Author's Note: Here's the last chapter of this story, guys! Enjoy!

Brine's head tilted to the right as a small murmur escaped his lips. His head moved from one side to the other as he let a few whimpers escape his lips. That was when his eyes snapped open and he gasped. Brine shot up from his place, before wincing strongly and falling back onto the bed. He clutched his chest as he laid back down, the Demi-God groaning softly.

Brine took a few moments to take some breaths, swallowing down the pain in his chest. It hurt, it was like a Creeper had exploded in his ribcage. His blurred vision began to clear as he lay there, trying not to cry out.

The being could remember that he had been in the mines with Celina, and his chest had started to hurt. He remembered falling to one knee as they had tried to exit the tunnel. All he remembered after that was black, a soothing, comforting black that cradled him and took away the pain.

Where was he now? He definitely wasn't in the mines with Celina anymore. Realizing this, Brine's breathing picked up. He blinked as his vision cleared, seeing a birch ceiling above him. The Nether Prince turned his head to the right.

He was lying on a bed in a line of beds, a warm blanket covering him and several pillows holding up his head. A wooden block acted as a nightstand, with a few potions and a flower pot holding a poppy on it. Brine could see the moon high in the sky, just barely visible in the window next to his bed.

The Nether Prince couldn't tell where he was. It looked familiar, but he was so weak and still in a lot of pain. His mind was in such a jumble, the gears in his head were turning but yielding no result.

Beginning to panic, Brine tried to sit up in his bed, making a few distressed whimpers as he did so. His chest was hurting so badly, it felt like his ribcage was on fire.

"Lord Brine!"

Footfalls came from his right and Brine saw a young woman in a nurse's uniform move to his side. She gently grabbed his shoulders and carefully pushed him back down onto the mattress. "Lord Brine, you shouldn't be moving. You could hurt yourself, mon amie."

Brine whined as she pushed him down, but didn't fight it. He was already in enough pain as it was, he shouldn't make it worse. Brine made a few noises of distress as he tried to speak. "Ja-Jane…Janelle," he finally stuttered out.

The woman watched Brine. She could see how scared he was, so she tried to keep herself calm. "Yes, Lord Brine?"

"Wha… where-where am I?"

"You're in the medical center, my lord. Queen Celina brought you here earlier in the day."

Brine blinked a few times. "What?"

Janelle nodded. "Her Highness had brought you here after you collapsed in the mines. She had said you were having breathing troubles and passed out in the tunnel. She brought you here so we could see what was wrong." She placed a gentle hand on his forehead. "You should rest, Lord Brine. I can tell you're still hurting, and you look very tired. We'll explain to you more in the morning. Please just rest, okay?"

Brine was still very confused and frightened, but he decided that Janelle was right and gave her a soft nod. The nurse nodded back to him. She gave him a potion that she said would help with the pain, before leaving the room and bidding him a good sleep. Brine turned to lie on his side as his eyelids began to droop. He really hoped to see Celina in the morning, he needed to know what happened.

Celina knocked on the doors of the medical center. Today she had opted to wear something more adventurous and comfy, so she had thrown her hair into two pigtails, wearing her magenta long sleeve with her kingdom's crest, purple shorts, yellow belt, and her pink ballet flats. She still wore her usual gloves and crown. It was something a little more comfortable for her.

The doors creaked open and John greeted the queen, "Hello, Your Highness! Good morning."

"Good morning, John," Celina responded. "How are you?"

"Good, thank you. How are you, Your Worship?"

"Good. I slept very well after Skellington came to the castle. Is Brine awake yet?"

"Not yet," John said as he stepped aside for her to come in. "The doctor and a few of the other nurses are upstairs now, they're going to see if he'll awaken so you can bring him home."

Celina smiled. "Alright. Let's go see him then."

"Brine? Brine, can you hear me? Brine?"

Brine let out a small noise as a familiar voice pulled him from the black of his sleep. His eyes slowly fluttered open. White orbs soon cleared and he saw who had awoken him.

Celina stood by his side with a very soft look on her face, her smile such a warm sight to see. He could also see Skellington at his other side and a few of the nurses standing nearby. Brine blinked a couple of times, feeling that same pain stirring in his chest again. He made a small grunt as he tried to sit up. He felt a gentle hand help him up, before they fluffed the pillows and helped him lean back on them.

Brine blinked again, before smiling up at Celina. "Good morning, Celina."

"Good morning, Brine," she responded. She placed a soft hand on his shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… really sleepy and sore. And I don't really remember what happened." He pursed his lips. "Celina, what happened in the mines?"

The queen wrung her hands together. "Well, after you started breathing really heavily and crying out, you passed out and I knew something was terribly wrong. You were still whimpering and moaning in your sleep, so I decided to bring you here to the medical center right away. Skellington and the nurses took a look and… Brine, you had Redstone poisoning."

The Demi-God's eyes widened the slightest bit. "I what?"

"Her Highness is right," Skellington spoke, making Brine turn his attention to him. "We figured out that, with you leaving your Redstone trail, and with how many stacks were in your inventory, you inhaled a good amount of it. It was enough to start sparking in your lungs, which was the cause of your fever and chest pain. Your body ended up putting you into unconsciousness because of the pain and lack of air in your system.

"We did end up doing surgery on you with help from Queen Celina and one of her potions. We had to make a few incisions and get it out of your lungs." Skellington then folded his hands in front of him, giving the being a moment to take in his words.

Brine put a hand to his chest, feeling bandages and the stitches underneath them. He winced a bit. That definitely explained why he couldn't breathe and why he had felt such a fever heat when he made his way back to the entrance to the cave. And that would definitely explain the chest pain too. He looked down, seeing that he was in a medical gown with a bracelet on his wrist. Brine looked up at Celina.

The queen could now see the purple bags under his eyes and just how tired her friend looked. "Brine, how do you feel?"

Brine thought. "... I… I'm just… tired." He managed to smile at the queen next to him, holding out a hand to her. She took it in hers as he started. "Celina… thank you. You saved me yet again. I can't even count the number of times you've saved my life. But… I'm grateful for it. Thank you, my friend."

Celina's heart melted. Her best friend always knew how to make her smile. "You know I couldn't imagine my life without you, Brine. You always save my life. You're always there for me, so I'll always be there for you. I love you, buddy."

The girl saw her friend smile at her, before letting out a yawn. "Seems like someone's tired still."

"Mmhmm." Brine chuckled. "I am."

Celina looked up at Skellington. "So, Skellington, how long do you want to keep Brine here?"

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to keep him here for a couple more days or so for observation, just until his healing abilities kick back in. You said that potion stops it at least for two days, correct?"

"Yes."

"Alright. You're welcome to stay here with him, Your Majesty." The skeleton doctor chuckled. "Feel free to stay as long as you want."

Two days later…

"Are you ready, Brine?"

Brine, now dressed in his regular clothes with his bracelet gone, smiled widely. "I certainly am, Celina."

"Good! Well, Skellington said with your healing back, you should be good to go!" She smiled as they began to walk back down the gravel roads. "And now you know what we should do when we mine, right?"

The Demi-God playfully rolled his eyes. "Yes, we should use torches instead." He put his hands in his pockets. "I promise, I'll be more careful."

"That's what I want to hear!" Celina laughed. "So, wanna grab some pumpkin pie?"

"Last one to the food stand buys?"

"Deal!"