(well thanks
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Chapter VII - In the Hospital Wing-------------
"Is she gonna be alright?" Annie asked for tenth time in a row.
"I told you already, we just don't know," the well dressed yordle doctor explained, "Her vital signs are steady, but she did lose almost two liters of blood."
"Well will she at least wake?" Annie questioned, looking over at Alice in her bed.
"We can't say. We are monitoring her closely, but we've done all we can do," He replied, "We just have to wait until she regains consciousness. "
"Alright, I'll stay here till she wakes then," Annie declared.
"If anything changes find me or another doctor immediately," he ordered before leaving.
Annie stared back at the somewhat peaceful looking Alice, almost brought to tears at the thought of losing her after her bear's so recent death.
"This is all my fault," She muttered, trying to hold back, "If I had just stayed out of her locker, none of this would have ever happened."
Annie rested her head on top of Alice, "Please wake up, Alice," she whispered.
A knock at the door startled the child slightly
"Hey, mind if I come in?" a female voice called out.
"Oh, um yea sure," Annie responded, turning towards the door.
When the door opened, a tom-boyish looking doctor stood with a concerned look. she walked over toward Alice, almost ignoring the teen.
"So how bad is she?" She muttered to herself as she picked up the chart on the end of the bed, "Two litters gone... Gash running down her spine... No permanent damage. Man that is one bad scratch."
"Um...excuse me," Annie interrupted, "But who might you be?"
"Oh, Doctor Remia, chief of medicine... in training" she replied, "See, I'm the one assigned to help..."She reads the chart, "A-Alice? Wait..."
The doctor leans closer at looks at Alice's blood covered face, "Alice Sorme," She exclaimed.
"You know her?" Annie asked, puzzled at her sudden reaction to Alice's name.
"Of course I knew Alice," she responded, "She's my fiancé...sorta"
Annie's eyes widened, "Really? Does that mean you can help her more than the others will?"
"Perhaps. What happened to her?" she wondered.
"Kinda a long story," Annie explained, "But basically she was helping me fight Katarina when she got hit. I didn't exactly see what happened, but I'm guessing she sliced her back pretty deep."
"Maybe... I assume the others closed the wound up," Dr.Remia exclaimed, "Help me flip her over so I can take a look at that cut."
Annie nodded as they both took opposite ends of Alice's bed. In one quick motion, Alice's blood-stained, bandaged gash exposed to the world.
"Well that's not a pretty sight," Dr.Remia noted, "Alright, let's get those bandages off."
Dr.Remia picked up a pair of scissors off the nearby tray and used the to slowly expose Alice's injured back. Annie could barely look as the scratch revealed more.
"Just as I thought," the Doctor remarked, "They closed the wound but didn't heal it. Probably regen'd her blood though, given how much she lost."
"So can you help her?" Annie wondered.
"Yea, I can," Remia stated holding out her hand. She muttered something under her breath Annie couldn't quite make out, and her hand started to glow a bright grey light. Slowly, Alice's injury started to heal itself, disappearing as if it wasn't even there. All the dried up blood on her back evaporated in an instant, and the scratch Katarina had caused had all but gone away, leaving behind only a small scar.
After Remia's hand returned to normal, Alice started to wake up, groaning quite loudly into her pillow.
"She lives!" Annie exclaimed, bending over to hug Alice quickly.
"Ugh, yea kid, nice to see you too," Alice remarked as she flipped herself over. She caught a glimpse of Dr. Remia and her eyes widened, "Sam?"
"It's good to see you again, Alice," The doctor responded with a smile, "Been far too long."
"I'll say. I thought Kat's guards got you," Alice stated, "Glad to see you're alive."
"Same could be said for yourself," Dr. Remia remarked, "You should have seen the kind of fuss your friends made when they brought you in."
"Oh it wasn't that bad," Annie exclaimed, thinking back to when they first arrived, "It's just...she lost a lot of blood alright. I panicked."
"Yea I know," Dr. Remia, "They're still cleaning it up I think. So Alice, what did happen to you?"
"Oh, well..."She looked over at Annie, "I guess I could explain a bit, seeing as how Ann and you both saved me."
She sat up against the head of the bed, allowing Dr. Remia and Annie to both sit down at the end.
"See..after you had disappeared, I was left alone to spy on Kat," Alice started as she turned toward Dr. Remia, "I knew it was only a matter of time till I got discovered as well, so I gathered up what info I could on her. That's when I discovered the rune."
Alice turned to Annie, "I was about to take it from her that night, but it seemed you beat me to it, Annie."
Annie smirked a little, "Well...Shoulda said something," She sarcastically exclaimed.
"Anyway, once Kat called the guards in after you, I joined in on the chase. I broke off from the main pack after you flashed that blinding spell and saw you head toward the fox's room."
"So that was you that banged on the door?" Annie asked, recalling the events of that night.
"Yea, I tried to speak with you so I could get the rune before the others saw you. Luckily the captain that caught me outside Ahri's room wasn't the brightest of the bunch."
"Oh you mean Captain Kev?" Dr. Ramia added, "Yea, I always wondered how he got to elite status since the first day we were assigned that job. Couldn't even hold his spear without dropping something."
"So after we headed up to the second floor, Katarina met with us. Rather than chase you down, she decided to destroy your room to make you come out. She ordered everyone to tear apart everything in your room, Annie. Luckily once the destruction started I could get away from the group again. I tried to go back to Ahri's room to warn you, but she told me you already left."
"Strange that I didn't see you, given how quickly I left," Annie chimed in.
"I went around the back to avoid getting seen," Alice explained, "Anyway, I tried to rush back to warn you before you reached your room, but...well you can guess what happened."
"What happened?" Dr. Remia wondered.
"I found....my room had been destroyed," Annie responded, "Every little thing I once owned was gone...even Tibbers."
"Tibbers?" She questioned.
"Her bear," Alice explained, "One of the few friends she had left. I personally didn't see who did it, but I can safely assume Katarina was involved with it. She knew how precious he was to her."
"So she killed a...bear?" Dr. Remia asked, "Like...a stuffed bear?"
"He was more than just a stuffed bear," Annie exclaimed as she held her head down, "He was my friend...my guardian...the only thing that looked after me anymore. With him gone, I don't even know what I'll do."
"Don't worry Annie, we'll get Kat for what she did," Alice reassured her, patting her on the back.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Dr. Remia inquired, "Don't forget she's one of the most powerful assassins in Noxus.
"Sure, but we have a plan," Alice remarked, "Still got that rune?"
Annie looked back at Alice with a sorrowful expression, "Um...not really."
"Kat got it back?" Alice exclaimed, "Oh this is not good."
Alice stood up off the bed and started pacing, causing the other two to give each other a look of confusion.
"This is gonna complicate things...now that Kat has the rune, we can't go attack her," Alice noted, "And since she's a professional assassin we can't sneak up on her."
"Well what if we got the rune from Freljord?" Annie suggested, "That way we can be even."
"Yea but you saw what she did without it," Alice explained, "Just imagine when she's at full power."
"Now hold on a minute," Dr. Remia interupted, "Before you go off doing anything, you will need to at least rest. You lost way too much blood to go do anything."
"Oh you know me Sam," Alice remarked, "I can't just sit around 'resting.' Besides, the longer we wait, the more time Kat has to charge the rune up."
"Well what's the worse that could happen if Katarina gets the rune to full power?" Annie questioned.
"Who knows...She could try to take power from Swain, like most Noxians would," Alice explained, "Or she could team up with him and try to take over Demacia or the League. I can't really say."
"Rune or not, the high summoners wouldn't allow Noxus to take over everything," Annie noted.
Alice chuckled slightly, "Oh child, you have yet to see what someone like Kat can actually do without the restrictions on the fields."
"So what should we do now?" Annie asked.
"Well I say, as your doctor, you should just get some rest for now. It is almost midnight after all," Remia ordered
"Fine then," Alice groaned, "But as soon as I wake up we're heading to Freljord."
"Well...I should probably come with ya then," Dr. Remia suggested, "Keep you from getting even more injured."
"Hey, that time was just a flaw," Alice exclaimed as she headed back to her bed, "I didn't even have my shield up."
"Well I'm still coming along. This place gets so depressing sometimes."
Annie stood up off the bed along with Remia.
"Get some sleep at least, you're gonna need your strength to face Kat again." Annie suggested.
"You get some too," Alice responded as she slipped under the covers, which were still blood stained.
"I will don't worry," Annie assured as she and Dr. Remia headed toward the door.