Disclaimer: Darkwing Duck, Ducktales all of the related characters in this story all belong to Disney. This fanfiction is being used for pure entertainment purposes and with no profit whatsoever. I do not own Darkwing Duck except for the volume 1 and volume 2 3-disc DVD sets and official Darkwing Duck Disney pin.
About a half-hour later after the surgery, the red-haired girl woke up to see a rather blurry vision of her father and her surrogate big brother. Drake was gently holding onto her hand whilst Launchpad was stroking her hair and they were standing beside the bed.
"There's my Gosalyn," Drake whispered softly. "There's my sweet, brave baby girl. The operation is over, sweetie, and you made it perfectly!"
"Hi, Dad..." the duckling greeted still sounding a bit raspy, shortly after the anesthesia wore off.
"Ah, ah, ah," her father placed his fingers on her small beak. "No, Gos. The doctor says that you shouldn't talk right now, you'll strain your voice. Here, if you have something to tell us, you can write it down on the blackboard." He gave her a piece of chalk and a small blackboard.
Nurse Quackenridge was standing right outside the doorway. "Let's see how our little patient is doing," she declared as she came into the room.
"How long will she be in?" Drake asked.
"Oh, it depends, Mr. Mallard," the nurse replied as took the electrodes off of Gosalyn's chest. "She needs to recover from her surgery, but I will let you know when she's well enough to go home."
"Thank you, I really appreciate it." Drake replied as soon as there as a knock rapping on the door. "I'll get it, D.W.," Launchpad hustled right over to the door to see who it was.
"Launchpad, is it really you?" piped four young familiar voices. The tall pilot duck peered down to see the Scrooge's grand nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, alongside his adoptive grandniece, Webby.
"Boy, are we glad to see you again, Launchpad!" Dewey, the blue-clad duckling cried out happily. "We've missed you so much!"
"Yeah," Huey, the red-clad duckling agreed. "It hasn't been the same since you moved to St. Canard..."
"Duckaroonie!" chimed Louie, the green-clad duckling. "We all missed going on the adventures with you, Launchpad."
"Launchpad, look!" piped Webby, the female pink-clad duckling, as she held a round bamboo basket wrapped in blue cellophane and tied in red curling ribbon in one hand, and in the other, she held a large bouquet of white daisies, pink roses, lavender Peruvian Lilies. "Grandma said to bring over a get-well basket and these pretty flowers." she said with a smile. "So, who is feeling under the weather?"
"Well, I'll be a sight for sore eyes..." a familiar elderly voice exclaimed. "Launchpad, how have you been, mah lad?" In the room stepped an elderly duck with a walking cane and top hat. It was none other than Scrooge McDuck, the richest duck in the world.
"Mister McDee!" Launchpad greeted his former boss. "What a surprise!"
"Ah, Launchpad, it has been a long time, lad." The elderly duck commented. "The boys missed you so much, and so has Webigail. I take it that the young lass in bed is Gosalyn, am I right?"
"That's her, Mister McDee." Launchpad replied. "She was scared at first when she found out about it because she needed to have her tonsils removed. That was definitely the fifth sore throat she had this month, according to Honkman."
Doofus Drake, along with his fellow Junior Woodchuck scouts arrived with get-well cards for Gosalyn. "Launchpad, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" The plump woodchuck scout's eyes lit up to see his old scout leader. "Hey, Doofus, how's it been, buddy?" Launchpad greeted with a smile as he shook Doofus' hand. "I'm doing great, Launchpad." Doofus replied, proudly showing off his satchel of his badges. "I earned my merit badge in Astronomy a couple of days ago, and a couple of weeks ago I earned my merit badge in Geology. So far, I also have a merit badge in Wood Carving, one in Basketry, one in Wilderness Survival, one in Pottery, one in Pioneering, one in Orienteering, one in Pulp & Paper, one in Nature, one in Backpacking, one in Art, one in Cooking, one in Scouting Heritage, and one in Indian Lore. I'll tell you about the other merit badges as soon as possible, but how's Gosalyn doing?"
"Oh, she just got out of surgery." Launchpad replied, gesturing his thumb to the bed where the red-haired girl was laying. Fenton Crackshell, who was known as Gizmoduck, arrived at the hospital to see his good friend Launchpad and even stopped to say hello to his boss Scrooge McDuck. He even came to see how Gosalyn was doing after her surgery. "Gosalyn, how are you doing?" The accountant asked her.
"Oh, she can't talk now, Fenton." Launchpad explained. "The doctor says she's not supposed to say a word until they tell her otherwise." Gosalyn's heart sank in disappointment. To not be able to talk sounded like a major league bummer for her-she had so many things to tell the other kids at school about her surgery, and no one would hear about it. How was she ever going to get her voice back?
"So she writes things down on a chalkboard whenever she has something to tell us." Drake added. Gosalyn scribbled the words on the blackboard, "My throat is a little sore, but I'll be fine."
"I must say, you were a very brave lass." Scrooge told her as soon as Dr. Catlowitz came into the room. He took a tongue depressor and took a look at Gosalyn's throat. "Mmmm-hmmm..." the cat doctor explained. "So far, so good...the swelling has gone down, thanks to the surgery, Mr. Mallard, and it will be about a few days before she gets her voice back."
"By the way, Gosalyn, how would you like some ice cream?" Drake asked her. Gosalyn's eyes lit up with delight, and then she scribbled down the words on the blackboard, "Ice cream? Keen gear! I'd love some ice cream!" and showed it to her father.
"All right, then. You wait here with Launchpad, and I'll be right back." He told her, and then he left. Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby talked to Gosalyn for a while. Binkie and Honker came into the room along with Tank and Herb.
"So, Gosalyn," said Louie as he sat at the foot of her bed. "Did it hurt when they took your tonsils put?" Gosalyn only shook her head no, as she scribbled the words onto her blackboard with her white chalk, "I didn't feel a thing. I was sleeping,"
"They use anesthesia to put you to sleep during the surgery." Honker explained. "So you won't feel a thing. That way, the doctors can easily fix the problem and make you better."
"Well, in that case," said Webby, holding her Quacky-Patch doll she always took with her everywhere she went. "Maybe I should play hospital with my Quacky-Patch doll and pretend she's going to have an operation."
A few minutes later, Drake returned with a bowl of strawberry and chocolate chip ice cream. "Here you go, Gos, help yourself to all the ice cream you can eat."
Sitting up in bed, Gosalyn clasped her hands in delight. She picked up a spoon and began wolfing down every single spoonful like there was no tomorrow. "Slow down, honey, or you'll get brain freeze," Drake advised her. "Take one little spoonful at a time, Gosalyn..."
The red-haired little girl watched her favorite horror movies on TV, played her Whiffle Boy video games, read her favorite comic books and even slept in her hospital bed as Drake stayed next to her to accompany her until Nurse Quackenridge walked into the room, followed by Launchpad and said, "Mr. Mallard, you have a important phone call. Launchpad says it's urgent."
"Listen, honey." Drake said to his daughter. "Daddy has to leave for a while, but I will be right back soon. You stay here with the nice nurse and rest till get better, OK?" he smooched her on the cheek and hugged her before he turned to leave.
A/N: Sorry it took so long! I had to go to city hall to get fingerprinted so I can resume my volunteer work at the animal shelter. Next chapter, our favorite red-haired duckling gets to visit the hospital's playroom!
