They got to Joyville safely after several hours. The nervous group of friends disembarked the train. Joyville was unnervingly sunny and cheerful-looking, but the people all seemed to be in a bad mood. It seemed like the perfect place for a curse to all of them, but no one mentioned the curse again. They looked at the map of Joyville at the train station to determine their destination.

"Okay, the Joyville Hospital is here," Skull Boy said, pointing at a spot on the map, "and we're here."

"And the bakery is there!" Len said triumphantly.

"Stop thinking about bread!" Frank shouted at him.

"Don't worry, I'll share… Oh. Right. Misery. Forgot again."

"It looks like the fastest way to get there would be to take the bus," Ruby said. "Let's go to the bus stop."

So they did, and boarded the bus, which was packed with people. There was no room to sit down.

"Excuse me-" Ruby said to a man who was sitting on the bus. "Would you mind getting up? My friend-"

"Get your own seat," he growled.

Everyone else on the bus reacted similarly, so Ruby was forced to continue holding Misery.

A few minutes later, the bus stopped.

"Why did we stop?" Ruby asked.

"I pulled the cord," Len said.

"Len!" Iris shouted. "Why?!"

"Because we're at the bakery," he told them matter-of-factly.

"Len! We're not going to the bakery," Frank said. "Although… a donut does sound good right about now…"

They got off the bus.

"We can't wait for you!" Skull Boy called after them.

Before long, they noticed the bus starting to veer off the road. Ruby looked up front.

"The driver's asleep!" she said. "Skull Boy, did you ever think that you could be descended from a long line of bus drivers?"

The bus tilted to one side slightly and the doors flew open. "But- I don't have a license!" Skull Boy shouted.

The bus starting edging towards a cliff, and Ruby, holding Misery, was sliding towards the door. "Neither do most kappas, and that doesn't stop them! Just try!" she shouted frantically.

"O-okay!" Skull Boy took hold of the wheel and steered the bus away from the cliff.

They eventually got there, rather unsteadily and slowly, but they made it.

"That was… terrifying…" Scaredy Bat commented.

"Finally," Ruby sighed. "Our journey is over."

Iris helped Ruby carry Misery inside. The others followed behind.

"Patient name?" the woman at the front desk asked.

"Misery Sorrow."

"There ain't no Misery Sorrow in our records," the woman said.

"Well, we've never been here before. Please, can you just take care of her? It's urgent-"

"We don't treat people from out of town."

"What kind of policy is that?" Iris demanded.

"Well, couldn't you make an exception for an emergency?" Ruby begged. "If she doesn't get help soon she'll die!"

"We don't treat out-of-towners!" the woman shouted. "Get out!"

"What are we going to do now?" Iris whispered as they left the building.

"We'll have to go to the next next town over," Ruby said. She looked at Misery. She was running out of time. Could they make it? "Yes," she said out loud. "We can get there in time. Misery is strong. She can make it."

"Back to the train station," Skull Boy sighed.

Frank and Len came up to them. "What did we miss?"

The train out of Joyville was much more pleasant than the bus, but no one was happy. How much longer could Misery go on? And how much longer would it take them to get to the hospital? They all hoped the latter came sooner.

"Skull Boy, how long until we get to Contentville?" Ruby asked.

"Um… about… four hours. And then about another two to get to the hospital…"

"Six hours?" Ruby exclaimed. "Guys, I don't think we have six hours. There's gotta be a faster way."

They all racked their brains for anything, even just the slightest idea. They needed a solution, and fast.

"I just hope she will be all right," Scaredy Bat sighed.

"She will," Ruby assured them- and herself. "Of course she will."

"This just isn't right!" Iris exclaimed after a moment. "This is how it goes: Ruby tells us everything is going to be okay. Then Misery lists off everything that could possibly go wrong. I was waiting for the second part, even though I know she's not gonna say anything. Between the two of you, Ruby, we have a balance."

"What are we going to do?" Skull Boy wondered. "You're right, Ruby. She doesn't have six hours."

Misery stirred slightly. Everyone looked at her hopefully.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

She closed her eyes again and was still.

"Did she just…?" Scaredy Bat began.

"No, no, she's still alive," Ruby assured him. Barely, but she was. Still, Ruby was worried. They really needed a faster way.

"Uh… is now the time to tell you about what we won at the bakery?" Frank asked.

"Now's not the time, Frank," Iris said.

"But it's a coupon for a free trip!" Frank said. He took a ticket out of his pocket. "'The Fastest Way To Contentville'," he read. "'You've won a speedy trip to Contentville, complete with a chauffeur service to anywhere in town you want to go!' Len bought so much bread they gave us this."

"Frank! Len! Guys! Why didn't you tell us sooner?! This will help Misery!" Ruby exclaimed.

They got off the train at the next stop.

"How do you redeem it?" Skull Boy asked. "How do we get the trip?"

"Let me see," Frank said. "'Call the number below and tell them the code on the back of this coupon.'"

"I'll do it!" Len said. He took out his cell phone. "T… H… E… N… U… M… B…. R… B… E… E… L… O…"

"No, Len! You call the number on the coupon, not literally 'the number below!'" Frank told him.

"Okay. How do you spell coupon?"

"No! This number." Frank showed Len the number on the coupon.

"Oh." Len dialed the number. "The code on the back of this coupon!" he said proudly into the phone.

"Let me do it, Len," Frank said exasperatedly. He snatched the phone away and said the number.

"Current location?"

He glanced at the train station wall. "Joyville Stop 32."

"A high-speed taxi will be on its way shortly."

Two minutes later, a taxi zipped up.

"Where can I drive ya?" the driver said chipperly. Obviously he wasn't from Joyville.

"We need to get to the Contentville Hospital. Fast," Ruby said.

"Okay! Hop in."

So they did. In an hour- five hours less than otherwise- they were at the hospital.

"Thanks!" Ruby called to the driver.

Ruby and Iris were treated for a few burns from the lightning and were told they could resume their activities as normal, but it was a few hours before anyone was allowed to see Misery. She was still unconscious and looked no better than before.

"Is she going to be okay?" Ruby asked a doctor.

The doctor sighed. "I don't have an answer to that, I'm afraid. Really, the number of injuries is startling. It's a miracle she's even alive now. What happened to her?"

"It's a really, REALLY long story," Ruby said.

"It's serious, but with good care and a lot of good luck, she might be able to pull through. I can't say anything for sure."

"Good luck?!" Iris exclaimed. "But Misery's the queen of bad luck!"

"So she is doomed," Scaredy Bat said sadly.

"Guys, we can't give up on her," Ruby said. "That's the other thing about Misery- she doesn't give up. Despite everything that happens to her, she's never decided it's not worth it, never decided to sit in her room all the time and hide from it all. She's never given up on living her life. We have to do the same- never give up. She's in good hands now. She's getting what she needs. She can make it."

Misery continued to balance on the border between life and death, and no one knew what was going to happen. Ruby and friends camped faithfully in the hospital waiting room for this whole time, visiting her whenever they could and anxiously awaiting news. But it wasn't until the next Friday, a week and a day after everything happened, when things changed.

A/N: Ahhh, Len- bringing humor to even the darkest of times. The kappa thing was a reference to Kapp'n of Animal Crossing fame, and his (in my characterization of him) bad driving skills. At first I typed bad driving skulls. Oh, and Sorrow is the last name I made up for Misery, it will be used in my other stories too.