Ferb had always hated hospitals.

Quietly, of course. But the revulsion was still there. He could never inure himself to the stark, sterile walls, the constant beeping noises, and the general feeling of sickness hanging in the air like a raincloud. Spending an entire day in the hospital? Forget it.

But Ferb needed to see Candace. He needed to see for his own eyes that she was okay.

He also needed some time away from Phineas. Heck, he needed time away from any talking, period. Though he found Phineas' sanguine chatter a welcome diversion from the situation at hand, he wanted to sort through his thoughts.

So after stealing away from the underground homeless cavern and sleeping on a bench, he set out early in the morning to see Candace at the Danville Hospital. He spent all day sitting in the reception just outside of the intensive care unit, waiting for an opportunity to go inside Candace's room – in disguise, of course – and see that she was okay.

But the opportunity never presented itself. Doctors were constantly checking on her vitals and administering medications. When they weren't attending to her, Linda and Lawrence were smothering her, feeding her, watching silly TV shows with her, and trying to make her feel better. A constant stream of family members and friends flowed in and out of her room that day, making it impossible to go in unnoticed.

After a day of claustrophobic waiting, Linda and Lawrence finally left; the hospital didn't allow visitors to stay overnight. With a sigh of relief, Ferb (still in his disguise as a sandy-haired teenager) approached Candace's room, only to be stopped by the receptionist.

"I'm sorry, but it's past nine o'clock. Visiting hours have ended," she said, not unkindly.

"I didn't even realize, I'm so sorry. Do you think I could just…?" Ferb gestured to the door, being sure to speak with an American accent.

"You've been sitting there for twelve hours. What do you mean you didn't realize?" the receptionist asked, standing up as she eyed Ferb suspiciously. Ferb knew he was defeated.

"Okay, I'll go," he said, putting his hands up apologetically. He exited the reception room. The receptionist shook her head and returned to typing.

A few seconds later, a nurse came in pushing in a cart. "Hello hon, I'm here for a 'Candace Flynn,'" she said. "Vitals and some food for the patient. Special orders."

"Room 209, all the way down the hall," said the receptionist.

"Thanks hon. Also, I'm supposed to check on the status of two other patients. An Adyson Sweetwater and a Gretchen… um, what was her last name again?"

"Oh, I know who you're talking about. She's in Room 314, the section upstairs. Sweetwater is 310," said the receptionist, quickly typing into her computer. "Both are stable, and recovery time is projected to be around… two to three weeks. Say, I've never seen you before. Are you new here?"

"Just got transferred from the CCU," the nurse called over her shoulder. She disappeared into the hallway of patient rooms before the receptionist could say anything else. She shrugged and went back to typing.

In the hallway, the nurse looked over her shoulder, making sure no one was around. Convinced that she was alone, the nurse touched the ring on her finger. Immediately, her image fizzed away, leaving a chuckling Ferb. He quickly grew sober as he approached Candace's room and turned on his teenager disguise once more.

"Candace?" he said quietly as he knocked on the door.

"Come in," replied a familiar voice, hoarse but still strong. Ferb smiled and slid into the room.

"Who is it?" Candace asked without opening her eyes.

"Are… are your eyes okay?" asked Ferb. He felt dizzy. Candace's eyes were hurt too? What about the rest of her body? Was she really worse than she let on?

"Yeah, don't worry about it," she said. She tried to laugh, but it came out more like a rasp. Ferb couldn't help but smile at her optimism though. He now understood why Phineas and Candace were blood siblings.

"Norepinephrine. One of the side effects is really bad hypersensitivity to light. The docs got me going on some eyedrops so that tomorrow I can actually open my eyes. That and the hypersensitivity means I can't open my eyes, let alone see anything." She reached out with her hand. "Who is this again?

Ferb caught her hand. "It's… it's Chad," he said, thinking quickly. "I'm a friend of Stacy's."

"You gonna let go of my hand, Chad?" asked Candace in a snarky voice.

Ferb quickly released her hand; he found he had been squeezing it. "Sorry."

Candace laughed. "I was kidding. It's reassuring to have someone touch you who doesn't want to poke or drill stuff in you."

Ferb flinched. It was his fault that Candace was here with a bullet hole through her body. True, he definitely didn't want to have that happen, but her words still stung.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought visiting hours were closed," Candace continued, sitting up. Her eyes were still squeezed shut.

"I, uh…" Ferb didn't know what to say. He didn't have an excuse or a made-up story, so he went with the truth. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay. We were really concerned about you and wish we were with you throughout this ordeal."

"Stace was with me," said Candace. "She was there when I was shot."

Ferb mentally facepalmed.

"Right, right, I meant… I mean, I didn't…" he faltered. He was really terrible at this.

"Hey, hey. I get it," Candace said, turning to give Ferb a closed-eye smile. "It's been a long day. We forget stuff. Sometimes, we even mess up. But at the end of the day, that stuff doesn't matter."

"Mm?" Ferb remarked intelligently. He didn't know what else to say.

"Trust me, I've had all day to think about this," Candace laughed. "But you just remember the important stuff about people. Take, for example, my brothers. Phineas and Ferb."

Ferb sucked in a breath.

"People have been screaming on and on about how they shot me, they built the invention that nearly killed a dozen people. They're screaming that they are the true killers, they deserve retribution, yada yada yada. And the truth is, I've watched them build and invent and create for almost eight years. And though every single one was annoying and bustable, not even once in my life have I ever seen either of them make a single person's life worse.

"Part of me really wants to blame them. Go along with the crowd, choose the easy answer. That side of me is the louder part. That's what my parents keep saying, and I do have a bullet hole in my solar plexus. And no amount of morphine can dull the pain completely." Ferb stiffened, but Candace wasn't done.

"But part of me also knows that they didn't do this. Because they couldn't do this."

Candace started to cough madly. Ferb rushed to get her a glass of water, which she gratefully accepted. "Bullet ripped through some tissue near my diaphragm," she rasped. "Be fine in a couple of weeks. Also, sorry I dumped all of that on you."

"No, it's fine," said Ferb. "I really appreciate you telling me that."

"I didn't know you were English, Chad," said Candace nonchalantly.

Ferb started to sweat. "What?" he said, slowly shuffling towards the exit.

"That last line," she continued. "You spoke in an English accent. Just noticed that."

"I, uh… my father is English," Ferb stammered. He gestured to the door, forgetting Candace couldn't see. "I gotta go, sorry. I just wanted to drop in really quickly."

"No, no, it's late, I get it," Candace said casually as she slid down into her bed. "No sweat. Oh, and Chad?"

Ferb cursed himself, one foot out the door. He had almost made it, and now he was sure Candace had figured out his cover and would call in the hospital security. Heck, maybe she would even call the cops.

"Chad? Do me a favor, all right? If you see my brother Ferb, tell him that though I'm still not a hundred percent ready to see him yet, I have his back. Tell him I won't be out of here for at least a few weeks, but he'll always have a place to come back to, someone to talk to. And tell him I love him. Okay?"

Ferb turned and stared at her. "You want me to… your brother Ferb?" he stuttered. Candace hadn't included Phineas, which was wildly astray from her usual character. Either the drugs she was taking were scrambling her thoughts, or…

Candace winked, which was no small feat with eyes squeezed shut. But she did it, and Ferb wanted to hug her right there and then.

Very quietly, in an almost inaudible voice, Candace whispered, "Go show 'em we're right and they're wrong. You can do it."

She opened her eyes the tiniest fraction, which must have taken a huge deal of effort, and Ferb gave her a thumbs up. Then, switching back into the nurse hologram, he quietly exited the room.

Chuckling, she curled up in her pillow, and in a few moments, she was fast asleep.


A/N: It's a short chapter, but a poignant one, I think. To me, Ferb strikes me someone (even in the canon series) who never wants to be seen as wrong, ever. He builds everything perfectly. He says concise, witty lines. People think he's perfect.

That's his fatal flaw. He depends too much on the opinion of others, which he considers as fact. So this scene is important because it shows that someone, especially someone like his wounded sister, thinks he isn't wrong. And that has a profound impact on him. He hasn't overcome the flaw yet, but he is a step closer to embracing it. And the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it's there.