The Muppets sat in the waiting room of the hospital. Time felt like eternity, and the atmosphere was filled with dreaded sadness. Some were sitting, some were pacing back and forth. But, it was clear the same thing was on everyone's mind.
What was gonna happen to Walter? They waited in complete silence. Except for the sounds of those who were still silently crying. Everyone was in fear for the boy's life. They impatiently kept looking at the door for the medics to come tell them the news. The last time they saw Walter, he was bleeding unimaginably, and needed to be given oxygen from the tank. The Muppets all shook with fear.
Kermit sat next to Piggy, both holding each other's hands. They didn't look at each other, they just comforted one another with silence.
"Should we call Gary...?" Fozzie finally spoke up. Kermit swallowed.
"I already did." The frog responded, still looking at the floor. "Him and Mary are catching the next bus to L.A."
"What about Lily?" Scooter asked.
"Yes, her too. She's on her way, now." Kermit reassured everyone. It went back to being silent.
"He's...gonna be okay, right?" Gonzo said. A few of the Muppets looked towards Kermit, hoping he would have the answer as usual. Kermit refused to look up from the floor, he was in too much fear.
Before it could be further questioned, a medic entered from the ER. The Muppets all shot their gaze up, and went towards the doctor.
"How is he?" Kermit was the first to ask, putting on a brave face. The doctor wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, clearly coming from hard medical work on Walter.
"Not well, sir..." The doctor said. The Muppets all looked at him with worry in their eyes.
"He's in critical condition." The doctor said. The Muppets didn't break their gaze.
"Critical condition? So he's asleep?" Fozzie asked. The doctor nodded.
"Yes, a coma." He responded. The room fell heavy again.
"C-can we see him?" Gonzo nervously asked. The doctor sighed, but nodded.
"Yes, but his condition is very bad. He may not look the same..." The doctor warned. The Muppets nodded, but willingly went. They all wanted to see Walter, not matter what state of condition he was in.
The doctor lead the Muppets down the hall, Kermit in the lead as usual. Not just because he was leader, but could not express the fear he was feeling for the boy. As they got closer and closer to the room, all their little hearts felt heavy. What if it was worse than ever?
The doctor stopped at a door, and carefully opened it for them.
"You can go. Please don't touch the machines though, they're highly delicate." The doctor said. Kermit nodded.
"We won't, thank you." Kermit said, his voice a little more quiet than usual.
The Muppets entered, and their hearts shattered at the sight in front of them.
Walter laid down in the hospital bed, with an oxygen mask strapped over his face. His eyes were shut closed, and a white bandage was wrapped tightly around his forehead, with a blood stain on it. He was shirtless, and there were heart monitors strapped on his bare chest. As well as another bandage on his gashed shoulder.
They all surrounded his bed, tears dwelling in their eyes. The doctor was right. It didn't look like the Walter they knew. It was hardly him, at all.
"Oh...poor dear..." Piggy whispered, leaning against the bed to get a better look.
Dr. Teeth swallowed, before talking. "We're sorry boy, we didn't mean for this to happen..."
"It's no one's fault..." Kermit reassured the keyboardist. "It's someone else's." Everyone looked towards him.
"Who?" Floyd asked. Kermit looked at Walter, shuttering at the thought of his accident.
"Guys, that car hit him and took off without stopping. And we got a threat specifically against him. They clearly hit him on purpose" The frog explained. Everyone shifted uncomfortably. "I know it's scary, but it has to be the truth."
Scooter looked at the boy. "I can't believe it. We leave him alone for five seconds, and this happens..."
Janice sniffed, allowing Floyd and Teeth to comfort her. Everyone in the room felt nothing but heartache towards their young friend. Their family. Kermit sighed, looking at Walter once more. The only sound in the room was the beeping on the monitor of Walter's slow heart beat.
"Is that beeping suppose to try and wake him up?" Fozzie asked, pointing at the monitor. Many of the Muppets shook their heads.
"Fozzie, that's his heart beat." Scooter responded.
Floyd walked closer to Walter's bed. "This is worse than when Kermit got hit by a car in Manhattan years ago..."
The Muppets continued to shift uncomfortably, remembering Kermit's accident from all those years ago.
"At least I was conscious..." Kermit said, not really caring about his accident.
"Yeah, but you got amnesia." Rowlf said. "Until Miss Piggy karate chopped you, and returned your memory."
Kermit shrugged. "I'd rather Walter have amnesia, than have his life at risk..." The frog continued to protest, fighting back tears.
Fozzie swallowed. "But he wouldn't remember us, like you did..." The frog shook his head.
"But, he would be okay..."
The Muppets all felt their eyes continue to dwell with tears. This was all too overwhelming.
"Our Manhattan trip..." Zoot pondered. "That was a long time ago."
Kermit nodded. "A few years before Walter was born." The Muppets couldn't help but smile, slightly. It was funny how Walter was in fact younger than all of them. Heck, he was still in his early twenties.
"How old is Walter?" Fozzie randomly asked.
"Twenty-four." Floyd said.
Piggy shook her head, putting her hand gently on Walter's. "That's too young..." The Muppets unwillingly nodded, agreeing. It was too young.
"He doesn't deserve this." Gonzo all of a sudden said, with a shaky voice. "Not after everything he has done for us."
Kermit sighed, and stood by Piggy. He carefully put his frog hand on the boy's injured shoulder, trying not to hurt him.
"We promise, Walter..." Kermit said. "We're gonna find out who's doing this."
"Lily." Animal all of a sudden said, getting everyone's attention. Animal was looking out the door of the room, down the hall.
"Where is he?" They heard the shaky voice of Walter's girlfriend echo down the hall. Kermit took this as a sign to leave for a bit.
"We should give them some privacy." The amphibian said. All the Muppets began to pile out of the room, just in time for Lily to arrive. Most of the Muppets walked back to the waiting room, giving Lily some reassuring words and gestures.
Kermit paced behind though, and turned back to look at Lily.
"Lily?" He said. The girl looked towards him, her eyes already a bit watery. "He's...not the same..."
Lily carefully wiped a tear from her eye, and nodded. "I know." She said, softly. Lily then ducked into Walter's room, closing the door behind her. Kermit continued to walk down the hall.
"This can't be happening..."
One by one, everyone left to go home that day. They didn't want to leave, however. Every Muppet wanted to stay with Walter, but they needed rest. It would be best for them to not always be hanging around the hospital the entire day.
As the sun was setting down, only three others remained by Walter's bed side. Lily, Kermit, and Piggy.
"Why would someone be doing this?" Lily asked, gently holding Walter's hand. Kermit shrugged.
"Who knows...we don't even know who's behind it..." The frog said, looking at Walter's heart monitor. His heart rate stayed the same for the past few hours, with no sign of change.
"Is there anything you could have picked up from the call?" Lily said. "Did you recognize the voice?"
Kermit thought about it for a moment. "No I didn't...but they had an accent."
"What kind?"
"I...I think it may have been Russian?" Kermit pondered over it. Russian? Kermit thought about it over in his head for a few moments. Russian...wait... Realization then hit the frog like a ton of bricks. "Oh my gosh...how did I not think about this, before?"
Piggy began to pick things up as well. "Russian accent? Kermie, you don't think..."
"It could have to be one of his helpers...not him directly." The amphibian said, scratching his head. Lily looked at them, confused.
"Who are we talking about?" She asked. Kermit looked at her.
"Well...did Walter ever tell you about our mishap in Europe?" He asked her.
"He didn't have to. It was all over the news." Lily said, referring to the Muppet's Constantine situation. "Why? You think he's behind this?"
Kermit nodded. "That accent on the other end wasn't Constantine's, but I'm sure it was someone who works with him..."
"How could they have gotten here?" Piggy said. "That prison is too heavily guarded."
"Which is probably why he sent people, instead of himself." Kermit began to put all the pieces together. "Constantine's behind this. He's sending goons to go after Walter."
"But, why...?" Lily asked innocently, squeezing Walter's motionless hand. "Why would they be going after him?"
"I'm not sure, Lily." Kermit said. "Not trying to sound self-absorbed, but it would make more sense if they were going after me. I mean, I'm probably the one Constantine should hate the most."
"Did you tell the police the phone call had a Russian accent?" Lily asked.
"I did." Kermit said. "But, I didn't think too much into it at the time. I can't believe I'm only realizing this now..."
Just then, the door opened. A doctor entered.
"Visiting time is over, folks." She said. "We promise he'll be fine."
The three nodded, and hesitantly got ready to go. They weren't ready to leave Walter after staying with him for hours. It's not like he was going anywhere, but they wouldn't be able to get him off their minds.
Kermit looked at the boy. "We'll be back soon. Hang in there..." Kermit said, before walking towards the door. Piggy began to walk too, before she noticed that Lily was staying in place.
"Lily?" She asked. "He'll be okay. You'll see him tomorrow."
"I can't believe I let this happen... I should have been there..." She whispered. Piggy put her hand on the girl's back.
"It's not your fault, dear. Go home, you need it. We all do." Piggy reassured her. Lily nodded, and kissed Walter gently on his face before getting up to leave.
Piggy and Lily left the room, leaving Walter's comatose body. Lily's kiss on his face still lingered there, causing his heart beat to go a bit faster.
Far outside the town of L.A., the two Russian men watched as their car burnt to ashes. The same car they used to hit Walter, earlier that day.
"Good thing we burnt it, eh?" The first one said. "Otherwise, they would have found us."
The second responded with a grunt. The other looked at him.
"What's your problem?"
"You know he's not dead." He responded. "Probably only in critical condition."
"Of course I know, stupid." The first one laughed. "That is part of Constantine's plan. Walter getting hit by our car is merely a warning, that there is more to come. And those Muppets can't stop it."
"So, what's next?" The second asked. The other kept his eyes on the burning car.
"Constantine is aloud one phone call to the outside world every three months." He said, scratching the grown hairs on his chin. "He'll use his very smartly, I'm sure."
The second Russian man rolled his eyes. "Can't we just slaughter the boy, and get it over with?" The first one broke his gaze from the burning car, and grabbed the second one by his collar.
"Listen, Arkady. We promised to follow Constantine's orders. This was merely a warning. We aren't just gonna kill him, we're going to make him pay for Constantine's defeat."
"Fine, Vitaly." Arkady responded. "So, what do we do next?" Vitaly let go of his shirt collar, and looked back at the burning car.
"We wait to make our next move. First, Constantine must make a little phone call with Kermit."