Woo! Another chapter guys! Before school goes back in Australia in a few weeks time, I really want to get this story at least up to chapter 20, so that's my personal little goal.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and who tried to guess what was wrong with Lewis. I certainly wouldn't have been able to guess it if I was in your shoes!

Enjoy this chapter everyone, and Zikki fans, if you squint really hard and tilt your head to the side, there's a bit of a Zikki moment in this chapter.

Enjoy & review. :)

Chapter 17 – Breathe

Zane's POV

Arriving at the city's central hospital, Rikki was in the lead as Will and I trailed behind her path that led us to the receptionist bay nearest to the main entry doors.

"Hi. What ward is Lewis McCartney in?" she asked politely, but I noted a rare occurrence for Rikki. There was the sound of fear prevalent in her voice. The raw emotion that I knew for a fact she would do anything to conceal steadied as she spelt out his name for the receptionist, awaiting an answer as Will and I lingered behind uncomfortably.

"He's just been admitted to the emergency ward recently. That's level 4 and if you reach the nurses on that level, they'll be able to give you more information" she replied in an extremely formal and fake manner. Zilch emotion, possibly due to repeated recitation of what we had been told… It was ironic for a place that created such strong emotion's from the birth of new life, to the end of that of a loved one's.

I was lost in my own thoughts until I looked up and took note that Rikki was speeding away ahead of me, as Will followed close behind her, appearing equally as anxious as Rikki looked.

Finding the nearest elevator, the three of us parked our bodies in it and subconsciously positioned ourselves closely, until I noticed that apparent fact. After pushing the button that indicated level four, Rikki looked straight ahead, Will looked down at his Havaiana clad feet and I looked between them uncomfortably. None of us had said anything to each since our attempts to rationalize and provide reassuring possibilities as to an explanation for Lewis, one that was in conjunction with what Cleo had said about the fact that he was not moving.

Will of course opted for a marine option, suggesting the fact that there may have been an accident of some sort happen at work, especially considering the dangerous marine life with a high toxicity level that Lewis dealt with as a part of his job. I noted the fact that Cleo has always been an exaggerator for the entire time that I've known her and just because she had said he "wasn't moving" didn't mean that he was completely still. He could've broken a foot for all we know… Or even just a toe! Rikki stayed quiet for a while after Will and I had offered our suggestions, but when she did speak, she just kept her comments surprisingly positive for her. It was something along the lines of how fit and healthy he was and how people like him don't get badly sick for no reason, implying the fact that he would be perfectly fine, regardless of the fine details behind his unknown prognosis.

Eventually, the lift stopped the vertical incline that brought tingles to my stomach. Great. 4 storey's high too, just to add to this fantastic situation...

The elevator dinged and the huge stainless steel doors opened out to the ER ward, delivering us to our destination. Rikki once again raced off ahead of us, assumedly in search of the next nurse's bay on this treasure hunt that was missing any form of pleasure at the other end. However, before the sighting which would have brought us to our new clue, we skipped ahead like in Snakes and Ladders upon seeing Cleo, along with around half a dozen other people.

If I thought that Rikki had been walking at a fast pace before this point, then my perception of speed was proven completely wrong as she raced over to Cleo down the hall.

As Will and I too sped up and came closer, I noticed Cleo's dad, step-mum and little sister standing alongside her, in addition to another middle aged couple who stood near a younger blonde male who would've been a few years older than me. Those three were undoubtedly representatives of Lewis' family. More Lewis' in the world. The resemblance was uncanny.

Despite our considerably faster pace, Will and I who were now walking side-by-side slowed as we reached the herd of people, standing back behind Rikki as Cleo let go of herself in the way that her arms had been wrapped around her own shoulders as she sat there cradling herself and accepted Rikki's arms that had opened up to her.

"He'll be okay, Cleo" I could hear Rikki say in reassurance to her friend as I watched her holding the hysterical Cleo whose tears had resumed a steady flow of drowning her cheeks.

I hated blubbery sad scenarios like this, it was a typical unemotional guy thing, but this time I felt a tinge of guilt as I watched Cleo crying uncontrollably in Rikki's arms. I knew that Cleo was an easy target… Someone squashed a spider in class when we were 10 – she was an automatic mess and burst into tears. Admittedly, I had always gotten a bit of a kick from her soft-heart that I had deemed 'hilarious', but this time it wasn't so funny… Her tears weren't having the normal effect of satisfaction on me that they had had. In fact, it was tragic.

I tuned into listening to the girl's as Rikki slowly led Cleo back over to the plastic hospital chairs with her family watching over the two girl's as intensely and closely as a hawk.

"What happened to him, Cleo?" Rikki asked gently and softly, keeping an arm around her back which was obviously acting as a comfort to the distraught woman, considering that she hadn't resumed her position of hugging herself again.

"H-He…" she attempted to say with a shaky voice that threatened the onset of easily triggered tears at any point. "He was sleeping i-in r-real-really late today and I-I tried to w-wake him a-and" she managed to say before her head crashed down into her lap again with the wailing of fresh tears.

Will and I watched helplessly as Rikki rubbed her back as an attempt of comforting her, while Cleo's dad hugged her, ensuring that she was okay with Sam watching on somberly and helplessly like Will and myself.

She calmed her breathing down once again, with tears still trickling steadily down her cheek. "I tried to wake him, then his eyes were open but h-he just wasn't m-moving!" she cried out louder as she reached the end of her sentence and burst out crying once again. "I thought he was playing some sort of trick!"

Again, the waterworks flood gates exploded open again as Cleo lost control of herself through the tears and Rikki attempted to comfort her once again which was becoming a bit of a pattern since we had arrived.

"Have the doctors said anything?" Rikki questioned in a soft whisper to Cleo that was still audible to Will and myself who were a few seats away and watching the interactions between the two for the entire time.

She shook her head and made a visible effort to calm her breathing down. "No. They've just said that they're still doing tests. I'm scared it's something really bad Rikki" Cleo confessed as she trembled softly.

"It won't be, Cleo. He's young, he's fit and he's healthy… Well he's young and healthy. He'll be fine!"

We watched as her breathing shook again and she took another raspy breath. The signs that she was going to have another meltdown and lose it again were becoming evident, until "Cleo!" was called out down the hall, distracting Cleo skillfully, but along with nearly everyone else who wasn't named 'Cleo' just due to the volume of the call.

A blonde shot past Will and myself until she slowed, and after watching the taller, older and more masculine blonde trailing slower behind her, I realized that it was Bella who rushed over to the brunette that had effortlessly held everyone's attention today, due to circumstance.

Bella hugged Cleo briefly, before pulling away just as Cleo had began to support herself on her friend. "How are you doing? Have you heard anything? Sorry – I came as quickly as I could."

"No Bella" Cleo croaked simply and cryptically, not making it clear to Bella as to which question she was responding to, as well as ignoring her last statement.

From the angle I was sitting, I could see her puzzled expression that only lasted a split second before being overridden with concern for her friend as she took Cleo's hand that was clutching onto her arm and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Lewis is going to be fine."

Poor Cleo once again broke down once again for the umpteenth time solely since Rikki, Will and myself had arrived…

Shortly after Cleo had been calmed down and reassured once again that would just last for the time being until she was triggered off and started crying again, I became aware of another presence, technically two actually, that were sitting three seats away from me and on the other side of the spare seat next to Will that was just before a table that ended the row of guest seats. I had seen the guy walking in with Bella but had completely forgotten about him since, classing him as low importance in comparison to the other's in this situation, like Cleo. That was until Bella's boyfriend started to make a scene of himself too...

For the next few minutes that followed, I could hear and looked over to watch him fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat with the sleeping baby that he was carrying's arms slung around his neck, while Will who was nearest to him sat ignorantly on his phone, with Rikki and Bella occupied by Cleo and the families of the young couple were conversing worriedly amongst themselves on the other side of the hallway.

The next moment, he was standing up and had begun pacing back and forth, taking steps closer to the exit of the elevator with each lap that he made. He looked uncomfortable and stressed as he rubbed his hands through his hair, but yet still managed to carry the toddler comfortably in his arms with an incredible balance and lack of shifting that could have lead to waking. It was almost as if he was performing the latter action subconsciously. The problem with the display was that I couldn't distinguish whether he looked more like a child that couldn't sit still, or a skittish horse.

As if the pacing and actions that displayed his uncomfortable state wasn't attention-seeking enough, next thing he was quietly muttering to himself "hate hospitals", "I hate hospitals" repeatedly. This, along with Cleo's breakdown's created quite the scene together in the hallway until Bella gave Cleo yet another hug of reassurance and left Rikki with Cleo as she walked over to Daniel, pressing a hand on the top of his shoulder and gently leading him backwards to the seats again.

She looked up ahead of herself momentarily to the others that were here for Lewis too before, taking the only remaining seat, in-between her boyfriend and Will, and faced Daniel only allowing her back to face the direction of Will and myself.

"Calm down, Dan, just breathe babe" she whispered, rubbing his shoulder and back soothingly for a few minutes that evidently didn't lead to any change or positive results. "Here, I'll take her, that'll loosen your chest. Focus on taking deep breaths" she added, taking the sleeping baby from his arms as she held that with one arm and comforted him with the other.

Cleo and Daniel were on opposite sides of the hallway and were now taking turns with letting their fears take over the control of themselves.

Rikki was knelt down in front of Cleo now, verbally attempting to comfort and calm her with her dad and Sam taking over from the physical warmth and comfort. Meanwhile next to Will and two seats away from me, Bella was trying to reassure Daniel verbally and calm him in a similar physical manner as Cleo's families was doing for her. Cleo, with good reason, definitely won the award for who was making a greater scene and was crying louder in comparison to Daniel's raspy breathing and repeated whispers that revealed the increasingly obvious fact of how much he hates hospitals.

Thankfully, a nurse who approached Cleo and interrupted the separately unsettled two, although whether it would have a greater positive or negative impact from what she had to say was yet to be revealed.

"Are you here for Lewis McCartney?" she questioned, standing approximately in the middle of the hallway and between the two somewhat separated groups of friends and family that were united for the same reason.

Cleo's tears faded almost immediately as she swiped her face with her sleeve and nodded to the nurse who made the correct assumption upon seeing the dozen of head's nod and continued to speak.

"The doctor is still with him and unfortunately hasn't been able to pinpoint the cause. He's been examined for a bite and has been tested for high toxicity levels that could lead to temporary or long-term paralysis like this but all the results have returned normal and inconclusive. We are still waiting for the results and X-Rays to return from pathology regarding a few other tests, but the good news is that all of his vital organs appear to be working normally and healthily. We'll let you know when we know anything further" the nurse revealed to the group of us who didn't say a peep, even Daniel and Cleo were quiet, as we listened to the current diagnosis and update before she left us all to react and turned around, walking off in the direction that she had come from.

"See Cleo" Rikki said, being the first of the group to speak, before Lewis' family spoke to each other in a manner that displayed their hesitance to be completely positive or completely negative from the news. "That's good news. They haven't worked it out yet, but he's doing okay!"

"Except, are you forgetting the fact that he can't move?!" Cleo replied in what was one of the firmest tones that I had ever heard from her before.

Rikki sighed, her only attempt at being positive, evidently diminishing as she backed away from her friend and came closer to the five of us that occupied this section of seating.

She quietly stood against the wall next to Dan at the end of the row of seats, and every now and then I would shoot a glance in her direction. I noticed the signs of tightness and difficulty breathing that I had become just short of a professional with as everyone seemed to be falling apart today and within moments after this observation, I watched Rikki quietly hurry off around the corner away from everyone. This action was something that I, like everyone else that was here, wouldn't have been aware of considering the quietness and lack of disruption that Rikki managed to achieve her getaway with… Only if I hadn't of been watching her, of course.

Instead, I increasingly less subtly raced off in the same direction of her, stopping almost instantly as I turned the corner and saw her backed against the wall of the following corridor, taking visibly short and panicked breaths of alarming distress.

She was looking ahead, clutching the wall behind her feebly with her open palms and didn't notice me until I startled her, making her jump from my touch as I comfortingly and gently clutched her arm. "Rikki? What's up? Are you okay?"

I kept my grip on her as she took a step away from the wall that she was pressed up against from behind and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand, almost as though that was her attempt to hide the spectacle of concern from me that her panicked breathing that initiating.

"Go, Zane!" she managed to choke out eventually, in between breaths that enabled her to maintain her strong and insistent voice with me in response.

Despite the fact that I had refused her command, she didn't bite back immediately. Instead, the blonde took a few moments to steady her breathing and collect herself from the mess that she was trying her hardest to disguise in her emotionally weak state.

"Come on, Rikki. Talk to me..." I pleaded in a soft tone, despite the risk of being yelled at and stormed away from knowing her.

"Lewis… Dad..." she said in connection, in a manner that initially made the connected words sound like she was referring to the impossibility of Lewis being her father, but I knew what the two words meant. "I can't lose them both!"

"Did you listen to yourself when you were talking to Cleo?! You reminded her how healthy and young he is. He's going to be fine" I tried to reason with her in reassurance, unknowingly setting myself up for a fall.

She shook her head, exhaling briefly before turning her head to look me straight in the eye. "And did you hear Cleo?! They still don't what's wrong and he's basically paralyzed!"

"There's got to be an explanation, Rikki. Don't worry until you've got something that's worth worrying about, deal?"

She looked at me with a look that was somewhere between an angry rage and shock. "Are you serious, Bennett?! You think I don't have something that's worth worrying about already?!" she said starting to hammer me verbally in an angry manner, before taking a breath and slowing her speech to a completely different manner as her lip helplessly started to quiver, something that she couldn't hide despite her effort at appearing strong. "All of this with Lewis is just like everything with my dad… The same hospital that he was taken to after the heart attack… The same hospital with the morgue that I had to identify his body at… And the worst part is, the last time I saw Cleo and Lewis, I was having one of our pointless arguments with Lewis and I don't even know if we resolved it… Like dad – our last fight was unresolved when he died."

I was shocked. On the spot, I struggled to remember another time like this one and I honestly could never remember Rikki being this truthful and revealing to me... Especially without being forced to like she had been when she just explained her last big secret to me of being a mermaid – after the discovery that I had forced.

It was daunting actually. She's been so honest, but I didn't know what to say or do. I didn't want her regret telling me all that by stuffing up what I did next, but I just did not know what to do next. A hug or some sort of embrace might be too forceful and she'd probably think that I was just being a douche about the whole thing and was only interested in making a move. Then again, that saying of how 'actions speak louder than words' was blaring and was on repeat in my brain, so I was second-guessing myself about offering physical comfort that I personally would have preferred. People just don't blurt emotional stuff like that out to me, ever. I was completely lost on what to do next.

"Lewis isn't your dad, Rikki" I eventually managed to decide on saying aloud to her, moving my hand up to the top of her back and rubbing it soothingly, believing that it was the best option and most comforting out of the others that I had considered.

"I know that, Zane!" she replied bitterly with a sniffle, before reacting in a way that I wasn't expecting, after the way she had just spoken. She turned into my arms that were already connected from me touching her back, giving me a brief hug before turning out and moving away from the wall and starting to walk back in the direction of where she had initially fled from. "But thank you. I needed that."

After Rikki and I had returned to the group, Rikki suggested to Cleo, that we take her to the hospital cafeteria and get a drink, or food if she was hungry considering it was nearing tea time, and just as an attempt to get Cleo and everyone else's mind off of awaiting news.

Cleo and Lewis' families had decided to stay around and wait, thinking that it would be better in case they received more news during that time and also believing that Cleo may be more distracted and relaxed if she just went with her friends. Consequently, Cleo agreed to come along with six of us being myself, Will, Rikki, Bella, Daniel and their kid.

Arriving at the cafeteria was somewhat like a ghost town. Plenty of food, but no-one else except us in sight. Subconsciously, we all shifted to two tables that were made partnered with four seats as we walked into the area. Cleo followed behind Bella and took a seat with her family, while the three of us who lived together sat together on the table next to the one that they had occupied first.

"Hey Cleo, I forgot to tell you something. This is sure to distract you!" Rikki said to her friend, leaning across in Cleo's direction to feel more a part of their table as she spoke. "Got a visitor earlier and apparently, according to her, we're sisters."

Rikki received barely a nod of acknowledgement from Cleo who was just staring straight ahead, looking at absolutely nothing. Instead of Rikki's attempt to distract Cleo, she had interested Bella who too was only hearing the first of Rikki's news.

"What? You have a sister?! How old is she? What's her name?" Bella asked Rikki with her expression revealing a combination of interest and shock.

"Yeah apparently so… I think that Mum just decided to keep her from me and dad for her entire life so far. Her name's Tam and I didn't ask, but I think she's about 15."

"Looks completely like Rikki" Will added to Rikki's explanation, getting a glare of daggers as Rikki looked back at the two of us. "Yeah right, Will! We look nothing alike!"

He shrugged and Rikki stayed focused on us until he replied. "Blonde hair… Same eyes… Similar mouth… Family resemblance."

"Let's just ignore him" Rikki responded to Bella instead of acknowledging Will. "

"Sure, I can be pretty good at that" Bella bit back, brushing off the comment with a shrug, before adding to her comment that was evidently aimed at Will after her looks in his oblivious direction. "But then again, I'm not only one that is talented at it... Anyway, explain more about this sister Rikki!"

"I don't know what else there is to say about her. I still barely know her and basically all I've gathered of my own initiative since her arrival is that she doesn't seem to have the best relationship with our mum, and speaking of, I'm thinking that my mother is a possible alcoholic who sounds and looks nothing like what she used to before she left us!"

I was looking to and from the two girl's that were providing the current and only conversation for the time being, watching each as they spoke. I had just watched Rikki who was getting more and more into what she was saying and explaining, evidently displaying one of her recognizable angry faces.

"Oh gosh, Rikki, that's a lot to take in. What are you doing about her? Are you going to meet up regularly or something like that?"

"Blame Rikki's mum. It's her fault for keeping her family from knowing each other" Will added to Bella's comment, supposedly directing it as Bella's sympathy of Rikki.

Rikki ignored Will with an eye rolland shrugged at Bella with an eye roll, making her point of how little she cared even without speaking a word. "I really don't know… All I keep thinking about with all of this is how annoyed I am at my mum. I'm sure that things would've been different, it would've been better if me and dad had known all along."

Instead of Bella responding as the two had set a subconscious pattern of talking and replying to each other, it was Daniel who unexpectedly spoke up this time after having been quiet for the majority of the rest of the conversation. "Well I'm sure that your mum had her reasons for not saying anything."

"Shut up! You know nothing about this and you don't know what you're talking about" was Will's quick and annoyed response as he too joined the conversation again, assumedly for the purpose of helping Rikki.

"Stop defending her Daniel! Who's side are you?!" Rikki questioned angrily and boldly as Bella attempted to defuse the argument that was in the beginning of starting to blow out of control by whispering to, and pushing Daniel away slightly.

"Come on guys… Fighting's the last thing we need right now" Bella whispered, looking over towards Cleo's direction assumedly to make sure that the aggression wasn't alarming her in her obviously fragile state.

I looked over to Rikki again as she sighed and rubbed her face with her hand before looking over to Will and myself. "Yeah, she's right. Maybe it's best if you guys leave. Is it alright if you guys give me a lift a home, Bella?"

Bella replied affirmatively which I was only half-listening to, while Will and I looked at each other, before he grazed my shoulder with his hand and gestured for the way that led off towards the elevator that we had came from. "Alright… Bye. All the best Cleo" Will said awkwardly, not even waiting for a reply before he left from the group.

I said a similar variation of Will's goodbye before walking off behind him too, leaving the five together as Rikki joined the other's circle as we left.

The entire drive back to our house, Will and I talked about the hospital trip, ranging from guesses about what was wrong with Lewis, to Will informing me how awkward it had been with Bella, especially while I had gone after Rikki and then finally to me explaining about how Rikki had had her little meltdown in the hospital too.

Getting home, the first thing that I noticed was a blonde who was sitting in the dark but under the light of the porch out the front of our house with headphones in and her head down, looking at her lap. If it had of been just any fifteen year old sitting there like Tam was, I would've been a lot more alarmed than what I was. Although her presence was unexpected since she hadn't mentioned that she was going to stay and wait for us to get home and had only been shooed out of the house quickly as we all prepared to rush off to the hospital, she wasn't not welcome here.

I parked the car and the two of us got out of the car. "Hey kiddo" I yelled at the girl who looked up momentarily, in confusion, possibly just checking whether she had heard something overtop whatever she was listening to or not. She plucked her earphones out of her ear and put the phone in her pocket all in one swift movement before standing up as we neared her.

"Sorry, didn't know that you were waiting for Rikki. It's getting late – wouldn't your mum be getting worried where you are?"

She shook her head and I unlocked the front door, gesturing for Tam to walk in before me as Will followed behind us, in a bad mood. "I doubt it. Why would she start worrying now?"

"Oh, okay… Well you're welcome to stay here until Rikki returns" I replied as we walked through to the lounge room. Still in his bad mood, Will crashed down on one lounge, leaving Tam and I to sit on the remaining one together.

A silence filled the room due to Will being in his mood and Tam still being a relative stranger to us with very little that we knew about each other and even less that we knew that we had in common. Eventually though, it was Tam who broke the silence.

"So tell me about yourselves you two. Start with your relationship status… Single? Dating? Married?" she asked in a very forward manner. Boy, she had already proven herself to be more outgoing than Rikki.

"Somewhere between single and dating… It's complicated" Will grumbled to himself, but being polite enough to answer Tam's question before silencing himself once again.

I smirked, leaning over to the much smaller blonde and lowered my voice before informing her of what Will had said really translated to: "What he really means is that he's wormed himself into a relationship with someone he doesn't really like."

"Ohhh… Okay…" Tam nodded with a very short and light laugh in her voice before nodding at me knowingly. "I see… What about you? Zane wasn't it?"

"I'm as single as the day I was born!" I replied, honestly, even if I was hiding the fact that it wasn't a status that I desired, especially with our living situation.

Tam laughed at my comment, distracting me from my thoughts again. She was chirpier than Rikki too. "Ah and now we have found similarity number one…"

I smiled at her response and was about to speak in return before I was interrupted by my phone going off and blaring within my pocket. It was Rikki. I apologized aloud, mostly to Tam as opposed to Will before answering the call. Before I could get a word in, Rikki cut straight to the point of her phone call.

"The doctor just came out. Lewis has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome."

O.M.G - That chapter ACTUALLY ended. Writing it, I seriously felt like this chapter was turning 'Far From Perfection' into 'The Never Ending Story'! It felt like it took forever to write... It's crazy. The last chapter was extra short and this is extra, extra long so it's all somewhat balancing out now.

Anyway, about the chapter... I really wanted to face the health issue from more factual observations and a less empathetic angle (A.K.A. Zane), but I attempted to show how Lewis being sick could also incorporate issues and reminders for the others too so I hope that I executed that well enough. Also, I initially was only going to reveal what was wrong with Lewis in the next chapter, but I decided to put you out of your misery and end the chapter with that. However, since G.B.S is a very rare condition, I'm sure that not many of you have heard about it, and although I didn't develop on what it is in this chapter, I'm going to do it from Cleo's perspective in the next chapter as she discovers more about G.B.S. and what it means for her and Lewis's future, so you don't need to know about it to read it.

So, thoughts on the chapter? Has anyone ever known someone who has had G.B.S? And guesses why was Daniel acting so skittishly in the hospital? Anything else? Let me know!

On a sadder note, how awful have all these bushfires around Australia been?! I think that at one point, there was 150 different one's going in N.S.W alone! Then there's the other big ones in Tassie (since when does Tasmania have bushfires btw) and Vic too. Thankfully they haven't been anywhere near as fatal as Black Saturday a few years ago and I don't think that there's been any fatalities. Thankfully, it's been fine where I live, but with heatwaves in Aus, it's just expected :( My greatest fear is undoubtedly bushfires!