Gosalyn shook with rage. She had been right at the rooftop when Negaduck pushed her father over, she had been scooped up by Gizmoduck, had her eyes covered at the scene despite her protests, and couldn't even see her possibly dying father now.
"Why can't I see dad?! Why wasn't I allowed to be near him?!"
Launchpad was harried by her protests, but he understood. At the same time he was too shaken to explain everything. Gizmoduck had left to Duckburg for the day, but he agreed to pay all the hospital bills when available. Others in the waiting room stared at them.
"You know I can handle blood. I can handle seeing injuries. I'm nine, not five!" Gosalyn pulled at Launchpad's collar. The pilot simply looked at her with exhausted eyes. He just hoped that everything would turn out okay in the end.
Gosalyn seemed ready to explode just as a nurse walked into the room, announcing:
"Is there a Mr. McQuack here? The doctor would like to speak with you."
Launchpad looked up, "Yes?"
"It's about your partner. Drake Mallard."
Gosalyn's eyes widened, holding on tight to Launchpad's beefy hand as the two followed the nurse into Drake's room.
She knew the from the moment the door opened, that things didn't look good. She had witnessed death many times before, but each time still seemed as fresh as a new wound to her.
The doctor's expression was completely neutral. Gosalyn understood that it was part of his job to not show feelings, but she hated that. Why couldn't he show a little concern, a little pity? Surely he must have some pity. Doctors weren't heartless robots, and she knew this.
Hospitals made Gosalyn feel incredibly uneasy; she saw them as a place where people get prodded with needles, are given gross-tasting medicine, and more. She knew hospitals were supposed to help people, but why did they always have to have such an eerie atmosphere? She would have preferred a haunted house.
Her father was in the adjacent bed, bundled up in heated blankets and so many bandages that he looked like something out of a mummy movie (this, Gosalyn would have normally found hilarious, but couldn't given how dire the situation was). There were many of the usual hospital machines around connecting to him and essentially giving him the life support he needed right now. Machines that she liked the colors and buttons of, but knew if she fiddled with them she would literally kill her father rather than make him mildly upset.
In short, there was nothing remotely funny about the entire situation at this moment.
"Dad."
As she moved closer to the bed she could see how broken he looked, even through the bandages. A large respirator mask was fitted over his bill, his breathing slow and ragged. It hurt Gosalyn to see her father look so weak and small in a hospital bed.
"He appears to have sustained rather severe injuries. Several of his organs have suffered permanent damage, although his brain and heart are, miraculously, only mildly injured..."
The doctor droned on about everything that was wrong with Drake, including things that only Honker would be able to explain to her. Whatever they were, none of it sounded promising.
"He's not going to die, is he?"
"No," the doctor said, "But he will need lots of care afterwards. He may never even recover fully."