It didn't take very long for the animals to get to the pet hospital, mostly because of the fact that Abby was driving like a mad women. After quickly changing into some human clothes, Abby and the others ran towards the hospital doors. Upon entering, they were greeted by a receptionist who immediately took notice of the limp ferret in Abby's arms. Before anyone could say anything, Abby rushed towards the front desk with the speed of a bullet, and plopped the ferret down on the receptionist desk.
"Please Nurse" Abby began as tears ran down her face "My pet Ferret got into my medicine cabinet and ate all of my sleeping pills, I found him this morning. He's got a pulse, but he won't wake up!"
The receptionist took the ferret into her arms and immediately called for a doctor on her receptionist phone.
"Doctor Hugh, we've got a code blue. Bring this animal to the emergency room at once!" she shouted
No sooner as she had said those words, a small medical bed was wheeled in. Doctor Hugh, a stalk, lengthy doctor carefully grabbed the ferret and placed him on the girne. He then grabbed a flashlight and opened up one of Freddy's eyelids and shined the light on it. The he pulled out his stethoscope and checked the ferret's heartbeat. It didn't take long for the doctor's face to turn pale. He immediately called for his two assistance.
"Nurse Hem, I need you to bring this ferret into the emergency room immediately!"
Both assistance nodded their heads and quickly brought the ferret to the emergency room. After Freddy had been wheeled into the room, Abby took her seat and buried her hooves into her face and started crying. The other animals, who had to park the tractor while the whole situation was going about, all ran into the hospital lobby and found Abby in her state. They all were worried, but at the same time confused. What was going on? What happened? Why was Freddy being dragged to this hospital? Otis was the first one to go and try and comfort Abby. The others soon followed suit, and all sat themselves down next to the weeping she-cow. Otis placed his hoof on Abby's back as she continued to let out sob after sob. After a few minutes of crying, she soon calmed herself down enough to be able to speak.
"You guys are wondering why I brought you all here aren't ya?" Abby said sniffling
"Yeah, I mean, what's going on? What happened to Freddy?"Otis asked
Abby took a deep breath, and fought the urge to burst out into more tears as she explained what had happened.
"Well...I was out lookin for Freddy, as you had told me to do." She began " I looked everywhere for him; the roof, the farmer's house, even the attic. I then checked the silo, and that's where I found him. He was just lying there, like he was asleep. I called out to him, but he didn't respond to my calls. I then gave him a little shake, and...this fell out of his paw."
Abby then shakily placed the pill bottle into Otis's hoof. It didn't take long for Otis's eyes to go wide with shock. Peck, Pig, and Pip stared at the bottle as well, their faces growing into even more shock than Otis's. Nobody said anything for quite some time. Honestly there really wasn't anything to say at all. They just stared at the pill bottle, and tried to make sense of what had just happened. It didn't take to long for someone to finally say something relating to what they were just told.
"W...Why would he do something l..like that!" Peck said crying
"I don't know Peck...I just don't know." Abby replied back
"I...did...he..." Pip was just at a loss for words
Pig didn't even say anything. He just sat there, eyes widened in shock no doubt.
No one had any idea why Freddy would try and kill himself like that. It just wasn't like him to act like that. As far as they knew, Freddy didn't seem to show any kind of sighs that he was depressed or anything like that. He was just as bubbly and crazy as he had always been. In fact, he was the one that suggested that they all have a party last night. Heck, he even set up most of the decorations for that specific party. Many more questions filled their heads like gasoline in a pickup truck. The more it all came it, the less it was likely to come out.
An hour had passed, and still no word from either the doctor, or the receptionist. The silence was madding, but not as much as the worry that was filling their minds and bodies. Otis and Pig tried to pass the time by reading a few magazines that were spread around the small coffee table in front of them. However, it wasn't very long before they both got bored, and stopped reading. The receptionist immediately took notice and said
"Would you like me to turn on the TV for you guys?"
Peck looked up at her and said
"Sure, that sounds good."
The receptionist pulled out a remote from behind her counter and turned on the tv. It was on the news channel with Hilly Burfurt, but nobody seemed to mind. Besides, they were all still fearful of if Freddy was going to make it or not. After another hour of just news and some sports, the emergency room doors were opened up. Everyone immediately turned their attention to the opened doors, hoping that it was . To their relief, it was. His doctor outfit was covered in some bile, a bit of blood, and was soaked in sweat. The doctor immediately took off his doctor's mask and gave out a sigh. He turned towards the animals that were looking at him, and walked over towards them. As soon as he made his way towards the main lobby, the animals got up and started asking questions.
"Is he okay doc?" Peck asked
"Is he dead?" Pip asked
"How did the surgery go?" Otis asked
The doctor waved his arms in a manner to signal everyone to quite themselves. To which they all did.
"Well." The doctor stated solemnly "I have some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"Good news first please." Pig answered
"The good news is that your ferret is still alive. We managed to pump his stomach, and clean out his colon, of all the drugs that he had ingested. You're all quite lucky that he's still alive after that massive dosage of sleeping pills. If you had waited another minute, he would have been gone for good." The doctor said sternly
"Now, here's the bad news." The doctor said, taking off his glasses.
"Despite the fact that your friend is still alive, the effects of the drugs had already started taking it place. Because of this, we had to put him in a medically induced coma. We did this so that his body could recover from the effects of the pills he swallowed."
"How long will he be in the coma for?" Pip asked
"Only for three days. Until then, he won't be able to respond to any of your actions. I guess that's kind of obvious..."
The doctor scratched his chin slightly with his pen, and said
"Be grateful though. If we hadn't put him into that coma, he wouldn't been able to last long at all. If anything we would've had to euthanize him."
The animals eyes became tiny, and there faces became white as ghost.
"Now, before I go to my next patient, I would like for you all to go home and rest."
"Wait, can't we see him?" Pig asked
"As of right now, no. But tomorrow, you can come and visit him. Here is a card with our visiting hours on it."
The doctor then put a small card into Otis's hoof.
"Well, I guess I need to get going. You all have a safe trip back home." said with a smile
The animals nodded their heads and slowly made their way back to the tractor that they had driven just to get there. It was a quiet way back home, and nobody cared. All that was in their minds, was Freddy.