I ran, I ran as fast as I could. I activated my super strength and increased my speed. I didn’t care about getting caught, I just needed to know everyone was okay. That Annual wasn’t…

I didn’t even want to think about it. Just the idea that she was getting worse, it sent shivers throughout my body. I leaped like a bunny and bounded over to the truck. It only took me three hops from the entrance to land right beside the ambulance truck.

I ran around to the back of it and saw that the doors were open. I was taken back for a moment. I expected to see nurses or doctors back here. However, I found two men in black suits. Each suit had a golden sword with wings pinned to their collars. One man was tall with darker skin. The other was short and rather pudgy.

I looked down toward the stretcher. There was Annual. She looked feverish and was squirming. I got defensive immediately.

“Who are you guys!?” I demanded. “And what are you doing with Annual?”

“I think that’s our line kid.” The dark-skinned man spoke up.

“Stryder?” I heard Zack's voice call out to me from behind.

I didn’t turn away from the men in black.

“Stryder! The guy who defeated Stone and fought Rex!? Plus he’s number three of the legendary swordsman!? So cool! Can we get you-”

The pudgy guy was fangirling over me. But the tall one elbowed him before he had a chance to gush anymore.

“Shut up, we're losing our cool factor.” The tall one whispered to him.

“Zack, who are these guys? And why do they have Annual?”

“It’s great news Stryder! Like the best news ever!”

“Huh?” I turned around to face him.

“Think he’ll give me an autograph?” I heard him whisper again.

“I talked to Frosty Flakes! Who talked to Arthur! Who agreed to help take care of Annual, she’s going to a top-notch doctor!”

“W-what! Really!?” I cheered.

A warm feeling slowly raised its way into my chest. I began to smile uncontrollably.

“Yeah! Not to mention he’s searching for all the support class gifts around! As long as we agree to work with him!”

My smile slowly began to fade. As long as we agree to work with him huh?

“Zack, are you sure we can trust this guy?” I asked softly.

I could see Zack's smile fade. He looked confused.

“Listen Stryder. Who cares about any of that? As long as she gets fixed, that’s what matters right?”

I didn’t respond at first. I wasn’t sure if that was right.

I looked back down to Annual. Her anguished face, her squirming. The color in her hair. It’s even more faded…

“I guess, you have a point,” I said trailing off.

Just what was Arthur playing here? Did Zack just make a deal with the devil? I looked back to Annual. I didn’t trust this, not one bit. We were pretty much giving him a hostage to use against us. I didn’t want to leave her. I knew nothing about Arthur. To be totally honest, I wasn’t fully trusting of Jack yet either.

“We’re riding with her up there right ?” I asked.

“Of course!” Zack cheered

I heard a high pitched beep coming from the men in black. He reached up and put a finger on his ear. I assumed it was an earpiece.

"Yes, understood." He nodded and looked back toward us.

"It's clear to jump now. Knight, and wizard. If you are riding with us, this will be the time to get in." The bald one announced.

I nodded and Zack hopped onto the truck. He was carrying a few books (which surprised me.) That is, it surprised me until I saw what kind of books he was carrying. Each one was a different book on plants and biology. Annuals favorite reading material.

There were seats built into the van's walls. It didn’t look like the most secure thing. But seats were seats. Zack and I sat back next to each other. I could see a soft smile resting on his face. He had a cheerful pep to his step as he kicked his feet back and forth.

I wanted to be happy about this. Annual needed this, she deserves this. But even still. This voice in the back of my head kept nipping at me. Telling me something was wrong. Maybe that was just my anxiety?

"Isn't it great!?" Zack cheered. "After all these years. We can finally save her!"

I smiled some and nodded. I'll just deal with the situation as it comes. If this is our best option for her. Then who was I to question it?

"Yeah, I can’t wait for another trip down the river for some plant samples" I chuckled.

"Right! You two better not ditch me to go down a raft again!" Zack laughed.

"Just don't take five years to get a walking stick again!”

Suddenly the air got cold. Zack and I stopped laughing.

"The hell is-"

The whole van shook and I ran up to cover Annual and hold onto the stretcher.

Then it all suddenly stopped.

"S-Stryder?" I heard Annual mumbled out. I looked down at her. She barely had her eyes open. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry. Everything's fine!” I promised.

I gave her a big smile.

The back doors opened up. But I didn't see sunlight peeking through the door. It looked more like a fluorescent light.

The men in black hopped up with us and grabbed the ends of the stretcher. Annual grabbed my hand and looked me in my eyes.

"It's okay. These people are gonna fix you up. I promise."

Flashes of my mom flared into my mind. Memories of the hospital. The beeping of my mom's lifeline whispered in my ears. My grip on her hand lessened slightly.

No! no! I'm not gonna run away! It won't be like last time! She needs me right now.

'Stryder' my mom's voice echoed in my head. I could feel my heart begin to race. Are you gonna run away? I looked Annual in her eyes. I pushed a smile onto my face and held her hand firmly.

"I'm here for you. Annual, you're gonna be fine." I chimed.

Her big green eyes got wide in surprise. She stared into my eyes, and I looked into hers. I could see her eyes getting watery. A smile slowly formed on her face. She nodded and the men pulled her away from me. Zack stood up and we followed behind them.

Everything in this place was white with yellow trimming. It reminded me of a cheesy sci-fi movie. There were a few other trucks inside the place, and some medical equipment lined up on the walls.

We followed behind the men to a hallway. I didn't notice before. But they had a faint symbol of a sword in a stone on their backs. More accurately an Albion sword.

My heart was racing more aggressively the further in we went. I gripped my pants leg and tried to calm down. But still, I couldn't help but keep shaking.

She's gonna die. She's not gonna make it and you know it. It'll be just like last time.

I tried to shut out the thoughts as we walked into an elevator. But they kept bombarding me. My shaking slowly got worse and worse. I leaned against the cold steel walls and started to pant. The images of the doctor rushing into my mom's operating room blared into my mind. My dad's yelling, the beatings. The sound of my mom's life support ringing on the flat line.

The voices, the images. My legs began to buckle.

"Stryder, what's wrong!?" Zack cried.

I gripped my right arm tight. Trying to force myself to calm down. The pain in my arm was bringing me back some.

"I-I'm fine." I stammered out.

I was losing it. No! Dammit no! She needed me! She needed me right now. Ignore it! She's gonna be fine! She'll be fine!

"He's not fine! He's having a panic attack!" One of the men in black yelled.

"Ahhh!" I roared.

I slammed my fist into the wall with all my might. The entire elevator shook and slammed around. I panted slightly as the images slowly faded. Every inch of my skin told me to leave. But I wouldn't. I don't care if I have a heart attack.

I'm not running away anymore.

"I'm fine," I grunted.

The elevator came to a stop. As the doors slowly came open, we were greeted by many men in suits. Guess punching the elevator wall wasn’t the smartest idea...

…..

We waited outside the operating room. We weren't allowed inside while the real doctors and gifted specialists were in. Which only made the words corrode my brain even further.

I was rapidly tapping my foot as me and Zack sat down. He was staring at me from the corner of his eye for like an hour. I wasn't too focused on him though. It took all of my focus, just to not be shaking all over right now.

"I see Annual wasn't kidding." Zack blurted out.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"She told me you really couldn't handle being around her like this."

I took a breath and tried to relax again.

"It's no excuse for leaving her like I did. I should’ve been there for her."

"I feel like an idiot.." He grumbled, "I'm supposed to be your best friend! And I didn’t even believe it.”

"What are you talking about?"

"You know the reason why I always push you to talk to girls?"

"So you can have an excuse to flirt with them.." I muttered.

"Stryder, I really couldn’t stand you. Annual means the world to me. And you mean the world to her. I know it would depress her if you found someone else."

I raised my brow.

"Then why do you always push it?"

"Because she asked me to."

My eyes widened as I looked over to Zack.

"She what!? Why!?"

"Because she knew you couldn’t handle being around her. She wanted you to be happy. And she knew with how things were, it wouldn't be with her."

I looked down at the floor. It felt like a pit was forming in my stomach and my heart was still racing. I didn't know how to respond. She cared about me this much. Even while she was dying in bed. She was only thinking about my happiness. I grabbed my arm and tried to stop the abrupt shaking.

How could I abandon someone who cared so much about me? What's wrong with me!? I hated the shaking! I hated the thoughts in my head. I hated not being able to sit still! It wasn't fair! Why! Why! I'm so pathetic! This whole time. She was trying to be my hero.

"I apologize by the way. I knew what I was doing with Alexis. I- I just-” I could see his hands shaking some as he spoke.

“Don’t worry about it.” I blurted out. “I can understand why you did it. I guess for a while now I knew things weren’t okay. I was just scared to talk about it.”

“Really?” He asked in astonishment.

“Yeah, I forgive you for Alexis. To be honest I can’t really remember why I was even into her.”

I held up my shaky fist to him and gave him a small smile. Zack chuckled and reached his hand up to meet mine.

“Just promise next time you’ll talk to me about how you feel, alright?” I asked.

“I promise from here on out. No more secrets.” Zack chimed as he bumped my fist.