Jaggedkit woke up to coughing. He opened his amber eyes and looked around the nursery, trying to see where it was coming from. However, each of the cats in the nursery slept soundly. He peered outside, seeing that it was just barely dawn and the coughing was coming from outside the nursery. The snow was still thick on the ground and the air was incredibly cold, Jaggedkit pressed against his mother and sister, trying to keep warm.

The coughing, however, continued and kept Jaggedkit awake. Where was it coming from? Who was sick? He looked at Maplekit who was sleeping soundly. It had been a moon since they played in the snow, and her sneezes only lasted two days, but Fawnsky and Mosswing were both unsure about sending them out again. Part of Jaggedkit wanted to complain about it, but the other part didn't want Maplekit, Robinkit and Elmkit to get sick. He rested his chin on his paws, and decided to just lie down until one of his denmates woke up.

It took a while, but Robinkit was the first one awake, she sat up with a yawn and looked down at her brother for a moment before smoothing down her fur. Jaggedkit sat up as well, getting her attention. Robinkit let out a purr and stepped over Elmkit who let out a snore, she laughed quietly and moved over to Jaggedkit.

"How long have you been awake?" She questioned as they sat near the entrance to the nursery.

"Since dawn." Jaggedkit replied, looking out into the camp. The coughing he had heard earlier continued, he noticed Robinkit's ears twitch.

"Is someone sick?" She questioned.

"I think so." Jaggedkit replied, still wondering who it was and if there more than just one. When Maplekit had her sniffles, Fawnsky and Mosswing educated the four kits about whitecough and greencough and the lesson had stuck with Jaggedkit, he wondered if it stuck with the others as well.

"I hope that whoever is sick is alright." Robinkit mewed, her voice somewhat sad. Jaggedkit heard rustling behind him and looked over his shoulder to see that Maplekit had woken up. She sat up, letting out a large yawn and looked at Robinkit and Jaggedkit.

"What are you two doing?"She questioned, her voice groggy.

"Just talking." Jaggedkit replied, padding over to his sleepy sister. "Sleep well?" He questioned.

Maplekit nodded. "I heard coughing." She said, looking at Robinkit and Elmkit. "Is someone in here sick?"

Jaggedkit shook his head. "Someone out there." He motioned towards camp. Maplekit looked out the nursery entrance, twitching her tail. After a moment she shrugged and looked over at Elmkit.

"He's so lazy." She said playfully.

"Coming from the cat who just woke up?" Jaggedkit teased. Maplekit snorted and shoved him lightly.

"I see you lot are awake now." A sleepy mew came from Fawnsky, she hadn't opened her eyes yet but she had a pleasant expression.

"Elmkit isn't." Maplekit replied. "Just us three." As if on cue, Elmkit turned over in his nest, letting out a groan. Robinkit trotted over to her brother and poked him in the side.

"Hey!" Elmkit jumped awake, hissing at his sister. "Rude." He grumbled before flopping back into his nest.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." Maplekit mewed. "We have things to do!"

"Like what?" Elmkit growled, covering his eyes with one paw.

"Kit stuff. We have games to play." Elmkit peered out from under his paw at Maplekit who eagerly faced him. With a growl, Elmkit sat up. His fur poked out in several directions.

"Do you fight badgers in your sleep?" Jaggedkit joked.

Elmkit sneered. "Yeah, and I win. Unlike you and your porcupine fur." Jaggedkit hissed at him.

"My fur is naturally spiky, you just wake up like that."He retorted, self-consciously trying to smooth down his spiky fur.

"Whatever." Elmkit yawned. Jaggedkit was still looking away when he heard a small cough. Jaggedkit realized that this time it was inside the nursery. All eyes turned to Robinkit who was coughing beside her brother.

Mosswing lifted her head, green eyes filled with concern for her daughter. "Robinkit? What's wrong?" She stood up, moving over to the red-brown she-cat.

"I don't know." Robinkit said between coughs. "My throat hurts, it started hurting last night but I thought it was just the cold."

"I'm going to get Sagefeather." Mosswing mewed, moving towards the nursery entrance. "I'll be right back." Mosswing vanished into the snow and Jaggedkit turned to Robinkit. There was fear and unease in her green eyes, Elmkit pressed against his sister and Fawnsky pulled Jaggedkit and Maplekit close.

Mosswing returned quickly with a fluffy gray she-cat beside her. The LichenClan medicine cat, Sagefeather. "What's wrong?" Sagefeather questioned, looking at Robinkit.

"Robinkit started coughing." Mosswing replied, her voice panicked.

"Coughing doesn't always mean greencough." Sagefeather replied, nudging Elmkit away as she looked at Robinkit. The medicine cat touched her nose to Robinkit's forehead and pulled away with a sigh that sent chills down Jaggedkit's spine. "She has a fever."

"What does that mean?" It was Elmkit who asked, he jumped to his paws and faced the medicine cat. "Don't you have herbs to treat her? She'll be okay right?"

"I have herbs, yes." Sagefeather replied. "But I don't have a lot of catmint, we have a lot of sick cats right now."

"Who's all sick?" Fawnsky asked, concern lining her mew.

"Patchfoot, Birdstar, Krestleflame, Breezefall, Daisypaw, Fieldpaw, and all three of the elders." Jaggedkit just now noticed the look of exhaustion on Sagefeather's face. That many cats were sick? He pressed against Maplekit who pressed back. After a few moments of tense silence, Sagefeather turned to Mosswing. "I'm going to take her to my den."

"What? You said that coughing didn't mean whitecough!" Mosswing complained, her eyes filling with pain.

"It doesn't, but in this case it does. Robinkit has whitecough and she needs to be in my den with me so I can watch over her and make sure it doesn't get worse. Also to make sure it doesn't spread to the other three kits." Sagefeather explained, Jaggedkit looked at Robinkit who looked terrified, the tiny she-cat was trembling.

"Can I come with her?" Mosswing questioned. "She needs her mother."

"So does Elmkit." Sagefeather snapped, silencing Mosswing. "I will take care of Robinkit, she doesn't need your milk but she needs herbs. You have another kit, don't forget about him. Keep him calm and take care of him in here."

"I'm going with my sister!" Elmkit hissed, stepping in front of his mother. "You can't take her from me."

Sagefeather sighed, then faced Elmkit. "Elmkit, listen to me." Her blue eyes grew serious. "You have to stay here, Robinkit will be best taken care of the in medicine cat den. Both Stormpaw and I can keep an eye on her and help her get better. It's not greencough yet, she has a chance to live." Sagefeather glanced over at Jaggedkit and Maplekit, then back to Elmkit. "You have two other kits in here as well who are just as scared for Robinkit. You need to be with them, and you need to take care of your mother while I care for Robinkit, okay?"

Elmkit lowered his ears and looked towards the ground. "Okay." He muttered, sounding defeated.

"Thank you, Elmkit." Sagefeather mewed softly.

"Don't worry, Elmkit." Robinkit mewed to her brother, causing him to look up at her. "I'll be okay, I know Sagefeather will take care of me."

"You will, won't you?" Jaggedkit suddenly spoke, he couldn't hide his fears about Robinkit any longer. He had heard the coughing in camp and it sounded bad.

"Of course I will." Sagefeather dipped her head. "It's my job, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that Robinkit lives."

"Thank you, Sagefeather." Mosswing mewed, her voice trembling. "Let me know if anything happens with her?"

"Of course." Sagefeather turned to Robinkit. "Are you ready? You can climb on my back so you don't have to walk through the snow."

Robinkit looked excited, or at least she pretended to as she climbed onto Sagefeather's back. The medicine cat stepped out of the den and both she and Robinkit vanished from sight, leaving the nursery in a sad silence.

"I shouldn't have let them go out into the snow." Fawnsky said sadly, breaking the silence.

Mosswing stepped towards her friend, touching her nose to Fawnsky's cheek. "I don't think that this happened because of that. It's been a moon since then and Maplekit only had the sniffles. Leaf-bare is a hard time to have kits." Her eyes grew incredibly sad. "I know Sagefeather will take care of her, and she will be okay."

The rest of the day went on very slowly, the kits didn't play. Jaggedkit stayed close to Maplekit, secretly grateful that it wasn't Maplekit who was sick, but he couldn't imagine how Elmkit was feeling. He hadn't spoke a word since Robinkit went with Sagefeather. "You lot should get some sleep." Fawnsky mewed. "Tomorrow we will ask Sagefeather about Robinkit."

Elmkit didn't respond. "I don't want to go to bed. Not without Robinkit, I can't sleep without her."

Jaggedkit watched as Mosswing picked up Elmkit, who seemed quite surprised. He looked at his mother as she placed him beside Jaggedkit and Maplekit. "Tonight, I think we all need someone to sleep beside." Mosswing laid down next to Fawnsky and the two she-cats pulled all three of the kits in close. Jaggedkit looked at Elmkit who had sadness deep in his eyes, he pressed against his best friend and the three of them laid down together.

Jaggedkit was surrounded by his friends and his family, but it still felt incomplete without Robinkit. He closed his eyes, trying to enjoy the warmth and closeness, praying to StarClan that when he woke up, Robinkit would be okay.