Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I only the own the situation in which I have put them in.

The sirens blared as an ambulance took Perry to a nearby hospital. Della held his hand as Eli and Brooke sat near the doors out of the way of the tech who was keeping an eye on Perry's vitals. When they arrived at the hospital Eli jumped down and quickly helped Brooke down so that she didn't get knocked over as the tech and the driver quickly removed Perry from the ambulance and Della followed at Perry's side.

A nurse who met them at the emergency entrance took the children while Della stayed with Perry. The nurse took them to the waiting area where a doctor or Della would come and fetch them later. As Eli and Brooke sat on a couch, Eli glared over at his sister and said acidly, "Nice going, Brooke."

"What do you mean," Brooke asked wide eyed with fear.

"If you hadn't run off, Pop wouldn't have gotten scared and his heart wouldn't be hurting again," Eli explained angrily.

Brooke looked down at the bunny Perry had bought her at the zoo and snuggled into it. Eli watched her as she did so and whispered, "If Pop dies, you killed him."

Without a word, Brooke moved away from her brother and sat in a chair at the opposite end of the waiting room, where she snuggled into her bunny and whispered into its fur, "Pappy, I'm sorry."

DGP

"Eli, Brooke," Della called out to the children.

Brooke's eyes fluttered open as she had been asleep. She looked up to see Della standing over her who smiled down at her and said, "Brooke, Pappy is awake and he wants to see you two."

Brooke immediately looked away and muttered, "You and Eli go see him, I'll stay here."

"Why, Brooke," Della asked confused, "Perry wants to see you both. Why don't you want to come with us?"

Brooke simply shook her head, and nestled down into her bunny again. Della sighed as she looked back at Eli who was staring at her with the most serious look on his face she had ever seen. She then looked from Eli to Brooke, and then it clicked with her what must have happened. Being with Perry all these years, she had picked up a few tricks. She walked over to Eli who was waiting by the doors to go see Perry, but Della put her arm around his shoulders and steered him back to the couch. She sat him down, looked him in the eye, and asked sternly, "What did you say to Brooke to make her not want to see Pop?"

Eli was hesitant as he thought about it then finally answered, "I told her if she hadn't run off, then Pop's heart wouldn't have started hurting, and we wouldn't be here. It's her fault Pop's sick."

Della looked at him in shock as she asked, "You really told your sister that?"

Eli nodded a defiant yes. Della sighed as she said, "We're going to let your grandfather talk to you about this when he gets better."

Eli looked at her confused as she led him back to the doors, waved down a nurse and asked, "Could you just keep an eye on that little girl for me, please? I'm going to run him up to his grandfather's room, and then I'll be right back down for her."

The nurse nodded a reluctant yes at being made a baby-sitter. Della quickly pushed Eli to the elevator, pressed the button for the third floor, and as soon as the doors opened walked to Perry's room. Perry was sitting up watching TV when Della and Eli entered. He turned to see them and smiled as Eli ran up to him and hugged him. Perry looked around the room waiting for another small figure to jump up in his arms, but no small figure was there. Worried he asked, "Where's Brooke?"

The look on Della's face told him something was wrong. She seldom ever got mad, but Perry could tell she wasn't happy about something. The tone in her voice suggested as much too when she replied, "Ask your grandson."

With that, she quickly left the room leaving Eli alone with a not-so-happy-looking Perry. Della rushed back downstairs to be with Brooke. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the little girl. She knew that whenever Eli got mad and wanted to blame someone, he really blamed them, and with Brooke only being four, she was a lot more gullible to believe that Perry being sick was her fault.

When she arrived back in the waiting room, Brooke was still nestled up in the same chair where Della had left her. Della smiled at the nurse as she passed to say thank you. She knelt down beside Brooke and whispered, "Brooke, it's not your fault that we are here. Don't let Eli tell you this is all because of you."

Brooke sniffed as she explained thickly, "But he's right, Mimi. If I hadn't run away, then Pappy wouldn't have gotten scared and he wouldn't have gotten sick. Eli said that if Pappy died it would be my fault."

Della furrowed her brow at the little girl, her mouth slightly open as she took in all of this information. Once Perry was done talking to Eli she was going to talk to him next. Della gave Brooke a small, sympathetic smile as she whispered soothingly, "Brooke, it's true that Pappy did get scared when we couldn't find you. It's also true that all that stress may have been too much for his heart to take. However, Pappy's heart has been causing him problems for a while now, and it certainly wasn't brought on by you. Lastly, Pappy is fine. He's upstairs awake right now waiting for you to come and see him. I think it would hurt him if you stayed away from him because of what Eli said."

Brooke sniffed again and wiped her nose on her arm as she asked, "Really?"

Della nodded and gave the child an encouraging smile. Brooke gave her a small smile in return and said softly, "Okay."

"Alright then," Della said and held out her hand for Brooke to take.

Brooke took her hand, and allowed her grandmother to lead her up to Perry's room where he was finishing up his little talk with Eli. When Della entered with Brooke hiding nervously behind her legs, Perry growled to Eli, "We'll finish this talk later, do you hear me, young man?"

"Yes, Pop," Eli muttered with his head down. As Della and Brooke walked further into the room, Della took Eli by the shoulders and led him outside leaving Perry and Brooke alone together. Perry waited and watched her for a little while as she stared down at the floor, and hugged her stuffed animal tightly. Perry smiled to himself as he said quietly, "Bunny, could you come here, please?"

Slowly Brooke shuffled her feet closer to Perry, but there was still quite a bit of distance between them. Perry looked at her sadly and said, "Bunny, why don't you want to come near me?"

The little girl hesitated before she answered, "I don't want to hurt you, Pappy."

Perry frowned at her and asked, "Hurt me? Sweetheart, you've never hurt me."
"Eli said I did," Brooke explained miserably.

Perry sighed as he said, "Honey, Eli is being taken care of. Don't listen to what he said; he's just scared for me. Now I promise you that you won't hurt me if you give me a hug."

Brooke still looked a little unsure. Perry growled as he flung the covers off of him and huffed to Brooke, "If you won't come to me, then I'll come to you."

Brooke watched in horror as her grandfather attempted to get up, but he was still weak and a little in pain. Quickly Brooke ran to him and cried, "See, Pappy, I'm hurting you!"

She started to cry and Perry stopped. He looked sadly down at his granddaughter. As quickly as he could, he got back into bed and covered up and called to Brooke, "See I'm alright. Come here, Bunny, please?"

Brooke jumped up in his bed next to him and gave him a big hug. He gently rocked her back and forth and whispered, "Bunny, don't cry, I'm alright. Hush it's okay."

Brooke continued to cry softly into his chest and he continued to rock her. After a while, she sniffed and asked, "You won't leave me will you, Pappy?"

"Bunny," Perry answered, wiping the tears from her cheeks, "not for a long, long time."

Brooke seemed satisfied with that answer, and slowly fell asleep in Perry's arms.

DGP

Della had been talking to Eli about what he had said to Brooke when the door to the emergency entrance opened again. Della looked up to see Paul and Diane hurrying into the waiting room, both anxiously looking around them at their surroundings. When they both caught sight of Della, they quickly walked over to her and Paul asked worriedly, "We left as soon as you called. Is Perry alright?"

"Yes, Paul," Della reassured both of them and they relaxed considerably, "he's doing fine now. He's in his room with Brooke."

Paul and Diane nodded. Then Diane caught sight of Eli pouting in a chair beside Della and asked suspiciously, "Della, why is Eli down here with you and not with Perry?"

Della looked sternly down at her grandson and asked, "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

When Eli didn't offer any information, Paul asked his son angrily, "What happened, Eli?"

When he still continued to say nothing, Della answered, "When Perry had his mild heart attack today at the zoo it was minutes after Brooke had escaped from us. Perry and I were frantic. After about ten minutes, Perry found her outside the shop we were in. Well, with all the stress and worry over Brooke, his heart just gave in. He has been experiencing chest discomfort ever since you dropped the kids off. Anyway, when we got to the hospital and Eli and Brooke were by themselves down here, Eli proceeded to tell his sister that Perry was sick because of her and what she had done today. He also included that if Perry died it would be her fault. Of course, Brooke got upset and both Perry and I have had a talk with him. Now Brooke's in Perry's room and Perry is soothing it all over with her."

By the time Della was done telling her story, Paul and Diane were glaring at their son who refused to make eye contact with them, probably because he could feel them staring holes into the top of his head. After a minute of silence, Paul asked sternly, "Is that true, young man?"

Still not looking at his father, Eli nodded. Diane let out an angry sigh and said, "Well, after we're done visiting Perry the three of us are going to have a serious talk."

Eli nodded. Diane and Paul looked at Della and Diane asked, "How are you holding up, Della?"

"Oh, darling, I'm fine," Della answered sweetly, trying to smile a little to convince them. However, they weren't fooled that easily. Diane looked to Paul who then asked, "Can we see him now?"

"Oh sure," Della agreed, "Brooke's up there with him now as I mentioned earlier. I wonder if Perry was able to convince her that he's okay."

They soon found their answer for when they opened the door, Brooke was lying beside Perry with her head on his chest and both were happily fast asleep.