TWO WEEKS LATER

Yakko rolled over on his other side. He couldn't seem to be able to go to sleep. All night, his stomach had been hurting. At first he'd thought that it was because he ate one too many nachos after dinner. But then again, Wakko and Dot ate the majority of the snack. He'd just snagged a couple... Because my stomach was hurting! he thought to himself.

Finally, he pushed himself out of his bed and trudged to the bathroom. He emerged an hour later, his stomach ache intensified. "Well, might as well go watch tv while I'm up," Yakko muttered to himself.

He tip-toed past Wakko's room, peeking in to make sure the boy was still asleep. Wakko was lying half in, half out of his bed, snoring just as he does every night. Yakko thought he heard Wakko moaning. He looked back in, only to hear the boy say, "Cheese. Lotta cheese. Nachos. Lotta nachos."

Yakko shook his head in humor. Only his brother would still be thinking about food, even when he was asleep. Just as Yakko walked into the kitchen, his stomach lurched horrible. Yakko's hand flew to his mouth and he dashed for the kitchen sink. The only sound that could be heard right then would be Yakko throwing up into the sink.

A couple of minutes later, Yakko stood up, exhausted and grossed out. "Maybe I did eat something bad...." he murmured as he washed out the sink and his mouth. But no sooner had he done that, then his stomach did another somersault and he was back leaning over the basin, watching his breakfast, lunch, and dinner come back up.

This time, when he finished, he washed his mouth and the sink out, then grabbed a popcorn bowl. Better safe than sorry. I don't want to have to scrub puke out of the carpet. Yakko thought. He took the bowl with him as he moved slowly to the couch. Yakko lay down and, grabbing the remote which was under the sofa, switched on the tv.

He channel surfed for a bit, before settling on reruns of Animaniacs! His stomach was still hurting, though. It was really starting to bug him. Yakko thought back to all the times when he'd drank milk. Being lactose-intolerant meant that he always ended up with a bad stomach ache afterwards. But never to this extent. "Plus," he pondered aloud, "I haven't had any milk today."

As the tv continued to run, he dozed on and off, vomitting every couple of minutes. Finally, Yakko decided that something was wrong. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he reached over and grabbed the portable phone. Yakko quickly dialed Dr. Scratchnsniff's number. The phone rang four times before it was answered.

"Hello?" Dr. Scratchnsniff's voice sounded groggy, but at least he answered.

"Hi, Scratchy. It's me, Yakko."

"Eh, what do you want, Yakko? It is... 4 o'clock in the morning. Time to go sleepy, sleepy, jah!" Scratchnsniff groaned.

"No, I'm not trying to bug you today, Scratchy. No, I haven't been feeling good and I was wondering what I should do about it." Yakko replied.

"Jah, okay. Tell me what is the matter, jah?"

"Eh, my stomach has been hurting mostly on the right and I've been throwing up alot. I don't think it's food poisoning or me being lactose-intolerant. I think it's something else. Do you know what it could be?" Yakko asked, hoping against hope that it wasn't serious.

"Oh. The hurting of the stomach, yah? Well, it could be you ate too much or it could be... appendicitis."

"Aprendi-what?" Yakko asked. He felt his stomach lurch again but hoped that he wouldn't start throwing up again. He needed to find out what was wrong with him.

"Appendicitis, Yakko. It's a very dangerous disease, jah. You'd need to go to the hospital and have it removed surgically, jah."

Yakko opened his mouth, about to respond when he felt the bile rise up in his throat. He leaned over the new, empty bowl he'd gotten when he filled up the last one and filled it with the contents of his stomach.

"Yakko? Yakko? Okay, I'll see if I can send someone to get you to the hospital, jah? I'm going to call them now, jah?" Scratchnsniff hung up as quickly as he could.

Some doctor. Can't even stand the sound of throwing up. He's not even seeing it, though. He's just hearing it. Yakko thought as he threw up.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Slappy Squirrel hobbled into the water tower, craning her neck, looking for Yakko. She found him sprawled on the couch, looking terribly green.

"Ah, here's the sick boy. C'mon, then . We're going to the hospital. Bring a tub with you. I don't want your puke all over my seats. Now, you get the bowl, and I'll get your brother and sister." Slappy barked as soon as Yakko looked up at her.

Yakko nodded and got moving towards the kitchen, looking for another clean bowl to bring with him.

Slappy shook her head and then limped down the hallway. She pushed open Wakko's door and went over to his bed, shaking him awake.

"Wha?" Wakko yawned before seeing Slappy. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"We're taking Yakko to the hospital. He's sick. We don't know with what. Just get up and get dressed." Slappy ordered before turning and exiting the room to go and collect Dot. Instead of waking the little girl up, Slappy just picked her up and put her in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

A couple of minutes later, the group was gathered around the door: Slappy holding a still sleeping Dot, Wakko holding a doughnut, and Yakko holding a bowl for him to throw up in.

"Everybody ready?" Slappy asked. Yakko nodded mutely. "Alright, let's go. To the ER!"