Yakko watched Wakko as he lay in the hospital bed, listening to his shallow breathing and the slow, uneven beeping of the heart monitor. Each sharp sound seemed to be mocking him, reminding him of how helpless he was. Yakko glared down at the white blotches covering Wakko's skin. It was kind of pointless to be mad at things that weren't alive, but all he knew was that they were causing someone he loved terrible pain, and that was reason enough for him.

As he watched him, Yakko found himself thinking back to the night Wakko had that nightmare… no, bad dream, before all this started. He remembered what he'd said.

A nightmare takes away what you love most and makes it seem like it's really happening. If that was the case, maybe this was a nightmare. It certainly felt like one. Yakko closed his eyes for a minute as tears began stinging in them. If this was a nightmare, he wanted nothing more than to wake up right now, and have Wakko be okay again.

A sudden sob made him look at the corner of the room. Dot was sitting curled up on the chair, her head in her arms. She hadn't made a sound up till then. Before he could say anything, she slid off and hurried out of the room. Yakko glanced down at his brother to make sure he was still sleeping, and then quickly followed. His sister was standing in the hallway, trembling as she cried into her hands. Yakko approached her slowly and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Dot…" he said gently. She stiffened, and then buried her head further.

"I can't," she whimpered. "I can't do this." Yakko sighed and pulled her into a hug. He knew how hard it must be for her to see this; Wakko was as much her big brother as he was. They might fight a lot, but he knew they still loved each other very much.

"I know, baby sis," he said, trying to control the tremor in his voice. "I know." He kept holding his sister as she cried into his shoulder. When he felt her sobbing lessen, he drew back, his hands on her shoulders.

"I know this is really hard," he said. "But we can't let it get to us now." Dot's head snapped up, and Yakko was stunned by her face; it was a frightening mix of grief, anger, and terrible fear. Then she pushed away and started storming down the hall.

"Dot, wait!" Yakko called. "We can't just leave!" His sister whirled around glaring, her fists clenched.

"He's the one who's leaving!" she snapped, tears spilling from her eyes.

Yakko stood frozen to the spot as she ran away. Suddenly his legs started shaking and his eyes burned; he shut them and clenched his fists so hard that they shook, trying desperately to hold it together. Just then, he heard a weak, scared voice from the room behind him.

"Yakko… Dot? W-where… are you?" Quickly wiping his eyes and gulping down his fear, Yakko hurried back inside. He couldn't break down. Not just because he had to be there for his siblings, but because he was scared to.

"Right here, Wakko," he said reassuringly. "Doing okay?" He couldn't help smiling bitterly at the sound of that word. It was supposed to mean 100 percent fine, but not now. In this situation it meant here, stable, alive at least for now. Wakko smiled shakily, but then his face fell a little as he looked behind his older brother.

"Wh-… where…" Yakko swallowed and managed a smile.

"Don't worry, she'll be back," he said as he sat on the bed, silently hoping he wasn't lying. Wakko looked up at him with dull, sad eyes.

"I-is she… mad?" Yakko tried to answer, but found himself at a loss for words… shocking for anyone who knew him. Wakko looked down.

"I… I'm sorry…" he said before shivering slightly. Yakko sighed heavily; he didn't want Wakko to be any more miserable than he already was, or to blame himself for this mess.

"Hey, it's not your fault," he said gently. "And Dot's not mad." He couldn't stop his voice from breaking a little as he added, "She's just scared for ya." After a moment, Wakko looked up and smiled slightly.

"Me too," he rasped, only half joking. Yakko felt a hard lump in his throat and knew he had to change the subject.

Don't cry… don't cry… He cleared his throat.

"So, how ya feel?" he asked softly. Wakko started to answer, but was cut off when a violent shudder ran through his body. He gasped and his breathing grew even heavier than before; the heart monitor began beeping faster. Yakko froze, sick with terror; his mind was screaming to do something, but he couldn't move; he could barely even think. Thankfully, the spasm passed quickly and Wakko slumped back, wincing and trembling as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Wakko?" Yakko asked, not bothering to hide his terrible worry. Wakko shuddered again and seemed to shrink a little before looking up. Yakko's heart broke when he saw the tears glistening in his brother's eyes. He was trying so hard to be brave, but the pain in his body was obviously unbearable.

"It… it hurts…" he whimpered, then moaned and tensed.

"Shh…" Yakko said soothingly, hoping that he could offer some comfort with his voice, even if he couldn't hug him. "It's okay, little buddy. It's gonna be okay."

Finally his heart rate slowed again, and Wakko relaxed a little. Yakko sighed in relief, then remembered something and reached into his pocket.

"Hey, Wak…" Wakko looked up at him, and Yakko pulled out his familiar red cap. He couldn't help chuckling when his brother's face lit up. Yakko smiled back at him as he placed it on his head, slowly and carefully so it wouldn't hurt him.

"Ran home and grabbed it the other day," he said. "I thought y' might need it." As he drew back, Wakko shakily reached over and laid a hand on his arm. He winced slightly as he did, but his eyes were shining.

"Th… thanks," he murmured weakly. Yakko felt tears fill his eyes, but shook it off as best he could.

"You're welcome, sib," he said softly. He wasn't going to give up hope until his brother got better, or…

No. Don't go there. It won't happen… it can't.

"Get some sleep, it's pretty late," he said out loud, trying to sound as normal as he could. Wakko smiled wryly; Yakko could tell that deep down, he knew this was something no amount of rest could fix. But he just nodded and closed his eyes. Swallowing hard as the lump rose again Yakko reached over and pulled the covers up a little further.

"Night, Wak," he said softly, as if this was any other night. "See ya in the morning." He bit his lip; that last statement had come out sounding more like a plea. Slowly, Wakko opened his eyes a little, the previous fear suddenly gone.

"I… love you…" he whispered. Yakko felt his eyes burn even worse and his throat grew so tight that he couldn't answer; he wanted so badly to wrap his arms around his brother, but he just couldn't. He could only watch as Wakko drifted back into unconsciousness. Very gently, he brushed a hand over his cap.

"Love you too," he managed to say. "Just keep fighting, okay?" Suddenly, something splashed on his gloved hand. He closed his eyes tightly, letting the tears fall freely. As much as he wanted to avoid it, the horrible truth was burning him.

His little brother was dying, and there was nothing he could do.

….

Dot sat in the empty waiting room, fuming, her mind spinning. First she wondered why she was mad, then what she was mad at, and what there even was to be mad at. Fate, destiny, whatever was inside her brother that was making him so sick… And all the time, she felt tears dampen her fur.

Why is this happening? Why him?

Suddenly, she sensed someone standing in front of her. She looked up, thinking it was Yakko, but was startled to see one of the human doctors on the toon floor.

"Are you okay, honey?" she asked gently, kneeling with a concerned look on her face. Dot sniffled, tears filling her eyes.

"Define 'okay'." The female doctor sighed.

"I'm very sorry about your brother." Annoyed at constantly hearing that, Dot was about to snap back that he wasn't dead yet when she saw the woman's gentle look. Her anger dissolved and she sniffled and looked at her feet.

"They… they said there's nothing they can do…" Suddenly angry again, Dot clenched her fists. "We're in a hospital full of people and they can't do anything!" The doctor nodded, smiling sadly.

"I know how you must feel." Dot cocked her head at the sincerity in that statement.

"Did you…?" The doctor nodded and sat down in the seat beside her.

"My dad," she said quietly. "Cancer." Dot cocked her head.

"What was it like?" she asked. The woman sighed.

"I don't know. I wasn't there." Tears filled her eyes. "I just thought I couldn't face it. By the time I decided I could, it…" She bowed her head. "It was too late. At first, I thought it'd make it easier… you know, that I didn't see it. But then I started wondering if things might have… been different if I'd been there. Turned out to be a lot harder to get over than what happened to my dad."

Dot suddenly felt deeply guilty. She began wondering how Wakko must be feeling. She knew she should go back and be strong for him, but how could she do it? How could she watch him die? The thought of a life without either of her brothers was her worst nightmare.

"Does it ever get any better?" she asked softly. The doctor sighed.

"I wish I could say it does. Eventually, it gets to the point where it's not so hard to carry around." She stood, and then smiled slightly. "But avoiding it is a lot worse, believe me." She placed a hand on Dot's shoulder.

"I know how tough it is," she said gently. "But don't make the same mistake I did."

Dot watched as the doctor left the waiting room, then sat for a while. Finally, she took a deep breath and slid off the chair. She knew the woman was right. When she got close to Wakko's room, she heard a strange sound inside. Poking her head in, she was stunned to see Yakko standing in the corner by the door, his head in his hands. His shoulders shook and muffled sniffling came from him. Her oldest brother, who hardly ever cried.

After a few minutes, he looked up. When he saw her, he quickly wiped his eyes.

"Dot… I, uh, didn't hear…"

Before he could say any more, she walked over and hugged him.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I'm really, really sorry." She felt him hug her back.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm scared too. But what's important now is we stick together." His voice started shaking. "I already might lose my brother. I don't wanna lose my sister too." Dot hugged him tighter.

"You won't," she said, then looked over at the bed where Wakko was laying. Yakko placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Will you be okay?" he asked gently. With a deep breath, Dot nodded.

"I'll be fine." With that she walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge. No way was her stupid brother going anywhere on her watch.

She stayed there the rest of the night and into the next morning as Yakko dozed on and off in the seat in the corner. Dot was starting to get scared; she hoped Wakko hadn't gone into a coma while she was gone. But finally, he moaned softly and opened his eyes. They brightened when they rested on her.

"Hi," she said, smiling. "I was wondering when you were gonna wake up."

Her brother winced as his eyes closed again. Finally, he managed to answer.

"C… can't… talk…" Dot's throat tightened at how much worse he was after one night; yesterday talking just wore him out. Now he was so weak he could barely get any words out at all. She took a deep breath and shook it off.

"It's okay," she said. "I'd rather be the one talking anyway." She giggled at his faint smile, but it quickly faded when he coughed and winced again, the look on his face one of deep pain. After hesitating a minute, Dot took a breath to speak. She hated to bother him, but she wanted to do something to make him feel better, even if it was just for a bit.

"Do you wanna hear a poem?"

Disclaimer: I don't own Animaniacs. Thanks to weirdsib for writing the lovely story that inspired this scene. I promise I'm not trying to steal your idea, it's just an additional scene I thought of for it and I'd like to share it. Please let me know what you think and maybe I'll publish one of my originals. Thank you!