Alice's Sacrifice

Chapter 3

Mana was running laps with the others but she was having a hard time focusing on what she was doing. Alice seemed to be struggling all day today and her not eating lunch just made Mana feel even more worried. Alice would tell us if something's wrong right? questioned Mana. She decided to look behind her to quickly check if Alice was alright. That's when Mana saw Alice collapsing on the hard ground. Mana felt her body freeze in horror. "Alice!" she yelled at her friend in shock. Her scream seemed to have gotten the others attention because the next thing she knew Mana saw Rikka bolt towards Alice, while Makoto and Aguri seemed to be in too much shock to move. It honestly felt like hours passed by before they started moving towards Rikka who was trying to see what was wrong with Alice, even though it was probably only a few heartbeats. "What happened?" Makoto asked, her voice trembling. Rikka looked up from Alice's limp body "I-I don't know. But her condition is concerning." Rikka responded her eyes full of worry. "What do you mean?" Aguri asked clearly still suffering from shock. Rikka didn't meet any of the girl's gazes and let out a sigh. "She, she has a high fever. But her body won't warm up and her breathing is shallow." Rikka paused for a moment before continuing. "Alice is really sick you guys. I already called an ambulance to pick her up." "B-but why didn't she tell us anything?! We would've sent her home and let her rest!" Aguri shouted and Mana could clearly see the feeling of guilt in her eyes. "Maybe because she was afraid of you being disappointed in her." Rikka said barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Her voice sounded like ice. "I-I" Aguri stuttered, taken aback by Rikka's sudden change in mood. "You heard me. You've been giving Alice such a hard time lately! Why just a few hours ago you said she didn't take being a pretty cure seriously! Well guess what she does! She takes it so seriously that she came her even though she was sick! I bet that's why she was late today! Not because she slept in, not because she forgot, but because she was sick!" Rikka yelled her eyes lighting up in fury, and her voice sounding colder than ice. "Calm down Rikka! We're all to blame here." Mana said quietly, trying to calm Rikka down. Rikka didn't reply. She just looked back at Alice making sure she was alright. Alice was breathing very heavily. Beads of sweat rolled down her face due to the fever. Her hands felt cold to the touch. After a few minutes the girls started hearing the ambulance's sirens. A couple people pulled out a stretcher and put Alice on top of it. They quickly pulled her into the ambulance and drove away towards the hospital. Aguri watched the ambulance leave with Alice in it. "Alice." Tears started rolling down her face. "I'm so sorry."
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Cliffhanger!!! Sorry this is shorter than the other chapters, but this just seemed like a good time to end it. Also my goal is to at least post once a week. I hoped you guys liked it.