Chapter 10- Told you it would be up this afternoon! Couldn't think of a good Chapter Title...
Just keep reading. Anyone notice that my last chapter was exactly 2012 words long? Weird…
Read here.
Then, to both mine and Dr. D's surprise, I turn and throw my arms around the scientist in a hug.
"Thank you."
DR. D'S POV
I watch Isabella leave the room and smile, turning back to the bed. "Ferb, she's gone."
Ferb opens his eyes and he sits up slowly, grimacing as he does. I think the pain medication has worn off. He puts his hand to his cheek carefully and gives a faint smile, although he looks stunned.
"You OK?" I ask nervously. He nods. I stand up and grab my magazine from the nightstand where I had put it, rolling it into a tube and sticking it under my arm. "Well, you should probably go back to sleep. Hopefully you're going to be better soon."
Leaving it at that, I give the green-haired boy a smile, and walk out of the room, leaving Ferb in the dark and completely confused. I close the door softly in order not to wake the roomful of sleeping kids in the main room and then walk over to my sleeping bag, crawling inside and settling down, trying to think.
You know, I thought I met my best friend today. He was smart, and knew what he was doing, and he loved almond brittle too! The perfect combo, right there!
I roll over on my side and tuck one of my hands under my cheek, staring out into the night sky. I had left the balcony doors open so the kids could get some fresh air, and now I get up and walk outside, leaning over to look down onto the street below. A car drives by and turns the corner, some person on his way home from a night shift, probably.
I sigh and look up at the stars, trying to sort through my thoughts. He obviously isn't my best friend. What kind of person hurts kids this badly? And what he did to Perry the Platypus….
I shudder and look down at my hands, clenched into fists on the railing. I'm not a big fan of that obnoxious platypus, but I could never do that to him. Metal fused with skin and fur….that's got to hurt. I think that could probably be considered animal cruelty. Plus, defeating your nemesis means you don't get to banter with anyone, and you have no one to trap who will just have it all in good fun. He actually hurt the people he trapped. I mean, the one girl, I think her names Candace….she's Vanessa's age. I couldn't watch someone so close to my daughters age get hurt, it would rip me apart.
I shake my head and look out over the city. It's sleeping quietly, tucked into the moon peeking over the horizon, with the exception of the few cars in the downtown area. The street lights remind me of the night light I used to have as a kid, until my father took it because he thought it made me a schnitzel, and he wanted me to be a man. I look back into the building at the kids sleeping on my floor and sofa bed and smile lightly. They really aren't too bad, and all of them are quite bright. At least now I know where Perry the Platypus gets his annoying smartness from. I head back inside and pause before drawing the covers up over the sleeping girls, and then I spot a spare blanket at the foot of their bed.
I hesitate, and then move over to the dog bed and drape the blanket over Perry the Platypus. He smiles in his sleep and reaches a hand up to pull the covers up to his shoulders. I grin and walk back over to my bag, barely getting in it before I fall asleep.
FERB'S POV
I lay back in bed as Dr. D leaves, and return my hand slowly to my cheek.
What did Isabella mean by a machine? What are they doing?
I rub my hand lightly on my cheek and smile to myself. I never realized that Isabella cared so much about me…or Candace, for that matter. I knew that both of them liked me, but it always seemed like they liked Phineas better.
Listen to me, jealous of my own brother! Great person I am. I bet he doesn't think these kinds of things about me.
I draw the covers up to my chin and grimace at the pain in my chest. The Tylenol helped a little, but my broken ribs are really killing me. One wrong move and they will rip through the bandages Dr. D just replaced…yes it's gross, now shut up.
I glance up as I hear a creak and smile as Isabella's dog Pinky trots sleepily into the room. He woofs softly and hops up onto the foot of the bed before coming up to lay next to me. "Hey," I whisper. "Did Isabella send you?"
He nods, a slight smile on his face, and then he curls up and falls asleep. I snuggle down into the bed and fall asleep almost instantly.
I wake up in the morning around eight to the sound of drilling and the pounding of hammers. I sit up sleepily, and gasp as my injuries attack me. Pinky, now sitting on the floor with his hat on, whirls his head around to look at me in concern. "I'm fine," I say through gritted teeth. He turns his attention reluctantly back to the notebook I now notice in his hands and I'm left to wonder:
What the heck is going on?
BALJEET'S POV
I frown and flip the blueprints upside down, then back the other way, and then I turn them ninety degrees to the right. Ugh. Stupid lines.
Do the two little lines mean feet or inches?
As I am puzzling over this, a pair of hands clad in black reach over my shoulders and flip the blueprint right side up…I presume. I turn around to see Vanessa looking at me sheepishly.
"Growing up with a Dad like mine," she says, jutting a thumb over her shoulder towards her father, "you learn about these kinds of things early on."
I pause. "Um, thank you."
She leaves to go help Candace with some metallic thing-a-ma-jig and I return to the blueprints. A quick glance at the side column I did not notice before (probably because I was not holding the blue prints correctly) shows me the right answer.
Inches.
Ha! I told them I knew what I was doing! I grin and look at my watch. It is 10:30 already? That means that it is my shift to watch Ferb. We have been taking shifts because we don't want him to try to figure out what we are doing. Plus, we need an eye on him at all times. I hand the blue prints to Jeremy as he leaves the room and I head in myself.
"Hey Ferb, what are you doing?" Not exactly Isabella's catch phrase, because of the contractions (eeeww) but it is close enough that I hear her yell "HEY!" from outside. I look at Ferb, and see that he is smiling. I crack a grin as well, and lay a glass of water on the stand next to him. He raises an eyebrow at me. I raise an eyebrow back at him, and he smiles before giving me a questioning look.
"What?"
He motions slightly to my clothes…which are covered in dust, oil, and grease from the project. Yikes.
"Um, well, Dr. D's floor is really dirty, and we had to sleep on it all night and so I did not have anything to change into and-"
My voice is getting higher and higher as I talk, and finally Ferb stops me, motioning to the sleeping form of Pinky on the end of the bed. I lower my voice and look at Ferb. "What is he doing in here?"
He smiles. "Isabella wants him to watch me, since he's trained and not injured."
I nod. According to Carl, whom I had been talking to earlier, Pinky is the best agent in his division, and Perry is the best in his. I still find it kind of hard to believe, but I decided to put my doubts on hold for the time being-plus, I watched them both kick butt yesterday. Not really a doubter now.
"So…..what's going on out there?" Ferb asks, picking at a string on his blanket nonchalantly. I shudder and then look at him nervously and glance around the room. There is a door off to the side that I pray is the bathroom.
"Well…this is sort of awkward, but I am going to be honest, I really have to pee. So uh, cannot talk right now, bye!"
I dart into the bathroom and take my time, cleaning up and going to the bathroom. 5 minutes later, I open the door and without a backward look at Ferb, I dart out of the room, barely noticing the toilet paper I am trailing behind me.
I know, I know, it's short. But I really wanted to get it up this afternoon because I am going to be really busy this week. So sue me, I study!
The last line Baljeet used is actually from the song "Here's Your Freakin' Song" by Bowling for Soup. I thought it was appropriate, because they wrote the PF theme song. I don't own the song, or PF.
I really wanted to put Baljeet in here. Let me know if you think I got his personality and character right!
The sleeping quietly line Dr. D uses is from my Grandma. Got to love my Grandma. Thanks Grandma!
R and R! I'll be back…eventually.