What Happened in the Morning...

At the Hospital

Ten minutes later

.....

....."Sir? Sir wake up!"

'Hmm?'

Ratchet opened his eyes to see himself in a hospital bed. 'What?' he thought. 'Why am I in a bed?' He sat up to see Alice still unconscious in the bed next to him but her color was coming back and she was fully breathing. He grabbed his pounding head, have the worst headache since he was kidnapped for his DNA on Pokitaru.

"What happened to me?" Ratchet asked. "Why am I in a hospital bed?" The doctor turned around to face him.

"While I was removing the patient's needle from her arm, you fainted and fell to the floor. It was either from the shock or the needle, but I tried to revive you to no avail. I then checked your pulse but felt nothing. You stopped breathing as well. So then I rushed you to the bed next to her and gave you some oxygen."

Ratchet's head was spinning. He passed out again? Why was he losing consciousness so frequently now?

Doctor Doyle interrupted his thoughts. " No worries. You're conscious and your friend is breathing. I believe you two should stay the night here, to make sure you have the vital nutrients. There is a button on the remote next to you to contact me directly if you need anything. I'll see you in the morning." And with that, the doctor exited the room.

Ratchet paid no attention to whatever the doctor said. He was more focused on Alice's well-being. She was no doubt improving but he couldn't help but think about what happened about an hour earlier. Nefarious shooting, Alice screaming in pain, the blood on the floor... it was too much for him to handle as his head landed on the pillow, floating into unconsciousness.

Unbeknownst to Ratchet, Alice had woken up and was peering around her surroundings. 'Where am I?' she thought. 'Why am I here?' Her thoughts were interrupted by a stinging pain on the right side of her torso. She yelped in pain as she sat up, trying to stifle her cries as not to disturb the sleeping Ratchet. Wait...why was he here? She touched the bandage that was wrapped around her waist as her head started spinning as she tried to remember what happened in the past hour...

....Nefarious took out his gun, pulled the trigger, and shot her, the bullet hitting her on the side. She screamed in pain as she grabbed her side, blood staining her hands. Ratchet gasped as he saw her fall to her knees, grabbing her side. He rushed to her, seeing the bloody wound she had on the side of her torso. She was slowly growing weaker as her blood spilled all over the floor and she became noticeably paler. Ratchet looked at her face to see her lifeless eyes and noticed her brown hair was becoming colorless. As she grew feeble from the blood loss, her delicate body fell onto Ratchet's lap, blood pouring onto him. She felt like she was about to faint, closing her eyes as darkness started closing into her vision. She opened them slightly to see Ratchet's eyes filling with tears. With as much strength as she could muster, she gave him a weak smile before her body became limp and everything went dark...

Alice gasped as she remembered how she lost so much blood and how scared Ratchet was when she collapsed onto his lap. Her gasping was just loud enough to startle Ratchet out of his deep slumber.

"What?! What happened?!" he asked, completely alarmed as he sat up in his bed. Alice was completely startled of his immediate awakening; she actually screamed and Ratchet followed suit. The pair just sat there, screaming their heads off for a solid minute before gasping for breath. They looked to their opposite sides to see the other sitting up on their respective bed. Neither of them could believe it. Well, except Ratchet who was in more disbelief that Alice was alive and well, Alice had no idea why Ratchet was there in the first place. Ratchet disregarded all the equipment that was on him (minus the IV - he couldn't even bear to see that without having the feeling to pass out) and hugged Alice like he never hugged her before. They both closed their eyes as they felt the warmth of each other. He started sobbing loudly, leaving Alice lost for words. Her eyes fluttered back open, completely disoriented and confused as to why Ratchet was shedding tears so drastically. Once they parted, Alice gave a weak smile before practically being hugged to death again. Ratchet cried even harder, his tears merging with his body hyperventilating and violent hiccups that shook his already feeble frame.

"I should be apologizing — I...I should've been there to protect you. You...you didn't move when I tried to....to wake you up. I... I thought I'd lost you!" Ratchet gasped. Alice felt him slipping away from her grasp. Maybe it was the shock, or maybe it was his lack of oxygen but either way, Ratchet fainted in Alice's arms.

"Ratchet, you foolish Lombax... You made yourself sick," Alice whispered, placing a kiss on his cheek. Ratchet immediately opened his sore emerald eyes to see Alice's chocolate brown ones. He was so worried when her beautiful eyes were shut, thinking they were closed forever and when her body went limp, he completely lost it. That is, until she woke up in the hospital.

"Don't worry, Ratchet. It's okay. I'm right here," she whispered, stroking the Lombax's fur. Ratchet felt himself start to purr as Alice started giggling. He leant forward to kiss her. Her warm, tender lips against his own sent shivers down his spine. Once they parted, Alice made the first move and stroked Ratchet's ears. In response, Ratchet started caressing her own fur, causing her to purr as well though not as loudly. About 5 minutes later, they stopped the embrace and Ratchet returned to his hospital bed. Once he laid down, Alice followed suit and rested her head onto the pillow.

"Good night Alice," Ratchet mumbled, already losing consciousness. Alice was semi-conscious and was able to answer.

"Good night Ratchet." The two Lombaxes then journeyed to dreamland while unconsciously holding onto each other's hand.