NOTE:

Sorry for the long wait everybody! It's just that this is an exceptionally busy time of year for me so I haven't had much time to write lately. It is almost winter here in Australia and there is so much work to be done around the house and yard before the cold wet weather sets in!

Then there's the Eurovision Song Contest (which I have been following religiously every year since 1999, meaning lots of early mornings, late nights and musical distraction (even as I am writing this, I have several songs bouncing around inside my head from this year's participants and that makes trying to concentrate very difficult…

Anyway, I hope you all haven't forgotten about me and I have done my best to pick up where I last left off with this story. There are still a few more chapters to come after this one, although I should warn you all that there will be a bit of a wait in between chapters, since there is a lot going on in my life right now and I just don't have as much time to devote to writing as I used to.

Enjoy guys :)

Svinorita.

Chapter 10 – Something's Been Making Me Blue (Part 2.)

Riley and Dolly were so engrossed in their conversation, that neither noticed the attractive dark-haired nurse enter the hospital room. It was only when the young woman cleared her throat from the doorway that Dolly turned around and her face lit up with elation.

"Andersen! Allow me to introduce you to my favorite nurse…" Dolly began excitedly.

But before she could say anything else, she was shocked into silence as Riley gave a delighted squeal and leapt up from her seat.

"Nurse Lumi! Long time no see!" Riley exclaimed, throwing her arms around the young nurse's waist and hugging her happily.

Dolly stared at her friend with open mouthed surprise. "You two already know each other?!"

The nurse chuckled softly and rubbed Riley on the back affectionately. "Yes Dear. We met a while ago…"

"Lumi was my favorite nurse too Dolly! A few years ago, I was very sick and she helped take care of me while I was in hospital." Riley explained as she gently pulled away from the young woman's embrace and turned to face her perplexed friend with a smile.

"Lumi and her wonderful, kind-hearted grandmother; Alina helped me and my family a lot! I owe my life to both of them!" Riley's expression suddenly turned sad and she looked down guiltily.

"But I guess we lost touch over the years somehow…"She whispered apologetically.

The nurse; Lumi placed a hand on Riley's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "That's life Honey. Everybody is busy doing their own things and sometimes it isn't possible to stay in touch with old friends."

"But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about you and your parents." Lumi assured Riley with a genuine smile. "In fact, my grandmother and I used to talk about you a lot!"

Riley felt her cheeks blushing and she gave the nurse a shy smile. "Really? That's nice…"

Suddenly her blue eyes glinted with excitement.

"By the way, how is Mrs. Alina these days?" Riley asked eagerly.

Lumi's smile melted away and she shook her head sadly. "Oh I'm sorry Dear. Alina passed away a little over a year ago."

"What?!" Tears pooled in Riley's eyes and her voice sounded shaky in disbelief. "I didn't know…"

Unable to contain her grief, Riley started to cry as memories of Lumi's kindly grandmother, with her deep soulful brown eyes and gentle hands flashed through her mind.

"Alina was so kind! She helped so many people, including me when no one else could…" Riley sobbed distraughtly.

Lumi wrapped an arm around Riley's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "Yes she did Honey, and it's good that people can find comfort in that. But Alina was very old…"

Lumi sighed and stated solemnly, "It was her time to go and she died peacefully in her sleep last winter."

Riley couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks as she listened to Lumi forlornly. Lumi offered her a sad smile and reached into her pocket for a tissue.

"I know something that might cheer you up a little, Dear." The nurse spoke soothingly as she handed Riley the tissue. "I've brought a few of my homemade honey cakes to share with the hospital staff for lunch and you girls are more than welcome to help yourselves to some if you'd like."

Riley nodded slowly as she wiped her eyes with the tissue. "Thank you Nurse Lumi. I remember how delicious those honey cakes were the last time you and Alina gave them to me and my parents. My Mom even tried to follow your recipe at home, but they never turned out as good as yours."

Lumi smiled graciously and left the room to get the honey cakes for Riley and Dolly.

As soon as she disappeared down the hall, Dolly turned to Riley with a questioning look in her green eyes. "What was all that about Andersen?!"

She nudged Riley playfully on the arm with her fist and demanded mockingly, "You have too many secrets girl! Fill me in please…"

Riley sighed and looked away from her friend's gaze glumly. "Not right now Dolly. I'm feeling too sad…"

XXX

Sadness was watching the monitor and crying uncontrollably, her tears forming small puddles on the floor beside the console.

Fear stood beside his blue co-worker and tried his best to reassure her, although he too was on the verge of tears.

"Oh Sadness! Please don't cry. You're going to get me started…" He stammered and wrapped his arms around the little Emotion in a light hug.

"How can I not Fear?!" Sadness wailed hysterically, an endless stream of tears flowing down her blue face. "This is all too much! Too many bad things have been happening to Riley and to everyone she loves!"

Sadness buried her face into her hands and sobbed even harder. "Now we found out that Alina is gone and I can't stand it anymore! I'm feeling blue not only on the outside, but on the inside as well!"

"I know. Alina helped Riley so much and we never had a chance to say goodbye…" Fear admitted miserably, a single large tear sliding from the corner of his eye as he looked down at his feet dejectedly.

All of a sudden, both Emotions were startled by a heartbroken wail coming from behind them.

"NOOO! SHE CAN'T BE GONE!"

Fear and Sadness turned towards the voice simultaneously and saw Disgust standing a few feet away, bawling her eyes out. Both Emotions gasped in shock as they registered the unmistakable sorrow on their usually aloof co-worker's face.

"Alina didn't just help Riley, she also saved my life! I literally wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for her!" Disgust lamented in a shrill voice.

Sadness sniffled and approached her grief-stricken friend slowly.

"Oh Disgust! I'm so sorry…" She croaked as she took the green Emotion's hand gently in hers.

But Disgust was inconsolable. She shook her head and yanked her hand out of Sadness' abruptly.

"Just let me be! I need to be alone right now…" Disgust screamed. Covering her face with her hands, she whirled around and fled to her room utterly distraught.

Sadness and Fear glanced at each other helplessly. But deep down, both of them understood. Out of all of them, Disgust was naturally going to take the news of Alina's death the hardest and there was nothing either of them could do to console her. They need to give her some space and let their green co-worker grieve in her own way.

The two Emotions turned their attentions back to the monitor and resumed watching their equally distraught host as she sat, weeping broken-heartedly beside Dolly.

XXX

A couple of days later, Bill was ready to be discharged from hospital. Doctor Mikkelsen declared that he was well on the road to recovery and both Riley and Jill couldn't wait for him to come home! The house had been awfully quiet during Bill's absence and both girls had missed him terribly.

Unfortunately if they had only known what was in store for them, Riley and her mother would probably have begged Doctor Mikkelsen to keep Bill in hospital a little longer…

Only a few hours after he arrived home, Bill managed to locate his old sports whistle from back when he used to coach the Prairie Dogs in Minnesota and he immediately put it to good use!

He settled himself comfortably into his favorite recliner chair in the lounge room and announced to his wife and daughter matter-of-factly that he still needed a lot of rest following his surgery. Therefore, whenever he blows into his whistle, he expects either Jill or Riley to come and see to his needs pronto!

Riley tried putting the irresistible baby photo of herself on the desk beside Bill's chair in a desperate attempt to make her Dad feel guilty about turning her and Mom into his servants, but to no avail…

After two days under Bill's new slavery regime, both Riley and her Mom were seriously considering checking into a hotel and leaving Bill to his own devices with his stupid whistle!

But that was only wishful thinking of course, and Jill usually took care of the majority of Bill's demands during his "post-surgical recovery." After all, Riley still had to attend school and focus on her homework, so she didn't have time for her Dad's antics on top of her already busy schedule.

Nevertheless as the days went by, Jill couldn't help noticing that her daughter appeared unusually sad and withdrawn. Despite her own weariness, Jill tried her best to comfort her daughter by approaching her on the subject one night after dinner.

"Sweetie you barely touched your food this evening." Jill ventured in a concerned voice as Riley pushed past her to scrape the largely untouched spaghetti bolognaise on her plate into the bin under the kitchen sink.

"I know a lot has been happening lately and most of it wasn't good…" Jill reached out a hand and placed it on Riley's shoulder gently, forcing her to turn around and face her as she continued with a sympathetic smile. "But please try not to worry so much Honey. Your Dad is recovering nicely…"

"Although he can be an enormous pain in the butt at times…" Jill mumbled under her breath tartly.

She shook her head and offered her daughter another compassionate smile before adding, "Dolly is fine and back in school and I hear that you've made some new friends named Kristy and Mary while she was away."

Jill's smile wavered as she remembered what Riley had told her about Alina's passing and she squeezed her daughter's shoulder reassuringly. "I know that you're sad about Alina, but she was very old Sweetheart. I'm sure she's in a better place now and she wouldn't want you to feel this upset over her."

"Oh Mom, I know all that." Riley whispered, her eyes fixed at her feet glumly.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and explained in a trembling voice, "But that's not what I've been worrying about. I told you about my new friend from school; Mary…"

Riley choked back a sob and finally met her mother's worried gaze hesitantly. "It's just that I feel so bad for her! Her dad is a heavy drinker and he abuses her mom verbally and physically. On top of that, Mary gets constantly bullied at school and I noticed that she has started to self-harm!"

Riley searched her mother's brown eyes desperately. Her expression was grim as she admitted miserably, "She needs help and I don't know how to help her Mom! I wish I could do something!"

"Oh Sweetie! I'm so sorry. I didn't know…" Jill wrapped her arms around her daughter and drew her into a loving hug. "If you'd like, we can talk about it tomorrow after school? Maybe we can think of a way to help together?"

Riley sighed dejectedly and nodded slowly in agreement. "I guess so…"

Just then, the shrill sound of a whistle came from the direction of the lounge room.

"Oh Princess! Aren't you forgetting something? Where's my goodnight kiss?" Bill called out in a whining voice.

Riley and her mother both rolled their eyes in annoyance. Then they walked into the lounge and Riley gave her Dad a quick peck on both cheeks.

"Okay Dad, better?" She asked flatly.

"Yeah, thanks Sweetie. You never know if you'll find me at home or back in hospital tomorrow…" Bill said in a softly teasing manner.

Riley glanced over at her mother. Despite her gloomy mood, a tiny smile formed on her lips when she saw her Mom shaking her head and pretending to play a violin dramatically behind Bill's back.

XXX

Fear stood looking at the monitor with his hands on his hips. A small smile of approval appeared on his face as he watched Riley climb the stairs and head for her room to get ready for bed.

"You see Sadness? It looks like all the pieces are finally falling into place and things are going to start improving from now on!" Fear noted with a nervous chuckle.

His remark was met with silence and he turned his gaze towards Sadness, who was still slumped over the controls and sobbing pitifully to herself.

Fear let out a long sigh and lifted his tea cup to his lips to take a much-needed sip of his favorite calming brew...only to find that the cup was already empty.

Fear grunted in annoyance as he regarded his empty cup through narrowed eyes. He must have finished his tea while he was preoccupied with the conversation between Riley and her Mom without even realizing it.

The purple Emotion gave another sigh and picked up Sadness' cup, which was also empty from the edge of the console before offering quietly, "I think we both could use a refill of tea to help us relax before going to bed. You stay here and keep an eye on Riley while I go make us some."

Sadness nodded silently and Fear disappeared into the kitchen to prepare some more tea for the two of them. Although it was in her nature to be pessimistic, Sadness truthfully couldn't see the improvements her purple colleague claimed were in store for Riley. After all, Bill was still not fully recovered and free from pain, Jill was tired and overworked lately and Riley was worrying herself sick about Mary.

The little Emotion made a choking sound in the back of her throat as another wave of sorrow settled over her and she reached into her pocket for her handkerchief. But just as she raised it up to her face to dab at the tears already forming in her eyes, she accidentally dropped it on the console and in her haste to pick it up, she bumped a lever with her elbow.

A deep melancholy blue light like the color of the deepest ocean spread over the console instantly and moments later, Sadness heard Riley sniffling and crying as she lay in her bed restlessly. The blue Emotion looked up at the screen and even though Riley's bedroom was completely dark, she sensed her host wiping the tears that were streaming from her eyes, only to catch herself mirroring Riley to the exact detail.

XXX

The next morning as Riley arrived at school, she found Kristy pacing anxiously in front of their bench in the corner of the schoolyard. For the first time since she had met her, Riley noticed that Kristy was alone and this troubled her deeply. Mary was nowhere in sight and normally, Kristy and Mary were inseparable at school, so she instantly knew that something was terribly wrong.

The lanky red-haired girl looked up as Riley approached her with a worried look on her face.

"Riley! At last you're here!" She called out apprehensively and ran to meet her friend.

"Yeah…" Riley responded nervously.

She glanced around quickly before venturing with mounting concern in her voice, "Where are Dolly and Mary this morning?"

"I have no idea! I tried calling both their cellphones, but it goes straight to voicemail!" Kristy replied with increasing desperation. She was beginning to hyperventilate as her blue eyes darted around the schoolyard listlessly.

Riley took her own cellphone out of her pocket and tried dialing Dolly's number with trembling fingers. Surely enough, it went straight to voicemail just like Kristy had said. Riley felt her heart start to pound faster as her own panic increased.

Dolly always answered her phone, even if one of her cousins called her from Ireland in the middle of night! There was no longer any doubt in Riley's mind that something was seriously wrong and she looked up at Kristy with dread.

She saw the same panicked look in her friend's eyes and in that moment, a silent revelation passed between them. Both girls knew in their hearts that something terrible must have happened to Mary…

To Be Continued…

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

For those of you familiar with my story "The Curse of the Were-Disgust", you probably recognized nurse Lumi and her grandmother Alina. When I create some of these OC characters, I become a little attached to some of them and I feel like mentioning them in my other stories every now and then. So I saw a great opportunity to include Lumi and Alina in this chapter and I hope you enjoyed seeing them again as much as I did!

And then of course there is Doctor Mikkelsen too…

I have decided that in my stories, he will be the Andersen family's official doctor from now on! He is actually based on a real person, although his profession in my stories is completely different than the real-life man who inspired him. Those of you who have read my profile know that I am a huge fan of car rallying and I based Doctor Mikkelsen on the most gorgeous Rally driver of them all: Andreas Mikkelsen :) Just like Doctor Mikkelsen in my story, Andreas Mikkelsen is Norwegian and he has a very joyful personality with a smile that can light up a room!

That's a bit of fun trivia that I thought I'd share with you all and even if you haven't read "The Curse of the Were-Disgust", I still hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

Svinorita.