Morty sat around the house waiting wistfully for Rick's return. He shifted uncomfortably in a laying position as he grew restless. Rick had been gone for a few days on a trip he wouldn't share with him. He alerted Beth and Jerry, which Jerry took better than well, and took off. Morty was left behind with serious boredom since spring break started.
Beth noticed Morty looking miserable while she was doing her chores. "Morty honey," she called gently.
Morty removed his arm from his face and glanced over to his mother.
"Your grandpa will be back soon. While you wait, why don't you go outside and shoot some hoops or something. You never use the basketball anymore."
'I wonder why, Mother.' Morty thought bitterly, alluding to his fragile heart.
"In fact, why don't you take Summer with you. You kids used to play all the time, remember?"
'Yeah, that was before she got her phone.'
Morty sat up and stretched. "I guess a little bit of sunlight would do me good," he murmured.
"That's the spirit Morty."
Morty thought about being outside by himself, but he knew Summer would be happy to keep him company now that she knows what ills him.
"I'll have to see if Summer wants to go." He said as he started for the upstairs. He did not wait for his mother's reply.
He knocked on his sister's door and heard a "go away" from inside. Morty decided to open the door anyways.
Morty found Summer sitting on her bed staring at her phone.
"Morty god damn it!" she hissed.
"Hey Summer," he greeted. "I just-I just wanted to see what you're up to."
"Oh you know, the usual. Talking to my friends." she muttered, annoyed.
"Oh well, y-you wanna go outside and, uhm, shoot some hoops or something?"
Summer put the phone down immediately, her face full of surprise. "You're asking me?" she asked.
"Yeah well, there's no one else to ask really. And I thought some sunlight would do us both good. Don't you get tired of always being on that phone?"
He didn't know why he expected a dismissive sigh from Summer, but she only put her phone in her pocket and sat up.
"Yeah I'm getting pretty bored anyways. Let's go!"
She got up and pushed past Morty out of her room and hurried downstairs without a warning. Morty followed as quickly as he could until they were both outside bouncing a basketball around the driveway. Summer had always been better than Morty. Her height gave her an advantage. But adventures with Rick made Morty get quick reflexes and find ways to score goals. In the end Summer still won, but Morty made more goals than he thought he would.
Summer called it a day when her stomach grumbled, signifying it was time for lunch.
"Race you inside!" she exclaimed as she threw the ball onto the lawn and trotted towards the front door. She was just at the doorway when she stopped to look back at a glaring Morty as he walked towards to doorstep.
"Haha, very funny." he muttered sarcastically and disappeared into the doorway. Summer followed just behind and shut the door behind her.
Jerry entered the house in his usual, obnoxious way and greeted the family loudly. No one answered. He sighed and headed to the living room where he spotted Morty scribbling down on a piece of paper.
"Hey son, what you up to?" Jerry mused.
"Just a little bit of homework," Morty remarked, not looking up.
"Ah spring break homework. It's good to see schools making students work even when it's their time off. In the real world there are not many chances you can get vacations."
He gave Morty a slight squeeze on the shoulder before heading on into the kitchen.
Spring break homework. What a joke.
Morty waited until his father was gone before pulling out a daily sheet he had to fill out so he can report it to his doctor. His worry worsened when he saw all the symptoms he had checked off.
Fatigue, check. Loss of breath, check. Nosebleeds, no check. Chest pain- wait nosebleeds? What are those doing in this checklist? Anyways, check for chest pain. Faint but still there. Though the only thing that ever bothered Morty were the heart flutters for being too active. He can't even do cardio to make his heart stronger anymore.
Morty sat back and sighed. This was so stupid. Why did he have to be the one diagnosed with a heart condition. He was 14 dammit!
He stood up and folded his checklist before heading towards the garage. Maybe Rick had something, anything, that might help him just a little bit. Maybe he could find something that offered relief from the tightness in his chest or the vertigo that plagued him. Rick was always drunk, there has to be something that helps against faintness, right?
But as Morty was about to open the nearest box, the garage door loudly opened. Rick's ship pulled up just on the driveway. He got out, several empty alcohol bottles following behind him.
"Stupid beer bottles, now I gotta pick up the broken pieces and every other thing. I'd be lucky if a piece punctures one of Jerry's wheels." Morty heard his grandfather muttering to himself.
Rick glanced into the garage and spotted Morty.
"What are you doing in my lab?" he demanded. Morty backed away.
"Gee Rick, you're one for greetings," Morty reprimanded.
Rick glared at Morty as he walked in. He wore a satchel over his shoulder. "If you touched any of my stuff…" he began.
"Don't worry, I didn't mess with anything." Morty promised.
Rick held his gaze for another moment before relaxing and setting the satchel on the table.
"Look, Morty." he beckoned. Morty went over to investigate. To his surprise, he saw pounds of gems.
"W-what's that for, Rick?" He asked.
"These crystals are beneficial to my science, Morty. There are so many experiments I can do that I haven't done before. Look at them, Morty," he reached in and grabbed one from the bag. He was now smiling. "Aren't they pretty, Morty?"
"Yeah Rick, they look nice…"
"But there's only a limited supply here. Thankfully I found a nice gig that will offer more of these. I'll be able to do many more things, I'll practically be unstoppable!"
Rick was salivating in his excitement. Morty backed away cautiously.
"And y-you're gonna help me Morty!"
No surprise there.
"W-We're gonna get more of these, and the first thing I'll do is find a cure for that rotten heart of yours!"
Surprise pierced Morty, making his heart flutter.
"You really mean that, Rick?" He asked.
"Of course, Morty. Doctors won't do anything so someone has to, and that someone is going to be me!"
Hope and excitement flared up in Morty's chest. Maybe he can be saved after all!
The excitement made his stomach feel strange. He felt like he was going to vomit. But just as his muscles pushed up, he let out a small burp. Rick ended up staring at Morty for a moment or two before clapping him on his back.
"That was weak," he mused, slight disappointment in his voice.
Morty covered his mouth with his hands. Rick turned back to his bag, pulling out a small set of vials, each with colorful liquid in them.
"One more thing, Morty…" he started. "I've decided it's about time you get your own lab. It'll be a small one, but now you can work next to me as my assistant, mixing the formulas I ask you and learning how to be a scientist."
He pulled out a small table that was stored leaning on his cabinets. He set it up quickly and lined it up with a steel board for protection. A small box went on one of the corners so it can hold the precious liquid Rick had salvaged up over the years. It was a training set, but it was sure to keep Morty busy while he waited for Rick to make a breakthrough in his research.
Once Rick and finished setting up Morty's new lab equipment, he called Morty to investigate. Morty felt around his new desktop and organized tool box. It was smooth and shiny. It was probably new, Rick must've gotten it recently. He knew Morty's time to learn formulas had come. And now that he can help out despite his condition, he can finally he could feel like he was able to do something. Anything. He wasn't a total burden anymore.
"Woah Rick," he stammered. "I really...I-I don't know what to say...thank you!"
He was full of wonder and excitement. Rick just gazed at him proudly. For once, he felt a little spark of hope.
But as he reached out to begin his mixing training, his heart gave another flutter. One that lasted more than one second and left him with a strange feeling in his chest.
And just like that, his little spark of hope was shattered.
A/N: I'm mean, I know.