Hi, everyone, I'm back.
I'm not going to go easy on our little Louise in this chapter (but let's be honest, when have I ever?), so prepare yourselves. But there is some happiness as well, so don't worry.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Bob's Burgers," it belongs to Loren Bouchard.
Chapter 10
Wharf Park had been completely restored; the fences had been put back up, the benches had been put back, and the machinery that had taken up residency had long gone. The only major differences were the steel lid that had been welded over the mouth of the well, and the three-foot wide circle of concrete that filled the rescue hole.
The park looked normal, but it would forever be different.
Cards were still delivered to the Belcher home weekly, some containing money, others containing vouchers, gift certificates, and even letters and poems. Bob and Linda had kept all of them; there wasn't enough space in Louise's hospital room to display all of them; she would open them when she came home.
They were still besieged with phone calls from the reporters, and they had given strict instructions to the kids' to not answer the door, after one too many journalists had turned up on their front step. Bob and Linda had told Gene and Tina to not answer the reporters questions, be it on the phone or in person, no matter what.
The day after Louise's operation, Bob had surprised Gene and Tina by locking up the restaurant.
"How come you're closing up?" asked Gene as Bob pocketed his keys.
"We're going to see Louise," he said.
"Yeah, but, we never close on Saturdays."
"Well, she needs us," was all Bob said, as Mike the mail man approached them, his bag in his hand.
"Got a package here for Louise," he said, reaching into his bag, and pulling out a large box wrapped in brown paper.
"Oh, thanks," said Bob, taking the surprisingly light parcel. "Who's it from?"
"Well, I don't know; I don't have X-ray vision," said Mike, still rummaging in his bag.
"Yet," said Gene, as Mike pulled out three envelopes and handed them to Bob.
"Some more cards for her. How is she doing?"
"She's getting better," Bob said.
"That's good; when will she be home?"
"Um, two, maybe three weeks?" Bob guessed. None of them were certain when Louise would be able to come home. All they knew was that it couldn't come soon enough. Mike nodded in reply, and left to continue his job.
"What do you think it is?" Tina looked at the box Bob was holding.
"I don't know," Bob checked the return address, but it was only the post office. "I'll just go put it inside."
"Wait, you're not gonna give it to her?" asked Gene.
"The nurses might not let her have it; in case of contamination," Bob said before heading back into the apartment.
When they arrived at the hospital, Louise was asleep, and Linda was sat next to her bed, looking pretty tired herself. "Hey, Lin," said Bob quietly. "How's she doing?"
"Oh, she barely slept last night. I don't know why." Linda looked upset.
"Well, the nurse said that all the noise from the machines could keep her up," Bob remembered, sitting next to his wife.
"Yeah, I think that was it," she turned back as Louise began to stir.
"Ugh," she groaned, opening her eyes. "Can't you guys just stop talking for once?"
"Sorry, baby," said Linda. "Maybe you should go back to sleep, take a nap? Since you didn't sleep well last night."
"Don't wanna take a nap; I'm not a baby," Louise mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Just need all these stupid machines to turn off." She stretched and looked about, as if there would be something new to see. Looking over in the far corner, she paused. "Who is that?" she asked, gesturing with her head, causing them all to look.
"That man? That's Cary Grant," said Linda, looking up at the television, which was playing an old, black-and-white movie. "He's an actor." She couldn't help but sigh; while he was no Tom Selleck, Cary Grant was certainly a dreamboat.
"No, him," Louise pointed to the corner, below the television.
"Sweetie, there's nobody there," said Linda, looking at the empty corner.
"There's a man standing there. He's watching me," Louise didn't take her eyes off the place.
"I can't see him."
"Well, he's there!" At that moment, Robin stepped forward.
"What does he look like?" she asked gently, and Louise studied the figure she was so sure she could see.
"It's hard to tell," she said, "I can't really see his face. He's wearing a long, black cloak. The hood's pulled up." She squinted. "He has a red mouth." She was starting to get worried now; how did he get into her room? Why was he watching her? And, most importantly, why wasn't anyone doing anything about it? "Get him out of here," she demanded.
"Louise, there's no one there," said Bob, but his youngest shook her head.
"Yes, there is; I can see him."
"Louise, this is just a symptom of sleep deprivation," said Robin. "It's just your imagination."
"Nuh-uh. He's real, and I want him gone."
"This is just like when you thought we took your liver; it's not real."
"This is real!" Louise continued to stare at the figure. He was standing absolutely still, watching her. She couldn't see his eyes, but she knew he was watching her.
"If this is real, then how come none of us can see him?" asked Robin.
"You can't? Really?" Louise looked genuinely confused, and she turned to her siblings. "Gene, Tina, you can see him, right?"
"Uhhhh," Tina groaned, looking from the corner, to Louise, and back again. "I don't see anything!" she cried, feeling guilty for reasons she couldn't explain.
"I don't see anything, either," said Gene, "but," his eyes had moved up to the screen, "I am seeing one tasty dish. Hi, there!" he waved at his reflection.
"Well, you're either lying, or he's only making himself visible to me!"
"Why would he do that?" asked Bob, trying to make her see sense.
"I don't know! Ask him!" Louise gestured frustratedly to the corner. "Ugh, just make him leave!" she groaned.
"Louise, maybe you should get some sleep," Robin suggested. "You're tired; I bet when you wake up, he'll be gone." Louise looked at her like she'd just grown another head.
"I'm not sleeping with that thing watching me! No, get him out!" As Louise continued to stare at the figure, trying to work out what he wanted, Robin leaned in to Bob and Linda.
"Perhaps it might do her some good to get out of this room for a while?" she suggested.
"What did you have in mind?" asked Linda.
"If you wanted, we could put her in a wheelchair, and take her out into the garden?"
"That might be a good idea," said Bob, before turning back to his daughter. "Louise?" She didn't look at him. "Louise? Do you want to go outside?"
"What?" she turned to face him.
"Do you want to go out in the garden?"
"What for?"
"A change of scenery, fresh air, a chance to get out of bed," he listed.
"I don't wanna go anywhere until that thing is gone!"
"I'll tell you what," said Linda, "while we're out, we'll get someone in to get rid of that guy. We'll take you outside to make sure that you're okay." Louise was staring at her, and she continued, "just in case this guy doesn't wanna leave, and you'll be away if anything happens."
Louise mulled it over, before grinning slightly.
"That's a good idea, Mom." She glanced back into the corner, where the hooded figure was still watching her, "he looks like he'll cause trouble."
As the physical therapist was unavailable, Robin and Lucy helped the girl into the wheelchair that had been brought in. When Louise had sat up, they carefully lifted her into the chair, being careful not to knock her feet, placing them on the footrests, and covering her with a blanket.
As they wheeled her out of her room, Bob and Linda could only exchange worried looks.
Louise had to admit, it felt good to be outside, which was something she never thought she'd say. The feel of a gentle breeze on her face was something she never knew she had missed.
Bob wheeled her around the garden, with Linda next to him, and Gene and Tina flanked their sister.
The hospital garden wasn't much to write home about; it was just a large space with grass, and trees, and paths. But, it was a chance for patients to get some exercise and fresh air, and so it was very much appreciated.
Louise, who hadn't been outside since she was brought to the hospital, ten days prior, was absolutely loving being anywhere apart from her room, and she was chattering away to her siblings.
It was what they all needed; to be away from the sterile ICU, and being together, without worrying about anything. "So, what's been happening at home, at school?" Louise asked, as they stopped at a bench.
"Not much," said Tina. "Jimmy Jr gave me a 'we'll see' when I asked him if he wanted to meet up after school next week."
"And I've been having second helpings of fish sticks and chicken nuggets!" Gene looked unbelievably pleased upon mentioning this. "Mm, yum yum!" He rubbed his stomach appreciatively.
"Chicken nuggets sound good right now," said Louise, a wistful tone to her voice. "Actually, anything sounds good right now."
"I'm pretty sure that you can ask for what you want, and they'll bring it to you. They have menus here," said Bob.
"Well, I can't do that right now, can I, Dad, as I have this stupid tube!"
"Louise," he said, which was enough to make her fall quiet. "It's just for one more day, maybe two, and then you can eat what you want."
"Good; I've had enough of this baby food."
After about an hour, Bob and Linda tentatively took Louise back to her room. Although they felt confident that she would no longer "see" this hooded figure, they were worried that she might still be convinced it was still there.
However, before she could go back to her room, Louise had to undergo another round of oxygen therapy treatment. This was hopefully to be her last, as Dr. Cabell was satisfied that the tissue damage had been sufficiently healed, and obstructed blood flow was no longer a problem.
Gene and Tina had never seen the chamber before, and Gene's curiosity was piqued.
"What's it like in there?" he asked, as he and Tina sat on chairs next to the clear tube, tapping on the plexiglass.
"Boring," Louise replied, looking up at the television above her that was playing "Jurassic Park."
"Can you hear us?" asked Tina, and Louise gave her an "are you serious?" look. "I mean, is the oxygen too loud?"
"Not so loud I can't hear you," said Louise. In truth, the steady purr of the oxygen was about the same volume as Tina's monotone. To Louise, her sister sounded like the drone of a bee, and she could only just about hear what she was saying.
When the treatment was over, they all went back to the room. Louise instantly looked to the corner, and sighed in relief when she saw the figure had gone.
"Keep her busy," Linda muttered in Bob's ear as their youngest was placed back into her bed, and he nodded.
"So, Louise," he said, taking a seat, "did you still want to speak to reporters?"
"Eh, why not?" she said, as the two nurses approached her. She saw what they were holding and pulled a face; it was time for her back wounds to be cleaned.
"Well, you know, it's completely up to you, and you can always change your mind if you feel like it," said Linda.
"I already said yes, Mom," Louise gasped as the saltwater touched the sores. "How long til these go away?" she gestured to her back.
"Just a few more weeks," said Robin.
"Weeks?!"
"They're healing well," said Lucy, "we just need to keep doing this." She didn't mention to Louise that she would need a few more debridement sessions in order for the wounds to completely heal.
"So," Louise turned back to her parents, trying to ignore the pain, "what's the deal with all these reporters wanting to talk to me?" She understood why the media were interested – she was Louise Belcher, of course they wanted to speak to her – but she needed to keep herself distracted.
"You're famous, Louise," said Tina, causing her sister to straighten up slightly.
"I am?" she asked, and her family nodded. "Well, I always knew it would happen, just not this soon."
"They all wanna know how you're doing, and to just talk to you," said Linda.
"About this whole thing, right?"
"Yeah." Bob wasn't sure how much she would be willing to talk about it.
"Were you scared?" asked Tina before she could stop herself.
"Pfft!" Louise scoffed, "as if I get scared! Do you even know me? I haven't been gone that long, T."
"No, it's just, when you were in there, you sounded..." Tina trailed off.
"I don't know who you were talking to; maybe another kid stuck in a well," there was a slightly sharp tone to her voice, and thankfully, Tina dropped it. "So," Louise quickly decided to go back to what they were talking about, "when am I talking to these people?"
"Uh, whenever you want, I suppose," said Linda, as the nurses finished cleaning the wounds.
"Well, my schedule's wide open," said Louise sarcastically.
"Okay, well, if you want, we can arrange it for next week," said Linda.
"Sure, whatever." Louise wasn't that bothered about being on television; she had done it before; they all had, but this time the focus would be solely on her, which was as it should be. "Will they be in here?" she asked.
"It will be held in the conference room," said Robin. "I don't think they'd all fit in here."
"Huh? How many will there be?"
"Well, if it's anything like the first one, lots," said Linda.
"First one? What have I been missing? Why didn't you tell me?" Louise never appreciated being left out of the loop about anything.
"Oh, the day you were rescued, they had a press conference here, because people wanted to know if you were okay," Linda explained. Louise tried to think back to that night; she remembered being pulled from the well, and being brought to hospital. She only vaguely remembered her time in the emergency room; she wasn't sure if parts of it were a dream or not. But, apart from that, she had no memory of her first week in hospital.
"Did you guys speak to them?"
"No; we stayed here with you." Louise nodded. She had to admit, she was intrigued. She kind of wanted to see the videos and the pictures. Maybe it would seem more real.
"Okay." She paused, before a thought came to her, "so how long is Dingle-berry Bush going to jail for?"
"What?" Bob was caught off guard.
"He's been arrested, right?"
"Um, no."
"Well, why not?! He's the one that did this!"
"You're right, honey; he should be in jail," Linda truly believed that. In fact, she would like to be locked in a room with Logan before he was sent down, to see how much of him was left by morning. "We haven't done anything; we were too busy taking care of you."
"So, is he going to jail?" Louise thought that was what he deserved, and she couldn't help but grin picturing Dingle in his striped prison clothes, being made to break rocks, and living on bread and water. Bob and Linda looked slightly taken aback. Of course, they wanted Logan punished, but they weren't sure if he would actually go to jail.
"Well," Linda began gently, "we'll do our best to get him punished, but it's really up to the police what happens."
"Well, they'll – wait, the police know?" It suddenly occurred to Bob and Linda at just how much of her own rescue she was unaware of.
"...Yeah," said Bob, feeling a bit guilty that he didn't tell her what was happening above ground.
"So, wait, what actually happened? Why were the police there?" She remembered telling people to get the police, but she didn't think they actually would do it.
"The police were there because there was a crowd, and they had to keep everyone back; they had to supervise everything. Two of them stayed by the well constantly and talked to you." Louise nodded, remembering the voices.
"Was it just police?"
"There were firemen, paramedics, diggers, volunteers, and an underground safety specialist. He's the one who broke through the well, and saw you first. Do you remember that?"
Louise thought hard; she remembered everything from her time in the well, even toward the end when she was very weak. Only now that it was mentioned, did she remember a man talking to her and touching her head.
"Oh, yeah, I remember that," she said casually.
"There was a food truck!" Gene butted in, looking excited at the memory, "better sandwiches than Reggie's!"
"And all these people watching; I don't know who they were," said Tina. That was the part that displeased Louise; she couldn't think of anything worse than having an audience during the second worst moment of her life. But, there was nothing she could do about it, even though she would complain about it for the rest of her days.
"Okay, so there was a conference. What else did I miss?"
"That reporter from Channel 6 came in the day after they got you out, and spoke to us. That's about it; we wanted you to make the decision, so we didn't talk to anyone else," Linda told her.
"Okay. So, sibs, again, tell me what I've been missing," Louise deftly changed the subject, and Gene and Tina began to talk animatedly about school.
When the children were engrossed in their conversation, the nurses came over to Bob and Linda.
"According to Dr. Cabell, Louise is stable enough to be moved to the HDU tomorrow," said Lucy. "She'll be transferred about mid-morning, after her MRI scan, and you will all be welcome to help settle her in. We're going to give her a quick health check tonight, just to make sure she's still stable.
And patients in the ICU are allowed visitors' outside of family."
"I think she'll like that," said Bob, thinking of Teddy and Mort, who had been asking every single day when they would be able to see Louise.
"However," began Robin, "unlike here, the HDU has strict visiting hours, to allow the patients to get their rest. I'm afraid you won't be able to stay with Louise overnight."
"Oh, I don't think she'll sleep here without us," said Bob, looking upset.
"Unfortunately, it's policy," said Lucy.
"So, she has one more night here," said Robin. "It's unlikely, but possible that the ICU psychosis could return, but, as before, we can treat her for it."
"Do you think it will come back?" asked Linda, looking worried.
"We can't say for sure, Mrs. Belcher. If it does return, then we can treat her the best we can."
"But what if she sees that man again?"
"If she does experience another hallucination, then, if you wanted, we could give her something to help her sleep." Bob and Linda glanced at each other.
"Okay, then," said Linda, nodding, "if you think it'll help her. Will it work?"
"It depends on how vivid the hallucination is; if it doesn't work, we will try something else."
"Like what?"
"Well, worst case scenario is we would have to sedate her. But we would only do that if she became aggressive and violent – for her own safety."
"Do you think she will?" asked Bob, not wanting to think about it.
"I can't say for certain." It wasn't what they wanted to hear, but there was nothing they could do about it.
"Hey," said Louise, causing them to look over at her. "So, how long am I gonna be in here? Will I be out in time for Easter?"
"With luck, you will be. You're improving well," said Lucy.
"You don't have a clearer answer? I don't want to miss the Easter Bunny."
"You should be able to go home in about three weeks, and it's only March 9th," Lucy told her, and Louise looked a bit confused.
"It's March? Wait, wait, that can't be right!"
"No, it's March," Lucy crossed the room to pick up a small calendar, which she then showed to Louise.
"Huh. So, wait, how long was I in there again?"
"Five days." Bob told her, and she nodded.
"So, I've already been here for almost two weeks, and I have to stay for three more?! Why?" she demanded.
"Well, you need to remain here for the two weeks after your operation, and so we can start physical therapy." Louise groaned. Again with the physical therapy; were they ever going to give it up?
While Louise was arguing about the physical therapy that she didn't need, and when she would be able to go home, Linda stepped outside, pulling out the phone, and dialling.
"Hello, Olsen Benner, Channel 6 news," came the voice on the other end. Olsen had given the Belchers' her number for when they wanted to talk.
"Hi, this is Linda Belcher," she introduced herself, thinking that it was time to arrange the conference before she forgot.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. Belcher, how are you?"
"We're all fine, thanks. Uh, Louise is feeling better now, and she wants to talk to the news?" She wasn't really sure how to word it.
"Oh, that's wonderful; I'm so glad to hear she's better," said Olsen. "Okay, I will speak with my boss, and we will get back to you with some dates and times, if that's okay?"
"Yeah, that's great. Actually, we could do in a few weeks if you wanted?"
"If that works for you, then we can try to arrange that. It probably would be better to do it sooner rather than later. Do you know how many messages we get asking how Louise is?"
"No," Linda, Bob, and the kids didn't search up the Louise Belcher rescue online. It just felt too surreal. They had seen some photos posted on social media, but they didn't actively search for them. Perhaps one day, they would, but at that moment, they wanted to focus on the Louise that was actually in front of them.
"A lot, Mrs. Belcher. A lot. Well, thank you for calling, and I will get back to you in a few days to finalise everything."
"Great, thank you so much," said Linda, before saying goodbye, and hanging up.
When she returned, Louise was still arguing with the nurse.
"I don't need it!" she was saying.
"I'm afraid you have to," Robin told her.
"You do, sweetie. It'll help you walk again," said Linda, taking her seat once again.
"I haven't forgot how to walk!" Louise snapped, "so I don't need it!"
"Louise, you're going to have to learn a new way of balancing, because of your amputations," said Robin, and Louise scowled. "this will help you be able to walk properly."
"I don't want it," she frowned, crossing her arms.
"Why?" asked Robin gently, "why don't you want to walk?"
"Because," was all Louise said. Just like Cabell, Robin and Lucy were beginning to understand Louise more and more.
However, Bob and Linda knew that the reason she was refusing to co-operate was because she didn't want to deal with what was happening. It was all too much for her, and they knew the best thing to do would be to let Louise go at her own pace.
"So, Louise," Bob tried to change the subject, "you'll be in another ward tomorrow, and that means you get to have visitors. That'll be cool, huh?"
"It'll be cool if they bring me presents. Or money. Or presents and money," said Louise.
"Your friends want to see you," said Tina, and Louise looked over at her.
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Kids from school seeing her in hospital? Where they could possibly see the results of her amputations, and her surgeries? She wasn't about to let that happen. Looking down at her arms, Louise could see the scars on her inner forearms and on the backs of her hands. She wanted to ask when they would fade, but she didn't. "Much as I hate to deprive them of my presence, but I can't allow that."
"Why not?" asked Gene.
"It'll make my return to school that much better, just showing up outta the blue, you know?"
"Well, what about Regular sized Rudy? He's been asking every day. Can he come?"
"Uh, let me think about that," Louise began sarcastically, "still nope. No exceptions, T."
"Oh, okay, then."
The Belchers' were careful to keep Louise busy throughout the rest of the day, in hopes that she would sleep well at night. They made her use her incentive spirometer (though she still wasn't very good with it). They played paper games, such as Hangman, Noughts and Crosses, they created their own word searches, and they had an extremely fun afternoon, eventually managing to forget where they were for a little while.
That night, it was Bob's turn to stay with Louise, and he hoped she would fare better than she had the previous night. She did look pretty tired, with bags under her eyes, and so he hoped that she would sleep easy.
"Alright, now you just go to sleep," said Bob quietly, tucking her in, after Linda and the kids' had left.
"How about we open up the Burn Unit for a while?" Louise suggested, pulling the covers down.
"Not tonight; come on, you need to sleep." Bob pulled the blanket back over her.
"No, I don't. I already slept."
"Not according to your mom. Come on; it's late, and you're changing rooms tomorrow." Louise did not answer him, and begrudgingly lay back down against her pillows.
"I can't get comfortable," she admitted. "I can't sleep on my back." Bob felt bad upon hearing that.
"I'm not sure if you can move," he said, not wanting to hurt her. "I don't think you can lie on your stomach because of the tube."
"Then how am I supposed to sleep?" she asked grumpily.
"I could help you turn on your side?" he suggested, but Louise shook her head. If she slept on her side, she would roll onto her stomach. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, making sure she was as comfortable as she could be, before lying on the sofa next to the door.
He didn't go to sleep, though. Instead, he lay there, watching his daughter until she fell asleep. It was not quick; Louise lay awake for several hours, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't be sure, but she appeared to occasionally glimpse at him out of the corner of her eye, though she said nothing.
He didn't know how many hours had passed when he saw her sit up, and reach for something on her bedside table. "Louise, put the remote down," he said, causing her to jump slightly. "No TV."
"Why not?! I'm just gonna be lying awake all night; why can't I watch TV?"
"Louise," he sighed, getting off the sofa. "You need to sleep, and you can't do that if you're watching TV. Just try, okay?" To his surprise, she complied, and he went back to his bed.
Try as she might, Louise couldn't sleep. She was tired, but she couldn't sleep, even though she lay absolutely still with her eyes closed, nothing worked.
Several hours later, Louise awoke with a start, unaware that she'd dropped off. The lights were dim, her dad was snoring away, and the machines were beeping. She stretched her arms and looked around. One of the nurses, she couldn't see which, was sat in a chair in the corner, writing something. She looked over towards the window and froze, because standing directly next to her bed and leaning over her was the cloaked figure she had seen that morning.
"Dad?" she tried to call, but nothing came out. She stared at the figure, her eyes wide, and frozen in fear. She tried to ask him what he wanted, but again, nothing came out. She pressed herself into her pillow as he leaned even closer over her. She shook her head slightly, wishing it would go away, hoping the nurse would see, and make it leave.
The thing smiled at her, and Louise could see sharp, pointy teeth surrounded by its red mouth. She still couldn't see any other part of its face, and the thing's grin grew wider. Louise could only watch as it lifted one cloaked arm, its fingers long and clawed, before it tapped at her IV bag, which was giving her antibiotics, and pain medication. Louise looked up at the bag, and then back at the figure. It grinned at her again, a truly evil grin, before it skulked off back to the corner, where it remained, watching her.
Her gaze flittered from the bag to the creature, and back again. She looked over at her dad, but he was still asleep, and the nurse didn't seem to notice that she was awake. Looking back up at her IV bag, Louise studied it, trying to find out why the thing had pointed to it. The liquid inside was clear, and travelled through a tube into her right arm. Another intravenous line in her left arm was giving her food supplement. Louise knew that that thing wasn't there to help her. She didn't know who it was or what it wanted, but she knew that it couldn't be anything good. She looked over at it again, and caught its grin, and she realised that the thing had done something to her IV. It was trying to poison her, and she panicked. Reaching down, she gripped the tube in her hand, and yanked it out. Blood spurted everywhere, and she couldn't help but gasp in pain. Lucy looked over, and when she realised what had happened, she rushed over. She wasn't quick enough, and Louise ripped out her other IV, and her catheter, letting out a small cry of pain. Lucy hurriedly approached her, and saw what had been done. She reached over and pressed the call button next to the bed, while simultaneously holding the dressing over Louise's bruised, bleeding stomach.
"It's alright," she said quietly, trying to keep Louise still.
"No! No, don't! Let me go!" Louise began to struggle, and Lucy had to really work hard to stop her from moving.
"Louise, keep still now," said Lucy, "we need to put your IVs and catheter back in."
"No!" Louise shrieked, causing Bob to awaken. "No, it's poison! He put poison in it!" Now, Bob was by her side, kneeling by the bed.
"Louise?" he asked, looking confused.
"Louise, it's okay," said Lucy, as Robin and Cabell entered the room. "We're not going to hurt you; there's no poison."
"Yes, there is!" Louise screamed, trying to jerk her right arm out of Lucy's grip. Bob was holding her other hand tightly, looking worried. "He's back!" She nodded towards the corner of the room, "he's there watching me! He put something in the bag!" Louise was doing her best to get away, but now Lucy, Robin and Cabell were holding her down.
"Louise, there's no one there," said Cabell. "We need you to keep still for a moment, okay?"
"No, no, no!" Louise thrashed, but it was no use; she was surrounded.
"I promise you, there's no poison here, we're here to help you," said Robin, but Louise wasn't listening.
"Get away from me!" she screamed, having had enough, and kicking out with her good leg. It came into contact Robin's side, and the pain caused Louise to scream, squeezing her eyes shut, and tears falling down her face.
"Can you step back for a minute, please?" Cabell said to Bob.
"What, why?" Bob was trying to soothe his screaming daughter; he was still holding her hand, and he was stroking her head, doing his best to calm her.
"We're going to have to sedate her," he said, and Bob looked up at him.
"What?"
"We need to reinsert the IVs and the catheter, and she's too hysterical to let us do it." Bob could only nod as he shuffled back a few paces. He wanted to hold Louise's hand, but that was the hand the needle was due to go in. He had to look away as the needle was inserted, and Louise let out another cry of pain. Bob moved back as soon as it was over, and took her hand again.
"It's gonna be alright," he told her.
"He's trying to poison me," she said, her arms covered in blood, causing Bob to gag.
"No, he's not. I wouldn't let him do that," he said.
"You let them cut my toes off," she said, frowning at him.
"That's different; they needed to do that. No one's gonna poison you."
"He already has," Louise looked over at the corner, where the figure was still watching her. "Oh, what do you want? Go away and leave me alone!" she moaned. The sedative was starting to take effect as she was slurring. Soon enough, she was asleep, and the doctors moved back in.
Bob couldn't watch as they reinserted her IVs and catheter, and cleaned her up. He felt exhausted; any questions he had went unanswered as he fell into a deep sleep in his chair.
When he awoke the next morning, Louise was still sleeping, and Dr. Cabell was there.
"Morning, Mr. Belcher," he said, as Bob stretched before standing. "Louise should wake up soon, and after breakfast, we'll take her down to radiology, and do the MRI, and then we can transfer her to the HDU."
"Great," Bob mumbled, still half asleep. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine."
"She – that won't happen again, will it?"
"No; patients who are transferred out of the ICU improve almost immediately." Bob nodded, feeling slightly relieved. He looked down at Louise, before remembering, and his eyes shot open.
"Crap!" He reached into his pocket for the phone, and began to dial. "I forgot to call Lin!" He stepped outside the room as the call connected.
"Bobby, is that you? What is it?" Linda sounded worried, and he couldn't blame her; he wouldn't call unless it was urgent.
"Everything's fine," he said. "It's just – they had to sedate Louise last night." He heard her gasp.
"What?! What happened? Is she okay?"
"She's fine. Last night, she ripped out all her tubes, and they had to sedate her while they put them back in."
"What? Why did she rip them out?"
"I don't know," Bob said, "something about it being poison; I think she had that psychosis thing again."
"Oh, my poor baby," said Linda, "okay, we're on our way."
When Bob returned to the room, Louise was now awake, and eating her breakfast. She looked a lot calmer than she had the night before. He decided not to mention the previous night; she might not even remember, and if she did, there was no point getting her worked up about it.
When breakfast was over, Linda, Gene and Tina had not yet arrived, and so it was just Bob who accompanied Louise to her MRI scan.
When she was placed on the bed that would put her inside the machine, Louise suddenly remembered her time in the emergency room, when she was placed in an MRI machine. She had been too exhausted to do anything, but she remembered staring blankly at the ceiling above it as the machine whirred.
As soon as she was in the machine, she decided that she didn't like it. Even with the earplugs she had been given, it was too loud, she didn't like the strap over her chest, and the small size of the tube made her feel uncomfortable. Her left hand was tightly gripping a rubber bulb she had been given, as a way of communication, and her right hand was clenched into a fist.
She was particularly angry at the fact that the nurses had removed her bandages, and now her disgusting, deformed feet were on display for all to see.
When she was done, Linda and the kids had arrived, and Louise was taken to her new room to get settled.
The room was similar to her old one in the ICU, but larger. There were two beds, with curtains to separate them, a night stand each, and a small television with a DVD player fixed to the wall opposite the beds.
Just like the ICU, the high dependency unit was centred around a nurses' station, and the room was equipped with chairs, and classic cartoon characters were painted on the walls to make the place seem friendlier.
Louise was displeased, to say the least, to learn that she had to share the room; the occupant was already there, a little seven-year-old girl by name of Bella.
Bella, although looking pale and a little bit sickly, nonetheless greeted Louise enthusiastically when she had arrived. Louise had promptly ignored her. Not only was this kid younger than her (Louise would never fraternise with babies), she was wearing pink, and playing with a doll. Those three things were enough to make Louise never want to speak to her. Dolls! It was enough to make her want to puke. And Francine didn't count; Louise was insistent on that. She definitely didn't still have the doll, and she definitely didn't sometimes, occasionally, play with it.
Usually, the visiting policy for the HDU was no more than two family members at a time, but as Louise was a new arrival, her entire family was allowed to help her get settled in.
Linda had brought Dodomeki and Mizuchi, along with her Kuchi Kopi toothbrush.
At that moment, they were all gathered around Louise's bed. She was still hooked up to IVs, and the nearby machines were monitoring her vitals.
"I can't believe I have to share a room," Louise was complaining, as her family sat around her bed.
"Aw, be nice to her," said Linda, pulling back the curtain that Louise had insisted on being drawn. "She seems sweet."
"I don't wanna share a room. I want my own room."
"We don't get to choose where they put you," said Bob.
"Well, you can pull some strings, right, Dad? Seeing as how I'm a celebrity and all? I should be in a private room for my own protection! What if I have stalkers outside?" She began to wave her arms, and Bob had to laugh. Already, being out of the ICU was doing wonders for her. It was beginning to feel like they had the old Louise back.
"I think you'll be fine in here," he told her. Truthfully, he knew there was no way they could afford a private room; they couldn't even afford the mattress on her bed. He had no idea how he was going to pay for all of this; he wouldn't even able to pay for Louise's first half hour in the emergency room, but he didn't care. His daughter was alive, and here with them; that was all that mattered. That was worth more than any amount of money.
A few hours later, Louise was asleep, and a harried-looking couple entered the room. Bob and Linda were sat by Louise's bed, and Gene and Tina had asked to go on a snack run, so they were hunting down the vending machines.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Bella cried happily, throwing up her arms.
"Bella! Oh, my little Bella-wella-boo!" the mother wrapped her child up in a warm hug, with the father following suite. "Have you been being a good girl?" Bella's mother, Rachel, planted kisses over her daughter's face.
"Yes, Mommy; I do what the nurse tells me," Bella grinned.
"Good girl. Keep it up and we can take you home soon," said Justin, her father. They did not appear to have noticed the Belchers', who were watching quietly, hoping Louise remained asleep. "As you've been so brave, we got you something." He produced a bag from behind his back, and handed it to Bella.
"Oh, wow!" she pulled out a tiny doll's dress, holding it aloft in awe. It was pink, with puffy sleeves and a matching skirt, with white lace edging. "That's the one I saw in the store! Oh, thank you, Daddy!" She reached out and hugged him, before grabbing her doll.
"Aw, you're welcome, sweetie. You deserve it," Justin smiled.
"Right, so tell us what we've missed, as you know we couldn't see you yesterday." Rachel and Justin sat down at their daughter's bedside.
"Oh! Oh, but shh!" Bella seemed to have suddenly become aware of the volume of her voice. "My new friend is sleeping," she pointed to Louise, and her parents, looked over, starting slightly.
"Oh, sorry!" Rachel lowered her voice, as well. "We didn't see you there."
"That's okay," said Bob. Justin stood and made his way to the end of the bed, extending his hand.
"Justin Nolan. This is my wife, Rachel, and our daughter, Bella."
"Bob Belcher," Bob awkwardly shook his hand. "This is my wife, Linda -" Linda stood and enthusiastically wrung both parents' hands, "- and this is our daughter, Louise. Our other kids are at the vending machines," he explained.
"Oh, my God, that's the little girl who was in the well!" Rachel gasped, looking the spitting image of her excitable daughter.
"Yeah.." said Bob slowly. This was still so weird. Did everyone know who they were now?
"Aw, look at her. She been sleeping a lot?"
"Yeah," said Linda. "Bless her; she's been so exhausted."
"Well, she went through something terrible," said Rachel understandingly. "Bella slept like crazy after her surgery; it was like she'd never slept in her life. How long is she going to stay? Bella's hopefully got two weeks."
"Uh, I think the doctor said three weeks."
"She's looking so much better," said Justin, and Rachel nodded.
"Thanks," Linda beamed. "Your little Bella looks great; what's she here for?"
"Oh, she has Bradycardia, which means her heartbeat is slower than normal," Rachel explained, and the Belchers' could see the strain in her eyes. "So, last week, she had a pacemaker put in, but they want to keep her in for a few weeks," was all she said. Linda sensed that Rachel was getting upset, so she did not pursue the matter.
"Well, she looks fine," Linda smiled, "and she was so sweet to Louise when we arrived."
"Louise is grumpy," piped up Bella, causing them to chuckle.
"Yeah, she is," Bob admitted. "She doesn't like being here."
"I don't think anyone likes being in hospital," said Justin.
"Yeah, it's not nice," Bob agreed. He looked down at his sleeping child, who had Kuchi Kopi tucked tightly under her arm.
"She doesn't open the curtain," Bella complained. "I want to talk, and she doesn't want to."
"She will soon, probably," said Linda. "She's still adjusting right now." That seemed to appease Bella, who nodded happily.
"The sooner she gets out of here, the better," Bob turned his attention back to his youngest. "Just wanna bring her home," he said quietly, stroking her forehead.
"I know how you feel," said Rachel. "We want nothing more than to bring Bella home, too." She looked at Louise, as well. Bob and Linda did feel a little strange; they weren't used to themselves, or their children, receiving this much attention. "She's so tiny," she realised. "She doesn't look much bigger than Bella."
"Well, she was a preemie," said Linda, nodding. She personally didn't think Louise was that small; at least, not as little as everyone made her out to be. Okay, the mother could admit that her youngest was indeed small, but then, she rarely thought about it. Even less so now, after everything that had happened lately.
"Oh, was she? This one here was two weeks late," Rachel ruffled Bella's hair, grinning.
"Two weeks?! Oh, you poor thing! You know, I was a week late with Gene, and it was just awful." It had been the most physically uncomfortable week of her life – excluding the terrible time when her baby was trapped – and so she truly sympathised with any late birth. Gene was already a few pounds bigger than the average baby, and so her pain had felt like it was maximised.
"We tried everything. She just didn't wanna come out! If she had her way, she'd still be in there," Rachel laughed, and so did Justin, Linda, and Bob.
"Louise was probably in a rush to get here," said Bob, and Linda nodded. "It was like she couldn't wait."
"She's very brave," said Rachel. "I mean, she survived that; she's special."
"Thanks. We think so, too."
"That was..." Linda trailed off when Bella's parents had left a little while later. Bella was busy playing with her doll, and Louise was still asleep.
"Weird," Bob had to say, and he was surprised when Linda nodded in agreement.
"What happened?" asked Tina. She and Gene had arrived not long before Rachel and Justin left.
"They were just so.. interested in Louise," said Bob.
"Well, she is famous now," observed Gene, looking up from the sliding puzzle game he had been engrossed in. "Might as well get used to it; celebrity status is for life."
"You know, people talk to me like Louise is their own child," said Linda, resting her head in her chin. "Do you remember; I was at the grocery store, and that lady told me that she cried when they got Louise out? I mean, that's sweet, but then she told me that she wanted to buy a little gift for her!"
"Well, I mean, I guess people just want to help," Bob remembered the rescue effort; all those strangers volunteering to save their child. "And I guess this is one of the ways."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Linda rubbed her chin. "I'm not.. concerned; I don't think anyone will hurt her. It's just.. all these strangers acting like they know her. Another lady told me that she'd been keeping a close eye on her kids, in case something happens to them; I don't get that at all."
"Well, it could have happened to them, right?" said Tina, and they looked over at her. "If Logan hadn't picked on Louise, it might have been someone else."
"That's true," Bob admitted. "I guess that's why people were so interested; it could have been them. Good observation," he smiled at Tina.
"Thanks, Dad."
After just a few days in the HDU, and Louise had progressed remarkably; she was no longer dehydrated, and her core temperature was back to normal. Her MRI scans had come back clear, and she was to have no further amputations. She had had another round of debridement surgery, and was healing well. She was sleeping and eating well, and was getting better at managing her pain. Her ankle was in a cast now that the swelling had gone down, and Louise insisted that anyone who came to visit her had to sign it.
Louise had gotten a bit of her old self back; cranky when awakened early, even more stubborn about the physical therapy, and bored of being stuck in the hospital.
The only things she was unhappy about was her room mate; the pink and princess obsessed Bella, who never stopped chattering, and the main nurse who cared for them both.
Nurse Judith had a bit of a stern face, and a rather brisk manner, which Louise took to mean she had to be at least 100. Louise didn't like her because the nurse didn't seem to be that concerned with her, and sometimes didn't allow her to watch television or play with her toys. In truth, Nurse Judith had seen it all before, and wasn't going to put up with Louise's nonsense. If Louise was going to make things difficult for everyone by refusing to take her medicine? No TV for her. Louise is keeping her other patient up past her bedtime, with the lights on, and playing? The toys get taken for the night, and the lights go off. Judith's job was to care for all of her patients, not just one.
"Hey. Hey, Louise, hey!" Louise ignored Bella's attempts to get her attention through the closed curtain, and talked quietly to Kuchi Kopi. "Louise!" All of a sudden, Bella was right there next to her bed, and Louise gasped.
"What do you want?"
"How come you always keep the curtains closed?"
"So I can be by myself." Louise was already bored with her.
"Don't you want to play? I'm bored," Bella whined, and she held out her doll, which was dressed in a hospital gown. "Here, I'll let you play with Lola."
"Lola?" Louise wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What the hell kind of name is Lola? You don't call dolls Lola!"
"No?" Bella looked hurt.
"You call them weird, old-fashioned names, like Elizabeth, or Charlotte," Louise informed her. "Now, go away."
"But she was called Lola when I got her. It said "Lola" on the box," Louise sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I don't care!" she snapped, "I hate dolls, so just stop annoying me!"
"You hate dolls?" Bella's blue eyes widened. "How?! Lola is my best friend!"
"That's really sad," said Louise.
"Lola doesn't think so, and neither do I," Bella said, shuffling back to her bed. Louise could see a box on her bedside table, and it was full of doll clothes. Louise only scowled, the sight making her irrationally angry, and returned her attention to Kuchi Kopi. "What about your toys?" came Bella's voice, and Louise groaned. "What are they called?"
"None of your business!"
"I've never seen toys like that before. What are they called?"
"Not telling."
"But I want to know."
"Well, I don't want you to know."
"Can't you just tell me?" Louise groaned again.
"Bakeneko, Akkoro Kamui, Dodomeki, and Mizuchi!" she snapped, and Bella giggled.
"They have funny names. Did you make them up?"
"No! They're real things! They're from Japanese folklore! Dodomeki is actually covered with eyes all over because they steal!" She didn't remember the legend all too well, at that moment. She did wonder why her Dodomeki plush looked nothing like the pictures she'd seen, but the label had said "Dodomeki," so maybe it was a different form?
"Oh," Bella looked a bit worried now, and Louise grinned. "What about him?" she pointed to Kuchi Kopi.
"That's Kuchi Kopi; the greatest Japanese character ever."
"Is that the toy they put down the well?"
"... Yes," said Louise through clenched teeth.
"It's good they put it down there, because it helped you to not be scared of the dark."
"I am not scared of the dark!" Louise insisted. "No way; there is no way I'm scared of the dark!"
"Well, if you're not scared of the dark, then how come you have a night light?"
"It wasn't my decision!" Louise lied. "It was the only Kuchi Kopi thing the store had, so I got it!"
"Oh. Well, maybe your mommy and daddy will get you some more Kuchi Koopi stuff."
"Kuchi Kopi. And don't say "mommy and daddy"; what are you, five?"
"No; I'm seven," said Bella innocently, and Louise groaned again. "And that's what you call your daddy; you call him 'daddy.'"
"No, I don't."
"You do in your sleep," said Bella, and Louise stared at her, silent.
"What?"
"I think you have bad dreams, because you move around a lot, and you say, "daddy, daddy," and you ask him to help you," Bella revealed.
For once in her life, Louise didn't know what to say. She didn't know she had been talking in her sleep.
"... Leave me alone!" she snapped, and Bella got the hint, and returned her attention to her doll.
She had been in the HDU for just under a week, when Bob, Linda, Gene and Tina walked in one morning. Even though Louise knew that only two of them were allowed in at a time, which was a stupid rule, she didn't mention this. Old meanie Nurse Judith would probably make them leave.
Bob and Linda had closed for the morning because Patrick and Simon were going to visit Louise and they didn't want to miss it. Neither did Gene and Tina, which was why they were all allowed in the room.
It was about 10:30am; Louise had already had breakfast – porridge, a round of buttered toast, a bowl of apple slices and grapes, and a glass of water. Her back wounds had been cleaned, and now she was watching television.
Even though she was no longer dehydrated, Louise still drank an enormous amount; anything she could get her hands on; water, milk, juice, fizzy drinks because she still got thirsty a lot. She was currently drinking a big glass of orange juice whilst watching cartoons, with her family gathered around her. Bob had his video camera in his pocket, and was trying to conceal it; he wanted to capture the moment when Patrick and Simon came, and remember it forever.
"Louise?" the junior nurse, Mandy, entered the room. Louise liked her a lot better than Judith; Mandy was so much nicer. "There are some people out here who'd like to visit. Is that okay?"
"Who is it?" asked Louise, as Linda took the empty glass from her and placed it on the side table, not noticing the smiles on her family's faces, nor the fact that Bob had the video camera in his hand, filming. About time she got some visitors; she'd only been stuck in a well for five days; people should be lining up to see her. Apparently, Big Bob, Teddy and Mort had been to see her, but Louise had been asleep, so it didn't count.
"Just some people who know you."
"Alright, then." Mandy stepped back and two men holding a massive card entered the room.
Louise looked up at the two smiling men. They looked so familiar; she had definitely seen them before, she just couldn't think where or when. She looked into their faces, eyes narrowed slightly, trying to place them, and then it clicked. The one on the left, he had been holding her. Louise remembered the cameras flashing and the cheering as they were hoisted above ground, as the tunnel grew lighter and lighter until it seemed brighter than day. She remembered this man talking to her quietly and smiling, and the relief in his eyes.
But the man on the left...
Louise remembered this man very well; she remembered the man talking to her, trying to comfort her, and she remembered the rubble being lifted off of her bit by bit, and slowly being brought out of the well. She remembered looking into the man's face, although she wasn't aware of anything at the time, and both men strapping her down onto a spinal board. It was strange how she remembered the whole thing better now than when it actually happened.
Louise suddenly broke into a big grin, and her arms jerked up as if to hug them, but then she pulled back, wondering if she should. She didn't do hugs, even to people who saved her. Patrick leaned towards her, and hugged her, Louise eventually hugging him back, shocking her family. She would never admit it, but she felt like crying a little. These people had saved her. "Thank you," she said quietly.
"It's great to see you looking so well," grinned Patrick.
"Yeah," agreed Simon. "We've got this for you," and he and Patrick held up the giant six-foot-by-four-foot extremely colourful card, decorated with doodles, glitter and stickers. It was signed by every single member of both the fire and police departments in Seymour's Bay, no matter their rank, whether or not they were actually there. If they were a policeman or fireman, they signed the card. "This is from everyone at the police and fire stations," he told Louise, whose jaw had dropped at the sight.
"Wow!" It was too big for her to hold, and so it was set against her beside table.
"We also brought you this," Patrick held out a box, and Louise took it. Inside were plush toys of Catbus from "My Neighbour Totoro," and No-Face from "Spirited Away." Louise wondered how they knew her favourite characters from those films.
"Wow, cool!" She set them at the end of her bed, where Bakeneko, Akkoro Kamui, Dodomeki, and Mizuchi stood guard. Kuchi Kopi was on her night stand, of course, watching over everyone.
"So, you'll be home soon?" asked Patrick, "bet you're looking forward to that."
"Oh, yeah, definitely," said Louise. "Can't wait."
"Well, I'm sure it'll be sooner rather than later," said Simon kindly. "The other guys who helped get you out wanna visit, too. Is that okay?"
"How many people?"
"Oh, lots," said Patrick, "the policemen, the firemen, the diggers."
"Cool. Sure." Louise supposed that there must be more people wanting to visit her than any other patient, and that made her feel good.
"So, how did you get into this Japanese stuff?" asked Simon.
"I saw a movie when I was little, and I liked it, so I watched more."
"And it just grew from there?"
"Yeah." Of course, that wasn't the full story, but they didn't need to know that. Louise remembered it quite well. She had been three years old, and was unwell with what would turn out to be chicken pox, courtesy of Tina. She was lying on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, grizzling and whining. Bob and Linda were at their wits' end; nothing was working; Louise was refusing food and drink, even though she was hungry. She didn't want to be picked up, but would scream if you put her down. She didn't even want Bob. The exhausted father had felt like he was losing his mind.
In desperation, he had sat Louise on his lap, and began rocking her gently, trying to get her to sleep. He quietly shushed her as he stroked her sweaty forehead, her hair stuck to her temple. It wasn't working; Louise continued to moan and whine as he tried to calm her.
The television was on, and Bob noticed that one of his favourite Hawk and Chick movies was just starting, and he began to watch while rocking his daughter.
After a while, Louise glanced over at the screen, and saw a giant seaweed monster, and her grizzling died down almost instantly. Bob had thought she'd fallen asleep, but when he looked down, he saw her watching the film, intrigued.
That was how it had started. Bob had shown Louise all of the Hawk and Chick movies, glad to have someone to share them with; Linda and Tina hated them, and Gene showed no interest.
Louise would later ask where they were filmed, and began to research Japan, discovering anime, Yokai, and other parts of Japanese folklore. She found it fascinating.
Patrick and Simon stayed for about twenty minutes, before they had to go, but not before they each signed her cast, and promised the Belchers that they would keep in touch.
"What is this?" Tina picked up Catbus, examining it.
"It's Catbus, T," Louise took the toy, "from Totoro, you remember."
"Uuhhh, I remember one movie about a cat land?"
"No, wrong one. That one was okay." Truthfully, Totoro wasn't her favourite. She liked Spirited Away, but her favourites were Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, and she enjoyed Tales from Earthsea. The cutesy ones, like Ponyo, held no interest for her.
Louise still refused to partake in physical therapy. Bradley Anderson, her physical therapist, had her working on upper arm strength, as she would need it to get in and out of her wheelchair. It would also make learning to walk on crutches easier for her, as well.
Louise only grudgingly participated in the upper arm work, because she could pretend that it was for something else. She was kind of hoping that it would give her big Popeye muscles.
One thing she absolutely refused to acknowledge was being taught how to clean her stumps. She needed to get the hang of it, so that it would become normal for her, but Louise acted like they didn't exist when the nurses made their daily rounds. It was a daily battle.
After Patrick and Simon had left, Mandy and Judith approached her.
"Alright, Louise; it's time to clean your stumps," said Mandy.
"Nope," said Louise, staring at the ceiling.
"Come on, Louise; once you know what to do, then you can start doing it yourself."
"No."
"Come on," Mandy repeated, setting the bowl of warm water down. She had done this several times before, but she began to explain again anyway. "Louise, you need to do this every day to keep you healthy. When you're walking again, you'll have special shoe fillers to help you balance, so it's important to keep your residual limbs clean. All you have to do is gently wash them with warm water and soap, and then pat dry with a towel when you're done. And then, put some moisturising cream at night. That's it. That's all you have to do."
"Well, I'm not gonna."
"Louise," Judith interjected, "this isn't something you can get out of. You need to learn to do this."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do, Louise." The rest of her family could only sit there and watch. Of course, they knew that Louise had to learn self-care and physical therapy, but they also knew that forcing her before she was ready would only result in Louise digging her heels in and refusing to comply. It was happening with her physical therapy sessions, and it was happening now.
"You can't make me!"
As Mandy tried to coerce Louise into cooperating, her physical therapist, Bradley Anderson, came in and approached Bob and Linda.
"I'd thought we try a transfer in our sessions today," he said to the parents, after observing the arguing child.
"A what?"
"Teaching her to move from bed to chair, and back again," he explained. "Louise has been saying she wants to go outside; maybe this'll give her an incentive to work harder at physical therapy."
"Okay, that could work," said Bob. Louise, although very intelligent, was still a child; she couldn't (or refused) to see the link between co-operating, and leaving the hospital sooner. She still refused to use her incentive spirometer properly, and because she still couldn't walk, that meant she still had a catheter in her stomach. No amount of reasoning or persuasion could seem to get through to her.
However, when the time came for her physical therapy session, Louise still point-blank refused to participate, even when told she would be able to go outside.
"Come on, Louise," said Linda, when Louise remained in her bed, arms crossed, staring at the ceiling. "We'll help you get into the wheelchair if you want, but it would help us if you could do it yourself, sweetie." It was fruitless; Louise didn't even react. It was like she had trained herself to tune them out, until the session was over.
Both she and Bob felt so helpless. If Louise didn't want to accept help, then the only thing they could do for her was wait for her to see the light.
Once again, it wasn't going to happen, and so Dr. Anderson spent the remainder of the session talking to Bob and Linda about how to help Louise. They were in the corner of the room, while Gene and Tina sat with their sister.
"Of course, she'll learn how to get herself in and out of her wheelchair, but you'll need to learn how to lift her safely," he was saying. "There's no reason why she shouldn't live a normal life. As she's had the same amputations on both feet, she shouldn't be too off balance."
"That's good," said Bob.
"It might be best to start thinking about making adjustments for when she comes home."
"Adjustments?" asked Linda.
"Well, she's going to find it a bit difficult to move around. We hope to have her walking on crutches before she leaves, but you never can tell. Things like bars in the bathroom to help her stand, things like that. For example, if you live in a two-storey house, it might be easier to move Louise's bedroom to the ground floor."
Bob couldn't help but groan slightly. "We do live in a two story house, but we live above our restaurant."
"Oh. Okay," Anderson looked a bit put out. "Well, a ramp is always an option, although it would be difficult getting up all those stairs. The other option is a stairlift -"
"Stairlift?!" They turned to find Louise staring at them, looking disgusted. "I don't want an old grandpa stairlift! I want a podium that rises from the restaurant up through the living room floor. With music and smoke effects." Bob couldn't help himself as a high pitched chuckle escaped his lips. "Yeah, um, we can't afford that," he said. Anderson opened his mouth, and Bob continued, "we'll just carry her, and the crutches will help, right?"
"Right," Anderson agreed, the three of them looking over at Louise.
Later that afternoon, Cabell came into the room, and sat down next to her bed.
"So, Louise," he began, "your parents' think it might be good for you to have a little talk with someone about your time in the well." Louise eyed him.
"You mean a therapist?"
"Yes."
"Why would I need to see a therapist?"
"Well, what you went through was quite traumatic, and we just want to make sure you're dealing with it all okay."
"I'm fine," Louise grinned widely at him. "So I really don't need one."
"Talking about it really helps."
"What would I need to talk about? I know what happened; you know what happened, everybody knows what happened."
"We want to help you; we all want to help you."
"Help?" Louise pulled a face. "A little late for that, don't you think? Unless you have a time machine? Do you have a time machine?"
"No. We don't have that technology yet."
"Well, call me when you do."
"Louise, your family really feel that talking to someone will be really beneficial to you."
"They know nothing," Louise waved her hand casually. What could they possibly know?
"Well, have a think about it," he encouraged, and Louise rolled her eyes. "There's lots of support out here, waiting for you. We all want you to get better, and this is one way we can help you."
"I don't think so," she fixed him with a steely look.
"Alright; well, it is your decision, and we won't force you. If you change your mind, the offer still stands."
"See ya later, Doc!" Louise called after his retreating form.
Every evening before bed, Louise and Bella were allowed to watch a movie, taking it in turns. Along with the cutesy animes, Louise also hated the cute, princess Disney films, which were the cause of many an argument with Bella, who adored them.
"Not Cinderella again!" she moaned that evening; it was Bella's turn to choose, and she had picked her favourite movie.
"I like it."
"You watch it every day!"
"Louise," said Mandy, "you both take turns; it's only fair. You got pick the morning's cartoons, so Bella gets to pick tonight. Tomorrow, you can pick the movie."
"But she picks the same thing every time!"
"You don't have to watch it, Louise," said Judith. "You can always go to sleep."
"Just want a bit of variety; is that too much to ask?" Louise scowled, folding her arms.
"Bella's not doing any harm by watching her favourite movie," said Judith. Louise didn't answer her, and instead lay down on her pillows, reaching for Kuchi Kopi.
She couldn't have slept even if she wanted to, not with Cinderella's stupid singing filling the room. Louise could only scowl once again, and talk to Kuchi, ignoring the throbbing pain in her feet. She would get her revenge. She was going to choose "Watership Down" for her movie. Repeatedly. Louise loved the film, and had done ever since she was a small child. She couldn't understand why people claimed it frightened them, but she knew that a lot of children were terrified of it. That would show Bella. Nothing wrong with choosing her favourite movie, right?
Later that evening, Bella was awoken by a thud, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. The television was off, and the room was dark. Reaching over, she switched on the lamp on her bedside table, looking for the source of the noise, and soon found it. Louise's night light, that funny-looking green thing, was on the floor. Kuchi something. Bella was about to pick it up, when she noticed Louise fidgeting slightly. The older girl's brows were furrowed, and she was twitching.
"Mandy?" Bella whispered loudly, wondering whether or not to press the call button. "Mandy?" she called a little bit louder, looking over at the other bed.
"Dad... Daddy," Louise muttered, fidgeting even more.
Bella looked at the door as Mandy entered.
"What is it, honey?" she asked kindly.
"I think Louise is having another bad dream," Bella pointed, and Mandy looked at the restless girl, who was moaning quietly.
"Alright; thanks for letting me know. You go on back to sleep now; I'll sort Louise out," Mandy coaxed, and Bella lay back down on her pillows, and the nurse covered her over, before making her way over to the other bed. Bella did not instantly go to sleep; instead she curled up on her side, and watched curiously. Mandy picked up Kuchi Kopi, and placed it on Louise's bed, kneeling down. "Louise?" she whispered. She adjusted the night light, tucking it into the crook of Louise's arm, and the little girl immediately latched onto it. The toy did little to soothe her however, as Louise continued to fidget and whimper. "It's all right, Louise," she said quietly, placing her hand on the girl's head, just as she had done most every night. Louise would be fine; Mandy knew from experience that she would calm soon, and then would sleep easy for the rest of the night. It was just a matter of getting her there.
This time, however, Louise woke up. She sat up slightly, and Bella quickly closed her eyes.
"I – oh," Louise looked around her, realisation settling in. She ducked her head slightly, not looking Mandy in the face.
"It's all right," the nurse repeated. "You just had another bad dream."
"No, I didn't," Louise stuck out her jaw defiantly, lying back down. "I don't have bad dreams."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," said Mandy kindly. "Everyone has them."
"Not me. What time is it?" Louise squinted at the clock, trying to make out the numbers. "After midnight. Why did you come in here and wake me up? Do I have to be moved undercover?"
"No," Mandy smiled.
"Is there a top-secret agent in here looking for me?"
"If there is, I haven't seen him," the nurse chuckled.
"Well, then, why did you wake me up? I need my sleep, you know."
"I was just doing my job, and checking on you. As you're fine, you can go back to sleep now."
"Good," Mandy smiled once again, as Louise made herself comfortable, not allowing the nurse to tuck her in; instead doing it herself.
"Goodnight, Louise," said Mandy at the door, and Louise grunted in response.
Mandy wasn't annoyed; she'd dealt with kids like Louise before. They were just embarrassed, and Mandy knew that she had to pick her battles. In this case, it was mainly making sure that her patient was comfortable, and was able to get a good nights' sleep.
The next day, Bob arrived to visit her, while Linda watched the restaurant, and Gene and Tina were at school. He had some cards and packages for Louise, thinking it might cheer her up, and motivate her to get better.
"What's all that?" she asked, pushing her lunch aside.
"Some cards, and stuff people have sent you," Bob set them down on her bedside table, and took a seat.
"Oh, cool," she reached out, and naturally took the biggest package, which had been the one Mike had given to him. Ripping off the brown paper, her eyes widened in delight and amazement. "Oh, my God!" she cried, holding it aloft. "It's the complete Hawk and Chick Collectors box set!"
"Oh, my God!" Bob leaned forward. It was the same box set they had seen advertised countless times. All 14 movies, completely restored and remastered, with the original dubbing, and optional English subtitles; bonus features, including deleted scenes, outtakes, and interviews with Shinji and Yuki. It was everything they had ever dreamed of.
While Bob was gushing over the beautiful box set, a handwritten note had fallen out, and Louise was reading it.
"Dad! Dad!" Not taking her eyes off the paper, Louise reached out and slapped his arm. "It's from Koji!" Her eyes were bright, and she was grinning widely.
"What is it?"
"He says he and Yuki are making one last Hawk and Chick movie! And – wait, there's more -!" she cut off Bob's excited shriek, "they're inviting us to the premiere in Japan! Japan!" Louise threw up her arms and whooped in delight. "I can't believe it! I'm gonna go to Japan!"
"What does the rest of it say?"
"It says they're inviting us, because it's thanks to us that they reunited – I told you it would work – and that it's gonna be in October! In Japan! Oh, we can see everything!" Louise was breathless with excitement, but Bob was coming down from his high. Even though they'd been invited to the premiere, that was it, just the premiere. He didn't expect Koji to fly them out, and put them up somewhere. His heart sank a little as he realised he wouldn't be able to afford it.
He looked down at his daughter, happily listing off the things she wanted to see, and made up his mind. He was going to do his best to do this for her. This was her dream come true; and Bob realised that it could be just what she needed to motivate herself. "So, anyway," Louise's voice broke into his thoughts, "we are going; I'm not taking no for an answer; even if I have to stow away in a stranger's suitcase. But we're going. Of course we are, and one of the things we definitely have to do, is find some of the movie locations and visit them. How cool would that be?"
"It would be very cool," he agreed, before taking a deep breath. "Hopefully, you'll be walking by then." Louise drooped slightly, but did not say anything. "Louise, I'll make you a deal," and she looked up at him. "If you do your best in here, co-operating in physical therapy, learning how to walk again, then I'll do my best to take you to Japan."
For a moment, Louise just stared at him, and then she held out her hand.
"Deal," she smiled, and Bob shook her hand, looking into her beaming face. He would find a way to make it happen.
True to her word, Louise began to participate in her physical therapy sessions, and did her absolute best to get better. She was more determined than she ever had been; it had been her biggest dream to go to Japan, and damn if she was going to miss out.
Much to Bob's surprise, Linda, Gene, and Tina had all begged to go.
"I'm not missing an opportunity to walk down the red carpet!" Gene had said, already practising his walk and his wave.
"And I wanna get all dressed up, and be photographed!" Linda cried.
"I wanna go, too, Dad," said Tina, "I'll bet Japanese boys have really nice butts."
"Fine, you can all go," Bob had said, figuring it would be okay with Koji and Yuki. The letter had said "family", and they had all helped reunite the father and daughter, so Bob couldn't see a problem with it. Well, apart from the whole "having money to afford it" thing. Bob had been looking online for cheap plane tickets, and he had managed to find (with Mort's help) a pretty good deal of just under $1,000 for the five of them. Now, he just needed $1,000. And money for a hotel room. And food. And travel. And souvenirs; he knew Louise wouldn't let them leave without a few trinkets. So, all in all, he would need at least $3,000. Which he didn't have; he barely had $300.
"Maybe we could use that crowd funding site," Linda had suggested one evening, as they both sat at the kitchen table, struggling to figure out how to raise the money.
"Maybe," Bob wasn't too keen on the idea. "It just feels like begging, Lin."
"Well, we could explain what the trip means to Louise, and how she needs it."
"Yeah, but people have already donated money to her; it just feels wrong to ask for more."
"Yeah, I see your point. But if Louise doesn't go, it'll crush her."
"I know, Lin. We'll get the money somehow," said Bob. "Maybe if business continues the way it has been, we'll have enough."
"I could do bake sales," Linda suggested, "and sell some of my Grazielda figurines. You could knit scarves and sell them. Gene and I could do a spot of busking. Ooh, a car wash!" She began writing them all down. "We'll have that money in no time, Bobby!"
It had been a week since Koji's note, and Louise had been working very hard, and she was exhausted. The doctors' had told her it was normal, because she hadn't used much energy for a while. Still, she was determined to be on crutches before the month was up. Again, they had been working on her arm strength, and getting her to lift and bend her legs, because her doctors didn't want her standing yet.
She had also learnt how to clean her stumps, which she wasn't thrilled about. Truthfully, she didn't do a very good job, because she still couldn't bear to look at her feet, but it was thought best to give Louise some independence, and let her do things for herself.
She did all of this in between juggling her many visitors; Big Bob came again, and so did Teddy. Mort came to see her, and so did Mickey.
What seemed like every person who assisted in the rescue came to visit her; none of whom she knew. Chiefs Richards and Davis, Tim and Charlie, Douglas, along with a lot the drillers, and several others all came to see her. It made Louise feel good and important; nobody else had this many visitors. So many people had signed her cast that she barely had any room left.
Of course, the best part was that they all brought her gifts. Most of them brought her candy, which was a surefire way to get on Louise's good side. She received gummy bears, Jolly Ranchers, Twizzlers, lots of chocolate, jelly babies, and her favourite, gummy sharks. Well, they were actually dolphins, but Louise liked to pretend they were sharks. She even received a Kuchi Kopi T-shirt. Others brought her plush toys (she was beginning to run out of space on her bed); she got a few Totoro plushies, a plush Haku in dragon form from Spirited Away, and a fair few people bought her rabbit plushes, all different colours and sizes. Of course, as many of them did not know her, they naturally assumed she liked rabbits, due to her hat. Louise did indeed like rabbits, mainly due to Watership Down; she liked how they looked innocent, but were really vicious. Just like her, Linda had said once.
She had so many visitors that the nurses jokingly referred to them as the 300 Wise Men, because there were so many of them, and they all brought gifts.
"Alright, Louise," said Mandy that evening. "It's your night to pick the movie. What'll it be? 'Toy Story' again? Or 'Return to Oz'?" She was drawing the curtains, while the two girls made themselves comfortable in their beds.
"No, I wanna watch 'Watership Down'," she said.
"Louise, you want to watch 'Watership Down', what?" said Judith, and Louise stared at her for a second, before realising what she meant.
"I want to watch 'Watership Down', please," she said through gritted teeth. Judith had been doing that practically every single time Louise spoke, and frankly, she was getting annoyed with it. But, with Judith, if Louise didn't do what the elder woman wanted, then Louise got nothing. At least, not until she said 'please,' and 'thank you.' For Judith was big on manners; but then, she was from the olden-days, when the world was in black-and-white, and everyone spoke old-fashioned. Louise strongly felt that the nurse desperately needed to get into the 21st century, with the rest of them.
"That's better," Judith smiled.
"What's 'Watership Down' about? I've never seen it?" asked Bella.
"It's about cute widdle bunnies looking for a new home," Louise's voice dripped with sarcasm, but Bella did not catch it.
"Oh, that sounds fun!"
"Oh, it is," Louise grinned. She lay back contentedly against her pillows, and turned Kuchi Kopi to face the screen, as Mandy placed the DVD in the player. Her grin grew wider as the film started.
She and Bella watched the film silently, while Judith and Mandy bustled about, checking the machines, making sure they had drinks, getting them to take their medicine. For once, Louise did not fuss about taking her iron supplement, and her vitamins. Well, that much. At least the vitamins were chewy, but she hated swallowing the iron tablet. Why did she need iron inside her, anyway? It wasn't like she was going to grow up to be Iron Man. Too boring for her; she was going to grow up to be Louise Belcher, Unquestioned Master of the Universe.
Out of the corner of her eye, Louise could see Bella's face fall at the bullying rabbits on screen, and she fought to keep her face neutral as Fiver had a scary vision of the field filling with blood. Unable to help herself, she glanced over at Bella, who looked frightened, and grinned widely. Mandy and Judith soon left for the nurses' station, where they could write up their reports, while also keeping a watchful eye on their patients.
"I don't think I like this," said Bella in a small voice.
"Well, I do," Louise turned her attention back to the television. "I haven't seen this for a long time; I think that's it for the scary parts," she lied, and Bella relaxed.
"Oh, good; that was scary. All that blood," she pulled a face, reaching out for her doll. Of course, the film got more intense; or even better, according to Louise, and by the time Bigwig was caught in the snare, Bella looked deeply upset. "No; I don't like this. I really don't like this," she insisted, her face hidden behind her hands. Louise threw her a withering look, but said nothing.
"Right, Louise, I think we should turn it off now," said Judith, entering the room.
"Why?"
"Because it's scaring Bella, and that's not fair."
"I like this movie."
"But Bella doesn't."
"Oh, but it's okay for her to watch movies that I don't like?" Louise crossed her arms.
"That's not the same; this is too violent."
"And Cinderella is too annoying. No difference to me."
"If Cinderella scared you, I wouldn't allow Bella to watch it," said Judith, crossing the room to grab the remote control.
"I wanna watch the rest!" Louise insisted.
"Louise, it's too scary."
"It can't be! It's in the kids' section; it's got a kids' rating, so how can it be too scary?"
"Louise -" Judith began, but Mandy walked in.
"What's the problem here?" she asked.
"Judith wants to turn off my favourite movie!" Louise pointed at the nurse, frowning.
"It's not age appropriate," Judith explained.
"Yes, it is!" Louise snapped. "It's for kids!" Mandy said nothing, and walked over to get the DVD case.
"It's rated a "U"," she said, holding it up. "So, it is for children."
"It's far too bloody and violent," Judith protested.
"I don't like it," Bella repeated.
"You don't have to watch it," said Louise, her eyes glinting, looking Judith directly in the eye. "You can just go to sleep." The corners of her mouth twitched.
"Alright, come on Bella; lie down," Mandy quickly diffused the situation, and walked over to Bella. "We'll draw the curtains, and you can just go to sleep, okay?" Bella only nodded, clutching her favourite doll in a vice grip.
"Mandy..." said Judith.
"Well, the girls take turns, and the movie is rated for all ages. The movie will be finished soon, and then they'll go to sleep."
"Alright, if you think that's best," said Judith, in a tone that revealed she clearly didn't think so, and she left the room.
Louise resumed watching the film, grinning triumphantly.
It was a Saturday, and they were going to try a wheelchair transfer for the first time. Bob and Linda were there, while Teddy was watching Gene and Tina. The nurses had been very strict about the no-more-than-two-visitors-at-a-time policy, which was the cause of many an argument between Louise and Judith, but the nurse stood firm.
"Don't you understand that this is... detrimental to my recovery!" Louise had recently said to her, smugly.
"Louise, you don't even know what that word means," said Judith, writing on her clipboard.
"Yes, I do! I used it properly," Louise informed her.
"The answer is still no, Louise. No more than two visitors at a time; it's not my rule, it's the hospital's."
"But you work for the hospital, so you can change the rules, right?"
"Even if I could, it wouldn't be fair. If I changed them just for you, I'd have to change them for everyone."
"So?"
"It can't be done; we'd have no space to reach the patients. If something happened, we need to be there instantly, and we can't do if they're completely surrounded."
"Yeah, but can't -"
"The answer is no, Louise," Judith said, ending the conversation. Louise, very used to getting her own way, was rather shocked, and could only scowl.
"That child!" Judith rolled her eyes at Mandy as they stood together later in the nursing station. "I've never known such a stubborn child."
"She certainly is wilful," Mandy agreed, focusing on writing her report.
"It'll come back to bite her in the rear, you mark my words."
"Perhaps."
"You know; it's partly the parents' fault." At this, Mandy looked up at her superior.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because they coddle her to no end, and give her her own way in everything. They spoil her."
"Well, can you really blame them?" Mandy argued. "Their youngest spent five days in well, and is in hospital. It can't be easy for any of them."
"They don't discipline her; they don't make her do things. She wants to go home, well, she's got to work harder at it. The parents' don't seem to realise that."
"Come on; she's been through a terrible ordeal. I think they're just babying her because they almost lost her." Judith sighed.
"When you get to my age, you'll understand what I'm talking about."
Louise was sat in her bed, while her parents and Dr. Anderson stood at the foot, and a wheelchair was at her right side. Anderson was holding what looked like a large plank of wood in his hands.
"Now, Louise, this is quite simple," he began. "This is a sliding board, and this'll help you get into the wheelchair." He collapsed one side of the wheelchair, the side nearest to her, and placed one end of the board on the seat, and the other on the edge of the bed, next to her. "If you lean to your left, I'll slide the board underneath you, and then you just slide along to the wheelchair, and when you're in, we'll go back to the bed."
"What's the rubber ring for?" Louise pointed to the small, inflatable ring on the seat.
"For your back; this will ensure you don't put too much weight on your tailbone."
The whole thing sounded simple enough, but Louise found it extremely difficult. She suddenly seemed to have gotten very heavy. There was a sharp pain in her lower back when she moved, enough to make her never want to move again.
She used her hand to move herself along the board, sliding bit by bit, before she finally made it to the chair, panting slightly. She was allowed to rest for a moment, before she had to transfer herself back into bed.
By the time she was done, Louise could only collapse against her pillows, where she slept for the next three hours.
Over the next few days, Louise continued to work at her physical therapy, and she grew more and more tired, and was feeling really run down. Instead of getting better and more energetic, she just seemed to get more and more sluggish. She had also developed a cough.
At that moment, she was lying in bed, Kuchi Kopi tucked under one arm, with the blanket pulled up to her chin.
Linda and Dr. Anderson arrived together.
"Louise? Are you okay, baby?" Linda bent down next to her daughter.
"Just wanna sleep," she muttered, not opening her eyes, as Linda pressed her hand against her forehead.
"You don't have a temperature," she said. "How do you feel?"
"Tired. And cold. And I can't stop coughing. And everything aches."
"Aww, my poor baby. I think you're coming down with a cold." She tucked the blankets closer around Louise. "All right, sweetie, you just stay there and sleep; you're not doing physical therapy today." Her protective mama bear instincts were coming out; her baby wasn't going anywhere or doing anything while she was sick.
Luckily, Anderson readily agreed, and said he would come back in a few days; Louise would hopefully be feeling better.
As the days went on, Louise got sicker and sicker. She had an unpleasant chesty cough, her appetite had disappeared, she had a slight fever, she was very lethargic and sweated profusely. She hadn't eaten anything for a couple of days.
She was being given antibiotics, and lots of fluids, and rest, but did not appear to be getting any better. Bob and Linda wanted nothing more than to stay with her at night, but they were not allowed. They reasoned that she was in the best place, but it didn't make them feel any better. It seemed that whenever Louise made progress, something came along to halt it.
It was now almost the end of March, and Louise was still sick. It was late at night, and she was unable to sleep. She was freezing, despite the extra blanket Mandy had given her. She was curled up on her side, shivering and clutching Kuchi Kopi. Her head hurt, her eyes hurt, her throat hurt, her chest hurt; everything hurt. Her feet were causing her so much pain she felt like screaming. She coughed again, wheezing, as it turned into a hacking coughing fit.
"Dad?" she croaked, when it had subsided. She didn't lift her head off the pillow, or even open her eyes. She heard nothing. "Daddy?" she tried, calling a little bit louder. That would send him running.
The lamp was switched on, and Louise groaned, bringing a clammy hand up to her eyes. She heard shoes on tile floor, and remembered that she was in hospital, and she heard a nurse approaching her. 'Please be Mandy,' she thought, not having the energy to deal with Judith's abrasiveness.
"What's the matter Louise?" Crap. It was Judith.
"I don't feel good," she muttered, keeping her eyes closed.
"Don't feel good how?"
"I'm cold, and I have a bad head, and I can't stop coughing, and my feet hurt, and everything hurts." Kneeling down, Judith pressed the back of her hand to Louise's sweaty forehead.
"You're burning up," Judith quickly grabbed a thermometer, paging Mandy. She eased the thermometer under the lethargic girl's tongue as Mandy entered the room. "Dampen a cloth in cool water," she instructed the junior nurse, before removing the thermometer. "104 degrees," she read aloud. Judith pulled back the blankets as Mandy returned, and together they dabbed the cool cloths on Louise's forehead, the inner sides of her wrists, and the back of her neck.
"I want my Dad," mumbled Louise, appearing oblivious to the cloths.
"We can't do that right now, sweetie," said Mandy kindly.
"Why not?"
"It's after one in the morning; he's asleep."
"Wake him up."
"He'll be here in the morning."
"Get him."
"Louise," said Mandy softly, as Judith got up to get some antibiotics, "your parents need to sleep. Tell you what, you try and go to sleep; just a little nap, and I'll give them a call. But only if you go to sleep, okay?"
"I can't sleep."
"This will help you," said Judith, holding a glass of water with some Tylenol mixed in. Louise, usually averse to taking any kind of medicine, reached out a shaking hand, and downed the drink, coughing again.
When she had fallen asleep, the two nurses continued trying to cool her down, before examining her feet; they were hot, swollen, and red. "Infection," said Judith.
Louise's stubbornness had come at a price.
The next morning, Bob and Linda were awoken by the phone ringing, and Bob answered it.
"Hello?" he said groggily, rubbing his eyes.
"Hello, Mr. Belcher?"
"Yeah?" He vaguely recognised the voice on the other end, but couldn't place it.
"Hi, this is Mandy Fraser; I'm one of the nurses looking after Louise." Now Bob was sat up straight, and Linda was leaning closer so that she could hear. "I'm just calling to let you know that Louise has a high fever, and her residual limbs have become infected. She's okay, and she's sleeping now, but I just thought I'd let you know."
"Okay," Bob hung up, and immediately started getting dressed.
"What's the matter, Bobby?"
"Louise is really sick," he told her, and her face fell. "They said she has a fever, and her stumps are infected!"
"Oh, my God! Is she okay?"
"They said she's fine, but let's get down there anyway." Even though it was a Friday, they woke the kids' up, not caring about school.
When they arrived, with a confused looking Gene and Tina behind them, Louise was still asleep, looking a bit worse for wear. She wasn't wearing a precious bunny ears, which was how Bob and Linda knew she was really sick; even in sleep, she was able to sense when they had been removed. Louise wouldn't willingly take her hat off even if you offered her 10 billion dollars.
Her face was flushed and sweaty, her hair was stuck to her head, and she was shivering. They had removed her blankets, and covered her with only a thin sheet.
"Her fever's still at 104 degrees," Judith told them, "and we've started an IV to give her antibiotics for her infection. Ever since we took her hat off, she's not sweating as much."
"Is she gonna be all right?" asked Linda, her face drawn.
"She'll be fine," Mandy assured her, "we listened to her chest with a stethoscope last night, and it does sound like pneumonia. We're going to run a few tests later today just to be sure."
"Pneumonia? How did she get that?"
"The virus is quite easily spread. We believe that her immune system was compromised from being in the well, and being in the sterile ICU kept her healthy," said Mandy. "We think that her moving to the HDU might have been too much for her system to cope with. It's also possible that one or more of her visitors was ill, and she caught it. Someone could have come in with a cough or cold and spread the bacteria. It could have come from anyone."
"How did she get an infection?" asked Bob.
"It's very likely due to her stumps not being properly cared for," said Judith. "Ever since Louise started cleaning them, she was determined to do it all by herself. But infections from amputation are very common, so it might not have been anything she'd done."
Louise remained asleep for most of the day, while Bob and Linda took control over caring for her; they applied the cold compresses, and they sat next to her bed, soothing her.
When Louise did wake up, she was unable to do much except cough, groan, and shiver. It was awful listening to her rattling, wheezing breaths.
Later on in the afternoon, a portable X-ray machine was brought into the room, just so they could confirm that it was pneumonia. If it wasn't, well, then, there were to be more tests, more antibiotics, and a longer hospital stay.
"Did we make Louise sick?" asked Tina, looking worried.
"No," Bob assured her. "No, this is just something that happened. She'll be fine."
"I want her to come home," said Gene.
"Me, too," said Bob.
~ X ~
The results came back a few days later; it was pneumonia. Bob and Linda worked closely with the doctors to help their daughter get better; they would take turns holding her in their arms, and doing their best to rock her to sleep.
Louise had been moved to a single room, not only to help her improve, but to prevent Bella, who had been fitted for a pacemaker, from getting ill, as well. Mandy and Dr. Cabell were her carers.
As the days went by, Louise seemed to be improving slightly; her fever was down to 102; she would wake up and talk, albeit punctuated by coughing fits, but she still wasn't eating.
At that moment, on the first Wednesday in April, Louise was dozing, while Bob and Linda sat beside her. She had recently started eating again.
They had been keeping the restaurant closed over the past couple of days, just until Louise was a bit better. Bob had gone into Louise's room, and had gotten her collection of Kuchi Kopi books. He had been reading them to her, and was now on book 3: "Kuchi Kopi and the Battle for Heiwa." Her eyes were closed, but he knew she was awake and listening.
"As Kuchi Kopi made his way down the weathered path, toward the Kingdom of Yujo, he knew that this might be his only chance. For if the Kirai did not accept his peace offering, life in Kofuku would change forever."
As Bob continued reading, the story was interrupted by another coughing fit, and and he and Linda instantly sprang into action. Bob gently lifted her head, so she could breathe easier, and Linda grabbed a glass of water with a straw, and held it to Louise's mouth. The girl took a few grateful sips, before collapsing back down onto her pillow. It had been just over three weeks, since she first started feeling run-down, and Bob and Linda were hoping that she had to be over the worst of it by now.
As Bob resumed his seat, Louise groaned, and pushed herself up onto her elbow.
"Hey, sweetie," said Linda gently, stroking Louise's forehead. The bunny ears were kept close just in case Louise realised she no longer had them on. Louise's eyes bulged, and Linda backed away just in time as her daughter vomited all over the floor.
Mandy came running over, but she wasn't quick enough, as Louise vomited again. Linda moved even further back, gagging.
Louise threw up five more times, before she again collapsed onto her bed, her arm dangling over the edge, and Mandy began the task of cleaning it up.
By the time Bob had moved forward to clean her up, Louise had fallen asleep.
~ X ~
Poor Louise; she just can't catch a break, can she?
What did you think? Let me know!
A little translation for the Kuchi Kopi story, if you were interested; Heiwa means "peace," Yujo means "friendship," Kirai means "hate," and Kofuku means "happiness."
Side note, who watched the latest episode? I had to chuckle when Zeke said to Rudy, about his cast, "they should lower you down wells to find lost kids."
Thanks for reading!