Chapter 13: "Some Things..."

Sandy came out of the hospital room about an hour later. She held herself with chin high, chest puffed out, but SpongeBob could read on her face that she was more than frightened, and sad, and looked like she might pass out at any moment.

"Sandy?" He said softly, standing up.

"Come on SpongeBob, we're gonna go stay at my old house with Pa and my cousin Seth." She sounded teary, too.

SpongeBob furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Let's go." Sandy walked past him swiftly. He watched after her for a moment, and then followed.

Once in the privacy of her car, Sandy sat quietly for a moment, staring at the dashboard. SpongeBob climbed into the passenger's seat.

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Sandy broke into sobs. SpongeBob, not sure what to do, patted her on the back. He hadn't seen Sandy like this in a long time, and it near broke his heart.

"Sandy?" He repeated.

She sat up and tried to pull herself together. "I'm sorry SpongeBob, I don't know what...I mean..." She took a shuddering breath. "I'm alright, really. It's just...I haven't seen her in so long, and she looked so..so..." But she couldn't stop herself from breaking down.

SpongeBob wrapped his arms around her carefully, trying desperately to comfort her. He didn't tell her not to cry...she was scared. He understood that.

-----

Once Meg come home from work, the only thing she had any energy left to do was flop down onto her bed and lay there, half dead. An hour later, she'd woken up and realized that she forgot to feed Gary and Carly. Now downstairs with a cup of hot tea, she couldn't help but feel like she was--

Ring! Ring!

She huffed, got up from the table, and picked up the phone. "Hello?" She had to pull it away from her ear, as a string of curses made their way from the other line. "Squidward, I can't understand you! I--"

"JUST TAKE CARE OF IT ALREADY!" Click!

Meg glared at the wall before her, and then slammed the phone into it's cradle. "Take care of it yourself, baby." She hadn't heard what it was that he wanted her to fix, but she was sure that it was stupid and just another reason to rail on her.

Carly growled and spat, and in seconds, her and Gary were in a full-fledged fight.

"What now?!" Meg dashed into the living room and grabbed a pillow off of her couch, then made her way back into the kitchen and hit them with it repeatedly until they stopped fighting. "What is wrong with you two?" There it was...she could physically feel the energy draining rapidly from her body. Again. It seemed like that happened every time a pointless spat broke out. She was scared even to step into the shower, for fear she might pass out. Maybe a bath...a very shallow one...would be safe. Sure, She thought, let's go with that.

-----

"Thank you Pa." Sandy managed. She was seated at an oak table in her old home, and it brought back so many childhood memories. It was just too bad this couldn't have happened under better circumstances.

"You sure you okay cuz?" Sandy's cousin, Seth (who had been introduced to SpongeBob the moment they were through the front door) was seated next to her, wearing a worried expression.

"I'm alright." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then took a sip of the glass of water that her father had just given her.

"So," Seth turned to SpongeBob. He had a smooth, low-pitched voice, like a bad guy from a science fiction film. But he didn't have eyes like a bad guy from a science fiction film, he had nice eyes, like Sandy's. "You ever been to Texas before?"

"Never!" SpongeBob replied, blue eyes glittering. He'd been suffering a bit from the desert dryness, but Sandy was making sure that he stayed well hydrated.

"'Sat so? How ya likin' it so far?" His accent was thick, but he talked at a steady pace, so he was easy to understand.

"It's...nice." SpongeBob replied. "Kinda dry though."

Seth laughed. "Yeah that's gotta be weird."

"Not really!" SpongeBob said with a casual shrug. "I remember when I first met Sandy, I didn't even know--"

"SpongeBob," Sandy interrupted, looking up from the table. She still looked a bit weary. "Maybe you should save this story for another time."

-----

Beep! Beep! Beep!

What was that blasted sound?

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Meg slammed the snooze button on her alarm clock, only for it to go off an annoying nine minutes later. She yanked it from the bedside table and threw it across the room, to which Carly reacted with a loud hiss and quick retreat to under the bed. Meg groaned and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. She was so tired! Even coffee sounded like too much of a hassle, let alone work. But...she must press on. Up, out of bed she came, and made her way downstairs to where the coffee maker was fulfilling it's programming and brewing up a nice hot pot. She opened the fridge and instinctively grabbed for a piece of fruit...only to discover that her stock was depleted.

"Note to self," She mumbled, "Stop at Barg'n'Mart on the way home." A piece of toast and jam would have to do. While she was waiting for her toast to finish, she poured a huge cup of coffee and practically swallowed the whole thing down. She poured another mug to drink on her way to the Krusty Krab, grabbed her toast, ate quickly, took her braids out and put her hair up into a ponytail without brushing it, got dressed, and was out the door. She really didn't feel like being thorough that morning, especially with the impending sense of doom that seemed to lurk for her at work. She knew that Squidward and Mr. Krabs would just be sour and unreasonable, so why try to look like she was pulled together, when honestly, she may as well be dead on the inside?