Hearts and Heroes

Saving the Hero

"Is Mark any better?" You asked Wade hopefully as you, Adira, Jessie, and Yael returned to the Hub after escaping near death.

"He wakes up every once in awhile, but his face has regained a little bit of color at least." Wade stated grimly, pausing when he noticed your arm wrapped around your midsection and Yael's bleeding arm.

"I'll take you guys to the hospital wing, Adira, go give..." Wade trailed off, realizing that he didn't know Jessie's name.

"Jessie." She supplied softly, but not shyly.

"Hi, sorry about all this. Adira, take her on a tour while we get these two patched up." Wade instructed, shooting Jessie an apologetic glance as she was lead away from you and Yael.

"Where's Tim?" You spoke up as you walked as fast as you could without causing yourself more pain, which wasn't very fast at all.

"Tim? Like Tiny Box Tim?" Yael repeated in confusion.

"He went with Mark to Jack's Hub, but he hasn't returned yet. We haven't sent anyone else to Jack since we don't want anyone else getting hurt." Wade answered, abruptly stopping mid-stride.

"What-"

Before you could finish your question, Wade scooped you up into his arms and carried you the rest of the way, allowing your ribs to rest slightly.

He laid you down on a bed next to Mark and brought Yael to the bed on the opposite side of you, motioning for the nurse to check up on you and Yael.

"Help....him first." You gasped out in between painful breaths of air, laying down and closing your eyes as the nurse hurried over to Yael and began bandaging his wounded arm.

When you opened your eyes once more, you were laying in bed with your alarm going off like a timer for a bomb about to explode.

You shut it off and didn't fate move more after feeling pain abruptly seize your ribs, making it near impossible to breathe.

"The hell?" You whispered, wondering if you had done something in your sleep or had just slept wrong.

"Fuck it, I'm not going to school, I don't care anymore." You muttered, eyes already beginning to close as your exhaustion took over you once again despite the sleep you already had.

You were back in the hospital, your ribs and Yael's arm completely fixed much to your relief.

"Where did you go?" Yael asked, noticing  that you had returned.

"I woke up in the real world I guess." You explained with a shrug, glad to be back and recovered.

You looked around to see if you could see Mark, finding Bob, Wade, Tyler, and Ethan clustered around his bed instead.

"Is Mark okay?" You spoke up tentatively, sitting up and sliding off of the bed.

"He...he's gone." Bob whispered in disbelief.

"What?!" You exclaimed in disbelief, pushing past them to Mark's bed only to find it empty.

"Oh my god." Yael murmured in shock, running a hand through his hair in disbelief.

"Now what?" Ethan chimed in quietly, his face stained with tear tracks that shone in the lights.

"Well when others die they wake up and come back, but..." Tyler trailed off with a sigh.

"But?" Wade prompted impatiently.

"What if he's back in Jack's Hub for some reason?" Tyler finished.

"I mean, that's where he was last I guess." Ethan mused thoughtfully.

"Either way, we'll have to keep things running here while Mark's gone." Bob added.

"We can't take his job forever and keep his fans in the dark, they need to know if he's dead-"

"He's not dead!" Tyler snapped furiously, cutting off Wade.

The group fell into a tense silence, the tension thick enough that you could basically feel it.

"We'll need to send some people over and see if they can find him if he's really there while we watch things here." Ethan spoke up in a calm tone.

"Or he just hasn't woken up yet, so we shouldn't send anyone yet." Tyler reasoned.

"Fine. For now we'll take care of things and hope he comes back soon." Wade huffed in exasperation.

"I'll go."

They turned to look at you, finally acknowledging your existence.

"Not alone you won't."

Yael stepped up behind you bravely, boosting your confidence.

"Count me in!"

Adira came running inside with Jessie, having eavesdropped on the conversation from outside the door.

"Mark's helped me so much, it's about time I repay the favor." Jessie replied, following Adira to stand behind you.

"You've got quite a group there." Tyler remarked, sounding impressed.

"Oh, um, I'm no leader." You interjected, shaking your head.

"You are now." Yael smirked, the others nodding in agreement.

"Then it's settled. We'll send you guys over to Jack's Hub using a portal if Mark doesn't return in two days." Wade decided.

"Sounds good." You replied before you woke up once more, spending the Day watching YouTube instead of going to school since you were already late.