As I look out the window of my new room in the lab, I already start to miss the outside.

Since I'm staying in the lab long-term because of the virus, the Professor set up a small room that I can stay in while he researches it. I was moved to it a little while ago, and the Professor made some changes to the way he'll monitor me while I'm infected.

Instead of constantly being connected to things such as a heart monitor and IVs, he's attached something like a bracelet to my wrist that's transmitting things like my vitals to a monitor in another room. That way it won't be so hard to keep track of the virus, and I have an easier time moving around.

It honestly feels like a hospital in here. Blank walls, stuck in a room, hearing the whirring of machines coming from somewhere, being stuck with needles every so often... like I predicted, this sucks. I keep staring out the window, which faces the forest surrounding the Red Kingdom, watching the occasional bird go by and the rustling of leaves from the wind. At least the Professor was nice enough to put me in a room with a window...

I hear the door open, and turn to see M entering the room. Finally, someone other than the Professor or the robot. As M makes his way over to me, I slide off the windowsill and face him.

"Hey. How are you doing?" He asks.

"About as well as I can in this situation." I answer, sighing. "To think that just this morning I was just hanging out with Time..."

"Seems life had other plans." M says, patting my shoulder. "So, has the Professor done anything crazy yet?"

"No, surprisingly, just sticking syringes in my arm every so often."

"Well, the stronger cures from the Green Kingdom have been delivered, so that's probably what that was."

"Already? That was fast..."

"Everyone's worried about you, Sabre... they want to help any way they can."

M's words sink into my mind. Everyone worrying about me is a huge switch-up, usually it's the other way around. M looks at me worriedly.

"Hey, you alright?" He says. "You're spacing out."

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay." I answer, taking in a breath. "It's just... Professor Red said that this virus was designed to destroy me. I might... I might die, M."

"Not on my watch, pal." M says. He then wraps me in a hug. "It's gonna be hard, but I'm going to make sure we find a cure. I'm not going to let a little virus be the death of you."

"Heh... thanks, M." I say, returning the hug.

For a while he's just checking in on me, and asking how my time in the village was before this. It's nice taking my mind off the sickness inside me. Then, the Professor comes in, holding another syringe filled with something.

"Oh, hello M." He says.

"Hey Professor." M returns the greeting.

"Lemme guess, trying another cure?" I ask.

"Yep." The Professor answers, taking my arm, the one with the bracelet on it. "Hold still."

I comply as the needle sticks into one of my veins. I've gotten used to the pokes from them by now. The Professor takes out the syringe once it's empty, and turns back to the door.

"I'll be back later to see if it did anything." He says, and he's already left before I can say anything.

I clutch my wrist and sigh.

"My arm is gonna be bruised like heck once this is all over, at this rate." I say.

"Wait, you can get bruises from a syringe?" M asks.

"Yeah, don't worry though, I can deal with them." I reassure M.

We talk for a little longer, then M has to go back to doing research in the library. I go back to looking out the window, wondering if this is going to be the last view of outside I'll ever see.

—————————————————————————————————————

It's past sunset now, and people have been visiting me all day.

First, it was Light. He wanted to check on me after looking around Time and I's house for any sign of someone being there. He said he couldn't find anything, and he'll be putting a few Guards around the village in case whoever did this comes back. He tried to apologize after he said he didn't find anything, but I told him that I trusted him and knew he'd get the jerk eventually. That seemed to cheer him up a little.

Behind Light were two Colorless Guards, who Light (reluctantly) let them take off their helmets briefly to show that it was Happy Orange Steve and the Yellow Steve that used to have the leather chestplate. It was nice seeing them again. Happy gave me a storybook to keep myself occupied while I'm in here. After talking for a while, Yellow turned to me on their way out.

"Don't die, ya goober." He said.

"Hey, you know me, buddy." I smiled. "I don't go down that easy."

Next was Green Steve, the one that introduced me to the village I now call home. He was frantic when he first arrived, as he only heard the news when Light showed up to investigate around my house. I was able to calm him down, but he was still really worried. Turns out, a bunch of the people from the village were just as worried as he is, and they sent some stuff. I got an extra blanket, some cookies, another book, and Green had made me a scrapbook of things in the forest around the village, since he heard I couldn't go outside and he figured I would miss it. We talked for a while, then he left as well.

I'm now sitting in bed, reading one of my new books, and I'm wondering if Time is gonna visit too. He said he would be back later earlier, so I don't know if he got caught up in something or what. Right as I go back to my book, the door opens. Looking up, it's none other than the man himself, holding a flower in a flowerpot.

"Sorry I'm late," He says, walking in. "Something took a little while longer than I thought it would."

"It's alright buddy, I'm just glad you're here." I grin at him.

"I brought something." Time holds up the flowerpot, and as I look closer I see it's one of the flowers we had in the garden on our front porch. "Figured you'd want something from home, and since you can't go outside..."

He hands me the flower, and I gently hold it in my hands.

"Thanks Time, I really appreciate it." I say, placing it on the windowsill where it'll get plenty of sun tomorrow.

"No problem, bud." Time says, sitting next to me. "So, how're you holding up?"

"Pretty good, the Professor keeps trying some cures from the Green Kingdom, but so far nothing's happened." I say. "At least he hasn't done anything crazy yet."

"Yeah, yet." Time says.

"Remember when he tried to take my blindfold?" I ask, giggling.

"To this day, I have no idea how you can climb that high." Time laughs.

"Eh, I had... practice in my old world."

"What, were you a mountain climber or something?"

"Pfft, no. I'd have gotten rammed of a cliff by a goat ages ago."

We both laugh at that, then Professor Red comes into the room, holding an empty syringe this time.

"I see you've had guests." He says, looking at all the new things in the room.

"Not like I could've argued." I shrug. "Lemme guess, another blood test?"

"Precisely." The Professor says.

I hold out my arm again, and the Professor quickly draws some blood and then leaves.

"Has he been doing that all day?" Time asks.

"Yep." I answer.

Time and I keep talking for a while, and I avoid the topic of my condition as I can tell he doesn't want to think about it too much.

"It's getting late, I should go." Time says, standing up.

"Come back soon please, I don't want to be stuck with just the Professor for too long. I'll go as nuts as he is." I say.

Suddenly we hear the Professor in the hall.

"Well, screw you too then."

We laugh, and Time walks to the door, turning to me before he leaves.

"Seeya, Sabre." He says, waving.

"Seeya, Time." I say back, returning the wave.

And with that, I'm left alone for a while, before I decide to turn in for the night.

All I can say is, as I fall asleep, I'm secretly worrying if I'll still be alive tomorrow.