Many thanks to Sabrina06 for her advice on the medical issues. Assume any errors are due to my misunderstanding of what she said or my own faulty Internet research.

Timeframe: summer after sophomore year, age sixteen.

"Well, you're certainly raring to go this morning," Linda said, watching Phineas bolt down his breakfast.

"Isabella gets out of the hospital today," Phineas said between swallows. "I need to be there for her when she gets home."

Linda shook her head. "You'd think she was your girlfriend, with how much time you've spent with at the hospital with her." The girl from across the street had spent the past three days at Danville General Hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy.

"I was really worried about her, but we're just good friends still, Mom," Phineas responded.

"Friends who flirt outrageously with each other," Ferb added.

Phineas grinned. "Well, that's half the fun, isn't it? Besides, you flirt with Gretchen all the time."

"That's different," Ferb said calmly. "We're dating."

Phineas paced around the back yard, jumping every time a car came down the street. Finally, the familiar blue sedan of the Garcia-Shapiro family came around the corner. By the time it came to a stop in the driveway, Phineas had already crossed the street and was waiting to help Isabella out of the car.

"Well, aren't you helpful," Vivian said with a smile.

"Thank you, Phineas," Isabella said, taking his arm as he helped her into the house.

"Isa, why don't you rest on the couch, okay?" Vivian said, and Phineas led Isabella over, carefully seating her.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" he asked.

"Anything?" Isabella responded with a raised eyebrow.

He gave her a sly smile. "Well, anything I can do in polite company," he answered in a low voice.

"What would you do if we weren't in polite company?" she countered.

Blushing, Phineas laughed, conceding the point. One of these days, neither of us is going to flinch when we flirt like that. And then...

"Thank you for your help, Phineas," Vivian said, bringing in some pillows and a blanket for her daughter. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Certainly, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro," Phineas said, glad for the reprieve.

"I need to deal with an issue at work this afternoon; can you keep Isabella company while I'm out? It'd be from about two until three, maybe as late as four."

"I can do that," he said with a smile.

"For now, though, it might be good for you to let her rest, since you two tend to work each other up a bit," Vivian said, escorting Phineas out the door.

"I'll see you this afternoon," he said as he left. Walking across the street, he found Ferb waiting for him. "If only there were something we could do to help Isabella," he said to his brother.

Ferb rolled his eyes. "You could stop flirting and just ask her out. It's like you both keep playing chicken with each other's feelings, trying to see who'll back down first."

Phineas stopped in his tracks. "I know. We need to talk. But she's still recovering, and I don't want to stress her like that. I will talk to her about this, Ferb, but not right now. Right now, we need to try to get her better by letting her rest."

A sudden idea hit him. "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today."

Isabella was bored. Three days of enforced rest in the hospital had quickly run her out of interest in daytime television; even the larger selection of channels at home didn't help. She lay on the couch, thinking and idly petting Pinky.

"Pinky, should I talk to Phineas about this? We've been flirting for years, but recently I think he may be more serious about it. And...that doesn't sound bad to me. I might like to do more than just flirt with him."

The chihuahua looked at her as if he understood, and she laughed at the expression on the little dog's face.

"You're trying to tell me to just do this, right? If only it were that easy. I should at least wait until I'm better."

The doorbell rang, and Pinky hopped down as her mother answered it, letting Phineas in. "Thank you so much for this, Phineas. Try to let her rest, please, and I'll be back as soon as I can." She went out the door, leaving the two teenagers alone.

Isabella sat up; Phineas came over and sat next to her. He gestured to her empty water glass. "Would you like some more?"

"Actually, right now I'd like some ginger ale. There should be some in the fridge."

"Here, let's see if this works, then." He held out a small golden bracelet decorated with several glowing gemstones. "Let me put this on you..."

"What is it?" She looked up at him, wondering why he was giving her jewelry out of the blue.

"Just watch. Now hold out your hand with the glass in it, envision where the bottle is, and say what you want."

With a puzzled look, she held out the glass and said, "Ginger ale."

A faint electric *crackle* was audible, and the glass was filled with ginger ale.

Isabella looked at the bracelet in wonder. "What is it? A wishing bracelet?"

Phineas smiled at her. "Close. It's a teleporter. You think about where something is, and name it, and it'll teleport it to you. This way you can stay here and rest and still get something to eat or drink if you need to. It should safely work up to a hundred feet or so, and up to about twenty pounds. Probably more on both, but it'll drain your batteries faster. It's smart enough to try to put things into containers properly. Try something else."

Isabella thought about the bowl of grapes in the kitchen. "Grapes."

With a *crackle*, her hand had a bunch of grapes hanging out of it.

"That's really cool! Thank you, Phineas!"

"Anything for you," he said with a devious smile. "These four red gems show the power that it has left - it'll recharge over time from your body heat and arm movement. You can turn it on or off by pressing on this green gem right here."

"This is one of the nicest things you've ever done for me. And it's beautiful, too." She gave him a quick hug, then retrieved the remote control from the end table with a *crackle*.

Phineas looked as if he were about to say something, but couldn't quite bring himself to.

"I froze, Ferb," Phineas said that night. "It was a perfect opportunity to talk to her about...us...and I blew it. She said the bracelet was beautiful, and I should have said that she was too. Or that it suited her, then. Or..."

Ferb looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Go to bed, Phineas. Try again tomorrow."

"Right."

Tired, Isabella got ready for bed. It's going to be so nice sleeping in my own bed for a change, she thought.

She climbed under her covers; she was tired but not really exhausted, as everyone had kept her from doing anything all day. A little more recovery time and she'd be feeling human again. And then, maybe, I can talk to Phineas about getting more serious.

She looked at her new bracelet, gemstones shining in the darkened room. She should probably take it off overnight, but it was a present from Phineas. I'll just turn it off. She pressed the green gem until the lights on the bracelet all turned off, then pulled the blanket up to her chin and tried to go to sleep, thinking of the red-haired boy - so close, but so far away, in his room across the street. He'd spent so much time keeping her company in the hospital, trying to keep her spirits up when she felt her worst. She drifted off to sleep with him in her mind.

She dreamt of him, and what it would be like to do more than just flirt with him. Her hands slipped under her cheek; her wrists bumped together, jogging the green gem and powering up the bracelet.

She rolled over, dreaming of splashing with him in her pool. He dove down and came up next to her, taking her in his arms and tenderly kissing her. "Oh, Phineas," she murmured in her sleep.

*CRACKLE*

This probably would have been all one chapter, but I just couldn't resist a chapter break right here. Chapter two tomorrow.