DORIS RETURNS

Chapter Twenty-nine

By jesterandjane

----A/N----

Wow...this is like the neverending story :P Oh well, it's major fun. Anyways, been sooo busy with school which explains my slowness in updating anything. But here it is finally. To explain, I basically got tired of us dancing around Marc's sentencing...which means I'll probably have to hide now. I looked up some kidnapping laws and what not also took into account that this is the future, and who knows how much the law will have changed by then as new laws are made all the time. So I figured that Marc's is a case that falls under the category of "special circumstance" by future standard. Of course, I don't want this to be the case in all kidnappings in the future!! Just in this story for Marc's sake. Hmm, what else. Well, I tried to make this as believable as possibly medically wise as well. But if there's anything I don't know more than law it's medicine XD I also added a background element that always fascinated me in the movie. And in the time of the flashback or stroll down memory lane or what not, it's supposed to be sometime shortly before Lewis has been adopted.

The only thing left to say is, beware of fluff and dreaming nerds :P

The doctor had almost left the waiting room completely when all of a sudden, Amy's voice cried out, "Wait!" Everyone, including the doctor turned and looked at her curiously and with great concern at the desperate tone in her voice.

"My dear, whatever is the matter?" Dr. Atticus asked as she came back over to them.

"You said that it's 50/50 and that it's only been used once before..."

"Well, yes, but I assure you there have been numerous tests done on lab rats and..."

"But he's not a rat!" Amy was becoming hysterical.

"Amy, you know the longer Dr. Atticus waits, the less chance it has of working," Cornelius tried to urge the matter along.

"I know, I know. I'm just concerned about one thing...what if it doesn't work?"

"I'm sorry?" the doctor wasn't quite sure what Amy meant.

"I guess I mean, will it be more harm than good if it doesn't work?"

"Oh, I see. Well, I can't deny that there is a rare chance for side effects in a patient should the patient's body respond in an unexpected way to the medicine. But I can assure you, we already ran numerous tests, checked all his medical histories for any known alleries and we feel confident that it's worth taking. I wouldn't have suggested it had I not had the confidence that this could work. The worse recorded side effect was temporary paralysis."

"Paralysis!?" Amy gasped before breaking into tears. Franny wrapped her in a supportive hug as she continued to cry.

"Miss, time is of the essence either way. If yo have any doubt then..."

"No, I trust your judgement," Amy sniffled.

"Thank you. Now befoe I forget again. Are any of you here a legal relative to Marc?"

"No, I'm afraid his only brother had to report back to the station since he was still on duty at the time of the incident," Cornelius explained. "But he should be here within the hour."

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to wait to use the new medicine. I need signed consent from a legal relative."

"But it could be to late," Amy argued.

"I'm sorry but I have to follow protocol."

"But doctor, this is about possibly saving a man's life. Doesn't that count for anything?" Cornelius reasoned. Dr. Atticus only sighed, obviously contemplating the situation.

"What about a fiance?" Amy asked suddenly as everyone turned to look at her.

"Well, sweetie, why didn't you speak up sooner?" the doctor was surprised. "Because you're not a wife, there are some workarounds but it shouldn't be too difficult considering the situation. If I can contact Marc's brother and gain verbal consent, it may be possible to have the responsibilty of Marc's care legally released to you. He can fill out the official paperwork when he gets here. Where can I reach this brother?"

"He should be at the Old Town Precinct. His name is Tim O'Brady," Cornelius answered. "Fiance?" he asked Amy after the doctor had rushed off.

"I couldn't think of anything else. And I knew that they sometimes make exceptions as long as there is family consent."

"Quick thinking, Amy!" Wilbur cheered.

"Thank you, but it doesnt' excuse lying," Amy didn't want to set a bad example.

"It'll be fine. You could just consider this a proposal to Marc. I'm sure he'll accept as soon as he comes through," Franny assured with a smile.

"Some proposal. I just hope Tim goes along with the plan," Amy sighed. Almost as soon as she had spoken, a nurse came and informed them that Tim had released verbal consent and that Marc was now being prepped for treatment.

--The Waiting Room 7 Hours Later--

"It was a good thing Tim gave consent," Cornelius said as he re-entered the waiting room after having taken a phone call. "Something new has come up and he won't be here until much later."

"It's been seven hours," Amy was past anxious. "He went into surgery around six and now it's almost one."

"The nurse did say it would be a long and grueling process," Cornelius responded as he sat down between Franny and Wilbur. Cornelius felt bad, but his heart was relieved that this hospital stint didn't involve his son or his wife. He tried to not to let on what he was thinking. He looked at Wilbur who sat, obviously bored. They had agreed to let Wilbur and Lewis stay with them, but now Lewis had fallen asleep in the chair beside Wilbur, leaving the latter with no one to goof off with as they waited.

A half an hour and at least a hundred agitated huffs later, Wilbur became bored beyond compare and he wasn't about to give in to sleep. He looked at his dad's past self to see him sleeping like a rock, as always. He heard him mumble something and suddenly a mischievious idea struck him that Wilbur was sure he would be entertained by. Wilbur poked Lewis in his rib and waited for a typical response. "Blue cheese rockets taste like pickles." Wilbur stifled a laugh, which garnered a glare from his mother to see what he was up to and a sudden perk in Cornelius. Wilbur poked him again, "Go away Neptune I'm talking to Pluto."

"Wilbur Robinson, you stop that this instant," Franny warned, although the small chuckle in her voice didn't seem too convincing.

Wilbur couldn't resist the temptation and defied his mom by giving Lewis another poke, "Oh, Franny, your eyes are so beautiful when you karate chop."

"Okay, EWWWW!" Wilbur said loud enough to stir Lewis.

"What happened? Is Marc okay?"

"Don't know, dude, but we do know that blue cheese rockets taste like pickles, you were talking to pickles and that you think mom's eyes are beautiful when she karate chops...something I didn't need to know."

Lewis sat up straight and blushed a little, something that was shared by Cornelius. "So why did you wake me? It was a good dream!"

"Lewis has got a point," Franny intervened.

"What, that you have beautiful eyes when you karate chop?" Cornelius looked at his wife curiously.

"Well, yeah, but it is pretty late. And Lewis is obviously tired. There's nothing more they can do here, maybe we should get the boys home."

"Hey, I'm not tired!" Wilbur protested but was betrayed by a yawn which then caused Lewis to yawn.

"You're right. How about I take the boys home and then come back?" Cornelius suggested.

"Sounds good. And I'll stay here with Amy. And could you bring some of mom's coffee patches? I think it would do us some good."

"Now hon, I don't need you getting addicted to them."

"I'll take my chances. I just really need some coffee."

"Okay, okay," Cornelius relented as they walked towards the end of the waiting room, Lewis and Wilbur diddlydaddlying behind.

"And why didn't you tell me you used to dream about my beautiful eyes?" she joked.

"I never did? I could have sworn I mentioned it at least once," Cornelius smiled as he pulled Franny close and kissed her on the forehead.

"See that's what becomes of you dreaming about beautiful eyes," Wilbur teased as he looked away from his mom and dad's public display of affection. Lewis just rolled his eyes.

"Did you hear that, gorgeous?" Franny put emphasis on the word as she looked at her husband.

"No, I was too lost in those beautiful eyes," Cornelius joined his wife in teasing their son.

"Very funny. Now I'm going to have nightmares if I do sleep."

"Okay, okay. We'll stop," Franny laughed. "Now seriously, don't worry about Marc. I'm sure he'll come through alright. You two just get some rest okay," she hugged them both before the went on ahead.

Before going on, Cornelius looked at Franny seriously. "You try to get some rest too okay? I don't want anything happening to you again."

"Don't worry. I will," Franny closed the distance between them with a kiss and a loving hug.

"Hello! I thought the pda fest was over already!" Wilbur called back to his dad sarcastically.

"You better go before he makes a bigger scene," Franny laughed and returned back over to where she had been sitting previously.

"You're lucky to have him you know," Amy said sentimentally.

"And you're very lucky to have Marc," Franny returned the sentiment.

"You know, deep down, I always wanted Marc to be the one. And I can only dream that even deeper down, it was the same for him with me."

"I'm sure it was. Men are just a little clueless. Why I doubt that if Cornelius hadn't been brought to the future when he was a kid, who knows if he would have realized I was the one for him," Franny joked.

"I remember when Marc and I were five or six, there was this time when we got so mad at Mildred because she told us that we were too young to get married. So we decided to run away to Canada or some place where there weren't any stupid laws about marraige. But then Marc said that we would have to change our names so that no one could ever find us."

"Aww, that sounds so cute. What happened."

"Well, we made it to the train station when Marc's future father, also a police officer at the time, spotted us and realized we seemed confused and out of place. He asked us if we were lost, and well, I blurted out the truth by accident and of course he towed us back to Mildred. But I can sure say not without a fight from Marc. Marc protested the entire drive back to the orphanage. I think that's when Marc's father first got the notion that he wanted to adopt the fiesty little boy. After about a year, Marc and I got to the point where liking each other would just be too wierd. But we still stayed really close as friends. Then the following year, the O'Brady's showed up for their first adoption interview and again were smitten with Marc. Eventually they took the plunge and adopted him, taking him away from me. The day he left, I went up to the roof and took out my emotion on the wall with some chalk. But then Lewis came up and saw me."

"What? Was he a tattle-tale or something?" Franny asked in shock.

"No, nothing like that. But he did tell me that the rain would wash it away when I told him that I wanted it to be there forever. That's when I started crying, and Lew-I mean Cornelius decided to invent a permanent chalk for me to use."

"That sounds like him. The big softy," Franny joked.

"Yes, so thanks to him, what I wrote will be there forever, or at least until the building is torn down."

"Wait...Jack and Sarah?" Franny asked suddenly.

"Yes...how did you know?"

"I went with Lewis once to visit Mildred at the orphanage when we were younger. He took me up to the roof and I saw it. He told me that it had been put there by some little kid once who was playing make believe or something."

"That's because that's what I told him. There was no way I was telling him how I felt about Marc. You see, Jack and Sarah are the names we had decided to change ours to when we made it to Canada. Nobody knew that but me and him. And now he's..." Amy didn't finish. The wait was starting to take it's toll and remininscing only made her think more of how she never wanted to live without Marc again.

"No it'll be okay. You'll see. Everything will be alright. Trust me, I'm always right," Franny tried to comfort her newfound friend.

--The Robinson Mansion--

"Alright you two, I'm not going to tell you you have to go to sleep or anything, but you do have to hang out here. You've been at that hospital for too long as it is," Cornelius said as they walked up to the house.

"What about you?" Wilbur asked.

"Well, your mom really shouldn't be there either, but because she won't budge, I need to be there to support her," Cornelius answered as he opened the door and followed them in. "I guess no one can really sleep," Cornelius said in response to the unusual loudness in the house for the time it was.

Carl was the first to greet them, "Everyone was starting to get worried."

"Well, there's still room to be anxious. Marc's been in surgery for over 7 hours," Cornelius responded gloomily. "That's why I brought Wilbur and Lewis home. They need to preoccupy themselves with something else."

"Then they'll be in good hands here. That's what everyone's doing. Everyone's been playing cards for the past hour or so, but we've been debating maybe a chargeball tournament."

"Chargeball?!" If there was anything that could take Wilbur's mind off of anything, it was chargeball. "Sweet! Let me go get it all set up for a tournie!" Wilbur ran off to his room, followed by Lewis who walked slowly, knowing there was no way he would be getting anymore sleep anytime soon.

"So, Carl," Cornelius looked at the robot once they were alone. "Franny told me about your plan for thanking Tallulah."

"Oh, uh, yeah, well, I..." Carl felt suddenly sheepish.

"And I think it's brilliant. What she did must have been very difficult."

"I know it was," Carl rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "When I passed by her room last night, she was still crying to herself. But she hasn't said another word about it. I think she doesn't want us to think it wasn't a sincere sacrifice."

"That's why I think that giving her a space where she can become a real designer is inspired. We'll build her her own runway even. Just picture it," Cornelius was always the one to take to a new project with enthusiasm.

"I can definitely picture it," Carl ran a few internal calculations and quickly printed off a rough sketch and handed it Cornelius.

"That's perfect! Now we just have to keep this away from Tallulah," Cornelius was about to give it back to Carl to take for safe keeping but was first startled by the sound of the loud doorbell followed by a cheer from either Spike or Dmitri. "I wonder who that could be," Cornelius went to the door and answered it to find Tim and the judge standing there."Tim? Judge Marty? What are you doing here?"

"I know it's late Dr. Robinson, but your wife told us that we could find you here. It's about Marc's sentencing."

"I don't understand."

"After the attack, the jury approached me with their unanimous decision that Marc was not guilty of attempted murder and in light of what happened, I had no choice but to honor their verdict."

"That's wonderful!"

"However, there is still the matter of the alledged kidnapping charges which as you know Marc plead guilty to."

"Yes, but isn't there any way to take back the charges? I mean, un-press them?"

The judge laughed, "You could withdraw them if you wish, but by law something still has to be done. Now fortunately this case is one we consider a special circumstances case. I considered the case, contacted the federal government to make sure that I was not outside of the law, and have reached what I believe, and Tim agrees, is a fair sentence."

"Yes?" Cornelius held his breath. There was silence for a moment but it was broke by the ring of Tim's phone. He excused himself to take the call.

"I have looked at his actions as warrant for immediate parole and have shortened his sentence to six months, during which time 3 will be spent under constant guard while he is still in the confines of the hospital. Upon the 91st day, his sentencing will change to house arrest for an additional 90 days. A final hearing to discuss any further, if needed, sentencing will be held some time during the final week of his house arrest."

"That's very generous, your honor."

"Yes, it is. But there are much worse and more pressing cases for me to attend to. I have no time to waste on a man who is clearly sorry for his actions. However, I am not excusing them either. Had this been several years ago when I first became a judge, he would have faced much worse. But I won't argue changes in law right now. I only wish that all criminals were no worse than Mr. O'Brady."

"Cornelius!" Tim came running back over to them.

"What is it?"

"That was the hospital. Marc's body went into shock during the surgery. They were able to bring him through, thanks to the medicine, but he has no reflexes!"

"Paralysis?"

"Possibly and they also need to run more tests to be certain what the shock had on his nervous system."

"Now let's not panic, the doctor said it may only be temporary," Cornelius tried to remain calm.

"Amy had a fit of hysteria which may have been brought on by exhaustion, but they've had to sedate her," Tim continued. "Trina is already on her way to help Franny with the vigil."

"We should get to the hospital as soon as possible too and pray that the worst has finally passed!"