RTC: Hi everybody! I'm not really feeling talkative, so on with the chapter!

Ray: You need to do the disclaimer.

RTC: Oh, yeah, that.

Tyson: She's not rambling on and on. Will miracles never cease?

RTC: Shut up and do the disclaimer.

Tyson: Ray-Tiger-Cat only owns Beyblade in her dreams.

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Yet Another Hospital Visit

Kari's POV

I woke up this morning to hear a lot of shouting and an ambulance siren. I ran down the stairs, ignoring doctor's orders to stay in bed. In the den, I found a few paramedics hovering over Lizzie, Ray busy throwing her pjs and stuff into a bag and panicking and Kai standing there, looking confused. The paramedics put Lizzie on the stretcher and started wheeling it down the hall. Ray and Kai followed.

"Stay here, Kai! Can you please look after Lynn?" Ray asked. My brother looked a bit upset, but he agreed to stay put.

"What's going on?" I asked, having finally found my voice.

"I'm not really sure. Lizzie wouldn't wake up this morning, even though she went to bed early last night. And she was acting odd yesterday and she had bruises covering her body. It looks serious," he said. He started to walk around the room.

"Do you think they might've poisoned her too?" I asked.

"No, by the look on Ray's face, I think something else is going on here. Hmm, what's this?"

"What?" I approached him. "Oh, that's just concealer. Make up. To cover up stuff you don't want people to see," I added when I saw the confused look on his face. "Oh," I said, comprehension dawning, "She was probably using that to hide those bruises!"

"Now why would she do that? She could have come to us for help."

"Maybe you're rubbing off on her," I teased.

"Very funny." He looked over at Lynn who was, surprisingly, still asleep. "If we don't get any information by noon, I'm heading over there, okay?"

"I guess so. I'd better call the others and tell them the news." Kai followed me to the kitchen, where the phone was located. "Why is there cereal all over the counter?"

"Oh, no. I guess Ray didn't finish breakfast. He's going to make himself sick," Kai groaned.

"And that's different from all the times you train at all hours of the day and skip meals how? Geez, you're a bad influence on Lizzie." Kai looked insulted.

Kai's POV

Well, it's noon now, 3 hours since the paramedics took Lizzie to the hospital. Ray still hasn't called. "Hey, Kari, can you watch Lynn? I think I'd better check up on Lizzie and Ray."

"Okay. But don't give Lizzie the 'Why didn't you come to us for help?' lecture, okay?"

"Alright," I grumbled and looked away from my sister. I didn't want her to realize how much I cared right now. I felt so guilty for not realizing that something was wrong, especially since I saw those bruises yesterday and didn't bother finding out how she got them.

The hospital wasn't too far from where we lived, so I got there quite quickly.

"Yes?" the receptionist asked, looking up from a huge pile of papers.

"I'm looking for Elizabeth Luna Kon," I said. (I'd found her whole name on the forms for the tournament.)

"Okay, hang on a sec," she said, tapping away at the computer. "Alright, she's in the I.C.U. Only family members are allowed to go in."

"But I really need to see her," I protested, registering the fact that she had to be in bad shape to end up in the I.C.U.

"Alright, go up there and talk to the nurses. Perhaps you can get in. It's on the third floor, in the south wing," she said.

As soon as I got there, a nurse descended upon me. "Are you a family member of someone up here?" she asked.

"No, but I really need to see someone."

"Well, it's against policies. Who is it that you need to see so badly?"

"Elizabeth Luna Kon."

"Oh, my. The poor little girl that was rushed in here this morning. Well, I guess you're her friend. I shouldn't be doing this, but go inside. At the very least, you can calm down her brother, he won't leave her side."

"Thank you." I slipped inside the I.C.U. and saw Ray sitting next to a bed, practically motionless.

"Ray, what's going on? Is she okay? Are you okay?" I added, looking at his face.

"I'll tell you the details when I get them. No. And yes," he said responding to my questions in order.

"Well, do you know anything about what's wrong with Lizzie?"

"Yes, but I can't tell. You remember when I got sick? Lizzie told me that you guys asked her why she didn't say anything about my being sick. Well, you know how I swore her to secrecy? She did the same thing to me."

"You two are far too stubborn."

"You're one to talk."

"Whatever. And speaking of you being sick, have you eaten anything at all today?"

"A bit of cereal."

"That doesn't count. Go eat lunch. Now." Ray started to protest. "Nuh-uh. I don't want to hear it. I'll stay here and watch Lizzie, you go downstairs to the cafeteria and eat." He slipped off, looking guilty for even leaving. Like me, I think he feels to blame for not catching this earlier.

I took a closer look at Lizzie. She was very very pale and the bruises looked very distinct next to her pale skin. They had an I.V. of blood stuck in her arm and she was on a respirator. And I could tell that she had lost a lot of weight recently. I realized that when she had first joined the team, she looked thinner than before, but I had blamed that on stress and worry about her brother and mother. I felt really guilty for not realizing all of this sooner. Ray came back into the I.C.U. and took a place on the chair next to her.

"How did I miss this? I'm supposed to be looking after her," Ray mumbled, mirroring my thoughts.

"Don't blame yourself. You've been under a lot of stress lately and anyway, she was hiding it. I found some make up that Kari reckons was used to hide all those bruises," I replied.

"Still, I should have caught it."

I was about to calm him down when a nurse came and told me I had a call.

"You'd better answer that," Ray said. I stepped out of the I.C.U. and answered.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, it's me, Kari. How's Lizzie?"

"Pretty bad; she's in the I.C.U."

"That's too bad, how about Ray? I'd guess that he's not taking that well."

"You got that right! He's worried out of his mind. I think we should call his dad or the White Tigers for some support, you know?"

"That's a good idea. Do you have their numbers?"

"Just that White Tigers'. I'll call them right now," I was not looking forward to calling Mr. Kon and worrying him and so I was grateful that I didn't have his number.

"Okay, go ahead. I have some news that I thought you'd want to know."

"Spill."

"Well, we both know he's getting more dangerous. And Tala called to confirm it. He's been keeping tabs on him. By the way, Tala's coming here in a few days."

"He is?" That surprised me; I didn't think he'd get involved in all this. Then again, he always had a soft spot for Kari and always protected her when we were all in the abbey.

"Yeah, well, he said there's some really big plan to get us. We'd better watch out. There's a lot of danger. Things will have to end soon. One of us will have to lose or give. Just hope that we'll be the ones standing at the end of this nightmare."

"Okay. I'd better get back to Lizzie. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up and went back in to the I.C.U. Ray was chatting with a doctor.

"Okay, so the B.M.T. is her best chance of survival? So, why can't we just go ahead and do it?" Ray was asking. I stayed out of sight to see what I could learn.

"Well, it's not a good idea, what with you diabetes. I'll run some tests on you both and then we'll see, okay?" the doctor replied.

"Alright," Ray said, collapsing back into the chair and the doctor left. So, I thought, Lizzie is sicker than I'd thought. And Ray's got to do something to make her well? This does not look good for Lizzie.

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RTC: Ha ha! Another cliffie! I felt like making this a bit dramatic. I guess I just don't want the fic to end. (But I also wanted it finished so I can move on. I need to make up my mind.)

Kai: In other words, she's just being crazy. Which for her is normal.

RTC: I need some duct tape to put over Kai's mouth. Hey, wait, this is anime. (Grabs duct tape out of nowhere and slaps it over Kai's mouth.) Yay! So, guys, review and tell me what you think! Bye-bye!