It had been a very eventful week at Atlas Academy for Teams RWBY and JNPR, along with Winter, Qrow, and Clover. This week in particular started off rather normally for Ruby Rose, but as the days went on, she learned the hard way that something was amiss. Well, she wasn't as in tune to her own body as she hoped she was, because the event in question really caused quite a scare for everyone aforementioned.

Monday

Ruby was a force to be reckoned with in the Atlas Training Room as she practiced her hand to hand combat with Oscar Pine on this Monday afternoon. Jaune was sitting on the sidelines keeping an eye on their Auras as they spared, proud of how far they had both come. Not even four months ago, Oscar had joined them quite unexpectedly but he was now a part of an ever-growing family of Huntsmen and Huntresses that were dedicated to saving the world from Salem. Ruby had also gone from a rather naive girl at Beacon to a blossoming team leader in just a year's time and he couldn't have been happier to call Ruby one of his closest friends.

"Keep your back straight, Ruby!" Oscar advised his sparring partner, "And don't forget to push off the appropriate foot when you cross!"

"Got it, Professor!" Ruby light-heartedly teased, a wide smile on her face.

Just before Ruby could attempt a right cross at Oscar, a sharp pain shot through her lower stomach, causing her to double over for a second. It was sudden enough to alert Oscar and Jaune, who quickly rushed to her side.

"Ruby, you okay?!" Jaune demanded while Oscar knelt next to Ruby and held her shoulders to stabilize her.

"Don't worry, Jaune, I'm okay," Ruby reassured, patting Oscar's hand to reassure him too, "I'm sure it's just period cramps."

"Well, if you're sure."

Oscar wasn't as convinced as Jaune was, but he kept his mouth shut so as to not upset Ruby. He'd seen Ruby when her cycle started and her cramps were not that bad at all. Sure, she got very cranky and snippy, but she was never in any severe or sudden pain. But, he had to make his opinion about the matter known to her in some way.

"Ruby, I honestly don't think those are just cramps," he said with an air of caution, "Cramps have never made you hit the floor in pain before."

"I promise you, I'm fine, Oscar," Ruby tried to reassure as Oscar and Jaune helped her stand, "Don't worry about it."

"Still, I think you should get checked out to make sure it's nothing serious."

Knowing Oscar wasn't going to back down any time soon, Ruby sighed and said, "Tell you what? If the pain comes back and is worse than before, I'll go to a doctor. How's that sound?"

Oscar knew that Ruby wouldn't budge from this and simple sighed as a response, "Alright. But the moment it comes back…"

"Go to the doctor, I know."

Jaune could only smile at the pair's interactions. There was never a dull moment with them in the same room, was there?

"Well," Ruby commented, snapping Jaune out of his thoughts, "Let's get back to it!"

Tuesday

"And then Sun, in all of his infinite wisdom, decided it was a good idea to try and drink the whole thing in one go!" Blake exclaimed as she told her teammates a story from her time in Menagerie, "I tried to warn him, but I didn't warn him quick enough! He had a massive stomach ache for almost an entire day!"

Laughter erupted from Ruby, Yang, and Weiss, but Ruby swiftly felt that familiar pain from the day before shoot through once again. Bending over to the point where she was almost on the floor, her teammates' laughter quickly died down and their expressions became full of concern.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, hurrying over to her sister, "Are you okay?!"

Panting to try and ease the pain, Ruby answered, "I'm starting to think that I'm not. This happened during training yesterday too."

"You need to go to a doctor, Ruby," Weiss said, her tone now mildly authoritative, "Especially since you said this has been going on since yesterday."

"I promised Oscar I'd go if it came back, so I'm going to do just that."

Yang helped Ruby to stand up, albeit Ruby was still a little hunched over, and guided her to the door. From there, Ruby dismissed Yang and addressed her team.

"Let JNPR know what's going on," she said, "I'll send a message when I get a confirmation on my condition."

"Be careful, Ruby," Weiss said as Ruby exited the room, her partner giving a small wave as a means to acknowledge what Weiss had said.

"I just messaged Jaune," Blake commented, "They're gonna be here in a second."

"Do you think Ruby can make it to the doctor on her own?"

"Ruby can power through anything when she's determined enough," Yang soothed, placing a hand on Weiss' shoulder, "I think she can make it to a doctor in time."

With each step she took, Ruby could feel her pain increasing slowly but surely, forcing her to clutch her stomach just to keep it at bay. She was now very well aware that something was horribly wrong with her and getting to a doctor was her number one priority. Especially because her vision was now beginning to get a bit blurry. In fact, it was so blurry that Ruby couldn't even make out Clover and Winter approaching until they were right in front of her.

"Ruby, I'm so glad I caught you!" Clover cheerily said, "I want to talk to you about tomorrow's mission."

Sensing something was horribly wrong, given away from Ruby's squinting, Winter said, "Ruby, is something wrong?"

"I need a doctor," Ruby managed to say before her pain returned ten-fold and made her collapse and cry out in excruciating pain.

Clover and Winter immediately knelt by her side, the former immediately pulling out his Scroll and making the call Ruby desperately needed. Winter allowed Ruby to rest her head on her lap as she tried in vain to ease Ruby's anguish.

"This Ace Operative Clover Ebi in need of immediate medical assistance!" Clover shouted, "Huntress Ruby Rose is having a medical emergency! We're in the hallway of the third floor dormitories! Hurry as quick as you can!"

Hanging up, Clover returned his attention to Ruby, who was now crying from the amount of pain she was in. Winter also looked distressed for not knowing how to help her sister's friend, which prompted Clover to place a hand of reassurance on her shoulder to try and calm her.

"Just hang on, Ruby," Clover said, "Help's on the way."

"Ruby hasn't sent anything yet," Weiss muttered as she paced across her dorm room, Team JNPR now with them, "I'm starting to get really worried."

"Maybe she ran into someone who could help and just forgot due to the pain?" Blake suggested.

"That's not like Ruby," Oscar disagreed, "She always lets us know when something's wrong. Always."

"Oscar's right," Yang concurred, "We need to go and see what's going on for ourselves."

"I'm afraid you can't at the moment," Clover interrupted, surprising the Huntsmen and Huntresses in the room.

"How's Ruby?!" Yang demanded, "Is she okay?!"

Sighing, Clover answered, "Your sister had to have emergency surgery. Turns out her appendix burst on the way to the doctor's office."

Everyone's eyes shot open in shock and horror. Sensing everyone was fearing the worst, Clover knew he had to calm the situation down before they began hounding him about Ruby.

"Don't worry, she's going to be okay. She's in recovery right now, but no one can see her yet."

The news may have been positive, but the group of Huntsmen knew that they had to see Ruby as soon as they were able. Jaune took a step forward and addressed Clover, determination in everyone's eyes as well as his own.

"Can you tell us where Ruby is?" Jaune asked, "We need to be there for her when she wakes up."

"That must've been horrifying for you," Qrow commented as he and Winter waited outside of Ruby's room to be allowed in, "I can't even imagine how Ruby was feeling either."

"I...didn't know what to do to help her," Winter admitted, "That's something I don't want to feel again."

"Sometimes, we're helpless when it comes to aiding those we love, Winter. Hell, I've had that feeling so many times in my life. It's never easy, but that's just how life goes sometimes."

Winter may not have been happy with Qrow's answer, but she knew he was right deep down. Not everyone could be saved in the long run, no matter how much she wished it could be the case. That was the life she chose, though, and that was the hard reality of her job.

"Hey, kids," Qrow quipped, gaining the Huntress' attention to Ruby's team and JNPR approaching them, Clover leading the group.

"Any word on Ruby?" Clover asked.

"Nothing yet. I guess the doctor's still making sure she's not gonna get an infection or something like that."

"Makes sense. Your niece was cutting it kinda close there."

"Clover, an appendix doesn't give a damn where the hell you are. It'll burst whenever it wants to."

The sound of a door opening garnered everyone's attention and prompted Qrow and Winter to stand up. Upon seeing the doctor, everyone glanced at him expectantly, hoping for more good news. He smiled warmly and responded to the group of adults and one child.

"Miss Rose is awake and alert now," he announced, everyone breathing a sigh of relief, "You can go in and see her whenever you're ready."

"I'm sorry I made you guys worry so much," Ruby said, her voice still quite groggy from the anesthetics.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo," Qrow reassured, patting Ruby on the head, "Just focus on getting better for our sakes."

Smiling weakly, Ruby glanced around and then frowned, "Where's Oscar?"

Jaune turned around and noticed the farmhand was no longer in the room, then answered, "I guess he wants to wait until we're out of the room to talk."

"He's gonna give me the "I-told-you-so talk, I know it."

"Ruby just got out of surgery," Yang complained, "He's waiting until NOW to make a move?"

"Think about it, Yang," Qrow replied, "Ruby's his best friend and she could've died had Clover and Winter not found her. Kid probably needs a minute to grasp that Ruby's okay and just needs some time to recover."

"I...never thought about that."

"Oscar's always cared for Ruby's well-being," Blake added, "From what Nora told me, he rushed to her aid at Haven when he saw she was knocked out."

"Most romantic gesture to date," Nora smirked.

"Guys, I'm still here," Ruby retorted, her voice betraying her annoyance.

"Let's give Ruby some space to breathe and rest," Weiss suggested, "She's had a real rough day."

"Weiss is right," Qrow agreed, "Ruby needs to rest for the time being."

Yang walked over to her sister and gave her a kiss on the forehead, which Qrow repeated, before helping to usher everyone out of the room. However, just as everyone left, Oscar entered the room, confirming Jaune's suspicion. As the young man shut the door, Ruby smiled at him in appreciation of the privacy he was giving them.

"How are you feeling?" Ruby inquired while Oscar sat down next to her.

"I should be the one asking that," Oscar replied.

"Well, you've probably been more worried than everyone else."

"Probably about as much as your uncle and sister."

Lightly chuckling, Ruby repeated, "Well, how are you feeling?"

"Honestly, like crap," Oscar admitted, "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to push you to do anything you didn't want to. Now I wish I had so this could've been avoided."

"Stop being yourself up, Oscar. You and I didn't know that this would happen, so don't blame yourself. All that matters is that I got help and that I'm here, albeit quite sleepy."

Oscar chortled for a second before replying, "Yeah, I know. I should probably let you rest. You need it after today."

Making the motion to stand up, Oscar was suddenly halted by Ruby grabbing his forearm and pleading with her eyes for him to stay. How could he say no to that? Smiling, Oscar sat back down and then pulled something out of his coat: one of her favorite comics.

"You gonna read me to sleep?" Ruby joked.

"Only if you're okay with it," Oscar cheekily quipped back.

"I can't say no to my comics, Oscar."

"Yang, chill out, okay?" Qrow said to his slightly fuming niece, "Oscar's not that type of kid. If anything, he's probably reading one of Ruby's comics to her."

"Did he have to shut the door, though?" Yang semi-demanded, "It's not that I don't trust him, but I really don't want him taking advantage of my sister in the state that she's in."

A prompt slap on the head from Winter silenced Yang in a heartbeat, "Quiet, you boob! Oscar's not going to do anything to Ruby and you know it!"

"Now you know how I feel," Weiss muttered.

"I'll check on them," Jaune volunteered, taking a couple steps forward and cracking the door open, "Guys, you might wanna see this."

Everyone piled around Jaune to get a peak, only to awe at the sight of Oscar laying next to Ruby, both asleep and the comic book forgotten on Oscar's chest. Qrow chuckled a little and began moving the group away from the door.

"Come on, guys, let them rest," he said, "The Gods know that they both need it."

As the group of friends exited the room, Qrow took one last look at the sleeping kids inside and smiled before turning off the lights and shutting the door. He knew Oscar well enough to know that he'd look after Ruby during her recovery and make sure she followed the doctor's orders. For him, that was more than enough reason to let the kids be. He had plenty of other opportunities to be a pest to Oscar down the line, but now wasn't one of those times. But right now, all he could do was give them the alone time that they needed and wanted, which was exactly what he was going to do.