrifying enough, she could only imagine how scary it would be for Riley who would be all alone there. The yellow emotion tried to keep up the positivity. She and her mom promised to train Riley and give her the lessons that would make her a good 5th grade student. While there probably was no way her own friends would look at her the same way again, Joy could still hope Riley could make ones at her school.
As she watched Riley suspend in her container, she heard the doors swing open and turned. Her heart dropped the moment Aggravation made his presence known. With his same stern expression and orange hot complexion, the older emotion took one look at Riley before turning to Joy and Delight.
"And is there any reason why she's back here?" he asked in a gruff tone. "Unless she finally got some sense into her."
Joy narrowed her brows, clenching her fists as she glared at him. However, her mother intervened before she could do anything and looked at Aggravation sheepishly.
"Um, a little trouble earlier..." she said.
Aggravation was not the least bit surprised, as if he had expected Ri to be in some particular situation that might have been either her responsibility. Or Joy's. He gazed once more at the container where their experiment remained. She appeared much paler than the last time he met her.
"And did this trouble have anything to do with what your daughter did?" he asked stiffly.
"What?" Delight exclaimed. "No! It wasn't anything like that! She was just-"
Panic stepped in. "Apparently her friends, including your son, sort of gave her a hard time."
Aggravation turned to him, his ridges raising in surprise. "What's that suppose to mean?"
Joy rubbed her arms. "It was a play date gone bad, that's it..."
He scoffed. "A play date? With our kids? I can only imagine what led to this."
"It's raining," Delight pointed out. "Riley has been in the cold for a while. She might get a high temperature when she wakes up."
The red orange emotion grunted as he folded his arms. "And I'm guessing you're going to take her back to your place after this is all done?"
"Of course!" Delight insisted. "She's very special to us, and she's my daughter's best friend!"
Aggravation rolled his eyes at this. "You make it sound as if Ri is your own daughter."
Delight frowned. "Well, she very well should be! And it's Riley!"
"I am never referring to her as that abomination of a name your daughter gave our project," he said sternly. "And please don't tell me you're still thinking about sending her to school."
Delight stood firm before him. "We just finished shopping for supplies yesterday. We already have a meeting planned with the officials to register her."
He groaned, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Just great! Soon she'll start wanting to have her ears pierced!"
Delight rolled her eyes before glancing back at the container. Riley's color was slowly coming back as her levels began to rise higher. Soon as this was all over, she and her daughter would bring her back home and make sure she was very warm in bed. No doubt she would have a cold or a running fever, and Riley would be worried because it would be her first. She and Joy would make sure she was fine.
On top of that, assure her that was happened earlier would not damage anything in her future to come. Especially with Joy.
Panic watched as Joy remained close to the container, practically embracing it as she awaited Riley. He felt awful for both of them. He could only wonder how exactly his son's actions and words affected both deeply, followed by the rest of his friends. Must have been so bad to result in something like this. Still, what mattered was that Riley was safe now and would be back with Joy soon enough.
A/N: Re3lief after last one, huh? :)