Callie bit back tears for the fifth time, squeezing the little Octoling's limp hand. As Marie glanced in the rearview mirror, her face softened.

"Cal, she's not going to make it. You do know that, don't you?"

Callie shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "No, she has to! We'll help her! She has to live!"

Silence followed her desperate words. Callie shifted in her seatbelt and pulled the girl to her chest. The girl's face was ashen, and her scrawny body was racked with shivers.

"Please...please live..." Callie whispered, pulling a car blanket out from under the driver's seat and wrapping the little Octoling in it.

Marie finally spoke. "Cal...in order for them to let her into a hospital, she has to look like an Inkling."

Callie slumped in her seat, realizing what a difficult situation this was. "Oh..."

"Don't give up, Cal. I have an idea, but it might not work."

"Tell me!" Callie gasped, flicking a few pink tears from her face and hoping Marie hadn't noticed.

"You have your makeup with you, don't you?"

"Of course...I always do."

Marie nodded. "Then we'll straighten her tentacles with tentacle spray, and use eyeliner or something to put the black eye marks on her. They might fall for that. Are you up for it?"

Callie considered this, her breath catching in her throat. "If it'll save her, then we have to try."

Her cousin nodded, then smiled at her. "It'll be okay, Cal. She has a chance."

She has a chance. As she began to apply the disguise to the girl's pale face, Callie clung to those words like it was a lifeline. In some ways, it was a lifeline – for the little Octoling girl, at least.

"You have to make it," Callie whispered to her.

The little girl didn't stir the entire ride. Her head rested limply on Callie's shoulder. As they drove up to the hospital, Callie hugged the girl gently.

"It's gonna be okay," she whispered, in case the little girl could hear her.

Marie gave her a reassuring smile as she parked in front of the hospital. "Let's go, Cal."

Callie lifted the girl easily, carrying her into the hospital. Marie thrust the doors open and spoke in a firm, hurried tone to the stunned employee at the desk.

"She needs help immediately. She was hit by a car near the outskirts of Inkopolis. I think she's going into shock."

A hospital bed was quickly rolled out, and Callie gently set the little girl onto it. She squeezed the girl's limp hand before the bed was rolled out, taking the Octoling away.

Callie watched them go, sadness and fear tightening in her chest. Would the girl live?

She and Marie sat down to wait, each lost in their own thoughts. They'd done everything they could...and now it was out of their hands.