Shattered Doll
Chapter 7: Issues Of Remembrance
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If I can remember, to know this will conquer me.
-Remember, Disturbed
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Rudy walked down the hallway slowly. Penny was beside him, and just like him, she was silent. Mint was not by his side, and instead was a little further back, his mind occupied with multiple thoughts. Rudy did not try to speak to his friends. He knew they were all thinking the same thing he was. They were thinking about Snap.
It had been twenty-four hours since Snap had woken up. Twenty-four hours since he had pulled himself out of that unconscious slump that he had been in. Neither of them knew what to expect as they approached his room. Would he have improved a bit? Or would he fall back down, once again becoming lost in his silent mind? Would they have to wait another two weeks before he'd wake up again?
Rudy tried to stay positive. He tried to assure himself that the doctors would surely not allow that to happen. The moment Snap's condition worsened, they'd do what they could. They would not want Snap to fall unconscious again, and he knew they would take the necessary steps to prevent that.
But he still couldn't help but worry that something might happen. He might be acting a little irrational. Snap was in the hospital and safe. But...he and the others thought he was safe before, and look what happened...
He knew none of them could have known about that explosion happening. There was no way they could have prepared for it. Some things just happen, and there was little he could do about it. But the fact that it had happened at all still chilled his blood. The idea that someone set this up right under their noses...
Rudy and his friends, when they discussed before coming to the ChalkZone hospital, had come to realize just how clever this zoner must be. How could someone set up a place to explode without causing suspicion? There was no way this zoner could have escaped unseen; there was almost always someone in ChalkZone City, even when it was nighttime in their world. But if this zoner was seen, and yet not reported, it must mean he or she was quite subtle, able to do what they wanted without looking dangerous or unusual. For someone to pull that off, they all realized it had to be someone quite intelligent.
But that brought them no closer to solving this case. Their only suspects whom they knew were smart didn't add up. Skrawl was locked away. Jacko only wanted a bride. Craniac 4 merely wanted to use the magic chalk to create his own stuff. Except for Skrawl, they didn't really aspire so much to rule ChalkZone, and had little reason to target the zoners.
Even if this was the work of Skrawl, it didn't seem to be his style. Skrawl had little reason to hide his involvement in attacks. In fact, he relished in the idea of zoners knowing what he had done. If they didn't know it was him, he'd probably be offended. So that ruled him out too, even if he wasn't arrested, even when he ultimately escaped, which Rudy had no doubt he would.
There was another possibility, one that chilled them to the bone. What if someone from the Real World were involved..?
That would explain why nobody seemed to really notice this trap until it was too late. It would explain a mystery machine appearing out of nowhere, causing problems. It would fit in like a glove.
There was a problem with that theory, however, that Penny pointed out to him and Mint. If a human from the Real World were responsible, then how come they hadn't heard any reports about it? They knew of few people who would keep something like an alternate dimension a secret. The discovery would be all over news. It would be the talk of the town. There'd be no way they could miss that.
On top of that, only two adults really knew about ChalkZone. Vinnie Raton and Terry Bouffant. But they were both still in jail, as they had been arrested a couple years ago for assaulting Mint, who at the time was still recooperating in the hospital. Even they were to get out, they didn't have enough knowledge of ChalkZone to launch much of an attack. They didn't even know about ChalkZone City. So it couldn't be them.
So there was only one thing they could conclude. They were dealing with a newcomer who was quite intelligent, who had no qualms of who they attacked, and had sneak skills unlike any they had ever seen before.
Rudy hoped that they would find out something soon. They hadn't really found out much during Snap's time of being unconscious. The fact that it has been two weeks and still no new information unsettled him, but he and he others weren't willing to give up. They hoped that, by uncovering what happened to Snap, they will uncover the culprit and stop them from spreading more damage and destruction.
They will not tolerate another attack again. All those zoners died for no good reason. They suffered and perished, and their loved ones are left in shock. It boiled Rudy's blood, and he knew his friends felt the same way. What kind of cruel monster could purposely inflict this kind of trauma on others? And for what? Just because they could?
Rudy clenched his hand in a fist, trying to vent out as much energy as he could. He did not want to look so aggressive to his friend. Snap had just woken up the other day, and he didn't want to do anything to frighten him. The poor guy was shaken up already as it was. He didn't need to give him more of a reason.
They soon reached Snap's room. He looked over at Penny and Mint. They nodded to him, and he turned to knock on the door. The fact that there was no answer did worry him a little, and he casted a nervous glance to the others. But he dismissed as Snap probably sleeping; he imagined he was likely tired as of late and would want to rest up.
However, upon opening the door, he, Mint, and Penny were greeted with a sight that horrified and shocked them.
Snap was...he was trying to get out of bed... It was as if he had no idea he was injured... The zoner was attempting to adjust himself on the bed, pulling and pushing away the wires that were still hooked up to him. He was pushing himself closer to the edge, his arms flailing as he tried to crawl out of bed.
The sight of this caused Rudy and the others to exchange glances of horror. They turned back to Snap. Wasting no time, they rushed towards their friend. Snap didn't seem to notice them as they approached. By the time they reached him, one of his legs, wrapped up in bandages, was over the bed. Before he could get further, they grabbed onto him and began to pull him back into the bed.
Snap struggled, his eyes wide in fear. For a split second, he didn't recognize who they were. After a few seconds, he settled down as he realized who they were. He smiled in greeting, but soon frowned in confusion.
"Guys? What are you doing?" Snap asked. "I was just going to get a drink of water."
"Snap, you can't get up." Penny said, her voice stern. Snap tilted his head in confusion. "Don't you remember? You were injured."
"I...am injured..?" Snap breathed softly. His body went lax as he began to process this information. He looked left and right, as if he didn't know what they were talking about. "What..do you mean...?"
This chilled their hearts. Did Snap really not remember what happened? They had just spoken to him the other day. He couldn't have forgotten so ...
Snap grabbed onto Rudy's arm, gently pulling on it. Rudy looked down. He could see the expression in Snap's eyes. He looked so helpless and scared... and Rudy knew that at any second, it was going to get worse. Snap was giving him a silent question, and the answer was going to terrify him. But he had to hear it.
"You were caught in an explosion about two weeks ago. You just woke up yesterday." Rudy explained, biting his lip. "You were the only survivor; the other zoners caught in the blaze perished. Your legs were badly burned and you will not be able to walk for a while."
At this, Snap's eye bulged and his body started to shake. He looked at Rudy, Mint, and Penny, his frantic eyes darting around, trying to see if they were lying or not. All they could do was lower their heards and look back at him sadly. This did little to comfort Snap. The zoner's shivering increased and his breathing got quicker. He lifted up the sheets with one strong thrust of his arm, and upon seeing his bandaged legs, his face paled. Then he appeared to realize he was in pain.
Snap let out a cry of pain, falling back on the bed. He tried to clutch his legs to himself, but the slightest movement sent bouts of pain through his limbs. He started to whimper and cry in the bed, shaking so hard it nearly affected the bed he was laying on. Rudy, Penny, and Mint held onto Snap firmly, but gently, not wanting him to hurt himself.
"No..no...I-It can't be true... No, that's impossible! You're lying!" Snap cried, his eyes wide in terror. "That couldn't have happened! I would have remembered!"
"Snap!" Mint shouted at him. "We wouldn't lie to you about this!"
Penny nodded in agreement. "Why would we give you false information about this?"
Snap didn't answer. He just thrashed on the bed, trying to get away from the pain. He let out loud cries of fear, and his heart rate had increased to the point where they could hear it against his chest, threatening to burst out. The three tried to settle their friend down, but he was in such a panicked state, their words did little to calm him down.
After what felt like several minutes, one of the nurses passed by the room. She immediately froze and gasped at what she saw. She rushed in towards him, her eyes focused on Snap.
"What happened?!" The nurse demanded, her voice having a startled edge to it.
"He tried to climb out of bed, and then we told him what happened and he panicked!" Rudy cried, speaking faster than he had intended to.
"Keep him down!" The nurse shouted. "Don't let go!"
Rudy resisted the urge to tell the nurse they weren't planning to let go, and to tell her to hurry up. He kept quiet, holding Snap down with Mint and Penny's help. The nurse rushed over to a nearby cabinet and pulled out a small bottle of some kind of fluid. She got out a fresh needle and filled it with the bottle's contents. She tapped the tip a couple of times and then she rushed towards them.
Rolling up the sleeve of Snap's hospital gown up his arm, the nurse pushed the needle into his shoulder. She injected the entire contents of the needle into his flesh. She pulled away and with a stern look from her face, silently instructed the humans to keep hanging on.
Slowly, Snap's struggles decreased. The zoner became increasingly calm as the drug took effect. Rudy and the others slowly loosened their grip. They were careful about this, worried that Snap might try something again. When it became apparent their friend wasn't going to try to jump out again, they let go entirely. Now Snap laid there, a tranquil expression on his face, his breathing returned to normal.
Rudy couldn't help but look at his friend sadly. He had not expected his friend to panic like that. He hadn't expected him to, the day after waking up, try to crawl out of bed. He hadn't expected that he needed to be tranquilized yet again to keep him from hurting himself.
This worried him deeply. How many panic attacks was his friend going to have before he can relax? Would he keep having these moments so long as he didn't remember what happened? Why didn't he remember? Was it possible there was more damage than they thought?
They already had this scare the other day. They all suspected some damage when Snap admitted he remembered no party. But they realized that maybe they had all jumped the gun; after all, Snap had just woken up. It'd take time for him to remember.
But then today happened, and Snap had forgotten that they had even visited him the other day. It was like, to him, that event never happened.
It may still be too early to call anything yet. Maybe he was still exhausted from what happened. Maybe his brain still needed some time to recooperate. But the fear was still there. The possibility still existed. And the only way to confirm it or not was to have a brain scan.
The thought was scary, but it would banish the unknown, as they would know for certain if anything was wrong or not. It had to be done, and fast.
Before they had a chance to talk to the nurse, before anyone could say anything, a loud voice suddenly echoed in the room.
"What happened here?!"
Rudy and the others turned their heads to see Dr. Crobat standing in the door way. His feathered hand was on the doorway, supporting his body. His eyes were wide in horror, his beak dropped open. He stared at the scene in shock, his tiny pupils moving from Snap, then to Rudy.
When no one answered, the zoner tried again, this time, using more volume to his voice. "What happened?!"
After a bit of stunned silence, everyone still trying to comprehend what happened, Penny managed to explain the situation to the doctor. "We had come by to visit our friend. When we came in, we saw that he was trying to climb out of bed. We attempted to stop him, but when he found out that he was caught in an explosion, he freaked out." Penny bit her lip. "He..he didn't even..." She stared at the doctor with glassy eyes. "He didn't remember."
The doctor took in a sharp gasp at this. "You mean he does not remember yesterday's events?" At this, all three of them shook their heads. The doctor exchanged a worried look with the nurse, who still stood near the bed. He looked back at the children. "This could be serious. I could let it slip if he didn't remember when he woke up the other day, but he suffered no traumatic injuries before he went to bed last night. He should have been able to remember...unless..."
Chilling silence fell upon the room. Everyone glanced at each other nervously, and then looked down at Snap. The only way any of them could think that Snap wouldn't remember yesterday's events...
...was if he suffered far worse brain damage than initially thought...
"No.." Rudy shook his head, not wanting to believe it to be true. "It couldn't be.."
"Rudy..." Penny placed her hand on his shoulder. Rudy jerked himself away from her. Penny looked at him worriedly.
Despite not wanting to believe it, Rudy knew there was only one thing that could be done. He walked over to the doctor, grabbed his shoulders, and said, "You're..you're going to do a scan, right? You can see if anything is wrong, can't you?"
Dr. Crobat opened his mouth to speak, but soon shut it. This did little to comfort Rudy. His grip on the doctor zoner tightened. The zoner began to wince, but Rudy hardly seemed to notice. Right now, the only thing on his mind was finding out what was wrong with Snap. His body shook as the possibilities of permanent brain damage entered his mind. He had hoped that they had been too quick to judge the other day, but now this happened and..
No..it couldn't be true. Please, don't let it be true. Snap...no he couldn't be brain damaged. No... Rudy tried his best to fight against the tears that formed in his eyes. They moved down his cheeks as his grip on the zoner loosened up. Dr. Crobat took a few steps back, watching the boy with a cautionary expression.
"We will do what we can." Dr. Crobat said. His voice was firm, but gentle. He reached over and gripped Rudy's shoulder. "If we find anything wrong, we will let you know right away. Okay?"
Rudy nodded his head, but remained silent. The doctor gave him a small smile and turned around. He turned to Snap's side. He looked down sadly at the zoner, hardly noticing the worried looks that Penny and Mint were giving him. The boy was so preoccupied, he barely registered what was going on behind him.
Dr. Crobat turned his attention to the nurse. "Prep the patient for a scan!" He barked.
"Right now?" The nurse looked over at the children nervously. "Shouldn't we...?"
"We need to find out what's going on stat!" Dr. Crobat said sternly. "Wheel the patient to the scan room! Now!"
Rudy realized what was going on when Snap was suddenly pulled away from his sights. He and his friends moved back in surprise. They watched as the nurse pulled Snap out of the room slowly. Their friend was still under the effects of the drugs and didn't seem to be aware of what was going on. He was just laying there, looking like he was about to slip into unconsciousness.
Rudy and his friends tried to say something before their friend disappeared, but it was too late. The nurse got the zoner out of the room, and they could hear the wheels churning as she pushed him down the hallway. They remained still for a few seconds, and then moved forward, wanting to be with their friend for when the procedure was done.
However, they didn't get far when Dr. Crobat held out his wing arm, blocking their path. They stared at the zoner in confusion, and then glared at him. In the moment of their panic for Snap, they couldn't understand why the doctor was doing this.
"Let us pass!" Mint demanded, pointing a finger at the doctor.
"That's our friend who..." Rudy said before Dr. Crobat cut him off.
"You can see him after the scans are done." The bird zoner glared back at the children. He made it clear that he was not going to back down easily. "You can stay in here and wait for your friend if you'd like." He looked up at the clock on the wall. "It will take a while. A couple hours." He looked back at them. "If you cannot stay here for that long, then I recommend you head back home and come back later."
Rudy narrowed his eyes at this. "Do you think we will leave our friend alone in this place? Are you crazy?! We.."
Dr. Crobat held up his hand. "You will be of no use to us in the scan room. You have no knowledge of these machines. All you'll be doing is being in the way of nurses that need to traverse through the room during the process. Sorry, but you must wait here."
Rudy clenched his teeth. He tried to say something else, but he soon felt a presence next to him. He could see Penny standing there. Her arm was barely brushing up against his. She looked in his direction, eyes narrowed slightly. She shook her head slowly, and Rudy looked at her in confusion.
"He's right. As much as I hate to admit it, we shouldn't be back there." Penny said. "It takes a lot of time and patience to get these scans done. Delays aren't an option. If we slow them down just a little, it may affect the results." She paused for a moment, looking at Rudy, watching his expression. "I'm sorry, Rudy. We have to stay behind." She looked at him sympathetically. She smiled the best she could. "But don't worry. We'll see Snap again soon."
At this, slowly, Rudy's face softened up. There was a part of him that still wanted to argue with the doctor. A part of him that still wanted to go fater his friend. But his rational side was taking over now. He knew that would not be the best move.
Letting out a sigh and lowering his head slightly, Rudy nodded a couple of times. "You're right, Penny. We...can't go." He sighed, and looked over at the bird doctor. "I'm sorry. I just..."
"Don't apologize. You are just worried for your friend. That's perfectly understandable." Dr. Crobat gave a small smile to the boy. "Like I said, if we find anything wrong, we'll report to you immediately."
Rudy nodded, and he and his friends watched as the zoner left the room, following the direction the nurse had gone. They stood in the room in silence for a few moments. Then Rudy spoke up.
"So what do you guys want to do?" Rudy asked. He looked over at his friends. "Do you want stay in this room and wait for them to wheel Snap back, or should we go home and come back at a later time?"
Penny and Mint stared at him, looking a bit shocked that he needed to ask that. Their answer is just what he had expected from them.
"Of course we wouldn't mind waiting here." Penny said. "We have time. And this is our friend we're talking about. I'm sure he will appreciate us staying behind and waiting for him."
"The drug will probably be worn off by then. He'll be pretty confused. It is best if we stay here so we can tell him what happened." Mint said, nodding his head in agreement to Penny's statement. "Maybe we can help keep him calm so he won't freak out like he did just now."
Rudy winced briefly at that. The memory was still recent, still fresh on his mind. He had never seen Snap react that way before...well except for one time. When Snap was brought into the hospital years ago, the poor guy had been in so much pain, he'd react even when unconscious. When he and Penny went in to see him, the zoner had freaked out and screamed for them to stop the pain. It had taken a while of comforting him before he settled down. This..reminded him of that.
He noticed the look in Mint's eyes. He bit his lip, realizing the kid must have remembered that incident as well. Not wanting him to stay on that unpleasant memory for long, Rudy quickly said, "Yeah, I agree that's the best course of action. I...would feel bad about leaving Snap alone right now."
Mint nodded his head slowly, lowering his head. "Poor guy would be so scared."
"But he'll feel safe around us." Penny interjected. "And the doctors will find out what's wrong and they will be able to help him."
Rudy and Mint nodded at this. But they all couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. What if the doctors don't find anything? What if they do find something, but it's not treatable? How would they comfort their friend then?
Only time could tell. For now, all they can do is wait and hope for the best.
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Dr. Crobat looked down at the tranquilized patient with great concern. He looked up and down Snap's body, taking care to make sure that he was still under the drug's effects. In order to do this scan properly, he can't be moving. Thankfully, the drug shouldn't hide anything in the scan, so they can still perform it without rousing the patient.
Dr. Crobat had worked in this hospital for a long time and seen so many patients. Despite the fact that zoners didn't die from longevity, that didn't mean they were injured less. He saw as many patients as a doctor from the Real World would see. And he saw all types of injuries, including some he doubt the humans would be familiar with.
But even in his experience, Snap's case still unsettled him. He wasn't even sure how the zoner survived the explosion. The other patients died before they could even get to the hospital, any that may have made it, he was certain they passed away before any advanced treatment could be given. How was it that Snap survived, but the others did not?
He stared down at the patient, watching as the nurses prepped him up for the scan. The zoner was placed on the stiff board, his arms and legs and head shackled in to keep him from moving, just in case. In a few seconds, he would be put into the machine, and the scan results would come in.
In the back of his mind, he replayed the scenario over and over in his head. He knew that Snap was in the same building as the others, not far actually. He would have experienced the same horrific blaze, and he had some burn injuries, most prominent on his legs. Yet some of the zoners had worse burns, suggesting they were closer to the fire. In fact, all the other zoners had worse burns, their skin so charred that large portions would have had to be removed.
But Snap...his burns were still bad, but the legs could be saved. Some skin grafting, and over time, they'd be good as new. It was clear that Snap had been further away from the blast. But why would he be far enough away, but no one else would?
Dr. Crobat thought back to the report he had gotten. He reread it mentally over and over. There was only one thing he could think of that would explain why Snap wasn't as badly injured.
He had been moving away from the blast, trying to escape it.
But why only him? Why was he only one trying to leave? Why weren't the others? It was almost as if...
..as if he had advanced knowledge of the explosion...
But that was impossible. There was no way Snap could have known. If he did, he would have had everyone evacuate. Yet..the thought wouldn't leave him. Snap being further way suggested that he knew the explosion was to take place, and if he didn't tell anyone about it, then that meant that...
Snap had been the one to set up the explosion.
Dr. Crobat shuddered at the thought, cold ice moving through his body. He tried to push away the unpleasant thoughts. There was noway that could be true. Snap would never do something like this...would he..?
Dr. Crobat could feel his stomach twist in knots at the probability. He didn't want to think that Snap would go rogue and do something like this. He just...didn't seem to be that kind of zoner. Nothing about him ever caused an alarm bell to ring off in his mind. Nothing about him after told Dr. Crobat to be cautious of him. Snap was just...Snap. A friendly, welcoming zoner who had always been so nice to everyone.
As unpleasant as it was, though, he knew he couldn't dismiss the idea. When it came to solving this crime, he knew the detectives are going to want every possible angle. If Snap does become a suspect, then he would have to let him be interrogated, despite his condition. For now, only he had any thoughts like this, but he knew it was just a matter of time before someone brought up something.
He hoped it wasn't true. He hoped he was just overreacting. But..the possibility was still there. Snap could have led the zoners in there and set off the bomb or whatever he used, and tried to get away. Why he would do that, he wasn't sure. If he did do that, then they would find out why. Eventually.
He thought about bringing this up to those three children. Maybe they could shed some light on the issue. But for now, he decided to hold it off until he had more of a reason to suspect Snap. Plus, he knew how sensitive people can be. If he asked the wrong questions, those three could get defensive. Starting a fight was the last thing he wanted to do. He will have to tread lightly, otherwise he'll put the whole mission into jeopardy.
"Sir." A voice called out to him. The doctor lifted up his head, pointing his beak towards who had spoken. "We are ready."
He realized it was the head nurse. She was standing in front of him. Behind her, he could see that Snap had been loaded into the machine, only his legs sticking out. He nodded his head, narrowing his eyes. Knowing they couldn't be in the same room, they and the other nurses moved into the back room, where they could watch everything.
Dr. Crobat stood behind the head nurse as she prepared the scanner. He watched as she pressed the buttons in such rapid succession. He then glanced over at the machine, watching as the buttons lit up as the scan was beginning.
As the machine roared to life, as the machine began its scanning, Dr. Crobat stood there and waited. When the results came in, they would know for certain what's going on with Snap's mind. Then from there, they could figure out an affective treatment. He hoped it wasn't too serious. Regardless if Snap was the culprit or not, he was still the key to finding out just what happened, and how they can prevent another incident like this from happening again.
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Penny shook her head in disbelief. "You..can't be serious right..?"
Dr. Crobat's eyes were furrowed in concern. He had his head lowered, sadness etched onto his features. "I'm sorry, but the scans do not lie."
Penny looked over at her friends. They all had a disbelieving look on their faces. Eyes wide, mouths open. They all wanted to think the doctor was making this up, despite how ridiculous that was. They wanted to think that there was some kind of big mistake, that soon someone would come in and correct him.
But none of that happened. Dr. Crobat just looked at them sympathetically. He could feel his feathered hand on her shoulder, a clear attempt to comfort her. Penny just looked at it, and lowered her head, her mind reeling from the information he just gave them.
It couldn't be true, could it? No, there had to be..something... Snap wouldn't... No.. She shook her head, having a hard time accepting what Dr. Crobat had told them.
"Are you sure nothing came up on the scan...?" Penny whispered softly. She looked into the doctor's eyes in desperation. "Are you absolutely positive..?"
Dr. Crobat furrowed his eyebrows and gave a firm nod of the head. "I'm afraid so. We ran multiple scans on your friend. We were quite thorough." He turned his head to the side, his arms folding behind his back. "We just can't find anything wrong with him. There's...no reason why he shouldn't remember. There's no damage in that part of his brain."
"But..that doesn't make sense..." Rudy said. Penny looked over at him. Despite the fact that he didn't want Snap to be brain damaged, the fact that he wasn't and yet was still having memory issues was more frightening to Rudy. It meant there was an unknown factor in here, one that even the doctors weren't aware of. "Maybe there was just one thing? Something so small that..."
Dr. Crobat shook his head. "I'm afraid not, kid." He gritted his beak. "We looked thoroughly. If anything was wrong, we would have noticed it, no matter how small."
"So..that means that Snap really...?" Mint didn't finish his sentence.
The doctor nodded his head once. "Yes. That means that something else is going on. Something is not adding up." He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at each of the children. "If any of you think of some kind of explaination that we could explore, let us know, because we would love to hear it." He glanced down at Snap. "I do not want to believe that Snap is lying to us."
Penny felt her heart twist at that subtle accusation. She felt her stomach burn, emotion growing in her belly. She looked down at Snap, who was now sleeping on the hospital bed, looking quite peaceful, and then back at the doctor. What he was implying...
Unable to stop herself, she narrowed her eyes and walked closer to the doctor. He sensed her anger and moved back, giving her some space. Rudy and Mint said anothing as Penny advanced on the zoner.
When she reached him, she stared at him in the eyes and said, "...are you accusing Snap of something?"
Dr. Crobat's eyes widened and he held up his wing hands in front of himself in defense. "Wh-Why n-n-no! Of course not! I just..uh..." The zoner rubbed his hands nervously together, clencing his beak as he looked back at Snap. "I'm not really sure what to make of this case. That's all..."
Penny glared softly at him. "Snap is the most honest zoner we know. He would not lie to us about something ailing him. If he says he can't remember, then he can't remember. Okay?"
Mint nodded. "I see no reason why he would lie to us about this."
Rudy added in, "He's never done something like this before. I don't see why he would start now."
Dr. Crobat looked at them, and said, "I understand if my words had..unsettled you. I did not mean it. But..I still think you should be ready for some..unexpected results." He closed his eyes, shaking it from side to side. "It is not good to deny something just because you think it won't happen. Many people have gotten hurt or even killed this way."
Although the three children wanted to retort to that, though they wanted to continue to defend their friend, they knew, deep down, Dr. Crobat was correct. They would only make things worse if they denied a possibility simply due to feelings. If Snap was lying, then denying it would not make things better. They'd have to come to terms with it and accept it, no matter how much they hate it.
As much as they would not want it to be true, they kind of hope that someone was lying, be it their friend or someone from the hospital. They were still unnerved of the idea of Snap having amnesia and there not being any signs of damage.
But maybe they were overreacting. It had only been a day. Perhaps they needed to wait, give it some time. Maybe they should wait a few days and see how he is doing and see if there's any improvements in his memory. If he started to recover, then they didn't have to worry. But if he continues having memory issues, and if he still shows no sign of damage in his head, then they weren't sure what to think. By then, they'd know something was up, but they had absolutely no leads. And this terrified them.
"So..." Penny broke the silence. There was one thing she had to ask. It was the same thing she knew was on Rudy and Mint's minds as well. "What are you going to do for Snap?"
Dr. Crobat sucked in a breath. "Without any ailments to treat, I'm not sure what we can do." He looked down at Snap for a second before turning his attention Penny. "But the important thing is to make sure he doesn't hurt himself again. We don't want another incident of him climbing out of bed again."
Penny nodded. She felt a cold chill as she remembered that. If Snap had succeeded in placing just one foot on the ground, he would have been crippled by the pain and he would have fallen down. And when that happened, he would have indeed injured himself more. Something had to be done to prevent that. But what?
There was one though she had, and she didn't like it. "You're..not thinking of chaining him to the bed are you...?"
"What? Goodness no!" Dr. Crobat moved his hands in front of him, back and forth a few times. "That wouldn't be very practical! We don't want Snap to feel like he's a prisoner here."
"Then what do you have in mind?" Mint asked.
Rudy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If someone were here watching him, that could help. Someone who could make sure he did not try to climb out of bed.." He looked at his friends. "But it couldn't be any of us. We cannot stay here twenty-four hours a day, and we aren't mind readers. We won't know when he'd be awake. We won't be able to prepare to come into ChalkZone at the right time."
"That is true." Mint said, looking over at Rudy. "I do think you're onto something with having someone watch over him. But it would have to be someone who didn't have to be anywhere else. Someone who could afford to stay in this room all day long and do nothing but watch Snap."
"Fortunately, we have such a solution."
Penny and her friends looked over at the doctor, their eyes slightly widened. They had thought of the same thing as well? Minds can sometimes think alike.
The doctor turned his head to the side. He placed two feather fingers in his mouth and he blew on it. The whistling sound rang out through the room. The pitch was enough to make the human children cover their ears.
Seconds later, they heard the sound of pitter patter coming towards the room. Something large was headed in their direction. The three friends watched the door intently, seeing a large shadow moving along the walls. An elongated snout, a muscular neck, four legs..that was all they could make out at first. It wasn't until the creature popped its head in the doorway that they recognized what it was.
Penny recognized it as some ancient species of crocodile. The exact name escaped her mind, but the body shape was very much like an old species that lived millions of years ago. Unlike a modern crocodile, this creature stood on two longs. The mouth was long, but not to the point of a modern croc. The legs were bent more like a dinosaur's, but it's tail was not held up. It dragged along the ground and had ridges similiar to its modern equivilant. Each foot had five sharp claws, all of them looking ready to rip them apart at the first provocation.
The croc zoner had some kind of collar around its neck, making it look more like a pet than anything. This contrasted sharply with its feral appearance. Its mottled brown and green scaly body, and its amber eyes with slit pupils didn't exactly make it a createure they'd expect to be anyone's pet.
None of them made a move towards the croc. No one said a word to it. The crocodile moved in closer, its feet padding the ground as it got closer. It wasn't as large as they thought, standing about three feet tall at the shoulders and being about twice as long. But they were still cautious. Those jaws looked very strong. If it decided to bite...
"I'd like to introduce you all to Mosaic." Dr. Crobat said, a smile on his face.
"Mosaic?" Rudy asked softly, his eyes not tearing away from Mosaic.
Dr. Crobat nodded his head affirmatively. "She is a local resident here. Kind of new, but she already found her place here." Dr. Crobat reached down and patted her on the top of her head. "Don't worry. She will not bite you." The bird zoner stroked her along the back of her head and neck. Mosaic lifted up her leg and leaned towards the hand caressing her. "She is sentient...mostly."
"Mostly?" Penny narrowed her eyes in confusion. "How can she be mostly sentient?"
"Well she does have a sense of identity and is aware of her surroundings. She's smart." Dr. Crobat said. "But she is still an animal zoner. She still has those feral, wild instincts. She has tamed up quite a bit since she got here, so you are in no danger. Just..." He removed his hand and took a couple steps towards them. "..be mindful that she is still mostly animal. We don't want any misunderstandings."
"Okay. We understand." Rudy said. He turned his attention to Mosaic. "So..she will keep an eye on Snap?"
"Indeed." Dr. Crobat said. "She follows orders quite well. She'll remain by your friend's side and will stop him from getting out. See the collar?"
The doctor zoner motioned his head towards the collar. The three friends peered closely at it. They soon realized what the man was indicating. They hadn't seen it before, but there was a button on the collar. It was located on the front, against her throat, where it would be easy to push.
"She will press that button if Snap tries something. When she does, a nurse will come in stat." Dr. Crobat said. A smile stretched across his beak. "You have nothing to worry about."
"That's good." Mint said, looking from Snap, to Mosaic, then to Snap again. "At least he will have someone to watch over him."
"That does make me feel better." Rudy said. Penny nodded in agreement. "Will she also keep out any intruders?"
The sudden question caused the doctor zoner to take a step back. "Why? Do you think someone might come in?" His eyes were wide.
"We fear that Snap was targeted by whoever set up that machine." Rudy said, his voice bitter. He didn't look at the doctor as he continued. "The timing...it was just too coincidental... The culprit must have known that Snap was the one who destroyed their machine, and now they are making him pay for it..."
Penny looked sympathetically towards her friend. So did Mint. They both understood why Rudy was so upset. It was for the same reason they were upset. Someone deliberately targeted their friend. Because of whoever done this, Snap was going to be in a lot of pain for a long time. Even if it wasn't the culprit, some sick zoner still did this. And they couldn't prevent it. Despite their efforts, they couldn't stop this from happening. Rudy must feel so useless right now, poor guy.
She looked back down at Snap. At least he was in a hospital where he was safe. She had no doubts that Mosaic could do something to help keep him safe. But there were other zoners in this area that could further ensure her friend's safety. The machine was gone, so they had no worries, for now, of a break in. Snap would be fine here.
After the bit of silence, Dr. Crobat cleared his throat, getting their attention. "I can assure you nothing will happen." He looked directly at Rudy as he said this. "If anyone is coming after your friend, they will have us to contend with. You can trust us. Nothing will happen to your friend."
Rudy stared at the doctor, a slight glare on his face. Not from anger towards him, but towards whoever had done this to Snap. Then his expression softened up and he gave a smile to the zoner. "Thank you."
Dr. Crobat nodded his head. "You're welcome." After a couple moments, he said, "Would you..like some time with your friend?"
"That would be nice, yes." Mint said.
"It would be much appreciated." Rudy replied.
Dr. Crobot looked down at Mosaic. "Would you like me to take Mosaic out? Or is she good here?"
"She can stay." Penny said. She reached down and gingerly touched her on the head. She felt how smooth yet hard her skin was, being a crocodile and all. "I don't see a reason why she has to leave."
"Very well then." Dr. Crobat said. He turned around and raised a hand up, waving at them. "I'll give you some time to stay here with your friend. I'm sure that, when he wakes up, he will appreciate the company." With that, the bird zoner left the room, leaving them alone with Snap.
sss
"I can't believe I almost lost track of the time." Rudy lamented. "My parents will be home soon and..."
"Don't worry about it." Mint said, putting his hand on Rudy's shoulder. "We all lost track of time. It wasn't just you."
"Yeah I know. Still..I wish I kept a better handle on the time so we wouldn't have had to rush out so suddenly." Rudy sighed softly. He still felt guilty, no matter how hard he tried to tell himself that everything was fine. "Well at least we left with enough time to get back to our homes before our parents realize we're gone."
Penny and Mint nodded their heads in agreement. There was no way they would contradict that statement. They both knew it was true.
"It was a good thing it's a saturday. We wouldn't have been able to convince our parents we were sick, as well as tell our parents the same thing." Penny flinched as she said that. "Then we would have had a possibility of wires being crossed. They could have called each other and find out that we weren't at either place."
"Then we would have been in big trouble." Mint lamented. "I know my dad would have been quite strict if he found out I was out goofing around with you guys. My mom wouldn't be so happy either."
"We'll just have to manage our time better." Rudy said. "Set aside time to come here and visit Snap without triggering any suspicions from our parents. I believe we can do that, right?" His friends gave a nod. He smiled at this.
Rudy still didn't like the idea of leaving his friend alone in the hospital. Now that he was awake, now that it was clear that something was wrong with his memory, he wanted to stay there more than ever. He wanted to hold him and tell him it was going to be okay. He wanted to do what he could to help him feel better.
Snap hadn't even woken up once when he came back. They had spent about two hours there, sitting with him, being mostly quiet. They talked a bit, including what they were going to do and how they were going to try to find the culprit. But no matter how long they stayed there with Snap, the zoner never woke up. He was sleeping soundly on the bed, Mosaic positioning herself at the foot of it, on duty.
While Rudy was glad to see his friend in a peaceful state, he couldn't help but worry for Snap. He had hoped that he would wake up before they had to go so they could speak to him. He wanted to let Snap know they would be back later. But fate had different ideas and they had to go, despite his desperation to want to stay.
At least Snap was safe now. He and his friends could rest assured that Mosaic would keep Snap from hurting himself. As they left, he had looked over his shoulder, and he could see the look of determination in her eyes. She would not let harm come to him. He was certain.
"I still don't understand." Mint said. He tilted his head back, his eyes looking up towards the sky. The others looked at him, waiting for him to answer. "Why would someone waste all this time destroying many zoners, and yet leave Snap live?"
"They probably meant to kill him." Penny pointed out.
"Or maybe not." Mint said.
Rudy looked over at him. Like Penny, he was confuseed by what he was implying. "What do you mean, Mint?"
"I mean, don't you think it's odd that Snap was able to survive what others could not?" Mint raised his arms up, confusion written on his face. "It doesn't make any sense. Why would the other zoners, some even larger than Snap, die, but he survive? Snap's wounds were even different, from what we were told."
Rudy and Penny looked at each other. They turned back to their friend.
Penny bit her lip. "So...you're saying that Snap surviving was...done on purpose..?"
Mint stared at her for a few seconds. Then he nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm not sure why yet they'd leave him alive but...something tells me it's nothing good."
The three friends fell silent after that. The possibilities of what Mint implied buzzed around their heads. Their blood cooled at the thought. If this was done on purpose, then that meant that the culprit wasn't done yet. They would strike again soon. And if that's the case, then they would have to be extra vigilant.
None of them noticed the pair of red eyes watching them from a distance.
