Chapter 26

She woke up in a haze of pain, she realized she was lying on a comfortable bed, buther shoulder burned like fire, she sat up, wincing and looked around the room.

It was equipped nicely. Her head throbbed and she looked st her shoulder as the door opened, she ignored the newcomer and found her shoulder was bandaged, Leo, Day and... Ash came inside, They all stopped at the door, finding her awake and staring daggers at Ash, Ash smiled weakly at her before clearing his throat.

Day and Leo approached her, she saw tear streaks on Leo's face and she frowned.

'How are you now?' Day croaked.

'Hmm my shoulder feels like hell' Hazel said as she looked at Day she saw Day's eyes water and fresh tears appear in Leo's eyes.

'Hey, hey I am okay... where's Jane? Is she alright?' Hazel said soothingly.

'Jane's Okay' Day croaked again.

'Then why... why is he here?' Hazel flared.

Ash approached the bed, 'This is my house and before you say 'why?' you got hurt and in a way, we are still friends, it hit a not too fatal part that would get worse with time if we didn't take it out... so umm'

'Its out? The bullet?'

'Yes, but Hazel that's not the point, The bullet was not a normal one' Hazel saw Ash's eyes were red, bloodshot.

'What do you mean by that?'

'Ash sighed, as if regretting what he was gonna say next

'It was deadly by itself a 13mm Gyrojet but what made it more deadly was aropchene covering it, it was a chemical made recently and Hazel, it causes unbearable pain before... and there's no cure found for it yet'

'Pain? I can handle but what after that?'

Ash sighed, his eyes dark like Day's 'Then, like everyone who got shot with this, you'll die'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hazel realized what that meant, No heir, No Marshalls... 'How much time do I have left?' She asked calmly, while Day and Leo stared at her thinking she is mad.

'4 to 5 weeks as much as I know, but Hazel... your inheritance? what about that?'

'I'll have to find my brother before that, Xander'

'What about Daniel?' Leo asked.

Hazel sighed, 'Every 5 years, there is an umm traditional... thing that we do, its like an umm tattoo and it disappears every 5 years so he must've lost it, it means he cannot rule the Marshalls now but he is still my brother, so we need Xander, only he is our hope, me... well, I don't think I can... lets not think about that' She hurriedly said as she saw tears escape Leo's eyes

'Aww come one Leo, its nothing!' Hazel tried a pathetic attempt to calm him down.

Leo sniffed and nodded, trying to gather himself.

'Look, I know its hard, but we gotta find Xander! Okay? or the Marshalls will die and the world will be controlled by a maniac woman whose name is seer of evil and death and nobody wants that okay? so... so we are gonna start with the lead my dad gave... the mines, he used to take me to a closed mine, for something... Ash knows the place'

Ash nodded.

'So uh, will you help us or are you just here for the bullet?' Hazel asked.

Ash rolled his eyes 'I have no problem with you and I don't hate you, and I was pretty contented you exposed my dad, he's dead, and i didn't like him, he was a real pain'

Hazel smiled 'Would you mind giving me painkillers, I feel like hitting Leo repeatedly so he would stop crying'

Leo gave a half laugh and sob, he nodded cleaning his face.

She looked at Day who was smiling. Day nodded and whispered 'Handled that like a pro' Hazel giggled and hugged both Leo and Day, she gestured Ash to join the hug who looked happy as she hugged him.

Hazel sighed and realized she wasn't homesick after all.