On his way home, Charles dropped by a store, and bought fresh fruits to give to James. His face seemed to be getting brighter, but most of the time, he was always asleep. It was probably due to the painkillers he had to use. When he got home, he met James sitting up, and talking to Amelia. He was smiling. That made Charles feel slightly better. "Hey." He said, dragging a chair to sit next to him. James smiled at the sudden informality, which Charles used to speak with him. "Hi." He replied, playing along and Charles chuckled. "How's it been going?" He asked Amelia, and she smiled. "He's been doing fine. I think he's getting better. At least, his arm doesn't bleed anymore." She replied, and Charles gave a sigh of relief. "Here. I got you some fruits." He said, taking out the fruits he had bought. He picked a knife and a tray off James bedside table, went to the bathroom, rinsed it, and returned to James' bedside. "These fruits look great." James said, with his eyes on a large honey crust apple. Charles chuckled, and began to peel the apple. "Don't you worry. They're all yours." Charles replied, and James waited patiently for Charles to peel the fruits for him. The three of them talked, and eventually shared the fruits that were meant for James alone. Later that night, as Charles began to make plans on raising half a million dollars, he heard a hasty knock on his door. He turned, and got to his feet. The knock came again hastily, and before he could get to the door, it was pushed open. "I'm sorry!" Amelia blurted out, restlessly. She pointed down the hall, and tried to bring out words, but the words couldn't leave her mouth, instead, she kept on making gasping, restless sounds. She kept on pointing frantically and eventually screamed. "James' arm! There's a beeping sound!" She shouted, and Charles eyes widened. He ran so fast towards the room James was kept, and Amelia followed on his heels, still breathing hard. James was sitting up, holding his arm, with fear radiating in his eyes. "James!" Charles shouted, going towards him. "It's… it's beeping, I don't know why." James said, with his voice trembling hard. "Oh, please stop." He cried, and Charles took out his phone. He went through his contacts, but could not even find a single person to call. Instead, he called Vera. ~ Vera walked lazily to her apartment, and got in with eyes half-closed. She got to her room, threw her bag on the floor, and untied her hair, running her hands roughly through it. She took off her clothes, and fell atop the bed with a sigh. Her day had been rough. She had to manage Charles' appointments along with hers, and it had been tough. Just when she was about to doze off, her phone rang, drawing her back from the space she had been— in between consciousness and a dream. Vera jumped up, jolted by the unexpectedly loud ringing that had been so close to her ear. Then she sighed. It had been just her phone call. She brushed her hair back, and picked up the phone, answering tiredly. "Hel…" "Vera! Come over immediately. James' arm is beeping. What do you think we can do?" Charles voice came through, sounding rough and scared. "Wait what?" She asked. "The bomb… its making a beeping sound!" "Beeping? Wh…what? I'm on my way!" She said, jumping out of bed. She ended the call, and scrambled to her wardrobe, pulling out a pair of baggy trousers, and falling as she tried to tug them on hastily. James' arm beeping? That was frightening. Vera pulled a large cardigan around her shoulders, threw her phone into her pocket, and buttoned the cardigan, as she made it out of her house. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she had to be there at least. She got into her car, and turned on the ignition. Then she zoomed out of the driveway, driving crazily. She knew she was passing the speed limit, but she was only driving as fast as her heartbeat. If James or Charles died, she didn't know how she was going to handle it. She had only a few friends in her life, and even though they were business partners, She, Charles and James had come a long way. They had overcome a lot together, and had gotten closer than business partners should. Everything about Charles and James, she knew. All they required, hated and liked, she was aware, and she liked them being happy. Countless times, Charles had gotten hurt, but James rarely got hurt, so she wasn't sure how she was feeling. All she knew was that she hated the feeling. Finally, she got to Charles' house, and rushed in. "Ma'am, is there…" Martha, who had been taken aback by Vera's sudden barging in, asked with her eyes open wide. "I'm sorry. We just have a little problem." Vera replied, as she ran up the stairs. She got to the room James was in and rushed to him. "Are you feeling hot? Pressured?" She asked. "Uh… pressured, yes. Hot, no." He replied, with panic alive in his eyes. Vera held his arm, which still maintained the steady beeping, and turned to Charles, who was already calling Mr. Longman. "Don't you think we should take him to a hospital?" She asked. "The doctor said it's delicate and would fire up at the slightest provocation. Also, Longman wouldn't have put it in if he knew we could easily take it out. I'm calling him, but he's not picking it up." Charles replied, pacing around. "Damn him!" Vera screamed, and Amelia's tears began to fall hard. "Oh, shit." James exclaimed, and they all stopped. Charles' phone stayed glued to his ear, Amelia's mouth remained open, while Vera's eyes went even wider. The beeping got faster and higher. Like it was about to boom.