O HAI, EVERYONE!

So it's come to my attention that I keep saying "I'll have it up soon!" and then I fail to upload for at least a week.

For this, I apologize -.-

*bows*

This chapter is also shorter than usual, because I suffered severe writer's block and wuz all liek "SCREW THIS I 'M JUST GONNA MAKE THIS ONE SHORT CUZ OTHERWISE IT DOESN'T FLOW RIGHT SO I'LL JUST MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER RIDICULOUSLY LONG!"

AND IT'S TRUE.

The next chapter is going to be longer than any other, not only to make up for the shortness of this one, but also it will be the very last chapter in this series :3

IT HAS BEEN AN HONOUR TO WRITE FOR ALL OF YOU AND I WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO ALL THE TIME FOR EVER. :D

Hencely, the norm- reviews are devoured with glee, thneeds are thrown and breakfast mixed in an unholy fusion of marshmallow and pancake.

(And also, excuse the terrible plot for this chapter- several people sent me reviews saying, "Oh no, is Oncie going to go to the doctor now?" And to be perfectly honest, at that moment, I remembered for the first time the existence of those with the healing profession. I had honestly not even considered that a doctor would come into the picture, and I had already started writing the new chapter, and I was far too lazy to rewrite it. So sorry to all those people smarter than me, I am just a simple duck).

ENJOY YOUR SHORT CHAPTER.

Chapter Seven- Day Five

". . .-ler..."

"-nce-ler!"

"Hey, beanpole, get up!"

The Once-ler opened his eyes slowly with a groan, hearing great sighs of relief as he did so. His head was pounding and his vision was blurred, so he blinked tiredly until it cleared. When it did, he couldn't help but cringe a little, gritting his teeth at the sight of Yoose's face inches away from his own, the man's disgusting breath pervading his nostrils. Thankfully, once it was clear that the Once-ler was awake he pulled away from the bed on which he lay, grinning broadly. It was then that he saw the rest of the room, revealing to him the Lorax, now glaring and unsuccessfully attempting to shove Yoose further away from his very-good acquaintance, and what looked to be every single animal in the forest, all huddled around his tent. They all looked extremely happy that the Once-ler had woken but something seemed... odd...

When nothing became immediately apparent, the Once-ler gave a mental shrug and focused on other things- the aching all over his body, for example. Then...

"Wh-what's...? he began in a hoarse voice, clearing his throat. He shifted, pulling his left arm up and out of the covers, wincing and gasping in pain when the slightest touch sent jolts of agony through his wrist. When he finally got his arm into view, his eyes flew wide in shock, his mouth opening only to emit a small whimper.

His arm, from his hand to his elbow, was held straight with two short wooden poles and wrapped inside a thick layer of bandages. His fingers were stiff and sore, but it was nothing compared to the wrist itself, which throbbed deeply and continuously with pain. Reaching out with his other hand, the Once-ler gingerly felt the area. He'd had experience with broken bones before- no thanks to Brett and Chett- and it didn't take him long to deduce that his arm was broken from his wrist to an area halfway up his forearm, though luckily it didn't seem that any of the pieces were out of place.

Psychic as ever, Yoose commented on this fact. "I've got some experience with broken bones, so I moved the bits back as best I could."

"And... h-how...?"

The Lorax had given up on moving Yoose and moved back, sitting down cross-legged beside the Once-ler's pillow and looking down on the boy in sympathy. "What was the last thing you remember?" he asked gently.

The Once-ler thought this rather odd- the Lorax had never been so nice with him. Well, not before Yoose came, anyway. He stayed silent about it, feeling a small bubble of happiness rise within him at the thought.

But there was no time to dwell on it. Racking his brains, the Once-ler struggled to recall the last moments before he apparently had passed out- his brain ached with the effort, but he pressed on anyway, his voice soft and slow when he replied.

"I- I think... Yoose had... climbed up onto the boxes, and... Yeah, they were about to break, so I called out and started climbing up as well, so I could... stop him... but... I think... he knocked me down... or something..." The Once-ler groaned and stopped, his headache becoming too much to continue. He thought he recalled something about the landing, but was too tired to care, instead leaving it to the Lorax to continue. The creature did so gladly.

"Well, what happened after that was that this idiot here fell on you- landed on you too, no less. Apparently you threw out your arm to break your fall, but the distance of the fall and Yoose's weight on top of you shattered it. You're lucky, beanpole- if your bones weren't so strong, you'd have gotten a lot worse."

"But... why am I not in a hospital?"

"Pssh!" Yoose said loudly, waving his arm dismissively. "You don't need a doctor! I'll take care of you! And it's extra lucky, because now," Yoose tapped the side of his nose, "you can get that break everyone says you need!"

"What? No, I'll be fine," the Once-ler said hurriedly, "I-I'm not that sick and I'm right-handed, so it shouldn't be a problem for me to-"

"Nonsense! I'll take care of you! I think it'll be a good change for this place to get some good housework done around here!"

Ignoring the stab at his pride, the Once-ler opened his mouth to argue, but at that moment he was consumed by a fit of coughing, leaving him curled up on his side, breathing deeply through his mouth. While the Lorax busied himself with making sure the Once-ler was okay, Yoose took the opportunity to walk away before he could stop him, heading to the kitchen and pulling out a variety of pots and pans and turning the stove on. The Once-ler could do nothing but watch, heart clenching in dismay as he realised that, whether he wanted to or not, he would be spending the remainder of the day at least with Yoose. Even worse, he would be taken care of by the man- something he had honestly tried to avoid for the past few days. Emitting a sigh of resignation, the Once-ler sank back into his pillow, pulling his blanket further towards his chin. He closed his eyes and a moment passed, then suddenly he felt two warm, furry paws slowly stroke his forehead.

The Once-ler opened his eyes in surprise, smiling when he saw the huge, bubbly eyes of Pipsqueak staring down at him in worry. Reaching up, the Once-ler scratched Pipsqueak behind the ears, his smile widening when the bear growled quietly in approval.

"He's been sitting with you ever since Melvin got back," the Lorax murmured, and to the Once-ler's surprise, he saw a glint of anger in the orange creature's eyes.

Worried, the Once-ler asked; "Melvin...? Why would he-"

"Because that idiot dumped you on his back and left him by himself so he could run ahead to tell us all how innocent he was!" the Lorax spat, the anger in his eyes building. "He was talking to us for ages, saying "I tried to tell him I was fine, but he didn't listen and he got hurt," and all that other crap before Melvin turned up!"

The Once-ler stared wide-eyed at the Lorax during his tirade, his heart thumping loudly. Now he knew. Now he knew what had seemed so odd to him upon waking. Yoose waltzed happily about the tent, humming to himself as he readied their evening meal, but the usual gaggle of animals that followed his every move was nowhere to be seen. They remained in their positions about the room, occasionally shuffling closer to where the Once-ler lay. They spent most of their time glancing fearfully at the Once-ler whenever he happened to cough or wince, and the rest was spent looking at Yoose with unreadable expressions. Yoose seemed unconcerned, but for the Once-ler, it was as if the world had been turned on its head.

The Lorax glanced in the direction that the Once-ler was looking and smiled grimly. "I had wanted to shout and scream my lungs out at Yoose for leaving you behind. I had wanted to kick him out of the forest for what he'd done- for what was clearly his fault, no matter what he tried to say. I held myself back because I thought that these guys," he gestured to the critters, "would hate me for shouting at their friend. But do you know what happened?"

The Once-ler shook his head slowly, his eyes locked onto the Lorax, who continued in a low voice. "When Yoose came back, they ran out to meet him- as usual, I guess. But when they didn't see you with him, they got worried. When Yoose told them that he'd left you behind, they got scared. While Yoose tried to explain what had happened from his point of view, they listened, but none of them believed a word of it. Some even went to look for you. When you got back... it was like he didn't even exist- not until you were safe in bed... All that happened yesterday- you've been out since then, but I think that was mainly due to exhaustion. These guys and I have been keeping an eye on you while you were sleeping- I think they've finally realised what's been going on the past few days." The Lorax paused, grimacing slightly. "Still, I can't say that they hate him yet. I think it's clear that at least a few of them are trying to put him in a good light. He was a good friend to them before, and I think they're afraid to lose that- no matter how horrified they are at him right now."

"So we can't just kick him out yet?"

"Not yet. But we'll see how it all goes."

The Once-ler nodded tiredly, looking back at Pipsqueak. The tiny Bar-ba-loot smiled anxiously at him, then crawled around so that he was lying beside the Once-ler in the area next to his neck and shoulders. The Once-ler shifted to accommodate the creature, then settled, drawing the blankets even further up his body. It wasn't long before he was asleep, his chest rising and falling in time to his soft breathing. The Lorax glanced once more at him before moving away, jumping off the bed and climbing up onto the small table in the middle of the room. He watched Yoose closely as he went about his business, narrowing his eyes. While Yoose didn't notice the Lorax, it seemed he had started to take note of the lack of animals about his ankles. He would pause occasionally, glance over his shoulder at them, stare forlornly for a moment, then return to his work.

'At least he knows why they're ignoring him,' the Lorax thought, smiling in satisfaction. After all, he deserved the treatment he was being given, didn't he? He deserved to be ignored by the creatures that had followed him blindly without even properly knowing their leader. He deserved to have that sad, regretful look on his face while he worked.

. . . Okay, maybe this was going a little too far...

The Lorax cleared his throat, drawing Yoose's attention. The creatures around the room focused their collective gaze on him as well, listening intently. The Lorax crossed his arms and began to pace back and forth on the table, grumbling inaudibly to himself before he cleared his throat a second time and began to speak.

"If you're gonna be staying here tonight, we've gotta get a few things clear," he said calmly, knowing he had Yoose's full attention. "Firstly, I need to ask- why did you leave the Once-ler behind so you could run ahead and tell us your side of the story?"

"Well," Yoose began, fiddling with his hands. "I just thought... you know, 'cause Melvin's a good mare, he'd easily be able to keep Oncie safe-"

"You wanted to make sure we didn't think you were guilty, even though you were."

Yoose flinched at the sharp edge to the Lorax's voice, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, that was pretty much it..." he admitted quietly. "I don't know, I don't have much of an excuse. I shoulda stayed with Oncie, n' made sure he was okay..."

"Yeah, you should have. You also should have listened to him when he told you to get down from the crate pile. Above all that, you shouldn't have made him go to town with you in the first place- he's sick, Yoose! And now he's in even worse condition all because you were too much of an idiot to listen to him when he said it wasn't a good idea!" The Lorax took a deep breath, uncrossed his arms and sat down, leaning forward with one hand on his hip. "Look- you can stay for the next two nights, but I'm gonna be damn clear that you are not staying in this forest for another second. Got it?"

"Can't I even-"

"No," the Lorax interrupted sternly, holding up one of his small, furry hands. "Two more nights, then you're gonna leave this forest, and you are not coming back. Am I clear?"

Yoose sighed, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I got it."

The Lorax's big, bushy moustache twitched in a smirk and he hopped down from the table, making his way to the Once-ler's bed. He tucked himself in beside the tall human, looking once more at Yoose before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

'Not long now, beanpole...' he thought to himself as his consciousness slipped away.

'Not long now.'