A/N: Heyo! we're back to Mike... poor, poor Mikey...

Oh and someone was confused on why Freddy didn't like to see Mike hurt and was angry because Mike was his to kill? Um, well the simple answer is that... there isn't one. Sorry, but my take on it is that Freddy and the crew have been at it for so long that they would still want to kill them even if they hated to see them hurt.

Apologies in advanced for any grammer errors.

"Terra get someone, he's waking up!"

"Okay, okay."

Mike worked hard to open his eyes, which was harder than it sounded. He felt incredibly tired, but something was prompting him to get up. Something was wrong and he needed to get up. With a herculean effort he was successful and was immediately assaulted by harsh light. Squeezing his eyes shut, he let out a groan.

"Hey Mike, can you hear me?"

Mike nodded weakly. The voice was familiar but he felt too groggy to put a name to it. He was too groggy to recall anything at the moment. It felt like his head was in a permanent fog.

Squinting he let his eyes slowly adjust to the light and looked around.

He was… in a hospital. Several machines were at the side of his bed, there was a TV up in the corner, and a window letting in sunlight. An IV sat next to him and he followed the tube to the needle stuck in the back of his hand. His gaze finally came to a rest on the person next to his bed.

"Gabe?"

Mike nearly gagged saying his best friends name. His throat felt so raw and dry that it hurt when he tried to swallow. Squinting again he was able to make out Gabe, in his trademark tank top and styled blonde hair. Quite the lady's man.

"How are you feeling man?" Gabe asked, a small smile playing at his lips.

Mike closed his eyes and leaned back. "Terrible," He simply said. The grogginess was starting to fade and he was starting to remember how he got where he was. Working… that man… blood everywhere…so much blood… He felt a dry cough work its way up his throat and he opened his eyes. "Water."

"Water… Um, right," Gabe mumbled. He looked around a little lost for a second before jogging over to a doorway. Mike heard a faucet going and Gabe returned an instant later with a small cup of water. "It's kinda' warm."

Ignoring the warning, Mike reached out and greedily downed the cup. It didn't sooth his throat like he thought it would, but it was a relief anyways. His mouth salivated for more and he reluctantly set the cup down by his side, relaxing. He hurt despite the medication they were obviously pumping into him and any movement he made caused his chest to see with a dull ache.

Closing his eyes he thought about last night.

So he had survived. He wondered what that meant to the pizzeria. Would they try and cover it all up? When his thoughts came to Freddy, his mind went blank. The animatronic had saved his life.

How was he supposed to think about that?

Gabe grabbed a chair and pulled it so it was rested next to the bed. "Terra went to go get someone. She should be back any minute."

Mike smiled slightly and let his head go limp against the pillow, closing his eyes. He wouldn't have though his best friends would come see him this quick. "What are you guys… doing here?" He wheezed out. It was difficult to breathe. Every rise and fall of his chest caused an ache, and forcing air out to talk was even harder.

"Checking on our homie, what else?" Gabe joked lightly. His smile disappeared after a second. "And we were checking to see if your folks um… had come in yet. But they haven't."

Mike shrugged. His parents had been planning another trip to Las Vegas, he had no idea when they left. He shook his head. He wouldn't be surprised if they didn't come in… well, of their free will.

Gabe shrugged. "Hey, at least your brother's been in. I think he's more worried about you than Terra is. He had to go to work though so he won't be able to check back in here until after five."

Mike nodded.

"And on a brighter note, you're the talk of the school," Gabe continued. It was easy to tell he didn't like the silence. "Everyone's talking about how you survived getting shot and how you managed to kill the guy with the animatronics."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "I don't… know if that's a good thing or not." With only five hundred kids in the high school it was a small school and news got around fast. "Is… that what you think happened?"

"I figured I'd get my news straight from the source," Gabe replied as he combed his hair back.

"Yeah, last night was… a little rough," Mike concluded.

Gabe frowned slightly. "Last night? You've been here for almost four days."

"What?!" Mike gasped. Four days?! He heard the machine beep faster as he attempted to sit up and Gabe was instantly standing there gently pressing down on his shoulders.

"Relax man, it's okay. They said that you probably wouldn't wake up for another day or two."

Mike shook his head. No that couldn't be right, he couldn't have been out for four days! He tried to sit up but his body worked against him.

Or rather, didn't work at all.

Realization and horror started to sink in as he looked at his unresponsive legs under the blanket. He struggled to keep himself sitting upright with his arms as his chest literally felt like it was being torn open. It was only now that he noticed that he wasn't feeling his lower half, like, it wasn't there.

Gabe looked at a loss of what to do as Mike slowly sank back, staring at his legs and clutching his chest.

Last night was coming back in full detail, and with it came the little memory of being unable to move. He could move his arms now, but his legs…

Things grew blurry as tears welled in his eyes and he gasped for breath. A nurse entered the room and quickly injected something into his IV. A doctor came not long after that, checking on him before saying something to the nurse. Struggling to stay awake, he saw his friends Terra and Gabe standing to the side looking at him worriedly.

The last thing he remembered was his bed being wheeled out of the room.

He came to in a different room. It was darker, and the blinds were down. The grogginess Mike felt earlier was nothing compared to what he felt now. He abstractedly knew that he was reeeeaallly drugged out when the ceiling spun.

It took him a moment to realize someone was in the dark room with him. He glanced down to see his older brother asleep in a chair next to his bed. He glanced around for a clock. What time was it?

His brother must have not been totally asleep because his eyes snapped open when Mike moved. Running a hand through his short cropped brown hair his brother sat up with a tired smile.

"Hey Mikey."

A jumble of mixed emotions rose in Mike's chest and he started to tear up. He clenched his hands into fists and said with a wheezy breath. "Jeremy… My legs…"

Unable to finish his sentence Mike clenched his eyes shut and began to silently cry. He felt Jeremy rub his shoulder in a comforting manner. Mike shook his head, not wanting to cry in front of his brother, but the tears just continued. Eventually he was full on sobbing as Jeremy sat there.

His chest throbbed dully through the drugs, but Mike welcomed the pain. At least he was feeling that. Right now he would rather his legs feel like they were being sawed off then not feel them at all. It just wasn't fair!

"Hey, It's okay," Jeremy said softly.

"No its not…" Mike quietly sobbed. "I'm never… going to be able to use my legs again. I won't be able to run, or walk, or hang out with anyone…"

"At least your alive," Jeremy said. He handed Mike a tissue as he continued to cry. "That's more than a lot of people who worked 'there' can say. And you managed to survive even after you left the office."

Mike felt guilt rip through his chest. He didn't want his brother to know he had got at Freddy's.

Jeremy had gotten a job there years ago. Mike remembered how it had affected his brother. How he would have nightmares for weeks. How he would wake up screaming weeks after getting fired. He had asked his brother once and the only response he got was, "Never get a job there."

So of course he had gotten a job there without his brother knowing. He had to find out what could have scared his brother like that. What could give him nightmares like that?

Mike took a shuddering breath and watched the ceiling spin, tears still leaking from his eyes. "Go ahead and say it. You were right… I should have never gotten a job there."

Jeremy sighed and shook his head. "Not right now. Maybe later when I can get mad at you. Right now I'm just happy that you're alive and awake."

"Have I really been out for four days?" Mike asked timidly. To him, it felt like everything had happened the other night.

His brother nodded and he closed his eyes, trying to collect himself. The urge to start bawling came again and he fought it until the lump in his throat hurt. He slowly let his mind go blank. Everything felt surreal and he didn't want to believe what had happened.

His brother gave his arm a reassuring squeeze and Mike opened his eyes to see him standing. "I've got work in the morning, so I'm going to head home. I'll come see you before I take off 'kay?"

Mike nodded, fighting the urge to make Jeremy stay. He was sixteen, he could handle being alone.

His brother left and he once again stared at the ceiling. With his brother gone and no other stimuli besides his depressing thoughts he started to feel drowsy and happily welcomed the oblivion that came with sleep.

His brother stopped in briefly the next morning, but had to leave soon after leaving Mike to his own thoughts. A doctor came in with his breakfast and told him what he already knew.

He would never be using his legs again.

The doctor explained how the bullet had traveled through the lower part of his left lung. A millimeter more towards the center of his chest and it would have hit his heart. The bullet had then lodged partway through his spine, resulting in 'irreversible nerve damage' and spinal column damage. The doctor then went on to explain the good things, how they had reduced swelling had helped regain his arm movement that he had temporarily lost, but basically, he had lost the ability to use his lower half.

His lung were the easy thing to fix, and the only thing that would fully heal.

No amount of painkillers they pumped into him could remove the devastating feeling he had. They told him that he was extremely lucky to be alive, but Mike morbidly thought that death might have been better.

Gabe and Terra showed up sometime that afternoon when they got out of school and Mike was instantly embraced by Terra. Her purple-streaked hair fanned out behind her as she cried over how worried she had been and Gabe reminded him that he was becoming a superstar at the high school.

They managed to pull him out of his dejected state talking about normal things, and for a moment Mike forgot about his injuries, but eventually they had to leave.

"When you get out of here, you are telling me what happened," Gabe said. He looked dead serious.

Mike shrugged. "Sure, you won't believe me though."

"With that place? I'll believe just about anything," Gabe muttered leaving the room.

Terra came and gave him another gentle hug before going to join Gabe. "We'll come see you after school tomorrow."

"Even if I have to skip my detention!" Gabe called out as they left.

"I'll be here!" Mike called out weakly. He winced, placing a hand over his chest. Not even a minute after they left a nurse came in, checked on him, and administered some more painkillers.

His brother showed up later that evening looking worse-for-wear. They exchanged brother pleasantries, but Jeremy didn't lose his worried look. "Did mom or Jeff show up today?" He asked finally. His voice sounded pinched.

"No why?" Mike asked.

Jeremy didn't respond right away. He drummed his fingers as he stood next to Mike's bed. The only sound was that of the TV talking softly in the background and Mike was briefly reminded of the time Jeremy had told him that he was leaving.

Sitting down Jeremy gave Mike a cautious look. "Mike… I know we've never talked about this but, how would you feel if I… I adopted you?"

The answer was out of Mike's mouth before he even thought about it. "I'd be fine with it." It wasn't like he hadn't entertained the idea before. Jeremy was probably already paying for most of his wellbeing anyways, it wouldn't make a huge difference.

"Good," Jeremy said sounding relieved. "Because I'm planning on doing it."

Mike rubbed his chest softly. "Do you think mom and dad will give me up?"

Jeremy winced at Mike's hopeful tone. "I'd be surprised if they didn't. You know how Jeff thinks about it, and mom goes with whatever he says." He sat back and shrugged. "It's not like it's an instant process anyways. If I want to adopted you it'll probably take a couple of weeks."

They sat there, list in their own thoughts for a while. And a nurse came in, once again administering more painkillers to Mike.

"Do you know when I'm getting out of here?" Mike asked as the nurse left.

"The doctors said you'd be good to go by this Monday," Jeremy said. Mike gave him an exasperated look and he elaborated. "Today's Friday bro, so three more days."

Mike sighed and laid back. He could wait two days, it wasn't like he could go anywhere anyways.

"Yup, You just need another surgery and an X-ray and you should be out of here," Jeremy grunted getting comfortable. His phone startled him and he pulled it out.

"Hello? Hannah, I can't understand you when you're talking that fast. What? I can't I'm taking my… But… O-Okay, I'll make it… bye."

He hung up the phone and ran a hand through his hair, clearly stressed.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked.

"That was my boss. She needs me to cover a the latter shift all of next week. Do you think one of your friends could give you a ride home?"

"Yeah, Gabe can," Mike said with a bitter taste in his mouth. This wasn't the first time this had happened, and he knew that it wouldn't be the last. Jeremy worked as an IT for several of the bigger companies in town. Mike knew that the pay was good, but they sometimes called Jeremy in at the most inopportune times.

Jeremy groaned. "I'm sorry Mike."

"No, it's fine," Mike said. "Besides it'll be extra money right?"

"Yeah," Jeremy snorted. "Money."