'We need to go and see Griffin' Alice breathed onto my bare chest, 'we can't stay here forever'

'I know' I said circling my finger around the small of her back, 'I wish we could'

Alice raised her head from my chest and sighed, 'Jamie, you need to get with it again'

'I… am with it' I said bemused with what she meant.

'No you are not Jamie' Alice looked into my eyes and whispered, 'you act like you are living in a dream. You haven't been sleeping until last night well yesterday; you slept for the whole day. You've been acting in a haze ever since I saw you in Hawaii. That was a week ago'

There was a pause while I processed what she was saying; it has been 7 whole days since I saw her in Hawaii.

'We're not safe here, I can just feel it' Alice said worriedly, 'paladins will be looking for you and worst of all Griffin. We need to find Griffin and go to his den where we can sort things out and decide what to do from there'

'Okay, let's go and see Griffin today' I decide, 'we can't wait any longer'

'Wait, we need to go over what has happened in the last 8 days because I don't think you've digested everything yet. You told me the story of what happened in the paladin's lair and what happened to Griffin and ever since then you've been a mess'

'Thanks…' I scoffed.

'You have been! Sometimes you've been with it; alert and then other times you haven't' Alice paused.

My face lowered, 'I'm really sorry'

'It's okay, it's a lot to handle but you can handle it now!'

I smiled then my face went serious, 'Okay, so Griffin is probably still in the hospital'

'Correct'

'We have to go and see him'

'Correct'

'We can't go home because there are paladins there who are dangerous'

Alice's face drops, 'Er, yes.'

'Right, let's pack' I smiled and Alice smiled back at me.

As I looked for things to pack I remembered a conversation almost lost within my memory. I had the conversation with Alice about two days ago.

'My dad hates being alone especially when my mum died because I was only 3. He was painfully alone with a child he couldn't handle but then he started talking to your uncle and he found someone he had a lot in common with. They became friends very quickly and soon Dad and I were always at your house, every Sunday your uncle would make roast dinner for us. I will never forget the day you came round and we all had Sunday roast together. I was so jealous because you sat next to my dad and he was talking to you more than me. After dinner, I wanted to go straight home but my dad made me talk to you' Alice smiled through a tear rolling down her face.

'I remember that conversation, we talked for hours. You really made me feel at home that day… you stop everyone from being alone and I love you for that' I said trying to hide the chagrin in my face.

'I love you too but I… I can't stay away from my dad, he doesn't have your uncle and he doesn't have me. He's alone again' Alice cried harder, 'It's not safe to see him yet but-'

'I promise you Alice I will make it safe for you to see him, I will sort this all out and I'll never hurt you again' I embraced her staying strong for her.

'Thank you' Alice whimpered.

'I will sort this out… for you' I vowed while Alice cried into my t-shirt.

I will keep that promise; I think to myself while flinging clothes that I want to take with me in Alice's direction.

'Pack some more food, we need as much as we can carry' Alice ordered.

'Yes ma'am!' I said sardonically. 'Do we need cheese commander?'

'That is a negative, bread is more important' Alice mocked a soldier's voice.

'Bread and biscuits coming your way' I mocked a soldier's voice back.

'Affirmative General' Alice joked.

I felt a shiver come up my spine at the word General but I just smiled and said, 'you sound like a very sexy soldier.' Then I pinned a hysterical Alice to the bed and kissed her lips and neck fiercely. Alice broke away from our kiss smiley, 'We have to go'

'Two more minutes' I begged.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. 'Open the door or we will force our way in!'

Alice's grip tightened on me, I quietly packed the bread in the bag and slung it over on my back.

'General what are we waiting for? We have confirmation that they are in there' a voice outside whispered.

'Jamie we're waiting open the door' a deep husky voice commanded. 'You can jump but you can't hide.'

Without a thought I jumped outside the hospital in San Francisco hitting the hard ground with Alice on top of me. In silence still in shock we rose from the floor and entered the hospital. It smelt like a typical hospital with an antiseptic smell in the air. We walked to the reception where a red haired receptionist greeted us, 'Hello, how may I help you?'

After a small pause, 'er we're looking for a friend of ours… Griffin?'

'A Griffin O'Conner has been discharged' the receptionist read from her computer.

'When was he discharged?' Alice asked. 'It's really important we see him.'

'He was just discharged so he might be around here but if he's left he couldn't have gone far. Unless your friend can fly' the receptionist laughed but Alice and I didn't because we know Griffin can do something better than fly.

'Oh, well thank you' I smiled weakly at the receptionist.

Alice and I turned around and walked down to the waiting area while covering the area with our eyes for Griffin.

'Are you looking for something?' a sarcastic voice from behind us said. Alice and I swivelled around in unison to see Griffin smiling at us with a Starbucks coffee in his hand. Griffin has stiches just above his left eyebrow, a scar tracing from the right corner of his lip down about a centimetre and he had a wrist brace on the hand not holding the coffee but other than that Griffin looked great.

'Griffin!' Alice wrapped her arms around his neck, 'we've been worried sick but you look so much better'

'You do, you can really take a beating' I try to joke.

'You should see the other guy' he joked back.

'He's not even alive what would be the point' I said.

Griffin seemed to be taken aback by my comment because all he responded was, 'hmm'

We all walked out of the hospital talking about how his Starbucks coffee tastes but we all know there are more important things to talk about and the small talk won't last long. As soon as we exit the hospital and we are about halfway down the street Griffin said with dark sarcasm, 'It was so nice of you to visit me in hospital, you practically never left'

'I'm really sorry Griffin, the whole thing messed me up and seeing you in the hospital would have been too much for me' I pleaded. 'I'm really sorry.'

'I understand, I just would have preferred you two rather than David and his girl' Griffin rolled his eyes.

'David and Millie came to visit you?' I asked.

'Don't act so surprised, they said you sent them because you weren't feeling well or something like that' Griffin grumbled.

'We still should have come' Alice said, 'we're really sorry but we have a lot to catch you up on'

'Now that's what I like to hear' Griffin jeered and then disappeared leaving dust and a wormhole behind.

I grabbed Alice's hand and followed Griffin's wormhole to Griffin's den; it was as if the last week didn't happen and we were skipping our school trip activities to go on adventures with Griffin.

'So… anyone want to tell me what's been going on?' Griffin raised one eyebrow.