"He looks so small and helpless." Monogram said sadly.
Monty had to agree.
He loved Agent P. He had known him since Monogram first brought him to the agency as a baby platypus.
And seeing him now, lying unconscious on a hospital bed, covered in bruises, stitches and bandages, broke Monty's heart.
"When did they say he'd wake up?" Monty asked.
"They don't know. He's in a coma." Monogram sighed. "Could be a few days. Could be a few weeks. Might even…" He swallowed and didn't continue, but Monty didn't have to be a mind reader to figure out what his father was thinking.
Not wake up at all.
"He'll be okay, dad." Monty said, more to convince himself than Monogram. "He's strong. He'll get better."
Monogram lightly touched Perry's face in an area where there were no bruises. Then he stood.
"I have to make some calls. I hate to leave him, but they were probably going to come in and kick me out anyway. The visiting hours here suck. They say we need to give him a chance to rest. As if THAT'S going to be a problem."
...
"Do all the houses look like this?" Perry asked, gesturing towards his own temporary home.
"Beat-up and falling apart? Yes." Terrence said. "Daly likes it that way."
"Kind of depressing." Perry said. "Do you think he'd mind if I…"
"No, people can do whatever they want with their homes. Regina Lynde blew hers up. Now she lives under that tree over there."
Terrence pointed at a girl reading a book under a tree. She waved at them.
"Strange but odd." Perry said. "I mean, I'm no good at painting, but I feel like if I got some greenery around there… it'd cheer me up."
"It's so good to see you." Terrence said. "Do you want to come to my place for dinner tonight? Around seven? I have some things to do in a few minutes. I wish I could show you around more… but at least then we could really talk and catch up."
"Sounds good."
"Why don't you get to know your neighbors in the meantime?" Terrence suggested. He headed down the dirt path to Downtown Gluum.
Perry raised an eyebrow. "I'm anti-social, remember?"
"You weren't always." Terrence called back.
Perry watched Terrence disappear. He sat down in front of his house and sighed.
"How are you settling in?" Mr. Brownie asked suddenly, making Perry jump.
"Uh… fine." Perry said, turning around to face him. "Fine."
"I remember when I first came to Gluum." Mr. Brownie said. "I was twenty-three years old… well, I guess I still am. Funny, isn't it? I was up in New York…"
Perry began to make a list in his head of all of the people he would rather talk to than Mr. Brownie at that moment.
"And I said to myself, George Brown, how did you ever manage to get hit by a parade float? But I did, and I was here-"
"If whatever got me here didn't kill me, I'll surely die of boredom." Perry muttered.
"Hm?" Mr. Brownie asked. "Did you say something?"
"No." Perry said. "Just… do you know where I could get flowers to put in those empty pots in front of my house?"
"Flowers." Mr. Brownie thought a moment. "Dead flowers sometimes end up in Gluum. Like animals and humans, they look just as beautiful as in life. You used to see them everywhere. But Willow's started hoarding them. Her home is basically a flower shop, but it's quite difficult to buy flowers from her, you see."
"Great. Where do I go?"
"Downtown Gluum. Broken-down store."
"More specific."
"Building seventeen."
"Thanks."
Perry high-tailed it down the dirt road before Mr. Brownie could remember he was telling him his life story. Many ghosts kept trying to talk to him. Perry dodged them best he could.
He didn't really like Gluum's atmosphere. Everything looked dark and dead, which he guessed was to be expected, but he didn't see why people couldn't just nail their buildings back together, apply some colorful paints, and maybe plant a few grass seeds in the mud and see if they could get a lawn going.
Perry finally found the store. A large 17 was stenciled on the side. Rickety wooden stairs led to a door.
Perry carefully scaled the steps and opened the door. The inside of the store was much nicer than the outside. It smelled wonderful. Pots of flowers were everywhere: On tables, on shelves, and even on little footstools.
A platypus was sitting in the only armchair not occupied by flowers. She appeared to be scribbling something on a notepad.
"Did I come at a bad time?" Perry asked.
The platypus looked toward the wall adjacent from her. Her eyes frightened him. The pupils were white-blue, and they appeared to cave in to the white area, like an empty abyss. He could find no emotion in them.
"What?" She demanded. "Spit it out."
"Flowers." Perry said, annoyed with her tone of voice. "But seeing as you don't have any, I guess I came to the wrong place. You're Willow, right?"
"Yes." Willow said. She stood up and moved to where she was nearer to him. "Flowers for what?"
"An interpretive dance. No, because my house is depressing. I want to put flowers around it to lighten it up."
"You're not from here." Willow commented. She had chosen a spot above his head to focus her possessed eyes on. Perry didn't know whether to be offended or relieved. Her less-than-friendly tone took a sarcastic turn. "So, I guess having flowers'll be easy. You won't have to water them here."
"I'd water them." Perry said. "We get food here, and we don't need it. I haven't been hungry at all. Why shouldn't a plant still get water if we still get food?"
Willow's eye twitched slightly, but Perry couldn't tell what she was thinking. The empty pupils gave him no hint.
"What kind do you want?"
"I don't know. They all look pretty."
Willow reached over and touched the nearest flowerpot. She fondly stroked the petals of the flowers inside.
"Tulips. Usually cheer up people. Perhaps because their shape is so unique, like most flowers before they bloom."
"Great, I'll take them. How much?"
"Just all the care you can give them." Willow said. She handed the pot to Perry. "You're smart, I guess. First person who's cared enough to water them. What did you say your name was?"
"Perry."
"Hm." Willow said. She made her way back to the armchair and sat down. "Good luck with your garden."
"Thanks." Perry said. He turned and left the store.
...
"Here you go, Perry the platypus." Doofenshmirtz said. He placed a giant stuffed teddy bear on the shelf next to Perry's bed. "I made it using my teddybearinator. Great story. I'll have to tell you when you wake up."
He looked back at Perry, who was still sleeping soundly. It annoyed Doofenshmirtz, not knowing whether Perry could hear him or not. He didn't want to waste his breath. But he couldn't help himself.
"I also brought chocolates. The kind without fruit inside, 'cause I know you hate those. Remember that time when you ate one of the ones Vanessa sent me for father's day, and you spit it out on my rug? Good times, Perry the platypus. Good times. I hope they don't go bad before you wake up, because then you'll think I sent you rotting chocolates. Don't think bad of me if you accidentally eat a rotten chocolate because you didn't bother to wake up until after they expired. Or would those be stale chocolates? Oh, and here's a card I bought you. I was surprised they had Scientist to Nemesis 'get well' cards. Very specific. And Vanessa sent you some flowers. For some reason, they say 'To Monty' on the tag. Is it like a nickname or something? Do you have a weird nickname, Perry the platypus? Or is it more like your real name and Monty's just a typo? You know Monty's short for Montgomery? Such a weird name. If you say it a bunch of times, it doesn't sound like a word."
Silence.
Doofenshmirtz sighed. He was used to talking to Perry and receiving no response, but it just seemed lonelier this time.
...
"Honey, I wish you'd just tell me what happened." Linda said.
"I told you." Phineas said. "I fell off Gregory the elephant in our robotic elephant race."
"He's telling the truth, mom!" Candace said. "They had a robot elephant race in the backyard!"
"And Django won." Ferb said. "Phineas would have come in second if he hadn't hit a tree branch and fallen off."
"Are you planning on breaking a limb before every single summer?" Candace demanded. "Last year it was your knee, this year, your arm…"
Linda pulled the car into the driveway and turned around. "Phineas, honey. Really. What happened?"
"I fell off the elephant!" Phineas said.
"Oookay." Linda said. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Just be more careful."
"You see?" Candace shouted. "You see what your stupid inventions are doing to you?"
"It wasn't Gregory!" Phineas protested. "I wasn't looking and hit a branch. I had my helmet on. I was safe."
Candace pointed at his cast. "Sure, REAL SAFE."
"Hello, there!" Lawrence said, coming out of the house. "How was the hospital, then?"
"Good." Ferb said, helping Phineas out of the car.
"Have you seen Perry, dad?" Phineas asked.
"Not today, Phin. I expect he's out doing what platypuses do."
Phineas sighed.
"He'll come back." Ferb patted his brother. "He always does."
...
Perry knocked on Terrence's shabby door.
"Come on in. It's open." Terrence said.
Perry opened the door. Terrence had cleared his coffee table of the memory objects he had had there when Perry last visited. Now a large pot of spaghetti and a salad sat there.
"I don't cook that well." Terrence admitted.
"I just like making stuff you can pop into the microwave." Perry said. "But thanks, Ter. This looks awesome." He sat down in a chair.
"So good to see you again." Terrence said happily. "Things just aren't as fun without my best friend."
"Yeah." Perry said. "Same. …Sorry, I mean, not much has happened since I last saw you. There isn't really anything for me to tell you right now. Except… well, did I tell you my new method to stop Ernest from bugging me?"
Terrence laughed. "No. I think I would have remembered that."
The conversation went on for a while before turning to Gluum.
"How do you like it here?" Terrence asked.
"Well…" Perry looked around. "Uh… did I tell you how good this spaghetti is?"
"You don't like it here, huh?"
"Not really." Perry said. "So dreary. I miss the boys. My family. Doofenshmirtz. But you like it here…"
"I don't like the atmosphere." Terrence said. "But I love the townspeople. Arthur, Mr. Brownie, Minnie…"
"Regina Lynde?"
"Well, she's strange." Terrence said. "But everyone else is great. You should get to know them."
"I'm more of an aloof kind of guy. I'm just gonna try and get back up to the surface as soon as I can."
Terrence smiled sadly. "You've changed."
"No." Perry said. "I've always waited to get to know people before I feel comfortable around them. I only made friends with you instantly because I was a baby."
"You used to be so happy." Terrence said.
"I still am. I have everything I could ever want. People I love being around."
Except you. He added silently. You chose this stupid, depressing town over being with me again.
"I understand if you don't like it here." Terrence said. "But- don't take offense at this- I'm happy you came. Even if just for a little while. I missed you."
"I missed you, too." Perry said. "A lot."