"Greg?"

"Greg, can you hear me?"

"Is he okay?"

"Greg?"

"Greg!"

Greg cracked open his eyes and blinked quickly against the harsh bright lights above him. He moaned and rubbed at the sleep away, looking around properly and seeing two familiar faces on either side of him.

"Mum?" He said croakily, grinning at his mother.
She nodded and smiled tearfully down at him, saying,

"Yes, it's me darling. How do you feel? Are you alright?"

"Umm," Greg sat up and saw that he was lying in a crisp white bed. He considered his mother's question. "Yes," he said. "I feel fine. Where am I?"

"Hospital, son," said his father, sat on his other side. Greg saw two doctors stood nearby, but apart from that, the ward was empty. "D-do you remember what happened?" Asked his father.

"...Erm... a little," Greg thought hard. "I remember Wirt being cross with me, and finding my frog, but then... Just cold. Deep, icy cold."

"Hi there," said one of the doctors, a young man with fair hair wearing a white coat and a simpering, sympathetic expression.
"My name's Doctor Sinder, I've been looking after you Greg. You were recovered from a freezing lake last night."

"Ooh," Greg said.

"Do you remember anything else at all?" Asked Sinder.

"No... Why?" Greg asked.

"Well," Sinder looked anxious. "Greg, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you."

"C-can I?" Greg's mother said, and her voice broke.

"Ah, of course. I'll give you a moment," Sinder said, and backed away.

"Alright, what's the big idea?" Greg said suspiciously. "Nothing gets past my keen, attentive analysis skills. The game is up! Spill your secrets!"

"Greg," his father placed a hand on Greg's bed. "Please calm down. It... It's difficult, I-"

"It's Wirt."

His mother was crying silently. Greg frowned.

"Yeah, where is that brother o' mine?"

"He... He's missing. When you were found in the lake... You were alone, which makes no sense because you and Wirt were together, and you were safe-" his mother's eyes were wide and a little wild. "And Wirt might have left you in the lake, but he wouldn't have- not ever- so he must have got out and got lost, and-"

Greg's father stopped her with a hand on her knee. She sat with her hand over her mouth, her eyes closed and thick tears streaming down her face, rocking backwards and forwards.

"The doctors and the police need to know everything you can remember so that maybe we can find Wirt. Or... Or his-" His father faltered.

"What?" Greg asked.

"His body."

Greg gasped.

"Oh, no, Dad, Wirt's the strongest and cleverest boy alive! There's no way he's been separated from his body," Greg reassured his father.

"Greg, we need to prepare for the worst. I know it's difficult... I know, but the most racional explanation of why he's missing is that he... He's dead. He might be dead. And if he is, then we need to be prepared."

"No!" Greg shouted. "He isn't dead! You don't know what you're talking about. My brother is the bravest person in the world. He wouldn't have let a little water stop him from getting us home!"

"Greg," intercepted Sinder, coming back slowly and carefully, like a rabbit approaching a dead fox. " Once in the water, panic, hypothermia and drowning are all difficult challenges to overcome. Although we fortunately found you and you are now safe and well, you were both still in grave danger. Hypothermia quickly develops, which means your body loses heat faster than it produces it. We don't know what has happened to Wirt, but if he is still in that lake, then I'm sorry to say that there is no hope. None at all. When the human has been submitted to temperatures below zero for a number of hours, it starts to shut down. I'm sorry, Greg, but we have to be realistic."

Greg looked at his hands. He didn't say anything for a long time, but then he murmured, very quietly,

"You're wrong."

Sinder looked shocked.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're wrong. Wirt is stronger than you think. If he can beat the Beast, then he can get out of that ice. He saved me..." Greg shut his eyes. "Now he needs to be saved."

"What do you mean Greg?" Asked his father, looking worried. "Search parties have been out all night. There's no sign of Wirt in the lake."

"He isn't in the lake," said Greg.