Josh arrives first again the next day. As usual, he goes inside and pays for two sodas. Just as he's coming outside with the soft drinks, he sees Tyler approaching, but something is clearly wrong.

The first thing that indicates to Josh that something is off is the way Tyler walks. His feet are shuffling, like he's drunk, and they keep catching on cracks in the pavement. As he gets closer, Josh can see that his eyes are glazed, and the light on his wrist is blinking red.

His battery's only at three percent.

Immediately, Josh grabs his arm and plugs him in. The light goes green to indicate charging, but the glaze on Tyler's eyes doesn't disappear, and he stumbles slightly as he moves forward. "Hey, Josh," he slurs, his voice as blurry as he is.

Josh wants to hold his hand, try and bring him out of this, but his skin is hot to the touch, even more so than yesterday. "Tyler, you're burning up."

Tyler mumbles something else, but it's incoherent, and Josh realizes that he's delirious with fever.

"Tyler, I need to take you home, okay?" Josh grabs the boy's shoulders to steady him. "Where do you live?"

"Don't wanna take you there." Tyler leans into Josh. "'S crap."

"Tyler--"

"No!" Tyler shouts, loud enough for some of the nearby patrons of the Quick Mart to stare at them.

Josh quickly pulls Tyler around the corner, his ears burning. "Okay, okay, not home." He quickly wracks his brain. "But I have to take you to the hospital."

This time, Tyler doesn't protest, and Josh guides him down the streets and across the crosswalks for about six blocks until they finally get there. They head straight into the emergency room, and Josh carefully leads Tyler straight to the front desk. "Excuse me, ma'am, I need to get my--friend in. It's an emergency."

"Honey, this is the emergency room." The woman picks at her fingernails. "Everyone here thinks their problem is bad. You're just gonna have to take--"

It is at this point where Tyler faints.

The woman stands up, surprised, and presses a button on her desk. Quickly, three nurses come out from the back room and start lifting Tyler up. Josh tries to follow them as they carry him deeper into the hospital, but the receptionist stops him.

"I have to go back with him," Josh insists.

She shakes her head. "It's not allowed, I'm sorry." She gives Josh an almost pitiful look. "Does your friend have a name, honey?"

"Tyler Joseph."

The receptionist nods. "We'll find his family, okay? We're gonna do all we can to help him get better."

Josh doesn't know what to say to that, so he leaves.