A New Start For You and I, Part 4

A New Start For You and I, Part 4

Setting: Outside the Club Penguin Hospital
Date: March 4th, 2015
Time: 3:59 AM PST
(Point of View: Franky)

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I have declared many times that I suck at running. In most instances, that is true. But tonight, I have discovered that it is not always true-- when I’m running for an actual purpose, I can be very fast. It all depends on what your motivation is.
And my motivation right now is a pretty good reason to run like my life depends on it.
Cadence had been rushed to the hospital, and I had followed as fast as I could. Stompin’ Bob, G-Billy, and Petey K were accompanying me, but I was outrunning them by a longshot. This is my wife we’re talking about, and she is way too young and beautiful, in all aspects of the word, to have anything happen to her.
I arrived at the front doors of the building so full of adrenaline and panic that I wasn’t even out of breath. Arriving in pursuit of me, Stomp held the door open for Billy and Petey, but I didn’t wait for them to cross the room. I know they’ll understand.
As I stood in front of the front desk waiting for the penguin to notice me there, I was reminded of a time a lot like this almost four years ago when I had to follow Cadence to the hospital. Then, she got shocked by the sound system in the Nightclub and almost… almost…
I shuddered and shook my head, lightly rapping my flipper on the top of the desk. “Excuse me?”
The employee’s head shot up. “Yes, could I help you?”
“I’m h-here to see Cadence J-Jones,” I stammered-- now it was getting a lot harder to breathe. “Is she-- h-has she b-b-been checked in y-yet?”
“Cadence Jones…” she mumbled under her breath, scrolling through her computer. “Yes, she was admitted five minutes ago.”
“I’m her h-husband,” I explained. “C-Can I see h-her?”
She nodded. “Sure, she’ll be in urgent care right now, second floor. Just walk right in.”
“Thank y-you.” I pushed off the desk for momentum and took off towards the elevator across the room.
Stomp fell into step next to me and said, “Hey, buddy, you need to relax. She’s going to be fine. I’m sure it’s just exhaustion.”
“Yeah, b-but I d-don’t like hospitals,” I murmured, stopping in front of the elevator and pressing the up button. When it took longer than five seconds, I shook my head and waddled to the door to the stairs. Another rush of speed hit me as I took the two flights that led me to the door to urgent care. I could hear the three of them close behind me, but didn’t bother looking back. I know they’ll be there when I need them.
I’ve only been to the hospital’s urgent care department once before, and it was because I broke my flipper and needed to get a cast as soon as possible. That was shortly after I joined the band almost nine years ago. The place has changed a lot. There’s more technology, and even at this hour of the morning, it seems crowded-- but maybe that’s just because I’m having a panic attack.
There was one penguin at the desk, so I waited impatiently behind them until they left and it was my turn. “Hi,” I said to the secretary. “Can y-you tell me wh-where C-Cadence Jones is? She j-just got here a f-few m-minutes ago and I’m--”
“Slow down,” interrupted the penguin. “She’s down the hall to the left.” Pointing her flipper towards the door that leads out of the waiting-room, she continued, “What’s your relation to her?”
“We’re m-married.” I lifted my left flipper to prove it.
“I’ll get you a nurse escort as soon as I can, but you’ll have to wait a few minutes. She was just admitted. They don’t allow any visitors until ten minutes have gone by since admission.”
I took a few deep breaths and nodded. “O-Okay.”
I stepped to the side and leaned against the wall, looking down at my gray-and-purple sneakers. Relax, Franky. She’s going to be fine. Chill out. C’mon, don’t freak out.
A flipper on my shoulder startled me, and I looked up to find Petey standing there, with Stomp and Billy close behind him. “Do you wanna sit?”
“I don’t see h-how that’s g-gonna help,” I replied, shaking my head. “I n-need to--”
He turned around and looked at Stomp and Billy, then back to me. “C’mon,” he said. “I think you need to sit down.”
Reluctantly, I let them lead me over to one of the chairs and sit me down. Once seated, I put my head in my flippers and took a few deep breaths. “Alright,” I said to myself. “Th-This is nothing. Sh-She’s going to b-be fine. Stop f-freaking out. She’ll b-be fine.”
Petey must have heard me talking to myself, because he knelt down to meet my eyes and said, “Franky, there’s no need to worry. She was exhausted. She probably just needed some rest or something and the need for sleep got to her before she could get to bed.”
“B-But when h-have you ever heard of th-that happening to s-someone?!” I cried.
“Buddy,” he said, his voice strained and desperate. “Look at me. You’re overreacting. Things are going to be okay. I promise.”
I let out a breath and nodded, then closed my eyes and rocked myself back-and-forth. Someone rubbed the back of my neck, but I wasn’t sure who it was, and didn’t look up to see. I stayed there for however long it took for the nurse to get here, and only when Petey said my name again did I look up.
“Franky?”
There was a lady clad in scrubs standing over me, and she looked very concerned, though I wasn’t sure of the cause of her expression.
“Is she okay?” were the first words out of my beak.
“She’s fine,” she replied with a soft laugh. “Come with me.”
I breathed a long sigh of relief and stood up, turning to Stomp.
“Wait here,” I said.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere.”
I nodded, then turned back to the nurse, following her as she led me to the doorway.
We waddled down the hall lined with doors, and after a second, I asked, “What was wrong with her?”
“I don’t think that’s my place to tell you,” she replied, her face in a smile that I couldn’t quite figure out.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, but just then, she stopped in front of a door and opened it up.
I was surprised to see Cadence sitting up on one of those little bed things you sit on at checkups, looking perfectly fine, if not slightly drained of energy. She was smiling and alone, and there was no medical equipment hooked up to her-- in fact, she looked like nothing had happened at all. In her flippers was a piece of paper that kind of looked like a photograph.
“Hey,” she said to me as I entered.
“Cadence,” I said, not hesitating to cross the room and give her a tight hug. “What happened?”
She chuckled and let go of me. “Well-- sit down.”
I looked around confusedly and located a stool against the wall. I rolled it over to myself and sat down on it. “Okay. Sitting.”
“Good.” She smiled cutely and pushed a piece of her hair out of her face. “So… I have some news.”
“Alright,” I replied, scooting the stool closer to her seat. “What is it?”
“You know how…” She reached out and took my flipper. “You know how we thought I had the flu?”
“You don’t?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
“No,” she replied with a laugh. “No, it’s a little bigger than that.”
“Are you really sick?” I widened my eyes.
“No, Franky, I’m fine.” She held the picture out to me. “This should explain.”
I took it and turned it over, glancing down at the image. It was obviously a copy of some kind of a scan, but in terms of medical knowledge, I’m an idiot, so I really had no idea what it was. A white oval-shaped space sat in the middle of a larger black space.
I looked up at her for an explanation.
“Franky, we’re having a baby.”

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