The leaf and disease that are going to be explained in this chapter and the whole story have been completely made up by me. Therefore, they're not real.
Chapter 2: Bad News
It had been quite a while since Rocko and Filburt arrived at O-Town Hospital to check Heffer in for an emergency appointment. Rocko and Filburt, with their coats off, were sitting in the waiting room, waiting for news while Heffer was being checked by a doctor.
"I wish we know what's wrong with Heffer," said Rocko.
"Yeah, I just hope he doesn't have a lung disease," said Filburt.
Just then, the doctor came out of a room and walked up to Rocko and Filburt.
"Rocko, Filburt, I'd like you two to come with me into the examination room," reminded the doctor.
Rocko, Filburt and the doctor went into the examination room, where Heffer was sitting on the examination bed.
"I did an x-ray on Heffer and this is what I found," said the doctor.
The doctor held up an x-ray picture and on it, a leaf was in the stomach. It was quite long and thin with little spikes. Rocko, Heffer and Filburt were all confused.
"What's that leaf doing in his stomach?" asked Rocko.
"He must have accidentally swallowed it without realising," replied the doctor.
"I think he must of swallowed it when I gave him a glass of water after he choked on it," Rocko explained.
"I see," said the doctor. "Well, I managed to identify what the leaf was. It's the River Nile leaf."
The trio gasped. They had heard of that leaf before and from the sounds of it, it didn't look good.
"The River Nile leaf's very poisonous!" exclaimed Heffer.
"That's correct," the doctor answered. "The leaf contains poison inside so if the poison's touched or swallowed, it will cause the person to suffer from the River Nile Disease, which is an illness that is so fatal it could kill a person sooner or later depending on how much poison had been ingested. It is especially deadly when it is swallowed due to the high amount of toxins contained in the poison and it would take between two or three days to kill a person if a large amount is ingested, whereas touching the poison would take between under a week and a few months depending on how much ingestion had been involved. So, what I'm about to say now is very distressing, especially during this season of the year."
The doctor sighed and put on a depressed look as he began to confirm an outcome that nobody would forget:
"Heffer, considering the current progress of your diagnosis and unless you get urgent treatment…you've approximately only got 48 hours to live."
Rocko, Heffer and Filburt let out silent gasps of devastation. Surely, that couldn't be true?
"Does that mean…he could die…on Christmas?" questioned Rocko, looking shocked.
"I'm afraid so," answered the doctor.
The horror and heartbreak in Rocko, Heffer and Filburt's expressions said it all. They couldn't believe that Heffer was dying. Tears suddenly filled their eyes.
"No! I can't die yet!" gasped Heffer as tears fled from his eyes. "I'm too young to die! This can't be happening!"
By now, Rocko, Heffer and Filburt looked like they were ready to cry.
"I am very, very sorry," the doctor apologised. "The symptoms of the disease are abdominal pain of varying degrees, nausea, gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea, coughing up blood, dizziness, fatigue and, eventually, weakness, drowsiness and loss of body movement. However, the disease is highly treatable so we'll quickly schedule an appointment for Heffer tomorrow to see if we can save his life. I'll give you three some time to yourselves so you can take in what I've said."
The doctor left the room, leaving the three heartbroken boys all alone.
"I can't believe it," Heffer lamented. "I'm going to die on Christmas!"
A tearful Rocko, Heffer and Filburt hugged together, letting out quiet sobs as tears ran down their faces. Neither of them could hardly believe it. In two days, right on Christmas, Heffer would be gone…
NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Heffer can't die! The news will be spread to the Futaba siblings (Ai, Zukin and Hiroshi) in the next chapter.