Chapter 6

Okay, on to chapter 6. I'm sure you all don't want me babbling on too much.

Jonny sighed and looked at Mei. "I'm not really sure how far from the ruins or Jessie we are. Let me try the radio. Hopefully she kept it on."

"Jessie? Jessie, can you hear me?"

After a tense moment he got a reply, much to their relief. "Jonny? Good to hear from you. I was getting worried."

"Yeah. We're all right. We got the map piece. Where are you?"

"I'm in the woods. Not far from the ruins. Why? Did something happen?"

"Mei's hurt. We need to get to a hospital." Jonny frowned as he looked around them. Damn. It looks the same in every direction. "Sit tight, Mei. I'm gonna climb that tree over there and see if I can spot the ruins."

The girl watched as he climbed high into the tree nearest them and looked around. I hope this works. "Any luck, Jonny?!"

The young man climbed back down before answering. "Yeah. I spotted the ruins. We're a little far away. It's gonna be kinda a long walk."

Mei nodded as she staggered to her feet. "We'd better start walking then."

"Are you sure you're okay to walk?" He inquired with a concerned expression.

"You already carried me through that cave all the way from the labyrinth. You'll exhaust yourself if you keep doing that."

"I'm fine." Jonny protested.

"So am I. Now let's get going. We don't have time to stand here arguing."

The young man frowned but let it go as he led the way towards the ruins of the castle. He had to slow his pace in order to keep an eye on his companion as she trailed behind him. Mei tried to keep any pain out of her expression as she gritted her teeth. I can do this. Just try to ignore it. She stopped and leaned against a boulder that was close to the trail they were on.

"You okay?" Jonny asked as he walked back to where Mei was resting.

The girl nodded without looking up. After taking a few minutes to regain her composure, she spoke. "Sorry. I just needed to catch my breath. I'm fine now.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Jonny took her arm and put it over his shoulder. "Wh, what are you doing?!" Mei asked as he started walking.

"What does it look like? Since you're being stubborn about riding piggyback, I'm helping you walk. A sword sliced your leg open. I don't think walking on it is the best thing for you to be doing right now.

She started to protest until Jonny cut her off. "We have about a mile to walk. Now you're gonna let me help you or I'm just gonna carry you anyway. We're friends now. So like it or not, I'm gonna be here for you when you need me. And right now you do, no matter if you'll admit it or not."

Mei couldn't help smiling a little. "Jessie's pretty lucky to have you."

The boy blushed as they walked. "I'm just as lucky as she is."

As they continued walking, after about half a mile, Jonny began to notice the feeling of a liquid other than sweat running down his side. He glanced down and confirmed his suspicion. There was blood seeping through the bandages. Mei didn't seem to notice, she appeared completely focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

Dammit. We're almost there. And we really don't have anything to clean the wounds with now. The boy stopped. "Sorry, Mei, but we can't put any more strain on you." Jonny picked her up in his arms and carefully continued along the path. This time the girl didn't protest at all.

Relief consumed Jonny as the ruins became visible. He looked around for Jessie before calling out. "Jess, you here?"

"Jonny? Finally, I was really starting to worry again. I thought maybe you'd been captured or something." Jessie said as she came over to them. Seeing Mei, she covered her mouth. "What on Earth happened to you guys down there?"

Setting her down as gently as he could, Jonny scratched his head. "Well, it's kinda hard to believe. A minotaur attacked Mei and injured her before I found her."

Jessie raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

The boy nodded. "I didn't see it myself, but there's no way those roars were human."

"How bad is it?"

"I'm no expert, but even I can tell she'll probably need stitches. She passed out not too long ago so time's an issue. How'd you two get here?"

"Our car's parked just outside of the castle, but I'm not sure if it's safe over that way or not. What about you?"

"I took an ATV up. I think it'd be better to use the car if we can. Have you heard anything inside the castle?"

"Yeah. A zinja showed up and was snooping around. He didn't find me and I'm not sure where he wandered off to."

"Damn. We really don't have time to deal with them."

"Let's find your ATV. If they didn't find it, that'll be our best bet. They probably expect us to return to the car once we finished in the labyrinth."

"Guess there's no choice." Jonny gathered Mei up and led the way back to where he'd left the vehicle. I wonder if it'll carry all three of us ….

As they reached the spot he'd parked in, Jonny frowned. He knew, despite how much he wished otherwise, that all three of them wouldn't be able to ride back. "I wish I'd rented a car instead."

"No." Jessie replied. "If you had, you'd of had to park even farther away. You take Mei and get to a doctor. I can hike back to town."

"But, Jess …."

"Jonny, no buts. I can't carry her like you can. Mei needs you to go. I'll be fine."

The young man tisked, knowing his girlfriend was right. "Fine. Just be careful."

Jonny held Mei in front of him on the seat as he drove back towards town. The hospital was thankfully, not too difficult to find. Carrying Mei, he rushed into the E.R. "Someone help me. My friend is hurt."

Nurses and orderlies rushed to his aid and brought a gurney for him to put the unconscious girl on. Then the nurses began to question him. Jonny gulped as he tried to think of an explanation for the injuries on her.

"We …. we were out for a hike. I lost sight of her then heard a scream. I'm not sure what happened before I found her."

The doctor who had entered studied him intently. "We need to operate. And she's lost a lot of blood. Go get cleaned up, son. Then an orderly will show you to the waiting room."

Jonny obeyed and left to clean the blood off his chest and arms. Maybe I should go find Jessie. But she'd probably be furious if I left Mei here alone.

In the end, the young man decided to trust in Jessie's resourcefulness. He paced in the waiting room as he waited for someone to tell him anything regarding Mei. Time trickled by as Jonny eventually sat down and flipped impatiently through magazines.

"Jonny?" Jessie's voice caught his attention.

Relieved beyond words, he looked up. "You made it."

"Yeah. No biggie. But that was quite a workout. Any word about Mei?"

"Not yet. It feels like it's been forever." He growled. "And not knowing is killing me."

At last, the doctor Jonny had spoken to before entered. "She's stable. It was touch and go for a while though. If you'd taken any longer getting here …."

"Can we see her?" Jessie asked.

The doctor hesitated before nodding. "She needs rest, so try not stay too long."

Mei looked up as they entered. "Sorry I worried you two."

"It's okay." Jonny replied. "How are you doing? Did the doctor say when you could leave?"

"... Not exactly. They want me to give a report to the police." She answered. "I can't do that, Jonny. We need to leave. Quickly."

To Jessie and Jonny's chagrin, she started taking the iv. out of her arm. Then she pulled the cords attached to her out and got to her feet. Jonny quickly locked the ICU door. Looking down at the hospital gown, Mei groaned. "This is no good. I need some clothes."

"How are we supposed to get clothes?" Jessie inquired.

Mei frowned. "This is gonna be totally humiliating. Good thing it's night time. Let's just get going. We can get clothes once we escape."

The three of them smashed open the room's only window and climbed out. Once they got to the ground, they stuck to back alleys. Sending Jessie into a store, Jonny and Mei remained hidden while she bought new clothes. She returned and tossed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to Mei.

"Thanks." The girl said as she looked around for a place to change.

Jonny turned his back and blocked the view of anyone that might pass by with Jessie beside him. "Just hurry. We don't wanna stick out too much."

She groaned as she obeyed. This is embarrassing. After changing, Mei walked over to them.

Jonny looked at her feet. "Will you be okay barefoot?"

Jessie took a pair of flip flops out of the shopping bag and crumpled it up. "I considered that as I shopped."

Mei took them and smiled her gratitude. "Okay, let's get back to the boat."

"Yeah, I'm sure Pasha's worried and tired of waiting. Will you be okay walking?" The young man asked Mei.

"Yeah. It hurts a little but I'm okay now that the wounds are stitched."

Well, that's all for chapter 6. I hope everyone's enjoying the story so far. Till next time ^ ^.