was made of. "What is that?" asked Muk. "Blood," replied Balto. Stella promptly fainted. Picking himself up, Balto rushed over to see if Mika was still alive. He hoped that he was. Balto started nudging and licking Mika's face. Or at least what wasn't buried in the sand. Luk was able to carefully turn Mika face up, revealing the puncture wound on his forehead. The blood flow had slowed down, but the area around the wound was still red. Mika's face was almost ghost-white pale from the lack of oxygen. Luk then tried administering chest compressions, but wasn't getting any response. "Hey, there's a town up ahead!" Stella called out. It was just west of their present location. "Come on!" said Balto, although it sounded more like an exclamation. "We've got to get him to a hospital!" He shuddered to think might happen if he didn't get there in time.
Meanwhile, Mika's father, Toni, had made numerous trips around the Seward Peninsula looking for his runaway son. So far, he had no luck. His latest search so far was a disappointment. Eventually, he reached the same mountain where Mika had his nasty fall. His backpack was still there, and he couldn't ignore the sight of it. Toni found a open stretch nearby in which to land his plane. He immediately got out and ran as fast as he could to where the backpack was. Not finding Mika anywhere nearby, Toni concluded that he must be in town. Which is where he went next.
Nightfall had arrived by the time Balto, Boris, Stella, Muk and Luk arrived at the hospital in the nearby town, named Wales. They saw the name on the sign at the entrance of town. Hardly anybody was out and about at the time. When they got to the doorway, Muk and Luk suddenly realized that they all might get blamed for Mika's injuries, and that they should knock on the door and run. "Well, here we are," said Balto. "Alright, so we drop Mika off and get out of here," added Muk. "Why?" asked Stella. "Why would we do that?" "Because they might think we did this to him!" Muk responded in a panic. "Nobody is gonna think that," put in Balto. He then started pawing at the door. No one answered. Just then, Toni was seen in the distance approaching the hospital. Boris, Stella, Muk and Luk immediately took cover. Only Balto stayed by Mika's side, knowing there was no way that Mika could have been that badly injured because of him. When Toni saw Mika laying on the doorstep of the hospital, he really got worried and ran over to where his injured son lay unconscious. "What happened, boy?" Toni asked Balto. Toni immediately recognized Balto from Mika describing their first encounter and how Balto actually came to Mika's house to apologize to him for the accident that left Mika with that face laceration. Toni finally knocked on the door, which was immediately followed by an "It's open!" call. He opened the door carrying Mika in both arms. Balto followed them inside. Within one minute, Mika was taken back into the ER. Toni and Balto both waited in the lobby, hoping he would pull through.
Will Mika survive the night and recover from his injuries? Will Balto ever find out what the mysterious threat is? Find out in Chapter 6: Second Wind.

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