Toast

"Hey mom?" sixteen-year old Ashton frowned, looking up at her mother as her and Clarissa worked on their homework on the kitchen table. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, placing several pieces of bread into the toaster oven. "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm making toast!"

"Yes…why?"

"Your dad and I have this little bet going," Sam explained.

"Oh jeez," Ashton sighed, knowing all too well how this was most likely going to end.

"What sort of bet involves toast?" Clarissa asked.

"Clarissa!" Ashton hissed. "Haven't you been around here long enough to know to never ask about what kind of stuff my parents come up with?"

"I'm glad you asked, Clarissa," Sam smiled, ignoring her daughter's comment. "You see, Freddie claims that those new flowers he had planted out in our front yard are gonna 'beautify our home' and 'liven up the neighborhood', but I say they're just gonna attract a bunch of bugs and birds and things. So we agreed that by the end of the week, if no pests are attracted to them, I have to spend an afternoon at the Pear Store with him. But if we do get a bunch of pests in our yard, he has to massage my feet for the rest of the month."

"I still don't get what the toast is for," Clarissa said.

"Oh, I'm gonna crush all this up and sprinkle the crumbs all around the flowers tonight," Sam replied.

"But wouldn't that make bugs and birds come into your yard?"

"Exactly," Sam grinned. "My feet are gonna feel so nice by the end of this month…"

"You see what I have to put up with?" Ashton said, rolling her eyes. "You have it so easy…your parents are normal."

"Hey Ash?" Emma said, coming into the kitchen. "Is it cool if I take our car tonight? Quincy and I are going out and his car has a flat."

"Yeah, I wasn't going out anyway," Ashton nodded.

"Why not?" Sam asked. "It's Saturday night."

"Yeah, but we have a huge calculus test coming up, so Clarissa and I are staying in this weekend to study," Ashton replied.

"I thought your calculus test wasn't until next week," Sam said.

"I know, we're already behind my ten-day exam prep strategy, so we need to catch up!" Ashton said.

Sam smirked. "Did you get anything from my genes besides your looks?"

"She just wants to get the highest grade in the class," Clarissa said.

"Yeah," Ashton nodded. "That stupid nerd Alex McDougle thinks he's smarter than me just because he got one point higher on our last exam. But this time I'm gonna destroy him so I can rub it in his stupid face."

"Aw, there it is," Sam chuckled. She turned to Emma. "Where are you and Quincy going?"

"That cool new sushi restaurant," Emma said. "They let your own fish out of this giant aquarium and they make your sushi from it!"

"Wouldn't it be kind of sad to eat a fish you've seen swimming around all happy?" Clarissa pointed out.

"Well I'm not gonna name it," Emma said. Just then, she let out a soft wince and grabbed her side.

"You okay?" Sam asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Emma said, quickly recovering. "I think I just got bruised yesterday during my soccer game."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked. "Want me to take a look at it?"

"Nah, I can handle a little pain, mom," Emma said.

"Well…okay," Sam said. "But if it's still hurting you tomorrow, I'm taking you to the doctor to have it looked at."

"Oh, Emma, good, you didn't leave yet," Freddie said, joining the four in the kitchen. "Tonight when you go to Quincy's, try and look around and see if you can find my Robots vs. Cowboys DVD. Gibby borrowed it and claimed he gave it back, but I think he's hoarding it over there somewhere and-Hey! Sam, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Sam said, quickly stepping in front of the toast.

"You're making toast!" Freddie exclaimed. "I knew it! You're trying to sabotage my flowers so you won't have to go to the Pear Store with me!"

"No!" Sam scoffed. "I'm just really hungry for toast!"

"Saboteur!"

"I don't even know what that means!"

"Well you know what?" Freddie said firmly. "I'm gonna sit right here and watch you eat every last piece of toast you have there!"

"You're such a nub!"

"-And I'm out of here," Emma said, rolling her eyes at her parents as she headed out of the house.

"I've never had sushi before," Quincy said as him and Emma sat in their booth at the restaurant.

"Really?" Emma said, trying to ignore the pain in her side that seemed to have intensified since she left her house. "I thought your dad loved the stuff."

"He does, but he has this really weird way of eating it that creeps me out," Quincy said, shuddering. "But I figured this place was too cool for me not to give it a try."

"Yeah, well you should try some of the special soy sauce," Emma said, trying to sit up straight even though she was now beginning to feel very nauseous and her head was hurting in addition to the pain that was shooting through her side. "I-I heard it's really good."

"Em, are you okay?" Quincy asked, noticing something very off with his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Emma said, though she felt far from it. "I-I'm still just a little bruised up from my soccer game yesterday."

"Are you sure?" Quincy frowned. "You seem sort of pale…that doesn't seem like it would be from your soccer game."

"Stop insulting my complexion and can we just enjoy our sushi?" Emma snapped.

"Okay, okay," Quincy said quickly. "So anyway, my parents are going to one of my mom's old modeling friend's parties tomorrow and Huey and Kirby both have school projects they're working on at the library, so my place is gonna be empty. I was thinking you and I could hang out and maybe chill out and watch movies all day. And you know, not watch the movie at times…"

"Yeah, that sounds fun," Emma nodded. "We can-Ow!"

She suddenly grabbed her side, unable to stifle a cry at the pain that was now radiating there.

"Okay, something's wrong," Quincy said firmly, sliding over closer to her. "Emma, what's hurting you?"

"My-My side," Emma said, no longer able to hide the pain she was in. "I think it's just bruised from soccer, like I told you."

"Emma, if it was just a bruise you wouldn't be hurting like this," Quincy said. "Besides, did you even hit your side yesterday? I was watching your game and I thought the only place you got hurt was your arm when some girl shoved into you."

"Well what else could this be from?" Emma pointed out.

"Wait a minute…" Quincy said slowly. "Your side has been hurting you since yesterday?"

"Uh-huh," Emma nodded, still wincing.

"And it's only that side? Your other side feels fine?"

"Yes!" Emma gasped.

Quincy gently placed a hand on her forehead. "You have a fever, Em."

"Well that's fantastic!" Emma groaned. "Look, I'll be fine. I just want to eat some sushi and have a fun night tonight, okay?"

"No, Emma, we're going to the hospital," Quincy said, getting to his feet and taking Emma's hand to help her up as well.

"What? No! That's stupid!" Emma said. "I told you, I'll be-"

"You will not be fine, you have appendicitis!" Quincy cut her off. "We need to get you to the emergency room so that they can take out your appendix before you get sicker."

"Take out my appendix?" Emma repeated, her eyes growing wide. "Are you crazy? Nobody's cutting anything out of me!"

"Baby, if they don't take out your appendix, you're going to get really sick," Quincy told her. "Give me your car keys. I'll drive to the hospital and I'll have your parents meet us there."

"I hate hospitals!" Emma said, her voice shaking.

"I know," Quincy said softly as he helped her out of the restaurant. "But I'll stay with you as long as I can. And-And you won't even be awake when they take your appendix out, so you won't feel a thing!"

"They knock me out?!"

"Just-Just for a little bit," Quincy said. "Trust me, Emma, you'll be okay."

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Will you be there when I wake up?" Emma asked, clutching her side again.

"I promise, I'll be right there," Quincy nodded.

"Over here!" Quincy said in the hospital waiting room as he saw Sam and Freddie rush in.

"How is she?" Freddie asked at once.

"She's getting her appendix out right now," Quincy told them. "They said she should be fine. It's a pretty quick procedure."

"I knew she wasn't okay," Sam said, shaking her head. "I should've made her stay home."

"It's not your fault," Freddie told her. "She seemed fine when she left. And she's gonna be okay. Ashton had her appendix out when she was nine, and you had yours out when you around this age."

He turned back to Quincy. "Thanks for calling us, Quince. And thanks for getting Emma here too."

"No problem," Quincy said. "I didn't even have to pay for parking; I still had my voucher from when I had to drive my dad here a couple days ago because he sprained his ankle trying to act out some scene from a robot and cowboy movie."

"I knew Gibby still had my DVD!" Freddie exclaimed.

"Excuse me," a nurse interrupted, coming over to Sam and Freddie. "Are you Emma Benson's parents?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "Is she okay? Did anything happen?"

"Your daughter's fine," the nurse assured her. "The surgery went very well and Emma's appendix was removed without a problem. She's still under anesthesia, but she should be waking up within the hour."

"Can we go in and sit with her?" Freddie asked.

"Of course," the nurse nodded. "She's in room 513."

"Um, would-would you guys mind if I came up with you?" Quincy asked. "I sort of promised Emma I'd be there when she woke up."

Freddie smiled. "Yeah, come on up, Quincy."

"Mmm," Emma mumbled sleepily as she slowly opened her eyes about an hour later.

"Hey sweetie," Sam said, stroking the top of her head. "How you feeling?"

"Tired," Emma said, sitting up. "Am I in the hospital?"

"Yup, and you're officially appendix-free," Freddie told her. "Congratulations."

"See," Quincy said, sitting down at the foot of her bed, giving her a small smile. "I told you you'd be fine."

"Yeah, yeah," Emma said, rolling her eyes. "I just wish I could've waited until after I got to eat some sushi before my appendix decided it had to come out. I'm starving."

"The doctor said you had to wait an hour before you ate anything," Sam told her. "But your dad and I are gonna go pick you up some food. The sushi place is closed right now, but would a burger and fries hit the spot?"

"It always does," Emma smirked.

"Alright, we'll be back soon," Freddie said, kissing the top of Emma's head. "Quincy will keep you company."

Quincy waited until Sam and Freddie had left before scooting closer to Emma. "You feel any different without an appendix?"

"Maybe a little," Emma chuckled. She looked down at her lap. "Sorry I ruined our date night."

"Em, you didn't ruin our date night," Quincy said, rolling his eyes. "I'm just glad you're not in pain anymore."

Emma's cheeks blushed. "I could've handled the pain…it-it didn't hurt that much."
"You were practically in tears," Quincy said.

"No I wasn't!"

"If you say so," Quincy said, leaning down to kiss her. "I'm just glad you're okay now, though. I love you too much to see you hurt."

Emma smiled up at him. "I love you too…Hey, what's in that jar over there?"
"Oh, I think that's your appendix," Quincy cringed. "That's so gross. Why would they just leave that there?"

"It's so cool!" Emma exclaimed. "Bring it over here so I can see it!"

"No! I don't want to touch it!"

"It's in a jar!"

"I don't care, it's still gross!" Quincy said. "There's no way I'm touching that thing."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Dude…"

"Fine!" Quincy conceded, grabbing the jar and handing it to his girlfriend, trying not to gag. "Here!"

"Thank you, Quincy," Emma said sweetly. "I love you even more now. Hey, look! It jiggles when I shake it!"