"Sounds good.", Sparrow coughed with a slight smirk, "We need to stay in the area, but I don't see why we can't have a rest for once. There's casinos around here, as well as bars, discos..."

Sparrow paused again, as he shook off another dizzy spell. For once, even he was worried for his own wellbeing.

"We can relax. For once."

Sarah nodded and patted Sparrow on the chest. "You need to get some sleep. The bars, casino, and everything else will have to wait."

Sarah turned to Samuel. "I'm going to take Sparrow to a hotel so that he can rest, but afterwards I'm going to need to talk to you, alone."

"Suure..." Samuel said drawn out.

"We'll all come with you." He said while indicating the others, who stood a bit dazed.

"You can't drive, remember?"

"Hehe, I actually forgot. Well then, we should get going."

Sarah walked with Sparrow and the others to the elevator. They made there way to the front of the building before Sarah spoke. "Does anyone know any hotels around here?"

"We still got a reservation at the last hotel we were. I can pay a little bit more to cover another day and night." Samuel said.

"Good, we can still rest there then. I don't think Sparrow can use his bike though. He'll have to go in the car with everyone else. Since theres not enough room in there for me I'll go on your bike. That way we can also talk."

"No, no. I can drive."

Sparrow walked toward the door, and opened it.

"See? I'm fine."

"Sparrow, please just go in the car with the others. I don't want you to fall off of your bike again."

Iceous opened the car door.

"Get in here, Bud. It's been a long day, and my patience for the week has just been spent."

"Fine, fine. Strap my bike to the roof then."

Sparrow tumbeled into the car, and edged into his seat.

"I'm telling you I'm...", Sparrow paused again, "...I'm absolutely fine."

"Sarah can just ride the bike, we can't strap it to the roof because there are no straps." Samuel said. He got an idea, slowly. He looked at the bike, and saw the delicate manner the strings of the bike were attached to one another. He carefully took them apart, and made the bike dissapear. Sparrow loudly protested, but Samuel used the strings to create the bike once more.

"A pocket-bike. Problem solved."

Sarah walked over to Samuels bike and waited for him. She was thinking of what she should say to him. She wanted to make him tell the truth about Sparrow's condition. She had been worried about it all day, and night, and would not be at peace until she found out the truth.

Sparrow sighed.

"Just don't break it Samuel.", he groaned. He was in no mood to protest.

"Bah. What do you care. If he breaks it, he can just staple it back together with his mind."

Sparrow glared at Iceous, which was met with a blank, uncaring stare.

"I feel quite close to that bike, Iceous. I even went as far to name her."

Iceous didn't seem to bothered.

"Oh, just shut it will you? And can somebody drive this tin can?"

"You'd better watch your step there, Bud. I'm only here because I'm desperately needed."

He knocked on the back of Pat's seat. "Are you going to drive, or do I need to drag you out and do it myself?"

"Somebody just drive my head is..." Sparrow took a very large pause, and Iceous turned around. Although he kept a strong personality, it was obviously he viewed Sparrow as somewhat of a friend.

"...head is killing me.", Sparrow finished.

Iceous stared at Sparrow, most likely checking his pupils.

"What?"

"Are you going to keep complaining and make me aggravate your headache, or are you going to shut it and let your pounding fade away? Also, you're pupils are dilated. I suggest you stay off the vicodin."

Iceous turned back around. Pat was still sitting there in his idiotic state. "Bah! I don't have time for this!" He got out of the car, walked to the other side of the car, and shoved Patrick into the passenger seat. The car's engine ignited and he drove away, checking to see if Samuel & Sarah were following.

Samuel walked to his bike, and saw Sarah lean against it. She seemed sad. He tilted his head to the side and asked her if something was wrong.

Sarah looked at Samuel, then back to the others to make sure that they were out of earshot. When the others had all finally gotten into the car Sarah turned her attention back to Samuel. She spoke hesitantly, unsure if Samuel would lie or tell her the truth.

"You need to tell me the truth Samuel. Sparrow doesn't have ten years to live, does he? How long does he have?"

Sparrow sat back, as the car slowly moved down the barren road. It must have been early in the morning, for there were near to no cars.

His head was killing him. More so than usual, infact. He felt a cold unusual feeling trail down the side of his face, and then his neck. He felt behind his ear, and pulled his hand back to look at the liquid on his fingers. Blood. He followed it back up to his ear, from which it seemed to be flowing from.

Emily and Patrick were too dazed to notice, and Iceous was too busy driving. Sparrow used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the blood from his face and neck. He then rolled up both his sleeves so nobody could see the blood.

Samuel said this would happen when he had less than a year. Months, weeks. Days were possibly all Sparrow had left.

"No, probably not. I suspect that he has only a month, or perhaps less, in his current form." Samuel said. Sarah's eyes started to fill with tears, but Samuel quickly added:

"But I don't think that it is final. Look, he has been warping his human body this whole time. His default form, if you will. Perhaps that, after his default form collapses, he can live in another form. Say, he turns into iron. Or diamond. Then his body would be solid again, until he warps is too much."

Samuel sighed.

"I'm not sure if that will work, but I think it will. I can see his strings move apart every time he changes, but his other forms are much more compact."

Samuels reassurance did nothing to comfort Sarah. Thoughts of losing Sparrow filled her mind. The tears that had formed in Sarah's eyes had now begun to stream down her face. The pain of losing him would be immense. First she lost her parents, her life, everything she had known, and now she was on the brink of losing the only person she loved.

If I lose him then I have no one else.

Sarah tried to speak, but she was sobbing too much. She sunk her head into Samuels back, and let the tears fall freely.

Iceous pulled into the hotel's parking lot followed by Samuel.

"Alright, everyone out. I'll go park this thing."

Sparrow, Emily and Patrick wondered up to the the front desk like mindless zombies. All three of them were too pre-occupied with their thoughts to strike up conversation. They hadn't really even noted each other's presence.

The man at the hotel desk asked them if them wanted a room, but none of them responded. Sparrow was far too busy panicking over his short lifespan, Patrick was too occupied trying to make sense of the situation and Emily was slightly awestruck by their current turn of events with a five year time period.

All three of their dazes were broken by Samuel and Sarah arriving outside. They slowly turned to look at them both. It was obvious Sarah had been crying, and Samuel wore an awkward expression, most likely due to a strange conversation on the way back.

I won't tell them. Any of them. I'll just go through life as I have since Russia. There's no need to worry any of them.

Iceous drove around the lot, looking for a parking space. He almost passed it up, and turned sharply to get in it. He didn't hit the brake fast enough, though, and the underside of the car scraped against the concrete slab. He winced, then hit the parking brake and shut off the car. He opened the door and headed towards the hotel. He stopped, then backed up. There was a little bit of blood on the back seat. Where Sparrow was sitting.

What on Earth could he have done? I didn't think he cut himself or anything today.

Iceous strolled in and everyone was just standing there. "Has not anyone the courage to ask for a room???" No one even looked at him, so he went to the clerk and got one. "Shall we go?"

Sarah and Samuel arrived shortly after the others. Sarah had been crying the entire time, but when they arrived in the hotel parking lot she forced herself to stop. She slowly wiped the tears away from her eyes and face. Her eyes were red and her face slightly puffy from crying so much.

When they entered the hotel the others were barely asking for a room. Sarah avoided Sparrow, she was to unsure of how to react when she saw him. Samuel had told her the truth, while Sparrow had lied to her to make her feel better.

She stood with the others, they were all quiet, and the mood was somber at best.

None of them said a word, but Sparrow nodded. Iceous did not seem to be in the greatest of moods, but none of the three of them cared in the slightest. They were fairly certain all their problems were worse than anyone elses.

Sparrow noticed Sarah and Samuel enter, and smiled weakly at them. He had the familiar feeling of what happened in the car once more, and quickly grabbed his ear. It was bleeding again.

Wait, my blood is cold. Isn't it meant to be warm?

Iceous saw a flicker at the edge of his vision. He looked and saw Sparrow clutching his ear. There was red on his fingers. "So it was you. You left some blood on the seat." He looked in his wallet, sighed, and looked at everyone else.

"Does anyone have money for the room?"

"No need." Samuel said from behind.

Sparrow jerked and turned to see them. He smiled, shamed of his sudden fright.

"Well, I'll pay for another night." He said while walking towards the front desk. He pulled out his credit card and started with his payment.

Sparrow laughed, weakly.

"It's nothing, I just cut my hand."

Sparrow tried to wipe the blood off of his ear, but it seemed everyone had already noticed.

"What? It's just a bit of blood."

"Your sleeve. Show us."

Sparrow didn't think he was serious.

"I'm not an idiot, Sparrow. Unroll your sleeve. We'll decide if this is 'a bit of blood.'"

Sparrow was hesistant, but he looked away from the group as he unrolled his sleeve.

"It's not as bad as it seems."

Sparrow continued to avert his gaze from the others, as he rolled his sleeve back up.

Sarah eyes widened as she saw Sparrow's blood covered sleeve. Her eyes began to swell up with tears once more, as the situation just reminded her more of Sparrow's condition.

"Stop lying Sparrow. Samuel told me everything, we need to try and find a way to help you.."