I don't own DP.


Chapter 5

"Kwan, wake up," Paulina ordered tiredly. "Kwan… get up… Kwan… REKIOTHO!" Kwan refused to listen. Instead, he coughed violently. Paulina tilted his head a bit and felt something strange on her hand. She pulled her hand back from near his mouth and gasped. "AKARTHIA!" she yelled running over to Sam.

Sam turned around and immediately saw the blood on Paulina's hand. "Oh my God, what happened?" Sam demanded, checking her sister's hand for any damage.

"I-It's not me," Paulina stuttered. "It's Kwan; he's bleeding out of his mouth."

"Oh God," Sam said, both she and Paulina running back over to Kwan. "What happened to him?"

"I-I don't know," Paulina said, almost in hysterics. "I just, wh-when I tried to wake him up, he wouldn't, and I found blood coming out of his mouth. Sam, we need to get him to a doctor."

"You're right; he's burning up," Sam said, checking his temperature. "We have to risk the police finding us out, though."

"Who cares?" Paulina replied. "We'll cross that bridge if and when we get there. Let's get him into the car." The two girls fumbled to get the jock into the car without injuring him and drove off to the nearest town. "Ugh, reckless driving much?" Paulina asked as she was jerked to the side when Sam pulled a sharp turn into the parking lot.

"Could you care about someone other than yourself for once in your life!" Sam yelled. "Our brother is dying, and all you care about is how you look."

"That s not true," Paulina hissed seriously. "I'm just as worried about Kwan as you are. And it seems to me that the second you start trusting someone, you shut them out."

Sam looked over to Paulina, both their eyes filled with stress and tears. "C-come on," Sam said. "W-we need to get him to a doctor."

Thankfully, there were already a few medics there, for they saw the speeding car. "It's our brother; we don't know what's wrong with him," Paulina said. When the doctor looked at them strangely- seeing as Kwan looked to be Asian, Paulina was Hispanic, and Sam was Caucasian- she covered, "We're all adopted."

The doctor shrugged and took Kwan to the operating room, leaving Sam and Paulina to panic in the waiting room.


"Well, girls, it seems that your brother has the common cold," the doctor said, coming out of the operating room. "He'll be fine soon enough."

"But… he had a fever," Sam said, confused.

"And he was coughing up blood," Paulina continued.

"Well, it appears that his genetic makeup left him with a poor immune system," the doctor explained. "It's very rare, but it causes the immune system to back off of any disease that comes his way. You two are actually very lucky that you aren't blood relatives, or you'd both likely have the same problem."

As the doctor left, Paulina and Sam's eyes widened and they turned to look at each other. "That article said that Tabasco sauce was like medication, right?"

"I'll go get it," Sam said, running out to the car and grabbing her backpack. She returned to Kwan's room and gave a bottle of Tabasco sauce to Paulina, who easily drank the entire thing within seconds. Sam did the same and placed a bottle on the table beside Kwan so he could drink it when he got better.

"That cannot be good for my figure," Paulina said.

"Yeah, but it's either that or get as sick as Kwan," Sam replied. "The doctor said he has a cold, and he was showing signs of the flu and more."

"I'm just… freaking out," Paulina said. "Think: if that's what the cold will do to us, think about what the real flu would do."

"We'd be dead in two hours," Sam realized, "if not sooner."

"We need to get to Margret Johnson," Paulina said. "She'll have answers."


Kwan finished drinking the Tabasco sauce and said, "Let's- cough- get going. The- cough- police'll- cough, cough, cough- figure out- cough- soon enough."

"We should probably switch cars again," Sam said.

"As much as I hate to agree with you, you're right," Paulina said. "Let's go. Sam and I will get the new car started while you get changed." Sam and Paulina ran outside, choosing a green VW bug (one with four seats) and hijacked it to go get Kwan, who was walking- okay, stumbling, more like- out to the car.

"Paulina, keep an eye on Kwan," Sam ordered kindly.

"Come on, Sam, I'm- cough- sick, not- cough- a baby," Kwan said tiredly.

Sam and Paulina raised their eyebrows at each other, and Paulina said, "I'll watch him like a hawk."

"Watch the map," Kwan ordered, coughing violently. "If you don't, we'll get lost.

"We're not gonna get lost," Sam replied confidently.


"And… we're lost," Sam said as they pulled over to the side of the road.

"I- cough, cough- warned you," Kwan coughed.

"And they say the sick are so innocent," Sam mumbled in an annoyed tone under her breath.

"Let me see the map," Paulina ordered. Sam handed over to map, and Paulina looked it over. "Uh… you were supposed to turn left about ten miles back," Paulina explained.

"Got it," Sam said, putting the car in drive and zooming back onto the highway.


Chapter 5 is done! Yay! Sam, Kwan and Paulina are almost in Utah! Please review.