Spring Showers

Chapter Four: Breaking Down

"Ugh…" RJ felt sick to his stomach, which was already threatening to rebel against him and force out the remains of last night's dinner and dessert. His body ached and he wanted to just lay there on his seat until his body felt like cooperating.

However, unlike his body, his mind was racing a mile a second. Everything from last night barreled down his mind until it slowed to a mere snail's pace as one memory played itself from last night.

"Oh no." RJ rubbed his temples, trying to convince himself of the reality of the situation. One of his best friends just admitted to him, though in a clouded state of mind, that he was attracted to him. Reflecting on his actions last night, he now believed that Hammy thought that he hated him. It was like it was pulled straight out of a sappy, second-rate drama, and he would have laughed if it really wasn't happening to him.

"RJ?"

"Huh?" RJ blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision.

"RJ, are you feeling okay?" The brown, hazy figure approaching him came into focus and he recognized who it was.

"Oh, hey Lou." RJ shakily straightened himself up, trying his best to greet the porcupine. "Oh, I feel just fine." RJ replied. "I feel like I was just hit by a truck, but aside from that, I feel perfectly fine." He added.

"Oh, geez. Verne did say you drank quite a bit of that stuff." Lou told him, placing his paw over RJ's forehead, seeing if he had a fever.

"I'm okay." RJ sat up, gently pushing Lou back. "I just have to get over this headache."

"Here RJ, drink some water." Heather appeared next to him, holding in her paws a capful of water. She pushed forward suddenly and the capful of water went flying…

SPLASH! Right onto RJ's head.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" RJ screamed, the splash of cold water sending a shock right through his body. It was just what he needed to wake up.

"Oh, sorry RJ!" Heather ran around until she found a piece of cloth to help wipe off the water.

"That's… that's … Heather, you can stop now. I'm dry already." RJ said. He huffed slightly. "Thanks Heather." He turned to Lou. "Have you guys taken care of Hammy?" RJ asked, looking for some sign of the young squirrel. Heather handed RJ another capful of water and began to drink.

"Hammy? We didn't find him here with you. You were by yourself when we got here." Lou answered. RJ suddenly threw aside the capful of water, eyes wide with fear.

"WHAT? He's not here!" RJ pushed himself off of the chair, moving past Lou and Heather, and frantically looked around for some sign of Hammy. "Where is he? Where is he?" RJ looked around his chair for him.

"RJ, calm down, I'm sure he…" Lou tried to relax RJ.

"HAMMY! WHERE ARE YOU?" RJ screamed at the top of his lungs. And just as suddenly as he surged up, his body began to fail on him, suddenly seeing himself falling to the ground.

"Geez RJ, watch yourself!" Lou had caught the raccoon before he landed facedown into the ground.

"Please!" RJ pulled himself up and looked Lou straight into his eyes. "Find Hammy! Please make sure he's okay!" RJ begged, his face crumpled as if he was in agony. Lou was somewhat taken aback at the sight before him. He had never seen RJ like this before and it scared him a little.

"We'll find him, I promise." Lou assured him.

"Thanks, Lou." RJ picked himself up, Lou supporting him just in case he stumbled again.

"Heather." Lou called to the female possum, still standing at the side, still somewhat dumbstruck by what just happened in the past minute. She shook her head and moved to the two. "Take care of RJ. I'll go get the others and start looking for Hammy."

"Okay, can do." Heather nodded as Lou passed RJ to her. Lou quickly dashed off for the others while Heather helped RJ back to his seat.

"Everything will be cool. You'll see." Heather handed another capful of water to RJ, which he slowly sipped down. "Last night must have been really horrible for you, wasn't it?" Heather asked. "That stuff must have done a real number on you." She continued.

"Yeah, it really did." RJ replied simply. "And on Hammy too." He said to himself softly.

Heather continued to dote on RJ, taking care of any need he had. RJ, on the other hand, barely noticed her presence, only replying with one-liners when he could, not wanting to explain much about last night. Though he did appreciate what she was doing, his mind was somewhere else, wondering about Hammy. Not so much worrying about where he was, but what state he was in.

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"HAMMY!" Lou called out into the forest, the echo carrying some distance. He peeked into a couple of bushes and around a couple of trees, hoping to see some sign of Hammy. "Geez, I hope that he's okay." Lou said hopefully.

He had made his way back to the others, meeting with Verne and his wife and kids. A few minutes after he had arrived, Stella, Tiger, and Ozzie had returned from getting rid of the last of the 'beer' and he began to explain what had happened. Once Verne felt well enough to move without assistance, they all made their way to RJ to speak with him.

Their meeting was short. RJ kept any specific details about what had happened between him and Hammy that night from everyone else, just giving them enough info hopefully to help them find Hammy. Penny and the siblings stayed to help RJ while the rest disbanded to search for Hammy.

It didn't take them too long to find the blood trail.

"Verne, do you think Hammy may be in a lot of trouble?" Lou called out to Verne, who was searching nearby.

"I don't know. I really hope that he's not seriously hurt." Verne dared not to think about the worse case scenario. He wouldn't be able to accept it if anything happened to the little guy. His fear drove him to search more intensely, praying to some higher power in the hope that he would find Hammy safe.

But the blood he saw wasn't helping to ease his worries.

"HAMMY! PLEASE ANSWER ME!" Verne shouted once more. He quieted down, concentrating on any sound he may hear that could lead him to Hammy.

SNAP!

"Hammy?" Verne rushed to the source of the sound, hoping that it was him. He stumbled across a few broken branches on a bush and found a bare area of dirt at the base of a tree. He listened in, hoping to hear anything else.

He heard a faint sobbing.

"Hammy?" Verne kneeled down and looked under the tree into a small hole. There, he saw something shivering. "HAMMY, COME OUT HERE!" Verne called to him, extending his hand.

"Go away, leave me alone." Hammy replied softly

"Hammy, get out here! You're hurt!" Verne further pleaded with him.

"No, just leave me here." Hammy squeaked back. "Just leave me here."

"Hammy, look! Whatever the problem is, you can talk to me about it! I'm here for you! I'm not going to leave you!" Verne strained his voice, still trying to reach out to Hammy.

A few tense moments passed.

"Thank you, Hammy." Verne breathed a sigh of relief as he felt Hammy's hand grasp onto his. As he pulled, he was appalled at the sight of dirt and blood that was caked onto the fur of Hammy's arm. He pulled gently and helped the squirrel out of his hiding place, taking care not to cause the little one any more pain. Once in full view, Verne was horrified at the sorry state that Hammy was in.

Aside from the mess on his arm, his fur was bristled and disorganized, pointing every which way, with dirt and blood spotting his red and white fur. Verne looked at Hammy's face and, staring back at him, Hammy's emerald green eyes were marred with red, arteries and veins trailing every which way across his eyes. The fur around his eyes was still wet, a sign that he had been crying for longer than he had thought.

"Hammy, what happened to you?" Verne demanded to know why Hammy looked so disheveled.

"It's… it's…" Hammy sniffled, trying to hold himself back. He was quickly trying to think of an explanation to give to the turtle, but couldn't find anything to say. Hammy looked up to Verne and saw the deep concern, how worried he was for him. Aside from RJ, Verne was the only person that he could ever really talk to about anything. After all, after his parents had died when he was young, Verne somewhat became his surrogate father, raising him up to become who he is today. He trusted him completely, and now, more than ever, he had to trust him with this secret. He would need his help most of all if he was to ever make it through this ordeal.

"IT'S ME!" Hammy broke down once more, collapsing into Verne's arms, weeping once more.

"Hammy, what's wrong?" Verne asked softly enough to not sound angry, but loud enough to carry over the sobbing. "I don't understand what you are saying."

"I… I… I'm in…" Hammy sobbed between words.

"Go ahead." Verne gently patted Hammy's back to help him relax.

"I'M IN LOVE WITH RJ!" Hammy cried out before pressing himself against Verne, his body now shaking from the strain of his confession and the stress it placed on his body. "But he doesn't love me." He squeaked. "He hates me."

Verne could only cradle the young squirrel in his arms, trying to slowly let Hammy's confession sink into his mind. He had not expected such a staggering revelation as that from Hammy. Yet, he couldn't completely understand why Hammy was like this.

"What happened?" Verne asked him, trying to better understand the situation. Hammy didn't, or rather, couldn't respond. His senses had become too jumbled and he petered on the edge of awareness, ready to lapse into unconsciousness at any time. His mind and body were too fatigued to do anything else.

Realizing Hammy was in no shape to explain anything, Verne simply held onto him, continuing to massage his back, helping him to release the tension in his body. As Hammy slowly fell into another uneasy sleep, Verne mulled over the revelation, trying to make sense of it all. Seeing the mental, physical and emotional toll that was taken on Hammy in revealing such a secret worried him. He needed to know more in order to help him make sense of it all, to help him through and make sure he was okay. He needed to help this young squirrel, his adopted son. He loved him as so.

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Before long, the others found Verne with Hammy. They took Hammy back home where, as Hammy slept, his family tended to the wound on his arm. RJ, after recovering from his hangover, came as they were helping to clean the dirt off of Hammy's fur. He looked upon the squirrel with sorrow and regret.

"Hammy…" RJ whispered as he took Hammy's hand into his. "Please be okay." RJ gently squeezed his hand, hoping that he'd be okay when he woke up.

The family stayed close to Hammy as he slept. They had more than enough food to keep them satisfied for a long while, so they didn't have to go on another raid anytime soon. They stayed vigilant at the side of the squirrel, waiting until the time when the little guy would wake up from his sleep.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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