Chapter 17

Drumming his fingers all along the top of the steering wheel, Phineas kept tossing anxious glances over to the digital clock on the dash. It was 7 o'clock and he was stuck at a red light!

Cars sat in front of him and behind, honking with the sounds of leftover evening rush hour. Phineas scooted further in his seat to wait impatiently for the light to turn green. He had less than a half hour left, and with traffic he was still fifteen minutes away from the address.

The little plastic box containing the pill and the rest of the serum was sitting delicately on the dashboard. It had been in Phineas' pocket, but he had slid it out in order to keep it in his sights. It might magically disappear if he wasn't looking at it every second.

The light turned. Phineas took his foot off the brake and let the car roll lightly forward as he waited for the cars in front of him to move. Finally, they budged and he was back on his way.

But Phineas had to stop at three more stoplights; probably two minutes EACH. He was counting the seconds. Eventually, however, Phineas was able to turn off of the busy city street and onto a smaller one, lined with tall buildings.

"Walker Street, Walker Street," Phineas kept repeating to himself as he read all the street names. He knew this area of the town decently well, but not enough to know exactly when his turn would come.

"There!" he yelled to no one, pulling on the left end of the wheel to make his turn. Then he started mouthing numbers under his breath.

"Five eight three three, five eight three three…" Phineas pushed his chest up against the steering wheel as he slowed to only ten miles per hour to get a good look at each building.

"Five eight three zero, five eight three two…"

But then Phineas slammed on his brakes and looked behind him, to the odd-numbered side of the street. He leaned his head under the windshield as he looked at the tall, brick building.

"It's an apartment building?" he exclaimed, turning off the car right where he had parked it. He snatched the plastic box and placed it into his pants pocket, flinging off the seatbelt in the process. Soon, he had rushed over to the front door, and stared up at it. "Well which number is it?"

Shaking his head frenetically, Phineas pushed through the door. The lobby was small, and aside from the single couch and coffee table, was no more than an empty space that led to a hallway of doorways.

Taking a haphazard glance at the clock, Phineas crossed his eyes and wheezed in an exhale as he bent over. He had ten minutes.

Running to the first door, Phineas rapped hard on it. He waited for a second while he shuffled his feet. Then he rapped again, to no answer.

So he gave up on that one, and turned to the one across from it. He banged with his knuckles until it opened.

"Hi, IIIII aaaammmm l-l-looking for… my brother. I mean a dog," Phineas threw out all in one sentence.

The bearded man in the doorway looked to Phineas with confusion. "…Who?"

"Oh I don't know how to explain it. Is he in there? Ferb!" Phineas called out with cupped hands as he leaned around the man. No reply.

"I don't think so. Sorry, thanks," Phineas blurted out, leaving the perplexed man to close the door. Instead, Phineas ran down the hallway and began to shout his brother's name.

"Ferb!" he yelled. "Ferb, where are you?"

"Stop yelling, kid!" an irritated voice shouted from behind one of the walls. But Phineas shook his head and kept his hollering.

"Ferb!"

One of the doors on the end of the hall unlatched, and Phineas saw a little old lady in her pajamas peek out. She asked quietly, "Are you looking for somebody, sweetheart?"

"Yeah!" Phineas reacted thankfully as he landed in a sprint next to her. "I'm looking for my bro-… I'm looking for a dog. Have you seen one lately?"

"Oh, like the one with that nice couple up on the Third. Sweet folks, up there," she answered reminiscently.

"On the third floor?" Phineas asked quickly. The old lady responded in a nod, and Phineas turned to head towards the stairs saying, "Thanks a lot, ma'am!"

"Good luck, sweetie," she said as he left, waving at him with a frail hand.

Phineas pushed his way through the door and flew himself up the steps. When he reached the door labeled level three, he exited and resumed his shouting. "Ferb? Ferb!"

Lying on the living room carpet, Ferb had his cheek resting on the floor. His ears twitched when he thought he heard something familiar. Tipping his head as far upwards as he could hold it, Ferb perked up his ears and listened intently. It was the soft murmurings of his name being called.

"Is that…?" Ferb started in a whimper. He made it louder as he began, "Phineas?"

He gave a few single barks, each as loud as he could muster. He took a few seconds pause between each one. "Phineas…! Phineas!"

There was a stumbling sound coming from the outside hallway, followed by rushed footsteps, and finally a hard banging on the door.

"Who could that be?" Martha wondered. She had just finished putting a plastic covering over their leftover dinner as she placed it on the countertop. She wiped her hands on a paper towel and came over to check the door.

Upon opening it, Martha saw a red-headed teenager bouncing up and down, unable to contain the energy in his feet as he shuffled them around.

"Hi, ummm, hi," he began. He was holding a small plastic box in both of his hands, which he was clutching tightly, yet carefully. "I'm trying to find my brotherrrrr—FERB!"

Phineas had drawn out the last syllable of the word. He was processing the sight of a dog in the background of the living room, who had managed to get off of the floor and was hobbling his feet over to the direction of Phineas.

Ducking underneath Martha's arm, Phineas fell down and hugged Ferb as he approached.

"Ferb! I found you!" he said as he squeezed him. Ferb put his paws on Phineas' elbow as he enjoyed the warm hug. "I'm never ever letting you go anywhere ever again."

Phineas pulled back and pointed at him. "Especially when you're a dog."

By now, David had also left the kitchen, standing next to Martha as they watched the reunion. He gestured down to Ferb and asked, "…Did you just call that dog your brother?"

"Yeah," Phineas responded. He had already pulled out the plastic box and unlatched it. He grasped the pill in two fingers and held it out above Ferb's head. "Cause he is. Open."

Drawing his jaws wide, Ferb tipped his head upside-down as Phineas dropped the capsule on his tongue. He closed and swallowed.

Ferb started to get dizzy, and his heart was still pounding like mad. Though his paws were still wobbly, Ferb found it in himself to make his way over to the stairs. He picked up speed on his way, pushing his feet as fast as he could manage as he began to sprint up them.

"Ferb!" Phineas called out after him, still standing close to the doorway. "Don't forget to wear clothes!"