-Josh's POV-

I wandered aimlessly not knowing how far the hospital was from school grounds, reaching what seemed to be the heart of the town I spotted a shop that gave me hope, turning the handle I pulled open the door, my nose suddenly filled with a sweet aroma. The shop looked completely out of place for a small town. This was the type of boutique you would find in the city. Everywhere you turned, you were greeted with different assortments of candy. In the center of the shop stood a large ring of clear display cases housing brightly colored candies, cascading from the center of the ring and up onto the ceiling was what appeared to be dozens of gigantic swirled lollypops made from brightly colored glass...even the floor sparkled as if it were dusted with sugar.

"Wow." I said stunned, momentarily frozen in place.

"Hello there," piped a sweet voice from the back of the shop, I walked toward the voice to find a dark-haired woman who greeted me with a smile. "Welcome to Candyland." She said sweetly, I smiled.

"This is going to sound odd...seeing as how we have never met, but is your name Cat?" I questioned hopefully. The woman behind the counter seemed a little taken aback that I knew her name but nodded.

"Yes, it is. How can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off like a stalker, I am a friend of CeCe's, she mentioned Nick's girlfriend Cat owned a candy store in town so I figured...how many candy stores could this town have right?" I said, trying to ease her obvious discomfort. She nodded with a smile. "I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to the hospital...I'm new in town and I don't really know where anything is."

"Sure, the hospital is just ..." she started then paused, "Why? Are you sick? Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm fine, and yes, I should be in school it's just CeCe collapsed, and she is really the only friend I've made at..." I rambled.

"Wait! CeCe collapsed?" She questioned before grabbing her coat from behind the counter and rushing toward the front of the store, I waited for her to return before the lights in the shop turned out. "Well, are you coming or not?" She yelled. I followed her out the door and headed towards the car. "Get in," she ordered, clicking the lock release, and I quickly obeyed, holding on for dear life as she swerved out of the parking lot. She smirked in my direction. "So why hasn't Cee mentioned you to me yet?"

"Probably because I haven't known her that long. I just transferred to Chilton, and Cee is the first friend I've made, even though her brothers hate me."

"Don't worry about the boys. They're being protective brothers." Pulling into the hospital, she glanced over at me. "Any boy who skips school just to check on Cee has got my vote. Just have patience, and eventually, it'll all work out."

I followed her into the hospital and kept in step with her as she made her way towards the emergency room. She stopped suddenly, and it took everything in my power not to collide into her. I watched her whip her head around, panning the hallways until her eyes landed on the three Jonas professors.

"Nick!" Her voice carried as she hurried down the hallway into his awaiting arms.

I shuffled behind her, wanting to give the four adults some privacy before I made my appearance.

"What are you doing here?" I heard Professor Nick ask as he grabbed her hand.

She whipped around, looking at me. "He came into my shop looking for directions to the hospital . . .Cee mentioned to him that you were dating the candy shop owner, I asked him why he needed to go to the hospital, and he told me that Cee had collapsed."

The three professors waited until Cat stopped before looking over her shoulder at me. "Joshua, I told you to stay at school." Professor Joe said, his tone disapproving.

"I'll take whatever punishment my truancy earns me." I said, earning myself a glare. "I mean no disrespect, Sir, but I couldn't just sit at school and wait to hear an update."

"So my candy stalker's name is Josh." Cat said with a smirk, relieving some tension. "So how's Cee?" she asked as I came to stand beside her in front of the boys.

Joe and Kevin both shook their heads. "We haven't heard anything yet, but Nick has a theory on what might be going on."

Cat and I both looked towards the youngest Jonas brother before she asked the question that was both on our minds. "What's going on Nick?"

"The paramedic said she might be in DKA" Nick said rambling a term that neither Cat or I understood as we both looked at each other before turning our eyes back to him in confusion.

"What is that? Is it serious?" I questioned. Nick nodded.

"Diabetic Ketoacidosis...and yes, it's fatal if not caught in time." He explained.

"But...CeCe isn't diabetic...is she?" Cat questioned, still confused, "I mean...she never mentioned..."

"Her blood sugar was too high for a reading when they brought her in and diabetes would explain all her odd behavior lately." Nick sighed. "I just can't believe I didn't notice it sooner."

"It's not your fault." Cat said soothingly. "CeCe is a fighter, she's going to be alright." Nick's eyes were wet with tears and I could tell he had been agonizing over this since her arrival.

"So, no one has given you any sort of update yet? She collapsed almost an hour ago." I spoke up, furrowing my brows in frustration.

Kevin shook his head. "They said they would give us an update when they had her stabilized." I shook my head and pulled my cell phone from my pocket, dialing my least favorite person.

"Josh?" My dad answered, sounding concerned, "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," I said, covering the receiver to turn to Nick. "What is the name of this hospital?"

"Waldo County General." Nick said cocking his brow in confusion. I nodded uncovering the phone receiver.

"I need a favor," I said receiving a sigh from my dad.

"What is it Joshua, have you gotten yourself into trouble already?" I rolled my eyes.

"LOOK, one of my friends collapsed at school, the paramedic did a glucose test and she tested too high to get a reading and they mentioned ..."

"DKA" my dad said finishing my sentence.

"Yes, but she collapsed like an hour ago and no one is giving us any updates, we are just sitting in the hallway..." I said, my dad immediately gathering what my request was.

"What's the name of the patient and hospital?" he asked.

"CeCelia Jonas, she is 16, the hospital is Waldo County General." I said rambling off the information he needed.

"Give me five minutes," he said before hanging up the phone, I locked my screen before sliding my phone back into my pocket and brought my eyes up to meet those of Cat and my three professors staring at me in confusion.

"Ok...what was that?" Cat asked, the boys nodding in agreement.

"I called in a favor..." I said simply, "We should know something in a couple minutes."

Nick shook his head finding my statement assuming. "You can't just call in and get information on the status of an emergency care patient, they won't give that type of information out over the phone." He said confidently. I shrugged before my phone sounded and I quickly retrieved it from my pocket.

"Hey," I said accepting the call.

"They have her stabilized and are pushing isotonic fluids to get her rehydrated and are starting her on insulin therapy to reverse the DKA, she is not out of the woods yet though, from the sounds of it she is a very lucky girl." He said, his words giving me the first feeling of relief since her collapse.

I smiled, "Thank you."

"You are welcome, someone should be coming to update her family any moment, call me if you need me to rattle any more cages." I nodded.

"Ok, I will." I said with a smile before ending the call, again raising my head to see four concerned sets of eyes on me.