Chapter 12
Ferb had only partially finished one of his sandwich halves. Phineas was further on his meal, but still had a good ways to go before his was gone.
Picking up his plastic cup from the counter, Phineas left his half-eaten sandwich on the paper plate, and took a few sips. Standing beside Phineas, Ferb was downing the entirety of his cup with several gulps.
While Ferb tipped his head back further, Candace came walking into the kitchen, reading some newly-received mail.
"Uhhww, gross!" she reacted upon looking up from her papers, leaving them at her side, and gaping at her brothers. They both just stopped mid-drink and stared at her from over the rims of their cups.
She had her mouth slightly open and one eye squinted, holding a look of surprised disgust on her face. "Are you guys drinking out of those?"
Phineas looked back, and asked slowly, "Yeeeesss...? Was there a reason we shouldn't?"
"Yeah, duh!" she said without a moment of pause. "Eeeww, I found those in the garage! They were covered in gunk, things next to the sink are dirty, Phineas!"
"Ooooh, sorry," Phineas said, clearly showing his own disappointment in himself. "They were upside-down, I thought they had been cleaned..."
But then there was a light, yet loud, tapping sound on the kitchen tile. Phineas looked down in reaction, and saw that Ferb's cup was bouncing with a roll along the white floor. Though it was harmlessly unbroken, the inch of water that had been still inside had splattered out of it in an array of heavy droplets.
"It's okay, Ferb, you don't have to be so surprised. A little dirt never hurt anyone," Phineas tried to convince him as he looked up. But Ferb was not looking with concern at Candace, as Phineas was expecting, but down at the rolling cup on the floor.
"It's-it's not that, Phineas," Ferb said through a cracking voice as he gazed downwards. "I-I didn't do that on purpose..."
Phineas followed, and looked at it as well. "Well, I didn't do it either."
"It's... gone, Phin," Ferb said, closing his eyes and shaking his head with a frown. "Now I can't move that one, either."
Opening his mouth, Phineas didn't have any words to say. Then Candace came up to stand next to them. She looked at them with a genuine worry.
"... He can't use your arm?"
Neither of them needed to reply, as Candace knew the answer from the sad looks they gave her.
"You said that you didn't want to get separated..." she started gently. "But if he can't use it anymore, maybe it would be for the best?"
"Candace, you're saying that just because he can't use it anymore that we should just cut it off?" Phineas argued in defense. "Well, he can't use his other arm either! Want to just cut that one off, too?"
"Guys..." Ferb said quietly. "I'm standing right here, and I don't like these ideas."
"Oh, Ferb, I don't mean it, of course," Phineas replied in guilt, turning back to him. Candace kept her eye on them.
"And you think you have a better idea, then?" she put out.
"We will... we'll fix it..." Phineas mumbled, moving a bit closer.
"Well," Candace remarked, with a point towards Ferb. "If he falls on top of you, don't get me involved."
Then she exited the kitchen with the warning, "I'm staying out of this."
"Ferb," Phineas whispered to him. "I don't know what's happening."
Ferb just leaned into him, unable to do anything else.
Phineas pulled away for a second. "Let's finish eating upstairs, instead of down here. I... I have to keep working."
The darkness of the black night sky coming in through the window was no help to Phineas' attempts at scribbling on his paper. The disposable plate sat beside him on the desk, holding a few crumbs and jelly globs.
He glanced his eye over to Ferb's plate, sitting beside Phineas'. It still had more than half a sandwich on it.
Reaching over to grab it, Phineas held it up to his brother's mouth. "Here Ferb, open up."
Ferb just looked at the meal floating before him for a second, then looked back down to Phineas. He sighed and said, "That's really nice of you, Phin. But I don't want you to have to feed me."
Phineas did not lower his offering. "Well you said you were hungry. How else are you going to eat it?"
With a slow look down at his right arm resting unused on his knee, Ferb replied with only a delayed blink. Phineas kept prompting him.
"I've kind of lost my appetite," Ferb gave his answer. He slid off his chair and made his way to the pile of covers on the floor. Phineas grabbed his clipboard, paper, and pencil off the desk to follow him.
"And who knows," Ferb was saying as he fell onto the fabric. "Maybe I don't even need to eat food anymore. Maybe I'm just feeding off of you."
"Ferb!" Phineas scolded. "I already told you you're not a parasite!"
But Ferb had his face in the covers and his arm lying beside him. He tried to turn over. "And why's that? Because I can walk and talk?"
Phineas knelt next to him. He looked like he was trying to nod, but Ferb hadn't noticed; he had turned back around with the addition, "...for now."
"What do you mean by that, Ferb?" Phineas asked, though he knew the answer already from Ferb's concerned thoughts.
With a breath, Ferb elaborated. "...What if my feet are next, and you have to drag me all around the house?"
Phineas shook his head stubbornly. He drew up his pencil and clipboard as he positioned himself near Ferb. "That's not going to happen. I'm going to fix it before then... I just... need to remember how it went..."
"...It very well may happen," Ferb spoke softly. Phineas could feel the somber tone coming off of him as he said it. Ferb's thoughts had returned to the expired orange ball now sitting in the garage dumpster.
Ferb had turned away so that Phineas could not see him. "My body is shutting down."
"No, no Ferb..." Phineas denied with his eyes closed and a wince. "We still have time... The ball was smaller, and we tested it first, so it would give you a few more hours than it took the ball to..."
"Stop, Phineas. Please stop," Ferb begged with his head on the pillow. He looked upwards at his brother. "I know it's easy to break it down and analyze it. But I don't want you to start counting my minutes."
"Okk-okay," Phineas stuttered. He pushed his pencil back on the page and tried to see through his almost-closed lids as he traced a line. "I'm-I'm going to fix it..."
"I'm going to go to sleep now, Phineas," Ferb informed carefully and gently. He positioned himself lying on his back.
"P-p-please don't fall asleep," Phineas tried to request.
"I'll be alright, Phin. Sleep is good," Ferb said as he closed his eyes. "It'll all get brighter when the sun comes up."
Trying still to work on his paper, Phineas forced himself to nod. "Everything is always better in the morning."
Ferb's eyes drooped heavily, as he was unable to keep them open for any longer. As the thoughts in his mind spun, he could not stop himself from wondering how much time was truly left on his clock.
