"I can't do this!"

I whined as Sebastian held my hands down on the bed, "Let go~." He shook his head, "You're gonna scratch them." I pouted, "I promise I won't."

He chuckled, "That's what you said the last time. Now stay still." I was about to retaliate when the door opened. A beautiful, mature looking woman with long chocolate brown hair entered the room, "Good day, I'm Dr. Henderson. Nurse Jones briefed me on the situation. You don't have to worry, you are in very capable hands."

She held my arm and examined it, "This is a very very rare rash. There's usually a one in a million chance for persons to contract it."

I just had to be that one out of a million.

Sebastian spoke up, "Do you know what caused it?"

Dr. Henderson nodded, "Some wild plants secrete small poisons to keep micro-organisms like worms and bugs at bay. It's very rare for people to be affected by it."

She looked at me, "Have you been in contact with any plants or trees recently?" I thought back, "I did climb up into a pine tree this morning but the spots appeared before that so I don't think it caused this."

My eyes widened, "The weird tree!" Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows, "What weird tree?" "The rain started coming down pretty hard yesterday so Dylan and I took shelter in a tree by the side of the road."

Dr. Henderson placed her hair in a high ponytail and slipped on her gloves, "Describe the tree to me." I illustrated with my hands, "It was very very tall, the wood was extremely slippery when wet and it had some gigantic green leaves."

Her eyes widened with panic, "The Casatoa tree! You avoided the leaves right?"

I nervously chuckled, "Not exactly." I rubbed the leaves over my entire body to get off the mud and stuff. "Is she going to be okay?" asked Sebastian. Dr. Henderson nodded, "It's a good thing she got here while the poison was still in its beginner stages. If she got here maybe even an hour later, death would be possible?"

My eyes widened, "It was that serious?" She nodded, "The Casatoa is not a tree to be played with. While it provides a lot of shade with its big leaves, the big leaves are filled with toxins that can be absorbed through the skin and into the blood. Right now it's still going through your skin. It hasn't reached your blood yet because your body is still fighting it"

I hesitantly asked the question that was on the top of my mind, "What'll happen if it reaches my blood?" Dr. Henderson sighed, "I honestly don't know. As I said before it is very rare so we don't have much information on it, but it's possible that once it reaches your blood it'll destroy your inner organs due to its high toxic level."

She placed her hand on my shoulder, "We won't let that happen. So please don't worry." She made her way to the door, "I'll be back shortly."

I released a breath and leaned back on the bed, "Is this happening to Dylan too?" Sebastian pulled his chair closer to my bed and held my hand, "No, he's fine. He just has a small flu." I breathed a small sigh of relief and a slight smile formed on my lips, "Thank God he's okay."

Sebastian chuckled, "I thought the both of you were mortal enemies." I chuckled, "He's a perverted asshole but-" I paused and stared into the ceiling with a huge smile on my face, "He's a good person at heart."

Sebastian got up from his chair, "I'm going to buy something to eat, I'm starving. Want anything?"

"A burger and sprite will do." Sebastian laughed, "I don't think the vending machine have those." I rolled my eyes, "You could've just said you were going to the vending machine you know." I sighed, "Anything edible will do."

He saluted and walked to the door. He left then came back peeking through the door, "No scratching while I'm gone." I chuckled, "No promises but okay."

He left and I was left alone in the room with my dark and gloomy thoughts,

The scene of the doctor and I played over and over again in my head as I kept on silently praying I wouldn't get an injection. I shook my head, "If I need an injection I'll take it, I'm not weak and I refuse to act weak."

I decided that I wouldn't let my past control me but all that basically flew through the window when Dr. Henderson returned with a huge injection needle in hand and an entourage of curious nurses and doctors.

She looked behind her, "Sorry about them. They've never seen a rash caused by the Casatoa tree before so they wanted to check it out for research purposes." I felt a bit self-conscious as everyone stared at me and quietly whispered to each other.

Research purposes? What a joke.

"You're not afraid of needles are you?" I smiled, "Not at all."

Dr. Henderson smiled, "Wonderful, I'll make it as quick and painless as possible." I continuously looked over at the door hoping to see Sebastian but he still hadn't returned. I was starting to get extremely nervous. Where in the world is he?

My eyes lit up when I saw a black hair come through the door but sadly it was just another inquisitive doctor. I heaved a long sigh and played with the tips of my blue hospital dress.

All the doctors and nurses surrounded my bed as Dr. Henderson prepared to inject me. I stopped her as she was about to begin, "Can we wait on Sebastian please?"

She looked at me with serious eyes, "Miss Martinez, this cannot wait. The longer we wait the closer the toxins get to your blood, we need to get rid of them quickly." I pleaded with my eyes, "Just a few more minutes, please." Dr. Henderson sighed, "Fine, two minutes."

I bit my bottom lip as I stared at the white door. How long does it take to get to a vending machine? Before I knew it, two minutes had already passed and there was no Sebastian.

"Miss Martinez we cannot delay this any longer."

I sighed and looked down, "Okay."

She used alcohol to wet a ball of cotton and rubbed it on a spot on my left arm, "This will just hurt for a little bit." I nodded and watched as the needle came closer and closer to my arm.

I can do this.

I can do this.

I can do this.

Just as the needle was about to pierce my skin the scene flashed before my eyes again and I slapped the needle out of Dr. Henderson's hands, "I can't do this!"