Chapter 4: Return
"C'mon, Courage, you can't stay down there all day." Muriel pleaded. She was on her hands and knees trying to get him out from under the bed.
"Shouldn't bother 'em, Muriel. He'll come out when he wants to." Eustace spoke. Courage could see his feet next to Muriel's hunched over form.
"I guess...I guess you're right." She choked out after a long pause. She'd been pleading with him to come out for nearly two hours now. "Whenever you're ready, Courage, I'll be waiting to make you some lunch."
There was another long pause. Courage did nothing.
He watched as the two left. Part of him desperately wanted to join them but the other part of him wanted to stay. He was afraid, yes, but being with Eustace and Muriel only seemed to make things worse. Everything reminded him of his impending doom and he just wanted to be left alone.
Groaning, he turned over. His entire body ached. Last night's attack had left him far more sore than what was normal for him. Under normal circumstances, he would have blacked out after an attack, but last night had been a rare case where he had not. Somehow, it had amplified his weariness tenfold. He was glad that Muriel had left for awhile. He just wanted silence and some time to rest. He hated moping around like this, but everything just felt...wrong. As much as he wanted to sleep, he feared having that nightmare again. He knew that it wasn't real, but it still had frightened him to his very core. He was certain that the real thing would be a lot like the dream. Sure, Muriel and Eustace wouldn't really want him gone, and that evil vet wouldn't be around to jab a massive needle into his arm, but still...
He shivered.
He knew that he couldn't stay under the bed all day, Muriel would worry herself to death if he did. As much as he wanted to be by himself, he knew that it wasn't the right thing to do. He considered visiting Computer up in the attic and then Muriel would come looking for him there later. The snide machine wouldn't bother him if he asked for some peace and quite, and although he was afraid of whatever news he might get, he knew that he couldn't avoid it forever.
It took several minutes for him to come to a decision. He crawled out from under the bed and steeled his nerves for whatever fate he was about to be given. He had to stand there for a moment as he waited for the pain in his chest to subside, but aside from that, he was ready for whatever he was about to be told.
Slowly and carefully, he made his way down the hall and into the attic. The last thing he wanted to do right now was attract Muriel's attention. He found himself shivering with anticipation as he walked. He couldn't help but assume the worst. Computer would probably give him bad news and he wasn't sure how he'd handle it.
Moving across the attic room, he stopped at the foot of Computer's desk. He had to take a moment to catch his breath. Stifling a groan, he got ready to climb up into the chair. It took more effort than usual, but he somehow managed to make it up there. He waited for Computer to say something and he thankfully didn't have to wait very long either.
"I see that you've finally returned." The machine spoke. He lacked the usual annoyance in his tone, which was odd given his normal kind of greetings.
Courage thought about telling him everything that had happened since they last met up, but he ultimately decided not to. His feelings about how Muriel and Eustace had been acting lately were just too personal to share with the machine. He especially didn't want to talk about the nightmare, knowing that Computer would just end up laughing at him anyway.
"You don't look very well." The machine continued after a long and somewhat uncomfortable silence.
Courage gave him an expression which hopefully conveyed the words, 'well duh' and left it at that.
"Have you been sleeping properly?" He asked.
Courage shook his head rather sheepishly in response. Sometimes he could swear that Computer was capable of reading minds...
"You need to keep your strength up. I can't do anything for you if you drop dead sooner than expected."
'I can't help it.' He typed.
"But you must try anyway." The machine replied. "Constant fatigue will only worsen your condition and strain your body."
'Have you found anything yet?' He asked, finally getting to the thing that he really wanted to talk about.
"Well-" Computer hesitated, his voice trailing off. "I can't say that I have."
Courage's heart dropped once again. He tried to keep his expression normal, but he knew that he was failing.
"There's plenty of time to keep searching." Computer interjected. He was obviously trying to keep him from losing hope. "I may have found a few leads but I can't bank on anything yet."
"This isn't going to work, is it?" Courage asked, glancing downwards.
"Now is not the time to give up. We still have plenty of time to figure something out and I'm not just sitting up here doing nothing, you know."
"I didn't say that you were." Courage added with a sigh. "I'm just worried that I will drop dead before Friday comes around."
"Take it easy and rest as much as possible. You should be fine just so long as you don't push yourself too hard."
"A-alright." He replied with a gentle nod. He couldn't help but feel a little better. Computer's authority and assurance never failed to calm him. Knowing that there was someone out there trying to help him quelled the worst of his fears. Even his nightmare hadn't seemed so bad after he realized he wasn't alone in facing this.
Now he was becoming aware of just how hungry he was. With the worst of his fears alleviated, it seemed that his appetite had finally returned. He placed a paw on his stomach and it rumbled loudly. He sheepishly laughed, not knowing if Computer had picked up the sound or not.
"It looks like you've been neglecting your nutrition as well..." The machine grumbled, not sounding even mildly amused. "Well then, allow me to get back to work and you should go find something to eat. Come back tonight and I'll update you on whatever I find. Keep up with all your flesh creature business or else you'll run the risk of making your condition even worse. If you're not careful, the illness will cause you to waste away before I can do anything about it."
Courage nodded in reply. He was about to get up to leave but then hesitated for a moment. He suddenly wanted to tell Computer about his awful nightmare. He wanted a confirmation from his supposedly infallible computer that being put down wouldn't be like that. He waited for a moment and then decided that it would be better not to. That nightmare had been far too personal to talk about and Computer would probably just tell him that he was stupid for letting a dream get the better of him.
Sighing softly to himself, he hopped off the chair. He glanced back up at the computer screen one last time, wishing that the machine would say something. He did not.
When it was obvious that nothing was going to happen, he made his way back out of the room. He was ready for that lunch Muriel had promised. His stomach rumbled again and he sighed wearily. There was still a staircase and a living room standing between him and some food. This was not going to be fun...
End Of Chapter
