After watching a movie of his favorite show for two hours, Coop yawned while sitting on the couch, and walked outside to play in the backyard. When he got out there, he saw his soccer ball halfway behind a bush, and ran towards the woods behind his backyard to get to it. Unfortunately, it was a trap. As soon as Coop went behind the bush, Kat snuck up from behind him, and attacked him with a kitchen knife furiously, causing him to scream and fall to the ground clutching his left arm. Kat laughed in satisfaction from behind the tree at successfully injuring the ten-year-old boy for the first time in years, not realizing how meager an achievement that was, and went into the shed as Coop passed out on the ground, thinking that he had won.
" COOP! " Millie screamed from the house's entrance to the backyard, and rushed to Coop's side panicking. She was wearing a nurse's outfit with blue rubber gloves and holding a First Aid kit, because she was planning on playing doctor with her beloved pet, only to discover that he wouldn't be the patient that day. " Coop, are you alright?! " Millie was terrified as she quickly yanked the blade out of her brother's arm, disinfected it and started to give him stitches, sewing the wound closed as fast as she could, thankful that her brother wasn't much of a bleeder. He was passed out, but it was only because he had fainted from the sheer fright of being successfully injured by someone who wanted him dead. Millie was extremely thankful that she was a Greenie Girl, because it had given her the First Aid knowledge she needed at that moment.
After successfully stitching up Coop's arm, Millie bandaged it and sighed in relief. Worried and scared out of her wits, Millie grabbed Coop's wrist and squeezed it, checking his pulse, and was even more relieved to find out that her efforts weren't for nothing. " Coop, did you pass out?! " He didn't respond, and she rolled him over on his back and lifted him up by the back of the knees, proceeding to carry him into the house and eventually into her bedroom, all without ever being seen by Mr. Kat.
She laid Coop down in her bed, only a fraction as worried as she was before, and lifted his arms up before covering him over with the pink blankets of her bed. She wanted him to see as soon as he woke up that his arm was okay, so it was better to have it on top of the blankets than hidden by it. " Coop, please wake up... " she begged while sitting close to him on the bed. " I know I'm always really mean to you, but I don't wanna lose you! I don't know what I'd DO without you! PLEASE wake up! COOP! "
To her surprise, her brother groaned, and muttered sleepily, " Millie... " Overjoyed, she said,
" COOP! YOU'RE AWAKE! " and laughed happily in relief as Coop slowly opened his eyes, still tired and feeling faint from before. He realized that he was in Millie's bed, with his little sister wearing a nurse's outfit sitting in front of him and holding his hand, and his stinging left arm covered in bandages. Remembering what had happened to his arm, Coop gasped and said,
" Millie?! You... did this for me? " staring at his arm and trying to ignore the pain it was still in. " I had to! I couldn't just leave you there all alone! What if Daddy found you later and got upset with me for not helping you? Or worse, what if Daddy found you and thought I hurt you?! " Amazed, he said softly, " Wow... Thanks!... I can't believe you did that for me... "
After a few seconds, he asked, " Did you see how I got hurt? " Millie looked frightened for a second before inexplicably smiling and saying, " Nope! What were you doing playing with a knife in the woods, silly? Daddy wouldn't be very happy if he found out you accidentally hurt yourself! Hee hee hee heh heh... " Extremely confused about how she could possibly think something so ridiculous and blatantly untrue, Coop said slowly, " But... but... " Millie quickly said with a relaxed smile, " But don't worry! I won't tell anyone how you really got hurt! I'll just tell Daddy you were in the kitchen and the knife fell off the table. He'll blame himself and you won't get in trouble! "
Still extremely dumbfounded that Millie assumed he wasn't hurt by someone else, Coop said nervously, " W-Well, okay... C-Can I have some ice for my arm? " Millie said happily, " Sure! " and took an ice pack out of the First Aid kit and carefully placed it on the bandaged part of his arm. It was startlingly cold, but after a few seconds the cooling sensation started to relieve the pain, and he smiled nervously and said, " Thanks. "
" No problem! I'll tell Daddy to get you to the hospital. You just relax! " She left the room with a nervous smile, clearly still worried about him, and Coop sighed in relief at how lucky he was that Millie came to help him when she did, and closed his eyes with a smile.
Meanwhile, as soon as she left her bedroom, Millie rushed over to the phone in the living room, and quickly dialed Dennis' number in a panic. " Hello? " Millie told him with a panicked tone,
" Dennis, you've gotta come over, quick! Coop's arm got cut with a knife, and he has to go to the hospital! " She heard a dial tone, and said in confusion, " Hello? "
The front door was thrown open, and Dennis ran over to her in a panic. " Where is he?! " he asked her. Not having any time to give him details, Millie said, " I brought him to my bed, " which was all she got the chance to say before Dennis ran up the stairs and into her bedroom as fast as he could.
Then, Millie dialed another number. " Hello? " She said with a nervous tone trying her best to sound calm, " Okay, I have some really bad news, but before I tell you I want you to know that Coop's FINE. He's okay. I didn't let anything really bad happen to him. But- "
" WHAT HAPPENED TO MY COOPIE?! " Phoebe exclaimed over the other line, frightened at the conclusions she was jumping to. Trying to calm her down, Millie quickly explained, " His arm got cut by a knife, but I stitched it up and bandaged it almost immediately after it happened! He fainted from the shock of it, but that's all! He's gonna go to the hospital really soon, and I promise, he's okay. "
" I can't believe this happened! " Phoebe exclaimed. " Me, neither! I never thought he'd actually get hurt! " Millie said in surprise. " This is the LAST STRAW! " Confused, Millie asked, " What do you mean? "
Furious, Phoebe ranted, " I've been spending too long sitting by the sidelines doing absolutely NOTHING while the love of my life was treated like dirt, for MONTHS, and now that he's actually stabbed him, I can't take it anymore! I HATE HIM! I've ALWAYS hated him, and when I find him after he did that to my Coopie, I'll KILL him! "
Terrified, Millie begged, " NO! Please don't do that! I LOVE HIM! " understanding completely what Phoebe meant. Frustrated, Phoebe replied angrily, " You still LOVE that hairless freak after he STABBED your big brother?! You're deluded! You have Stockholm Syndrome! "
Millie said in annoyance, " It's not Stockholm Syndrome if you weren't kidnapped, Phoebe! " Still furious, Phoebe complained, " This is just something I cannot get. I've always tried to not complain, but this is just getting ridiculous! Don't you CARE that your beloved pet is an evil alien psychopath? How can you keep defending someone who constantly tries to take over the world and MURDER YOUR BROTHER?! "
After briefly looking frightened, Millie said nervously with a guilty look in her eyes,
" But he's soooo BAD at it... " Phoebe sighed in exasperation, and Millie, wanting to change the subject to avoid a fight, said in mild annoyance, " My point is, Coop's going to the Bootsville Hospital soon, and I just called to let you know what happened to him and where he's going. Feel free to convince your dad to take you there to visit him. I'll call you as soon as we get there. Goodbye, Phoebe, " and ended the conversation.
" You're gonna be fine, " Coop's father assured him as Coop nervously laid down in the hospital bed. The doctor stated, " It's a good thing this brave little girl got to him and stitched him up before it was too late! She saved his life! The knife didn't do too much damage. He'll just have to have bandages on the wound and keep his arm still here for 2 weeks while it heals. "
" Two WEEKS?! " Coop was clearly frightened, not wanting Kat to take over the world while he was in the hospital. Trying to calm him down, Dennis said, " Hey, at least here you'll be safe from anyone who would try to hurt you! I promise, I'll take care of everything. Nothing will happen while you're gone! I'll keep checking the house to make sure that everything will be okay. "
" Hi, Coooop! " " Gah, PHOEBE! " Phoebe had came into the room so quietly that Coop didn't even notice her come in. She said with a concerned and serious tone, " Millie told me everything! Don't worry, Coopie. It's not the end of the world, I promise! If there's anything you need someone else to take care of, Dennis and I can do it FOR you! I'll do anything! ANYTHING at all! Even if it's DANGEROUS! "
Coop, not getting the increasingly obvious hints, focused entirely on how close Phoebe was to him at that moment. Her face was right up against his. " S-Sure, GREAT... Can you give me some air? " he asked with a forced smile. She backed away slightly from his bed, and Dennis said,
" Are you saying you wanna help me take care of things for Coop? " worried at the prospect of spending time with Phoebe. " Yeah! Why not? " She smiled to hide how lonely and unhappy she was. She was very confused about why Dennis would want to avoid her, since it wasn't him she had a crush on, so it wasn't really his problem to worry about. She hoped that the reason he was nervous was because she might be putting herself in danger by hanging around the house all the time, and not because he hated her. She assured him, " Nothing bad's gonna happen! I'll make sure of it! "
" Well... okay... " Dennis said uneasily, " but I just have one condition. I'll tell you exactly what I want you to help with, and you HAVE to do it, okay? No wandering around on your own and getting hurt! I mean- " Phoebe interrupted, " Okay, sure, perfect! " and smiled.
After Coop's father and Millie left the room, Phoebe reassured him, " This won't be so bad, Dennis. It'll give us some time to get to know each other, and if you really hate me so much you can just ignore me, " forcing a smile to hide how insecure she felt. " I don't hate you! I'm just nervous because, I've never done this before, and I don't want you getting hurt. It's a SCARY place, Coop's house! "
Phoebe said, " Trust me, I know. And Coop, you just relax! I won't let anything bad happen while you're here! Think of it as a vacation. Just think, Coopie; two weeks without dealing with anyone you hate! And you get a break from school! I'll do your homework for you, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Trust us. "
They left the room, and Coop laughed nervously, trying to hide how worried he was. He hoped that Kat wouldn't hurt Phoebe, and that Phoebe wouldn't see anything suspicious and get involved. He hoped that Dennis would be able to keep Kat under control, and that Phoebe wouldn't bother him too much.
