Alex groggily awoke from his seemingly dreamless sleep. As he fought to regain consciousness, he could vaguely hear muffled sounds in the background. He cracked open his eyelids just a slit, and the light was so bright it hurt his head to look at it. Squinting, he finally adjusted enough to the brightness that he could see a little. But man, did he have a headache. Momentarily forgetting his situation, he went to lift up his head; to his surprise, he was able to do it. But his head spun with dizziness, plus the headache, so he laid it back down. At least his head was now free. Then Alex thought he heard background sounds of the ocean waves pounding the surf, and some seabirds. "Where am I?" Alex silently asked himself, confused, as he faintly remembered last being in the forest.

Moving his head made him dizzy, so Alex rolled his eyes up to check his surroundings. Moving his eyes hurt too, aggravating his headache. But he saw a ceiling made of leaves, and on further inspection realized he must be in Marty's cabana. "What?" he thought. He lifted his head again, slowly, looking back to check the rest of his body- his fur was a ruffled mess, but he wasn't tied up at all. "What is going on? What is wrong with me?" he thought, then the world started spinning so bad it made him feel sick. He laid his head back down, but this time the spinning didn't stop. Feeling worse by the second, he instinctively called out for help from the one animal he trusted the most. "Marty!" he called tearfully, starting to panic. "Marty, I need you! Help!" But something sad inside told him that Marty wouldn't be coming this time. The lion closed his eyes and sniffled in his torment, desperately trying to remember what happened, what was real, and what was not.

There was a dull thud, like something heavy had dropped onto the sand nearby. Then, clumsy footsteps, more like vibrations than a distinct sound, caused by something slowly and haphazardly approaching him.

"Help!" the delirious lion called out again in a voice of panic with his eyes closed, sensing a presence standing before him.

"I'm here, Alex," a voice weakly said to him, lying down close by him and gently stroking his mane. "I'm right here, buddy."

"What?" questioned Alex, recognizing the voice, and very confused. "Marty? No, wait... but you're de- you're alive?"

"Last time I checked," said the zebra, in a tired voice. "Let's see here," he added, placing a hoof on his own neck to feel his pulse. "Yep, I'm still kickin'."

Marty, I think I'm going crazy," Alex said in a broken, frightened voice. "Please, can we go home to the zoo now?" he begged, starting to cry. "Please say that we're going home today!"

Marty held his friend and let him cry. "Aww, Alex, you've been crying so much lately... poor guy. It's all right, buddy. It's going to be okay," he assured the distraught lion.

"Marty, I've been spending so much time by myself these last few days," wailed Alex. "I'm sorry if I hurt you!"

"No, Alex no...", he replied gently. "It's okay."

"I don't want to be alone anymore," cried Alex. "I don't want to be alone!! Please stay with me... please don't leave!"

"I'm not going anywhere... I'm gonna be right beside you. You 'n me, okay?"

This somewhat consoled the sobbing lion, and the tears began to subside. The spinning sensation diminished slightly but didn't completely go away. Amid his suffering, Alex was so happy to see that Marty was alive. At least that is what he saw and thought. The zebra seemed to be real, but he still wasn't sure. Nothing was making sense. "Marty, I feel horrible... am I sick?"

"Yes, Alex, you are," the zebra honestly told him. "You're pretty sick, buddy. And I'm not feelin' too well myself."

"You're sick too?" Alex asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that," answered Marty. "Yeah, I'm sick too. Both of us were in intensive care this morning. Poor Melman was up all night and all morning, playing doctor. And Gloria was playing nurse. But you're gonna be okay, buddy."

"What's wrong with- oops... uh, Marty, I have to get up, please help me up."

"Alex, you really should stay lying there for a while."

"No, I have to get up... I'm gonna puke!"

"Oh, sorry, here let me help you," Marty said, slowly and stiffly lifting the lion to his shaky, uneasy feet. The zebra paused, then jolted with pain as he took the lion's weight upon his shoulders. Limping, Marty walked Alex out into the sand away from the hut, then looked away to give him some privacy. Alex dug a hole in the sand with his forepaws, then put his head down into the hole and retched. Marty felt bad for him.

"Not much came up," Alex said, covering the hole back up and feeling a little better for the moment. "Mostly dry heaves. Yuk! I hate this!"

Marty, clearly in pain, laboriously escorted his friend back to the hut and then both animals collapsed back down onto the bed of sand. Alex laid there and, despite the hot afternoon weather, began to shiver with the chills. Poor Alex felt so miserable. Marty moved up close against him to try to help.

"M-M-Marty, you're limping," Alex said.

"Yeah, I think maybe a stone got stuck in my hoof or something," Marty answered.

Alex shakily grabbed the zebra's weak leg and cleaned out his hoof with a claw. "Th-th-there you go, buddy. I d-didn't f-find any s-s-s-st-...stones, th-th-though," Alex chattered, slurring out the words.

"Well, what do ya know, it musta just dislodged a few steps ago or somethin'," lied the zebra. "Thank you, Alex. Now take it easy and rest. I'll stay with you."

"I f-fell in the st-st-stream last night," stated Alex with teeth chattering, "and I had to go to s-s-sleep soaking wet. M-m-maybe that's why I'm sick."

"No Alex, I have to tell you-"

"And uuugggh! I had the w-w-worst nightmare last night. T-t-terrible! It was s-so real. I d-don't even want to-"

"Alex," Marty firmly interrupted, "going to bed wet isn't what made you sick. Something bad happened to you last night. I know you've been terribly depressed this past week. Melman thinks... well, he thinks it may have been a suicide attempt."

"What?" replied Alex, still shaking. "It was? No, wait, I'm so confused. I was in the forest, but now I'm here?"

"I'll tell you what little I know. Somehow, you ingested a primitive sedative in the forest last night. At least that's what Skipper told me- not sure how he determined that."

Skipper? Alex wasn't sure what to make of Marty's information. He quietly laid there together with the zebra for a long time, thinking. Finally, he broke the silence once again with a question he was afraid to ask but had to know. "Marty?" he said, nervously. "I'm having trouble discerning what is real and what isn't. I, uh... I n-n-need to know something... did I beat you up last evening?"

There was a long pause, then the zebra responded. "Yeah, Alex... you did."

Alex's spirits, already quite low, dropped like a rock, and he grabbed his head with his paws and held it down against the sand. He was hoping it was all just a very bad dream, a delusion of his sickness, but this wasn't the case at all. Marty wasn't merely sick, he was injured from a severe beating. Although still in a fog, tears formed in the lions eyes as he began to face what he had done. "Oh, Marty," he sobbed, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry. I lov-... I loved you, I don't know how I could ever have done that. But it's too late now."

"Well you know what?" Marty answered, still weakly but sounding a bit chipper. "The special at Marty's has been extended an extra day. Just forget it."

"I understand," said Alex sadly. "I'm r-really glad you're still alive, I was told otherwise. If I recover from this stupor, I'll leave you alone and never bother you again. I deserve to be punished. I'm sorry. I know you'll never believe me, but I'm so sorry, Marty."

"Alex, you silly lion," Marty replied, "no, you don't understand. Yesterday I only asked for two or three little magic words, and here you've given me all five. For the special- remember? When I said 'forget it', I meant let's forget any of this ever happened and start over fresh."

"You mean, like forgiveness? You're forgiving me?"

"Yep, that's right. Now you got it right."

"What, for the beating? No Marty, that doesn't make any sense. I deserve to be punished. Tell you what, know those big chains up on the ship deck? Get them and chain me up, stretch me out on the sand, and-"

"Don't say it, Alex! Look, why won't you just accept my forgiveness?"

"Because it's crazy. It's a n-n-nice gesture, but I don't believe in forgiveness... not to this magnitude, anyway. Look, I've hurt you. Obviously bad. And I humiliated you in front of everyone. I beat you. I beat up my loyal, best friend in all the world."

"Yeah. Yeah, ya did, Al," the zebra agreed, then paused for a few moments. "Okay, so if you need to be punished, who here do you think is in the best position to decide and deliver that punishment, to the satisfaction of the victim?"

Alex paused, thinking for a moment. "You, Marty," he said. "You should be judge, jury, and executioner."

"I agree. Having suffered it myself, I'm the best person here to decide and deliver your fate. I am that person, and I'm telling you, forget it- you're forgiven."

"But how can you? How can you forgive me for that?" Alex said sniffling, paws over his head.

"Well," answered the zebra gently, "because you desperately need it. Because I love you. And, because I can be a real jackass myself at times."

"You're gonna get the short end of the stick here," Alex squeaked out, trying hard not to cry but losing the battle. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"No, Al, it doesn't. But forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts we can ever give or receive, and it works... mends broken hearts, gets friends back together again. It's the closest thing to magic I've ever seen. Just accept it and let's be friends again... please?"

Tears were streaming down Alex's face, wetting the sand where his chin rested. He couldn't speak from the lump in his throat, overcome with emotion, but he lifted his head a couple of inches and gave Marty a few solid nods of affirmation, and reached out and hugged him. The little hug made Marty's sore shoulder hurt, but he tried to hide his painful facial expression as he appreciated the gesture very much. It was a real get-well card for both of them. The two friends lay close together there in the sand, side by side, holding on to each other and crying. For Alex, part of a large weight on him had just been lifted, and for Marty as well.

Alex lay there quietly with Marty for what seemed like a long time. His sense of the passage of time was warped, but he could tell his head was gradually getting a little bit clearer. The zebra was still there, and alive. He was forgiven! And, with his increasing clarity it became more and more apparent to him that this wasn't a just a dream. The sun's angle had changed significantly, starting to shine on his face, which wasn't helping his fever any. He wished he could get rid of the nausea most of all, though- it just went on and on, seemingly forever. He wished he could just puke and get it over with. Then he heard muffled voices amid the background surf, familiar voices that were getting closer by the second. It was Melman and Gloria.

"Well, who was supposed to be watching him?" scolded Melman. "Just like earlier this morning!"

"That's not fair, Melman, we were both up all night," defended Gloria. "I fell asleep, I'm sorry, okay? Aww, man, now where did- oh, wait... here's Marty, Melman. He's lying here with Alex."

"Thank goodness!" exclaimed Melman, hooves on his horns. "Thought he ran off again. All of this chaos is giving me a nervous breakdown!"

"Hey, Melman," said Marty, lifting his head and looking at him. "I'm here, I'm okay... calm down!"

"I'll be the judge of that," said Melman nervously. "You're not completely out of the woods yet, you know. You've got a possible concussion that we've gotta keep an eye on."

"Yeah," added Gloria, "especially after that crazy stunt you pulled this morning!"

"Now what did he do?" spoke Alex weakly, surprising Melman and Gloria.

"Alex!" exclaimed Gloria, smiling at him with her pretty, but tired eyes.

Melman immediately tended to the lion. "He's awake... he's awake! That's good. That's a very good sign," he said to Gloria and Marty, then turned to Alex. "Listen Alex, you take it easy for a while- you've still got that drug in your system. Never mind for now how it got there, just take it easy and rest. I think you're gonna be okay!"

"Sicko number two present and accounted for," stated Alex with a weak grin, waving a paw.

"I'm so sorry I left you alone last night," apologized Gloria to the lion. "I wanted to come back but I got very busy with Marty, and-"

"It's all right, Gloria, I understand," said Alex dryly. "So what is this stunt that Marty did?"

Melman brought a bowl of cool water over to Alex to drink. He asked for Gloria's help and they moved both Alex and Marty backwards some to get them out of the sun. Then Gloria began to answer Alex's question. "This morning, I went over to check on Marty, and his hammock was empty!"

"Somebody was supposed to be watching him, and that somebody fell asleep," chided Melman.

"Come on Melman, I was up all night with you, what did you expect?"

"Yeah, I know Gloria, I fell asleep too, but you were supposed to take the first shift while I napped," answered Melman. "Anyway, took us a while to get Marty stabilized last night. It was a miracle really, all I had was icy cold water from the stream and moral support to fight the swelling that was taking place. No pharmaceuticals or medications to work with. Not even a simple bottle of anti-inflammatory, like Ibuprofen. That would have been very helpful. I'm not really a doctor, you know, I'm just familiar with the horde of drugs I've been treated with by the zoo veterinarian-"

"You did great," interrupted Alex. "Doctor or not, you did a good job here, and I'm proud of you. You're the best." Gloria and Marty nodded in agreement. Alex held up a paw and slapped Melman a five, paw to hoof.

Melman didn't quite know what to say. He suddenly felt profoundly needed and useful. He decided to continue the story to divert the attention away from himself. "Yes, our Marty was critical for quite some time. But thank God, we finally did get him stabilized in the early morning. A couple hours after watching over him, I needed to get some sleep, so Gloria took over but fell asleep herself. Next thing I know, I am abruptly awakened by her freaking out, and Marty was nowhere to be seen."

"Let me guess," said Alex. "He ran off."

"We went looking for him in the woods," continued Gloria. "Then we find him in there walking back towards the beach with you, Alex, draped over his back. Melman was furious at Marty for attempting to carry you while in his battered condition, but then saw you were unconscious and ran to help. So we all brought you back to Marty's cabana. Marty's stunt was wandering off without permission, and attempting to carry you by himself in spite of his injuries. He should have asked us for help!"

"You were in bad shape, Alex," Melman told him. "Patient number one was barely taken care of and then suddenly we had patient number two. What really scared me was that your breathing had become very shallow, and although your heart seemed to keep going, for a while you stopped breathing entirely and we had to resuscitate you."

Alex's eyes widened. "Resuscitate? Uh, Melman, I appreciate your help and all, but... you didn't, uh, you didn't put your, um, lips-"

"If you mean mouth to mouth, no, I didn't do that," answered Melman.

"Whew," sighed Alex, "for a minute there I thought-"

"Marty did," continued Melman. Alex froze with a shocked look on his face and Marty shrank down in embarrassment. "It was definitely necessary," added the giraffe. "While I was contemplating how to do the act, Marty jumped right in there covering your mouth and repeatedly filled your lungs with the air you needed to survive. Somehow, that zebra learned CPR."

Alex was a bit embarrassed. "Oh well," he said hopefully, "so a few puffs did the trick then, huh?"

"No, you weren't breathing on your own for a long time," said Melman. "How long was it, Gloria? Like an hour? Yeah, something like that."

Alex and Marty would both have had red faces if the fur wasn't there to hide it. Alex was embarrassed at the thought of Marty mouthing him, virtually french kissing him, for over an hour, right in front of the others. It didn't seem to disgust anyone though, so he came to grips with it rather quickly. He still felt really sick, and didn't want to dwell too much on the subject.

"It was a group effort, Alex," added Melman. "Took all three of us- Gloria held you in the proper position and Marty gave you the air, so I was free to monitor your vital signs."

"Thanks, guys," Alex said, shrugging off his embarrassment and feeling grateful he was alive.

"Uh, Marty?" Alex asked his friend. "I've really got a craving for some grass."

"I'd get you some fish, Alex, but I don't have any at the moment," Melman added.

"Fish... ugggh!" replied Alex. "Don't even wanna think about it. Marty, I could really go for some grass right now. Got any?"

"Grass?" said Marty, surprised. "Now you're talkin'! I've got some grass salad handy, how about that?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," said Alex. "A nice big bowl would be great."

Marty's spirits sure perked up. "Hey Gloria, would you mind getting my best friend and me some grass salad? You'll find everything just behind the counter."

Gloria looked to Melman for approval. "Yes Gloria," he affirmed, "by all means, Marty needs to eat to heal and regain his strength. This is another good sign. Serve the salad."

A few minutes later, Marty and Alex were left alone with their salad bowls, eating enthusiastically. Marty loved grass, and was so glad to be able to provide, share, and enjoy it with his best friend. "This is great, Alex," he said. "Me and my best buddy eating grass together!"

"Marty?" spoke Alex with a wad of grass in his mouth. "I'm glad to see you so happy. I hate to disappoint you buddy, but all this is gonna come back up. I don't like grass, I'm eating it for its medicinal value... it's gonna help me puke and get rid of this nausea."

"Oh," said Marty, clearly disappointed but still enjoying his bowl of salad.

As the two animals ate together alone, Alex had more questions for Marty. "So you carried me out of the woods this morning, as Gloria said. Thank you, by the way. But I need to know more. Please tell me what happened, I gotta know."

"Not a whole lot to tell, Alex, seriously. About mid-morning I was lying in my hammock, half-dozing and feeling poorly. One of the penguins, Private, came to get me. Melman and Gloria were asleep, so I didn't want to disturb them. It sounded urgent so I got up and he led me into the forest. When I got there we found you passed out lying on top of a log, and the other penguins were having a heated discussion with Julien. I moved you onto my back and carried you here to our cabana on the beach. And I caught hell from Melman for doing that by myself."

"But wasn't I... didn't you have to... what about the ropes?"

"What ropes, buddy?" Marty asked. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind, I don't want to talk about it... not now anyway."

"I don't know what all went down yet myself," Marty said, "but don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of it. Apparently, the penguins know a lot more. They'll fill in the gaps tonight, if you're up for a meeting."

"Oh, no," thought Alex, assuming what this meeting was most likely going to be about. Marty was obviously in the dark as to what was going on, but with his memory returning, Alex now had enough pieces of the puzzle to figure out the rest. He remembered being tied up for hours; the interrogation; and, why he was arrested. Skipper must have gotten word of the cruel treatment Julien was administering to the lion, and put an end to it. A penguin of honor, Skipper would never stand for cruel treatment of prisoners of war, especially one of his own. He must have worked out some kind of deal with Julien to keep Alex under house arrest here at Marty's hut until the trial, instead of keeping him tied up and drugged. It all seemed to make some sense now, but sadly so, because he had hoped it was all just a bad nightmare. And Marty didn't know. He didn't have the heart to tell Marty or the others what he had done and what was probably going to happen to him now as a result. Alex felt so sick, in more ways than one, and was definitely not looking forward to Skipper's meeting.

"Alex?" asked Marty, waving a hoof in front of his eyes. "Alex? Are you okay, buddy? You were staring into space. I was saying about Skipper's meeting tonight."

"Uuuuggh!" Alex replied, gagging on a stem of grass. "I don't want to do anything right now."

"No, not now," said Marty, "and we'll see how you're feeling later tonight. I'm not gonna make you do anything you don't feel up to, okay? Truth be told, I'm not feelin' too perky myself. It's an important meeting, but let's take things one hour at a time for now. We'll postpone it if we have to."

"Oh, uh, okay, okay, that sounds good," Alex said, still gagging. "Uh, listen Marty, I have to tell you one more thing, I, uh... no, never mind."

Some time later, the lion was lying there staring into space with a churning belly, waiting for the grass to run its course, when he heard some muffled voices in the background, followed by footsteps. He became nervous, but noticed that Marty was sleeping and didn't want to disturb him. The footsteps finally arrived, and he was relieved to see that it was Gloria.

"Hi Alex," she said kindly to him. "Feeling a little better? You have some visitors."

"Visitors?" Alex said very nervously.

"Yes, Julien and Maurice have come by to see how you're doing."

"No!" said Alex, suddenly very fearful. "No, not them... please! No visitors... I'm too sick!"

Alex's panicked response awoke Marty. He looked terrified. Gloria was surprised at the lion's reaction to his visitors, but respected his wishes not to see anyone. As she began walking away, frightened Alex called out to her, getting her attention. "What is it, hon?" she kindly asked him.

"Gloria, listen... I have to tell you... I know what you guys think, but I didn't try to kill myself last night. They did this to me. It was Julien!"

"What?" said Gloria, surprised again.

Alex became very upset and started shaking. "I swear, honest to God, Gloria, it was Julien and Maurice. They poisoned me... held me down and forced that stuff down my throat!"

"What? Seriously?" the zebra inquired in disbelief, knowing Alex felt too poorly to be kidding. "Why? I mean, he's-"

"Please don't ask me, Marty," replied Alex. "Please. I'm so sick."

The shocked expression on Gloria's face turned to one of anger. She gently petted the lion's mane, then stood erect, hands on her hips. "Well, they won't be bothering you again," she assured, then stormed off.

Alex's heart was beating rapidly as he lay there worried about the lemurs' visit. Marty put a front leg over Alex's shoulder to give him some moral support. Then Alex heard Gloria's voice yelling out from somewhere in the distance.

"What the hell did you do to him??" Gloria bellowed down at the lemur king, her voice resonating about the beach. "You could'a killed him!"

"Our stategy was flawed," answered Julien nervously, attempting to explain.

"Flawed, my ass!" Gloria yelled back, such that everyone in the vicinity could hear. "I'll say it was flawed. Now here's a better strategy for you- I suggest you both turn your tails around and beat it!"

Although it hurt to laugh, Alex chuckled as he laid there listening to Gloria emphatically rake them over the coals. She really didn't know what terror he had gone through, and would flip if she found out. So, he would have to keep the harsher details a secret. But he was mentally messed up from the experience, for now at least, and would have to talk to somebody about it if he was to completely recover from this. And that person would no doubt be Marty.

After a few minutes, Gloria came back to the hut. "I got rid of 'em, Alex," she said. "Try to calm down now and get some rest. We can discuss all this crap later. Love you, hon."

Alex was grateful his foes had been driven away… for the moment, anyway. The brief bout of laughter had shaken off the lion's jitters, but he was still worried and nauseated. He took a deep breath and lay there uncomfortably with his churning stomach, waiting for the inevitable purging of its contents.

On the positive, today Alex had experienced several miracles- Marty was not only alive, he had forgiven him as well. And the great lion himself was alive- his friends had saved his life. He now seemed to have full support of all three of his closest friends, which he thought had been hopelessly lost. But would it last? What would happen at Skipper's meeting, when all was revealed to them?