Protector's Bond (Two-Shot)

Chapter 27: Let The Past Be The Past (Twist)

My heart and stomach were burning with sorrow as the situation escalated quickly. Zero to one hundred, with no brakes. We crashed.

You know I was speaking metaphorically, right? We were calmly talking over breakfast when we heard the sound of puking coming from the bathroom. We investigated. It was Eli, leaning over the sink. I went over to pat his back and reeled at the sight of blood in his vomit. I myself was left dizzy and nauseous.

We gently guided him to the couch. He was white as a ghost, hot as an Infurnus and worst of all as lethargic as a flopper (eh, no offence to you flopper-lovers out there). His breathing was ragged and uneven. He begged us not to, but we ignored his pleas and rushed him to SlugTerra General Hospital in TechnoScience Cavern He kept gasping for the air that his lungs will never draw. Whenever he slept, I was afraid he'd die in his sleep, so I woke him up every 5 minutes but eventually had to stop because his weak body was wracked with intense pain and all I did was make it worse. I didn't want to, but the next thing we know, he's on life support and was hooked to a ventilator to help him breathe. So I stopped but was scared he would let go any day soon. And clearly I wasn't the only one worried about him.

But first, let me explain how I ended up in the Shane Gang hideout.

After Eli's suicide attempt, the whole story came tumbling out. He admitted to trusting me but refused to tell the rest of the gang because he thought they might say something against us, considering the first time he was betrayed. On the flip side, they trusted me and actually invited me to come back to them! Wow, is that not a miracle? They wanted me to help him recover from this devastation. They wanted me to substitute Junjie to him. I was hoping it would work. Gladly, it did.

That's when all hell broke loose.

That's when things went spiralling downwards.

That's when we were so into the joyride to notice we were going to crash.

That's when the world we know flipped upside down.

Apparently, through Trixie's blogs, word travels fast. So the moment she recorded her message concerning the situation and sent it out, all of the 99 Caverns were terrified of losing another one like Eli. His health updates were posted on the news while everyone were hoping he would get better. Instead he was left dying.

Every time I stay by his side, I look at Burpy. The terrified/heartbroken Infurnus stayed by Eli almost all the time. He would never leave him. When he was called to meals, he would go to the table, get his food and go back to be with his slinger. Honestly I didn't know he was so rare in all of the caverns. If I had known sooner, I would've understood why he was so important to him. Having an Infurnus slug is a one-in-a-million adventure, he told me. If you were forced to let him go and leave him to slug collectors, you will end up regretting it. He was right. They hung on to each other for such a time. I felt a twinge of jealousy. Not even Loki and I were that close! But seeing the Gang just hanging out with each other, spending time with their slugs and sticking together till the very end, I knew all Eli had was not just fame but family, the best slugs and a Gang to watch his ass.

Then Trix decided that enough was enough. She was going to send someone right here. I knew at once who she was going to summon to the caverns but I failed to restrain her from doing so. I was anxious about what he would say.

Then, a few days later, as Eli lay dying in the hospital, we got our answer.

He was on his way to the hideout.