Chapter 1
As the clock chimed 3:00, Imaginary Friends all throughout Foster's enjoyed themselves. Some were watching TV, some were making sandwiches, and others were doing miscellaneous tasks. Being a Friday afternoon, everyone had enough time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the day. Well, except for one.
A small blue blob sat itself in front of the foyer's grandfather clock, anxiously awaiting his friend. As the clock began to read 3:02, he began to panic. The Imaginary Friend tried to calm himself down, but then remembered the times when the house overseer, Mr. Herriman, had put him up for adoption when Mac was running even a few minutes late. That one with the Johnsons was a close call...but they did have a Jacuzzi...
"Alright Bloo, don't panic," the blob said to himself, "Mac will be here in just a few minutes and we can play and everything will be just fine." Just as he finished, a knock came from the door. Eagerly, Bloo ran to it and wrenched it open. His smile fell when he saw a family and their kid standing in the doorway. Then, he realized his mistake.
"Hi, welcome to Foster's." Bloo greeted nervously, "Um...just wait a minute." He turned around and shouted, "FRANKIE! There are people at the door!"
"Well, did you answer it?" a voice called back.
"Yeah, and they want a friend for their kid!"
"Just show them around then!" Frankie shouted.
"Fine," Bloo grumbled before letting the family in. The kid was eyeing him, just like he...oh no. He had to ditch this family and freaking FAST!
"Uh, wait here a minute and I'll get you guys a tour guide." Bloo addressed them and then sped off to find Wilt. Sure enough, Wilt was in the other room watching TV with Eduardo and Coco.
"Oh, hola Azul." Eduardo greeted, "Um, what es you doing here?"
"Wilt!" Bloo shouted, "Give the family in the foyer a tour of Foster's, now!"
"Why?" Wilt asked, "I'm sorry, but can't you do it yourself?"
"No, I'm too special to do it." Bloo answered. Coco frowned.
"Cocococo Coco!" Coco shouted.
"What? Wait, what time is it now?" Bloo asked, now paranoid.
"Co Coco." Coco replied.
"3:15? Wilt, please! Help a poor guy out and do it!" Bloo pleaded.
"Wait, Mac's not here yet?" Wilt asked.
"No! Why else would I actually bother asking first? I knew you'd say yes! Mr. Herriman's going to put me up for adoption and I have to go find Mac before that kid out there adopts me!" Bloo shrieked.
"But, you never asked."
"That beside the point!" an aggravated Bloo yelled.
"Ok, I'll do it. Eduardo, Coco, you guys make sure that kid doesn't adopt Bloo, and no Coco, nothing illegal." Coco frowned.
"Si Wilt!" Eduardo said as he and Coco left the room.
"Bloo, just stay in here until I get the family out of the foyer, got it?"
"Yeah, got it." Bloo answered. He needed to get outside of Foster's and fast. Who knows what could have happened to his bestest buddy in the whole world? Maybe those ninja-zombies attacked him...
The distant sound of voices snapped Bloo out of his reverie. He poked his head out of the door to make sure nobody was there and made a beeline for the door. Opening it quietly, he slipped outside of the house and proceeded down the sidewalk.
"Alright, now I have to rescue poor Mac from alien invaders!" Bloo proclaimed and sped off in the direction of Mac's school. Halfway there, Bloo spotted Mac about to cross the street. Bloo sighed in relief seeing his creator two streets away from him. He crossed his street and waited for Mac at the other end of the crosswalk.
"Hey Bloo!" Mac shouted while waiting for the "Walk" sign from the streetlights.
"Hey Mac!" Bloo waved back. With a *ding*, the white walking sign lit up and Mac began to cross. Bloo decided to meet him halfway and started across himself. They never saw the car coming.
Once they were two feet away from each other, a car sped down the street. Bloo and Mac both turned and tried to get away, but never did. In a flash, both friends were knocked back onto the pavement as the car squealed to a halt after impact. The driver got out of the car and dialed 911.
Minutes later, Bloo opened his eyes and immediately saw Mac lying on the ground across from him. Shakily crawling over to his creator, Bloo finally saw his friend's terrible condition.
Cuts and bruises covered his face and a red puddle was beginning to form around his head. Bloo crawled closer, unable to muster the strength to walk, and reached out to Mac. He quickly recoiled and hissed in pain as he realized his left arm was broken. He then reached out with his right and grabbed Mac's hand.
Bloo's eyes widened in fear; he felt his creator's critical condition, unknowingly using the Empathy Link between them. His best friend was dying, and he could sense every agonizing minute of his demise. Deep within himself, Bloo could feel his own energy, his own life force, wanting to get out of his body. He knew what he had to do.
Focusing purely on instinct, Bloo took a deep breath and let his own energy merge with his creator. Any excess energy given off from his adrenaline rush was focused on keeping his creator alive. Energy poured into the boy and Bloo could sense his success. After a few more seconds, Bloo released Mac's hand and finally succumbed to his own exhaustion and injuries and slumped to the ground beside Mac. Now facing the way he came, Bloo noticed a fine trail of red starting from his previous location. His vision grew fuzzier by the minute.
"Huh, would you look at that..." Bloo mumbled incoherently. The driver finally seemed to have noticed the small blob and was relieved to see it alive. They also noticed the boy lying next to it, his chest steadily rising and falling. The driver remained stunned for a minute, but was snapped back into reality by the nearing sound of sirens. A few seconds later, the police and an ambulance arrived on the scene.
A police officer walked over to the driver and asked a few questions, then wrote something down on his notepad. Meanwhile, another officer was making a cell phone call to the most likely place responsible for Imaginary Friends. A doctor walked over to the two friends with a team readied with a gurney.
Mac was brought aboard the ambulance first, him in the most critical condition. As the people took him away, Bloo tried to reach out to Mac. The officer, now off of the cell phone, noticed the Imaginary and leaned down towards him.
"Hey you guys! This little one is still conscious!" he shouted. Soon, everyone on the scene had crowded around Bloo and the doctor gently picked him up. Bloo tuned everyone out, energy draining rapidly. He had decided for himself much earlier that if he and Mac were in a dire situation, Mac came first. Besides, Foster's didn't need two dead people to deal with.
Bloo drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few seconds. As he was put into the ambulance alongside Mac, he could make out the Foster's bus speeding to their location. An officer walked over to the soon parked bus and told the driver to follow the ambulance. Bloo's eyes slipped shut as the ambulance doors closed in front of him.
*10 minutes earlier at Foster's*
"Hey, Wilt have you seen Bloo?" Frankie asked the tall Imaginary Friend.
"Oh yeah, he went to go get Mac. There was a family at the door that wanted to adopt so Bloo decided to go find Mac before Herriman adopted him off again." Wilt replied. Frankie's eyes widened.
"You mean, you let him out alone?" she shouted.
"Yeah, he-" Wilt slapped his forehead, "I am so stupid."
"Ok, we'll just have to go find him then. After all, he just went to meet Mac at school. Nothing too bad could have happened. I'll go find them." Frankie was just about to leave when the phone rang. She picked it up and answered, "Hello, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. How can I help you?"
"This is Officer Charles, is this Frankie Foster?"
"Yes. Wait…did Bloo go to jail again? Honestly, this will be the fifth time this month!"
"No, Bloo's not in jail…but there has been an accident."
"Oh no..." Frankie panicked, "What happened to him?"
"Well Frankie," he started, "some driver was speeding and didn't see the two crossing the street. They were both hit and both are unconscious."
"Wait, both?" Frankie clutched the phone, fearing the worst. The officer sighed.
"I'm afraid his friend was hit too. A small boy with a green backpack and brown hair, you know, the kid that comes over every day."
"Mac…" Frankie whispered.
"We are at the east end of Wilson Way. We'll give you a police escort to the hospital as soon as you arrive."
"Thank you officer, I'll be there in a minute." Frankie hung the phone up and then shouted, "Wilt! Eduardo! Coco! Get down here right now!" Said Imaginary Friends came running into the foyer.
"Honestly," Mr. Herriman scolded, "No running in the halls!"
"You called us?" Wilt asked.
"Yeah, you guys, something happened to Mac and Bloo. We need to get them."
"Cococo?" Coco asked.
"I'll explain to you on the bus. Come on!" All four ran out of the old Victorian and into the multicolored bus. "Ok you guys; now don't cry Eduardo, Mac and Bloo…" How could she phrase this gently?
"What?" Wilt asked, concern growing larger and larger.
"Es señor Mac ok?" Eduardo asked, tears threatening to leave his eyes.
"Coco?"
"No Coco, Bloo's not that stupid. Well, he is pretty…no, not now." Frankie stopped herself mid-sentence and sighed. "You guys, Mac and Bloo were in a car accident."
"Coco Coco Co?" Coco asked suspiciously.
"No, Bloo wasn't driving anything this time. Thank goodness. Anyway, they were hit by a speeder and they're both unconscious." Eduardo burst into tears.
"Awe, it's ok Ed. Mac and Bloo will be fine. Right Frankie?" Wilt looked to her. She sighed.
"They'll be alright. They have to be." She whispered the last part to herself more than anybody. They arrived at the small barricade created by all the police cars shortly. A police officer walked over to the bus and motioned for Frankie to open the door. She obliged.
"We will give you an escort to the hospital. The medics just finished loading the two into the ambulance. Poor little fellow was still conscious when we put him in." Frankie gasped.
"Which one?" she asked.
"The little blue blob Charles knows."
"Bloo! Was Mac ok?"
"His case is quite surprising actually. There's a piece of metal lodged into the back of his head, but when we found him, his breathing and heart rate were stable. Incredible if you ask me."
"And Bloo was still conscious?"
"Um…yeah, it's quite surprising actually. He's in terrible condition right now. Miss, what are you getting at?"
"Just wondering. So, about that escort…"
"Right, follow me ma'am." The officer climbed into his car, turned on his siren, and led the Foster's bus to the hospital so quickly that they saw the ambulance pull into the parking lot. Frankie parked quickly and ran inside tailed by the other three Imaginaries.
"Excuse me," Frankie said to the receptionist, "Could you tell me where Mac C. McCracken and Blooregard…um…" she turned to the others and whispered, "I forgot his full name. I can't believe it! I shouts it often enough!"
"I'm pretty sure it's Blooregard Q. Kazoo." Wilt replied.
"Sorry about that," she smiled nervously, "Could you tell me where Mac McCracken and Blooregard Q. Kazoo are?"
"Ah yes, Mr. McCracken is in the Operation Ward now." The receptionist answered.
"Thanks, and Bloo?" Frankie asked again.
"Oh yes, one of their kind." She replied, pointing to Eduardo. He yelped and hid behind Wilt.
"Listen to me you wife of a biscuit-eating bulldog," Frankie hissed, "Imaginary Friends are people as much as you and me are. Now, I'll ask this again before I have to drag an Extreme-O-Saur in here, where is Bloo?"
"The Imaginary you're looking for is in Ward A, room 113."
"Come on guys, let's go." Frankie headed for the ward accompanied by Wilt and Coco. Eduardo stayed behind for a minute to address the receptionist.
"You es a big fat meanie head!" he said and stomped away. The receptionist gave the group a glare and then went back to filing papers.
…
"113, 133, ah ha! Here it is!" Frankie exclaimed. The group entered the room and saw Bloo squirming in his sleep. His arm was in a cast and white sheets were pulled up to where his neck would be. Some drip was attached to him; something similar to an IV specifically engineered for Imaginaries, and was attached to his other arm.
Wilt found it odd to see the energetic little blob of mischief so weak and frail-looking. Those hospital sheets just made him look so…puny.
"No…not…can't…Mac…" Bloo muttered in his uneasy sleep. Frankie grabbed a chair from the opposite wall and pulled it up next to the bed.
"Let's wait for him to wake up." Frankie told the others, "Besides, he's got to wake up soon. From past experiences with Bloo and nightmares, he always wakes up and screams…and then wakes up everyone in the house." Bloo continued to shift and struggle, the other unknowing of the horrors running through his mind.
A/N: So, I needed a break from Invader Zim so I started re-watching Foster's due to a chocolate milk related incident. I had the urge to write stuff for it and then this happened! I've got so much more planned (96 ideas of all types of categories to finish), but hopefully I'll finish this before going back to the other projects. Chapter 2 is already started and halfway done! Yay! Well, I'm out.
