Sometime while the night grew heavy, Ben has passed out on the couch with an arm folded over his face to block the light in the room from shining into his eyes. At one point Numbah Five found a blanket under the hospital bed and put it over Ben. She figured that, since he ditched his blood covered jacket in a biohazard disposal, that he'd be cold. Now she sat in a chair next to DeeDee who was, of course, at her brother's bedside.
Dexter had been sound asleep with a blanket up to his collar line. Once in a while, he would let out a small moan which kept DeeDee on high alert. The medic-bot claimed he might spit up blood in his sleep, so the worried sister stood by with a cloth incase that happened.
The clock just outside the door clicked over the twelfth digit and rang out a loud chime, signaling midnight. The rhythmic beat startled Ben awake and he tumbled over the side the couch onto the floor. Numbah Five and DeeDee sniggered lightly while he bolted to a stand and shut the door of the infirmary room.
Even though the door was closed semi-quietly, the figure in the bed stirred in his sleep. Ben flinched when he heard a familiar cough and he turned around to see DeeDee holding a cloth over Dexter's mouth.
"Did I wake him?" Ben asked. He moved up closer to the left bedside, the opposite side of which DeeDee and Numbah Five was at.
DeeDee shook her head and replied, "No, he's still out of himself." She looked into Dexter's open mouth. No blood.
"The clock probably startled him too," continued Numbah Five.
True, he did hear it. Since almost two hours passed after being emitted to the infirmary, according to the medic-bots, he should've been waking up already. And thanks to the sounds he came closer to consciousness.
In fact, Dexter's eyes cracked open. Without his glasses, the blonde-haired girl dressed in pink that was his sister in his path of sight was just a fuzzy blob. And the light didn't help, either, since he was used to the mental darkness of unconsciousness.
And, before anyone could react, he fell back into it.
"Poor boy," sighed Numbah Five. "He's must be wiped out to pass out that fast."
Ben grunted and responded, "Let's take this as an example. I'm tired."
---
The window of Dexter's temporary room faced east so, as the sun came up, the light glistened in. It was above his bed and the warm sensation of the morning shine caused his eyes to twitch. He unconsciously turned his head to face the nightstand so the light wouldn't disturb his dreams.
Gently, the door of the room was pushed open and a long ginger haired girl wearing a pinkish red uniform slipped in. She noticed only two in the room; Dexter, the bedridden boy-genius and DeeDee, sleeping with her head rested in her folded arms on the side of the bed.
She walked over to her and lightly shook DeeDee's arm. "DeeDee…"
"Mm?" she muttered. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"
"It's about seven in the morning."
DeeDee looked up at the girl and registered her face. "Blossom, hi," she looked around the room. "Where are Numbah Five and Ben?"
"Just outside the door there," said Blossom. "Abigail said she didn't want to wake you."
"Ah," she muttered, still sleepy.
Blossom blinked her eyes and sat down next to her. While DeeDee was still waking herself up, Blossom looked around the room. It was designed quite similar to that of a regular room in the hospital with a sink in one corner and monitors in another. It was obvious that, compared to the rest of the laboratory, that Dexter didn't put much of his scientific knowledge into enhancing the technology; except for the medic-bots, of course.
On the nightstand were Dexter's clothes, folded neatly and stacked aligned. His glasses rested over the pair of purple gloves that sat on the folded lab coat, which was now clean from blood stains. The coat's matching white belt had slipped off and onto the floor sometime ago.
Dexter twitched and snapped his left arm up to his face. The sudden movement caused DeeDee to flinch and Blossom to jump.
The young scientist woke in a daze, unaware that the arm he moved had an IV needle in a vein. Had an IV needle in a vein. It was yanked out of place and trickled blood down his arm.
"Oh hell," he muttered. The pain throbbed through his arm when he seen the blood, despite his vision being hazy.
DeeDee blinked her eyes and said, "Good morning, little brother. How're you feeling?"
Dexter flinched when he felt a hand touch his left arm. He could've sworn DeeDee's voice came from his right side. But he figured it obvious that she wouldn't have been the only one with him.
Dexter didn't answer his sister's question. Instead he reached with his free hand to his spectacles which were helpfully handed to him by DeeDee. He flipped them open and slid them on over his ocean blue eyes and realized Blossom was the one tending to the wound with a bandage she retrieved from a supply drawer across the room.
DeeDee asked again, "How're you feeling?"
"Fine, I guess," responded Dexter. He pushed himself to sit up some when the Powerpuff was finished with his arm. "What happened anyway?"
"Let's see," started Ben, who just so happened to walk in, "You had a fake seizure, I slapped you acrossed the face, you threw up blood on my jacket, passed out, blah, blah, and now you're here."
"Fake seizure," Numbah Five repeated. "You didn't tell me that part."
"The dumbass decided it'd be…"
"I mean," Dexter interrupted Ben, "what happened when you got me here. And I'm not a dumbass, dumbass."
"Oh, that," Ben paused. "Hey!"
DeeDee and Blossom were cognizant. However, they just sat there, listening to the conversation between the suddenly lively Dexter and Ben. DeeDee didn't know for sure what was wrong. Just his immune system was making his throw up blood to get rid of the virus. Actually, that was what was wrong, but she didn't know how to word it, as simple as it'd be. And Blossom just got there. She didn't know it herself.
"You're immune system was forcing you to cough up blood," Numbah Five said, "to get rid of a virus."
"How do you feel now?" DeeDee asked again.
Dexter blinked and said, "I said I'm fine, DeeDee."
"Are you sure? You still look pale."
Dexter waved his hand to shoo his sister's away from his face. DeeDee continued her attempt to check her brother for a fever, only to get an annoyed slap transversely on the hand. Somehow it turned into a sibling rivalry slap fight that initiated a laughing fit from the other three visitors.
Seconds after the fight started, it stopped when Dexter was pulled back. There was a palm over his forehead and another on the right side of his face, and the sudden capture cause him to freeze, arms still locked in the air. The action didn't startle him, just who did it.
"Nope," announced Blossom. "No fever."
"I'm guessing I had a temperature before," said Dexter, lowering his arms.
"Yep," answered Numbah Five.
"I see," Dexter paused. "You can let me go now, please?"
Blossom released the boy-genius and quickly slipped back into her chair. Her face went a light shade of pink with a bit of embarrassment.
"You seem to be all better, Dex," said Ben when he seen how easily Dexter was able to sit up straight. Not counting the fact his left arm had a bandage due to the yanked out needle.
"I…" Dexter froze and crooked his jaw out of place. He put a hand over his mouth and bowed his head just as he let out a small gross burp which sent a stream of blood seeping through his fingers. Drops of scarlet stained the pallid bed sheet.
DeeDee jumped and retrieved a cloth from the bedside table. She handed it to her brother who took it with his non-bloody hand and held it over his mouth. The cloth quickly went from white to red due to Dexter holding most of the crimson fluid in his mouth.
"I guess I jinxed it," Ben muttered.
