For a moment, WALL-E was simply paralyzed with fear, but he finally came back to his senses and tried to shake her gently, wanting to get her out of whatever state she was in.
"Evah!"
EVE seemed as though she was trying to say something, but her metaphorical tongue was tied.
"GO-4! Get her to the repair ward, NOW!"
WALL-E clung to her hand, feeling dizzy from the noise, but also in agony over EVE's suffering. The chaos grew to such severity that it was hard to distinguish anything any more, when finally, she choked out what she had wanted to say...
"H...h...elp...me..."
That was the last thing he caught before her screen flickered off and GO-4 carried her away. He wanted to chase after her, hold her tight, never let her go even if the world was crumbling around him (and in a way, it was).
But he couldn't move. The pain was so great, it froze his treads. It dug deep in his little robo-soul.
Watching his poor girl being carried away from him...
He couldn't leave until EVE was well out of sight.
ooo
WALL-E...he never questioned what it meant to be a waste allocator, but what about just WALL-E? Not just as something, but as someone. He remembered when he found the plant. He didn't know what it was at the time, but he could tell that it was special. It was green. He had never seen that color before. He had never seen anything so soft, swaying in the breeze like it was waving hello. He was gentle with it as he pulled it out of the ground, carrying it to his cooler. And, as he stroked one of its small leaves, he couldn't help but wonder...
Is there more?
He had survived for 700 years...all he did was cube and collect...cube and collect...cube and collect...
Was there more to his life than just what he was instructed to do?
He got his answer that very same day.
EVE...
Eve...
She might be dying...she might be dead...
He knew what it meant...he knew...
He was snapped out of his train of thought when he felt something pushing him. It was M-O, trying to grab his attention. His yellow eyes were curved downward in a worried frown. He remembered always being annoyed with WALL-E. Who wanders around covered in dirt all the time!? But it was so hard to hate him. He had been through so much, it just wasn't fair.
M-O nudged WALL-E again, trying his best to offer comfort. WALL-E wanted to ignore him, but he was feeling the sorrow again, shaking him, trying to get him crying again.
"Wall-E!"
The captain.
"Wall-E! Wall-E you have to come quick!" the captain was panting, apparently having run here, "Eve is awake and she's calling for you!"
He peeled out of there faster than a jet engine.
It didn't take long before he heard her, "WALL-E! WALL-E!"
"EVAH!" he screamed, "EEEVAAAH!"
He made his way to the repair ward, where her voice echoed painfully across the corridor. The last time he'd been in the repair ward, there was a long room with another round room at the end, each with slots where a broken robot would wait to be repaired. This time though, all the slots were empty, except the one near the end, where EVE lay. WALL-E wasted no time rushing to her side.
EVE was no longer screaming. Instead, she was softly whimpering, "Wall-E...Wall-E...Wall-E..."
WALL-E took her hand and gently squeezed it. She relaxed a little at the touch, trying to calm herself down. EVE's simulated breathing was the only sound that could be heard, shaking with pain and stress. WALL-E didn't say anything either, he just held her hand as she tried to compose herself.
She remembered his name. He was here. That's all that mattered to her at the moment.
"Wall-E...Eve..." the captain appeared again, panting profusely, "I...*pant*...I think I know a way that...*pant*...you can help..."
WALL-E perked up at that. He'd do whatever he could for EVE.
"...*pant*...Listen...your laser is precise enough that you could potentially cut the cancer out!" he explained, finally catching his breath.
This news made WALL-E somewhat apprehensive. Of course he would help EVE, but could he? Would he be able to?
EVE squeezed WALL-E's hand, a small smile on her eyes.
WALL-E looked to the captain and pointed to himself with his free hand, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah..." the captain explained, "We've tried to get hospital robots to cut out the infected area, but EVE always panics. I've had to send quite a few robots here from her flailing arms. We can't even put her in standby mode! She always wakes up long before the procedure is over."
WALL-E stole a glance at EVE. She seemed calm to him.
Then again...she loved him...
And...
He nodded.
He loved her too.