Later that night, the Electric Mayhem had gotten back to their apartment, where they all started getting ready bed after a very stressful day.
As Lips used his combed out his fluffy hair, he said to Dr. Teeth, who was nearby brushing his teeth, "So the doctor said something about Zoot need an ultrasound. I thought ultrasounds were used on pregnant women."
"They are, but i think doctors also use them to check on certain organs that the x-rays can't scan. That isn't something you should ask me. I think you should ask Rowlf that," Dr. Teeth explained, after rinsing the toothpaste from his mouth.
"Good plan," Lips said, putting his comb away and taking his turn at the sink to brush his teeth. "Zoot will be okay, right?"
"Geez Lips, didn't you hear what the doctor said? He says as far as they know, he's okay. They'll give us a final verdict tomorrow morning, but I'm sure he's fine."
"Yeah, but I feel like something is going to be off about him. I don't know why, but I just get that feeling," Lips sighed, as he began to brush his teeth.
Dr. Teeth nodded and decided to change the subject to avoid Lips getting stressed out, "So, what happened with that girl you went on a date with last week?"
Lips' response was choking on his toothpaste, causing him to gag a bit, but after spitting it out and breathing for a few seconds, he said, "It uh...didn't work out."
"Did something screw up the date?" Dr. Teeth asked.
"Nah, it's just that...I didn't feel any sparks with her," Lips explained, rinsing his toothbrush. "We ended up just becoming friends."
Dr. Teeth shook his head, but he was smiling, "Lips, I swear you're betting at being in the friend zone with girls than dating them."
"I know, it's odd. I think girls are pretty and I think I'm going to be able to date one I like, but in the end, I have no romantic feelings towards them and end up staying in touch as friends," Lips stated, before starting to rinse his mouth out with water.
Dr. Teeth thought hard for a few moments before saying, "Say, have you ever thought that maybe you're gay or something on the LGBT+ community?"
As soon as Teeth said that, the blonde-haired Muppet choked on the water and quickly spit it out into the sink, coughing. "Don't surprise me with questions like that if I have something in my mouth!" he shouted.
Dr. Teeth laughed and said, "Alright, sorry, but seriously, Lips, have you ever considered that?"
Lips thought hard, trying to look at the facts and see if he could possibly be gay, but so far, he didn't think he was, but he was curious.
"Sometimes, but I think to figure that out, I have find the a guy to date first and see if it works out," the Muppet finally answered.
"Good plan. Well, good night. It's probably going to be extra busy tomorrow," Dr. Teeth exiting the bathroom.
"G'night," Lips replied, leaving as well and heading to his room.
The next morning, things around the office were pretty much normal; the Swedish Chef was getting some food ready for anyone who needed a little breakfast; Yolanda was giving Kermit messages about people who had called; Uncle Deadly was checking over various outfits, trying to figure out what Miss Piggy could for the show; and Zondra was sitting at her laptop, looking at various news articles.
There was the usual news regarding scandal and gossip revolving around major celebrities, recent polls on up-and-coming politicians, and records on the weather, but a few sites were still talking about the events on Up Late with Miss Piggy last night. Some websites even took screen shots of people's tweets and posts, expressing how worried they were about Zoot, or angry they were at Bunsen Honeydew, or both.
Zondra shook her head at all the flaming messages, thinking, "Didn't people have anything better to do that night other than get riled up about that incident?"
When there were articles saying that Zoot had died in the ambulance ride on the way to the hospital or he died in emergency surgery, Zondra had the urge to throw her laptop at the wall out of annoyance. She hated it when magazine and news sites posted stories like that online. Don't they know how badly it upsets the family and fans of that celebrity!?
Zondra immediately went to Twitter to inform the world about the articles:
For those of you who have read articles saying that Zoot died, don't believe them. The Electric Mayhem said that he's doing fine right now.
After posting the tweet, several likes and retweets rang up, making her happy that some people were helping her spread the message to calm other fans. Then, she went closed most of the news websites she had finished reading, until she got to the last one: The Daily Scandal.
After the Muppets resurfaced as celebrities, Fleet Scribbler had gotten enough money to turn the Daily Scandal newspaper into a website, so the more modern youth could catch on the celeb gossip he dug up, or in some cases, made up. In the newest article, one of the writers posted about Zoot's situation, stating that he's very much alive, about Bunsen Honeydew receiving death threats from Electric Mayhem fans, about Zoot's siblings threatening to sue Honeydew for what happened, and Zoot just needing an ultrasound on his other organs so a final verdict can be given on his health.
"I wonder how they got all that info," Zondra muttered to herself as she exited out of the site. "It probably wasn't cheap."
When the band entered the office, Kermit left his office and ran up to Dr. Teeth, "So, when will Zoot be able to get back work. I need to know so we can figure out songs you can play that doesn't involve a saxophone."
"Well, the doc told us he just needs an ultrasound in the morning, but from the way it sounds, I think he'll be set to go back to work," Floyd said.
"But I think he should rully take it easy, today. He went through a lot of stress last night," Janice stated.
"I'll let Piggy know. So he's going to be fine?" Kermit asked.
"Like Floyd said, the doctor said he'll need one more test, but we're all pretty confident that he'll be a-okay," Lips stated.
"Oh good, I'd hate for something bad to happen to him. There's a lot of articles online saying he died in surgery or something. It's freaking out a lot of fans. Fortunately we have Zondra to deal with them all," Kermit explained.
"How so?" Dr. Teeth asked, curious about the new girl's role.
"Oh, she's calling up their offices and ordering them to take the posts down and so far, she's actually succeeding in doing that. However, the Daily Scandal somehow caught wind of what was going on and posted an article early this morning. The information they had was actually completely accurate for once, and it got every detail we know," Kermit explained.
Scooter ran up and said, "Yeah! It's almost like someone had fed them all the information directly from here."
"That's a pretty good theory. Do you think Pepe said anything to them? You know how desperate he is to get cash," Floyd said.
"I asked, but he said he didn't have a chance to do that because Gonzo caught him and stopped him," Scooter admitted. "Sweetums, Chip and I are trying to figure out who it was, but so far, everyone's innocent. It's weird."
"Yeah, let's hope that doesn't happen again," Kermit said, walking off.
After most of the band went off to do their own thing, Dr. Teeth and Scooter were left alone.
Scooter took a quick look around and quietly asked, "So, how long have you and Zoot been a couple?"
"Ever since season 5," Dr. Teeth answered.
"Of the Muppet Show?! Wow! That's a really long time. Long enough for you two to actually get married," Scooter stated.
"I know, which is why I'm currently waiting for the engagement ring I order for him to come in," Dr. Teeth stated proudly.
"Oh! What's it look like? Can I see a picture of it? When is it supposed to arrive?"
"It has a silver band and a blue sapphire in it, I'll show you a picture of it later, and I think it's supposed to come in today. Don't tell Zoot when he gets back here. I want to surprise him," Dr. Teeth stated.
"My mouth is sealed like a vault owned by the FBI," Scooter stated.
At the hospital, Zoot was laying on an examination table, petroleum jelly rubbed on his abdomen, awaiting his ultrasound. He thought it was pretty silly to get one, since he was a guy, but if the doctor said he needed one, he'll roll with it.
"Okay Zoot," the doctor said, gripping the sensor in his hand. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Zoot replied.
The doctor placed the center on his stomach and began to look at the screen depicting the inside of Zoot's abdomen. So far, everything seemed normal.
"Well, looks good so far, let's go more towards the center," the doctor said, moving the sensor. When he did that, his eyes widened at the screen and he said, "Well, that's out of the ordinary."
"What is it!?" Zoot asked frantically. Was something wrong with him?
What is wrong with Zoot? Is it serious? Will Scooter accidently spill the beans about Dr. Teeth and Zoot dating and Teeth's plan to propose to the saxophonist? Who told the Daily Scandal all the details about what happened last night? Find out in the next chapter!
Jim Henson owns the Muppet characters
Bill Prady owns the Muppets TV Show.
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