Chapter 8: I Will Survive
Falco immediately went to the hospital the next day once he got word that Fox's condition suddenly started to get worse. Once he was done arguing with the secretary at the front desk, he was finally able to go see Fox. He frowned once he saw his best friend. He pulled up one of the rolling chairs next to Fox's bed and sat next to him, taking his hand into his, trying to fight back tears.
"Fox, it's me, Falco," he started. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just want to say that I'm sorry for everything that I've done to make you mad, upset, or hurt, especially with the accident. It's my fault that you're like this. If I hadn't been such a self-centered jerk, none of this would have happened. Michelle wouldn't have gotten mad, and that car never would have hit you. I should be the one in that bed, not you. You…you should be walking around, healthy and unharmed…" Falco began to cry, something he hadn't done since he was a child. As he cried, he felt Fox weakly squeeze Falco's hand. Falco quickly stopped and looked at his best friend. Fox's eyes weakly and slowly opened. The first thing the vulpine saw was the face of his closet friend, causing him to smile.
"Falco," he spoke, barely above a whisper, "I forgive you…accidents happen…"
"Fox! You're awake!" Fox smiled once more. "I promise I'll never, ever, act like a selfish jerk again!"
"I…I want you to know…that I'm glad you're my friend…" Falco's face began to grow from one of happiness to one of worry. Nobody spoke like that unless they knew they were going to die. He didn't want Fox to die. He couldn't let Fox die.
"Fox, don't talk like that," sobbed Falco. "I…I want you to see something…" Falco forced himself out of his chair and put the tape into the VCR in the room, turning the TV on. Falco's performance was then played on the television. Fox watched his friend's performance, tears starting to wield up in his eyes. He choked back a sob of his own as he watched. Michelle had managed to get the reactions of some of the people in the audience onto the video tape, which is what got Fox to finally cry himself. Falco turned off the television once static started to play on the screen, taking the video tape out. He walked back over to Fox and sat next to him on his bed, carefully pulling him into a comforting hug, tears pouring once more from his own eyes.
"Nobody's ever done anything like that for me," cried Fox quietly. "I'm…I'm not going anywhere…I'm going to get better…I will survive…for you, my friend…my brother…"