AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone! so sorry for the semi-long wait- the past two weeks have been insanely busy- but I now bring you the second chapter of "Don't Give Up On Me." ALSO, I got a few asking if Penny will be in this FanFiction, but I plan on focusing more on the family and how their lives are impacted than the other characters! However, that is still subject to change, so don't get your hopes up!
Chapter 2 - "I'm not giving up."
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"I'm not givin' up
I'm not givin' up, givin' up
No not me
Even when nobody else believes
I'm not goin' down that easily
So don't give up on me."
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By the time the doctors made it to the Watterson's residence, Gumball's breathing had decreased. Richard held his eldest in his arms as his wife sat in front, demonstrating deep breaths in hope Gumball would catch on. Nicole was soon replaced by a doctor. She worked as quickly and gently as possible. As for Gumball, Nicole could tell he was trying his hardest to stay awake and focus on what the doctor was instructing him to do. Even with his eyes barely open, he looked just as worried as everyone else in the family.
Darwin and Anais sat on the stairs, peeking through the bars quietly as they watched the urgent care doctors work on their brother. Darwin felt sick himself just seeing Gumball so pale. Even if it had only been a day, he missed his best friend's joy and laughter. Darwin's source of happiness was Gumball. Anais too was saddened by her brother's sudden illness. Sure she constantly found Gumball annoying and almost always wished that he would just shut his mouth, she hated the fact that Gumball was so quiet.
Just when everyone thought that things couldn't get worse, Gumball slipped into unconsciousness. The nurse rose to her knees as he helped Richard return the boy's head back to an upright position. Nicole took another step back as the doctor's assistant now joined him. She could hear the doctor whisper something to the other, then watched in horror as the assistant spoke into his pager, stating that an ambulance was needed at their address.
As the woman spoke, Nicole could hear Anais gasp. Her head shot over to the stairs to see Darwin clinging onto the bars, anxiously watching over the scene, and Anais sitting slightly behind him with her hands on her mouth. Everything and everyone seemed so panicked. Nicole had no idea where exactly she was needed: up on the stairs comforting her two youngest, finding some way to help the doctors, or by Gumball's side holding her hand. Before she could decide, she could hear the echoing sirens of the ambulance growing louder and louder.
"Ma'am," a voice said, pulling Nicole out from her panicked daze, "everything is going to be fine! We have an ambulance on the way to help your son." Just then, the door opened, and in came two more doctors entered with a gurney. "One family member may ride with him to the hospital." Nicole shot a look at Richard. He nodded at his wife as Gumball was taken out of his arms and placed on the gurney. Just as he was set down his eyes fluttered open. He frantically looked from doctor to doctor through his squinted eyes. Just as he was about to panic, Nicole came into his sight.
"Mom?" Gumball said weakly. Nicole took his hand as the doctors began moving him to the ambulance. "What's going on?"
"You're ok, Gumball," Nicole said, glancing over at her two other kids, who were now standing anxiously on the last step. "Run and grab some of your brother's things, we'll meet you at the hospital," Nicole said. The two hesitated then ran up the stairs to do as told. Nicole returned to focus back on her eldest, "you're going to be just fine." As they entered the ambulance, Gumball once again fell unconscious. Nicole tried her best to stay out of the doctor's way, but being in such a small space, it wasn't easy.
"Hi Gumball, my name is Wendy," a very sweet lady said as Gumball began to regain consciousness, "I'm here to help you, but I need you to stay awake for me, alright?" With that, Gumball fought to keep his eyes open but it gradually became harder by the second.
"It's alright honey," Nicole said watching her son's eyes traveling all over as he couldn't focus on an object. His eyes were barely open, but she could see them widen when he'd look up then back down again. "everything's gonna be alright-" but before she could finish, the monitors began alarming while his eyes rolled back into his head and his body shaking violently.
"Shoot!" Wendy said, scrambling to pump him with medications to calm the seizure. She began yelling some sort of medical terms that Nicole couldn't understand. Gumball, panicking seeing her son in such a state, reached out and grabbed his arm. The Elmore Hospital was about five more minutes away, but it felt like hours. However, Gumball's seizure stopped right as they arrived.
"Gumball Watterson, 12-year-old male, high fever of 104, weakness in body, seized on route-" Wendy said as they rushed Gumball out of the ambulance. Nicole's only focus was on staying with her son but was stopped by a doctor before they got through the doors.
"N-no!" Nicole basically screamed, "that's my baby! I can't leave him!-"
"Ma'am, he's being taken care of. Please calm down." a lady who had rushed around the desk to calm the mother down. Nicole watched in horror, almost as if everything was moving in slow motion, as Gumball was being taken down the hall into a trauma room. She could hear the panicked voices of the doctors once again as they entered the room and Gumball began seizing once again. She snapped back into reality as the door shut and the voices were cut off.
"Ma'am?" the lady said once again, seeing Nicole's panic and huge tears running down her face, "ma'am please take a seat, we'll get you some water." Nicole hadn't noticed that she had been dragged over to a comfy waiting chair.
"No! No please!" Nicole said, pushing the lady off of her, "I need to be with him, what if he wants me?" as she was saying all this, in stumbled the rest of the family: Darwin carrying a backpack full of the things he and Anais had grabbed for him (a change of clothes, some pajamas, and his toothbrush), Anais standing slightly behind Darwin, breathing hard from all the running she had just done, and Richard in front of both of them. His eyes frantically scanned the room before he saw his wife, pushing the lady who was trying to help her.
"Where Gumball?" Darwin asked Nicole in a panicked tone as they joined her side.
"They took him away!" Nicole said, turning back in the direction of Gumball's trauma room. Darwin followed her eyes and saw the room with the closed door. Just as he leapt to run to his brother, Richard caught him, basically mid-air, and held him back.
"why?!" Anais said with a crack in her voice. She kept her eyes fixed on her mother, only shooting her eyes over once or twice as Darwin struggled.
"Miss, we need you to fill out this paperwork." a man said, coming up from behind the chairs and held the clipboard and pen out in front of him. Nicole looked at the paperwork then back to Richard. She finally calmed down and reluctantly took the clipboard out of the man's hand and sat down in her seat.
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"And I will hold
I'll hold onto you
No matter what this world'll throw
It won't shake me loose"
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Darwin hated seeing Gumball this quiet. He was used to Gumball constantly being at his side, making him laugh. It felt like an eternity since the two of them had some crazy adventure together. He missed his best friend, his brother… his other half. Gumball didn't deserve any of this. Sure, he may have been disobedient at times or caused chaos wherever he went, but he was a good kid. He was surprisingly selfless, always making sure those around him were ok or put first. Everyone knew how protective he was of his loved ones, especially his younger siblings. Darwin loved the times that Gumball would give him a comforting hug when he was upset or hurt. He also loved how he never hesitated to protect Anais from her bullies or unfriendly people.
Richard worried for his youngest son. The fish barely spoke after the night Gumball was rushed to the hospital. Richard assumed that this was his way of coping with the trauma. However, he did eat… Unlike Anais. She spent most of her time making her brother cards or gifts, which were now piled up beside Gumball's bed. It was a pretty odd way of coping, but Richard guessed she was trying to distract herself. Neither of the kids had smiled in days. Anais hated seeing Gumball in the state he was in as much as Darwin. She missed his contagious laughter that made all those around him smile and the warm hugs and comfort he provided on stormy nights when he was scared.
FLASHBACK
The thunder cracked from the clouds above Elmore. Anais shot up in bed at the sound. She breathed hard, clutching onto her chest as she felt her speeding heart rate. She glanced out the window to see wet rain streaks covering the window to the point she could barely make out the house across the street. Once she thought she was calm enough to lie back down, another flash of light filled the room and the loud crack of thunder immediately followed. She yelped as she crawled under her blanket, trembling in fear and tears now running down her face.
Gumball awoke suddenly. Except he didn't wake from the weather… Although he didn't know it when he first opened his eyes, his so-called "big brother instincts" had kicked in. He remained silent for a moment, only glancing over a bit to check if Darwin was still asleep in his tank. When he saw Darwin peacefully sleeping, he began to relax and fall back to sleep. That is until he heard a sniffle come from the bed above him. He opened his eyes once more, remaining completely still. When a sniffle followed by a soft sob was heard he sat up and climbed out of bed.
The dim light from the streetlamp coming through the window was the only thing allowing Gumball to see where he was stepping as he quietly climbed up the ladder to Anais's bed. When he peeked over, he found his little sister curled up in the ball under her blanket. Her body was visibly shaking as she let out a few quiet sobs every once or twice before she knew Gumball was there.
"Anais?" Gumball asked softly. To his surprise, Anais didn't stop crying. She usually hated when her brothers saw her cry, so whenever they caught her, she would shrug it off as quickly as she could to act as if nothing had happened. The 12-year-old remained silent for another second before climbing all the way onto her bed.
"Anais?" Gumball asked once more, this time he put his hand on her arm. Just as he made contact, Anais threw the blanket off of herself and scurried into his arm. The boy was a bit startled at first, seeing as his usually stubborn sister was hugging him. But he quickly returned the embrace. The bunny clung to her brother's torso. She finally gave up on holding in her tears right as she was in the warmth of her brother's arms. She felt Gumball's arms fall around her and his chin softly resting in the top of her head as he shushed her.
Gumball wasn't completely sure why Anais was having a meltdown. He wondered if maybe something had happened at school or some jerk kid was picking on her. Just thinking about the possibility of his little sister getting bullied filled him with rage. But his thoughts suddenly came to a stop when another rather loud crack of thunder sounded and Anais yelped again and pulled herself closer to her brother. That's when it hit him… The storm. But Anais was never afraid of storms! He gently rocked his sister in his arms.
"You're ok, you're ok. It's just a storm." Gumball whispered. Hearing his words, Anais calmed down. Instead of panicked squeals and sobs, she now just openly cried into her brother's chest as he continued to comfort her. Basically everyone in Elmore knew Gumball was very protective of his sister, however, not many knew he was her go-to comforter. He may have been crazy immature all the time and cracked a joke in every tense moment, but when things needed to be serious, he knew… and boy did he get serious.
Being the oldest, Gumball was raised knowing that his family, especially his younger siblings, came over anyone and anything. In any given situation, Gumball was to think about saving them before even considering saving himself. It may sound harsh, but these things were just natural for Gumball. Sure, Richard and Nicole obviously expected these traits from him, but it really didn't take them long to discover that Gumball just naturally put others before himself.
"See look," Gumball said with a slight rasp in his voice, "it's just raining now!" Gumball leaned his head back a bit to study his sister. She clung to his shirt with his sweaty hands and was staring out the window. He watched as a huge tear escaped her eye once more, but before he knew it, Anais whipped it with the back of her hand. Gumball steadily took a deep breath in and out and, luckily for him, Anais did the same.
"I'm sorry." Anais choked as she glanced down at the hand still clutching onto Gumball's white and red shirt.
"For what, sis?" Gumball chuckled. Anais looked up with her big teary eyes. "You don't have to be sorry for being scared!"
"I-I know-" she stuttered, "but I woke-"
"You wanna know a secret?" Gumball said, interrupting his sister before she could continue beating herself up. "I used to be scared of thunderstorms too." Anais gasped quietly. Gumball was scared of a lot of things, but she would have never imagined he used to be scared of storms!
"Really?!"
"Mmhm." Gumball nodded, "and I used to be so scared, I'd scream for mom and dad every night just in case a storm passed through while I was sleeping. But I was only scared because I was alone… so then when Darwin came along-" Gumball's eyes fell to Darwin's fishbowl where he was still sleeping softly, "I wasn't that scared anymore! That's because then, when I got scared, I would have someone there with me." Anais watched her brother's eyes focus back on her, "It's ok to be scared of things. Heck, mom, the fearless Nicole Watterson, is scared of the lady down the street with all the cats." Anais giggled at Gumball's comment. "But you don't have to be scared because you've got me! And you've got Darwin, and the whole rest of the family." There was a short silence between the two as Anais thought about the words he had just said.
"Thanks, Gumball." Anais finally said, once again throwing her arms around his waist. "You're the best." Gumball smiled… Just the feeling of his little sister's arms around him made him feel safe, they both felt safe.
END OF FLASHBACK
Anais sighed as she thought back on that moment. She sat in silence once again staring at her brother's unconscious body. She then cautiously reached out and gently placed her hand in his. No matter how badly she wanted him to grip on in return, his body remained motionless. She then sighed again, dropping her chin onto her arm, still watching her brother.
Just as she began to fall asleep once again, she could hear her mother's crying from outside the room. She hadn't even noticed they had left the room until she heard the muffled voices. Her small pink bunny ears popped upwards as she listened to their conversation. But by the end, the only words she could make out were from her father:
"You're not alone, Nicole. You've got me! And the whole rest of the family."
Her heart sank into her stomach as she heard her father recite the words Gumball had said to her that one night. She then began to sit back and give Gumball some room– but before she let go of her brother's hand, she could feel his suddenly grab on.
"Gumball?"