A/N: Well! Here we are with my SECOND published chapter-YAY! I'm so happy! First of all, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers, especially Mikki Warner for all of your encouragement, Classicsrule for a well-rounded and helpful review, and Jamocha101 for all of your wonderful help and advice. Thank you to all my readers- you guys keep me going! So, now for the traditional grovel: PLEASE REVIEW! Now that that's over with, all of you who actually bothered to read this big long gigantic text block can get to what's important: THE STORY!
SECOND A/N: This chapter has been revised and edited. You're reading the edited version. The first version has been buried and burned, not necessarily in that order.
In Rapid Succession-Chapter 2
Dot was annoyed. Not only had Wakko stolen her soda, he belched loudly just in time to drown out one of her favorite Spike lines (He was sooo cute! She always went for a man with an accent). Then, when she tried to get the soda back, he refused to give it up and the resulting tug-of-war match ended in it spilling all over her skirt.
She stormed through the open door of the bedroom. Yakko was perched precariously halfway down the bunk bed ladder, a half-eaten piece of pizza held in his outstretched hand. It was dripping a little grease onto the rungs. "What's up, sis?" He quipped, leaping down and shooting the disgusting pizza remains a repulsed glance as a drop of grease landed on his khakis.
"I spilled soda all over my skirt. Look!" Dot growled as she indicated the brown stain the soda had made. It was a good skirt! "How can I be cute when it looks like someone barfed on my lap? This stain'll never come out," she complained as she opened her drawer and pushed past the pile of panties with Tuesday on top to a fresh skirt.
"But I just did your laundry," she heard him say from behind.
"Yeah, I know." Ah, here we go, an adorable little flamingo-pink number. Her brothers always insisted that all her skirts were the same color. Boys; go fig. They were so oblivious when it came to clothes.
"I JUST did your laundry." Yakko repeated. She pulled down the garment and tossed it on the floor.
"And?" Replied Dot. She turned to face him as she pulled on the new skirt and caught him twitch slightly before he bent to pick it up, soda bleeding from the skirt into the fabric of his gloves.
Dot waited, realizing she might have been a little too nonchalant. She and Wakko were always careful to be appreciative of Yakko doing a lot of the housework; admittedly, though, they had been slipping as of late. Besides, she had thought she heard him coughing last night. If he was sick… However, he relaxed and said, "Never mind. Just try not to soak that one, 'kay?" Which meant that it was all right.
Balling up the skirt and shooting it into the hamper, Yakko started up the ladder again. Dot turned to leave. "Yakko, be careful." She called over her shoulder, partly to show a little affection after being, yes, a little bit of a jerk, and partly because it was just a brother-sister thing. She knew he'd be fine, but she said it anyway. Dot caught him smile.
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, shove that trash can near the beds, will yAAAAH!"
Hearing Yakko cry out, Dot whirled around just in time to see him tip backwards and fall off the ladder.
"YAKKO!" Dot shrieked, and dived forward to… To what? Catch him? He would crush her, and anyway it was already too late. Seeming to Dot as if he were moving in slow motion, Yakko reached the ground and hit with a THUMP. Even worse was the sickening CRACK Dot heard when his head collided with the floor. Dot reached him a second after that. She sat there on her knees for a minute, heart pounding, breathing heavily, thoughts coursing through her head. Oh my God. What was that cracking noise? Did he break something? Did he break his SKULL? Can you do that? I don't see any brains. I would see brains if he broke his skull, right? Gross. Oh, God, what if he has amnesia? What if he's DEAD?
Dot took a deep, steadying breath that had none of the desired affect. Actually it was just hyperventilating, but that wasn't really the point. Yakko, on the floor, not moving; that was the point. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, trying to wake him up, realizing in the back of her mind how stupid that was but disregarding reason completely for the moment. Her voice was small and scared when she spoke.
"Yakko? Yakko. C'mon, listen, it's Dot. It's Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo-Boo-"Bo-Besca, she finished silently. She always messed up that part. Yakko could do it right. He still wasn't moving. Dot half expected him to correct her, like always, him being the one who taught her to say it right. She pulled him numbly into a hug, and realized that he was breathing. That brought her back a little bit. He was alive. He was... Not okay, but alive. Alive, she could work with. But she needed help.
Suddenly, she almost laughed. Dot had TWO brothers. Why hadn't she called Wakko sooner? He was just in the living room. She filled her lungs again.
"WAKKO!"
"COMIN'!" He's coming. He'll help. Dot was happy to have two brothers at that moment instead of a sister, like she had always said. A sister would probably have passed out, knowing her luck, and then DOT would have had to figure out what to do. Usually she loved being in control of a situation, but right now she would happily pass the reigns onto someone else- and here Wakko was at the door now.
Wakko appeared, tongue hanging out at the edge of a trademark goofy smile. "You hollered?" His face fell almost comically when he saw the two of them on the floor. "What happened?" Dot looked up at him, tears beginning to swim in her eyes. "Yakko fell off the ladder!" She burst out. "He hit his head on the floor and he's unconscious and he's bleeding and… Wakko, what do we do?"
Wakko had already knelt down and taken Yakko's hand. "Uh," he said, staring at Yakko, eyes wide and shocked, for a full 30 seconds before snapping out of it. " Well… Um, did you s-"
"Unhhh… D-dot, Whahappn?"
Dot gasped, almost sobbing with a tidal wave of relief. No coma, no amnesia. Yakko had said her name, so he must remember. Even as Dot gazed down at him, he opened his eyes and blinked; then his hand shot up to block the light. "Gah. Bright." Dot felt like squeezing his guts out in a bear hug, but also wanted to treat him like fine china-lovingly and very, very carefully.
"Don't sit u-" Dot started, but Yakko had already raised himself onto his elbows. "Never mind," supplied Wakko with a half-smile. He looked hugely relieved too. "How are you?"
"Me?" Yakko asked, giggling. Dot looked at Wakko- he seemed as weirded out as she felt. This wasn't a characteristic giggle, this was an airhead girl, "OMG-I-can't-believe-he-asked-me-out" giggle. "Me?" Yakko continued. "Fine. Peachy. Peaches and gravy." He giggled again, reminding Dot uncannily of herself. "Peaches and gravy. Where does that expression even come from? I mean, the two foods don't exactly go. If you put gravy on peaches, I mean, guh-ross!" He made a face, still acting a little too… Off, in Dot's opinion. He was rambling, and not in the normal, Yakko-like way.
"Yakko…" Wakko seemed to notice it too, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Wha? I'm great. I'm as happy as a little girl!" Again with the giggling, Dot though. She and Wakko exchanged worried glances. Suddenly, Yakko turned thoughtful. "I think I'm going to throw up, though," he added casually, like a comment about the weather.
"What?" The other two said in unison. Their brother answered by leaning over and vomiting into Dot's lap. She could almost taste the irony.
…
A/N: WOO! So, like I said, review and let me know how it's coming! By the way, if you found that last comment about text talk reviews in my last chapter's A/N offensive, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just a little control-freaky sometimes. I like reviews in any format-just keep 'em coming and I'll crank out the chapters! Thanks again to all my wonderful readers!