"What can I buy with this?"

The ice cream vendor looked down at the speaker. A little girl, who looked to be about two years old, and strangely enough looked like a sort of strange puppy dog, handed him a few coins. "You can by a regular sized ice cream cone," replied the vendor, counting the change.

"Alright," said Dot, thinking for a moment. Then she made her selection. "I'll take chocolate."

The vendor scooped up some ice cream and put it in a cone. "Here you go, sweetheart."

"Thank you," said Dot.

Dot was very happy, since she had found some change and was able to go buy something with it. She toddled over to where Yakko and Wakko were waiting for her.

While she toddled, she tripped on the curb. Her ice cream cone went flying and fell on a bald guy's head.

Six-year-old Yakko and four-year-old Wakko saw it, and were laughing so hard that tears were coming out of their eyes. Dot cried too, but out of humiliation and sadness over the loss of her ice cream.

"It's not funny!" she cried.

"Yes it is," said Wakko, still laughing.

"But you guys think everything's funny!" sobbed Dot.

Yakko stopped laughing, even though he was smiling. "Dot, you can either look at the world and be happy about it, or look at the world and be angry or sad about it. Which would you rather be, happy or angry?"

Dot dried her eyes. "Happy," she said without hesitation.

"Of course," said Yakko. "You can find something funny in almost anything."

That was when Dot, the current, seven-going-on-eight-year-old Dot, woke up.

Oh great. She was in a hospital bed, and what was more, she was attached to a ton of tubes, her head was wrapped up in some sort of bandage, she had casts on her left leg and right arm, she had some sort of brace on her collapsed chest… I'm not in the best of shape, thought Dot with a sigh.

Hello Nurse was looking for something in the cabinet.

"Alright, how long've I been in here and what's my condition?" shrieked Dot.

"Aaaaaahhh!" shrieked Hello Nurse in surprise, the papers from the cabinet flying everywhere. "Oh, Dot, you're conscious."

"No, I'm unconscious, it just looks like I'm conscious," said Dot sarcastically.

Hello Nurse sighed. Dot could tell that something was really bothering her. "Well, you've been in here for two days. For awhile it looked as though we might lose you, but you made a strong recovery."

"What happened to Clarence?" demanded Dot.

"He was arrested," said Hello Nurse distractedly. Just then Scratchy stuck his head in the door.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She came to, sir," said Hello Nurse.

"Vell, she's finally awake!" he exclaimed. Then, from out in the waiting room, there was a sound that bore an uncanny resemblance to someone getting up from a chair so fast that the chair was knocked over.

Scratchy ran into the room. "Not yet, Vakko, she still hasn't fully recovered—"

"Aw, Scratchy, let him in," said Dot. "I'm fine, trust me."

Dot couldn't really see what was going on out there, but Scratchy must've let Wakko go, since he ran straight into the room. He stopped right by Dot's bed, and grabbed his wrists. "Man, that Scratchy has a death grip!" he said, rubbing his wrists.

Dot suddenly bolted straight up in bed, the realization of what happened finally hitting her, "Wakko, I almost died, didn't I?"

Wakko looked up at her with very sad eyes and nodded slowly. Dot felt like she was going to cry.

Dot felt as if she had swallowed sour milk. She tried to take a deep breath to calm her nerves, but this only succeeded in causing a sharp pain to run through her chest and stomach.

Then another thing hit her, and it was even more painful than realizing that she'd almost died. "Where's Yakko?" she asked, sounding almost afraid to find out.

She almost expected Wakko to pause dramatically. But Wakko wasn't that type of person. He said things straight.

"Clarence got him."

Dot sank back down into the bed. Finally she asked, barely audible, "Is he dead?"

"No," said Wakko, "not yet."

"Not yet?" cried Dot. "What, is he dying?"

"I don't know," admitted Wakko. He turned around. "Hello Nurse?"

"Huh? What?" jolted Hello Nurse, who obviously had been preoccupied in her own thoughts, whatever they were.

"What's Yakko's condition?" asked Wakko.

"Oh," said Hello Nurse. "Well, we're not really sure. He could go either way, honestly."

Dot sat up in bed again. "Well, I want to see him."

"I want to see him again, too," said Wakko.

"You've seen him?" asked Dot.

"Sure, I've known him for all my life."

"No, I mean here in the hospital."

"Yeah, of course. I would have been with you two all the time but the hospital personal thought that I was being too nosy and kicked me out."

Hello Nurse sighed. "This might be against the rules, but I really don't care. I'll get you a wheelchair, Dot."

"Maybe a stretcher would be best," said Dot, looking at her battered body.

However, to Dot's surprise, Hello Nurse removed the tubes. "I don't think you need these anymore," she said. She then gently lifted Dot out of her bed and into a nearby wheelchair.

Wakko walked alongside the wheelchair. "So, what happened to him?" asked Dot.

"Clarence stabbed him," said Wakko. "No, correction—he did a knife-throwing act. I guess he was trying to hit me, but he must've missed. I mean, he did say that Yakko would be the last to die." He was quiet for a moment, then asked, "What's it like to be unconscious?"

"It's really weird," said Dot. "I'm getting beat up by some crazy scientist, then I have some flashback about an ice cream cone, then I wake up in a hospital bed. I don't know, it's just weird," she said, shrugging with her one good arm.

Hello Nurse led them into Yakko's room. The nurse that was attending him asked Hello Nurse, "What are you doing in here, with those two kids? They need to get out of here!"

"These are his siblings, and they have a right to know how he's doing," snapped Hello Nurse.

Dot thought that she might completely lose it when she saw Yakko, but she remained strangely calm when she saw her brother. Thank goodness that the covers were pulled over him. He just looked asleep.

"Is it bad?" whispered Dot.

"It is, I saw it," said Wakko. "I saw it happen."

At that point Yakko turned around in bed and slowly opened his eyes. Wakko and Dot looked at him and blinked. Yakko blinked also.

"Where am I?" he finally asked.

"Here," said Wakko.

Yakko laughed weakly. "Thanks for being descriptive."

"You're in a hospital bed," confirmed Dot.

"No duh." Yakko smiled bravely. "Better than being in a coffin." He glanced at his siblings. "You're okay, aren't you, Dot? Clarence didn't hurt you too bad?"

"He did hurt me bad, but he didn't kill me." Dot laughed. "Ha! I told him I was indestructible, and I meant it, too! He can't kill me!"

Yakko grinned. "Yeah, you are indestructible, aren't you? Seems you got out of the deal with just a few broken bones. Did he hurt you, Wakko?"

"Not at all," muttered Wakko. "He almost killed you two and didn't even chip my fingernail."

"You don't have fingernails," pointed out Yakko.

"You can't die, Yakko!" Dot suddenly blurted out.

"Am I really dying?" asked Yakko.

Wakko sighed. "They say that you could go either way. You could live."

"But I could die, too," said Yakko. Then he laughed a very sad, shaky laugh. "I can't die. I'm only eleven. There was so much that I wanted to do with my life… I just realized something."

"What?" asked his siblings.

"If I do live past this, I should live everyday as though it were my last. Life can just be taken from you so quickly. You two remember that." Yakko suddenly laughed loudly. "Jeez! If this is dying, then it stinks. It's turning me into a philosopher! You two wait a little longer before you die, okay? No one my age should be talking like a scholar."

"What all did you want to do?" asked Wakko.

Yakko shrugged. "Travel the world, become a public speaker, and…" He was very quiet. "There is one thing that I can do right here, right now."

"What?" asked Dot.

Yakko sat up in bed. "Hannah? Could you come over here, please?"

Hello Nurse, once again, seemed to be jolted out of her thoughts. Then she said, "Sure," and went over to the side of his bed.

"Sit down," said Yakko gently, patting the side of the bed feebly. Hello Nurse sat down. He looked her in the eyes for a stalled moment. "I'm sorry," he finally said. With great effort, he sat up, leaned in towards her, and kissed her.

Dot just looked surprised. Wakko looked a bit jealous, hoping that someday he would get to kiss a sexy girl too.

Hello Nurse was in shock. What should I do? He's just like all those other guys, thinking that all I am is some object, although he kisses almost just like… Hello Nurse finally started to kiss him back, but by that time he pulled away, looking a little scared.

"I'm really sorry, and I didn't want to violate you, but I didn't want to die never telling you that… I love you."

Hello Nurse just stared at him, open mouthed, and suddenly turned and left the room.

Yakko sighed. "She hates me now. If I live, then she'll never let me talk to her. It'll probably be best if I just die then!"

"What a kiss," said Wakko in awe.

Yakko shrugged. "I feel fine anyway, except I feel weak, and my stomach hurts." He turned to Wakko. "I don't think I'll die, but what do I know? Wakko, if I do die, then you're in charge of Dot, okay? And yourself. I love you."

"I love you too," said Wakko quietly. Yakko then turned to Dot.

"Dot, if I die—"

"Don't say that," interrupted Dot. "You can't die."

Yakko looked almost angry. "Dot, let me talk! I don't think I'll die just yet, but I don't want to take any chances. I love you, and… I'm sorry I wasn't able to take better care of you." He smiled at her weakly. "Sweet baby sister," he finished gently.

"I love you too," murmured Dot. She turned her head so that he wouldn't see her crying.