Author's Note: Sorry for not updating this for a little while, everyone! I've been so busy with work but also trying to find a new job! Things have been hectic lately!

Anyways, when we left off, Brine passed out and Celina needs to get him help!

Enjoy!

The doors to the Creatoria medical center practically flew open, making the human nurses and doctor skeleton all jump from the abrupt slam. Skellington looked to the doors, frowning in irritation. "Hey! You can't just-" However, his eyes went wide when he saw who had slammed open the doors.

Celina, his queen, stood there in the doorway, Brine in her arms, curled up against her chest. The Demi-God let out a small groan of pain as Skellington asked, "Your Highness?"

Celina's already knitted brows seemed to do so more, worry clearly on her features. "Skellington, Brine needs help." She heard her friend whimper and she pursed her lips together.

"Your Highness, what happened," the skeleton asked, walking to the two with a couple of the nurses following behind him. "What happened to Brine?"

"We were down in the mines," Celina started. "And we decided to head down to the western tunnel and mine from there. We found a cave and Brine and I split up. I went, mined some ores, then got a mental message to meet up again.

"When I got to him, he was sweating, his breathing was getting quicker, and I could hear his heartbeat getting faster too. He kept telling me that he was fine. He even felt like he had a fever when I touched him. And then, when we tried to walk, he kept coughing and was struggling to breathe." She looked down at Brine's face, seeing the pain written across it. "He fell onto one knee and passed out before he could tell me what was wrong. He sounded like he was in so much pain… it was unbearable to me."

Skellington looked down at Brine and placed a bony hand to his forehead. He noticed that the Demi-God had a very bad fever and he was struggling to breathe, just as the queen had said. He turned to one of his nurses, the one with dark skin, blue eyes, and black hair with streaks of violet.. "Janelle, get a bed ready upstairs. We have an emergency."

Janelle nodded and spoke, her french accent audible. "Oui, doctor." She then rushed up a nearby set of stairs. Skellington looked at Celina, seeing tears in her gray eyes. "Your Majesty, bring Brine upstairs, quickly."

Celina nodded and followed the skeleton upstairs, rushing behind him. She could hear Brine whimpering again and she whispered to him, "Don't worry, Brine, we'll figure out what's wrong. I promise." She then kissed his forehead.

The queen quickly laid Brine down on the mattress Janelle set up, being gentle and hearing him whimper. The nurses and Skellington gathered around Brine, the skeleton turning to Celina as the others examined him. "Your Majesty, has something like this ever happened while Brine has been mining with you?"

Celina shook her head, clasping her hands in worry. "No, that was why I got so worried. Brine has never had such breathing troubles while mining, and I really don't know what caused it."

"Did he do anything different while mining with you?"

The queen tapped her chin in thought. What did Brine do while she was down there. "I don't know if he really did anything different. He used the same pickaxe, he followed close behind me in step, we only really split up when we went down the tunnels."

"Are you sure that was all that was different," Skellington asked, seriousness in his eye sockets.

Celina thought again, taking a few moments. Then, it hit her like a pile of gravel. "He laid Redstone down to act as a trail for me to find him and for us to get back. He's never done that before."

Skellington seemed tense in shock. He suddenly asked, "Wait, you can see into others' inventories, right? How much Redstone did he have on him?"

Celina walked over to Brine, putting her hand on his shoulder as the nurses moved aside. She closed her eyes and saw a vision behind her closed lids, seeing piles of Redstone besides other ores and stone in his inventory. She gasped and pulled back, gaping at her friend when she opened her eyes.

One of the other nurses, a male with blond hair, tanned skin and green eyes, asked, "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"He's… he's got stacks… stacks of Redstone in his inventory. And he kept laying down more whenever we found a new place in the tunnel. I think… I think he has Redstone poisoning."

The medical staff gasped and Skellington looked at the queen in shock. He then turned to the male nurse. "John, hand me a Redstone torch."

The nurse did so. John asked, "What's Redstone poisoning, doctor?"

Skellington spoke. "It's when someone is around Redstone too long and particles of it begin to collect in their lungs. If enough is in the lungs, it sparks electricity in them. It's very painful and can even cause suffocation from the pain and lack of air in the lungs."

Celina gestured to the torch in the doctor's hand. "What's that for?"

Skellington explained, "Do you know the old trick to deactivate a Redstone torch? Where you put a block above a Redstone torch, and put a second torch on the block and it deactivates it?"

"Yes."

"If you're right, Brine's chest and lungs would act as that block, so if there is Redstone in his lungs, like you think, this should deactivate." He held the torch over Brine's chest, Celina holding her breath as he did so. The torch's glow faded and everyone looked at each other.

Brine suddenly cried out in his unconscious state, hands clutching onto his shirt. He was quivering violently, trying to turn onto his side but unable to in his weakness. Celina put a hand on his shoulder and knitted her brows. "Oh, gosh, Brine. Skellington, is there anything you can do? I… I don't want him to…"

"Well, there is a surgery we can perform. It involves making an incision in the lungs and taking out the redstone. I think it shouldn't be hard, considering he's a Demi-God and doesn't need air. That's what you had said, right?"

"Yes," Celina replied, nodding. "He told me since there's no air in the Aether, they don't need to breathe up there. So Demi-Deities have adapted to not needing air."

"Right. We wouldn't need to breathe for him if we did the surgery. But… I'm worried we may not be able to keep him open long enough to get it out with his healing powers."

"I have a potion that can stop his healing powers temporarily," Celina spoke up. "I can go get it for you guys. Just… please, please, help him." She carefully pet Brine's hair, her other hand on his shoulder. He let out a groan of agony, his shut eyes tightening as he turned his head to the side.

Skellington could see that his queen was almost in tears. He nodded. "We'll prepare him for surgery, hurry back with that potion as fast as you can, Your Majesty."

Celina nodded, running back towards the stairs, giving one glance behind her at Brine. She just hoped he would be okay.

Celina watched with apprehension as Skellington put a bottle of anesthetic potion to Brine's lips, tilting his head up to have him drink the liquid. "There we go," he spoke. "That should put him completely under so he won't wake up in the middle of the surgery." The doctor dressed in gloves, mask, and scrubs looked to the queen. "Your Highness, may I have that potion?"

The queen nodded and pulled the black and purple liquid from her inventory. She handed it to the doctor and looked down at Brine, who was now dressed in a hospital gown with his chest exposed. She was dearly afraid for her friend, so afraid that he might not make it out. But Celina had to remind herself that Skellington and the nurses knew what they were doing. And Brine had a hell of a will to survive.

"Alright, I believe we're ready to start," Skellington told the others. He stepped back to let Celina near her friend.

The human girl looked at her friend, pursing her lips together. She then spoke to him. "Brine, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, just know that Skellington is gonna help you. I promise, I'll visit you as soon as I wake up tomorrow." She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to Brine's forehead. "I love you, buddy. Please, be strong." Celina stepped back, before looking to the skeleton. "Please take care of him, Skellington. Can you come update me when the surgery is over?"

"Of course, Your Worship. I will do so as soon as we finish and have him in a stable condition." He smiled from under his mask. "I'll take care of him as best as I can. We won't let anything happen to him."

Celina nodded with a soft smile. She then turned on her heels, giving one last glance over her shoulder to her Demi-God of a friend. She knew he'd be okay, but she couldn't help but worry. She exited the room, making her way out the doors of the medical center and heading down the gravel road to the castle.

As soon as Skellington heard the doors shut, he looked to the nurses. "Janelle, hand me a blade. Let's begin."

A small knock at the doors of the castle had Celina sitting up from her half asleep state, having almost fallen asleep on her throne. She had been waiting for any kind of updates from Skellington all day and into the night. She hadn't been able to clear her mind or lessen her worry as she had worked on things around the castle. Celina tried to keep herself occupied, but it wasn't easy.

She had basically worn herself out trying not to worry, hence her near sleep in the throne.

Hearing the knock, the queen made her ways to the doors, silently praying it was the doctor with good news. She opened the door to see the skeleton standing there, a soft grin on his face. "Hi, Skellington," she said with a yawn. "My apologies, I was almost asleep."

"No worries, Your Worship," Skellington chuckled. "I came to update you on Brine's condition."

Celina's eyes flew open and she clasped her hands in front of her chest. "How did he do? Is he okay?"

"He did very well. The surgery was a success and we were able to get all the Redstone out of his lungs. Your potion did wonders for our surgery. It kept him from healing while we were taking out the Redstone, so we're thankful for that." The skeleton smiled. "He's all patched up and resting now. He may have some chest pains for the next few days, but I can send him home with some potions that will help with that."

He put his hands on Celina's shoulders. "Thank you again for that potion, it truly helped us. He should be feeling like himself again in no time."

Celina let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. "Oh, thank Jeb." She could feel a little tear run down her face. "I was so worried for him, I was so scared he wouldn't do okay." She sighed again with a shudder. "Thank you so much, Skellington. I'm so grateful for someone like you in the kingdom." She gave him a hug without thinking, and the mob returned to embrace. "I'll come see him first thing in the morning."