NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: HOLY CRAP! Work has been kicking me in the head the past few days. I personally blame upper management for not having enough people to do the work. Anyway, sorry for the delay on this chapter.

Chapter Seven

"Doctor! Help!" Tempest shouted, as she rushed into the hospital emergency room. Anna and Phil were struggling to carry Chase through the automatic doors.

"We need a doctor!" Phil chimed in, loudly.

Anna huffed at the empty reception desk. "Somebody!" she barked, just as a middle-aged looking nurse emerged from a back room. "Nurse, doctor, whoever!—my friend was hurt in a gang fight."

"Just calm down," the nurse said, her voice calm and professional. Do you see that…" With that, she pointed her thumb towards a commotion at the end of a hallway. It was the man that Cody the tow truck driver was shooting at, being led away by a group of policemen. He had a bandage on his head, and a shiner on his eye.

He glanced over at the kids and narrowed his eyes. "Hey wait!" he shouted at the cops. "That's them! Those are the kids that stole my car. What are you bothering me for?! It's them you want!" The cops ignored his outburst and led him off.

Chase was hustled into a cubicle in the ER by the nurse so that the on-duty doctor could treat him, as Anna and the others settled themselves down in a few plastic chairs in the waiting room. Tempest played with a Thor action figure that she'd taken out of the front pocket of her backpack, Phil played a game on his cell phone, and Anna tried to flip through a magazine.

Anna sighed in despair and glanced up at the clock, which was moving too slowly for her liking. "AJ, if you're dead, I wish I was with you."

~~~BABY~~~

Back At The Bus Station...

The warm, meaty smell of hot dogs made AJ's mouth water and her stomach rumble. Slowly, she wove her way over to a hot dog cart that was being manned by a burly looking older man. "Hi. Those are…uh…hot dogs, right?"

"Yeah. Want one?"

"Yeah, I'd love one," AJ nodded, as the vendor pulled a hot dog out of a warming tray and set it on the counter. AJ fumbled through her purse until she found a piece of paper. She pulled it out and squinted at it.

"That'll be two bucks," said the vendor as AJ handed him the slip of paper. A moment passed, and the vendor frowned and handed the paper back. "A check?"

"Yeah," AJ explained, "But it's a good check. See Anna's grandma wrote it out to Anna because Anna bought her something, I can't remember what. Then I bought Anna some peppermint lip gloss, I gave Anna the difference and she wrote the check over to me. So I'll write the check over to you, you keep the difference and I'll take the hot dog." She paused. "So, you got a pen?"

The vendor looked at AJ like she'd just sprouted horns and a tail. "Get outta here."

"Wait!" exclaimed AJ. "I'm starving! You'd rather throw it away than give it to me?"

The vendor folded his arms across his chest. "I work on a cash only basis."

"But it's a perfectly good check!" AJ beseeched him.

"No! I'll make it very clear. You slip me the cash, and I'll slip you the wiener."

"But I don't have any cash!" AJ whined.

"Then I don't have a wiener!"

"Here! I have the cash. Give her the wiener!"

The vendor was about to turn his back on AJ when suddenly, the owner of the loud new voice, a young man, either high-school or college age, approached the vendor and plunked down a couple of dollars, fixing the cranky man with a look that could peel paint.

The vendor was completely caught off guard, but managed to compose himself and set the hot dog down on the counter. "Uh...condiments are at the end. " he muttered, pointing.

"Thank you," the young man smiled. He followed AJ, as she squinted at the pump bottles of condiments. "Whatcha looking for?"

"Cheese sauce."

"It's on your left."

AJ grinned in relief. "Thanks," she said, putting cheese on the hot dog, and then chili. "You saved me from a rather embarrassing moment."

The young man drew closer, and AJ was able to make out some details. His hair was short and dishwater blonde, he had a broad chest, and was wearing a blue-gray sweatshirt that had writing on it. There was something about his presence that made AJ feel more at ease, and she relaxed. "I know what it's like to be hungry and not have any cash."

AJ took a bite of her hot dog. After chewing and swallowing, she said, "I don't think I've seen you here tonight."

"I just got here about five minutes ago," the young man shrugged. He then shook his head. "Duh! Where are my manners? I'm Daniel. Daniel Bryan."

"April. Everyone calls me AJ, though."

"I like that. So, you waiting for a bus?"

"Waiting for a ride. I was running away from home. I wound up getting stranded. My best friend was supposed to be here an hour ago."

"That sucks. I'm heading to Las Vegas. I'm here for a layover."

"What's there?"

"My dad and stepmom."

"You got step parents too?"

"My stepmom drives me crazy." Daniel ushered AJ over to a seat. She plunked down, hot dog in hand, and Daniel followed suit.

AJ took another bite of her hotdog. "I can related," she said when she finished. "If you've got the time, I've got the troubles. In a nutshell, I can't stand my stepmom. I've wanted to spike her Diet Pepsi with Visine so many times, it's ridiculous."

Daniel grinned. "I'll one-up you. I've wanted to spike my stepmom's Tab with Drano. Never followed through on it, though."

"Ew! They still make that crap?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Don't tell my stepmom. She started drinking Diet Pepsi when they stopped selling Tab here."

"And you know what's weird?"

"What?"

"My stepmom's a total vegan. No meat, no dairy, no eggs, no wearing leather—nothing. She's Mrs. Natural Fibers, and she still drinks diet pop. Speaking of veganism, I got into it for a tiny bit, for maybe three months, but I got tired of eating broccoli as a main course."

"I don't think I could do that," AJ laughed. "I can only take so much sprouts and broccoli before I become carnivorous. I admire your willpower, even if it was only for three months."

Daniel got up from his chair. "I'm gonna get something to drink. You wanna share a Pepsi?"

"Sure." AJ grinned a little as she watched Daniel become a blur as he headed towards the soda machine. Suddenly, she didn't really mind that Anna was running late. Daniel seemed nice enough. Maybe this night wouldn't be a complete disaster after all.

~~~BABY~~~

Back at the hospital, a middle-aged man named Dr. Singh finished up with Chase's injury. "There you are. One stitch. All better."

Chase's eyes widened in shock. "One stitch?"

Dr. Singh nodded. "Oh yes, one stitch."

"My only chance of ever being in a gang fight and all I get is one stitch!" Chase raked his hands through his hair. "Anna is gonna think I'm a total loser."

The on-duty nurse poked her head through the curtain. "Dr. Singh, the guy with the stab wounds just died."

"Oh dear." he sighed, shaking his head in sorrow before he lumbered out into the hall.

In the hallway, Anna, Phil, and Tempest caught up to him. "Doctor," Anna gasped, "We're looking for a friend."

"Your friend? Which one is he?"

"Um, he's the one with the stab wound."

"Oh dear.."

Anna turned pale. "What?"

"I'm sorry, your friend is dead."

Tempest gasped. "Dead?"

Phil shook his head in disbelief. "Dead?"

Anna squeaked out, "Dead?" before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.

Tempest and Phil rushed over to catch the fallen babysitter and tried to revive her. "Anna! Anna! Come on! Anna, wake up!"

In the midst of the chaos, Chase emerged from behind the curtained off cubicle and watched the drama. Nobody paid any attention because they were too focused on Anna to look over.

"Temper? Phil? What happened?"

Tempest turned around in surprise. "Chase?! Chase! You're okay! She rushed over and threw her arms around her big brother in relief. Then, Phil saw him and rushed over to hug his best friend as well.

"Guys, uh..." Chase looked bewildered. "Phil, why are you hugging me?"

Phil pulled back, and then smacked his best friend in the arm. "Chase, don't you ever die on me! Ever."

"Okay, I won't." A paused. "What's wrong with Anna?" He went over to kneel beside her. "What happened?"

Dr. Singh was a little slow on the uptake but realized his mistake. "Oh, you are her friend. She fainted," he explained, as the nurse brought some smelling salts to wave under Anna's nose.

Anna's eyes flew open, and she gasped. "Oh," she groaned. "I had the worse nightmare. We were stuck in this… " Her voice trailed off as she realized where she was. "Oh…oh, crap. it's really happening."

"Some night, huh?" Phil chuckled as he and the Irvine-Hardy kids helped her up.

"It's all right," reassured Dr. Singh, as Anna turned and gave Chase a hug. "I made a mistake. See, he's fine. Now you stay here and I'll send the nurse back with the paperwork," he instructed gently, as he and the nurse walked off.

Once they were out of earshot, Chase blanched. "Paperwork. They're gonna want to know my name and stuff!"

Anna was pale but resolute. "I'm going to call my grandma—"

"No!" Phil spat. "No mothers, no grandmothers, no mods or dads. They'll kill us. No way!"

"Hey you kids! Where's my damn car?!"

The kids turned and squeaked in surprise as the man whose car R-Truth stole emerged from one of the curtained-off cubicles and stalked towards them.

"We're toast!" Chase squealed.

"Burnt toast," Phil chimed in, as the angry man drew closer. But, before he could reach the kids, a familiar face rounded a corner and plowed into the man, knocking him down.

"Mr. Rhodes!" Anna exclaimed, happily.

"Babysitter!" He spotted the cops standing nearby and gestured for the kids to follow him. "I've got your car," he said, ushering the kids out of the building as the police went over to check on the car theft victim. Come on, let's split."

The ragtag group spilled out into an alley, where a fleet of ambulances was parked. The kids and Cody ducked behind one of them to catch their breaths.

"What are you doing here?" Phil wondered.

"My wife called the cops. I got a little banged up."

"Well where's our car," Anna asked the tow truck driver.

"I've got the car at Swagger's Garage."

"Is our car okay?" Phil wanted to know.

"Yeah. I paid for the window…that's my fault. But Swagger's gonna make you pay for the tire."

"How much?" Chase asked.

"Fifty dollars."

Chase's jaw fell. "Fifty dollars?"

Anna looked sick. "Fifty dollars?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah, fifty dollars." He glanced over his shoulder and saw the cops spill out into the alley. "Sorry, I gotta split."

Anna grabbed Cody's coat sleeve as he went to leave. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm a fugitive now. Sorry, kids."

"Kinda like us," nodded Phil, as Cody nodded in agreement.

"Good luck , Babysitter!" Cody said as the police headed towards him. The kids managed to hide behind another ambulance as the cops pursued the tow truck driver.

After the cops disappeared, the kids managed to relax for a moment. Then, Chase asked the question of the hour:

"Where are we gonna get fifty dollars?"

Tempest smirked. "Maybe we could sell Phil," she suggested, as Phil rolled his eyes and Chase laughed. "Ya think?"

Anna led her charges away from the hospital. "We'll will think of something. Come on."

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I didn't have the heart to torture AJ any more than she's already been tortured at the bus station. Don't worry, Anna's night is gonna pick up in a nice way too.

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