As they entered Room 118 together, Perry was startled to feel the teenage girl reach for his hand. He squeezed a finger assuredly as the pair walked further into the dark room. The nearest bed was empty, and a curtain was drawn around the bed near the window. The monotreme could smell various chemicals and hear the electronic noise that marked each beating of Heinz's heart. It was a slow, yet reassuring sound.

Perry and Vanessa crossed the room, and the girl reached out a trembling hand to pull the curtain aside. She thrust the fabric out of the way and gave a small gasp as she looked down at her father in the bed. From his low vantage point right next to the creme-colored plastic bed legs, the monotreme couldn't see his nemesis.

He was about to start searching for something he could use to gain height when Vanessa let go of his hand. Before he could protest, she lifted him into the air and sat him gently on the edge of the little hospital bed, about six inches down from Heinz's right hand. Perry didn't usually appreciate being picked up as a means of "help" in the height department by people other than the Flynn-Fletchers, but what he saw in front of him drove any potential indignation out of his mind.

Heinz… Heinz was… Perry had never seen the man look so frail and helpless. He was pale and looked especially thin. Clear oxygen tubes were sticking out of his long nose, and several IVs were protruding from the arm nearest Perry. The monotreme couldn't tell if he was unconscious or sleeping, and he didn't fully understand the difference between the two. Either way, Heinz looked uneasy, and his breathing was labored. The beating of his heart was slow, but a little erratic.

Perry had seen Heinz Doofenshmirtz in some very vulnerable situations, but nothing like this. Never anything as bad as this.

Perry and Vanessa stood and stared at the scientist for several long moments. Both were afraid to touch him, irrationally worried that they might disturb the cords on the IV Drips or somehow break him permanently. In this moment his skin seemed unusually delicate, his bones seemed exceptionally breakable, and it seemed as though any noise could startle his troubled heart and kill him for good.

They were still staring at Heinz in silence and disbelief when the brave nurse who had given them the room number entered. She hesitated near the door until Vanessa turned toward her, uncertainty and worry obvious in the teen's facial expression.

"He was sedated earlier so that he could undergo a few procedures. He should be waking soon, but everyone reacts to the medication in different ways. You can talk to him if you want; that often helps people come out of it faster."

Vanessa moved to the other side of the bed and watched as the woman walked over to check the data on the monitor, but Perry was having trouble taking his eyes off his nemesis. The monotreme gazed down at the man's face, willing his blue eyes to open and watching for any sign of distress. He listened to Vanessa's soft conversation with the nurse as he silently kept guard over his dear foe.

"My name is Hikari. My shift started just fifteen minutes ago, so I'll be here to help you for the next six hours. I'm so sorry for what happened to you tonight."

"Is… is he really going to be okay?"

"He should be. This was his first heart attack, and he's on the young end of average for this kind of thing. Our tests indicate that he has had high blood pressure that has gone untreated for several years. Once he's further out of the danger zone we plan to discuss other habits and anxieties that may have potentially caused this."

Perry wished the nursing staff good luck with that. He had known Heinz for years and still didn't know all of the anxieties and tragic back stories that had likely contributed to this day.

"I'll leave you two alone with him for awhile as he wakes. Remember that you can't use mobile devices in this area, for it could mess with the machines. Press the emergency button if you need me. He might be groggy or delusional at first, but he'll fully regain consciousness soon. Don't forget to talk to him. I can almost guarantee he'll wake up faster if you do." Hikari the nurse left the room and was gone.

Vanessa turned her attention back to her father. She seemed to hesitate, and Perry gave her a smile and an encouraging nod. He felt it only appropriate that Vanessa talk to her father first.

"…Dad? Hey Dad, can you hear me? Dad, can you… Daddy?" In the three years Perry had known the Doofenshmirtz family, he had never heard Vanessa call Heinz "Daddy" before.

Vanessa continued to speak in her soothing voice, and gently took hold of her father's hand. After a few minutes the man started to stir, encouraging the girl to continue with more fervor and filling the platypus with a hope that maybe things could be okay again. It was then that Vanessa started softly singing a German lullaby. Perry had never heard the song before, and he assumed it was something Heinz had sang to her as a young child. The song inspired a strong reaction in Heinz. He began to mumble something in his native tongue, and his thumb was now lightly caressing his daughter's hand.

"It's alright, Daddy. I'm here. Perry's here. We're right here, Daddy. Please wake up," Vanessa said softly when she was done singing, and Heinz mumbled something else that neither Perry nor the teen could quite make out. The girl kept talking, and Heinz kept responding. Though his voice was growing steadily stronger, it was still not possible to decipher what he meant.

"You're going to be okay. You just need to wake up for us, alright?" At this point Heinz made an odd grunt and Vanessa gave Perry a mildly stern look, asking him to help her. "You can do it, Dad. You can wake up!"

"Krkrkrkrkrkrkr." Perry chattered.

"Da Platypus…"

That was the first intelligible thing they heard the scientist say. Perry was taken aback, but Vanessa was grinning from ear to ear, and wiping tears from her eyes with her free hand.

"He's coming around, Perry! Come on, Dad. You can do it. You can beat this, Daddy."

"Krkrkrkrkrkrkr!"

"Daddy!"

"Humrmph. Pumkin. Anessa, is tha you?"

"YES! Yes, Daddy, it's me. I'm right here. Right here."

"Where… where are we, Anessa… Nessa…"

"We're at the hospital. I'm here, you're here, Perry the Platypus is here."

"Perry the Platypuuuuus…" Heinz mumbled, and he slowly opened his eyes and smiled at his little girl. "Vanessaaaa…"

"Hey, Dad." Heinz and Vanessa looked at each other for a brief moment before Vanessa broke into tears and bent to envelop him in a big hug. Heinz slowly moved his IV-less arm so that it was wrapped around Vanessa's waist, and they held onto each other as tightly as they could without disturbing the medical instruments. Heinz still looked disoriented and obviously had no idea what had happened to him, but at the moment he seemed more concerned with comforting the young girl crying into his shoulder. Perry took a few steps back on the bed to give them a respectful distance.

"It's alright, Baby Girl. Daddy's right here."

"Yes, yes you are…" Vanessa's crying grew louder.

As the father and daughter continued to embrace and take comfort in the other's presence, Perry was overwhelmed with emotions. Joy at seeing Heinz awake and in his right mind, a deep affection for the two dysfunctional people before him who truly loved each other despite their squabbles, a lingering concern about the health and longevity of the 47 year old man, and an uncertainty about the future of their nemesis-ship.

As Perry watched his nemesis, his "enemy," hug his beloved daughter, the monotreme couldn't help but notice how pale the man was still. How small and defenseless he looked in his hospital gown. How tired and exhausted the man appeared to be.

How was Perry supposed to fight this man? The level of enjoyment they got out of fighting with one another had always been one of the healthiest parts of their relationship; even in those first few months when Perry had refused to socialize with the evil scientist, they had both eagerly looked forward to each battle encounter. How could Perry punch him in the face, or whip him with his tail, or do anything that might hurt the man after seeing him like this? Even if Heinz made a full recovery, Perry would always have this image burned into his mind and worry about overexerting the scientist.

Perry wasn't a fickle nemesis. He wasn't going to abandon Heinz at the first sign of trouble; he would be willing to learn to thwart without resorting to physical violence. Anything to make sure he didn't actually hurt or accidentally kill Heinz. But he would miss their hand-to-tail combat, and he knew Heinz would miss it, too. Heinz would lament the loss just as much, if not more, than Perry did.

"Hey now, what's with the faaace?"

It took Perry a moment to realize that Heinz was talking to him. He was still holding Vanessa, who was now taking deep breaths and only barely crying, but he was looking over at the monotreme. Perry took a few steps forward, and quickly tried to maintain the composure he hadn't realized he had lost. He wanted to look as calm and poised as usual.

When Perry saw Heinz's slight grin, he knew all of his efforts to look stoic and unconcerned were fruitless. He decided to smile softly instead.

"I'm glad to see you too, Perry the Platypus." The man had always had the uncanny ability to read Perry like a book.

Heinz's free arm was filled with several IVs, but he lifted it slightly and reached out toward his nemesis. Perry understood Heinz's unspoken desire immediately. He walked closer to Heinz, sat down in the crevice between the safety bars on the edge of the bed and Heinz's waist, and gripped the man's forefinger with his paws. Heinz gently closed his fist, and the two were holding hands as closely as a human and a platypus could.

The three of them remained like that for awhile, Heinz laying in the bed hugging his little girl with one arm and holding his nemesis' hand with the other. Eventually he asked, "Sooo, how did we get here?"

At this, Vanessa finally stood upright again. She smiled down at her father as she straitened her black blouse and hair. She took her father's other hand as she began her story.

"You had a heart attack in your lab, Dad. You're really lucky I went up there and found you! I called 911, but one of the EMTs got caught in one of Perry's traps and they wouldn't listen to me about the release switch. We're at Regional, by the way. They said it was because emergency protocol dictated that they take certain cases to the nearest hospital regardless of a family member's request, but I think maybe they were just mad about the trap."

"I'm thankful you keep the OWCA's number on the fridge, because that is what I used to contact Perry. It took awhile for the message to get to him, but he hurried over as soon as he found out what had happened."

"… So, everything is okay? I should be able to go home by, I don't knooow, tomorrow maybe? Because I was really wanting to get to work on an-"

"Krkrkrkrkrkr."

"We don't know, Dad. They haven't told us much, but it sounds like it might have been worse than a normal heart attack." Vanessa frowned slightly.

"You know, I should probably go call Mom. I told her I'd let her know when we had news. She'll want to know that you're awake and talking. And I need to tell her to call the school in a few hours; there is no way I'm going in today."

"Alright Pumpkin." Heinz sounded enthusiastic, but he didn't seem to want to let go of Vanessa's hand.

"You take it easy, Dad. You need rest. I'll be back in a bit. Maybe after I call Mom I'll find some nurses to boss around. I need to make sure they don't try to give you a roommate. We want privacy. Hmmm, and maybe I could get someone to send in some coffee…" The teen continued to contemplate possible demands as she left.

When Vanessa was gone, the wall Heinz had put up to encourage her fell. Heinz began to cry, and Perry tightened his grip on the man's hand as he marveled at the courage it must have taken to act so happy and calm in front of the child. Perry wondered if the man was in pain, or only worried.

"Krkrkrkrkr?"

Alone with his nemesis, Heinz started rambling as he wept. "Oh, Perry the Platypus, what am I going to do?"