Invader Tak (DATR)

Chapter 4

Ambulances, cars, and police vehicles surrounded the school. Tak explained to the officers what had happened, and they all jotted down notes in their small notepads. It was all Torque's doing—he had brutally assaulted Dib, who then stabbed him twice in the chest. Tak was crying as she recounted the events. When the paramedics arrived with a stretcher, she asked if she could accompany Dib, and they agreed. Just as she was about to leave with him, she heard Gaz's voice, "What the hell happened to my brother!?" Gaz came running towards her.

"Your brother was beaten to a pulp by Torque over here," Tak replied, gesturing towards the boy who was just regaining consciousness but was immediately tackled to the ground by the officers. "You are under arrest," the cops said, placing handcuffs on Torque's wrists before lifting him to his feet and walking him out of the school.

"I stopped him before he could cause any more damage," Tak added. Gaz then hugged her, thanking her. "Thank you for saving my brother. If you hadn't stopped him, this would be a whole different situation right now," Gaz said. Tak nodded, then left the school to go with the paramedics to be with Dib. Once she was in the ambulance with him, the vehicle roared to life, turning on the sirens as they headed straight to the hospital.

When they arrived, Tak had to stay in the waiting room while the doctors performed multiple treatments on Dib to prevent the stab wounds from worsening. After two to three hours, one of the doctors came in and told her, "You can come see him if he's awake." She quickly nodded and followed the doctor to Dib's room. When they reached the room, the doctor opened the door for her.

Tak's heart skipped a beat when she saw him. Dib was wearing an oxygen mask and had an IV bag attached. There were two large bandages on his chest where the stab wounds were. "Oh, Dib," she whispered as she slowly walked over to his side, gently grabbing his hand and rubbing it. She then leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay right here until you recover fully." With tears in her eyes, she gently laid her head on his shoulder, softly crying.

After a few minutes alone with him, Professor Membrane and Gaz came to see him as well. The professor looked at his son and then back at the girl who had saved him from near death. "I want to personally thank you for saving my son. If you hadn't stepped in, we would've witnessed a tragedy," the professor said gratefully.

"You're welcome," Tak replied. "I just didn't like seeing your son being bullied. It was my first day at this new school, and I didn't really know anybody until I met him. Everyone was telling me not to sit with him, saying he's crazy and everything else, but I didn't care. We connected really well and chatted a lot, especially in the cafeteria."

"Well, I never got your name. I'm Professor Membrane, Dib's father," the professor introduced himself.

"My name is Tak. I'm from the UK, but I recently moved here to the United States," she replied, introducing herself to Dib's father.

The room was quiet for a moment until Tak decided to speak up. "I was thinking about staying with him for the night to look after him, if that's okay with you, Mr. Membrane?"

The professor laughed and replied happily, "Of course, you can stay with my son. He's going to need you."

Tak nodded, smiling. "I'm just glad his bully is going to be brought to justice and that he won't be able to do something like that to anyone else again," she said.

"Thanks, Tak. I'm really thankful you saved my brother," Gaz added, giving Tak a hug before leaving with the professor.

Once it was just the two of them again, Tak looked back at Dib with a smile. "I'm not going anywhere, Dib. I'll sleep here if I have to," she whispered, then gave him a small kiss on his forehead.