Clack!
Thud.
Clack!
Thud.
Clack!
Thud.
Frankie gritted her teeth and groaned loudly as she hobbled down the hallway. Never in her life had she worn crutches, but already she was almost positive she would go completely insane if she had to listen to that irritable racket every time she had to walk anywhere for the next month or so. Right from the beginning it had been a pain to her eardrums, and now it was very much akin to the constant scraping of nails across a blackboard all throughout her waking hours.
And speaking of aggravating….
"Folding's all done!" a high-pitched voiced squeaked merrily, abruptly derailing the young woman's train of thought.
"EEEEK!"
As soon as she realized that a small, pigtailed little eight-year-old girl had seemingly materialized right before her, the badly-startled young woman emitted an astonished cry and stumbled a little in her shock, looking as if she was about to tumble to the floor in a heap.
"Whoa!"
Fortunately, the toothy-grinned child immediately sprung into action, grabbing hold of one of the young woman's crutches tightly and successfully stabilizing her after a few tense moments.
"Gotcha!" Goo trilled triumphantly, her ever-present smile growing a few inches in width. As soon as she caught her breath and realized she was still in one piece, Frankie shot the bubbly little figure a stern glare.
"Goo, what did I say about sneaking up on me like that?" she demanded flatly with a scowl. "I thought I told you-"
"You said I should never, ever, ever, ever surprise you, 'cuz it gets you all spooked out!" the child belted out gleefully in her uniquely effervescent manner, rocking upon her heels with her hands tucked behind her back. Immediately Frankie let out a long, aggravated groan.
"If you remember what I told you, then maybe can you please tell me why you keep doing it?" She growled, intensifying her glower twofold.
Goo just stared back at her blankly until her ridiculous smile promptly re-plastered itself back upon her face.
"I finished folding the laundry, Frankie!" she simply announced again in a joyful squeak, swelling out her chest in pride. Frankie tried to cast another fierce glare, but this attempt to chastise ended in utter failure, as she couldn't help but grin weakly at the goofy little girl.
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that." She muttered before continuing on her way, ruffling the child's hair affectionately as she hobbled by.
Even now, it was still a bit odd to the twenty-two-year-old how things had managed to work out. While dutifully returning to her chores as Resident Caretaker, Frankie had expected a lot more solitary time upon the job with the loss of her beloved "little helper" for an undefined amount of time, still strictly confined to his bed according to the doctor's wishes. Not like that was exactly an irksome issue, she herself wanted the ailing eight-year-old to be as safe and get as much rest as possible, especially after that nasty fever Mac was forced to endure a week or two ago. Mac hadn't fully recovered from the sickness of that night, but he was doing a lot better. He needed assistance to breathe every once and a while, but was all in all getting the rest he so desperately needed. Frankie recalled how short it had taken the feverish chills to overcome Mac's weak body, and wanted to be ready in case it happened again.
Fortunately for her, she had plenty of time to check up on him seeing as her return as the sole performer in house upkeep had in reality turned out to be one of the shortest stints she had undertaken in her life. As she remembered clearly, it had only lasted a little less than a few days before a certain child visiting her ailing best friend had noticed the blatant change in the routine of the house's workings. Right there on the spot Goo had promptly assigned herself the role of "Temporary Housekeep, Second Class", specified by her new shiny homemade badge composed of tinfoil and glitter, which the girl proudly sported now wherever she went about the Victorian mansion.
At first, Frankie didn't know what to make of the change, especially seeing as how she nearly had a heart-attack when the child had suddenly popped out of an oven the young woman was about to turn on. Thus, while yelling shrilly about how she was almost done giving the inside of the stove a good scrubbing, Goo very unofficially began her temporary stint as assistant caretaker. Since then, such queer occurrences had become the norm, much to the chagrin of the impeded redhead.
On the other hand though, despite the inevitable range of mishaps one gets with so eager an aide, Frankie did enjoy having the extra help around the house once again, and couldn't help but admit that at least the child was putting her boundless energy to good use.
"I got all the folding done, 'cuz I finished the rest of the laundry, too!" Goo explained happily as she impishly pranced about the hobbling young woman.
"That's good." Frankie complimented her gently in a low murmur as she doddered along.
"Yeah, see, at first I didn't think I was gonna get the laundry done, 'cuz I had all the smelly clothes in the washing machine, but then I saw we were all out of laundry detergent, so I was all like "oh no, how can I wash the stinky clothes without laundry detergent," but I got lucky because we actually had detergent all along, and I was all 'oooh, this is great, no more yucky filthy clothes for us' but thing was it was hidden under a pile of dirty, dirty sheets and so to find it I-" The little girl prattled on, babbling out her story faster then water gushing from a broken faucet.
"Goo, why don't you go play or something?" Frankie gently cut her off, trying to silence the girl's incessant chattering. Goo only beamed brighter than ever as she shook her head furiously.
"Nuh-uh! No thanks! You might need help with more stuff!" she countered happily, jabbing a finger at the impeded caretaker.
Now, while Frankie couldn't lie that in her current condition any assistance was a valuable asset, she also had to admit that it was a bit embarrassing that she now had to rely so heavily upon a very hyperactive eight-year-old little girl to help her complete her daily duties.
"Um, I think I'll be fine on my own for a little bit." Frankie lied, as if trying to prove her own worth to her unofficial helper.
"No it's okay! I can help! I can help!" Goo only squealed with glee, enthused by the prospect of more odd jobs to assist the young woman with.
"No, really, I think I can-"
"What do you want me to do? Water the plants outside again? Mop a hallway? Ooooh, how 'bout I go and sweep the-"
"Goo, please!" The caretaker grumbled exasperatedly as she limped along. "C'mon, can I at least try something on my own for once without you breathing down my neck? I just-AUGH!"
No sooner had she finished this snide comment, Frankie tripped on a patch of carpet and bumbled forward a little bit, waving her crutches wildly in the air as she awkwardly hopped about on one foot, unable to stop. Stumbling about helplessly, it only took less than a moment for her to realize the true possible danger she was in when as soon as she saw that she was currently situated right at the summit of a nearby staircase. With a yelp of terror she tottered wildly on the top step for a few moments, began to fall forward-
And immediately went no further, teetering dangerously on her one good leg and just barely rescued from a nasty fall, due of course to the quick actions of a certain overactive little girl. Goo flashed Frankie yet another triumphant grin as she held on tightly to the redhead's emerald sweater, anchoring the young woman against the top of the staircase and thus preventing what would have no doubt been an utter calamity.
"Gotcha again!" The child squealed in delight, as if instead of an atrocious near-accident, the whole incident was merely part of some wonderful never-ending game.
Furiously blushing a fine shade of scarlet, Frankie murmured a few hasty words of gratitude and thus allowed herself to be pulled back from the edge of disaster by the little girl. Once back on firm footing, the caretaker promptly resumed her march, her self-proclaimed assistant meanwhile happily skipping about by her side, humming a willy-nilly tune she composed while she pranced about by the twenty-two-year-old's side. Finally, after much longer than Frankie would've liked, the pair finally managed to arrive at their destination.
"Okay, Bloo, time to go!" The caretaker announced flatly as she nudged the door open, allowing her to hobble into the sunlit bedroom. Immediately her declaration was met with a piteous whine of protest.
"Awww, do we have to?" the little blob argued unhappily, turning to face her from where he had been playing cards with his bedridden creator.
"Hiiiiiiiiii Mac!" Goo squealed happily as she bounded into the room, abruptly interrupting the conversation. Upon seeing his friend enter, the slightly pale-faced little boy beamed joyfully and struggled to sit up in bed a little, waving furiously in warm greeting.
"Hey, Goo! Hey, Frankie!" he chirped in a hoarse but nevertheless jubilant tone.
"Yes Bloo, we have to." Frankie continued dutifully as she waved absentmindedly, never skipping a beat as she persistently reminded the badly perturbed little imaginary friend. "I specifically told you last night that today was gonna be the day, the doctor scheduled this before we even got out of the hospital, remember?"
"But…But I don't wanna…." Bloo whimpered, frowning unhappily as he shot a sideways glance at his best friend. Upon seeing the woe and reluctance stamped upon the little imaginary friend's features, Frankie managed a little smile and softened her tone slightly.
"C'mon, we gotta get those stitches out sometime, don't we?" she asked gently, pointing to the bandage still adorning the top of the little fellow's gelatinous head. Bloo rubbed his dressing ruefully, still blatantly unwilling to simply up and leave his creator, even for matters concerning his own welfare. Glancing at her, then at Mac, and then repeating the process again probably more times than was really necessary, he let out a small but audible whine.
Rather than raise her voice or shoot him a fierce warning glare, Frankie pursed her lips as her reassuring grin flipped itself into a sympathetic frown. She could understand his unwillingness to leave. He had already spent most of his time with the boy when Mac was first brought home. However, ever since that tragically long night when the child took a temporary turn of the worse, the little imaginary friend now barely left his friend's bedside except for the occasional bathroom break, all out of the deepest concern for his ailing creator. Even mealtimes couldn't deter Bloo to do otherwise; he only ate what was served to him up here with Mac.
"We'll only be gone a few hours, the appointment won't take very long." The young woman explained, flashing another encouraging smile and continuing to talk in the same hushed tone, as if talking to a wary toddler. Even despite this though, the little imaginary friend still cut the perfect picture of abject misery.
"I dunno…." He muttered, still horribly torn on the matter.
"Go ahead, Bloo." Mac finally whispered with a comforting nod, fumbling a little to sit up in his bed again. "Frankie said it's not gonna take very long."
Finally, after this simple laconic reassurance from his creator, the little blob finally clambered off the bed and trudged unwillingly towards the door, although not without stopping to give Frankie one last pleading glance.
"You sure it won't take long?" he whined, flashing her a pair of puppy-dog eyes. The redhead chuckled and gave him a soft pat on the head.
"Just go out into the hallway for now and wait for me there, 'kay?"
"Okay…" he muttered, trudging off extremely reluctantly, like a condemned prisoner being forcibly marched off to the gallows. "Bye, Mac"
"Bye Bloo! Don't worry, I'll be fine!" his creator called out cheerfully, getting a wan smile out of the azure blob.
"Doctor's appointment? Oooooh! Y'want me to come too?" Goo asked excitedly, grabbing hold of Frankie's sweater and bouncing up and down gleefully. "I can help! I can help you get on and off the bus! No, no, wait, even better! Listen, listen, listen! If you really need me to, I could take the steering wheel, work the pedals, y'know my uncle took me to a go-cart track last summer so I think I could actually-"
"No, no, no need for that." Frankie laughed, gingerly prying the little girl's fingers free from her garment. "I think I'll be able to drive just fine on my own."
"Oh….okay…." she replied softly, sounding a little bit disappointed. The young woman shook with mirth at the dejection in the child's eyes, knowing very well that she would've actually tried to drive the Foster's bus on her own if she were asked to.
"How about this, though?" The crafty caretaker suggested with a grin. "How about you stay here and look after Mac for me, and then when we get back you can help me get dinner started, okay?"
Upon hearing this warm invitation to assist, the little girl's demeanor improved immediately. "Really?"
"I promise. Just make sure Mac's okay while we're gone, got it?"
"Okay!" she chirped contentedly in agreement, whirling about and skipping over to her friend's bedside, eagerly gathering up the playing cards that lay scattered upon the sheets.
"Whatcha playin', Mac? Go-Fish? Old Maid? Ooooh, how about…"
"I guess I'll see you later, Frankie." The eight-year-old whispered his simple adieu to the redhead, giving her a weak little wave and a warm smile. Gazing back affectionately, Frankie promptly hobbled over back to his bedside and managed to sit herself upon the mattress.
"You be good while I'm gone, okay? It won't be long, I promise." She whispered in gentle reassurance, planting a quick peck on his forehead. Mac was all smiles as he reached up to wrap his little arms around her neck in a quick good-bye hug in turn.
"Got it!" He laughed as the young woman enveloped a slender arm about him to return the hug, although she was extra mindful of making sure her squeeze wasn't too tight for the already severely infirm child.
"You two be good now, okay? Just one or two hours, I promise!" she pledged one final time.
"Okay, Frankie!" the duo chorused in reply before starting up a round of Go-Fish. Smiling warmly at the picturesque scene before her, the twenty-two-year-old pivoted about on her crutches and exited the room, shutting the door gently behind her.
"Still don't see why we have to go…" Bloo murmured ruefully as he stood in the hallway, blobby appendages folded in a huff and his mouth curved into a noticeable scowl. Frankie just laughed a little as she gave him a gentle nudge to get him going.
"Oh, hush up, you. It's just a quick doctor's appointment. We'll be in and out before you know it. I've got my phone with me, so we'll know if something happens." She announced optimistically, praying that nothing would happen to make her use it. "C'mon, what can possibly happen while we're gone?"
The children's game was interrupted by a soft knock upon the door, causing the pair to glance up simultaneously with a start.
"Oops, sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Wilt apologized immediately for his transgression as he peered into the room. "I didn't mean to surprise you like that, I'm sorry! I just wanted to check on make sure that you were okay, honest! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Quickly recovering her shock, the irrepressible Goo cracked a wry grin at the lanky imaginary friend as she passed her friend a playful wink.
"Actually, the joke's on you! We were actually waiting for you to come in so we could finally throw you your surprise party. Happy Birthday, Wilt!" she teased playfully.
The gentle-natured creature cocked his head, confused.
"Wait, you're…hold on, what?"
As the duo burst out into a mad fit of the giggles, Wilt sighed and rolled his good eye, although he couldn't help but manage a smile.
"Ha ha, very funny you guys." He remarked sarcastically with a laugh. "Yeah, yeah, you threw me off there for a second, nice try. C'mon, knock it off you two. Hey, hey knock it off! Make sure that – oh no!" he gasped in horror at the sight that fell before him.
It had all been too much for Mac to handle in his already weakened state, and it wasn't too long before his peals of laughter transformed into a series of severe, hacking coughs. Not one to be distraught by this change in state, Goo immediately slid over on the mattress and began to pat her friend's back gently in an attempt to correct his breathing.
"C'mon, Mac. Easy does it. Just calm down, ease off a little, okay? Do you want me to get you a glass of…of…?"
She frowned in deep concern as his condition suddenly seemed to take an instantaneous turn for the worse. Although the coughing had been stopped, his breathing clearly far from normal again. Sitting up in bed, Mac gasped for air in short, shallow breaths.
"Mac?" Goo whimpered worriedly, still trying to pat his back in a futile attempt to calm him down. "Mac, you okay?"
However, any such questioning was entirely in vain, as it was blatantly clear something was horribly off. The boy's breathing became quickly grew shorter and much more ragged, and he struggled furiously to gulp in any air he could.
"M-Mac?" Goo inquired in a hoarse squeak, still trying to do whatever she could in the face of a clear oncoming catastrophe. "Mac, are you gonna be-"
As the eight-year-old cried out and reached for his chest, the little girl shrieked in horror as her friend began to fight for his life before his very eyes. Joining along with Goo, an uncontainable yelp of shock escaped from Wilt's throat, and instinctively he bounded forward to the side of the stricken child.
"Mac? Mac, what's wrong? Mac? Mac? MAC!"
Bloo whined softly as he spotted the large road sign clearly stating that they were officially exiting town. Noticing his discomfort, Frankie glanced up concernedly through the rear view mirror at the miserable little imaginary friend.
"You okay?" she inquired gently.
"I just don't see why we gotta go so far…" he murmured ruefully. The lanky redhead sighed heavily as she refocused her attention back on the road. She hadn't had any trouble driving before with her cast, but the gray sky had her nervous about rain. Frankie had never been good with breaks in the rain, but she didn't know how well she'd drive with her cast. Hopefully it would pass.
"I told you before Bloo, the doctor who took care of your stitches has his private offices in the next town over. Don't you remember?" she clucked like a fussy mother hen. "Look, I wish he was stationed at the hospital today as much as you do, but things can't always work out exactly like we'd want them to."
Bloo only moaned unhappily as he pressed his face up against the window. A drizzling rain sprinkled down from the sky, which seemed to dim even more as Bloo became even more apprehensive.
"Mac…" he whispered, fidgeting about uneasily in his seat. Frankie rolled her eyes as she turned the steering wheel for a quick turn.
"Cut the theatrics, will ya? We're hardly gonna be there very long, they'll have you all set in just a little bit, maybe half-an-hour, probably forty-five minutes at the most." She reassured him, though blatantly not as gently as she could. "Honestly, when we're all done we're probably going to have spent more time driving to and from the doctor's office then we did at the actual appointment."
"But-"
"We'll on our way back home in just an hour, Bloo, don't worry." Frankie emphasized resolutely. "Trust me, nothing's going to happen to Mac while we're gone."
"Promise?" Bloo whined hopefully. Frankie craned her neck briefly to flash him a warm smile, although slightly irritated as the drizzle transformed into steady raindrops beating down upon the Foster's bus.
"Don't worry, I promise."
