Chapter 10

The glass shattered all over the place. Quickly Sportacus shielded Stephanie from the shards. Stephanie looked into his eyes and saw nothing but concern. He scooped her up and carefully got out of their holding cell.

Robbie heard the commotion and ran over to see what was going on. Upon Sportacus carrying Stephanie, Robbie made a break for it. Tripping over himself, Robbie landed hard on the ground. Sportacus gave him a look and mouthed the words; I'll be back for you later.

Sportacus asked Stephanie how she was doing and she replied that her side was killing her. He got them out of Robbie's lair and quickly headed to Dr. Feels Good's office.

It was now nine-thirty and the doctor was surprised to hear someone pounding on his door. When he saw Sportacus holding Stephanie he ushered them into his office immediately. Sportacus set Stephanie down carefully on the exam table.

"Where does it hurt, Stephanie?" Dr. Feels Good asked. Stephanie pointed to her side and the doctor looked at it. A large purple bruise was forming and Dr. Feels Good felt around for any broken ribs. Stephanie was trying to be brave but she was in a lot of pain. Sportacus held her and she squeezed it hard. Surprised by her grip, Sportacus winced. Satisfied that she hadn't broken any ribs the doctor feared that maybe she bruised one of her internal organs. He asked to see Sportacus outside for a minute.

"It's possible she may have bruised an organ. But I can't test for that here. Stephanie needs to be taken to FunTown's hospital." Dr. Feels Good explained. Sportacus didn't say a word but ran back to Stephanie. He scooped her up and went to his airship.

"Hold on tight Stephanie. I'm going to climb the ladder. Everything is going to be all right." Sportacus told her. Stephanie wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She gasped in pain. Moving her right leg hurt because of the bruise. Sportacus brought her to his bed, laid her down, and jumped into his control center. Pedaling quickly he got to FunTown's hospital in seven and a half minutes.

Swiftly he climbed down the ladder with Stephanie and carried her through the emergency room doors. One of the nurses ran over immediately and another called for a doctor. Dr. Feels Good had called ahead to tell them about Stephanie's arrival. The nurses carefully grabbed Stephanie and wheeled her to the exam room. They told Sportacus to wait in the waiting room.

He didn't know what to do with himself while waiting. He couldn't sit still. Sportacus paced the floor, did pushups using the arms of a chair like the ground (you know like when he lifts his whole body with just his arms), and did some more pacing. The nurse sitting at the desk was amused to see Sportacus doing all that. She giggled softly and Sportacus looked up from his pacing. He blushed and tried to sit down.

The doctor came into the waiting room and went over to Sportacus.

"It's good to see you again, Sportacus. I just wished it was under better circumstances." Dr. Rottenstein said.

"It's good to see you too, doctor. How is Stephanie?" Sportacus asked, concerned.

"Stephanie will be fine. What she has is a deep tissue bruise. It should only take a few days of rest and putting ice on it, to heal. In fact you can take her home tonight. I'll have a nurse bring her out in a few minutes." The doctor told him. Sportacus was relieved at this good news and shook the doctor's hand firmly, a little too firmly. The doctor grimaced and went to get the nurse and some X-rays for his fingers.

Soon a nurse wheeled Stephanie out in a wheelchair and Sportacus thanked the nurse. Stephanie was about to pass out. The past three days had been very hard on her. Seeing her that tired, Sportacus lifted her out of the wheelchair and carried her back to his airship.

Once inside his airship, he laid her down on the bed again and headed back to LazyTown. They reached LazyTown and quickly Sportacus whisked her off to her room. Mayor Meanswell was sitting in the kitchen when they came through the door. Sportacus promised to explain everything in a few minutes.

Once he got upstairs, Sportacus noticed that Mayor Meanswell had cleaned up Stephanie's room. It no longer smelled of sweat and there were clean sheets on the bed. Laying Stephanie down, he told her to get some sleep and that he would be right back.

Stephanie needed no urging. Completely drained physically, emotionally, and mentally, Stephanie drifted off into dreamland the instant her head hit the pillow. Sportacus smiled and went downstairs to talk with the Mayor.

To Be Continued…