It had been an hour since Fluey was sent to the infirmary at the SSHQ building. They had to put him in their special ICU area. The agency's chief medical officer, Dr. Isaac Phelps, told Big D, Coiley, Multi, and Phyllis to wait in the lobby until he and Reggie came back out. Mike had returned to his garage with what he was able to salvage from the Maniacal Mechanic's monster so he could use some of the stuff for parts, and return the computer chips to SciTech.

It was very tense in the lobby. Multi was sitting in a chair, wringing his hands nervously. Coiley was pacing back and forth (and he was driving the others crazy as he paced, since he was sproinging). Phyllis was chewing on the end of a strand of her hair (she always chewed her hair when she was nervous, ever since she was a little girl). Big D was sitting next to Multi, looking pretty stone-faced, and chewing on the stem of his pipe. It wasn't lit, because Big D knew Dr. Phelps had a fit whenever someone was smoking in the infirmary. Even though he looked calm, cool, and collected, Phyllis knew he was just as nervous as the rest of them. She knew he only chewed the stem of his pipe when it wasn't lit when he was really nervous. Skittles sensed the chief's nervousness, and went from Multi's lap, over to his, looking up at him, whining. Big D said nothing, but he stroked the little puppy's back, to reassure her.

"I wish they'd hurry up in there!" Coiley shouted, bouncing back and forth across the floor. "The anticipation is driving me crazy!"

"And you're driving the rest of us crazy," Phyllis said. "Stop it, Coiley! That sproinging's driving me bananas!"

"Sorry," Coiley said and he stopped his "pacing."

"How much longer do you guys think they're going to take?" Multi asked.

"It's hard to say," Big D replied.

"I just hope they come out soon," Phyllis said.

The others nodded. It was about all they could do. Multi figured they were going end up pulling an all-nighter waiting, however, as he was thinking that, Dr. Phelps and Reggie came out of the examining room.

"Well?" Phyllis asked.

"Well, it's half and half," Dr. Phelps said. "He's completely thawed out, but his temperature's low. It was at about ninety-three when we left him. He woke up during the examination, but he was quite groggy. You can come in and see him if you like, though."

Dr. Phelps led the group into the examining room. Fluey was laying flat on his back, sound asleep, with an IV tube attached to his arm, a tube in his nose, and wires attached to his chest. He was laying on what looked like a table that had a plastic covering over it.

"What in the world is that?" Coiley asked. "It looks like an incubator."

"It is an incubator," Reggie replied.

"I thought those were only used for premature babies and hatching chicks," Phyllis said.

"Generally, they are, but the medical team and I put this together quite a few years ago when we first dealt with the not so nice Mr. Ice," Dr. Phelps said. "We use it in emergency re-warming, which is what this was."

"How long will he have to be in that thing?" Multi asked.

"About twenty-four hours should do it," Dr. Phelps said. "We're positive he'll make a full recovery, since his temperature is in the mild hypothermia category, but we don't want to take him out of that incubator until we get his temperature up to at least ninety-seven degrees. And, as I stated earlier, it's at ninety-three now. The poor kid, it was at eighty-six point nine when you brought him in."

"Since there's nothing more we can do for now," Big D said, "I suggest we take our leave and let Fluid rest."

The others agreed. There really wasn't much of anything they could do, except wait.

The next day, Coiley, Multi, and Skittles went straight for the infirmary. Dr. Phelps was waiting for him.

"I had a feeling you boys would come here first," he said.

"How's Fluey?" Multi asked.

"He's doing fine," Dr. Phelps said. "He's still a bit groggy, and his temperature's still a little low, but we were able to take him out of the incubator. Come with me."

Dr. Phelps led the boys and their pup down the hall and into another room. Fluey looked like he was asleep. He was still hooked up to a couple machines, the IV was still in his arm, and he still had that tube in his nose. Coiley and Multi figured Dr. Phelps wasn't going to take chances.

"Fluey, are you awake?" Dr. Phelps asked.

"Yeah, kinda . . . ." Fluey said, opening his eyes about halfway.

"Feel up to some visitors?" Dr. Phelps asked again.

"Sure," Fluey said. His vision was a bit blurry, so he couldn't make out Multi and Coiley right away.

"Hi, Fluey," Multi said, picking up his dog so she couldn't charge for Fluey. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," Fluey said. "A little zonked out, but I'm hanging in there."

"That's good," Coiley said. "Just in case you're wondering, we managed to catch the Maniacal Mechanic."

"Oh yeah?" Fluey asked. "How'd you do it?"

"We went to KBLM radio and turned up the power on their antenna and the thing exploded," Multi said, putting a squirming Skittles down on the bed.

"I can't believe you weren't hurt in that explosion, though," Coiley said.

"Just lucky, I guess," Fluey said, stifling a yawn. Skittles walked up to him, and started licking his face. That woke him up a little.

"Oh man, yeecchhh," Fluey said, laughing as Skittles was licking his face like an ice cream cone. "The one thing I can't stand about these puppy kisses is her breath!"

Multi and Coiley started laughing when Big D walked in.

"I trust I'm not interrupting," he said.

"Hi, chief," Fluey said.

"Looks like you're recovering nicely," Big D said.

"Yeah, Dr. Phelps said I should be back on my feet in a week or so," Fluey said.

"Good," Big D said. Then he cleared his throat. "Fluid, I need to discuss something with you. It's about what got you here in the first place."

"Uh oh . . . . ." Fluey said. "Lecture time."

"Indeed," Big D said. "I find it only fair to warn you, young man, you are now officially treading on thin ice."

"Brother, chief, didja have to use that expression?"

"I told you not to go after the Maniacal Mechanic and you went after him anyway. And just look at what happened!"

"I know, chief, I know, but I couldn't let him get away with kidnapping Phyllis like that. And destroying the city!"

"I realize that. However, when I give an order, I expect it to be followed. I will not tolerate disobedience from any agent. You've already disobeyed me twice. This is your only warning, Fluid. If you disobey my orders once more, just once more, you're going to be suspended. Do I make myself clear?"

"Loud and, sir."

"Good."

And with that, Big D left. Multi followed him to the door and down the hall, making sure he was out of earshot.

"You'd better watch it, Fluey," Multi said. "Especially if he finds out about the letters you sent to Danalleah while she was in Transylvania."

"I know, I know," Fluey said.

"Why did you go after the Maniacal Mechanic, anyway?" Coiley asked.

"Phyllis is my aunt," Fluey shrugged. "I've lost too many people in my life already, and I couldn't take the thought of losing another one."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Coiley said.

"I hate to break this up, boys," Dr. Phelps said, coming into the room. "But Fluey needs plenty of rest and quiet if he wants to make a speedy recovery."

"Right, doc," Coiley said. "See you later, Fluey."

"Bye, fellas," Fluey said, yawning again. Skittles gave him a final lick, and allowed Multi to take her out of the room. Once Multi and Coiley left, Fluey closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Multi and Coiley closed the door, and went off down the hall to the elevator, relieved that Fluey was on the road to recovery.

The End

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Don't worry, folks. All will be well by the beginning of my next story!