Invaded (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XXIV

Mackenzie

Music: Big Core from Gradius V

We dragged Heath's unconscious body off of the street. "Is he... is he dead?" Julianna asked nervously.

"I'll check his pulse," I told everyone. I got down on my knees and felt the spot on his neck where you could feel a pulse. "Still got one. He'll live, but he needs medical attention, and fast."

"Okay," Jack replied. Then he yelled out, "IS ANYBODY AROUND HERE A DOCTOR?"

No response.

"You idiot, there's probably not a single other person in the vicinity," Sam said.

"We need to take him to an emergency room," Elle suggested, and everyone nodded.

"Are you sure there's going to BE a hospital close enough?" Julianna asked. "I mean, most buildings around here are either demolished or abandoned."

"There's gotta be somebody at a hospital. With the potential injury rate caused by the St. David's tribe, I'm sure a hospital is open," I answered.

"We don't have a second to lose," Sam muttered. He immediately got out the hovercraft and whispered to it, "Hey, buddy, we need you to take us to the nearest available hospital, okay?"

The hovercraft "nodded" and took us for a short flight. While flying, I asked Sam, "Should we call Heath's parents?"

"Not right now," Sam responded. "For now, let's handle this ourselves. Besides, do you think Heath's parents are even alive?"

"Sam! That's absurd!" Jack yelled from afar.

"Well, you never know."

At that moment, I took a quick glance at Eghosa. She was crying right next to Heath's body, with Elle and Julianna doing their best to comfort her. I honestly couldn't figure out what had her so upset. I pondered whether or not I should go over and comfort her, but she already had two other people doing that for me, so I decided to leave it.

We arrived at a hospital approximately a minute later. As to be expected, they were a bit skeptical about taking in someone without an adult to accompany us, but they did it anyways. The rest of us sat in a waiting room while we waited for more information.

About an hour later, we were told that we could come in and see Heath. Sam, Jack, and Eghosa decided to go, and the rest of us stayed and watched some silly talk show on the waiting room TV.

Eghosa

Music: The Luma and the Hat from Super Mario Galaxy 2

As I walked into the room where Heath was treated for, I couldn't help but gasp at the sight. I mean, he was all covered with wires and all that junk. I tried to force myself to look away but couldn't.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Sam asked one of the nurses.

"We can't say at the moment. He's lost a small chunk of blood and has a major cut in his left side. We can't seem to find any other injuries, so at the moment, our biggest concern is him possibly bleeding out," she replied.

"So... he might not make it?" I asked, my voice getting more squeaky with each word I said.

"Like I said- we can't say right now. But don't get your hopes too high."

I took a seat on one side of Heath, while Sam and Jack leaned down on the other side. I took one of Heath's hands and just held it, as tears silently and slowly fell down my face.

"Um... I'm sorry, Eghosa?" Jack asked, as if he found it weird that I was crying for him.

"It's fine... I just never thought I'd see him like this," I replied softly.

"Believe me. I didn't either," Sam mumbled.

It was like that for a good few minutes. The entire time, I felt guilty. Heath had made several attempts to hang out with me in the past few months, and the whole time, I knew all he was trying to do was get with me, since he had recently called it off with Skylar. I typically tried to avoid those attempts; I wasn't that interested in a serious relationship with him. Just a friendship.

But now, seeing Heath possibly about to die, I couldn't help but wish I had taken up at least one of those offers. I could've been his last relationship before he passed. It sounds silly, and that's because it was. But it was how I felt.

Then that "few good minutes" was up.

But it didn't end in the way any of us were expecting.

Sam

Music: Unused BGM 8 from Salamander Arcade

Heath's eyes began blinking rather rapidly, and before any of us knew it, he was awake.

"HEATH! You're okay!" Eghosa shouted, wrapping Heath in the best hug she could offer him (given the conditions). Julianna, Elle, and Mackenzie ran in right then and there.

"I heard the words 'Heath' and 'okay' in the same phrase, therefore, I assume everything's alright?" Mackenzie asked excitedly.

"Yeah... geez, what the hell is all this excitement about? I understand I was hit by a car, but why did I need to be taken here?" Heath asked, grumbling (probably from the pain medications he was given).

Jack found a random mirror and told Heath to pull up his shirt, then showed Heath the long cut. "...Oh."

"Um... so, we don't have an adult with us... and therefore, no money as well," I told the nurses sheepishly. "I'm guessing that's a problem?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes," the other nurse replied. "However, we've been flooded back and forth with way more serious injuries than this in the past several days, and since you are rather young and don't seem to be able to get in contact with an adult... we'll overlook it just this once, as our little secret."

"Wow. Thank you so much," Mackenzie smiled.

"At ease. Now run along. We shouldn't attract too much attention here."

---

Music: Return to the Star from Gradius III Arcade

After exiting the hospital, I asked the group if they'd rather walk or fly. The unanimous decision ended up being fly, so I got our group set for a relaxing flight to my house.

Like all other flights I've taken home, this one was filled with a feeling of satisfaction and happiness. But this time it felt... bigger than usual. I mean, under normal circumstances, all we've done was rescue one person or stopped an evil organization. But we legitimately saved the world this time. We fought aliens and travelled to freaking space, for crying out loud. We stopped an overpowered beast from taking control of our planet. Out of everything we have accomplished in the past, I had to say that this was definitely the biggest accomplishment we've ever been able to pull off of them all.

Elle had her head on my shoulder, just as always. But we weren't alone in that regard. The entire time, Heath and Eghosa were also hand-in-hand, gazing off into the sun as it was setting off in the distance. To be honest, I felt really happy for the guy. He was incredibly heartbroken after Skylar called it off with him, and now that he finally found another girl to be with, the feeling must've been great.

Finally, I landed the hovercraft at the end of my street, and we took a short walk down to my house. What greeted us when we arrived caught us all by surprise.

Music: Precious One from Super Mario Galaxy 2

All of our parents, siblings, and other family friends were standing and/or sitting on my front lawn, awaiting our arrival. When the seven of us saw them, the mood changed to incredible happiness and joy. We all ran to our families and were embraced with hugs and sayings of "We missed you" or "We're so proud of you".

On a normal day, this would've embarrassed me.

But this was not a normal day. In fact, I had tears streaming down my eyes as my mom, dad, and sister held me tightly in a family hug.

As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, there truly is no place like home. (wow, that was cheesy af)

While a bit on the cheesy side, super satisfied with this chapter. ONLY ONE MORE TO GO!