*Chapter 3: Code Blue*
Slappy and Skippy Squirrel were waiting patiently inside of a check-up room at the Burbank Memorial Hospital. After waiting a few minutes, a doctor came in.
"Hello, Mrs. Squirrel." he said. "I'm Doctor Ivanalkavitch Malkavitch 64Sketchangoodpitch."
Both Slappy and Skippy exchanged arched eyebrow and confused expressions at each other.
"Eh, nice to meet ya there, Roland." Slappy remarked.
"So what seems to be the problem, Mrs. Squirrel?"
"She's getting arthritis." Skippy said nonchalantly.
"That's a crock!" Slappy protested. "I ain't got arthritis. My wrists just ache from time to time."
As she ranted, the doctor proceeded to examine Slappy's wrists.
"Well, it looks like have slight arthritis in your wrist, Mrs. Squirrel." the surgeon said. "I'll write you a prescription."
"Lovely. I gotta take more pills."
After being formally released, the two squirrels left the room and started down the hall towards the lobby.
"I'll tell ya, Skippy." Slappy continued. "The next thing ya know, they're gonna wanna put me in a retirement home."
Then the hospital PA went off.
"Dr. Malkavitch, Code Blue. Emergency Trauma Room 166. Stat."
Suddenly, the two emergency lobby doors burst opened with a number of male and female nurses were rolling a stretcher as fast as they could towards the ER. Lying on the stretcher and with an oxygen mask over her face, was Rem.
"Out of the way, please!" cried a female nurse.
"Heads up people, look out now!" declared a male nurse.
Slappy and Skippy looked on in shock and disbelief. They quickly found the Warners in the lobby along with the Goodfeathers. The Warner trio all had expressions of panic and sheer worrisome fear.
"What happened?!" Slappy exclaimed.
Each of the Warners talked out of turn.
"W-we went to Dr. Frankeninni's lab-"
"Yeah, because he kidnapped her."
"And then we got separated-"
Finally, Slappy made them stop.
"Alright, alright, hold it. The three of ya." she ranted.
Each of the Warner siblings took a huge breath with their chests greatly expanding and getting all puffed up.
"Long story short, Rem and I were trying to get out of the caves and she got hit really bad in the head with a rock." Yakko rasped.
"Huh?!" Slappy exclaimed.
"How does that happen?" Skippy asked.
"A lot of people around here get hit with anvils and houses but they don't end up in dang ER." Slappy pointed out.
While that was true about most toons, Rem apparently was different.
XXXXXXX
Surgeons rushed the teen into the trauma emergency room with barely a pulse to go on. For some strange reason, the toon cells in her body were not responding.
"I'm gonna need 20 cc's of saline." said Malkavitch.
As they worked hard to fix the injury, the EKG monitor suddenly flatlined.
"Quick! Get me a defibrillator!"
The machine was instantly rolled out and the surgeon took the two jumpers, and quickly rubbed them together.
"CLEAR!"
With one jolt, Rem's pulse returned to normal and after an hour and a half of work, they were able to stabilize her.
xxxxxxx
Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, Slappy, Skippy, and the Goodfeathers all sat in the lobby anxiously waiting for news on Rem's condition.
Finally, Dr. Malkavitch came into the room. The three Warner siblings sped right up to him and nearly tackled the poor surgeon to the floor.
"Tell us she's not dead!" Dot cried.
"Tell us we'll still be able to watch Don Knotts movies!" Wakko exclaimed.
"Pleeeaassse tell us, Rem's gonna live!" Yakko wailed.
"Now, kids..." Malkavitch said, trying to get them off of him. "We managed to get her stabilized and she's responding to medication."
Every, especially the Warners, breathed in a sigh of relief.
"However..." the doctor continued. "Miss Roth is in a coma, and-"
"A WHAT?" Yakko cried, flabbergasted.
Before the surgeon could say more, the Warner trio zipped past him and into the halls.
"Er...wait!" Malkavitch cried.
The siblings sped down three halls until they found the room the teen was placed. What they saw almost left them torn. Rem, now lying in a hospital bed, had a bandage around her head, an oxygen mask to help her breathe, and hooked up to a saline drip.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Not to her.
Everyone else caught up them including the doctor, who was nearly out of breath.
"Whadja say Rem was in again, Doc?" Pesto asked as he scratched his head.
"I said, she's gone into a coma." Malkavitch replied. "How long she'll remain under is a matter of time."
"But...she's gonna be okay. Right?" Squit said.
"Well, all we can do at this point is hope for the best. Excuse me for asking, but does Miss Roth have any parents? Any family we may contact?"
The Warners, who had been glued to the window to the room the entire time, exchanged glances at each other.
"Eeeeeh, I guess you could say we're her family." Yakko said softly.
"Well then, do you kids have any guardians?"
XXXXXXX
Inside Thaddeus Plotz's office, the CEO of Warner Bros. studio and the studio shrink, Dr. Scratchansniff, were having a meeting.
"Well, Scratchansniff." Plotz began. "I think the anniversary gala went considerably well. The Warners actually behaved this time."
"Ja..." Scratchansniff agreed.
"That can only mean that after years of work, we're finally getting to dezanitize the Warners."
Although the shrink nodded in agreement, he wasn't going to call victory just yet.
Zomehow I doubt zat...
"Therefore, I propose that you schedule more appointments with the Warners." the studio boss said.
Scratchansniff's expression turned sour.
"More sessions, TP?" he moaned.
"Yes, Scratchansniff." Plotz told him. "This could be a golden opportunity and we're not gonna miss it!"
Then, there was a knock at the CEO's door.
"Yes, come in." TP called out.
Entering the room, was Plotz's secretary.
"Mr. Plotz, sir?" she said. "You've got a call from Burbank Memorial Hospital on Line 2."
"Oooohh, can't it wait?" the CEO asked with annoyance in his voice.
"It's urgent, sir." the secretary insisted.
"Oh alright, I'll take it. They're probably gonna ask me for charity money."
He picked up the phone and pressed the Line 2 button.
"Hello, Thaddeus Plotz CEO of Warner Bros. here." he said in a bored tone.
Dr. Scratchansniff watched as the studio boss' expression went from business-like to one of shock, disbelief, and seemingly upset.
"...say that again."
XXXXXXX
Another long hour had gone by and not once did any of the Warners leave their positions from the window of Rem's hospital. They all stood still as stone with their hands and faces pressed against the glass just waiting for Rem to finally open her eyes. A few minutes later, the trio's ears twitched to a familiar voice.
"Keedz?"
Dr. Scratchansniff and Mr. Plotz arrived at the hospital after being informed of Rem's critical condition.
"Eh, Doctor Malkavitch filled us in." Plotz said solemnly. "I'm terribly sorry this happened."
The Warners did not answer him. They just continued to stare out the room window. This was almost a bit of a shocker for the CEO and P-sychiatrist because they never saw them behave this way before. Seconds later, a female nurse appeared and even more shocking, none of the Warner Brothers reacted to her.
"Excuse me?" she called out. "Here are Miss Roth's belongings."
In her hands were Rem's clothes and gloves neatly folded with a paper strip taped around them. Yakko took them from her which only added to the pit growing in his stomach, causing him to bite his lower lip and squeeze the parcel. He suddenly heard a paper-like 'crunch' noise. Rummaging through Rem's vest, Yakko found a small folded up of paper. Curious, he opened it and it read 'CODEX' at the top and an alphabet translation.
"What's that?" Dot asked.
"Knock on wood." Yakko murmured confusedly.
Then with a gasp, Wakko instantly recognized it.
"I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!" he exclaimed. "Be right back!"
The middle Warner zipped right out of the hospital, went to the Water Tower and then returned. In his hands was a small green leather bound book.
"It's that code from Rem's book!" Wakko declared.
Yakko took it from him and flipped through it. Sure enough, the code on the paper matched the one in the book.
So Rem didn't lose it. She just kept it on her person. Clever...
"Wakko, that's Rem's diary!" Dot scolded.
"Diary?" Scratchansniff asked.
"Actually, Rem said herself that this isn't a diary." Yakko insisted.
"Well, then what is it?" Plotz asked curiously.
"She said it's just some songs she knew back home."
"Ztill, if ve could decode zat." Dr. Scratchansniff said. "Eet could provide us zome eensight to Rem's inner pzychee."
The Warner trio took another glance at the small leather book.
AN: I failed to explain this the previous chapter. This will be a 'special' act. Meaning that there will be more chapters than the usual five(Not including the Interlude chapters).
