Ali peeked opened her eyes to look at the clock. It was 3:28am. Perfect timing. Ali smirked and quickly but quietly got out of bed. She still had her clothes on as she rushed to put on her shoes. Ali pressed her ear to the door just in case Carlos wasn't asleep. She heard a faint snore coming from his bedroom. Ali nodded and slowly crept the door open.

The hallway was very dark and quiet. Ali hated the dark. It was the reason why she was in the woods in the first place. Ali inhaled a small breath. "Get it together Alyssa. You're not in the foster home anymore." Ali said to no one in particular. Ali stepped out of the guest room and proceeded to the right. Once she made it to the stairway, she went downstairs. What she wasn't prepared for was the horrible pain in her left foot.

Ali stepped right on top of a metal nail that was poking out from the second to last step. It must've been stuck in there for a while cause it was sealed up tight in the wood. Ali didn't have time to cover up her scream. "AAAAHHHH!" She fell over on the bottom of the stairs clinging her wounded foot. "Ow ow ow!" She said as tears began to fall from her eyes.

As if tonight (or rather morning) couldn't get any worse, Ali heard heavy footsteps coming downstairs. Carlos widen his eyes, confused to see the 7 year old up at this hour. "Ali, why're you-WHAT THE-!" His confusion turned to shock when he saw the injured foot. Carlos bent down to her level. "Ali, what happened?" he asked as Ali still held onto her foot. "I just...wanted a snack. Then...I stepped on...the nail." Ali sniffed and cried as Carlos looked at the blood that spilled on the steps. The nail went through the shoe and the sock but it didn't look too deep. Probably just grasp through the skin. Wait, shoes?!

Carlos turned back to Ali. Why would she be getting a snack with shoes on? His questions will indeed come later. Regardless of his curiosity, he needed to make sure Ali was okay first. "Ali, I need you to lift your foot off the floor for me, okay?" Ali looked at her foot and back at Carlos. She nodded and slowly and painfully lifted her foot off of the nail. Once it was free, Carlos took off her shoe and sock and saw that the nail indeed punctured the skin. "It's not that bad, drama queen. I accidentally step on that nail a bunch of times."

"It still hurts." Ali replied as Carlos nodded in understanding. "How about I wrap up that foot for you and I'll make us an early breakfast. Sound good?" he asked her as Ali wiped her tears away and nodded. Carlos swiftly lifted her up bridal style and grabbed her shoe and sock. "Good thing you were wearing these. If it weren't for the shoes, the nail would've went through your entire foot. Then we would've really had a problem." Carlos explained, opening the door to his room and placing Ali on top of it.

Carlos went towards his dresser and pulled out a bandage. "I'll wrap this around your foot so it can heal, okay?" Ali nodded as she let Carlos do his work. Unfortunately for her, it required Carlos to hold on to her ankle so she won't move her leg. Ali had to close her mouth to keep from giggling so much. The bandage being wrapped around her wasn't helping either. Carlos noticed this too and couldn't help but tease her a bit. "What's wrong. Something funny?"

"N-No it's nothing." Only when Carlos did finish, he 'accidentally' brushed his finger against Ali's toes, making her squeak in surprise. Carlos pretended not to notice though. "Now, stay here while I cook breakfast." Carlos replied. This time, Ali did stay put.