Android

25

After smashing my way out of the forest in a fantastic mess of dirt, I found myself driving down back roads for what felt like forever. I didn't really know where I was or how far away, I was from the city, and it didn't seem like I was being followed but I decided not to risk stopping.

In my pocket I could feel the beacon buzzing, but I had no clue if it was working or not. So as of now, I was on my own. Trying not to let myself freak out, I worked on finding my way off the back roads and onto actual roads. I figured I should try to find a highly populated area to blend into so the others couldn't find me. That was smart right?

I sure hope it was, because I didn't know what else to do.

Swallowing thickly, I looked at the passenger seat with a heavy heart. Leaving Pluto had been hard, nearly impossible. Even though it had been the better choice, it didn't feel like the better choice. It felt like the wrong, painful choice. If he was here right now, he'd know what to do. He wasn't though. He was most likely gone for good and I'd have to find a way to live with that.

Fortunately, I didn't have to find a way anymore to live with my siblings, Mac, or my parents being gone, because they were alive somewhere. Even if it took months I am going to find them, and rescue them. I had to, no matter what those robot freaks said. First though, I had to find a way to the city, and after an hour my persistence paid off with a high way.

Without hesitating I hopped on and followed the signs until I found myself pulling into the downtown roads of the city. Although a few parts looked familiar, I didn't trust myself to find the way, so I began searching for a gas station where I could ask for directions or get a map or something. The house wasn't very far from the city it seemed, no wonder Titan and those Tinker goons found us.

It'd be so nice to have a cellphone right now. I guess my mom was right about being careful when it came to being overly dependent on technology.

Instead of stumble across a gas station though as I had hope, I crossed paths with something much more intriguing that made me immediately cut off three lanes of traffic to get to. It was Saint Anthony's Hospital, where Mac was resting in the intensive care unit. Parking as deep in the parking lot as I could, I took a moment to fix my hair and tidy my appearance before stashing my weapons under the seat and locking up. As I walked across the parking lot, I tried hard to remain vigilant of my surrounding, but it was hard to focus on anything once I walked through the sliding doors and got hit with the reality I was about to see Mac. Trying to keep my breathing calm, I walked up to the front desk.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The lady asked.

"Hi, I'm here to visit Mac Stevens. He's in the intensive care unit. I'm a friend," I said, fighting back the lump in my throat.

"Alright, if you could just fill this out for me really quick, I'll give you a visitor pass. Our visiting hours are over at three today," She said sliding me a clipboard. At first, I began to write my real name, but instead I scratched it out and wrote down my middle name instead with a different last name. I then handed it back to her. "Thank you darling." She passed me a badge. "He's going to be in room two-o-nine." She then turned away and went back to whatever she was working on as I also turned away and began to make my way to the room.

The whole time my knees wobbled, my heart crashed against my ribcage, and I felt like I couldn't take a proper breath. I was going to see him. I was really going to see him. I knew he wasn't going to know I was there, but I knew it would be enough to see him alive. "Here we go." I mumbled upon entering the room and when I came in, I had to take a moment to process his state. Mac was hooked up to all sorts of machines, had an oxygen mask strapped around his face and IV's hanging from his limp arm. It wasn't that that got me though, it was the bandage wrapped around his one eye. That must've been where he got shot. Biting my trembling bottom lip, I walked over and pulled up a chair.

"Hi Mac. Its me, Abigail. I'm sorry I couldn't come see you sooner. Its kind of a long story," I said softly, reaching out and grabbing his hand. "You were right about something sinister going on. I should've listened to you. For once, you weren't making things up. You actually stumbled across something." I inhaled sharply as I squeezed his hand. "I tried to s-save you. I wanted to. But they...they pulled me back. They wouldn't let me rescue you," I said a sob catching in my throat now as I rested his hand against my cheek. "You've got to pull through Mac, because I need you. The world is turning upside down and I can't imagine going through it without you." I whispered, wishing so hard that he would wake up I almost believed he was about to. Instead though he laid there, breathing heavily. Sighing miserably, I leaned over and rested my forehead on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Well hello there, I didn't know Mac had a visitor."

I then looked up to see a nurse in the doorway with a clipboard.

"Oh. Um. Hello. I'm a family friend," I said, wiping the tears away from my eyes as I stood up.

"Do you want me to come back?" She asked. I shook my head.

"No. Actually, if you could tell me about his condition that would be awesome," I said, letting go of Mac's hand.

"I really can't, because of medical privacy," She began to say, but when my face fell she sighed softly. "Well, I suppose it would be okay to bend the rules a little. Just don't tell anyone I said anything." She walked over to check his machine and the IV. "Mac was shot in the eye. Fortunately, the bullet was shot from a long distance, so it didn't kill him. We couldn't save the eye though and its possible he has damage to the frontal lobe. We won't know anything for sure until he wakes up." She sighed sadly. "If he wakes up."

Feel tears roll down my cheeks with the blink of my eye, I sat back down. "He'll wake up," I said insistently as I looked down at Mac. "He's tough."

"I hope your right about that, because he's going to wake up to an awful mess. Honestly, I'm surprised there wasn't more news coverage about it," The nurse said as she wrote something on her clipboard. She was right, there shouldn't been more news coverage. Not just about what happened to Mac but what happened to my family as well. Titan must've had something to do with it. It was the only reasonable explanation. "You're the only visitor who seems to actually know him. There was this one guy who was just weird, and asking all these questions-"

"Wait, what? Could you repeat that?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, there was this weird guy who came in here, claiming to know Mac. He was asking a lot of questions about Mac's condition and if he was going to wake up. He also asked if it was possible for us to call him when Mac woke up. When we asked him if he was a cop or anything, he just left us a phone number and walked out. Then, get this, after he left all the lights went out for a few seconds before turning back on. I think he cut our power or something," She said, making my jaw clenched and my blood run cold.

He had been here; Titan had been here, and he was still after Mac.

"Excuse me, but do you happen to know where Belle's Antique store is?" I asked, standing up and wiping away the remints of salty water on my face.

"Yes actually, its near the comic book store on Welsh Street. If you pull out of here and take a right then keep going straight for a few miles you'll hit it on your left," She looked up from her clipboard. "Are you heading out?" She asked and I nodded as I took a moment to squeeze Mac's hand.

"I am." I then looked up at her. "If I were you, I'd call the cops next time that guy comes back."

And with that, before she could push me for further explanation I made my way out of the room and out of the hospital. 

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Hi guys! Sorry for not updating this in a little while, I've been really busy getting ready for school and only this week have I had the free time to sit down and get business done lol. Hopefully though updates will be more consistent, so you guys will have more stuff to read :)

-Mari.