*All characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 13

Hospitalized

For a moment, he thought it had just been his imagination...for a moment, he thought his mind was 'acting up' again...but only for a moment. Warren wanted to ignore the two females...felt like he had to. He was sure that these were hallucinations. He'd only just gotten over this! Why was it starting again?! Why--"What the hell?.." They were REAL! He rushed over.

Ania sighed gratefully...someone had finally found them...it was starting to get cold out...they wouldn't have lasted the night, and Ralph needed water. She gazed up at the approaching burrow dragon, "Help us...please."

The man bent down, "What happened?.."

"Please...get us to a hospital...our wings are broken...the child needs water."

He nodded and pulled out a cell phone...oh thank god...he had a cell phone. After he'd finished the call he asked her, "How'd you get out here?"

"Ugh..." She groaned as she tried to shift...it really did feel like something else had broken, but she couldn't tell what, "We were kidnapped...the Protector tried to save us, but he only managed to catch me and the boy..."

"CATCH you? You were falling?"

"Yes...Sarah here hit the ground...I'm sure most of her bones are broken." She looked at Sarah, who had fallen asleep, "She can live, but we need medical attention right now."

Warren bit his lip, "I can't help you there...I'm no good at medicine...but I can keep you company while we wait for the ambulance."

The woman he was talking to smiled, "Thank you..."

"So...what's your name?"

"I'm Ania Cleave."

"Name's Warren Blake."

"It was wonderful meeting you, Warren."

He smiled, "Well, I think I can see why...so...any idea who kidnapped you?"

Ania grimaced, "Have you heard any of the rumors?"

"About the new false protector who's been taking people off the streets? Sure! Lots of people know about that one..."

"He had us..."

Ania watched his reaction. At first he seemed shocked, then it dawned on him how it would make sense. After all, she had said that they'd fallen from some height, and that both their wings were broken...she asked, "Where do you live?"

"Me?..I...kinda...hm...I live BETWEEN Yann city and Bay city. I own a farm that's practically in the middle of nowhere. If it weren't for the busses that come by, I'd probably never see anyone. My car's been out of fuel for YEARS now...I lost the income to keep it going." He sighed, hesitated, then added, "I haven't been home for a while either..."

"Why not?"

He frowned, "I have...problems...I'm dealing with. But I'll say they certainly don't seem as bad as yours!"

Ania laughed...it hurt, "You might be right about that...I'll manage though...I just hope that ambulance gets here soon." Ralph whined for a second. His voice broke off from lack of water...sounded more like a whisper.

Warren looked at Ralph and reach behind him, "Wait...you said he needs water, right?"

"Yes..."

"I have some left...I think." He pulled out a water bottle. It still had about half left in it, "It's probably warm, but it does for me..."

She took it gratefully and made Ralph start drinking.

RS-01 waited for his systems to reboot. Strange...little sparks of...something, kept riding at his mind...much like that fear earlier. He scanned his thoughts. Scanning...Identity: Memory bank. Secondary Identity: Feelings. Computer error. Ceasing scan... RS-01 stopped it from ceasing. This felt important somehow...like a mission he had not completed. The computer memory bank fought long not to be opened, but gave away. RS-01 watched a scene play over in his mind...what was this? Scanning...Identity: Memory. Secondary Identities: Anger, hate, fear, rage, sorrow. Third Identity: Feelings. Computer error. Ceasing scan... RS-01 continued the scan. What was this? Why were these images coming up? He set them aside, waiting for his next mission.

What was happening? Someone was screaming...that was bad, wasn't it? They were in pain...his sensors detected that much...they were in terrible pain...he had to stop it...wasn't that his mission?..no, he had not recieved the voice command...was he having another...feeling? Scanning...Identity: Confusion. Secondary Identity: Feeling. Computer malfunction. Ceasing scan... RS-01 let it go, but the screaming made him uncomfortable...another feeling. He had to stop it...it WAS a mission! He recognized it as one...but it hadn't been given by a voice command...therefore, it wasn't a mission...but it WAS. He pushed the dilemna aside before he malfunctioned...it could wait.

"STOP!!!!!!!! PLEASE, STOP!!!!!" Bill wanted to scream it out, but he couldn't. He was still screaming from all of the pain. Raw, electrical energy coursed through him, filled him and tried to burst through. His body couldn't take all of this! He'd already been pushed beyond the limits! He wanted Kain to stop!..NEEDED him to! Why hadn't he seen this coming?!! Death would have been better!..finally...it stopped...he slumped over, exhausted. His breathing was spasmodic...sometimes he could get in a large breath, but usually all he could do what take little breaths that made him feel worse...

Kain smiled and turned on the machine again. He relished these screams.

Ace wanted out! It was bad enough that he couldn't see Mary, but now with these screams it was torture! Which one of them would be next? Almost as if answering, a gunman came in and force him out, "C'mon you...Kain wants to talk."

Ace watched for Mary as he was led down the hall, but she wasn't in a cell...where was she?

Maik groaned and laid down. He hadn't goten to look in the blocked off room yet...he'd helped the rest of the band clear out their rooms. His back was killing him right now, "Man, I gotta take it easier from now on...I'm gonna feel this for a week at least!" He pushed himself up, knowing that the last room probably needed to be cleared. When he opened the door, he gasped. This was Babe's room...Maik had thought they'd already cleaned it!..guess not. Posters that had been on the wall were shredded...any guitars that Babe used to have were trashed. All of the other rooms before this had been mindless destruction, just blowing things up. THIS room...you could FEEL how much the false protector had hated Babe. Maik took a step in...something cracked when he stepped. He looked down...the floor was covered in glass. He sighed and took another step in. THIS time the ceiling groaned! Maik backed out of the room...just as the ceiling crashed down. It created an almost domino effect. Once the ceiling had fallen, the walss just crumbled away. What had been holding this room together? He shouted to the guys, telling them that they might as well forget this room...it was gone.

Ania waited by Sarah's side as they were driven to the hospital. Warren kept her company, as Sarah hadn't woken up, even when they'd moved her! Ania was on a stretcher herself, letting Warren hold Ralph, "Thanks again..."

"No problem Ania. I'm sorry I didn't see you sooner!"

She shook her head, "I'm juust happy you saw us. We would NOT have lasted the night, I'm sure."

"Oh..."

"Sarah!" Ania turned to look at her, "You're up!"

"Wha...Mrs. Cleave...where are we?"

"Warren here got us an ambulance...we're headng to a hospital."

"Hospital?..Someone found us?.." Sarah turned to look at Warren, gasping and clutching her side when she was nearly there, "Ow..." She slumped back down onto her back, "Well, thank you Warren. I'd be more polite, but I can't move right now..."

Ania watched Warren. He smiled and shrugged, "No problem Sarah...you gonna be alright?"

"I think so..." She sighed, "Who am I kidding? I'll be in the hospital for a LONG time with all these injuries..."

"I'll come visit you, if you want..." Warren said. Ania glanced between the two. Did Warren have a crush on Sarah? He kept glancing at her...then looking away...like he was shy, or afraid of something.

Kia hadn't left Pik's side the entire time. She held his hand, smiling when she got a reaction. He had smiled in his sleep...She reluctantly let go and checked on Pik's mother.

"Kia?.."

"Mrs. Rance?" Kia knelt down by her, "What is it?"

"Where's Pik?.."

Oh...that's right....she hadn't been able to turn her head to see Pik, "He's right beside you..."

"Where?..I can't see him..."

Kia didn't WANT to tell her that Pik had been shot...it could push her too far, "He's in a bed right by you. When he wakes up, I'll make sure he sees you."

"Thank you." She fell back asleep.

Kia sighed and held Pik's hand again. With nothing to do, she reached for the remote and turned on the TV in the room. She kept it on mute to let the two patients sleep...until she SAW who they were showing. Carefully, she turned up the volumn, keeping it soft...

"At this moment two new patients are being rushed to Yann city's main hospital." The newscaster spoke as the TV showed footage of Sarah and Ania being loaded into an ambulance, "There's a bit of hope in this tragedy, for these two patients are Sarah Jovi and Ania Cleave, two of the kidnapper's victims. They have with them a third kinapped person...Ralph Rance. We may be able to see this crisis over with."

Kia turned off the TV...Babe was winning!..and she was going to get her son back...

"Huh?..what's going on?.."

Kia gasped and turned to Pik. He was waking up! She could barely contain how grateful she was, "Pik! Oh Pik I was so worried!!!" She leaned down and hugged him where he lay.

Pik was slow at first, but he managed to get his arms around her to return the hug, "What happened?..I remember running to see mom...MOM!" He sat up, groaned, and fell back. He looked at his chest, "How did I get hurt?"

Kia was near to tears, "Pik..." Her lower lip quivered..."You were shot..." He nearly bolted upright again, but this time she held him down, "If you want to get up, move slowly...your mother wants to talk to you."

"What? Where is she?"

Kia pointed to the bed next to them. Pik carefully rose. He wanted out of the bed, but Kia wouldn't let him leave. She turned to Pik's mother and lightly shook her arm, "Pik's up...he'd like to talk to you..."

"Mm...Pik?.." She opened her eyes. She couldn't move because of the bandages, "Pik?.."

"Mom!" Pik DID get out of the bed then. Kia rolled her eyes when he clutched his chest. She'd warned him...nevertheless, he made it over, "Mom...how are you?"

"Pik...you're hurt..." She tried to make a small motion toward the bandages.

Kia slowly shook her head at Pik. He understood enough, "It's nothing mom...I'll get over it fast. I want you to get through whatever hurt YOU...did they do well on the operation?"

"About the same...as always...I'll need another one sometime...you really shouldn't have to keep paying for those Pik."

"As long as you're alive, I'll pay for those operations. I don't want to lose you unless I absolutely have to."

Kia pushed between them, "Pik, you need to sit down, at least..."

Pik frowned, but backed away. It wasn't long before the two amphibians were asleep again. Kia left the room, asking the nurse on her way out to call her if either one woke. She walked to the emergency entrance to wait for the next two arrivals...