Ch. 2

xXx Bubbles xXx

Bubbles sat in the hallway, leaning on the door to the laboratory. When she had brought her sisters home, the Professor had taken them right away. He had made it a habit to take care of her and her sisters himself. He didn't trust the doctors at the hospital to take good enough care of them. She was becoming nervous, she had been waiting for hours, and there had been no word from the Professor yet. There was something that she still didn't understand. With her sisters in the condition they were, why was she not on the verge of dying, too? Her leg hurt from where Him had grabbed her, but that was it. She wasn't even bleeding. She decided not to question it, and decided to count herself lucky. An uneasy feeling plagued her stomach, what would they do if Him came back? They barely survived that encounter. The door behind her opened, and it caused her to fall flat on her face.

She looked up to see the Professor's grave face staring off into nothingness, "Professor, how are Blossom and Buttercup?"

"Resting, they should be fine." his voice was hallow, which made it seem like they wouldn't be okay, "Did you say that you weren't hurt?"

"I'm fine, Professor... Can I see them?"

"No, like I said, they are resting. Maybe later, Bubbles." he walked away from her and dragged his body up the stairs.

At the moment, she didn't care what the Professor said; she wanted to see them with her own eyes. She opened the laboratory door, which was already slightly open, and snuck down the stairs. Upon seeing her sisters, she felt like she was going to cry. Both of them were covered head-to-toe in bloodstained bandages. For fear of hurting them, she stayed a few feet away. She stood there for a moment, listening to the slow beeps that came from the heart monitors. They both looked so frail and helpless, and she couldn't take it any longer. She had to leave. Quickly, she went upstairs to her room. She laid down on her bed and gazed up at the ceiling, trying to get rid of the sick feeling in her stomach.

xXx The Next Day xXx

She went through the entire school day alone, and received odd looks from her classmates. Some of them even asked if Blossom and Buttercup were all right. They didn't ask out of concern for her sisters, they were more curious about why she wasn't banged up. The question of why she wasn't hurt was always slipped somewhere into the inquiries. It felt weird, not having them with her. She missed the sound of them arguing and laughing. To her displeasure, she didn't have a free ticket home; Butch, Brick and Boomer felt it was necessary to push her around a little before they let her pass. Finally, she had to punch Butch across the face and. After that, she made a hasty retreat home by air.

When she landed safely on the doormat, she went inside, expecting to find nothing but silence. Instead, she was greeted by Blossom's smiling face; she looked around her to see Buttercup sitting on the couch playing a video game. They both looked brand new, like they hadn't even been in a fight.

"What- what happened?" she looked around confused, as if she had entered some kind of parallel universe.

"What do mean, the Professor fixed us up, what else?" Buttercups voice boomed over the music of her game.

"But- so soon, you guys were really hurt."

"Believe it or not, it wasn't as bad as last time." the Professor walked down the stairs, still looking as tired as he did last night, "of course, it still took some time. I've been patching them up ever since you left for school."

Sometimes she didn't understand how he did all these amazing things. Yesterday, Bubbles had thought that they were going to die. "Professor, you look horrible. I think you should get some rest." she looked up at him with true concern, but he just smiled and lightly laughed.

Suddenly, Blossom grabbed her book bag, "I've got to go to the library if I ever want to catch up."

"You missed one day, Blossom." Buttercup remarked dryly from across the room.

"Yes, Blossom, I would really rather you stay here." he put his hand on the front door and looked at Blossom with worried eyes.

"Why should you worry, Professor? We're all better now, there's nothing for you to be worried about."

"Blossom—

She looked at him as if he were being unreasonable, "Bye, Professor, I'll be home in a few hours." she slipped past him and walked out the door. She gracefully rose into the air and flew off.

She watched as Blossom left. The Professor could never tell them no, regardless of the circumstance. He obviously didn't believe that she would be okay, and she could see that the worry was eating him alive. Next, the music to Buttercup's game turned off, and the green Powerpuff made her way to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" the Professor looked at her worriedly.

"I have a concert to go to." she tried to move past him, but he stood his ground.

"I don't think so." he tried to sound like an authoritative father figure, but it didn't come out too well.

"That's not fair! You let Blossom go, so you have to let me go, too! "

Bubbles gave her a disappointed look as she saw the Professor's already tired face give in, "Fine you can go, but please, be careful."

"Thanks, Professor." she dashed by him and went flying off down the street.

The house was empty and silent as the Professor gazed out the door, "Go sit down on the couch, I'll get you some medicine." she gently grabbed his arm and lead him to the white couch.

She went upstairs and into the bathroom, where she rummaged through the medicine cabinet. A loud crash bounced up the stairs and into the bathroom, causing her to drop the bottle she currently had in her hand. She glared at the door for a moment before she heard another crash. With that, she zoomed out of the bathroom and down the stairs. As she entered the living room, she saw a shattered vase lying on the ground, and what she saw next caused the panic in her heart. The Professor's body was sprawled out on the floor, white and shaky. She ran to him and kneeled beside him, and she could tell that something wasn't right about his breathing. Carefully, she pulled him up, putting all his weight on her shoulder and flew out the door. She knew that she could get him to the hospital faster than any ambulance.

She watched with worry as the doctors carried the Professor way through the big, white double doors labeled "ER." She sat in the waiting room, with water dripping from her face; it had started raining on her way here. She chocked back a sob, knowing that kind of weather couldn't have been good for him. A nurse came by, handed her a towel and walked away without a word. She didn't bother drying off; instead, she took out her cellphone to call her sisters. She looked at the shimmering blue thing in her hand; the Professor had given them all one, just so the mayor would have another way of getting into contact with them. She tried Blossom first, but there was no answer; she was at the library, so it would be off. Although she knew that Buttercup wouldn't be able to hear her phone over the music, she tried anyway. She didn't get an answer. She left them both a message explaining what had happened and where she was. As soon as she put her phone away, she threw the towel over her head; she didn't do it to dry off, but to cry without anyone seeing. She plummeted off into a restless sleep after a few minutes of crying.

She awoke to someone shaking her, "Oh, Bubbles, I got you message, is everything okay?" it was Blossom.

She rubbed her eyes, "I-I don't know, no one has said anything."

She looked disappointed, "Oh, okay..." she sat down beside her and rested her hand on Bubbles.

They both sat in silence, waiting for any news, good or bad. As time passed, Buttercup finally showed up. When they told Buttercup that they didn't have any news, a nurse finally approached.

"Are you girls here for Mr. Utonium?"

Bubbles shot up from her seat, "Yes, we are."

The nurse looked at her clipboard, "He went into cardiac arrest. He's in recovery right now."

"So, is he okay?" Blossom looked at the small nurse with watery eyes.

The young nurse hesitated, "Is there someone else I can speak to, he's wife perhaps?"

Blossom spoke up, "No, there's no wife, it's just us."

She sighed in defeat, "It's not looking too good... did he fall down and hit his head?"

Bubbles took a step forward, "Well, when I found him, his was on the floor. I think he may have hit his head on a vase."

"He has a concussion, but I don't believe a vase could cause something this severe. Is there anything else?"

"Yesterday, he seemed really weak, but I just thought it was because we came home hurt." Bubbles felt a knot forming in her stomach.

The nurse tapped her pen on her clipboard, "That stress could have triggered the heart attack. As for the concussion, he must have hit his head once before."

It was Blossom's turn again, "You said 'severe,' how severe?"

The nurse thought it over before she answered, " He could slip into a coma if were not careful... I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll let you know when something turns up." she walked away from them with a sad smile.

Buttercup glared in the direction she went, "She doesn't have to go, she just doesn't want to deal with 'little kids.'" her comment went unnoticed.

"It's our fault." Bubbles sank down into her chair and stared blankly at the floor in front of her.

"It-no-it's not our fault." Blossom placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Buttercup sat down beside her, too, "When did it happen?"

"Right after you left, but-."

Buttercup jolted up from her chair, "Why did you let us go!"

"What, how was I supposed to stop you? There was no way I could have!"

"Yes, you could have, if you wanted to! You should have done something!"

Blossom dragged Buttercup away, "What's wrong with you, Buttercup? This isn't Bubbles' fault; she didn't know this would happen."

She jerked away from her, "Well, if she knew he wasn't doing well, she should have said something! And now, the Professor is in the hospital!"

"You can't blame her for this." Blossom hissed in a low voice.

Despite the distance, Bubbles could still hear them. She already felt bad enough, because half of what Buttercup said was true, but she still didn't want to sit here and listen to it. While they were arguing, she snuck out of the waiting room and stood in the hallway. She heard Blossom call her name, so she went to hide in the stairwell, where they wouldn't find her. After a few minutes of siting alone, she managed to calm back down; she sighed deeply and closed her eyes. The sadness was soon replaced by nervousness, it felt like someone or something was watching her.

"Such a shame… About the Professor, I mean. You must feel very guilty."

Her head snapped in the direction of that voice. Him stood at the bottom of the stairs, with a smug smile on his face. Her heart pounded against her chest, and the world around her was spinning. She attempted to move her body, but it wouldn't respond to her thoughts. Then, everything froze as Him spoke again.

"Do you want to save him?"