I'm looking for another experienced author that will co-produce "Surprised?" with me. If you have any experience at all and are thinking of joining me, P.M. me and I'll pick at the beginning of October. Thanks.

Some of the other chapters have really been a mess, so sorry about that. I'm still learning the correct way to write.

The chapters from now until the end of May 2014 will be produced more sporadically because of schooling, etc.

Oh, and this chapter will be a bit longer than the usual. I owe you guys that.

Chapter 5.

I could feel the heat of the sun's rays through the window blinds as I woke up. I was momentarily blinded by them.

Where am I? God my head hurts...and my foot too.

Oh, yeah. I'm in the hospital. And Finn...?

Finn wasn't in his bed, where he should have been. As far as I'd known he wasn't cleared by his doctor to leave.

"Finn?" I whispered. "Finn?" I frowned.

I slowly rose up from the seat, my legs still asleep. I do hope they give me crutches before I leave.

I sit on his bed. His IVs were still there, they looked like they had been messily thrown off.

That's strange.

I reach over the right side of the bed to the wall, where a button labelled "call" had been affixed. With a light tap, the small speaker dextral to the button came to life with a buzzing noise.

"Is there anything we can help you with?" the speaker announced.

"Has patient Finn Mertens been cleared to leave?" I asked.

"I don't have that information, but I'm able to check for you. Is the patient requesting a checkup?" the nurse asked.

"Uh..." Maybe telling them about his sudden disappearance would be a bad idea. "No, thank you."

"Alright then, I will be right back with you after I check with the doctor." she said, then the microphone cut out.

He'll be back any minute, I'm sure.

I walked to the window, my foot itching with each step, then opened the blinds. It was slightly dark out, the skies were overcast. Light came in nonetheless.

I sat back into my chair and brought my injured foot across to sit on my other leg, and inspected it.

It didn't hurt all that much, to my surprise. I mean, I suspect it wasn't bothering me earlier because I was distracted (and knocked out), but even now it wasn't so bad.

Not many painkillers will work on me, partially because my blood can't carry much alcohol (and only half the amount of oxygen that full blooded humans' blood can carry).

I'll make a side note to myself that I should check for nerve damage later, when things settled down.

And what was up with Guy? I thought we left on good terms...

The silence is broken by a knocking at the door. The door is hidden by a room divider, to injure the patients' privacy.

"Hello?" I call out.

I wait for a response. No one answers.

I'm beginning to feel paranoid... Maybe they were just at the wrong door. My emotions have been acting up lately...

I'm jolted from my thoughts as the door is quickly pushed open. I freeze up, waiting for whoever it was to walk into view.

"Peebs!" a voice calls out from behind the divider.

"Finn?" I smile, greatful to hear his voice for the first time this morning.

"Join me in the Café!" He exclaimed childishly.

I smiled.

"Okay!" I mocked. "I just need to change and I'll be out." The door closed.

The door was reopened.

"Top flooooor!" He said, his voice dissipating as he walked away. The door automatically closed again.

I looked down at myself. My outfit consisted of aqua colored sweats provided by the hospital, and a light grey jacket that was brought to the hospital by someone.

I don't have a change of clothes, so I call the main office and request clean ones. A few minutes later, a nurse knocked on the door with clothes in a plastic bag.

I thanked him, and turned my back to him.

"You requested information about patient Finn Mertens?"

I nodded, now facing him. "Has he been granted clearance?."

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry, not yet. He has to stay the rest of the week, at least. Doctor's orders."

I sighed. "That's okay. Thanks."

He set some crutches down beside me, resting them on the bed, then closed the door and walked off. I went into the bathroom and changed into whatever they brought me.

I emerged a minute later wearing aqua shorts and a lighter hospital branded racerback tank top.

I left my jacket, along with my old clothes, in the bathroom. Then I proceeded out the door on my supports and into the hall, to the right.

The elevators were along this hallway. I pushed the button and waited patiently. I have time, don't need to be there right away. He can wait.

Finn...seemed really happy this morning. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, just that...he's made a pretty quick recovery. Faster than I thought he would've. We've only been here for two days!

He's a strong kid...or, adult, I suppose.

The elevator doors open after a ding!. I wait for two people to leave the car, then I walk in and press the button to the highest floor, floor 12.

The ride lasted for about a minute, not stopping on any other floor. No one else was with me in the car.

As I leave the elevator I see a large garden area with seating areas, a small Café, bathrooms, and a...spa? There was no coverage, no roof. Just a glass wall surrounded the large rooftop area.

It all looked serene, beautiful. I could feel myself smiling as I took in my surroundings.

After I was done gazing, my eyes drifted to Finn sitting at a small table in the garden.

He was in new clothes, but they looked the same as the ones I was wearing before, sweats. He had a groggy look on his face, like he still wasn't up yet, despite his tone earlier.

I walked over to meet him, still smiling . When I got to the table, I noticed there were two coffees sitting on it, and another seat across from Finn.

He smiled at me as I sat down and placed the crutches against my chair.

He took a swig of his drink.

"Bought you a coffee." He said still smiling.

"Thanks." he nodded. "I didn't know you liked coffee." I said with minimum curiosity, still gazing about the garden.

"Yeah," he replied soberly "I don't drink it that often now."

I hum in response.

"I don't either...except when I pull all-nighters, science experiments, breakthroughs, discoveries, you know. The business." I frown.

"What's the matter?" he asked, his arms resting on the table now.

"It's nothing, just thinking." I said tiredly, still thinking about it.

"I understand. Sometimes my job really bores me." He said, referring to heroism as a job.

"W-what makes you think it bores me?" I asked.

"Well, being a scientist isn't easy. It has to get boring sometimes." he inquired.

I shook my head. "You don't know what you're missing out on then." I laughed.

"Do I?" he said jokingly

I sighed, thinking of what to say next.

"Yeah, I've seen injuries that would really make you curious." I said, shaking my head.

"I've come to expect those thing when I come to the Candy Kingdom." he said.

"Heh, yeah." I laughed

I relax back into my chair and take another sip of my coffee.

"It's nice up here." I commented, catching his attention.

He nodded.

"This is the first time I've been up here. I don't visit the hospital very often." he said, still a bit sleepy.

"That's a good thing, I suppose." I reply with my eyes closed, feeling lightheaded.

He hummed, leaning back into his chair and mimicking me.

"So," he started, "how have you been feeling? I see you have crutches." he asked, seeming relaxed as well.

"Pretty good, I'm surprised." I replied.

He seemed unsure of my answer.

"Your surprised? Don't they always give you painkillers or something?" he asked curiously, looking at me.

"Yeah, um...I can't really use painkillers." I shrugged.

"Are you allergic?" he reasoned.

I laughed.

"No, I don't have many allergies. It's just that my blood isn't as able to carry as much as yours. Because I'm only half human, I have some qualities of candy people and some qualities that only humans have." I said.

He nodded and seemed to understand.

The air thickened with silence, although he didn't seem to mind.

"Hey," I said "you wanna check out the rest of the building?" I asked, hoping he would consider.

He nodded. "Yeah, I've only been here once before, so you're going to have to show me around." He said.

I nodded, smiling as we got up from our seats. We threw our drink containers away and walked together back to the elevator that brought us here.

The next chapter will be posted sometime after I finish my 2-shot and add another chapter to my other story.