"Ugh..." Branch groaned softly as he began to stir from his long dreamless slumber, the little gray troll slowly starting to wake up...

His vision was blurry for a long moment as he opened his heavy eyelids for the first time in hours, the young boy looking around himself in slight confusion, not having a clue as to where he was... he just couldn't seem to remember anything...

Finally, as his vision slowly began to clear, revealing that the paranoid hermit was still in the hospital, Branch suddenly recalled everything that had happened right up to the moment where several doctors had been holding him down on his bed with great effort, one of them quickly strapping that strange mask over his face, the gasses spewing out of it causing everything to instantly fade to black...

"Ugh..." he groaned in discomfort, the poor boy trying to roll himself over so that he could hide his face from the bright light shinning intensely into his eyes by pressing the pillow he was currently resting on over his aching head...

     But... as he tried to move... he unfortunately realized something was holding him back... something that was gripping onto his right hand, making it impossible for him to turn onto his side...

     Looking to his right with half lidded eyes to see what had hold of his arm, the village grump instantly saw the young Princess sitting right by his side, the beautiful pink troll holding lightly onto his hand in a strangely comforting manner.

"Poppy?" he muttered softly, his voice a little horse as it cracked dramatically. "What happened?"

     "You were freaking out about a needle, so the doctors had to sedate you," she informed bluntly, gently stroking a stray hair out of his face.

     "Exactly why I hate hospitals..." he groaned, laying his head back onto his pillow as the injured troll's eyes slowly fell shut. "My shoulder hurts..."

     With his left hand, the survivalist grabbed firmly onto his shoulder as if trying to relieve the pain shooting through the deep lacerations from the wolf's ferocious bite...

     The wound had already been stitched up, and was now wrapped securely in an ace-bandage, but... that didn't really seem to help much...

"Do you need me to get a doctor?" Poppy asked in concern, her eyes sparking with tears of worry as she slightly tightened her grip on his strangely limp hand.

     "No..." Branch answered in a muttered whisper, his eyes still shut gently as he seemingly struggled to stay awake. "I'll be fine..."

     Blinking his eyes open once more after a few short moments of silence, the young gray troll looked back to his secret crush, the poor boy still seeming a bit out of it...

     Though he clearly wasn't loopy anymore, Branch's eyes were still extremely glassy, his voice slow and soft with some letters seeming to slur together when he spoke...

"Can I go home now?" he questioned hopefully, looking desperately at his best friend.

Hopefulness... an emotion he didn't have very often...

"Sorry, Branch," Poppy apologized, frowning slightly down at the gray troll. "The doctors want to keep you here for at least a few days. Just to make sure you're actually ok..."

     "Ugh!" Branch groaned loudly in pure frustration, the grumpy survivalist laying his head back into his pillow as he yet again allowed his eyes to fall shut. "Fine... but there better be no more needles..."

Looking down at her closest friend for a long moment of complete and utter silence... the young Princess slowly lowered her gaze to their two hands touching one another's...

     A strange sight indeed...

Yes... she had held his hand before... but the grumpy gray troll usually pulled away from her grasp whenever she did so. Now though... he made no efforts to escape her caringness...

     Poppy noted that it could simply be because he still had that sedative in his system, and wasn't completely himself yet... but... then again... what if it was because of something else... something... he had unknowingly told her earlier that day...

     "Uh... Branch?" she finally mumbled softly, the poor girl seeming slightly nervous as she spoke...

     At the sound of his love's voice, Branch forced open his eyes once more, the young boy looking to the beautiful pink troll he was somehow lucky enough to call a friend...

     "Do... do you remember anything... about after they put that medicine in you?"

     The paranoid recluse shook his head in response to the question he was being asked, looking to the young girl in slight confusion.

     "No..." he answered weakly. "Why?"

     Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, Poppy looked away from the gray troll's piercing blue eyes before finally continuing...

     "Because... because you said something, Branch," she explained, slowly turning back to look at him once more. "Something that I don't know if you meant... or... if it was just the medicine talking..."

     Confusion...

     "What did I say?"

     Poppy just sat there... staring at him for a long moment... the young Princess afraid to ask her question... afraid of the answer she might receive...

     Did he actually love her? More importantly... did she love him back...?

     It didn't even take a second for Poppy to answer her own question...

     Yes... she did. She loved him so much... she always had... and she always will...

     "You... you said..."

     She paused again, another uncharacteristic frown coming to her usually bright and positive face...

     Ok... she had now determined that she did indeed love Branch... but... what if he didn't love her back? What if it really was just the medicine talking when he told her that he did? The awful thought broke her heart, shattering it into pieces...

     "Poppy?" Branch questioned, cocking his head a bit in confusion. "What's wrong?"

     He could see the sudden sorrow plastered clearly on her bright pink face, and he didn't like it... at all... Honestly... he hated seeing Poppy sad...

     Was her despair because of whatever he said when he was all drugged up? What did he say to her that he couldn't even remember? Whatever it was... he was sure he didn't mean it...

     Finally, Poppy allowed a small smile to come across her face, the young Princess looking back to Branch with faked amusement...

     "You said... you said your thumb was missing," she explained with a light laugh.

     "My thumb?" Branch questioned, looking down at both his hands with a raised eyebrow.

     "Yeah," Poppy chuckled. "You actually said some pretty ridiculous things."

     "Oh..." the village grump muttered softly, looking back up at his secret crush with eyes filled with regret. "Sorry..."

     "It's fine," the young Princess assured kindly, lightly stroking the back of her secret crush's hand with her thumb. "It was actually quite amusing..."

     Branch opened his mouth to speak, the survivalist clearly wanting to say something, but...

     "Princess Poppy?"

     Poppy turned away from Branch at the sound of the sudden voice, the young Princess instantly seeing a doctor standing just behind her...

     "Visiting hours are over for the day," the medical practitioner informed calmly. "And Mr. Astinlake has some medicine he needs to take..."
"Ugh!" Branch groaned in protest at the sound of that horridly awful statement. "Not again!"

     The doctor looked to him, chuckling a bit at the village grump's reaction...

     "Don't worry," she assured soothingly. "This medicine is drinkable. No more needles."

     Branch sighed with relief upon hearing that affirmation, the young boy now completely relaxed with the knowledge he no longer needed to worry.

     "I'll come back to see you in the morning," Poppy promised, changing the subject as she gave Branch a gentle hug... a hug... that he surprisingly accepted...

     "Bye, Poppy," he said, hugging her in return, Poppy smiling at the warm feeling of her best friend's arms wrapped gently around her back...

     "Goodbye, Branch," she replied before beginning to walk away, a nagging thought eating away at her brain...

     How did Branch really feel about her? She needed to know... but... what if the truth... just broke her heart...