Rosen's chuckle followed her.

Around lunch Laurel poked her head into Nic's room.

Dot had made a mess while Dan was drawing. A blue paint bucket had been upended and she now looked like a blue imp. She giggled as she rubbed the paint in swirls around the floor.

Surprisingly, Nic wasn't in his room.

Dan noticed, but let Dot have fun. She had barely let Dot out of her sight since she learned why she was here. She was overly protective of the little girl and spoiled her.

Laurel sighed a little but after a moment she walked in anyway. After pausing again she began to look around for Nic's scarf.

Nic's scarf was in the drawer she had seen it in last.

Laurel took it out and sat down on the bed. She ran her hand along it before sighing, "Hey, Nic's brother, can you give me some clues about Nic's maze of a mind?" she asked before grunting a little and laying back on the bed and putting the scarf over her eyes, "It's not like I'm not trying!" she complained, "He just..." she sighed, "seems like he doesn't want to try. He doesn't seem to want to tell me anything." She rubbed the scarf over her face, "I keep hitting on former wounds without even realizing it. I feel like I'm walking on egg shells around him. It sucks." she confessed with a sigh, "I'm just worried... that we won't make it, brother." She pulled her legs up and moved the scarf to hug it to her chest, "I love him so much but he has to move on his own. And when the time comes, I have to let him go. So I... have to keep this to myself, right?" she asked the former owner of the scarf, "I can't add to his burden. I can't... keep dumping my emotions on him."

The scarf didn't reply. But after a moment, the light Nic had left on in the bathroom flickered a little.

Laurel blinked over at the light and smiled, "Yeah, I have to get stronger. No more hiding behind him," she glanced at his pillow. "... I'll be stronger in ten minutes..." she reflected as she scooted up and pressed her face into his pillow, still hugging the scarf. It wasn't long before she was out cold.

When Laurel woke, she had a nasty headache. And the room was starting to stink. It was unfamiliar, but ever now and then Laurel got a hint of something she'd smelled before. Including Dedi.

By now, others had noticed Nic's presence in the infirmary. He was laying on a hospital bed he had pulled up next to Yue and was out as cold as she was.

Laurel used the scarf to try and mask the smell. "Wha-?" she got up and tried to trace the smell to it's source.

It was coming from the bathroom. It looked like he had somehow procured a lot of nasty stuff and mixed them up to make... something... It looked like there was still a little left. There was a scorched bud in an almost closed container of what was left, which would explain why Laurel didn't notice it at first. But it probably wasn't a good idea for Laurel to stay much longer; she recognized a powerful hallucinogen that it looked like he had used quite a bit of.

Laurel was so shocked she nearly forgot that she should leave. Then she took off at a run, ripping the door open and looking for Nic.

When she finally found someone who had spotted him she continued to run to his side, arriving out of breath and worried. A nurse was already looking Nic over.

Nic's vitals were virtually identical to Yue's, and he was stable. Despite such rash actions, it appeared, at least for the moment, that Nic had known what he was doing. One of his hands was reaching out toward Yue a little. The other was clenched tightly into a fist at his side.

Once she was assured that Nic was stable, Laurel went from worried to angry almost instantly. She stared a them for a long moment before grabbing Nic's and Yue's hands and putting them together a bit violently. The nurse looked a little worried but Laurel immediately left and sought out Raven once more.

After a little while longer, the nurse noticed something was in Nic's clenched hand.

Raven was eating lunch with some of the girls from around the house.

The nurse frowned a little before giving him a small shot to relax his clenched hand.

One look at the raging storm in Laurel's face was enough to send the girls scurrying away.

Nic's hand eased up a little. There was a piece of paper in his fist.

Raven was tempted to run away too. He didn't say anything, figuring Laurel had enough on her mind already.

Unfortunately for Nic, this was the nosy nurse. She took the paper from his hand and opened it up.

"I want to kill him!" Laurel spat as she paced in front of Raven, "Strangle him in his stupid drug coma!" she put out her hands for emphasis.

"... Uh..." Raven muttered, clearly confused.

--

The note read:

"I'm sorry. I have to try to wake Ming Yue up. It's my fault she's like this. I'll wake in a few hours when it wears off and explain.

I couldn't answer your questions from before, but I think she can. Don't hate me."

"I just forgave him for this morning! I just decided to act like it didn't happen!" she crossed her arms, "I won't forgive him for this! That stupid, stupid, selfish Nic!" she spat.
--

The nurse read it twice, then shoved it in her pocket.

"... What happened?" Raven asked tentatively.

Laurel was glaring at the floor, "Nic left without me. He promised he wouldn't... at least not for now. But he broke that promise."

Raven raised his eyebrows. "He left?!" he said, shocked.

"He's gone. I don't know when he'll wake up. Look how long Yue's been out. It turns out, I can't rely on him after all. I guess... he was still mad about this morning. I really hit a tender spot." she murmured, seeming to start to calm down.

Raven blinked, still confused. He slowly walked over to Laurel and tried to sit her down. "... What happened this morning?" he asked.

Laurel suddenly seemed rather weak. She practically fell into the seat, "It's my fault. He was really furious. He... won't forgive me I guess." she murmured.

"What happened?" Raven asked, persisting until he somehow got the story out of Laurel.

"Kandy made him look silly and took a picture without his permission," she murmured, "He was really angry about it and wouldn't talk to me so I left... slamming the door. During the time I was gone... he brewed some weird hallucinogen and... is now in the same state as Yue." She covered her face with her hands, "... I can't believe he just... left."

Raven paused a moment before cussing under his breath and running a hand through his hair. He shook his head and put his arm around Laurel, trying to comfort her. But this time he couldn't think of anything to say.

"I always end up hurting him, Raven," she murmured, voice sounding tired, "I don't know what to do anymore."

"... He hurt himself," Raven told Laurel. "Stop blaming yourself."

Laurel sighed, "I know that, Raven... in my head I know that. But what do I do?"

Raven rested his head on Laurel's and sighed a little. "... I don't know," he replied quietly.

Laurel sighed again and leaned into Raven a little.

Meanwhile, Pepper cornered James as he was heading back to the infirmary and talked to him awhile.

Raven continued to try to comfort Laurel.

Missy was still no where to be seen.

Aaron was wandering about.

Nic and Yue hadn't moved.

James eventually stepped into the infirmary. He talked to the nurse and soon she left. After a moment he walked over and sat down next to Nic. "Sorry, but you've got to stay asleep for awhile," he said in Laurel's voice as he took a syringe out of his pocket. It was filled with a strong sleeping drug, he wouldn't wake before nightfall. Once done, James sighed and leaned back, waiting.

After awhile, Laurel seemed to have calmed down. "... I should go check on him again. I... ran out as soon as I saw he was stable," she murmured quietly.

Almost immediately after Nic was given the drug, his vitals began to fluctuate and he became unstable. There was a chance he could enter a coma if left unchecked.

"... Want me to come with you?" Raven asked.

James looked at Nic with bored eyes, "Pepper said it shouldn't kill you," he replied in Pepper's voice.

Laurel shook her head, "I'd like to be alone with him right now," she replied as she started to stand.

Nic continued to take a turn for the worse.

Raven nodded. "Let me know if you need anything," he told her.

Laurel nodded before she took off, reaching the infirmary door quickly.

James held his hand to a small ear piece before looking at the door.

Laurel paused as she reached for the handle, she didn't know what she'd say to him anyway. Not that he could hear her.

“… Do you understand?” Nic’s voice asked from inside the room. Laurel's hand froze, he was awake! Her hand reached out once more.

“Yeah… I never even considered-“ Yue’s voice responded. Laurel blinked and stopped moving.

“It’s alright, we were both played.”

“Nic, we need to go back. We need to explain everything.”

“I know… I’ve missed you, Yue.”

“… I’ve… missed you too.”

There was a pause.

“We’ll leave tonight,” Nic’s voice said.

“Okay. But what about Laurel? She’ll try to stop you.”

“I’ll deal with her. I’ve realized now… she’ll never be able to understand us. I can’t love her because she’s not one of us. She’s not in our world.”

“Do you love me?” Yue's voice asked.

“I’ve always loved you.”

Laurel slowly backed away from the door, not wanting to hear anything more. She was so deeply in shock that she didn't stop to think about the absurdity of what she had heard. Instead, her eyes remained wide and she stopped breathing. What? What… had just happened?

Blaze noticed Laurel by the door of the infirmary on her way to pay Kale another visit.

Suddenly there was a deep fall in Nic's brain activity. And in the same moment there was a small peak in Yue's. As Nic started to reach a critical condition, Yue slowly began to wake.