Perry was lying on his back. He was in a large, white room with a single window. The room was filled with teddy bears.
He felt sore, especially in his head and back.
He didn't understand why he was here. What had happened?
A slight memory slipped into his mind. The man holding him… asking him about Carl…
Perry hadn't told them he knew Carl.
Where was he? Was he here because he didn't tell them who Carl was?
"Carl?" Perry asked. His throat didn't produce a very prominent noise. It had forgotten how to chatter after so long.
He was very confused. He had no idea where he was, or why no one he knew was with him.
He repeated Carl's name over and over again to himself, louder and louder, until he was practically screaming.
He wanted to know where Carl was. Why he wasn't here. Why he wasn't coming.
"Woah, woah!"
Perry stopped. A man in a white coat was bending over him. "Calm down, little guy. It's okay. You're fine."
Perry tried to sit up.
"Lie down." The man said. "Do you know where you are?"
Perry looked around nervously. He couldn't tell where he was with all the teddy bears in the way.
He saw some kind of cord bandaged to his arm, and many other bandages covering his body. There was a large bruise on his left shoulder.
"You're going to be fine." The man said, slowly and calmly. "You were hit by a car and in a coma for two weeks, but you're going to be all right. Your caretakers are here. Do you want me to get them, or do you want a little more time to process?"
There was a boot on his nightstand. What kind of place had boots on nightstands?
"Do you understand me?" The man asked.
Perry nodded. It made him dizzy.
"I'll let your guardians know you're awake." The man said.
"Carl." Perry whimpered.
"Don't be nervous. You're fine."
"Where's Carl? I want Carl…"
The man didn't understand. He simply patted Perry's hand and left the room.
Perry slowly drifted off to sleep again. He was exhausted.
...
"Perry?"
"Hmm?"
Perry opened his eyes. He saw blurry outlines of Phineas, Ferb, and Candace.
"Perry, you're awake!" Phineas said happily. "You're okay!"
Perry processed the words and immediately forgot about them. "Mmm-hmm." He closed his eyes.
"Sorry, you look tired. I'll talk quieter." Phineas said.
"Carl…"
"What did he say?" Candace asked.
"Carl." Phineas said.
"Who's Carl?" Candace asked.
"Mmm-hmm." Perry agreed.
"Perry, I'm sorry… I accidentally told Candace, but Ferb and I made her promise she wouldn't tell and Monogram may not find out and… we'll be careful, I promise."
Perry acknowledged the fact that Phineas was speaking to him. "Mmm-hmm."
"What's he saying?" Candace asked.
"He's just kind of agreeing with everything I say." Phineas said. "I don't think he understands what I'm saying right now. We're sorry, Perry. We'll let you get some rest."
"…Build?"
"Huh?" Phineas asked.
"What… did you build?"
"Oh… nothing, nothing these past two weeks."
"No… when… that time, when you built the thing… that time." Perry was struggling to find the words. He decided not to bother with them anymore.
"Mechanical elephants." Phineas said.
"…Hand?"
"Yeah, that's how I hurt my arm."
"Mmm-hmm." Perry didn't remember what he had just asked, but the answer seemed satisfactory.
"Get some sleep, Perry. We'll come and visit again tomorrow, okay?"
"With Carl?"
"Um… I think Carl's coming later."
"WHO THE HECK IS CARL?" Candace shouted.
Perry cringed. "Loud… bad… make it not loud."
"Candace, shh." Phineas said. "See you tomorrow, Perry."
"…Mmm-hmm."
...
"You feeling okay, Agent P?"
Perry wished Monogram would stop stroking his head. It made it feel even worse.
"The doctors say you can go home tomorrow." Monogram said.
"And your owners will be on summer break then, so it works out perfectly." Carl said. "They've promised to keep you company and make sure you have everything you need to heal."
Perry didn't know why Carl had bothered to come visit. It wasn't as though they were close friends.
"And we've already started construction on a new closet to hold all your teddy bears." Monogram said. "And I brought a very special one." He reached in his pocket.
Perry growled. He wondered why people were giving him so many teddy bears. Was that the standard gift if you got hit by a car? Ice cream for falling down on the sidewalk, teddy bears for car incidents, and flowers for funerals?
"Here." Monogram handed Perry a small, well-loved teddy bear. His Snugglebear.
Perry smiled and hugged his Snugglebear to the bit of his chest that wasn't sore.
...
"Perry's awake!" Peter cheered. "Now I can stop saving my money for the Save The Perrys fund and give it to the Save The Pandas fund instead!"
"YAY!" Pinky said.
"I'm gonna send him a teddy bear." Alan the alligator said. "That's the appropriate gift for someone who has been hit by a car, you know."
"Guys, we should give Perry a welcome back party when he gets back." Peter said.
"He'll hate that." Darren said.
"I know, but parties are fun for us, so we should do it." Peter held up an old O.W.C.A yearbook. "I'll get his baby picture from here and make it bigger so we can hang it on the wall."
Darren took the book and looked at it. "Aww, baby Perry is so cute."
Pinky flipped to the "Q.W.C.A, Quotes Without A Cool Acronym" page and pointed. "And his quote fits him so well even now. 'No matter what, never trust those stupid movies about some girl going to find herself and growing as a person and then falling in love with that guy she hated at the beginning of the movie. Why? Because I hate those movies.'"
"That's not Perry's quote." Peter said. "This is Perry's. He was a baby then." He pointed at a quote at the bottom of the page.
"Marshmallows are white and leaves are green".
"That's weird." Pinky said. "Who had that other quote, then?"
"Eages Benedict." Peter said. "Don't you remember him? Ellen the eagle's son? He died after he was in a coma for two days. He was a lot like Perry, sense-of-humor-wise. Ellen and Ernest were really sad."
Pinky looked over toward Ernest. Alan was telling Ernest the news about Perry. Ernest didn't seem very interested.
"Maybe that's why Ernest hates Perry so much." Pinky said slowly. "He reminds him of his dead nephew."
"Or maybe Perry just annoys him." Peter shrugged. "What baby picture of Perry should we use? The one of him eating mashed peas, the one of him clapping his paws, or the one of him throwing up mere seconds after eating mashed peas?"
...
"I still don't get how banishing Leanna out of the entire Gluum universe brought you guys back, but I'm pleased." Daly said.
"Richard, old friend!" Said Mr. Brownie.
"George Brownie!" Richard said happily.
"Guess things are back to normal again." Daly said. "That's nice."
A pig fell from the sky and landed on Mr. Brownie's head.
"Oh, wonderful." Daly said sarcastically. "Now where did YOU come from?"
...
"You TOLD her?!"
"Perry, it slipped out-"
"I'll rephrase: you told HER?"
"She made me so mad." Phineas looked ashamed. "Please, Perry, don't be angry."
"I could lose you guys for this."
"I know."
"Not just communication or memory-wise, Phin. They could flat-out take me AWAY from you. What are we gonna do?"
"Um… not tell Monogram?"
Perry sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"Look, Perry… it could be helpful. If Ferb and I aren't around to look after you some days until you recover, Candace can…"
"Ha ha, Candace helping me, gosh, Phin, you're a riot. Let's get you a job as a comedian. Right now. Phone an agent."
"Candace can be helpful-" Phineas began.
"Phone's right there on the desk." Perry said.
"Ferb and I will make sure she gets you what you need." Phineas said. "And she'll keep your secret. We made her promise."
"The hilarity is too much to endure. I'm in stitches. Literally and figuratively, by the way. R.O.T.F.L."
"We'll take good care of you, though." Phineas said.
"I know you will, Phin." Perry tried to shift into a position that didn't hurt him. "Eck. I can't believe I have to stay lying down for a month. I'm gonna go stir-crazy."
"We'll read you books that have nothing to do with lying down."
"The New Nanny?"
"NO, Perry. Not that book again."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot. That book probably has quite a few chapters about lying down."
"OH, PERRY." Phineas covered his ears.
"…Because nannies have to put little kids to bed."
Phineas uncovered his ears.
"So that the kid's out of the way during other little shenanigans."
"PERRY!"
"What did I name that kid in the book again? Little Andy Bill or something? I can't remember."
"Perry, stop."
Perry grinned.
"At least you're feeling better." Phineas said. "You're back to your old self again. When I first came here, you looked so tired and helpless."
"Yep, back to my old self again." Perry said. "Hey, wanna read a book while we wait for Ferb to get back from the snack bar? I've got an old classic right here." He pulled a book out from a box Ferb had brought him and opened it up. "The New Nanny: Chapter One. Nancy The Nanny Meets Andy Bill's Father."
"NOOO!" Phineas covered his ears again.
"Just kidding, it's actually 'The Four Guys With Swords'." Perry said. "Let's see how long I can read before the painkillers kick in. Chapter One: The First Guy And His Sword…"