Whoakay, sorry for dropping off the face of this site for a while. I feel so bad for not updating sooner!!! BUT CHAPTER 28'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!

TW: Swearing (lots of it), passing out, not being able to breathe, momentary Disaster Gay™ Picani

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We sat there in silence, neither of us feeling the need to say anything, until a few minutes later when Virgil sighed and pulled back from my embrace. As soon as I felt him start to move, I dropped my arms. 

Virgil wiped at his eyes with his hands and took a few more deep breaths before looking up at me. "I think I'm ready to talk to De."|

Roman POV:
"Are you sure you're ready?" I asked skeptically as Virgil continued to wipe at his teary eyes.

"No," Virgil stated, making us both chuckle. "Although I'll only make myself anxious if I wait to talk to him."

"Fair point," I said, scooting to the edge of Virgil's bed. Once I had stood up, I turned around. "Do you need help walking there or are you good?"

Instead of responding, Virgil simply climbed off the bed and walked past me to his door, turning to stop just before he left.

"It's my lungs that are fucked up, not my legs," he said with a smirk, walking out the door before I could respond.

Shaking my head at Virgil's sass, I followed him out of the room. As soon as I walked into the hall, I jumped, startled by Virgil, who was leaning against the wall next to his door. He looked to be catching his breath, but, upon closer inspection, I saw that he looked quite pale. A light sheen of sweat shimmered on his forehead, and he seemed to be shaking.

"Are you alright, Virgil?" I asked, resting a hand on his shoulder, which confirmed that he was trembling.

"Y-yeah, j-just a-anxious," Virgil stuttered, eyes closed as he stayed leaning against the wall.

Before I could say anything, Virgil collapsed, falling away from the wall. Letting out a shout, I rushed to catch him before his head hit the floor, almost dropping him because of my shock. Once I was sure I wouldn't drop him, I carefully laid him down in the hall.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," I said, standing up and backing away from Virgil slightly.

He looked to be passed out, eyes closed while his chest just barely rose and fell with his breaths. I paced around the hallway, trying to steady my breathing. Seeing Virgil just collapse like that had freaked me out, and I knew that I needed to calm myself down in order to be of any help.

"Okay, okay, it's okay, you're okay Roman," I whispered to myself as I paced. Of course, as soon as I said that, I turned around and saw Virgil lying on the floor. "It's not okay, this is not okay, oh god, what do I do?"

I paced more, trying to make myself think of what I should do. It took a solid minute for me to calm down enough to realize that there were other people in the Mindscape.

"Patton!" I called out once I realized that I wasn't alone. "Oh my god, Patton!"

Racing down the hall and into Deceit's room, I continued calling out Patton's name. When I entered Deceit's room, Patton was there, and I all but ran into him.

"What is it kiddo?" Patton asked, taking in my panicked state.

"Virgil, he-" I started, pausing to catch my breath. "WewerewalkingoverhereandhecollapsedrightoutsidehisroomandIdon'tknowwhattodoandohmygodI'manidiotIshouldn'thavelefthimalone!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Roman, slow down!" Patton called, grabbing my arm as I started turning around towards the door "What was that you said? Is everything okay?"

"NO," I said, ripping my arm from Patton's hand as I rushed to the door. "Everything's not okay. Virgil just collapsed outside his room and now he's unconscious, and I have no fucking clue what to do, and holy shit I need to go make sure that he's still alive."

With that, I raced out the room, faintly hearing footsteps behind me. When I reached where Virgil was, I saw him lying on the floor still. My breath caught in my throat as I leaned down, scared that I'd discover that he wasn't breathing.

Much to my relief, Virgil's chest rose and fell rapidly as he took shallow breaths. As I heard the others approaching behind me, Virgil started coughing, petals escaping his mouth.

Before I could react, Picani raced up next to me.

"Help me roll him on his side," he said, pushing on Virgil's shoulders. "We don't want him choking on the petals."

"O-okay," I said, helping him hold Virgil on his side.

Virgil continued coughing for at least three minutes, deep red petals littering the floor in front of him. As his coughing subsided, I heard Patton gasp from where he stood.

"His eyes are open," Patton breathed, rushing to the other side of Virgil.

I moved to that side as well, Logan moving to Picani's side to help hold Virgil up, and saw that Virgil's eyes were indeed open. He was looking between me and Patton, eyes wide with terror.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," I said softly, placing a hand on his arm.

Virgil didn't say anything in response. I wasn't even sure if he had heard me. From where my hand was, I could partially feel when he took breaths, and his breathing had quickened to an alarming rate. Before I could say anything, Virgil's eyes slipped shut.

Picani was the first one to say anything. "Shit," he whispered before leaning in close to Virgil.

"Virgil, can you hear me?" he asked loudly while aggressively tapping his shoulder.

"Is he okay?" a voice said from down the hall.

All of us looked up from Virgil and saw a figure wearing a white shirt with a dark jacket, jeans, a satchel, and sunglasses. He had a Starbucks drink in his hand that he sipped from as he walked closer.

"Holy shit," Picani whispered under his breath.

"Focus, Doc," I teased. "Now's not the time to let your gay show."

"Fuck you, Prince," Picani teased back, sticking his tongue out at me.

"Who are you?" Logan asked, drawing both Picani's and my attention back to the man.

"The name's Sleep," he said, sipping his drink. "But most just call me Remy."

"Nice to meet you, Remy," Picani said, turning his attention back to Virgil. "To answer your question, no, he's not okay. He's currently asphyxiating on rose petals."

"Dang, Doc," Remy said slowly. "Comin' in with the fancy language."

"Are you going to help or are you just going to stand there drinking your coffee?" I snapped, sending a glare at Remy.

"Geeze, Prince, no need to get snappy," Remy scoffed, pushing his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. "If there's something for me to do, I'll do it."

I sent another glare at Remy before turning back to Virgil. His skin was pale and felt very clammy, and his gasps for breath were loud and ragged. Picani was frantically checking around his neck, chest, and mouth, whispering things to himself.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Patton whispered, voice heavy with tears.

Picani didn't reply, instead snapping his fingers to summon a white bag. Opening the bag, he pulled out an oxygen mask, strapping it to Virgil's face.

"We need to get him to the hospital in the village. I paged an ambulance that will meet us at the door," Picani said before looking at each of us in turn. "I'll hold his head. Roman, you hold his torso. Logan, get his legs. Patton and Remy, run ahead and meet the ambulance. Make sure you leave the door open behind you."

After Picani finished talking, he went back to checking on Virgil, and we all went to where we were told to. Patton stood up and nodded at Remy, and the two of them jogged down the hall towards where the door for the Imagination stood. Logan moved closer to Virgil's legs, sliding his hands under them.

"Alright, I'm gonna roll him onto his back so we can pick him up," Picani said, slowly lowering Virgil's shoulder to the floor.

"Picani, I've carried him before, I can carry him again," I said, remembering when Patton had me carry him to his room.

"Yes, but he was probably conscious," Picani rebutted, sliding his hands under Virgil's head and shoulders. "He had some control over his body then. Now, he's basically dead weight. Even you would have trouble carrying him."

"Fair point," I stated, sliding my arms under Virgil's torso.

"Alright, lift on three," Picani said once all three of us had a secure hold on Virgil. "One... two... three."

Slowly, all three of us stood, stopping at points to allow us to get a better grip on Virgil. When we were all standing, Picani had us pause so he could check on Virgil's breathing, and I saw his forehead crease with worry.

"Is he gonna be okay?" I whispered, scared that this would be what truly killed Virgil.

"At this point, it's hard to tell," Picani murmured back, voice heavy. "But I sure hope so."

A/N:

Wow... way to go me... end the chapter with a cliffhanger...
Honestly, though, I don't expect anything else from this book, lol.

Anyways, it's probably gonna be a while until the next chapter, 'cause I have to return my computer to the school, which is where I do most of my writing, so it'll be harder for me to write. Also, if I just, like, disappear for a few days at a time, it's 'cause my brothers are hogging the computer and I haven't had a chance to get online.

Updates will probably become more frequent once September hits, 'cause that'll be when I get my school computer back, so yeah...

Until next time,

Take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals!

~death_by_fanfic