I do not own Phineas and Ferb, nor any other characters. They all belong to Jeff & Dan (and Disney).
Gretchen came home and the smile she had on her face fell. Her parents were in the kitchen collecting everything for what appeared to be a vacation. Her father was on the phone booking the airline and her mother was gathering the emergency kit. "What's going on?" She asked. Her mother with tears in her eyes replied "Your grandmother is very ill and she's not expected to make it. The three of us are going to visit her in Florida." Gretchen, stunned, went to her room. "I have to call Isabella." She said aloud as she dialed the number. "Grab enough clothes for 10 days and put them in your suitcase." Her father told her as she was waiting for her friend to pickup. "Okay." She choked. –Beep. "Hi, Izy. It's me, Gretchen. I'm so sorry; I'm not going to be available for a couple of weeks. Please hold the fort and I'll call when I'm back." She ended the call and grabbed her clothes. 'I should call Ferb to tell him I can't make the movies tomorrow night.' She called his phone; she didn't have the house number. "Ferb Fletcher. Can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message." 'Breath, breath.' She told herself. "Hi Ferb. I've got to visit my grandmother, she's not well and well, I'll call you later."
The Flynn-Fletcher and Johnson families were out for dinner that night. When the boys got home, Phineas had a message from Isabella. Ferb's battery had died. He took his phone downstairs to charge it only to find his father's phone on the charger. 'I'll just get that in the morning.' He thought to himself. "Did you think about what you wanted to think about son?" His father inquired. The British teen nodded. "Goodnight Father." "Goodnight then, Ferb." Lawrence replied.
Adyson picked up the message on her phone. It was from Gretchen, she was calling Isabella. 'She must have transposed a couple of numbers. I'll call Izy in the morning.' The brunette thought to herself.
Linda went upstairs to the boys' room and knocked on the door. "Yeah?" Phineas called. His mother opened the door "The director of the Community Concert Series would like you two to assist with the lighting and sound in three weeks." She stared them down "What's that all about?" The boys looked at each other and the redheaded one replied "I guess their regular guy is not available. Tell him we'll do it." Ferb reminded his brother, "I'll be camping with Buford for the next couple of weeks, I'll be back to help put the finishing touches together and assist with the show." Linda shook her head and looked at the boys. "It sounds as though you do this all the time." "We do Mom. Everyone knows this." Her son told her. She left the room, closed the door behind her and the next thing the boys heard was "LAWRENCE!" "I guess Candace will be happy." Ferb said with a straight face. Phineas knew where this was going "And why is that?" he laughed. "Apparently, we just 'busted' ourselves." The older brother shared in the laughter.
In the morning, Phineas was in the backyard checking his sound and lighting cables when Isabella came through the back gate "Hi Phineas. Whatcha' doin'?" Phineas had the biggest grin anyone had ever seen on his face when he saw her. "Morning." He somehow said without tripping over his own tongue. She giggled and gave him a hug. Ferb was on the phone in the living room with the Community Concert Series director and was glad he wasn't able to hear the exchange outside. 'I hope I don't look that desperate.' He thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. He wrote down the ideas the director had. He was also given the phone numbers of a couple of the performers so they could meet up and find out what they had in mind for their portion of the show. Once he got off the phone with the director he stepped into the backyard. The green haired teen didn't think he was being overly quiet, but when his brother and neighbour didn't notice that he was two feet away he coughed. "Oh, hey. Morning Ferb." Isabella said. He nodded his acknowledgement and handed the paper to his brother. "I'll see what the 'Choir and Dance Studio' has in mind. You look after the other two performers." Phineas looked at the paper. "Danville Modern Dance. Danville Music. Isabella, would you like to help me with this? Ferb's going camping with Buford for a couple of weeks and we should probably get as many of their ideas sorted as we can before he goes." She looked at Ferb astounded. "You just start going out with Gretchen and now you're going camping with the guys?" "I was going to tell her tonight." Ferb pointed out. "Now if you'll excuse me." With that Ferb went inside.
"I don't know what that girl sees in him. He's so…. Aloof." Isabella told Phineas. All he could do was shake his head. "I don't know. But he's got something… a, what's it called, a 'je ne sais quoi'?" They headed into the house to see if they could get a ride downtown. Ferb had already asked his Mum, but she was too busy. "Candace?" He queried "Can you please drive me downtown?" Candace looked at her green haired brother and answered "Sure, why not? I wanted to go to the mall anyhow." The eldest sibling then saw her youngest brother and the neighbour girl come into the house. "Do you guys need a lift downtown as well?" She asked them. "How'd you know?" Phineas looked at her. "Do you know how to read minds Candace?" She eyed daggers at him "Just get in the car."
Ferb was let out at the Choir and Dance Studio. He went in looking for their organizer. He sat in on some of the numbers that were being rehearsed. He recognised one of the young dancers. That was the new neighbour girl Ashley. 'This must be her escape.' He thought. The choreographer came over to him. "I'm thinking a big pyrotechnics show to go with the dance routines." Ferb looked at him. "You do realize that could be dangerous in the park. How about a laser show in time to the music to accent the routine." The choreographer bounced with delight. "You're brilliant! I never would have thought of that." The 'brilliant' British teen then asked for a list of songs that were to be used, there were five in total. The teen thought it strange that the final number was "Auld Lang Syne". He thanked the choreographer and organizer very much and left to meet up with Candace at the mall.
When they got home he made some notes on his laptop; he then got ready to go out with Gretchen. He was surprised she hadn't called. He went to check his phone. 'I forgot to charge this darn thing.' He thought. 'No one ever calls anyhow. Whatever.' He placed it on the charger. 'Just in case, I'd better check the voicemail.' He called his voicemail from the house line, as he listened to the message his face fell. Phineas and Isabella walked in the front door and saw him. "Hey, Bro! What's wrong?" The shorter brother asked. "She's not available." The taller one replied and left the room. "You stay with him, he needs you now. Besides, we've got the next two weeks to spend together while Ferb is off camping." Isabella told her new boyfriend. "Why don't you come out with us?" Phineas suggested. Ferb paused on the stairs when he heard that "No. There are to be no third wheels. That was the deal. Go have fun. I've got stuff to do." "You heard the man Izy. Want to go out for pizza?" Phineas asked. 'I wonder why she's unavailable.' The girl in the pink dress thought and continued 'Gretchen was so happy yesterday and was looking forward to the movies tonight. I hope she didn't have a change of heart about him. That would be uncomfortable for us all.' "Ferb, honey. Buford called." Linda called out from the kitchen. "Thanks Mum." He called back. "Ferb?" Isabella tried calling to him. "Would you like us to bring you back some pizza?" She didn't get a vocal reply; she however heard the bedroom door close. 'I should call Gretchen to see what's up.' Isabella was lost in thought.
Ferb called Buford and they finalised their plans. Tomorrow noon was when Buford and his parents were going to pick him up. Ferb then called Gretchen's cell. 'Voicemail, a blessing and a curse.' He thought. "Hi there, just me, Ferb. I'm really sorry to hear about your grandmother. I hope all is well. I'm off camping for the next two weeks, so… good luck, I'll see you when I get back. By the way our land line is (he gives the number)." He quickly debated with himself if he should add 'Love you' to the end of the message. He decided against it.
The next day Ferb got his camping gear together and left when Mr. & Mrs. Van Stomm pulled into the driveway. "Bye Mum. Bye Dad. See you in a couple of weeks. Love you." He got in their car and they drove away.
The rest of the week was fairly normal, normal being a relative term when it comes to the Flynn-Fletcher household. However, with Ferb not home, Phineas wasn't able to complete large projects. Candace couldn't believe it. Things were actually calm around the house. The one thing she didn't register was that Phineas was leaving the house early and not coming home until dinner.
It was on the fourth day that Ferb was away; everyone had just finished breakfast. Perry was wandering through the kitchen. Phineas left the house for the day and Candace was helping to get the grocery list together when the phone rang. "Hello?" Linda answered. "Biffany, how good to hear from you. I hope Ferb's not being any trouble." She continued. Suddenly, Linda grabbed for the counter top and frantically motioned for her husband to grab the other extension. "Where is he?" The matriarch of the household demanded of her friend. "Is he all right?" She sobbed. Lawrence came into the kitchen holding the portable phone. He wrapped his arm around hs wife's shoulders. "We'll be there as soon as we can Biffany." He finished the conversation. Linda looked to her daughter "Candace, can you please see if you can stay with Stacey for a few days. I'll check with Vivian to see if she can put Phineas up on the couch." She said somewhat coherently. Candace nodded, pulled out her phone and called Stacey. "Stacey, can I stay with you for a couple of days?" Candace whimpered into the phone. She didn't even know what happened, all she knew was that it involved her brother and it wasn't good. "Thanks. You're the best friend anyone could ask for." Candace finished her call. Meanwhile, Linda was calling Vivian. "Hi Viv. Can you please do me a favour? I really need you to take Phineas in for a few days. Just put him on the floor or the couch. Thanks. I'll send his stuff over."
Candace headed across the street with a sleeping bag and some clean clothes for her biological brother. Then she was headed to her friend's house with a heavy feeling in her stomach. Phineas wasn't at the neighbours' house. He didn't have a clue that there was anything wrong.
Phineas and Isabella came back to her place for a late lunch. "Thank you Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro." He said as he accepted the sandwich handed to him. "Phineas," Vivian began "you're mother asked me to let you stay over for a few days. You can sleep on the couch. Candace brought over a sleeping bag and some clothes for you." Isabella looked at her mother. "Is everything all right? What happened?" Vivian looked at the two teens and replied "I don't know what happened. I was just asked to look after Phineas for a few days." The redheaded teen began "I'm sure it's nothing serious. I mean, if it were, they would have called me right?" He reached for his phone, but it wasn't there. Now he was worried. What could possibly have happened to make his parents leave in such a hurry? "Ferb." He thought out loud. "Ferb must be in trouble."
Linda and Lawrence drove three and a half-hours to the hospital in the rural area where the Van Stomm family went camping. "Linda, Lawrence." Biffany rushed over to the pair. "I'm so sorry to have to call you. But…." Both women were crying. Lawrence spied Buford and his father, he went up to them "Hey, champ" he addressed Buford, "where's Ferb?" Buford looked up at his friend's father with damp eyes. "I'm so sorry Mr. Fletcher, I didn't mean to… if I could, it would have been me." Lawrence started to blanch when his sons' friend continued. "We were walking back from the hiking trails see, and as we're making our way through the campsites some guy was driving a purple flatbed microbus and lost control. Ferb pushed me out of the way. He got hit. First the back bumper caught him in the back, and then he musta hit his head, there was so much blood. The vehicle then rolled right over his leg. Oh man I'm never going to get that sound out of my head. And if that wasn't enough, his arm got caught. It was at the most unnatural angle sir. All mangled and… sorry." Lawrence pulled the young man into a hug "It's all right. Ferb's a tough one; he'll pull through this. Just you wait and see." 'I wish I could believe what I just told him.' Lawrence thought to himself.
The hospitalist in charge came over to the group. "Are you the parents to a Ferb Fletcher?" Linda and her husband nodded. "You may come in to see him. He's currently in a coma, but you can see him." Lawrence supported his wife as they followed the doctor into the room. Linda took one look at the heavily bandaged form of her son and wept openly clutching onto her husband's shirt. "His right arm is broken in two places and his left leg is broken, I'm sorry but we're unable to re-construct his left knee." "Is he able to go home?" Lawrence inquired of the surgeon. "He should be hospitalised for at least another four days while he's on IV. Then he should be able to go home." They are told. "I can arrange a transfer to your local hospital in the city, they have a top-notch surgeon who can do a total knee replacement for him." Ferb's father only nodded. The doctor continued. "He will have to go via air ambulance." Again, Lawrence nodded. His son was alive, that was a start.
Linda rode in the air ambulance with her son while her husband drove home. She just felt sick to her stomach; her son was run over. The driver didn't even stop.
At the Danville Hospital, Ferb was taken to radiology to check the extent of the damage. Linda signed him in to a private room. She didn't want anyone to see her son like this. After that task was completed, she went outside to await the arrival of Lawrence. Linda also placed a call to Candace telling her not to worry, that things will be fine, that she can visit her brother in the morning. Then Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher called her neighbour Vivian only to get the answering machine. "Viv, its Linda. I know it's late, but we're back in town," sob "things don't look good."
Isabella and Phineas came through the front door of the Garcia-Shapiro house to hear the last part of the message "things don't look good." Phineas started to tremble. Isabella hugged him tight. "It's okay, I'm here for you." Vivian came into the house and saw the two in an embrace. "What happened?" She inquired. Isabella looked over her boyfriend's head and replied "We heard the last part of a message from—" she looks across the street while hugging the neighbour boy. Vivian went to the answering machine and played back the whole message. "May I call my mom?" Phineas asked. His host handed him the phone. After just breathing for a couple of moments he dialed his mother's cellphone. "Mom? I'm sorry I wasn't around earlier. It's Ferb isn't it? What happened? I need to know." He just sat on the couch and nodded his head. Tears started to well up in his blue eyes and roll down his cheeks. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye." The phone fell from his hand as he folded his arms on the arm of the couch, lay down his head and broke down. Isabella helped him up to her room. "Here, you sleep here tonight, in my bed. I'll take the couch." She kissed him on the cheek and left the room closing the door behind her. Vivian met up with her daughter at the bottom of the stairs. "He thought something was amis when you told us at lunch." Isabella said. "I guess he was right."
Isabella fell asleep on the couch and Vivian kept an eye out for her friend and neighbour. When she saw their car pull into their driveway she ran outside. "Linda, Lawrence." She called out. "Is it really that bad? What happened?" They made their way down to the sidewalk. Linda didn't look good at all and Lawrence looked exhausted. "Ferb got hit by a truck." Lawrence told her. "He should be home next week." Vivian invited them over for coffee or drinks, but the offer was declined. "Thanks Viv, maybe another time." Linda hugged her friend and went inside.
The next morning when Phineas awoke, he didn't register where he was. Everything was so…. Pink. There was a knock on the bedroom door "Phineas are you awake?" Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro called. "Uh, yeah. I'm just not sure about…" he opened the door and went downstairs. "Did you sleep all right?" Isabella asked. "No. I kept tossing and turning all night, thinking about Ferb." Tears started to form again and something caught in his throat as he continued "He was hit by a truck." The raven-haired girl's eyes went wide and her hand went to her mouth. "Oh, dear. Phineas, I'm so sorry. I… how can I help?" Her houseguest just shook his head. "I don't know."
When Ferb's parents arrived at the hospital that morning they were greeted by Dr. Hirano. "Candace spent most of yesterday and last night crying. I hope you don't mind but I gave her a pain-killer and told her it was a sedative." "No problem at all." Lawrence replied numbly. "We were going over the MRI that Ferb had last night. Everything seems in order. We are going to wake him up this afternoon. He is on high doses of painkillers. Because of the IV medicines he's receiving, he will not be able to eat for a few days; his stomach just won't be able to handle it. As the IV drips are dwindled down, we will introduce bland foods. Once he is awake, we need to keep him in four-hour cycles. Four hours awake and talking, four hours of rest." Linda looked at her husband who nodded his understanding. "He's got an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon regarding his knee this afternoon. The operation is scheduled for tomorrow morning." Their physician friend told them. "Right this way, you may sit with him now." She finished and showed Mr & Mrs. Fletcher into Ferb's hospital room.
They sat beside the bed where their son lay. Linda sat silently, looking at the figure under the covers. Lawrence just held her while he looked at the supine figure of his son. The bandages on Ferb's head had been changed since he last saw him. Husband and wife just sat there; comforting each other as best they could while they listened to the machinery that was helping to keep their son alive.
Dr. Hirano promised to call them later that afternoon once they were ready to wake the boy up. "Family can visit. No friends." Linda thanked her very much and they left the hospital.
Phineas and Candace stopped by the house to get what information they could from their parents. "I can't see him." Phineas told Candace, as he patted Perry. "He's your brother, why can't you see him?" She demanded. "He was hit by a truck Candace, I just don't want to see that. I don't think I can." Her brother explained. "I don't want to see him in hospital either, you know. But he is still my brother and I'm going to visit. I have to." With that, Candace went up to her room and fixed her self up and applied a little makeup to hide the bags under her eyes.
Phineas explained to his parents that he just couldn't go through seeing his brother in the hospital. "It's too scary." Linda hugged him. "If you'd rather stay over with Vivian and Isabella for the afternoon, that's your choice." The three remaining family members got into the car and drove away.
When they arrived, once again, at the hospital room door behind which Ferb lay, Dr. Hirano and another physician came out. The family was greeted and Dr. Hirano walked back into the room with them. "We've tapered off the sedative, he should be able to hear you." They each took turns and talked to him, held his hand, moved a piece of hair away from his face. Candace heard it first, a raspy sound emanating from her brother. "Candace." Not a question, just a statement. "Ferb you're awake?" She looked at him and his eyes started to open. Linda was crying at this point, her husband took her out of the room. Ferb looked at the door and once he was sure it was closed whispered "Candace. I'm scared." His sister took his hand. "No, there's nothing you need to be scared of. Everything will be alright." She tried to convince herself of this as well. The child in the hospital bed looked at her "I can't feel my hands. I can't feel my legs. My head hurts." "Ferb, it'll be all right, everything will be all right. It just has to be." Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Don't tell Mum. Please don't tell her. I don't want her to worry." The teen boy pleaded.
All of a sudden Candace had a sence of déjà vu. She was seven years old and the boys were five. Their father took them to the park. The two step brothers were playing on the merry-go-round. Candace wanted to play on the swings. "Higher Daddy! Higher!" She had taken her father's attention away from the young children, then one of them howled in pain. It was all her fault, their father wasn't paying attention to the youngest kids because she wanted to swing and now one of them got hurt. She blamed herself everyday for the incident. "Why, Ferb? Why did you have to step off the merry-go-round?"
The green haired teen smiled a little smile and said, "Because I had to go to the bathroom." That brought her back to the present. "That was the reason? You had to go to the bathroom so you jumped off the merry-go-round? It's been years since we were in this same scenario. Only that time you just broke your arm. This time, you've got a broken arm, a broken leg and apparently a nasty head wound." "Ungh, don't make me laugh, it hurts." He told her. Their parents came back into the room and Candace looked at them. "He had to go to the bathroom. Can you believe it? Eight years ago, he had to go to the bathroom." "Whatever are you talking about Candace?" Her mother inquired. "Eight years ago? When he leapt from the merry-go-round at the park and broke his arm? He just told me it was because he had to go to the bathroom." The teenaged girl replied. The family couldn't help but share a smile at the bizarre and twisted memory. A voice from the bed inquired "Where's Phineas?" Lawrence stepped over to his son's side and placed his hand on his shoulder. "He was scared to come in today. He said he couldn't see you like this." Ferb looked from his father to his mother to his sister. His brother didn't want to see him? "How about friends? Can they come to visit?" The injured one asked. "I'm sorry dear. Hospital rules indicate that only family can visit." His mother answered him. "I'm tired, I'd like to take a nap now if you don't mind." The youngest in the room declared. Once his family left the room he let the tears fall.
"Do you think he'd like to play a stupid game of chess?" Candace asked her folks as they were waiting for the elevator. "I think he'd like that." Her father replied. She went into the hospital gift shop and found a magnetic chess set and a deck of cards. She sat down in the coffee shop and scribbled out a note for her brother. 'If I promise to let you win, will you play?' The eldest sibling secretly admired her two brothers and felt a strange connection with her stepbrother that couldn't be explained. It was as if he could understand the unspoken, he did that with everyone. She knew that he would share most of his secrets with his brother but she was glad that she had a special bond with him that no one else had. She then put the note, the game and the cards into the bag and went to her brother's room. She quietly opened the door and was making her way over to the bedside table when she heard him whimpering. She placed the bag on the table and sat on the edge of the bed. "Ferb?" He wouldn't or couldn't look at her. "What's wrong?" He hiccoughed a couple of times. Candace leaned over and pulled him into a hug. "I would have thought Phineas would have come to visit. I would have visited him." He sobbed into her shoulder. She just held him. "I know you would. I'll have a talk with him." She said. "I'll come back after dinner okay? Get some rest. I'll try to convince our brother he should visit." Ferb nodded, looked at the bag on the table and raised his eyebrows. "This is for you." She said with a smile, as she handed him the bag then left the room. He looked in the bag. "Thank you." He said to the door as it closed.