Uhg.

I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Truth be told, it isn't even a very good one. Not even 2,000 words even, which disappoints me. It was just so not fun to write! This chapter = filler = me being not into it. Not to mention I got totally distracted by all these really good, really long fanfictions. So I've been distracted. And don't get me started on how retarded school has been this week.

Uhg.

Forgive me!

Anyways, chapter 10 is here and ready for you to get through. I PROMISE that the chapter after will be much, much better (mostly because that's when the important plot-related stuff is coming back. Happy face) It will also be longer (to make up for the 52 words I failed to include in this chapter.

So go ahead. Read. *Sigh*

Chapter 10

Five days went by, silently and hardly noticed by the sick inhabitants of the hospital-tree.

And, curiously enough, every day brought with it more cold. It somehow seeped through the thick trunk of the tree and made its way inside, chilling the air and putting most of the sickly Tree Friends in a bad mood.

Things had gone on without much to report. Sniffles kept up the experiments and was usually down in his room examining the data. Cuddles, Giggles and Flaky went about their regular business without too much trouble. All in all, things stayed the same.

But Flaky was not at ease. She sighed, recalling the lines to a poem she'd once read:

Crunching powder, white and cold

Frosting windows, never told

To creep away beneath the door

To fade and still and quiet more

Winter cease the Autumn haze

Color drain to jumbled days...

Flaky didn't remember the name of the poem, or even where she'd read it, but she did recall that it had been a winter poem. And Flaky realized that, though they'd just entered mid-spring only days ago, winter seemed to be returning early. Much too early. It was soaking into the tree and staying there, yet no one else seemed to notice or care besides Flaky, Flippy and Sniffles. Days were getting shorter, yet to Flaky it felt as if they never ended. She'd go to sleep and wake up to the same crisp, fine sunlight as the morning before. The days were melting together, and something about it scared Flaky.

Besides the change in weather, Sniffles was noticing something with his studies. He didn't give Flaky many details, but in a nutshell, he told her that the disease was attacking each animal differently. When Flaky asked him what he meant, he took her to the heavy ward and showed her.

They started with Lifty and Shifty. As they did the usual check-ups, Sniffles explained to Flaky what was different about their condition than the others. First of all, both had some kind of irritation on their hands and feet - Flaky would go so far as to call it a rash. It was horribly red and, according to both raccoons, itchy enough to drive anyone mad; by the way they kept scratching at it, even after Sniffles's threats to try and make them stop, sort of confirmed their statement.

Lammy wasn't much better than them. She was having mood swings and hallucinations, mostly about Mr. Pickles leaving her. Every once in a while, the little lamb would let out a startling scream and then break into either a) maniacal laugher, b) depressed sobs or c) angry growling noises. (Flaky didn't even know lambs could growl) In a way, it was amusing as well as unsettling to witness.

Nutty was one of the worst. After the first two days without candy, Sniffles had ended up having to strap the green squirrel's wrists and ankles down to a bigger bed. The hyperactive squirrel had struggled endlessly, screaming about chocolate and marshmallows and lollipops, whatever sweet thing you could think of. And just a few days ago, Nutty had started having stomach problems. He would heave at least twice a day (much to Cuddles's dismay), and it seemed his tongue had developed an itchiness similar to that which Lifty and Shifty were subject to. With his hands strapped down, Nutty kept biting his tongue and scraping it against his teeth to try and cope with the agonizing itch. Flaky felt sorry for Nutty, but knew that she couldn't do anything to help until Sniffles found a way.

Petunia wasn't so bad, but she wasn't so good either. She was having endless migraines, and felt that being a little more organized would make her feel better. She obsessively tried to keep everything in her 'area' in its exact place. She didn't move too much in her bed so that the covers would stay nice and neat (though Flaky found this pointless, since the skunk demanded they be washed every morning and replaced with new ones). She had Giggles bring her two cups of water to set on each of her bedside tables, and would scream if the chipmunk put more or less water in one than the other. And Petunia would have an absolute fit if Nutty was removed from her left side. She said it was because she couldn't have him close to the raccoons, because that would be too much green in one area, and since the balance of color in the room was already driving her mad, she would probably die if something like that happened. So even though the squirrel was constantly jerking and shrieking and sometimes vomiting, Petunia refused to let Sniffles move him to his own room.

Lumpy was... well, it seemed he was alright, aside from his own headaches. He would moan and groan, but mostly he just slept. His antlers, following a complaint from Flaky, had been filed by Cuddles to nubs. They pounded against the wall every so often, but mostly Lumpy just lay in bed, dead asleep.

The Mole wasn't too bad either. He mostly just had a bad case of pink eye, or at least that's what it looked like, according to Sniffles. He'd checked the Mole's eyes every day since their arrival, and the infection seemed to be getting worse. At the rate it was going, Sniffles said that if the Mole hadn't been blind already, he would have lost his sight by the end of the season.

But it was Flippy, by far, who was the worst. The bear had been pretty decent for most of their stay at the hospital-tree. But as the weather got worse, so did his condition. Flippy suffered from lack of sleep because of his awful nightmares, and he kept coughing and sneezing endlessly, sometimes without any time to take breathes in between. It was getting so bad that Sniffles was afraid the bear would suffocate himself at some point.

Not only this, but Flippy was suffering from skull-splitting headaches and coughing up alarming amounts of blood. His fur was becoming more grey-green in color, and the bear was always fighting to keep up with what Sniffles or Flaky was trying to say to him. Put simply, it was beginning to frighten Flaky. But what was there to do?

The morning after that, Flaky went to check on the light and medium ward - Sniffles had assigned Flaky to go check on each patient and record what made their symptoms different from everyone else's. Flaky was a little irritated at the anteater's frank order. It wasn't as if this was her training to become a nurse; her friends were all bedridden, for heaven's sake! They were all in pain, and there wasn't much Flaky could do to help except try to make them comfortable.

She went to the medium ward first, and since Mime was the only one staying in there besides Sniffles, it didn't take long for their session to be completed. Flaky noticed that Cuddles had neglected to file the reindeer's own antlers, so she ended up doing it. It wasn't too bad. The fact that Mime refused to strike a conversation with her was a little disappointing, as it made for a quiet filing, but she supposed it wasn't his fault. He was just staying in character.

Flaky paused in front of the door to the light ward. Flaky was uncomfortable around Disco Bear. He was not shy about looking at her and making very actions. Sure, sometimes he would leave her alone. Sometimes the bear wouldn't even register the porcupine's existence, but that was only when Petunia and Giggles were unfortunate enough to acquire the golden bear's attention.

Once again, the bear and the beaver were duking it out, but this time it wasn't cards. They were having a staring contest. And by the looks of it, it had been going on for a while. Handy was sitting cross legged, nubs on his knees, almost glaring at the bear across from him. Disco Bear, was just sitting on his bed, eyes half lidded with a half-smile plastered on his face. Neither of them seemed to notice when Flaky entered. She adjusted her dress skirt and closed the door behind her. The porcupine had finally managed to locate the elusive hospital gown, and was disappointed to find it had shrunk since her last time wearing it. She made a mental note to ask Ms. Giggles to adjust the skirt and chest areas.

"You blinked," Handy said.

"I did not blink," Disco Bear replied simply, rolling his shoulders and giving Flaky a bored look. That was the thing about Disco Bear. One second he was a hip, groovy, flirting disaster and the next he was suddenly too cool for school. Flaky mentally tilted her head at her choice of words. The bear only winked at Flaky, gave her a half-hearted smirk and said to Handy, "Again?"

"Nah," Handy said. The beaver rubbed his eyes and stretched, looking at Flaky. "Hey. How is everyone?"

Flaky gave him a smile and made her way towards the back of the room. This room as well as hers had a window, and Pop and Cub's conjoined bed sat underneath. The larger, pot-bellied bear wasn't there, and Flaky guessed he'd gone to the bathroom. Cub was sitting on the bed, doing a puzzle. He smiled and waved as Flaky came up.

The check-ups went by fast, and sooner than she expected Flaky was ready to leave. There wasn't anything important to take not of. Pop, Cub, Disco Bear and Handy hardly seemed effected by the mysterious illness other than the regular symptoms – coughing, sneezing, nausea – so Flaky just wrote up the results and left. But before she was all the way out of the door, Handy called over his shoulder, "Flaky, how is Mole doing?"

"The Mole? He's alright, I guess. His eyes are hurting a lot, though."

"Can I, uh…" Handy sighed and turned his body fully towards her, trying to adjust his lopsided yellow hat. "Do you think Sniffles would let me see him?"

Flaky took another step towards the door and rubbed her thumbs against the rough surface of the clipboard. She was anxious to go, though she wasn't sure why. But something about Handy's question, or maybe just his behavior was curious. "I don't think so, Handy," Flaky said. Honestly, she was a bit sorry to tell him that. His eyes flickered toward the floor and he shrugged. "Alright then. I get it. The quarantine thing."

"It's just that Sniffles doesn't want anyone getting worse," Flaky said. "Wouldn't The Mole feel guilty if he got you sicker?" The idea seemed to amuse the orange beaver, because he laughed and swung his body back around so that his back faced Flaky. "Yeah, I guess. But Mole isn't one to get guilty over that kind of stuff. More than likely he'd just blame me for getting too close."

"Mmm…" Flaky didn't know exactly what to say, and felt that something indeed needed to be said, but neither porcupine nor beaver spoke. So Flaky stepped out and gently closed the door behind her.

Review. Please. Or I'll be sad...