Hi, everyone, I'm back with another chapter for you. I hope you enjoy reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Bob's Burgers," the characters belong to Loren Bouchard.
A Cry in the Park
Chapter 11
The Bay Gazette
April 6th, 2019
"A press conference in which Louise Belcher was due to speak to the media has been postponed, due to the little girl falling ill.
Doctors have said that Louise became ill with pneumonia, and another infection following a surgery, after she was moved out of the intensive care unit, where she had been recovering from injuries sustained from falling into a well. She is now in a private room, so that she is able to recuperate.
Bob and Linda Belcher have said that Louise is doing well otherwise.
"She's really improving," said Linda in a phone call to anchor Olsen Benner. "She's moving around, and learning how to get in and out of her wheelchair, and she can't wait to go home."
Louise, nine, was pushed into an abandoned well by a teenage boy on Friday the 22nd of February, and was rescued five days later, on Wednesday the 27th. Since then, she has been hospitalised at Ocean Memorial Hospital, recovering from dehydration, hypothermia, a broken ankle, a fractured coccyx, and constricted circulation to her arms and legs.
When Louise is better, the conference will go ahead as planned, and will also include a doctors' update on her condition.
Donations for her hospital care can be sent to the Louise Belcher Fund on Just Giving."
Less than two weeks after that snippet had been published, Louise was finally on the mend. She was able to keep food down, and her cough had gone. Her stumps were looking a lot better, as well.
Slowly, but surely, she was getting back into physical therapy, being careful to take it easy.
Fortunately, she had been in such a medicated haze, she hadn't felt much pain over the past few weeks, so Bob and Linda could at least be grateful for that.
Bob and Linda had been keeping busy at home, as well as at the hospital, still working hard to raise money for Japan.
Linda had already sold two of her precious Grazielda figurines, at $125 each, so that was an extra $250 in the pot. True to her word, she had set up an online shop for Bob, and he knitted scarves on his free evenings; he was beginning to master different colour patterns, and tassels on the end. When he had a decent amount, he would start selling them, and Linda said that he could start making sweaters and socks.
All of their tip money went into the Japan pot; Bob noticed that Teddy and Mort were tipping a lot more than they needed to. At that moment, they had almost $500.
The parents began to think that they could actually do it. If they kept this up, they might just actually go to Japan.
Tina and Gene were back at school, where pretty much everything had gone back to normal. It was their last day before spring break, and everyone was looking forward to being off school, and travelling with their families.
Tina and Gene were standing near Tina's locker, along with Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Tammy, Jocelyn, Courtney, Alex Papasian, and Regular sized Rudy.
"So, we're taking a cruise to the Bahamas," Tammy was saying, leaning up against the lockers. "I can't wait to see all the Bahamian boys!"
"Oh, my God, you're so lucky! We're only going to Six Flags," said Jocelyn.
"We're going to Cooperstown," said Jimmy Jr., earning a quiet moan from Tina. Just once, she wanted him to stay behind, so she could spend some time with him.
"We're just going to stay here," said Regular sized Rudy. "Hey," he turned to the Belcher siblings, "will Louise be home before spring break is over?"
"Not sure," said Gene. "She's not sick anymore, but now she's gotta learn to walk again."
"What?" came Zeke's voice, and the rest of the group turned to face them. "Girl's been in there for more'n a month; what's she been doin'?"
"Well, she's been ill for more than three weeks, and before that, she was doing physical therapy," said Tina. "But for ages, she refused."
"Yeah, sounds like Louise," muttered Jimmy Jr.
"So, is she allowed visitors?" asked Regular sized Rudy. Tina hesitated, wondering if she could explain without making it complicated.
"Uhhh, she doesn't really want them," she said.
"Who wouldn't want visitors in the hospital?" said Tammy, not bothering to look up from her phone. Tina shrugged.
"It's Louise," was all she said.
"Oh, okay," said Rudy. "Well, could you give her this?" he reached into his backpack, and pulled out a small box, wrapped in colourful paper. "I was gonna give it to her myself, but if she doesn't want visitors..." he trailed off, handing the box to Tina. It was very light, and she wondered what was in it.
Assembly that day was interesting, to say the least.
"Settle down, kids," said Mr. Frond, as the students dithered about in the sports hall. "Settle down." When it was reasonably quiet, he spoke once again. "As you may know, one of our students, Louise Belcher, is in hospital, and will hopefully be returning to school soon." Gene and Tina exchanged glances; they didn't know why Frond was speaking about this. That morning, he had pulled them aside, and asked when Louise was coming home, and they had truthfully told him that they didn't know. "Due to the injuries she has, she'll be returning in a wheelchair." Although Frond wasn't too bright; he, along with the other teachers knew that Louise had a broken ankle. It was easy to put two and two together. "Therefore, I want you all to come up with some fundraising ideas so that we can get a ramp."
Gene and Tina looked around as lots of hands shot into the air.
"Pyjama day?" suggested Regular sized Rudy. "We all come to school in our pyjamas?"
"Wrestlin' tournament?" yelled Zeke, jumping on Jimmy Jr's back. "I'm gon' git ya!"
"Car wash?" was the suggestion from Andy and Ollie.
"Obstacle course, movie night, colour run, talent show, treasure hunt, dress up day, that one where you fill a jar with jellybeans and you have to guess how many there are, karaoke contest." Said Millie in one quick breath. Gene and Tina were flabbergasted; they had been keeping away from her ever since they returned to school. Even though Millie only liked Louise, she still did her best to hunt down the Belcher siblings. Millie had already 'thoughtfully' left them giant get-well cards for Louise, placed inside their lockers, depicting her and Louise as best friends. It was creepy, to say the least, and so they had kept well out of Millie's line of sight.
"Well, those are some very good ideas," muttered Frond, jotting them all down on the blackboard. "Okay, myself and the other teachers will review all of these, and when we get back from spring break, we'll use the best ones."
Once they left assembly, Millie sprang up on the Belchers'.
"Hey, guys! How's Louise doing?" she grinned, causing them both to jump and scream.
"She's fine," said Tina warily.
"Oh, that's good. I mean, that's really good." Her grin grew wider, if that was possible. "Hey, has Louise gotten any of my gifts? What does she think of them? Does she like the outfit I made her?"
"Uhhh," Tina tried to think of an excuse. "She's – uhhh..." Of course, anything that arrived for Louise with Millie's name on it got thrown away immediately. This included a large stack of cards and letters, and lots of packages in all shapes and sizes. Tina did feel a little mean, but she had to remind herself that Millie was dangerous, and there could be something in these boxes that could hurt her little sister.
"She's not allowed any yet," Gene cut in, "she's still sick, and they don't want to bring anything in that could spread any germs."
"Oh, but my germs are good! My germs will help Louise get better. I wish you'd let me visit; I bet just seeing me would perk her right up."
"Got that right," muttered Gene.
"Ooh, I have something else arriving for Louise! It should be at yours sometime next week!"
"What is it?" asked Tina hesitantly.
"It's a painting. I got Mom and Dad to pay for it; it looks amazing, and Louise can hang it in pride of place in her bedroom! Then I could get a matching painting done and hang it in pride of place in my bedroom! Well, see ya!" Millie skipped joyfully down the hall, leaving Gene and Tina rather confused.
Back at the hospital, Linda was with Louise in her room. Louise was in a wheelchair, and Dr. Anderson was also there. He was holding something small and blue in his hands.
"Louise, these are called shoe fillers; and, as you've probably guessed, they go inside your shoes. These will help you to balance when you stand and walk."
The fillers looked, Louise thought, a lot like a backless shoe, or a doll's shoe. The main area was flat, but the part where she would have placed her foot, if it were a real shoe, was solid. "The edge of your foot will rest against this solid part," Anderson told her, "and they're slightly weighted, so it will feel normal to you."
As it had been more than a month since her amputations, Louise's feet were no longer bandaged, but she was wearing a loose, cotton sock on her right foot. She still had a cast on her left ankle. Slowly, she took the fillers, and placed them into her slippers. Her feet were no longer swollen, but she didn't have any shoes, so she opted for her new Kuchi Kopi slippers – a gift from Pop-pop – to wear, as they covered her entire feet. Even though she still had her cast on, she was able to wear them. She was also wearing her own pyjamas; the doctor had suggested bringing in her own clothes, to make Louise more comfortable. Louise leapt at the chance to no longer wear her horrible hospital nightgown.
Once she had them on, the three of them went to the gym, so that Louise could try standing, and maybe taking a step or two.
Louise would be lying if she said she wasn't just a little bit nervous about this; but she said nothing. When she was situated in front of the parallel bars, Linda and Anderson helped her stand. It was difficult; Louise hadn't stood for a long, time, and it took a lot of effort. The shoe fillers were feeling really weird.
Placing her hands on the parallel bars, she took a deep breath, and stepped forward. It was hard work; her legs felt stiff, and heavy, but Louise took another step, allowing a small smile to cross her face.
"All right!" Linda whooped, clapping. "My little baby's walking again!" Louise did not say anything, but took another step. She had to pause, panting and sweating slightly, for she had not moved this much in ages.
"Great job, Louise," smiled Anderson, when she walked a few more steps, "now see if you can get back into your wheelchair."
"Do I turn around or go backwards?"
"That's up to you." Louise opted to turn; at least she could see where she was going. She had to place both hands on one bar, and turn that way. She had to lean on her right leg to be able to reach over to the other bar, and then she was able to step forward. "Excellent," Anderson grinned, when she had situated herself back into her wheelchair. It had been another awkward turn, but she had managed it. "I think that's enough for today; but we'll come back and work on this tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure."
"Linda, I'd like you and Bob to start learning how to lift her in and out of the chair soon, as well."
"What?" Louise was looking at them. "I can do that by myself."
"It's still a good idea for your parents to learn, just in case you're unable to," Anderson told her.
"Yeah, that's never gonna happen."
"Your ankle is still broken; and your parents will need to help move you from chair to chair, like into a car. You have to be careful not to knock your feet, and it doesn't hurt to have a second set of helping hands."
"I'll be able to do that."
"You will, in time," Anderson agreed, "but in the meantime, it's good for them to learn." Louise saw there was no dissuading him, and she made to wheel herself out of the room, but Linda grabbed the handles and took control of the wheelchair.
"Mom! I wanna do it!" Louise complained.
"Sorry, sweetie," Linda let go of the wheelchair, and Louise resumed wheeling herself away. Linda, and Bob, knew it was good for Louise to learn how to control the wheelchair – she would need to for when she returned to school; they couldn't rely on Gene and Tina – but it was instinct for them to want to help out their children.
"Perhaps, in the future, we can consider prosthetics," Anderson said, as they walked down the hall.
"Prosthetics? Fake toes?" Linda was confused.
"Well, in cases like these, a silicone model of the foot would be made, and it would go up past the ankle, like a trainer sock. The toes of the model would be weighted slightly, and it would look and feel like a real foot."
"Huh, that's interesting. I'll talk to my husband, and we'll let you know."
By the time she had returned to her room, school had let out, and Bob, Tina, and Gene were on their way to visit her. When they arrived, Louise was asleep.
"Is she sick again?" asked Gene, looking worried.
"No, honey," said Linda quietly, "she's just had physical therapy; it tires her out."
"Good; she's sleeping more than Snow White."
"Gene, that's Sleeping Beauty," said Bob.
"No, it's Snow White," Gene reiterated, as they took their seats.
"No, it's definitely Sleeping Beauty. It's literally in the name."
"Snow White ate the poison apple, and went to sleep."
"Yeah, but Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger and slept for 100 years."
"She's my little sleeping beauty," said Linda, stroking Louise's temple. Of course, her bunny ears were back on; as soon as Louise began to improve, they had been placed straight on her head.
When she awoke about an hour later, Tina gave her the box Regular sized Rudy had given her.
"This is from Regular sized Rudy," she said, handing over the little package. Louise opened the box, and looked inside. "What?" Tina noticed that Louise had paused.
"It's the last three Slugadactyl cards," Louise held them up. She straightened up a little. "Just what I needed! Now my collection is complete." She grinned, placing the cards on her bedside table. "So, anything good happen at school today? A flood, was it hit by lightning?"
"Mr. Frond told us the school is going to fundraise to get a wheelchair ramp," said Tina. Linda and Bob looked touched, but Louise did not look impressed.
"I won't be in a wheelchair, right?" she looked over at her parents. "Right? I'll be walking."
"Well, actually, sweetie," Linda began, "the physical therapist said it would be best for you to do at least one week at school in your wheelchair. It'll be hard work, and you'll get tired easily."
"No, I won't. I'm not going to school in a wheelchair!"
"Louise, you have to go back to school."
"Not in a wheelchair!" They knew why she was so upset; before she'd headed off to physical therapy earlier, the nurse had told her she needed to have more surgery the following week. She needed more skin grafts on her back, as two of the largest wounds still hadn't fully closed. They were going to take more skin from her outer thigh and hip, and use that to cover up the wounds.
Louise wasn't happy about that; that meant more scars. She already had them on her arms, hands, legs, feet, thighs, hips, back, and bottom. And the little one on her stomach from her feeding tube. And now, more scars on her thighs and back. She felt like the only part of her body that wasn't scarred was her face.
Louise had managed to keep herself focused on her physical therapy session, but now she was brooding.
"We know you'll be whizzing around on crutches very soon," said Linda, "but walking around the hospital is very different to doing a full day at school. We just wanna help you, sweetie."
"Wheelchair, crutches, what's the difference? If Tina can do it, then I can."
"Well, Tina's older than you," said Bob, "plus, she just sprained her ankle."
"I'll get the hang of it; I won't be needing a wheelchair."
A few days later, it was time for her twice-weekly physical therapy session. Louise, determined to be out of her wheelchair as soon as possible, was sat up on the edge of her bed.
The wheelchair was placed next to the bed, and Louise could swear it was taunting her. She could handle using it at home, but at school? No; she would not allow it to happen.
Both of her parents were there, and they were waiting for Dr. Anderson to arrive. When he did, he got right to it, knowing that Louise did not like waiting around.
"So, Louise, what we're going to do today, is transfers," he told her, and Louise folded her arms, looking annoyed.
"Don't need to do it," she said.
"I know you don't; you've gotten great at moving from chair to chair," he complimented. "But this is something your parents need to learn."
"No, they don't."
"They do, Louise. If they don't learn how to do this, they might lift you wrong, and they might accidentally hurt you."
"They don't need to lift me; I can do it myself."
"I'm afraid this is non-negotiable, Louise," said Anderson, gently but firmly. Once again, Louise saw that she couldn't win on this one, and she huffed. "Right, Bob," he turned to the man, "we'll start with you, if that's alright."
"Uh, sure," said Bob, hesitant about accidentally hurting his child. "What do I need to do?"
"First, put the brakes on, and collapse the right side of the wheelchair," said the doctor, and Bob did so, surprised that it only took him three tries. "Good. Now, stand in front of Louise." Again, Bob did so. "Bend down, and place your arms around her back, and lock your hands." Anderson stood next to Bob, making sure he was doing it right. "Since you're going to be moving her over to your right, place your left knee in between her knees, and lock it. Good, then plant your feet firmly on the ground, and keep your back straight."
"Then what?" asked Bob.
"Then you stand, slowly; lift with your legs. Louise, you'll need to put some weight in your legs, to help him out. Then, Bob, you pivot, keeping your back straight, and then gently lower her into the wheelchair."
"Okay, then." Bob counted to three in his head, and then made to lift his daughter. "Oh, God, she went limp," he groaned. "Louise, work with me," he grunted. Despite being so small, she could be very heavy when she wanted to be.
"I am," she said, a slight smile playing on the corners of her mouth.
"Come on, Louise, just co-operate," he said, straining to lift her carefully.
"Louise, you need to work with him," said Anderson. He moved forward, but Bob was able to pivot, and he placed her in the wheelchair. "Okay. That was good, for a first time go. But Louise, you really need to help your parents out as much as you can on this. Don't go limp," he told her. "Alright, Bob, we'll give you both a few moments, and then we can try putting her back onto the bed."
"You shouldn't even be doing this, Dad! You're so old and frail!"
"I know," he agreed. It was true; he had to face that. "But I'm going to do this."
The second time went surprisingly smoothly; Louise had realised that it was going to happen, no matter how much she tried to prevent it. She figured that the sooner her parents learnt how to do it, the sooner they could stop, and she could carry on with lifting herself.
As it happened, both Bob and Linda had no more problems attempting to lift her.
A few days later, Louise was back to full health, and it was time for the press conference.
Gene and Tina were back at school, and both Bob and Linda were there with her.
"Before we start," said Dr. Cabell, "is there anything you don't want us to tell the reporters? It's completely up to you."
"Don't mention a thing about amputations," Louise ordered. "It never happened. And my hearing is fine."
"Alright, you're the boss," Cabell nodded.
After she moved herself into the wheelchair, a blanket was laid over her lap, and Louise was wheeled down to the conference room. The reporters were already there, and they smiled when she entered the room. She remained next to the stand, Linda and Bob on either side of her.
There were lots of reporters, all sitting in rows of chairs, and there were two large video cameras on each side of the room, both pointed at her. A flash indicated that her photo had been taken.
Many of the journalists had phones and tablets for note-taking.
Once introductions were out of the way, the conference officially begun.
"I've been helping to care for Louise since her admission here," said Cabell. "And I'm pleased to say that her long-term prognosis is excellent. With luck, she'll be able to go home in about two weeks."
"Is there anything keeping her in hospital for that long?" asked a journalist.
"Well, the pneumonia took a lot out of her; it really knocked her for six," he revealed, while Louise bristled, but remained silent. "We just want her to regain some of the strength and fluids she lost during that period. Plus, she is scheduled for one more surgery next week."
"What surgery is that?"
"A skin graft to cover some wounds on her back that haven't quite healed yet."
"What surgeries has Louise had since being admitted here?"
"She's had fasciotomies in her arms, legs, hands, and feet, and she's had five rounds of debridement surgery to remove the dead tissue from her back, arms, and legs. We took tissue from her thighs and hips to cover the fasciotomy wounds on her back and limbs, and we replaced those with permanent skin grafts. Along with her broken ankle healing, Louise has recovered from her septicaemia, her kidney failure, and she's no longer dehydrated."
"I've told them I wanna be out of here by Easter," Louise said, causing them all to look at her. "I don't wanna miss out on Easter."
"Right now, she's extremely stable," said Cabell.
"How has she been throughout her stay?"
"For that first week, she slept almost constantly; she was really exhausted. When she woke up properly, she was very eager to move around, and a little bit grumpy. Sometimes a handful," he smiled down at Louise, who smirked back at him. "She had oxygen therapy three times a day, which were to heal the restricted blood flow to her arms and legs." Louise caught his eye; she was sure he was going to mention her bout of ICU psychosis, and she suddenly decided that she didn't want people to know about that. When he looked at her, she widened her eyes, and shook her head slightly. Cabell seemed to understand, for he gave a little nod.
"And what about the possibility of amputation?" Cabell opened his mouth to respond, but Louise got there first.
"Didn't need to do it," she said, and everyone turned to look at her again, "everything got fixed."
"Once she moved to the HDU, she improved rapidly, until the pneumonia," Cabell finished, before handing the floor to Bob and Linda.
"First of all," Linda began, "we just wanna again thank everyone who helped to get our baby out. We can't thank you all enough."
"It's great to have her back with us," said Bob.
"How has this affected you all?"
"It's.. been hard," Bob admitted, "knowing your child is trapped, and you can't help them, and then seeing them lying in a hospital bed; it's horrible. We just want to take her home, and get back to living our lives."
"I try to focus on the fact that she survived," said Linda. "I don't like to think about the time in the well; she's here with us, and that's all that matters."
"Did you have faith that she would be okay?"
"My little Louise is a fighter," Linda placed an arm on her daughter's shoulder. Louise was looking extremely bored; when were they going to stop talking about her, and actually start talking to her? "I knew she would fight to survive; she's strong, and we were right. She fought."
"We're so grateful to everyone," said Bob.
Now that they had finished speaking, the focus shifted to Louise. She was not at all uncomfortable with all of the cameras focused on her; she'd been on television before, this was no big deal.
"Louise, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?"
"Well, I'm nine, I go to Wagstaff School, I work in my dad's restaurant, and I like Japan," she said, trying not to laugh at the dumb question.
"And what about the boy who pushed you in the well? How did you two meet?"
Louise wasn't one to paint herself as a victim; she couldn't bear to have people look in pity at her. Still, anything that made Logan look like the bad guy (which he was) and get him out of her sight forever, couldn't be a bad thing. "He and his friends took over the Steps, and wouldn't let anyone walk through," she began. "Well, I walked through, and he started surrounding us, saying that we weren't allowed through."
"Who's 'us'?"
"Me, my brother, and my sister. Anyway, the next day, we went through the Steps again, and he told us not to come around here, and he stole my hat," Louise pointed to her treasured bunny ears.
"What happened after that? Logan says you hired a biker gang to cut off his ears."
"Oh, I wouldn't do that!" she gasped, blinking her eyes; the picture of innocence. Louise, of course, had already been filled in about this from her parents. The only reasons she agreed to stick with the new story were to keep Critter out of jail, and to hopefully get Logan in jail.
"How did you get the hat back?"
"I just found it lying on the street somewhere; I can't really remember where."
"Tell us what happened the day you fell in the well."
"I was walking through the park, when he came up to me, and said he wanted an apology." Louise didn't know how much they knew.
"From when you threw the cantaloupe, yes?" called out a voice, and Louise nodded.
"That was an accident, and he came right up close to me, and said he was gonna do a wrestling move on me. He said he would teach me not to mess with him. Well, he pushed me hard, and I just stumbled backwards, and then I thought I'd stepped in a little rabbit hole, or something, but I just kept falling, and then everything was black. It felt like when you think there's one more stair," Louise found that that was the only way she could describe it. "There's that moment when your foot slams down, and you feel like you're falling, and that's what it felt like, only I didn't stop falling." That was exactly how she had felt when she had fallen; her foot had slammed into the empty air, causing her heart to skip a beat, and she had gasped. Next thing she knew, everything had gone black, and she'd begun to scream.
"What was your reaction to the cave-in?"
"I didn't really realise," she revealed. "I was in a lot of pain; my foot and my back were hurting a lot. When I got to the bottom, I – it all happened so quickly; I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was covered in the rubble. When I was falling, I tried to stop myself by pushing my elbows and hands against the sides, but it didn't work."
"And what did you do, then?"
"I just started calling for help. I don't know how long it was before someone heard me, but I told them to get my dad, and I guess they got the diggers there."
"What did you think when you saw all those people surrounding you when you were rescued?"
"Uh, I didn't know what was happening. I couldn't concentrate on anything; I didn't even really see them."
"Do you remember anything about it?"
"I remember all of it. I remember it better now, though."
"Have you seen the video of your rescue?"
"No."
"Do you want to?"
"Not yet."
"What was it like in the well?"
"... No comment." Louise didn't want to speak of that, not ever.
There wasn't really much else to say, and so the conference was declared over, and the Belchers' went back to Louise's room. "Mom?" she asked. "Who took the video of the rescue?"
"Um, I don't know," she answered. "The reporters, I guess."
"Why?"
"Uh, well, they heard about it, and came to see what was happening."
"They wanted to see you come up," Bob told her. "Do you want to see the video? I'm sure they'll re-run it on TV, or we could probably find it online."
"Nah, I'm good; I lived it. Have you seen it?"
"Yes," said Bob and Linda nodded. "We were in the ambulance when they brought you up, so we didn't get to actually see you until you were in the ambulance."
"Oh."
"Hey, I have a question," said Bob, once Louise was back in her room. "How much did you sleep in the well?" Louise tilted her head to the side.
"Not a lot," she said, after thinking for a moment. "I didn't want to miss it when they reached me," she said after a while.
"You would hear us calling you?" he asked, and she nodded. "But you didn't answer?"
"Was just too tired," she shrugged. "They wouldn't let me sleep, remember?"
"Did – were you awake when we were screaming for you?" By the look on his daughter's face, he could tell she was clueless.
"What?"
"You'd been silent for hours, and you weren't making a sound; everyone was calling you, but you didn't answer," he told her, heart racing at the memory. "I was screaming my head off, and you didn't answer."
"Oh. Well, I don't remember that at all, so I was probably sleeping."
"Probably?"
"Well, I remember everything else."
Barely a week later, Dr. Anderson arrived at Louise's room for her physical therapy session.
"Morning, Louise," he smiled. "How you doing today?"
"Oh, fine," she said sarcastically. She was already sitting up, with her slippers and shoe fillers on.
"Great," her sarcasm wasn't lost on him, but he decided to ignore it. "Well, if you're ready, we can start."
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
"Great," he repeated. "So, today, I thought it would be good if we took a walk around the hospital."
"What?"
"Not the entire hospital," he clarified, "just this floor. It'll be a way for you to practise walking for longer periods."
"Okay," Louise readily agreed, desperate to go somewhere that wasn't her room or the gym.
When she had stood, she put on her dressing-gown, refusing help even though she wobbled a bit, and she hobbled over to the door, Linda and the doctor flanking her.
It was easier than she thought; the crutches helped a lot, and it was actually quite nice being able to walk more than five feet, before having to turn around. It was good to see that she wasn't the only one in pyjamas and a dressing-gown, so at least she didn't stick out like a sore thumb.
She toured the HDU; she couldn't go into any of the rooms, but she got to walk down the hallway. "This is so fun(!)" she muttered under her breath, as they left the HDU, and Louise paused for a moment to catch her breath.
"Alright, where shall we go next?" asked Linda.
"I don't know; anywhere," Louise replied.
"How about.. the cafe and gift shop?" she suggested, and Louise nodded.
"Fine."
She had barely made it ten feet into the cafe when a middle-aged lady approached her. She was obviously another patient, as she was wearing a hospital gown, and she was pulling a stand with an IV drip alongside her. Her brown hair looked as though it hadn't been brushed for several days, and she was staring at Louise with a sort of reverence.
"Louise Belcher!" she said, looking down at Louise with awe.
"What?"
"You're the little girl who was in the well!" Louise blinked.
"Yeah...?"
"Aw, it's so good to see you! You're looking so well," the lady moved forward to hug, and Louise shuffled back awkwardly.
"Uh, Louise is still feeling a little.. sore right now, so I'll take your hug!" Linda hurriedly stepped in, and hugged the woman tightly.
"I watched every day," she told Linda, while Louise could only stare, not quite sure of what she was seeing. "It's amazing to see her," the lady said, and Linda stepped back.
"Alright, thank you; we've gotta go now."
"Bye, Louise!" the woman called, and Louise looked over her shoulder, more than confused.
"What the hell just happened?!" she asked as soon as they were in the hallway.
"We told you you were famous," said Linda.
"Well, yeah, I know, but what was that?"
"Lots of people were watching, and they worried about you."
"Why? I mean, why did they care?" She kind of got it; she was Louise Belcher, but why all the hysterics?
"I – I don't really know," said Linda. "I guess it was because it was someone who was stuck, and they wanted to know if you would get out. People would have been worried no matter who was stuck down there."
"More so because it was me, right?" Louise couldn't help but notice that a lot of people were looking at her. She could tell by their faces that they recognised her, and she wasn't too sure if she liked it.
"Yes, that's right," said Linda, smiling a little bit.
"How long will I be famous for?"
"I don't know; maybe a few weeks, months."
"Or years?" Louise did not look impressed; she didn't want to be famous for this.
"Maybe, sweetie," said Linda honestly. "Do you want to go to the gift shop now?"
"No, I wanna go back to my room," Louise's face was dark, and she had already begun to walk back.
"Are you sure, honey? It'll be good for you."
"Don't tell me what's good for me!" Louise snapped, not even looking over her shoulder.
"Louise," said Dr. Anderson, "walking around is just what you need. It'll help you build up strength, which means you'll be able to go home sooner." Louise stopped, although she did not turn around. "You're doing so well," he continued.
"Come on, Louise," called Linda. "We'll just walk down to the gift shop, and then we can go back, alright?"
"I don't want to," Louise repeated.
"Well, will you come there with me, anyway? I wanna take a look at the toys."
"Toys?" Now Louise was facing her. "Will you get me one?"
"Sure thing, sweetie." Linda didn't see it as bribery. It was just a way to motivate Louise.
Louise had cheered up a little bit by the time they had reached the gift shop, but she had to stop just outside the entrance for another little break.
Inside, it was quite possibly the tackiest thing she had ever seen. Bouquets of cheap flowers, bunches of heart-shaped balloons; large, oversized cards, and rails and rails of baby clothes. Perhaps the only decent things were the piles of toys.
She bypassed all of the junk, and headed straight to the back, where the shelves of plush toys waited for her. Most of them were generic teddy bears, some with little fabric hearts sewn onto their paws, and Louise pulled a face. Gross. Plush cats, but she wasn't really a cat person. Plush dogs; they only served to remind her of how she couldn't have a real one. She scanned the shelves, sighing disappointedly when she realised there were no sharks. "See anything you like, baby?" asked Linda, stepping up beside her.
"It's a tie between the tiger and the dragon," Louise's gaze flitted from one to the other.
"Well, the tiger is very cute," she agreed, "and I like the dragon's yellow eyes, and red skin."
"Scales, Mom," Louise corrected. "It'd better be the dragon, then. I already have one, so I need two." Linda handed it to her, and they made their way to the cash register.
"Hello," the cashier, a man in his mid-to-late 20's, smiled at them.
"Hi!" Linda beamed, and Louise wordlessly swung the toy up on the counter.
"You're the little girl who fell in the well, aren't you?" he said as he scanned the toy.
"Yes," said Louise through gritted teeth, sorely tempted to just walk out.
"I thought I recognised you. It's great to see you up and about."
"Aw, thank you," said Linda, and the cashier smiled once again.
"Hey, Louise," he leaned forward, and Louise forced herself to look up at him. "As you were so brave, see these toys behind me?" As she couldn't stand on tiptoe, Louise had to step back to see a row of toys behind him.
"Yeah."
"Well, you can pick any one you want to have, for free," he told her, and Linda gasped.
"Oh, no! That's very kind, but you don't have to do that," she insisted.
"Oh, it's no trouble, ma'am; these are for specifically giving away to special kids," he said.
"Well, if you're sure.." she turned to Louise. "Which one do you want?"
Louise studied the toys; there were several teddy bears, some with bandaged paws, some with small bunches of flowers. There was a frog with a thermometer and a hot water bag on its' head; a singing plush flower; a smiling giraffe...
"That one," she said, pointing to a stuffed monkey with Velcro paws, wearing a T-shirt that said "Hang in there!"
"Mango the Monkey, good choice," said the cashier, plucking it off the shelf, and handing it to her.
"Mango? I'm calling it Sheila," Louise took it, along with her dragon, who she had named Ikimono.
"Good name," he said, opening the cash register. "Your change, ma'am. Have a lovely day, both of you."
"We will; you too," said Linda, before looking down at her daughter. Louise caught her eye, and Linda gave her a significant look.
"Thank you," said Louise, as Linda took the toys, so that Louise could focus on her crutches.
By the time she arrived back at her room, she was very tired. She was so tired, that she did not protest to Linda helping her get into bed.
"That was great today, Louise," said Anderson, as Louise placed her new toys at the end of her bed. "You did really good. We'll do that twice a week, how does that sound?"
"Whatever," Louise shrugged, reaching under her blankets and taking her slippers and fillers off.
"Doing things like that will help her a lot, when she goes back to school," said Anderson to Linda, as Louise settled back into her bed.
"I thought you said she'd be using a wheelchair?"
"She will, but anything that works to build her strength up will be very helpful. It will make the transition from chair to crutches easier."
"Oh, okay. I get it."
"Great. Well, once again, good job, Louise, and I'll see you on Friday."
"See you," Louise nodded and picked up the remote.
She managed twenty minutes of cartoons before falling asleep.
Two weeks later, it was Easter, and Louise was still in hospital. For the first time in her life, she actually wished she was taking part in her parents' crazy, competitive egg hunt. Her fun Easter activity was probably physical therapy. Yay.
At the beginning of the week, Louise had had skin grafts applied on her back, and was still healing from them. She didn't remember her first round of grafts, or their removals, due to sleeping, but these ones felt really weird and uncomfortable, and she didn't like them. As per usual, there was nothing she could do about it.
Louise brooded and sulked as she ate her breakfast; she hated feeling so helpless, like she wasn't able to do anything. She couldn't go home soon enough.
"Louise?" Mandy poked her head around the door. "If you're finished, there's someone out here who wants to see you."
"Who is it?" she asked, pushing her cereal aside.
"Just someone," was all Mandy said, coming into the room, followed by Bob, Linda, Gene, and Tina.
"Fine," she muttered, shuffling over to the edge of the bed, and swinging her legs down. She put her shoe fillers and slippers on, and took a deep breath. Placing her arms in her crutches, she pulled herself up into a standing position. Although she had gotten quite adept at walking on her crutches, she still had trouble sitting and standing. It took her a while.
Hobbling out into the hallway, she looked around for her visitor, and her jaw dropped.
There, standing in the hallway, was the Easter Bunny.
Her family were beaming, and the Easter Bunny waved at her. She grinned widely. He was holding a basket in his hand, stuffed with chocolates and candies, and Louise approached as he held it out. She couldn't help but smile widely; not only did she have candy, but she didn't have to spend the day hunting for eggs. It was shaping up to be a pretty good Easter.
"Alright, smile, Louise!" called Linda, holding up the camera. Louise obliged, standing next to the Easter Bunny, and then her siblings squeezed in for another photo.
"How did he know where to find me?" asked Louise, as the Bunny hopped away down the hall.
"Oh, we just gave him a call," said Linda.
"You have the Easter Bunny's phone number?"
"Well, email," said Bob, and Louise looked at him. Of course, she wasn't to know that the Easter Bunny came every year to cheer up the sick children.
"How did you -?"
"So, Louise, do you want to get dressed, or do you want to stay in your pyjamas?" asked Mandy.
"For what?"
"For the Easter fun day! Mandy grinned, and Louise looked confused. "It's something we do for the kids every year," she explained. "There's arts and crafts-" Louise groaned. "There's cupcake making, there's making Easter bonnets, painting and decorating eggs."
"Alright. Beats staying in here all day."
"Great. Shall we leave you to get dressed?"
"Nah, I'll go as I am." Louise hadn't yet tried to dress herself; she wasn't ready to try and fail. Linda had helped her get into her pyjamas, but that was not happening again.
When they arrived at the playroom, the activities were in full swing. The large, bright, and colourful room had been divided into sections. The table nearest to them was designated for drawing and colouring, and had sheets of paper, card; crayons, markers, and paint; connect-the-dot, colour-by-numbers, and colouring pages. Many of the younger children were at this table, accompanied by nurses and family members.
The next table, in the back left, was set aside for dyeing and painting eggs. There were eggcups galore, along with several glasses full of food colouring, and acrylic paints, along with brushes, and bowls of mini gems and stickers for decorating.
The table in the other back corner, next to one of the two big windows, was for making cookies and cupcakes. There were bowls full of chocolate chips, different coloured frosting, sprinkles, mini marshmallows, and edible glitter.
The final table was for making Easter bonnets, and was scattered with card in every colour possible, tissue paper, ribbon, lace, several little boxes full of felt, and fake feathers, and tiny little chicks, eggs, and rabbits.
All around them, children were running, and skipping about, shrieking with laughter. The speakers on the shelf on the right were playing pop music, and the television on the left was playing a CGI rabbit themed movie.
"So, what do you wanna do first, sweetie?" asked Linda, as they all stood in the doorway, and Louise looked around her.
"Uh... egg painting." There was no way Louise was going to sit and colour. At least, not until the toddlers had all gone.
The rest of her family joined her, and they all began to paint eggs. The kids especially had a lot of fun, as they usually only wrote "M" and "D" on their eggs. Now they were able to do what they pleased. Gene had a lot of fun covering his egg with seemingly every single gem in the place, and Tina painted a horse on hers.
Louise didn't have anything specific in mind when she decorated her egg; it was just random swirls and splotches.
"Aw, my little babies are so artistic!" Linda cooed, admiring their eggs. "My little Gene-casso, my Tina-vinci, and my Louise-a-angelo! Aw, we should do this every year!"
"Stop it, Mom," said Louise.
"How'd you kids get so good at this?" asked Bob, holding up Gene's crystallised egg.
"We're naturally artists, Dad," said Gene, "you've seen my work."
All in all, the Belchers' ended up having a very fun Easter; they made drawings and cards, and they made cupcakes and cookies. There was no oven in the playroom, so the nurses had to take the mixing bowls down to the kitchen to be cooked, and then bring them back up again. They even got to take their treats with them.
Louise even made an Easter bonnet, along with her family. Well, more of an Easter headband. She decorated hers with drawings and stickers of rabbits and chicks, while Tina made her rabbits chase each other.
"They're in love," she'd said.
Gene had made himself a top hat, with flowers lining the brim, and a chick and rabbit popping out of the top. He proudly wore it for the rest of the day.
They even took part in the Easter egg hunt, around the paediatric unit. At that point in time, Louise was very good on her crutches; she was able to keep pace with her family, and she wasn't averse to giving people a quick whack with them. She still wasn't great at bending down, though, so they quickly developed a system; if Louise spotted an egg, she would point it out, and someone would pick it up for her. It was a good system, and Louise soon had a good number of eggs in her basket, which she insisted on carrying, even though it was difficult with her crutches.
By late afternoon, Louise was exhausted, and full of chocolate and cupcakes, and so they went back to her room. Now that Louise was up and walking, she rarely wanted to get back into her bed, so she would usually sit in a chair.
"That was fun," she admitted. It really had been fun. She didn't socialise with anyone, which was perfectly normal, but quite a few people had recognised her, and asked if she was the little girl who was stuck in the well. Unfortunately, lying wasn't an option, so she had to say yes. It kind of annoyed her, and she was determined to not let that be her legacy.
Most people had left her alone, which she was glad of.
"It was, wasn't it?" Linda agreed, arranging all of Louise's art on the bedside table. "Do you want me to take these home, sweetie, or do you want to leave them here?"
"Do whatever you want." Louise rarely saved her drawings. She kept a few of the most important ones, like her invention of a new Burobu. She hadn't named it yet, but it was a cross between a slug, a tank, and a shark.
"I'm gonna keep 'em. I keep all my babies' artwork." It was true; Linda had two big storage boxes, filled with perhaps every single drawing her children had ever made for her and Bob. She couldn't bear to throw them away.
"It's your life," Louise shrugged.
Not even a week, later, Louise was ecstatic. She had been cleared to go home, and her family were on their way to pick her up. It was Friday, April 26th; she had been hospitalised for almost two months, and she couldn't be happier to be leaving.
She was looking out the window, waiting for her parents to arrive. All of her cards, toys, and drawings had been packed up and taken away the day before, and she had managed to wriggle into her usual green dress. She was only wearing one shoe due to her cast, and the shoe filler still felt weird, but she was sure she would get used to it.
She had heard her mother and physical therapist talking about prosthetics, and, if she were honest, she would rather have those than the shoe fillers. At least, if she had prosthetics, her feet would look normal again.
She didn't have much time to brood, for her family had arrived.
"Alright! My baby's comin' home! My little baby's comin' home to her family!" Linda sang, throwing her head back, and raising her arms.
"Louise, you all ready to go?" asked Bob.
"I've been ready for months," she said, hobbling over toward them on her crutches. "Come on, let's get going!"
There was no fuss made, as they left. Mandy gave her a hug (Louise did not hug back), and said she was glad that Louise was better now.
At the front desk, Louise was signed out, and Bob and Linda would deal with the medical bills later.
They hadn't yet dared to look at Louise's fund, and they hoped it would be enough to help cover some of the costs. If not, well, they would find a way.
In many ways, they were very lucky; during the rescue, the firemen had used over 23 oxygen tanks to keep their daughter alive, with almost the same amount of heated air tanks. They hadn't been charged for them. The drilling rig had cost at least $15,000, according to what they had read, not to mention the firemens', policemens', medics' time. And all of the equipment that had been donated out of the goodness of peoples' hearts.
When Bob and Linda had received the email, telling them they weren't going to be charged for the rescue operation, Bob had burst into tears.
So, that was a load off their minds; now all they had to worry about were Louise's most likely sky-high hospital bill, and making sure she was comfortable at home.
Louise was surprised to see Olsen Benner and her cameraman waiting outside the hospital.
"You don't have to talk if you don't want to," said Bob.
"Louise!" the reporter smiled, "how does it feel to be out of hospital?"
"It feels great," Louise paused, and her family stood around her.
"Are you going to have any more operations?"
"I don't think so."
"We need to go to the doctor next week to check her skin grafts," said Bob.
"And how do you feel about your daughter being released?"
"We're over the moon to have her back with us," said Linda. "I'm so proud of her."
"And, Louise, how do you feel about all of this?"
"It feels good to be going home," was all Louise said, before walking over to the car. She still was unable to climb, so Bob had to lift her in.
During the ride home, Louise was desperately hoping that Linda hadn't gone all Linda and planned a surprise party for her. She loved attention as much as the next person (much, much more), but she didn't want to have to deal with everyone crowding around her. She hoped her father had used his brain and said 'no' to any kind of party. "How did the reporter know I was coming home today?" she asked.
"We told Teddy, Mort, and your grandfather, and they must have told other people," said Linda.
"Oh, okay."
To her surprise, and intense relief, the house was empty. But it was decorated. Linda had strung up banners and balloons, and the coffee table was laden down with party food; cupcakes,cookies, ice cream, and the like. The rest of the cards and gifts she had received were lying unopened on the TV cabinet. "Are those all for me?"
"Yep," smiled Linda, as Louise got situated on the sofa, and picked up a cookie. "We wanted to bring them to you in hospital, but we weren't allowed."
"Why?"
"Because of contamination." Louise threw her a disbelieving look, and returned her attention to the television.
"Here you go," said Tina, handing her the remote.
"You have officially been bestowed the remote control as our gift to you, sister," Gene bowed down. Louise grinned and flipped to one of her favourite channels as a parcel was handed to her.
It felt great to be home, although she would never say it aloud, and she was glad that everything was now back to normal. Everything was as it should be; she was surrounded by her family, she was the lucky recipient of several gifts (and it wasn't even her birthday!), and everyone was focused on her.
Some of the presents people had sent to her included toys, clothes, colouring sets, books, and several make-it-yourself kits; there was make your own slime, make your own chocolate coins; DIY dreamcatchers, a candle making kit, and make your soap and bath bombs. Louise resolved to give those to Linda and Gene; she wasn't really one for sharing, but she couldn't think of anything more boring than making soap and bath bombs. What was she, a 1950's housewife?
She grinned as she read through the note Nat had included in her gift (a more high-end lock-picking kit.
"What does it say?" asked Linda.
"Oh, just saying that she wants to come see us," said Louise casually, tucking the note away in her pocket. She was definitely going to take Nat up on her offer.
She figured she could do a lot with the rest of what she had; she enjoyed making things as much as the next person.
What really surprised her was how much she enjoyed opening the cards; not for the actual cards; but many of them contained money, and lots of them had gift vouchers. Louise got gift certificates to fancy restaurants; she received a $50 voucher for the About a Toy store. Louise knew exactly what she was going to spend that on.
"Wow," she said, opening yet another card.
"What?"
"It's from the Wharf Arts centre; they're giving me free tickets to any show."
"Cool!" Linda was already examining the vouchers, and Bob grabbed the laptop. "Ooh, we can go see a musical! Or a -"
"It's either a murder mystery or nothing," Louise cut her off. Truthfully, she wasn't a fan of the theatre, and the only reason she was even considering it was because the tickets were given to her, and not her family.
"I'm sure they'll have something there you'll like," said Bob, before his jaw dropped. "Oh, my God, they have Cake 3!" he gasped. "They're showing Cake 3: The Winner Cakes it All! Oh, my -"
"No," said Louise. "You couldn't pay me to go see that. I'll choose. No one else."
A few hours later, Bob and Linda went to Wagstaff school to speak to Louise's teachers, leaving Tina in charge. It was a Wednesday, and Louise would be returning to school the following Monday.
Once there, they met up with Dr. Anderson, and made their way to Principal Spoors' office.
All of the teachers were there, and so was Mr. Frond. "Louise is coming back next week," Bob was saying, "and she'll be in a wheelchair."
"Not a problem," said Frond, "we managed to fundraise enough for the ramp. How long will she be in the wheelchair?"
"Um, I think, about a week?" Linda wasn't too sure.
"She'll be doing half-days for two weeks," Dr. Anderson began professionally, "she'll do one week in the chair, and if she feels up to it, the following week on crutches. If the first week is too much for her, then she'll spend the second week in her wheelchair, as well. If that's the case, then there'll be one more week of half-days."
"What time will she be leaving?" asked Mr. Frond.
"She'll go home straight after lunch, and one of her parents will be there to pick her up."
"Okay, and will she need any assistance in getting around the school?" asked Spoors.
"No, she's got good control over her chair, and is good on crutches. If we can arrange to have her classes on the ground floor for the time being, though, as she won't be able to go upstairs in the wheelchair."
"We can do that. Anything else?"
"Well, uh, Louise doesn't want anyone to know about this, but you kinda need to," said Bob. "Her toes were amputated. So, she can't do P.E for a while yet, and, uh, she doesn't want anyone to mention it. At all. And she insists that you don't tell any of the students about it; she'll decide when she wants them to know."
It didn't take long for Louise to settle back into her old life. Very little had changed; there were now hand rails that Teddy had installed in the bathroom, next to the bath, and the toilet, and now a wheelchair was in the living room. She'd been kept busy finding a place for all of her new toys and games; a lot of rearranging was involved with that, and now everything had a home.
It felt great to be back in her room, in her own bed, with her own pillows and blankets.
She was already back at work in the restaurant. She definitely didn't miss it; the booths, the cash register, the smell of beef and grease in the air. No, she didn't miss it at all.
Bob had her doing sidework. She would sit on a stool behind the counter and marry condiments, refill napkins, polish silverware, and if anyone wanted a refill, they would come up to her, and she would top them up. She soon got back into the swing of things; soon, it began to feel like she had never left.
The only thing that weirded her out was the fact that the restaurant was actually busy. It was so weird to see person after person coming in, and actually staying. Without being vain, she knew it was because of her; everyone was just constantly talking to her.
Louise was surprised at how difficult she was finding it. She loved attention, but everyone crowding around her, talking to her, she found it hard to concentrate on them. She couldn't seem to decipher what they were saying, and their voices seemed to blend together.
One thing that had changed was that now every other Friday, after Bob closed the restaurant, they did family things. Be it watching a movie, or taking a picnic in the park, or anything that involved them spending quality time together. It was pretty much the same as they used to do, but now it had a different meaning to it. They were a family, a complete family, and they wanted to celebrate that any way they knew how.
"Right, are we ready?" said Linda one evening, after they had closed.
"Ready for what?" asked Tina, as they bypassed the front door, and continued walking down the street.
"We're going to the park," she grinned, doing a little dance step as she walked to the car.
"Why?" asked Gene.
"We just feel like it," said Bob, reaching into his pocket for his keys.
"But why a boring park?" Louise awkwardly climbed into the back seat, rebuffing any attempts from her siblings to help her.
"It's a nice place," said Linda, looking through the rear-view mirror, as her children put their seat belts on. "There's a playground, and I packed a picnic."
"It's a wonderful day for a picnic in the park," said Gene, as Bob began to drive.
They soon came upon a local park; not Wharf Park, a small one, kind of out of the way, and a little bit isolated.
They quickly devoured the picnic, and the kids were exploring the little childrens' park, while their parents watched.
"This is nice," Linda sighed, as she stretched out on the bench next to her husband. "We should do this more often."
"It is nice," Bob admitted, looking around at the little park.
Tina was on the swings, not going very high, despite pumping her legs, while Gene was whooping as he went down the slide.
Louise's crutches had been abandoned, and she was crawling through one of the play tunnels. The tunnel seemed to be getting smaller and tighter the further she crawled, and soon she was physically stuck. Her shoulders were caught, and she could neither go forward or backward. Her hands were splayed beneath her chest, and even though her legs had plenty of room she couldn't seem to move them.
Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to wiggle back, but she couldn't move.
"Bobby, I don't see Louise," said Linda, and Bob stood, looking through the park.
"That's weird." His heart was racing; the last time she was in a park, she had almost died. "Louise!" he called, stepping forward, and Linda joined him. "Louise!"
"Gene, Tina, have you seen Louise?" said Linda, and they shook their heads. "Come on, help look for her."
'Deep breaths,' Louise told herself, trying to remain calm, even though the tunnel was getting smaller. 'Deep breaths; just breathe.' She sighed in relief as Tina's head popped up at the end of the tunnel.
"Tina!" she gasped.
"Everyone's looking for you."
"I know; I'm stuck."
"Give me your hand, and I'll pull you out." Tina stretched out her hand, but Louise did not move.
"Didn't you hear me, Tina? I'm stuck! I can't move!"
"But.. the tunnel..." Tina looked in confusion at the tunnel; Gene and Bob could have fit in there, easy.
"Tina!" Louise snapped. "Focus, here! I am not spending five days stuck in here, so you better get me out!"
"Right. Right, right," Tina muttered, before realising what she had to do. She got up, and went around to the other end of the tunnel. There, she could see her sister's legs, and she crawled into the tunnel. She gently grabbed the ankle that hadn't been broken, and began to pull.
When Louise was out, she instantly stood up, gasping. "Louise, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she seethed, as Bob and Linda came running up to them.
"Oh, Louise!" Linda enfolded her in a bone-crushing hug, "Louise, where were you?"
"Relax, Mom," Louise forced herself out of the iron grip. "I was just exploring."
"Are you sure? We couldn't see you."
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Alright," said Linda. "Well, if you're sure you're okay, we'll go back home. We've got a busy day tomorrow, and then on Monday, you're going back to school."
That Sunday found Louise and her siblings back in Wharf Park. It was a rare afternoon off for them, but Louise was there on business.
Holding the walkie-talkie up to her mouth, Louise heard grunts emitting through it.
"This is the Godfather, are you in position?" she asked from her hiding place in a large bush.
"Hup – whoa, ugh, almost there. Ready and in position, boss," came Nat's voice through the speaker. Louise peeked through the bush, at the tree across from her, in which Nat was situated.
"Is the target in sight?"
"Target is in sight; should be passing by me in about 30 seconds."
"Okay, we got one shot; don't screw this up." Louise put the walkie-talkie down, and resumed peering through the leaves, along with Gene and Tina. "This is gonna be great," she whispered. "How come we didn't bring the video camera?"
"Because none of us have a pocket big enough," said Gene.
"Oh, well; I'm gonna remember this moment for the rest of my life."
"Look, there he is!" Louise discreetly pulled back a branch, and grabbed her radio as Logan walked casually through Wharf Park, glued to his phone, skateboard tucked under his arm.
"Get ready, Nat," she whispered. "Three... two... one... go!"
Logan stopped dead still in shock as an unknown, slimy substance poured all over him.
"What the -?" raising his arms, he saw that he was covered head to foot in baked beans. "What the hell?" he yelled, looking around, but he saw no-one. "Louise!" he screamed, beans falling from his hair. "I don't know how, but you're behind this; I know you are!" Looking disgusted, he tried to wipe the beans off him, when he heard the sound of glass tinkling. Head whipping up, he again saw nothing, but he heard the same noise again. He saw shards of glass on the floor, before the most pungent smell he could ever imagine hit him in the face like a freight train. "Oh, my God!" he cried, covering his nose and mouth. "Oh, God, I can feel it inside my nose! It's seeping into my skin!" He tried to run, but slipped and fell face first into the beans. Managing to get to his feet, he stumbled away, hands over his face.
Louise could not hold back her laughter any longer; tears were streaming down her face, as Nat dropped from the tree, and ran over to them.
"Oh, my God, that was perfect!" Louise cackled. Gene was on the ground, holding his stomach, and even Tina was laughing like mad.
"We totally "Carrie'd" him!" cried Gene.
"I think we did a good job here," grinned Nat, as Louise wiped her face, trying to calm herself down. "What do you think, boss?"
"It was great, Sarge; couldn't have been better."
"Wonderful; well, I'll be off. If you need me for anything else, any of you, you've got my number."
"Bye, Nat."
"See ya, guys!" And Nat was off, stopping only to grab the industrial sized bucket that had housed the beans, before she was gone, like a twisted fairy godmother.
Louise scowled as she placed herself into her wheelchair. It was Monday morning, and they were about to leave for school. She was about ready to die of embarrassment, even more so when she would actually get to school and people would stare at her.
"Aw, there's my little babies!" cried Linda when the children entered the restaurant. "Louise, won't you be hot in that?" She took in Louise's blue jacket, and her black leggings, which she had managed to force over her ankle cast. She had also taken one of Linda's socks, and placed it over the end of the cast, obscuring her foot.
"I'm cold," Louise shrugged, ignoring the sunshine that was streaming through the window.
Bob and Linda glanced at each other when their children left.
"Shall we?" Bob asked and Linda nodded. He got out the family laptop, and placed it on the counter. Connecting to the Internet, he typed in "Louise Belcher Fund," and clicked on the link. Linda pulled an envelope out of her bag; Louise's hospital bill, and, taking a deep breath, she opened it. They had health insurance, which would cover some of the costs, but any help they got would be more than greatly appreciated.
"$125,000?!" She almost fainted. She skimmed through the contents: full body X ray: $1,100; CT scans of the kidneys: $2,000, emergency room visit: $3,000; transmetatarsal amputations: $20,000, and so on. "How much is there, Bobby?" Bob was staring open mouthed at the screen.
"There's over $130,000 in here!"
"What?!" Linda moved to join him at the laptop, and found that he was right. "Oh, my God!"
"This is.. incredible," Bob covered his mouth. "I can't believe that people did this." He looked closer; most of the donations were anonymous, but some had left their names. "Wow, the biggest one is $80,000 from a Warren. F." He looked up at his wife, "you don't think that's Warren Fitzgerald, do you?"
"You know, I think it might be. Why don't you give him a call and find out?" Bob did just that, and pulled out his phone.
"Hey, Warren, it's Bob. I was wondering, did you...?" He wasn't quite sure how to phrase it.
"Did I what?"
"Did you donate money to Louise? I'm not saying you have to, if you didn't; it's just there's a name here, the same as yours -"
"Yeah, I did; I'm just messin' with ya, Bob. I knew what you were talking about. I hope it helps."
"It does. It really does. Thank you so much."
"Hey, no problem. Glad she's home now. If there's anything else I can do, just let me know."
"Oh, no; you've done too much already. Thanks again."
"Well, alright. Might come and visit in a few weeks."
"That would be great. See you."
"I can't believe he did that," said Linda when Bob had hung up. "He's a great guy."
"You know what that means? We can use that extra money for the trip to Japan."
"Yeah, maybe."
"What do you mean, maybe?"
"Well, Louise might need more surgery, or something; you never know. I think we should hold on to it, just in case."
"Okay, fair enough."
When they arrived at school, Louise wheeling herself, the three of them stopped and stared. There was a crowd of students and teachers hanging around outside. Many of them were staring up at the front steps, and when the Belchers' got closer, they saw why. Apparently, when the school had decided to set up a ramp, they hadn't thought it through. Wagstaff school had twelve steps leading up to it, and now a wooden ramp was on the left hand side.
It wasn't until the ramp had been assembled that they saw the problem. "Well, come on then," said Louise. "Let's get this over with."
Tina and Gene each took a handle, and began to push her up the ramp. Well, they tried. Due to it being quite steep, they were unable to push the chair. Even Tina's puberty strength wasn't able to help them.
Louise stared determinedly ahead, knowing she was being watched. "If you're taking pictures, I'm gonna charge you!" she yelled. "Five bucks each!"
All of a sudden, she was zooming up the ramp, and was being quickly wheeled down the corridor. "Finally -" she was greeted with the grinning face of Millie, and she screamed. "Millie!"
"Hi, Louise!" said the girl breathlessly. "I'm so glad your out of the hospital now, and that you're all better. Can I sign your cast? I'll draw a picture of you and me on it. Hey, maybe I should break my foot, and we can get matching casts!"
"No, you cannot sign my cast," said Louise sharply, the sound of footsteps telling her that her siblings had arrived. "And I didn't break my foot; I broke my ankle."
"I know that, silly billy!" Mille cackled, "I was just saying we should totally get matching casts; that would be so cool!"
"No, it wouldn't," said Louise. Fortunately for them both, the bell rang at that moment, and the students hurried off their classes.
"I'll sit with you at lunch, Louise!" came Millie's voice from somewhere in the crowd.
"Over my dead body!" Louise yelled.
Before classes officially started, she was accosted by Mr. Frond, who led her to his office.
"So, welcome back, Louise," he smiled at her, while she stared at him, looking deeply irritated.
"What do you want?"
"I just want you to know, that if you ever need to talk, or if things get too much for you, you can always come here; my office is always open."
"I can think of a million better things to do than willingly come here." Frond sighed inwardly, before trying again.
"Well, my offer still stands. Oh, by the way, Nurse Liz says that if you get too tired, you can go to her office and lie down."
"Oh, my God!" Louise face palmed. "It will be a cold day in hell before I do any of that. Now, unlike you, I have stuff to do," she threw him a cold look before wheeling herself out of the room.
It wasn't that bad being back at school, Louise thought; some of the classrooms had been changed, and now all of her lessons were on the ground floor. She got more than a few stares, but mostly people left her alone; her reputation as just a little bit crazy was well-known.
The first person who actually approached her was Regular Sized Rudy.
"Hey, Louise."
"'Sup?" was all she said as they, along with Tina and Gene, made their way into the cafeteria. She didn't really feel like holding a conversation at that moment.
"How you feeling?" he asked awkwardly, not really sure what to say.
"Oh, I'm top of the world," she said sarcastically.
"Oh, okay. Well, I'm glad you're out of the hospital now."
"Thanks," Louise muttered, frowning slightly. Didn't anyone have anything better to say to her?
"So, can I sign your cast?" he asked.
"My cast?" Louise looked down at it. "Uh, sure, go ahead." Smiling, Rudy pulled a pen from his backpack, and examined the cast, which was littered with signatures.
"Whoa, that's a lot of names. Who are all these?"
"Just some of the people who got me out."
"Oh. I thought you didn't want visitors." Louise paused slightly.
"I didn't; my parents invited them," she said, and Rudy nodded.
"Where should I sign?" Louise looked back down at her cast, suddenly remembering how he'd saved a spot on his own cast for her.
"Oh, yeah, I saved you a spot; right here," she said quickly, pointing to a small gap on the side of her ankle.
"Okay, cool." Louise held her breath as Rudy bent down and began to write. She hoped with all of her might that he wouldn't notice that her toes didn't peep out from the edge, like they should have. If she still had them. Thankfully, if did notice, he said nothing, and they headed to the cafeteria.
After lunch, Tina and Gene took Louise to reception to wait for either Bob or Linda. Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Andy, Ollie, and Millie had joined them at their table for lunch, but Louise barely interacted with them. She did rather enjoy sitting at the end of the table; it made her feel like she was the boss.
It was Bob who came to pick her up. He lifted her into the car, and they drove past the restaurant, and went straight on to the physiotherapy centre, where her physical therapy sessions would take place.
Bob had to give her credit; he thought, watching his daughter work on bending her legs, twisting her free ankle, and walking. She was taking it all in stride, working hard, and he was so proud of her. He blew his nose, blinking back tears.
"Hi, sweetie!" called Linda, when they arrived home, Louise back in her wheelchair, and Bob pushing her. "How was physical therapy?"
"It was fine," said Louise, moving herself out of her chair and into the only empty booth. "Same old, same old."
"She did really good, Lin," Bob's voice wobbled. "Like, really good. She did everything she was told, and didn't complain once."
"She's amazing, isn't she?" said Linda quietly, and Bob nodded, more tears welling in his eyes.
The restaurant was busy, but not so busy that Linda couldn't handle it alone, which was the best kind of busy. Now, with Bob back on the grill, Linda went out front to work behind the counter. Teddy was there, along with two other men, and Linda chatted happily to them, as she refilled their drinks. "Bobby?" she looked through the hatch, and saw Bob bent over the grill. "Bobby."
"What?"
"Look." Linda jerked her head towards the booths, and Bob carefully leaned over, looking.
Louise was asleep in the booth, curled up with her head resting against the wall.
"I'll take her upstairs," Bob, removing his apron and exiting the kitchen. He picked Louise up, took her upstairs, and tucked her into bed.
~ X ~
Done! So, what did you think?
Please let me know, I love hearing your thoughts.