In Sickness and In Health

Author's Note: Wow, how long has it been since I've written something for the Hamtaro category? Anyway, this story has absolutely nothing to do with my Purifiers saga at all. This is a oneshot for Stan and Sandy's birthday, though it's more of a Stan and Pashmina coupling fic. And also, this is NOT, I repeat, is NOT the new story idea I had mentioned in my updated profile. The new story idea should be coming pretty soon, maybe the weekends.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than this story idea. Thank you.

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Beads of salty liquid trickled down his face, and dropped onto the wood chips in his cage. He panted and panted as he forced his way up to his hamster house. An eight-step hamster ladder was connected to his hamster house, and in order to get back in, he had to climb up all eight steps in his condition. Every step he climbed caused him to cough once, and when he did cough, he coughed out blood. With every cough, he wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth with the back of his paw, and resumed climbing. When he finally reached the doorstep of his hamster house, he coughed out blood once more and crawled over to a corner to get some sleep.

- - - - -

"Good morning, Hamtaro!" Laura's chirpy voice greeted. Hamtaro appeared from his hamster house, looking quite pale for a hamster. Laura noticed that Hamtaro looked a bit sick, and became quite concerned. "What's wrong, little buddy? Are you feeling ill or something?" Hamtaro just coughed a little in response, and Laura heard it. "I'd better take you to a see vet. Luckily it's not a school day today, so I shall take you to see a vet. I'd better ask my mom. Mom!! Hamtaro looks a bit sick!" Laura's voice faded away as she proceeded to walk down the stairs. Hamtaro heard some yelling here and there, and sighed.

"Laura shouldn't be so worried though. I just got the flu, that's all," Hamtaro muttered to himself. "Maxwell said so himself."

"Hey, Hamtaro," Laura called out. She opened the door and entered her room. "Mom said that I can take you to see a vet today, but only if someone else can go with me. And now that you're sick, I don't think I can bring you over to Hilary's today, huh?"

'Hilary's involved? Oh, yes, today is Sandy's birthday, isn't it? Now I remember; Laura has been telling me that she'll bring me over to Sandy's to celebrate it since Hilary will be at home this year. But wait, what about Stan? Isn't it his birthday too?'

Rrrriiiing! Rrrriiiing!

"I'll get it!" Laura shouted as she ran down to answer a call. After a few moments, she rushed up to her room and grabbed a random purse on her bed. "Sorry, Hamtaro, but taking you to the vet will have to wait! Noel called me to go over to his place right away. I don't exactly know what happened, but all I know that it's something bad, like an emergency, regarding his hamster, Stan. Oh dear! I'd better go! I'll see you later, Hamtaro!" Laura rapidly ran out of her room and gradually out of the household. Hamtaro got out of his cage and watched Laura from the room window. She was running over to Kana's, and a few moments later, Kana ran alongside with Laura over to Noel's. Hamtaro seemed concerned once he heard about Stan, and decided to go over to the clubhouse to talk about it.

- - - - -

"Stan's got an emergency?!" the other Ham-Hams exclaimed. Hamtaro nodded sadly.

"How come I didn't like, know about it?! I'm his sister! And if Hilary knew, she should've like, told me!" Sandy cried, feeling worried for her brother.

"By the way, Sandy, how did you get out of your cage? Isn't Hilary at home, celebrating your birthday?" Maxwell asked.

"Well, Hilary had to take care of something in the gym, so I like, decided to come here and celebrate my birthday with you guys, but… but I like, never thought that Stan would be in trouble!" As Sandy continued whimpering about it, the others tried to comfort her, except for one particular, exceptionally worried hamster. She twirled around the end of her scarf, looking very depressed and worried. "P-Pashmina? Are you like, crying?" Sandy asked, crying herself. She seemed to have calmed down a little from shouting to crying a little.

"H-huh?" Pashmina sniffed, and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "N-no, I'm not… I'm just worried for Stan, is all… Sniff… Anyway, why don't we go and check it out ourselves?"

"What do you mean, Pashmina?" several of the hams chorused.

"Well, we could, you know, go over to see how Stan is doing. You never know, he might not be in trouble or anything. Maybe he just caught the flu like Hamtaro did, or something…"

"Whoa, Pashmina, look here. You're my girlham, not Stan's," Dexter interrupted.

"Dexter, this isn't a good time to talk about that…" In response to that, Dexter gave a huff.

"You know, girl friend, you're like, totally right. Hilary mentioned that Noel sometimes worry too much. Maybe Stan did catch a cold, and Noel just worried too much about it…" Sandy murmured, thinking about it carefully. "But I still say we like, go over and see my brother. After all, I got a present for him." Everyone else nodded in agreement, but Pashmina just stood behind the rest of the Ham-Hams, trying desperately to wipe the tears away. Penelope was the only one who noticed her action.

- - - - -

Stan was sleeping in his hamster cage, breathing very heavily while he was asleep. He seemed to be more of in a semi-conscious state than that of a sleeping state. He had tossed and turned umpteen times within five minutes, and the cold beads of sweat wouldn't stop trickling down his face. He just couldn't seem to stop coughing, and coughing, and coughing…

"See? He's been like that since yesterday," Noel started to explain. "I'm so worried about him! I don't have a clue what's happening to him!"

"Did you take him to see a vet or something, Noel?" Kana asked.

"Yeah, I did, and I've been following the vet's orders to take care of him, but he hasn't improved at all! In fact, his condition just deteriorated! I called you two over to see if you could tell me how to take care of the little guy!"

"Um… But Noel… I don't think our hamsters had this sickness before…" Laura admitted.

"Oh, is that so…?" Noel asked, feeling very sad. "Well, I thought so, since they're hamsters a-and and all…"

"Why don't we talk about this outside, Noel? We should let Stan have some rest."

"You're probably right…" And with that, Noel, Laura and Kana went out to the living room, leaving Stan to suffer his strange illness. Meanwhile, the Ham-Hams had already heard everything. They had reached Noel's house before Noel showed Laura and Kana the suffocating Stan. The Ham-Hams were beginning to truly feel damn worried about Stan, especially so for Sandy and Pashmina. They ran inside Noel's room where Stan's cage was, and opened the door to his cage. Sandy and Pashmina were the first ones to dash up the ladder to Stan's hamster house, and watched the poor tiger boy-ham suffer in his sleep.

"Stan-kun, Stan-kun…" Pashmina nudged Stan. "Stan-kun, wake up."

Stan groaned a little, and coughed while he was at it. His eyes opened very slowly, and he turned his face a little. He saw a blurred vision of his sister and Pashmina. "S-sis? P-pashy?" Stan weakly muttered out.

"Yes, Stan! We're like, here for ya, bro! Please say that you're going to be okay!" Sandy cried.

"I… I don't know what's wrong with me…"

"Don't worry, Stan, we'll like, find out what's wrong with you!" Sandy assured her elder twin brother. Pashmina touched Stan's forehead, and it was burning hot. She estimated Stan's temperature as about as high as a hamster's normal body temperature can ever reach when one is ill with a fever. She moved her paw away swiftly, still feeling the heat searing on her paw. It burned, and it didn't feel good.

"Wow, Stan, you're really hot," Pashmina muttered aloud, holding onto her somewhat burned paw. The Ham-Hams all stared at her weirdly, thinking that Pashmina meant the hottie guy kind of 'hot'. Even Stan was staring at her, though he was sort of staring at her with amazement. Pashmina noticed the weird stares, and they made her feel a little uncomfortable. She then realized what she had said, and protested, "O-oh! I-I, I didn't mean it that way!" She looked back at Stan who had blinked and looked quite flushed, and Pashmina blushed herself.

"…" Stan didn't say anything.

"Well, according to my health encyclopedia…" Maxwell began. "Stan's case is most likely to be the case of which he had been agitated and then his blood vessels – arteries, veins and capillaries – have reacted to the sudden high blood pressure Stan was suffering, and thus, the blood vessels have burst. Therefore, according to my health encyclopedia, Stan is suffering from internal bleeding of which his blood vessels have burst within his body, and therefore the blood is leaking out of the burst blood vessels and formed 'internal bleeding'. So, as a result of that…" Before Maxwell could continue rambling on and on with words the other Ham-Hams couldn't comprehend, Hamtaro put his paw up.

"Um… Maxwell, I don't think we can understand you…" Hamtaro said dizzily.

"Really? But I have explained my theory with the simple yet profound way of the language of which we use to communicate with each other and – "

"English, please!" Boss grunted.

Maxwell gave Boss a small glare before he restarted his explanation, "Okay, I'll explain it to you guys with simple use of the Hamster Language. Stan is suffering from internal bleeding. Somehow, he has been very very agitated. When that happens, there is a chance that he may get high blood pressure, and it looked to me that he did. Anyway, there are three main blood vessels in the blood system: the arteries, the veins and the capillaries. When there is high blood pressure, the blood vessels, carrying blood throughout the body, would react to the pressure, and eventually, burst. So the blood that they are carrying would, say, 'escape' from the blood vessels, and just, well, float around in the body or something. But blood can't just stay like that; the body needs the blood in order to survive. When this kind of internal bleeding happens, the casualty – Stan, in this case – would cough out blood whenever his body feels like it. When Stan loses a lot of blood, he'll feel weak and eventually, die."

(A/N: Okay, I am not sure whether or not this is true, but I've heard that high blood pressure may lead to the blood vessels bursting, and that when the blood vessels burst, there'll be internal bleeding. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not so fantastic when it comes to Biology, you know!)

"Well………." The Ham-Hams muttered. "I still don't know what the heck you just said, but we can't let Stan die!"

Maxwell sweat dropped anime style. "It was sort of a waste of my saliva and effort explaining to them…" Maxwell muttered under his breath.

"Stan, I won't let you die, you hear me?" Pashmina whispered to Stan. Stan forced himself to nod. Sandy told him the exact same thing, and he responded in the exact same way. "Stan… There's something… I need to tell you." Pashmina blushed like hell. Stan noticed it and blushed as well, but it was disguised well as a feverish flush on his face. "I… Stan, I… I love-"

Before Pashmina could continue with what she was about to say, the Ham-Hams heard the owners coming back, and so they had to get away as soon as possible. Stan tried to mutter out a small farewell, but he just didn't have the strength to. Noel returned to the room, this time with Laura, Kana and the ever-so-famous Dr. Lion! Dr. Lion spoke as he checked Stan's condition, "Hmm… This is a complicated case for a hamster… Well, it appears to me that your hamster is suffering from internal bleeding. His blood vessels have to be fixed before any more blood leaks out. Your hamster will eventually die if he doesn't get treated soon."

"He can't die, doctor! Can you save him?"

"Of course! But I'll have to take him straight to my working place…"

"Oh, oh, thank you, doctor!" Noel turned to face Laura and Kana. "And thank you too, girls! If you hadn't introduced this doctor to me, I wouldn't know what to do!" Laura and Kana smiled in response. "However… doctor, why didn't the medicine from another vet work on him at all?"

"The medicine is too… 'cooling'. His condition is already bad enough, and if he takes 'cooling' medicine, it'll only drain his energy and his life force."

"Oh I, uh, see…" Noel then thought, 'Am I in the correct era?'

(A/N: I am not sure whether or not doctors in the modern world still use the term 'cooling', since I watched this drama serial on TV. The setting was in the olden days of China, and they talked about 'cooling' medicine or something. Can someone correct me if I'm wrong? I am terrible at History.)

"Anyway, less talk, more moving! Let's get the show on the road!" Dr. Lion declared, as Noel went over to carry Stan's cage. The Ham-Hams, who were peeking from the windowsill, silently bid farewell to their tiger-striped friend, and silently wished him good luck.

- - - - -

That night, when her owner had fallen asleep, Pashmina snuck out of her cage. She had been feeling very uneasy and worried for Stan since late morning, and she couldn't get a wink of sleep at all. She decided to go to Stan's house to check if he had returned. Actually, none of the Ham-Hams dared to celebrate Stan and Sandy's birthday, for they had been too worried about Stan's condition. Anyway, Pashmina made her way to Stan's house, and she snuck in by squeezing through an open gap of the window. She looked around and saw Stan's cage. She had the feeling that Stan had returned. She went over to the cage door and opened it, allowing herself to enter Stan's cage.

"Stan?" Pashmina whispered a little loudly. "Are you here?"

"Pash…mina?" Stan's familiar voice whispered back. Pashmina was utterly relieved to hear his voice again. She heaved a huge sigh of relief, and walked up to Stan's adobe. "Pashmina… You're here…" Stan whispered weakly.

"Oh, Stan, am I glad to see you…!" Pashmina rushed over towards Stan and attempted to hug him, but when she did, Stan was shouting in pain. She heard his shouts and immediately released him. "Oh, Stan, what did…?"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch… Well, Dr. Lion dude… kind of… operated on me…"

"O-operated? Like when those human doctors use knives and cut open a patient's body?"

"Ouch, yeah. It's… amazing he got hamster knives… And then he, well… you know…"

"That must've hurt a lot."

"Well… ouch… It only hurts after the operation… And well, look at me. I'm all… pant… covered with stitches…"

"Oh, Stan, I… I'm so sorry I hurt you like that just now… I'm so sorry…" Pashmina whispered, shedding a few tears from her eyes. She felt a warm paw wipe the tears away from her eyes, and she knew in her heart that it was Stan.

"Come on, now, Pashy babe. You look ugly when you cry…"

"Sniff… I… I do?"

"Yup."

"Okay… then I won't cry anymore… If that's what you want me to do…" Pashmina muttered, brushing the tears away. Stan smiled weakly.

"Anyway, what are you doing here…?"

"I… I wanted to see you… And I wanted… to tell you… from just now? I was interrupted, so… What I wanted to say is… Stan, I…" Pashmina blushed ten times more than hell, but Stan, noticing it, blushed like hell. "Stan, I… Stan, I… I love you."

"You…" Stan blushed even more. "You do…?" Pashmina nodded. "W-when?"

"When you… first came to the club…" Pashmina admitted. She glanced up at him. "A-are you going to say that you don't like me? Because, if you don't, I completely understand, and I guess I'll be leaving now, and –" Before Pashmina could go on, a paw held onto hers, and a firm pull from the weak Stan made Pashmina fall on top of him, causing him to groan in pain. She attempted to get off, but he tried to make her stay. She was struggling, but he was holding firmly onto her.

"Pashmina," Stan called. Pashmina stopped struggling out of his grasp. "The truth is…" Before Stan wanted to carry on with what he wanted to say, he suddenly pulled Pashmina in and he pushed his lips against hers. Pashmina widened her eyes a little, not expecting the kiss, but she soon accepted it, and kissed back. Stan broke the kiss, and Pashmina smiled at him while he smiled back. "… I love you too."

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"Stan?"

"Hmm?"

"What were you agitated about?"

"Oh, Pashy, please don't ask."

"Why not?"

"… Well, you can pretty much guess by my question. What about Dexter?"

"Dexter, huh? So that's why you're so agitated? Because I decided to go out with him like his girlfriend? Stan, I've broken up with him, and he sends his best regards."

Stan blinked. He could never believe that someone who was so obsessed with Pashmina would give her up that easily. Stan replied, not showing any emotion, "Well, that's pretty good, I guess."

For a while, neither of them spoke, until Stan broke the silence, "You know what, Pashy?"

"Yeah, Stan?"

"This is the best birthday I've ever had in my whole life."

Pashmina gave Stan a smile so warm that it melted his heart. She told him, "I hope mine this year will be, too." She gave him a small peck on the cheek. "I love you, Stan."

Stan kissed her on the lips as a response to her peck. And when that kiss stopped, Stan replied with a true smile, "I love you too, Pashmina."

"Can we do this every year on our birthdays?"

"How about every day, Pashmina?"

"Oh, I'd love that too, Stan."

And thus, the new couple's conversation ended. All they did that night was embrace each other, and gaze up at the night sky filled with twinkling stars and the moon. As their gaze was fixed on the beautiful sight, their minds began to drift off to think about their past, present, and their future together.

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'… And in sickness or in health… May death do we part… Stan-kun…'

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A/N: So…? What do you think??? Reviews are greatly appreciated! Anyway, about that last line… Can someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong anywhere? I've read and read through this, and it seems to make sense, but I can't shrug this feeling that something is wrong here… Anyway, PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, and I will definitely see to the matter.

Until next time… See ya! Oh, and before I forget… Treat your Umbreons with care! … Or else!

Umbreon-Rawks