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Ink's eyes fluttered as Patch noticed. He began to lower her on the bed, and she tried to escape. I'm fine, I'm fine- but it wouldn't cut it this time. This time, she couldn't form her words. This time, her eyes felt like they were slowly glazing over. Like it was too much now.

Panic slowly rose as she tried to raise back up.

I'm fine, I'm fine!

"Fenn..." Her lips moved, but not to the right rhythm. It was like having to learn to talk for the first time.

It'll get better with time.. Let's leave!

But they wouldn't understand her. Xhana pushed her hair back and reached for Patch, taking his hand and sighing. She closed her eyes tightly, wishing she could rewind. Go to the bathroom or something. Have made it away from them. She didn't want anyone to see her like this.

Her dark creamy chocolate eyes swirled a bit and she squeezed her lids tighter. She took a deep breath, and then tried to relax. The headache began to fade- like always. She squeezed Patch's hand and opened her moist eyes.

"Fine.. I'm... fine..." She whispered, ready to lean up and escape.

Lauren rolled her eyes at the thought of them living near Centeral Park. Those apartments cost so much money and anyone with that type of money wouldn't let their child be kidnapped none the less where the tattered clothes she was wearing, but if they didn't want money, they wouldn't be getting any from her. Of course, she wasn't about to leave this poor child with them.

She was brought away from her thoughts when she felt a slight pulling on her hair. Turning her head she looked back to see Katie examining it. Smiling at the child, she turned back to find the older woman now lying on the bed, muttering fragments of words. "Should- should we get a doctor?" She heard the man ask her. Without listening to the rest of what he had to say, she picked up the tiny child and rushed over to the door with her. She wasn't about to leave the kid with them. What if this was all just a little act and once she ran out to find a doctor they'd leave.. through the window or something.

A woman in a white doctor's outfit was luckily passing by when Lauren walked out of the room, frantically. "Excuse me! There's a woman in there and she needs a doctor!" She shouted at the woman, holding onto Katie tightly. The woman nodded and hurried over to the room nextdoor where she appeared a moment later rushing towards Katie's room with the other males who seemed to be doctors.

Patch glared at Lauren's back as she lifted Rainbow into her arms. What did she think they were going to do? She had come in on them, he thought angrily. It wasn't as if they were conning her.

A male doctor and a male and female nurse hurried in. The female nurse put her hand on Ink's wrist, staring straight ahead as she timed her pulse. Meanwhile, the male nurse pulled forward a rectangular, white machine on a rolling cart. It was oxygen, and he pulled the mask off the clip on the side and put it over Ink's mouth. The doctor looked at Lauren and Patch.

"What happened to her?" he asked sharply, an impatient look on his lined face. Patch shifted uncomfortable, loath to speak to an authoritative figure.

"There's something wrong with... with her brain, I think." he replied, and backed up, putting his hand on Ink's arm, facing away from her. "All of a sudden her words were all slurred together. It happened earlier, too, but then she got better."

He glanced anxiously at the tattoo covered girl behind him, his female counterpart in the street gang. Was she going to be okay? His face felt hot but his hands felt cold. The way the doctor looked at him, inspecting the patch across his eye and his worn, tattered clothing made him uncomfortable.

"Does she have insurance?" the male nurse asked, writing on a clipboard. Patch scowled.

"Who gives a fuck? She needs help! We're gonna fuckin' pay, asshole."

The nurse stared at him in stunned shock, and then scribbled something down on the board, hurrying out of the room. The doctor crossed in front of him, looking at Ink shrewdly.

"Have you been admitted to the hospital before?" he asked. "Do you have a medical history, or family members who suffered from an intracranial tumor?"

Ink looked over at Patch desperately as people swarmed in. Instantly she was nervous, frightened. Ready to leave. She had never been in this situation, and it was frightening. Her hand was immediately reaching out, lashing past nurses to reach Patch's hand. Clenching it, she looked up at the others.

First time, she shook her head no.

Never been in a hospital..

Second time, yes.
Her father's side had brain tumors.

Her slender Brazilian-caramel fingers laced over Patch's hand, her palm somewhat sweaty in her anxiety that had come for the onslaught so very quickly. She watched a male nurse brush hair behind her ear, and look down into her frantic eyes. No, no nurse. He was the doctor.

"Do you have double-vision?" He said. "Tell me how many."

Holding up two fingers, Ink raised her hand and mimicked the notion. The doctor nodded as the machine began allowing her to breathe. It all felt so strange. So caged and captured. And money! She wanted to run. One minute of breathing from that... machine... was going to cost more than a four-course meal at a five-star restaurant.
Enough to feed the kids for a week.

"Please." She whimpered softly, looking at Patch distressingly.

Still holding Rainbow, Lauren thought about her options. She could leave the girl here and go home. This could result in the kid being dead before she turned thirteen, though. She could wait here with the three and escort them home, just to make sure that they weren't lying about actually having a stable home or she could bring Katie home with her.

The last two choices were the ones she was stuck on. If she took the little girl home and eventually adopted her, the child would be able to grow up in an enviornment where she would have no chance of being kidnapped. No chance of being shot and surely a chance at a nice shower and some clean clothes.

Or she could go with the second option and just see if they were really telling the truth about being her adopted parents and having a home. But what if once they left the hospital they shot her, just like they possibly could have done to the little girl. From the second she had walked in, that man with the patch had made her feel uncomfortable.

And then a new idea came into play. What if she just brought the child downstairs to the hospital's cafeteria and bought her an icecream or something. She'd be able to talk to her and get real information out without the boy hovering over and changing her words. With the girl practically dying on the bed, this seemed like a perfect idea to Lauren.

"We'll be right back," She mumbled quickly to Patch as she turned and walked out the door, Rainbow in her arms. She practically jogged down the stairs and followed the signs on the wall until she had reached the large opening and the smell of hot food. The large white room was pretty much empty other than a nurse or two chatting quietly in the corner. Lauren's eyes dashed up at the clock on the wall which read 5:45 AM. Geez, this was probably the earliest she'd been up in a while.

Lauren placed Rainbow down in one of the chairs at one of the tables. "What do you want for breakfast?" She asked with a kind smile, bending over to the girl. She pushed her black hair back, running her hand through it to take out the few knots. Her eyes than examined the petite child. The cuts and bruises sat on her face and Lauren had a feeling that this kid was from the street.

Rainbow scowled as Patch sternly told her to be quiet but she didn't argue. Crossing her arms she gave him the best dirty glare she could before being lifted by the girl without permission. Normally Rainbow didn't like being carried by people she didn't know but she didn't object as the girl rushed out into the hall and called for a doctor.

Rainbow watched the doctor push past them and into the room where he began to question Ink and Patch. Rainbow didn't really understand why Ink was acting so weird but she shrugged it off as she was lifted once more by Lauren.

She closed her eyes as she was carried for a few minutes and slightly opened them when placed into a chair. Her small hands rubbed against her eyes until the sleepiness was gone from them. She knew she shouldn't be tired, she normally would be awake for another hour or two and she had been sleeping all day.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Lauren asked her. Rainbow hadn't had a choice for breakfast in over three weeks and when she woke up it was more like a late lunch or dinner being served in the city so it never was much of a breakfast unless one of them brought bagels or donughts.

Rainbow shrugged as she spread her arms out across the table and placed her head on them. "Anything, please," She said, staring up at her. "An' what's yer name?"

Smoke jumped up from his corner, dropping the cigarette on the concrete before rubbing his bare foot on top. Normally this would hurt people and it did burn Smoke yet he was so used to it that he couldn't feel anything.

He listened as Bolt and Maybe came back to the alley, talking amognst themselves. Smoke had been there when Patch and Ink had left, when Rainbow had been taken and when he had offered Ink and Raibow up for ten grand. Hey, it would've been a good deal for him.

Smoke pulled the blue bandana out of his hair and shook out the brown, messy hair. Once he was done, he tied the bandana back on and looked up at the orangish looking sky. It had to be almost six because the street lights were all already off and the sky was starting to brighten. Smoke decided that he should be the one to go see if Ink, Patch and Rainbow were all dead. Maybe he'd be able to get some money from Cash if they were.

"You guys stay. I'll go," Smoke muttered as he grabbed his black sneakers and walked past Maybe and Bolt, pulling the sneakers on as he walked. The streets were still mostly empty as he walked. Smoke knew where Cash lived, where he worked and that was where he was headed. It was a long walk and about twenty minutes into the walk Smoke was passing a hospital. Outside of it were about five to ten men holding large, expensive looking cameras. They were all muttering about being kicked out of the hospital and an idea sparked in Smoke's head. He walked up to the group.

"Who are you guys waiting for?" He asked, leaning against the rail of the stairs leading to the hospital.

"Lauren Brealy," One of the men replied. "What's it to you?" The man asked. He was a middle aged man as far as Smoke could tell. The man's hair was very short and he seemed to be Mexican.. or Spanish. Smoke really couldn't tell much about nationalities having that he was only in school for a few years.

"I'll go in there, take as many shots as you want and get her to come outside for fifty bucks," Smoke offered in a careless tone as if he were only helping them out. The man that had been the first to answer him studied him quickly and then shrugged as he pulled the camera off of his neck and handed it to Smoke.

"Hold the button down on the top. Get me my moneys worth kid," The guy said with a grunt as he shoved a fifty into Smoke's hand.

Grinning, Smoke grabbed the camera and walked into the hospital. Smoke was very lucky considering that there was a man on a stretcher being rushed through the lobby as he was walking by which caused enough chaos for him to pass through without being noticed by any of the staff.

Smoke roamed up on the elevator and down the halls until he smelt breakfast. The scent of eggs and bacon filled his nose and Smoke couldn't help but to resist following the scent until he reached a large cafeteria. Without looking around Smoke walked to the front and ordered an BLT sandwhich. He pulled the fifty out of his pocket and the woman handed him the freshly made sandwhich as well as his change.

Pulling the sandwhich out of the wrappers, he took a bite as he continued to walk towards an empty table. ONce he sat down he was able to look around and he froze when he noticed a little girl, Rainbow sitting at a table with the famous, Lauren Brearly. What the fuck.

Maybe was ready to tell Bolt to sit down and that they weren't going to search for Rainbow, Ink and Patch. It was almost time for them to sleep and Maybe's stomach was hurting worse than earlier but than Smoke had to get up. Ugh, Maybe hated how he thought he was so much more in control or more street-smart than she was and she wasn't going to let him show her up like that.

Sighing, Maybe dragged one of the torn apart, yet still cubical cardboard boxes from the corner of the alley and dragged it down to where she kept her stuff. She picked up her checkered sweatshirt which was still damp from its washing and draped it over the box so that it would be able to dry better.

"Alright," She mumbled to Bolt as she walked over to him. "Let's go," She said. The sun was peeking out farther above the horizon now and because of the buses starting to ride down the street, Maybe knew it was nearing seven in the morning. She should be sleeping now.

Rainbow's eyes leaped above Lauren's head as she waited for a response. She had heard a farmiliar voice and standing a few feet away with them was the body to match it. Smoke was here. He was holding some type of breakfast sandwich and the strong smell made Rainbow's mouth water. She knew that Smoke usually got to eat good and all but luckily for them, most of the times he would bring them all back something and if not, Ink or Patch would buy breakfast. It was very rare that the kids went without food - or atleast Rainbow could tell from the three weeks she'd been living with them.

"Hi Smoke," She said, a bit of energy being revived back into the small and bruised body. "Ink and Patchy are upstairs. Inky's a little sick I think," She said, looking at him closer and noticing a large and expensive looking camera in his hands.

"What's that thingy for?" She asked, sliding one arm out from under her head and pointing it at the camera.

Lauren pulled a stretchy bracelet off of her arm and gently lifted the child's head up, pulling her blonde hair back into a neat pony tail. She could now see a few more minor scrapes on the girl's dirty face. "Lauren. My name's Lauren," She answered quietly, "I'll be right back."

Lauren had wanted to ask the child if Katie really was her name but she decided the kid was probably traumatized enough from whatever had happened to her hours ago. She sighed quietly as she stood up, pushed her hand through her long hair and turned to walk up to the counter when she saw a teenage boy holding a camera. Did they seriously stoop this low to get her while she was in a hospital? Lauren decided on ignoring the boy until she heard Katie begin to speak to him. Did she call him 'Smoke'? Lauren was pretty sure she did. Rainbow? Patch? Smoke? What other crazy name would she be hearing today.

Biting her lip, Lauren continued towards the breakfast life and once she reached it she quickly ordered a bagel, an applejuice juice box and a mini box of Fruit Loops. She turned back atleast three times to make sure the boy was hurting Katie before she had finished paying. Lauren returned back to the table and moved her chair closer to Katie's before sitting down in it. She didn't trust that boy one bit.

"Here, sweetie," Lauren said as she placed the food on the table infront of Katie.

Bolt grinned in delight as Maybe agreed to go search for Ink, Patch and Rainbow. He had to quicken his pace to keep up with Maybe's rushed speed. "So you really didn't think they were out gettin' a treat. I knew they weren't. My lady would never leave me out on something like that. Ya know, she gives me more treats than anyone," His attempt at being cool was obviously coming into play as he went on about "his girl", Ink.

Bolt walked with Maybe across many streets, hearing the first sounds of angry cab drivers honking their horns and smelling the fresh scent of coffee. That was New York for you. Bolt looked around, wide eyed as if he didn't live there. The mornings were always so exciting but normally Bolt would be back at the alley asleep. As they continued forward, Bolt could see Smoke in the distance but he had seemed to turn into some building. A building that looked like a hospital.