When last we left our crew, Elliot was about to take the biggest loss of his life while Milo finally hooked up with his best friend! What happens now? We're about to find out!
Elliot slowly came over to where Principal Milder was.
She grabbed his arm.
"Decker, my office! RIGHT NOW!"
She shoved him out of the gym.
Candace came over to where Coop and Cami were. "Thanks for coming, guys."
"No problem," Coop said. "It's the least we could do for a friend!"
"How's Milo doing?"
"He's doing better, but he's got a long recovery ahead."
"That's good."
"You guys wanna hang out and see some more of the trial? The next ones are gonna be doozies."
"Hmm...tempting. We'll join you a bit later. We wanna do something for our show first, JUST as soon as this video goes viral! If we play our cards right, this guy is NOT gonna be doing ANY more crossing guard duties for QUITE a long while!"
"OK," Candace said. She waited until they left then came back to where the trial was.
"Candace, call the next case," Stacey said.
"The prosecution calls Bradley Nicholson to the stand!" The students sitting down then booed at his name and grabbed him from where he was sitting. "Bradley Nicholson!"
"Get up there, you!" some kids said angrily as they shoved him out of his seat.
"Get over here! You get over here now!" Amanda said, pointing to the platform.
"Prosecution, please read the charges against THIS one!"
"Oh ho," Candace said. "The defendant is charged with severe harassment, extreme bullying, showing contempt and unjust hatred.."
"UNJUST?!" Bradley interrupted.
"NO INTERRUPTING! He is also charged with prejudice, contributing to depression and attempted 1st degree involuntary manslaughter!"
"HEY, I never laid a hand on him!"
"Nonetheless you are partly responsible for this!"
"Yeah, that's right. That's right, I'm responsible! You got me, I'm completely responsible for this whole thing! I broke into his house, I dragged him into the bathtub, I drew that razor across his throat and I held him under the water! It was me, all me!"
"He admits it, let's pass sentence! Life in prison!" Baljeet said, standing up. "Get that on tape and call the cops!"
"He's being SARCASTIC, dummy!" Buford said, pulling him down. "Something we can add to the charges!"
"ORDER! ORDER! Order in the court!" Stacey said, pounding the gavel. "Who will be the first one to testify against Mr. Nicholson?"
Sara then stood up. "I will!" She then made her way up to the podium.
"Very well. Please state your full name for the court," Stacy said as Sara took the stand.
"Sara Katherine Murphy. I'm Milo's older sister."
"Sara, please tell the court what you've witnessed regarding Mr. Nicholson."
Sara took a deep breath and looked towards Zack. "Very well, your honor. I've been witnessing this ever since Milo was 6. Every single day, Bradley Nicholson would show contempt towards my brother, outing him for his condition, shunning him from any potential friends other than Zack and Melissa. For 7 years, this went on. 7 YEARS! You try taking this constant bullying for so long! It's not easy and I could see the look on my brother's face. He may have seemed so optimistic, but after what Bradley Nicholson did...his optimism faded. BRADLEY NICHOLSON TOOK ALL MY BROTHER'S OPTIMISM FROM HIM! HE DROVE HIM TO DEPRESSION! HE DROVE HIM TO NEAR SUICIDE! HE DESERVES TO SPEND SOME TIME IN SOLITARY! SEE HOW HE FEELS ABOUT BEING ISOLATED!"
This took Stacy by surprise. "Now I know what they mean when they say 'Blondes Have More Fun'. You may be seated, Sara."
Meanwhile, Coop and Cami were setting up their laptop outside. They made sure their webcam was on and looked at each other. "OK, ready for this?"
"Yeah," Cami said. Their mom was looking to the side.
"I think this is a good thing what you kids are gonna do," she said. "Sometimes some people stay away or bully people with conditions because they don't understand how they work or think they're contagious."
"Well, hopefully this PSA is gonna help people understand," Coop said. "Maybe it'll help Milo too."
"I have a feeling it will," their mom said.
Quickly, they turned on the webcam. "Hey, you guys," Coop began. "I know this show looks different. That's because it is. We're on the campus of Jefferson County Middle School and we want to talk to you about someone who's a good friend of ours."
Cami held up a picture of Milo. "This is our friend, Milo Murphy. Milo is a good, sweet guy. Just about the nicest person you could meet in your life. But Milo is also very different. Milo suffers from Extreme Hereditary Murphy's Law Syndrome, or EMHL for short."
"What that means is that whatever can go wrong around him, does. Throughout his life, he's been bullied and shunned by his peers because of this condition. Earlier this week, he was nearly driven to suicide. It was only because of his best friend, Melissa Chase, that Milo is still with us today."
"We're here today to tell you that just because someone is different from you or has a certain condition, doesn't mean that you should treat them differently."
"And Milo, if you're watching this...know that your friends are there for you...and so are we."
Meanwhile, back at Danville General Hospital...
The door to Milo's room opened and Brigitte came in. "Hello, Sweetheart," she reached over and tenderly kissed her son. "How's my baby?"
"Hmm," Milo said, waking up slightly. "Hi, mom," he slowly sat up and gave her a hug.
"Hello, Mrs. Murphy," Melissa said.
"Hi, honey," she said surprised. "Have you been here all this time?"
"Yeah," Melissa said, squeezing Milo's hand.
"How are you feeling, dear?"
"A little better, Mom."
"That's good, sweetheart," she opened up a huge brown bag she had with her. "I thought you might like a little something better than this bland hospital food," she unpacked a pair of grilled cheese sandwiches with a pair of orange sodas.
"Oh, thanks, mom," Milo sat up carefully with Melissa's help and gave her one of the sandwiches and orange sodas, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"How are you doing, honey?"
"I'm actually starting to feel better, mom," he smiled at Melissa and took her hand. "Melissa's really helped with that." He smiled lovingly at her as he and Melissa tapped their soda bottles together and Melissa pecked him on the cheek.
"Milo?" a pleasant voice then came. Milo looked up and found it belonged to a pretty middle aged woman with shoulder length brown hair in a flip. She was wearing a nurse's uniform and holding a clipboard.
"Milo Murphy?"
He nodded. She smiled. "I'm Helen Stoner, I'm your assigned therapist," she shook his hand and brought the chair closest to the door over. She sat on it and arranged the papers on her lap. "You can call me Helen."
"Oh, nice to meet you," he said politely. "This is my Mom, and...my girlfriend, Melissa Chase," he said putting his hand on Melissa's shoulder. "Is it OK if they sit in?"
"Sure, it's OK. Hello, Melissa, Mrs. Murphy," Helen shook their hands. "Now, Milo, seeing as how this is our first session, let's just get acquainted. Don't be nervous, I'm just here to help you. Let's just talk, OK, dear?"
"Okay," Milo affirmed. "Where should I begin?"
"Let's first start by telling me as much as you can about you."
Milo nodded. "Okay...I'm 13 years old, I turn 14 in October; I'm in the 7th grade; I live with my mom, dad, my sister Sara and my dog Diogee. And you see the beautiful redhead next to me?"
"Yeah. That's Melissa."
"She's been my best friend since we were little kids and now, as of yesterday...she and I are boyfriend and girlfriend."
Brigitte smiled at her son as tears of joy overtook her. "I always knew this day would come," she said. "Milo...my little boy...dating his best friend!"
"She's been the one constant in my life aside from my parents, sister and Diogee. She's kept me grounded...and I love her."
Melissa smiled. "Aw, Milo! I love you, too!" she gushed, pecking him on the cheek and giving him her white jacket.
Helen turned to Milo's mom and remarked "You must be real proud of your son, Mrs. Murphy. He found a girl that'll stick by him no matter what."
"I'm really proud of him, Helen. Martin and I have treated Melissa as part of our family. I couldn't imagine Milo being with anyone else. Milo's even told me himself - Melissa is his dream girl."
"That's why I did what I did...I wanted to try and protect you, Melissa. I love you, Melissa and I wouldn't forgive myself if anything bad ever happened to you," Milo said to his new girlfriend.
"Oh, Milo!" Melissa swooned, pecking him on the cheek. "Murphy's law or not, I'll always be here for you. Count on it!"
Aw! Milo, you scored big time! Who'll be the next to be held accountable for what Milo went through? Find out next time! Remember...
IT'S MILO'S WORLD AND WE'RE ALL LIVING IN IT!