Both Bert and Cedric were sitting with Sophia in her hospital room. She had an IV tube stuck in her arm. She looked so small in the hospital bed, and so frail. Cedric could barely bring himself into the room, but he did, with a little push from Bert. Cedric took a deep breath, pulled up a chair, and sat down. He took Sophia's hand in his, and held it as gently as he possibly could, as if she were made of fragile glass. Bert stood behind him, and put a hand on his best friend's shoulder.
"It'll be okay, Cedric," he said. "There's nothing to worry about."
"I hope you're right, Bert," Cedric said.
Hours went by. Cedric was still at the hospital with Sophia. Bert went back to the Raccoondominium to check in. As he was walking in, Cyril was walking out with Forest.
"What are you doing here?" Bert asked, glaring.
"Picking up the baby," Cyril said. "Where's Cedric?"
"Still at the hospital."
"Is he gonna be there all night?"
"Probably. No thanks to you."
"It wasn't my fault!"
"Not all of it, anyway."
Cyril didn't respond. He just took Forest to his car, put him in the car seat, and drove off. When they got back to the mansion, things were pretty empty. Forest didn't like it. He was glad he had his grandpa with him, but what he really wanted was to see his mommy and daddy, especially his mommy. He began whimpering, and then began crying.
"Here we go," Cyril groaned. "Your parents will be back soon, Forest, so in the meantime, just relax!"
Forest couldn't relax. Cyril sighed, went into the kitchen, and pulled out an already prepared bottle of apple juice. He took it upstairs with Forest, and put the baby into his crib. He gave the baby the bottle, and turned on his mobile. Then he started to leave the room. Forest stood up in his crib, whined a little, and reached for his grandpa.
"Goodnight, Forest!" Cyril yelled, frustrated. He shut the door, and stormed off. Forest began screaming hysterically then. And to top it off, Snag started howling.
"How can you take the noise, sir?" Lloyd asked, as he, Floyd, and Boyd came into the hallway.
"Practice!" Cyril shouted.
Things didn't get that much better the next day. Cedric returned to the mansion at around nine in the morning. Forest immediately reached out to him the minute he entered the kitchen.
"Did you stay at the hospital all night?" Cyril asked.
"Yes," Cedric replied, lifting Forest out of his highchair. "I don't know why they didn't kick me out when visiting hours were over. But they did manage to kick me out. They said that I should go home and get some sleep. Let them take care of Sophia."
"Well, whatever. Don't make any plans, Cedric, I need you here today."
"What for?"
"I need the books to be looked at. I have to deduct how much time, effort, and money went into that skating contest. Especially the money! I want to know exactly how much Sofa Girl cost me, and I intend on making her pay it all back! With interest!"
"I can't believe you'd really do that, Pop."
"Well, I am, believe it or not! Drop the baby at the Raccoons place and let's get to work! I can't have Forest under foot all day while I try to recover from this skating contest!"
Cedric sighed, and stood up. On his way out the door, he grabbed Forest's baby bag, and then took him to the Raccoondominium. Ralph, Bert, and Melissa were just as shocked as Cedric had been when he told him Cyril's intentions.
"I don't believe him!" Ralph shouted, as he took Forest from Cedric.
"Of all the nerve!" Melissa yelled. "Just who does he think he is, anyway?"
"Yeah, first he works poor Sophia to the brink of exhaustion," Bert said. "Then when she loses the skating contest, Cyril wants to make her pay for all the money he's lost! Boy Cedric, your pop sure is a creep! Sometimes, I wonder how in the world you two can even be related!"
"I know, I know," Cedric said with a sigh. "I'd better get going, or else Pop's really gonna get angry if I don't work on the books today."
"Don't worry about Forest," Melissa said. "We'll take good care of him."
"I know you will," Cedric said. "Bye, guys."
Cedric walked off. Forest watched him go and whimpered a bit. Melissa took him from Ralph, and gave him a hug.
"Now, now, Forest," she said. "It's all right. Your daddy's going to come back for you soon. He just has to do some work for your grandpa right now."
"I think I know what'll calm him down," Bert said. "Hey, Forest, how about some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies?"
Forest didn't answer. Bert took him from Melissa and brought him into the kitchen. The cookies were a good distraction. Forest stopped whimpering for the time being. For the rest of the day, Bert, Ralph, and Melissa took turns playing with the baby, and keeping an eye on him until Cedric returned.
"Was he any trouble?" he asked.
"Well, we had a rocky start at first," Ralph said. "But Forest calmed down after Bert gave him a couple of cookies."
"He hates it when Sophia and I leave him with baby-sitters," Cedric said. "He's really been taking Sophia's . . . . defeat kind of hard."
Ralph nodded. He would have suggested Cedric take Forest to the hospital to visit with Sophia, but he had seen her in the hospital already, and she still pretty much looked the same as she did when she was admitted. The sight of seeing Sophia laying in a hospital bed, so small and frail, would probably scare Forest half to death.
In the following days, Sophia began to improve, but very slowly. She was awake, to say the least, and talking to a physician, and a psychiatrist as well. Cedric was over at the hospital with her as often as he could be.
"I'm glad you're doing better, Sophia," he said. "You had us all worried there for awhile."
"I know," Sophia said. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you tried to warn me, Cedric. I guess I was so intent on winning the contest, nothing else mattered to me anymore."
"Well, you'll be glad to know that Carrie Anne Snodgress didn't win the contest. When she found out she didn't even place, she threw a fit!"
"Really? But her routine was perfect?"
"Yeah, and everyone thought it was too perfect. She was also disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct, for laughing the way she did when you collapsed."
Sophia sighed, and shook her head. About a second later, Ralph, Bert, and Melissa peeked into the doorway.
"Hi," Ralph said. "Can we come in?"
"Sure," Sophia said.
"How are you feeling, Sophia?" Melissa asked.
"A little tired, a little drained, and very hungry," Sophia said, with a laugh.
"Well, that's good," Ralph said. "Because we brought you something."
Melissa walked over carrying a large cookie tin. Sophia took off the lid and found it filled with peanut butter cookies.
"I hope they don't have you on a liquid diet," Ralph said.
"Or else we might have to put these in a blender," Bert said. "I wonder what they would taste like."
Bert reached for one of the cookies, but Melissa smacked his paw before he could grab one.
"Don't you dare," she said. "These are all for Sophia."
"Really, Melissa, it's all right," Sophia said. "I don't think I'll be able to eat all of these cookies myself. Bert can have some if he wants."
"No," Melissa said, firmly. "These are all for you."
"And you're going to eat every last one of those cookies," Ralph said. "Although you don't have to eat them all in one sitting."
"Can't I have at least one?" Bert asked.
"No!" Ralph and Melissa shouted in unison.
Everyone laughed over that one. Bert smiled sheepishly. He wanted to grab one of the cookies, but he didn't.
A few weeks went by. Sophia was finally released from the hospital, but she was still required to go for counseling sessions with a therapist. Cyril found her one day, laying on the couch, reading a book from the Sneer library, and munching on an apple.
"You're back, huh?" he asked. "Well . . . . good. I want to talk to you."
"I know, Cedric told me," Sophia said. "You're going to make me pay you back, with interest, the money you spent on the skating contest."
"Right. I'll have you know that I lost a lot of money from that whole thing!"
"You don't have to worry about the money, Mr. Sneer. Somehow or another, I'll find out how to pay you back."
"With interest!"
And with that, Cyril stormed off. Cedric and Bert happened to hear the conversation between the two of them, and neither of them were happy about this.
"Hey Sophia!" Bert shouted. "How in the world does Cyril expect you to pay him back for the money he invested in this contest?! With interest no less! And I can't believe you're going to actually pay him back!"
"I don't think I have much of a choice," Sophia said, shrugging.
"When someone owes Pop money, he stops at nothing until he collects," Cedric said.
"I'll show him," Bert mumbled.
That night, Cyril went over what Sophia owed him for the contest. Bert was hanging out at the mansion as well, waiting. He had something to show Cyril.
"The way I see it," Cyril said. "You owe for that contract you lost."
"But I can't possibly play you a million dollars!" Sophia shouted. "Especially not with interest!"
"Well, you're . . . . somewhat of a smart girl. Sort of. I'm sure you'll think of something."
"Wait a minute, Pop," Cedric said. "You'd actually make her pay you the million dollar contract, plus interest?"
"Yep," Cyril replied.
"I don't believe you!" Bert shouted, running into the room. "You were the one who landed her in the hospital! If anything, you should be paying her hospital bill, and therapy bills!"
"Fine and dandy," Cyril said. "I'll pay her therapy bills, and she'll pay me back for the contract."
"Really," Bert said. "Well, think about this. Sophia's still in therapy for that diet of hers. And what's more, if she's working to pay you back the million dollars, plus interest, she'll work herself into exhaustion, which will land her in the hospital again, and go to include more therapy bills. Then the cycle will start all over again, until you're paying more than she'll be paying you back for that contract. You've got a choice, Cyril. If Sophia has to pay you a million bucks, plus interest, then you have to pay her hospital, and therapy bills. Your other choice is that you forget this whole thing right now."
Cyril thought it over. Then he started out the door.
"In light of the situation," he said. "Let's forget this whole thing ever happened."
And with that, Cyril was gone. Cedric, Sophia, and Bert burst out laughing over that. It was great to have things back to normal.
The next day, the gang went out to the local ice cream parlor to celebrate Sophia's successful recovery.
"We're glad you're feeling better, Sophia," Schafer said.
"Yeah, you had us plenty worried, young lady!" Bert teased.
"Promise us you'll never take a diet that far again," Melissa said.
"Don't worry, I won't," Sophia said. "And I can tell you this now, I'm starving!"
"Good," Cedric said. He then began to look over the menu. "How about splitting a banana split with me?"
"No thanks, Cedric," Sophia said. "I think I'll get one for myself."
Everyone laughed over that one. It was a sure sign that Sophia was feeling like her old self once more. She no longer worried about her weight, and she no longer got up at four in the morning to exercise, either. And she wasn't about to enter anymore figure skating contests for a very, very long time.
The End