CHAPTER 4: The Only Survivor?

"I hope she's alright."

"Don't worry, Tuff. She'll be better before we know it."

"Poyo poyo..."

"Hey, she moved!"

"Sh! I think she's waking up!"

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Tiff, Tuff and Kirby were looming above me. My whereabouts were unfamiliar, though I appeared to be in some kind of hospital, lying in a bed. I had a splitting headache. Feeling my forehead, I found I had bandages wrapped around my head.

"Hey, guys... what happened...?"

"You got attacked by a monster!" Tuff cried.

"Probably one of King Dedede's monsters," Tiff added angrily.

I suddenly remembered.

"Where's Escargoon?"

Tiff and Tuff pointed to my left. I turned my head even though it hurt horribly. There he was, lying on his side in a bed next to mine, covered in bandages. His chest was covered by the bed sheets so I couldn't see if he was still bleeding. He hadn't woken up yet.

Maybe he wasn't going to. I felt my eyes filling with tears.

"The monster hasn't been found yet," Tiff told me. "It could be anywhere. If we don't catch it soon, who knows who it's next victim will be."

"King Dedede's gone too far this time!" Tuff yelled. "Erika and Escargoon could have been killed!"

Kirby was watching me. "Poyo poyo?"

"Huh?" Tiff looked at me again. "Are you OK, Erika?"

"Does your head hurt real bad?"

Of course it hurt; it was the most horrible pain I had ever felt. But that wasn't why I had tears pouring down my cheeks. If Escargoon and I hate each other, then why did I feel so... guilty?

"So you've woken up, Erika?" said another voice. Looking up, I noticed a doctor had come into the room. He walked over and stood beside me. "Run along, you three," said the doctor to Tiff, Tuff and Kirby. "I need to examine Erika now."

"See you later, Erika," said Tuff.

"We'll come back and visit later," Tiff promised.

"Poyo poyo!" said Kirby.

My three friends left. I was left alone with the doctor whose name I didn't even know. He began slowly unwrapping the bandages around my head.

"You're very lucky, Erika," said the doctor. "If you were bitten any deeper it's very likely you would have been killed."

"Wow," I whispered. Then I felt another stab of guilt. Was I going to be the only survivor of this catastrophe? I looked to my left again.

The doctor tutted. "Don't move your head, young lady."

"Sorry, Doctor... er..."

"Yabui."

"Yeah. Sorry, Doctor Yabui."

He grabbed a cloth and a bottle of liquid stuff. Then he put some of the liquid stuff on the cloth and started rubbing it around the wounds on my head. It stung horribly but I tried not to make a fuss.

"This will help your wounds to heal," Doctor Yabui explained. When he had finished, he wrapped some new bandages around my head like a Christmas present. "How do you feel, Erika?"

Physically or emotionally? I felt pretty terrible in both catagories.

"I feel fine, thank you," was the reply I gave.

Doctor Yabui then approached Escargoon. He threw back the bed sheets. I could see Escargoon's chest clearly now. It was coated with bandages, mostly stained red from the blood. I gasped, but not loud enough for Doctor Yabui to hear. The doctor began unwrapping the bandages. I covered my eyes. I didn't want to see.

But I DID want to ask. "Is Escargoon alright, doctor?"

There was a long, horrible silence. I heard Doctor Yabui sigh. "His injuries are far worse than yours, Erika."

"Is he dead?"

"No, he's still alive."

I wanted to ask more, but just then I heard someone burst into the room. I uncovered my eyes. It was King Dedede.

"Erika! Escargoon! There you are!" He didn't sound very concerned for us. He said it as if to say 'Get your lazy butts back to the castle now!'.

"Hi, Sire," I greeted as cheerfully as I could. Which wasn't very cheerful, though I couldn't help feeling proud that the king had said my name first.

But then I felt horrible again. It was all thanks to the rivalry Escargoon and I had that we ended up in this mess. I suddenly burst into tears, startling both Doctor Yabui and King Dedede.

"What you crying for?" the king questioned.

"There's no need to cry, Erika. Everything's going to be alright," Doctor Yabui assured me, covering Escargoon with the bed sheets again. He then left the room.

"It's all my fault!" I wailed. "There's a monster roaming Cappy Town! Escargoon is probably gonna die! And it's all my fault!"

"What monster?" said King Dedede, puzzled. "I ain't ordered no monsters."

"I did!" I confessed. I took a deep breath, all too aware of how His Majesty would react. But I had to tell him. "I sneaked into your throne room last night, Your Majesty. I ordered a monster from NME. But it all went wrong. I'm... I'm really sorry."

There was a pause. Then, surprisingly, the king started laughing.

"I get it! You wanted to get rid of Kirby yourself and take all the glory!"

"No, I-" I stopped. Should I tell King Dedede the real reason? ...Nah. I hung my head and tried to look as meek as possible. "Yes, Sire. I wanted to get rid of Kirby myself."

I looked up again to see something big and wooden flying at me. Dedede's mallet hit me on the head like a ton of bricks. I felt sick and dizzy.

"That's for sneaking into my throne room!" the king scolded.

I waited for a pleased chuckle. It didn't happen. Dedede saw me looking to my left, and he looked too. He raised his mallet again, this time to hit Escargoon.

"This oughta wake him up!"

"No! Your Highness, you can't! You'll kill him!" I screeched.

The ruthless penguin took no notice. I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn't watch.
WHAM!

As soon as the terrible blow had been delivered, I leapt of of my bed and rushed to Escargoon's bedside. I put my ear close to his mouth and listened carefully.

Nothing. I began to panic, but then I felt something warm on my face and I knew it was his breath.

"Thank goodness," I whispered, giving a sigh of relief. Then I felt someone grab my arm. It was the king. He began to drag me away.

"You're coming back to the castle with me."

"B-But Doctor Yabui said I need to stay here and rest!"

"Never mind what he says. I'm the king and you'll do what I say."

I knew there was no point protesting further. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Doctor Yabui didn't notice us leaving. Dedede's limousine was waiting for us outside. The king climbed into the passenger seat.

"Hey, hold on a minute! You're not expecting ME to drive this thing, are you?" I cried.

"Of course you're driving!" His Majesty responded.

"B-But I can't! I don't know how to drive!"

"Neither can I, but someone's gotta do it. Get driving."

Reluctantly, I got into the driver's seat of the car. Then I suddenly realised something.

"Hold on a minute!" I repeated. "If you can't drive, how did you get here?"

"With difficulty. Now DRIVE!"

I decided to give it go. I mean, if Dedede could do it then how hard could it be? I turned the keys and the vehicle whirred into life. Then very slowly, I gently pressed my foot on the accelerator. The car began to trundle along the path home.

...Sudden thought. If Escargoon doesn't even have feet, how the heck does HE drive?

King Dedede was right when he said he drove with difficulty. On the way back to the castle we passed more than a few fallen trees that I'm sure were alright before...