I paced the waiting room nervously, hating that we weren’t allowed to see Aelita yet. Yumi sat cuddled up with William near the window, and Odd played around on Jeremie’s laptop. Jeremie sat in the chair, looking just as upset as I was, but not saying anything. He had distanced himself from the rest of the group since finding out that Aelita was with me. I was secretly glad he was here though. Aelita needed him.

My head ached, forcing me into a chair. I had to know how she was doing, what was wrong. She had seemed fine lately, other than being a little tired most of the time. She was cracking jokes and laughing during the ride here. It took all of my strength to keep from hitting something.

“It’s been over an hour,” Yumi muttered, yawning. “My parents are going to be upset if I don’t get home.”

“I’ll walk you home.” William stood up, helping her to her feet. I hated that he was there. He didn’t care about Aelita. He just wanted to be with Yumi.

“See you later Yumi,” Odd called, not looking up from his game. Jeremie simply nodded his farewell and I gave her a small smile. Despite her relationship with William, I still loved her. Part of me wondered if this was how Jeremie felt.

A doctor entered the room after almost another hour of waiting. He looked around, seeing we were the only ones there. “I take it you are all with Miss Stones?”

Jeremie jumped to his feet. “How is she?”

“She’s fine for now. We’ll keep her a few more days to run some tests and if all goes well she’ll be home by the end of the week.” The doctor smiled at us and turned to leave.

“Wait!” I called. “Can we see her?”

For a moment I thought he would say no, but he gave us another smile. “Just keep the noise level down, don’t get her too excited, she needs to rest.”

I relaxed almost completely, happy that I would get to see my princess. The three of us walked slowly down the hospital halls, none of us wanting to see what condition Aelita lay in. I opened the door slowly and almost wished I hadn’t. Aelita lay in the bed, curled up under the covers watching TV. Her face was paler than usual, and she was surrounded by tubes and wires. Despite all this, however, she still smiled when she saw us.

“Hey guys!”

“Hey, Princess,” Odd smiled. “What are you doing in a place like this? Not really your style is it, the walls aren’t pink enough.”

Aelita smiled but didn’t say anything, and I could tell she wasn’t feeling well at all. “Knock it off a little, huh?” I whispered at Odd. His grin faded, but it didn’t stop him from talking.

“So how are you feeling?” Jeremie asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. I didn’t like him being so close to her, but I wasn’t going to say anything.

“I feel fine.” Aelita gave us a weak smile, and I hated that she was lying. Her eyes caught mine and I knew she could tell what I was going to say. “Well, mostly fine. My chest hurts and it’s kinda hard to breath.”

“Do you want us to get you anything?” Odd asked. “Something to read, something to eat?” He looked towards the food tray and even I had to admit it didn’t look very appetizing.

“If you could bring me my homework,” she replied. “And some stuff from my room. You can have Yumi go get them.” She reached for a notebook and tore out a sheet of paper that she had already scribbled on. I took the piece of paper, sticking it into my pocket.

“So did the doctors say anything?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t try to lie. She shook her head and looked at her hands.

“I’m kind of tired. Do you guys mind if I sleep?”

“Not at all Princess,” Odd replied. “We have to get going anyways. Delmas said we had to be back before midnight anyways.”

“I’ll bring your things in the morning,” I mumbled, leaning down to kiss her forehead. I could see Jeremie scowling at us, but ignored him as Odd and I left the room together.

“So you and Aelita,” Odd teased for the fourth time that week. “I never pictured you two together.”

“Cool it, Odd.”

“Come on, I’m just kidding around.” He stopped and grabbed my arm. “I know things seem bad, but you saw her in there. She looks fine, the doctors said she was alright, don’t worry about it. Besides, you guys have been together for a month, and even you have to admit there weren’t any feelings for her before that. All of a sudden she’s your world?”

“You don’t understand!” I pulled away from him.

“I think I do. You’re trying to make up for being rejected by Yumi. Even if it means hurting Jeremie. You knew he loved her.”

“That’s not it at all.” I glared at him, ready to take him down if he said another word. “So what if I didn’t show feelings for Aelita before? It just took a while to realize what she means to me.”

“Or without Yumi around and Sissi off your case, you chose the only other girl that would talk to you.”

I inhaled deeply, not wanting to finish the conversation. Jeremie had appeared in the hall, quietly closing the door to Aelita’s room. “Let’s go guys, before we get in trouble.”

Odd gave me a disapproving look and followed Jeremie. I didn’t know if what he was saying was true, but I knew I loved Aelita. At least, I thought I did.