Chapter 7: 'Celebration'
A/N: Something that, if you haven't learned yet, you will quickly learn, this prequel kind of like a series of unfortunate events, but with good events as well. You'll see an example of both in this chapter.
Tim was sitting down, happily watching the news and Coronation Day 'celebrations' when someone almost literally bust through the doors distressfully, startling him.
"For the love of Chronos, don't scare me like that!" He hissed instantly, then saw who came through the doors.
"Tim, you need to come with me, NOW!" Christine barked, shocking him. He'd never seen her that distressed before.
"What happened?!" He asked her as he bolted after her.
"I don't have time to explain now, I'll explain when we get there," She said urgently, and they came to a hospital.
"Why are we at a hospital?" He asked her nervously, then thought of something. The one person she seemed to care about the most in the world was the kid, and he hadn't seen her throughout the whole day, and they're at a hospital.
His heart dropped.
"Tell me now, what the hell happened?!" He asked angrily, and they stopped.
"I-it's her. For reasons I don't know, she decided to try climbing the cliff and made it to the top, where I was lucky enough to spot her," She explained sadly, "I don't know what happened, but she looked down to see me and something caused her t-to fall over."
He went pale at hearing this. "She fell from the top of the cliff?!" He shouted, and she nodded in response. They entered the room, and he was saddened to see her lying in the bed, clearly in a state of pain, with her leg wrapped in a cast.
Hat Kid smiled weakly when she saw them enter the room, and Tim frowned. He didn't like seeing her look so... defeated. It seemed so unlike her. He thought of something to try to cheer her up a bit and grinned at her.
"Kid, when I said to break a leg, I didn't mean it literally," He told her amusingly, and she giggled. "Care to explain to me why you climbed the cliff?"
"I-I thought it'd be fun, and be a good way to train myself," She explained tiredly.
"I thought I told you a billion times not to climb it, because it crumbles near the top," He told her in a state of paternal irritation.
"With everything going on, I didn't remember," She replied, and he sighed.
"Well, think a little harder next time, please," He advised her, and she nodded slowly, then giggled again.
"I definitely wasn't expecting to celebrate Coronation Day like this," She said amusedly, and he chuckled.
"There's always next year, kiddo. Don't bring yourself down," He told her, and she nodded. "I do have to say though, climbing all the way to the peak of the cliff without falling along the way? Impressive! Very impressive! I don't think many other people have completed such a feat!"
"Really?" She asked happily, and he nodded with a grin. "Wow! That'll sure help me become a Timekeeper, right?"
"Sure, kiddo," He answered.
They stuck around for awhile after that, to try and cheer Hat Kid up, until she fell asleep and they had to leave. They kept visiting her for around two weeks until her leg was healed enough for her to use crutches, and was allowed to return home.
After staying in that bland, boring hospital for two weeks, she was very relieved to be back home and be able to sleep in her own room. Christine stayed the whole day when she was back and cooked for them to welcome her back, as she did know how to cook well, and cook well she did.
The next day, she was to go back to school, which did not please her. At least she was going to be protected somewhat by the school. She got up, sighing to see the crutches next to her bed, and slowly went out into the main room, where Tim was waiting and frowned to see her miserable.
"Even with... recent events, I hope you have a good day of school, kiddo," He told her, and she nodded. She quickly ate and left, and when she went into the school, people were confused to see her on crutches.
She could hear people whispering and murmuring about what could've happened and she sighed. First day back and she was already the main topic of the school. However, no one bothered her.
After the school day, which she was happy to see was peaceful, she talked to her teacher about what happened, and that she'd need time and help to catch up. The teacher understood and offered to help, and she stayed an extra hour to get caught up on her work.
Her teacher was impressed at how quickly she got caught up on her work, she literally got all of it done in the hour. Before she left, he stopped her.
"Hey, kid!" He called out to her, and she turned to him, confused. "You're excelling in the class, you have the top mark, you literally have a perfect score, you should consider moving up a few classes," He advised her, and she nodded.
"I was considering it, if you really think so, I'll talk to Tim about it," She told the teacher, who nodded, then she left and returned, a smile on her face.
He was relieved to see her happy when she came in through the door, and he immediately knew he had to ask her about her day.
"How was your day, kiddo?" He asked her happily, and she grinned.
"Amazing!" She answered joyfully.
"You make some friends?" He asked her again.
"No, no," She replied, "Nobody picked on me for once, and my teacher helped me get caught up!"
"Ok, how much homework do you have?" He asked again.
"None!" She responded braggingly, and he stared disapprovingly at her.
"Kid, don't lie to me. You shouldn't betray my trust," He scolded her, and she frowned annoyedly.
"I'm not lying! If you really wanted to, you could ask my teacher!" She pouted, "He even said I'm doing so well I should move up a bit in school!"
"Really?" He muttered.
"Yeah!" She beamed.
"I always knew you were capable, kiddo. I'll talk to the principal about it," He told her, and she grinned from ear to ear. Little did he know that she wouldn't just be 'moving up a bit'.
