Currently Listening to: "Red 2" by Alan Silvestri.
"If Riley's out cold," Fear screamed, "What's going to happen? She's never been knocked out before! What's gonna happen?"
"I don't know Fear," Joy worried.
"Riley's probably going to die," Sadness lamented, "Then we'll all fade out of existence."
"But she can't die now," Fear screamed, "Riley's lived such a short life."
Joy was beginning to get annoyed.
"Riley can't die," Disgust lamented, "Her body will decay and rot and get all gross."
"Fear," Anger yelled, "Stop shaking and let go of me."
"Make me," Fear yelled. Anger then punched Fear into a nearby wall.
"We're going to kill each other before Riley dies," Sadness lamented.
"Why can't Riley die in a beautiful dress," Disgust cried.
"Will everybody please be quiet," Joy yelled, showing a rare outburst of anger. The other emotions turned attention to her, shocked by this outburst.
"Now listen," Joy announced, "I don't know what will happen, maybe Riley will die, maybe she'll survive, but worrying won't do us any good. All we can do is hope for the best and help Riley in any way we can. So, let's think positive and hope that, soon, Riley will wake up and everything can go back to normal."
"Can I say something," Sadness asked.
"What is it," Joy asked, sounding genuinely curious, but hoping it wasn't about Riley dying.
"Mom and Dad are going to be upset if we don't wake up," Sadness announced, "They might even become depressed."
Joy sighed internally. She knew that this would set the emotions off.
"Oh geez," Fear lamented, "Mom and Dad. They always promised to protect us. They'll be so sad to find out they failed."
"This is all Gabriel's fault," Disgust screamed, "If he hadn't been such a big jerk..."
"No," Anger corrected, "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let Riley do something so dangerously stupid."
"Look," Joy announced, "Sitting around placing blame is not helping Riley and it's certainly not helping ourselves. All we can do right now is wait and hope."
"How can we have hope Joy," Fear asked, "When there are such disastrous circumstances?"
"Do what I do," Joy answered, "Put on a happy face for everyone's sake."
"Joy," Sadness stepped up, "Can I talk to you for a second, in private?"
"Sure," Joy answered. Sadness then practically dragged Joy into the break room.
"What the heck was that," Anger questioned.
"I don't know," Disgust responded, "Those two have been acting weird ever since they got lost in Riley's mind."
"Wait," Fear thought, "You guys don't think they're, you know, hooking up, do you?"
"What," Anger shouted, "Heck no! That'd never happen."
"Yeah," Disgust cried, "Sadness would never 'hook up' with anybody, let alone Joy."
"I don't know," Fear responded, "It's always the ones you least suspect. And what did you mean, 'let alone Joy'?"
"There's no way Sadness goes that way," Disgust answered, "Joy, I could buy being at least curious, but Sadness just seems asexual to me."
"Come on," Anger shouted, "Where's your proof of that?"
"And are we not forgetting about Sadness' curiously long glance at the Little Ceaser's cashier," Fear demanded.
"We settled that as Sadness trying to read what her shirt said," Disgust shouted, "We are not debating that again."
Meanwhile, Sadness was talking to Joy in the break room.
"What are you doing Joy," Sadness asked.
"What do you mean Sadness," Joy asked.
"Why are you ordering everybody around," Sadness asked, "You yelled at everybody for getting upset at Riley being knocked out cold."
"I was just trying to keep the others from getting flustered," Joy explained, "I don't know what's going on or what will happen, but panicking is probably the worst thing we can do right now. I was trying to stop a panic before it happened."
"That is true," Sadness stated, "It wouldn't be good for us to panic. But, why couldn't you let us be upset for only a minute?"
"Because there's nothing to be upset about," Joy reminded, "Riley is going to be alright when she wakes up."
"You're not upset at all," Sadness asked.
"Nope," Joy replied.
"You're not at all worried about what might happen to Riley and to us," Sadness objected.
"Not at all," Joy choked out, starting to get a bit upset.
"You're not at all worried about the possibility of Riley dying," Sadness pointed out, "At such a young age. How depressed Mom and Dad will get. All of us simply fading out of existence."
"Sadness," Joy pleaded, looking away from Sadness, now clearly on the verge of tears, "Please. I..."
"Please look at me Joy," Sadness pleaded, grabbing Joy's face and turning it so they were looking each other in the eyes.
Finally, Joy could take it no more. She collapsed on her knees, tears streaming down her face. Sadness, while hurt seeing Joy like this, still knew that she needed it. So, she hugged Joy and let her cry into her shoulder. They stated like that for what felt like an eternity, but was really no more than 5 minutes.
"Feeling better now," Sadness asked.
"Yeah," Joy answered, "Yeah, I am. Thank you."
"You're welcome Joy," Sadness whispered, "You're always welcome."
Joy released Sadness and got into an upright position, but stayed on her knees so she could remain on Sadness' level.
"I love you Sadness," Joy lovingly stated.
"I love you too Joy," Sadness lovingly stated.
The two of them then shared a kiss. A kiss that had been shared between the two of them many times before.
Meanwhile, back in the control room.
"Yes," Disgust yelled, "Sadness seemed oddly interested in the Ellen Show while we were waiting in the Hospital waiting room, but it was all she could focus on in that disgusting place."
"I'm getting tired of all of this bickering," Anger yelled, "I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Anger then started walking towards the break room.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa," Fear and Disgust exclaimed, jumping in front of anger.
"You can't just someone about their deal," Disgust teaches.
"She's right," Fear agreed, "You have to be subtle about it.
"OK," Anger responded, "Pray tell, how exactly do you ask someone about 'their deal'."
"Hey guys," Joy greeted as her and Sadness waltzed out of the break room.
"Like this," Fear whispered, "Hey Sadness."
"Yes Fear," Sadness responded.
"What's your opinion on having Riley watch Orange Is The New Black when she gets older," Fear asked.
"Why are you asking that now," Sadness asked.
"Um," Fear stammered, "Well, we need something to talk about until Riley wakes up."
"Oh," Sadness responded, "I suppose it would depend on how the show is viewed when Riley is grown up."
"Alright," Fear responded, "Good call Sadness."
"Real smooth," Anger whispered.
"Good job keeping entertained guys," Joy cheered, "See? Riley is going to be fine. And, one day, we'll all look back on this day as a crazy memory."
"I guess Joy has a point," Disgust pointed out, "After all, things couldn't possibly get any worse in the long run."
"Really," Fear gasped, "I can think of so many other things that could make this worse. Off the top of my head, abduction by robots seems to be a very real fright."
"First of all," Disgust moaned, "We told you to stay in your room while Riley watched Iron Man with Dad. Second, in all reality, what could really make this situation any worse?"
Oh, how Disgust would regret that remark. The regret first piled on when black clouds and lightning started coming from the recall tube literally right after Disgust finished her sentence.
"Told you so," Fear quivered.
"OK," Joy stammered, "This is probably not a big deal. Maybe the recall tube needs to be cleaned. Maybe Riley is remembering something. Maybe she's waking up."
But, Joy was to be proven wrong when a suspicious and Hispanic voice was heard coming from the recall tube. It got louder and more shrill, until something came through the recall tube and landed in Headquarters.
It appeared to be a pirate. He had an orange beard, a captain's hat, a large black coat, pirate boots, a sword, a pistol, and he vaguely resembled Antonio Bandaras. And, he was regaining consciousness. Needless to say, the emotions had no idea what to do.
"Joy," Fear stammered.
"Yes Fear," Joy stammered.
"What is that," Fear stammered.
"I have no idea," Joy stammered. The mysterious pirate then staggered into his feet.
"Oh my," the pirate whispered, "Nice place. Could be exactly what I've been looking for."
"Joy," Fear stammered.
"Yes Fear," Joy stammered.
"It speaks English," Fear stammered.
"I know that Fear," Joy stammered, "I didn't go deaf."
"Well," the pirate greeted, "You must be this girl's emotions. My name is Burger Beard, pirate captain. I'm here to help this girl through her head trauma."
"One of us should say something," Sadness whispered, "He probably thinks we're weird and socially awkward now."
"Um," Joy greeted, "Hi there. I'm Joy. This is Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger."
"Hello," Sadness greeted.
"Why is he dressed like he's late for a costume party," Disgust lamented, "And why does he smell like chlorine and brimstone?"
"Do you think he's going to hurt us," Fear cowered, "Do you think he's going to hurt Riley?"
"If he does," Anger threatened, "I'll put that hat where the sun don't shine."
"Well that's everybody," Joy announced, "We're kind of working on first impressions."
"No," Burger Beard explained, "It's alright. I understand. I think we got off on the wrong foot. Maybe it would help if I explained why I'm here."
"Fine," Disgust sighed, "Why are you here?"
"Well," Burger Beard explained, "Whenever what happened to your Riley happens to someone, I show up to help them through it. I may be Burger Beard, but I'm also what's known as..."
"Riley," the blurred voice of Riley's Dad said.
"Dad," Joy asked.
"Did Riley..." Fear started asking, before him and the other emotions rushed to the control panel. They could see that the monitor and the lights in Riley's mind were starting to turn back on.
"Come on," Joy whispered, "Come on. Come on."
"Honey," Riley's Dad exclaimed, "I think she's waking up."
"Riley," Riley's Mom coaxed, "It's me, Mom. Please wake up."
And, with that, the monitor turned back on and headquarters sprung back to life. Riley had awoken.
"Hi Mom," Riley sleepily greeted, "Hi Dad."
"Oh Riley," Riley's Mom breathed as she and her father gave Riley a soft, but firm hug, "Thank heavens you're alright."
"We were so worried about you," Riley's Dad breathed.
"She woke up," Joy cheered.
"Yayyyyy," the emotions cheered.
"You'd better make sure Mom and Dad know we're OK," Disgust pointed out. Joy pushed a few buttons on the console.
"I feel fine," Riley whispered, "I'm fine."
"Really," Burger Beard whined, "You're just going to ignore me now? You were curious and critical, now you're ready to turn me away?"
As Burger Beard continued to complain, Riley began to notice a few things. She was in a hospital bed. She was wearing a gown. She was hooked up to an IV machine. Although, since the last thing Riley remembers was ramming her head into a wall, this was understandable. But, a doctor then entered the room, interrupting Riley's thoughts.
"Oh good," the doctor noted, "Our patient has awoken." The doctor's entrance caused Riley's parents to let go of Riley and put their attention onto him.
"How is she ," Riley's Dad asked.
"I'm sorry to say," apologized, "That your daughter will never be the same again."
"What," Riley's Dad gasped.
"Yes," explained, "I'm afraid that the fall from the roof of the bus has left permanent physical and psychological damage."
"Wait," Riley's Dad objected, "Our daughter hit her head and was knocked out."
"Are you not Mr and Mr Powell," asked.
"No," Riley's Mom interjected, "We're Mr and Mrs Andersen."
"Well," pondered, "That would explain why the x ray I am holding is of a brain, not a snapped leg, and why one of you is a woman. Riley Andersen is going to be fine."
"That's wonderful," Riley's Mom quietly cheered.
"That Powell girl though," lamented, "She's got a hard life ahead of her."
"That's sad to hear," Riley's Dad confusingly lamented.
"Would either of you be willing to tell Mr and Mr Powell about their daughter," asked.
"No," Riley's Dad frustratingly interjected, "Can we please focus on Riley?"
"Alright," agreed, showing Riley's parents the x ray, "As you can see, there appears to be something growing inside Riley's brain. It doesn't appear fatal, but we would still like to keep her under observation here for a few days, just to be on the safe side."
"Of course," Riley's Mom agreed, "Now, is there anything we can do?"
"Look," moaned, "Times like these can be hard on a parent. What you need is a nice muscle relaxer." then pulled out a large needle and injected it.
"You just injected that into your own arm," Riley's Dad questioned.
"I know," grinned as he fell to the floor.
"Hold on a second," Anger growled, "If there's nothing wrong with us, why do we have to stay in this crummy old hospital?"
"I know," Disgust moaned, "All of these sick people coughing and wheezing, disgusting."
"If those diseases don't get Riley," Fear worried, "Some other kind of disease will get invented and kill her."
"Guys guys guys," Joy coaxed, "The important thing here is that Riley is fine and we'll be out of hospital in a few days. It's like Fear says. We didn't die, so that's a success."
"I have been standing here for at least 2 minutes," Burger Beard snapped, "Have we just forgotten that I exist?"
"Welcome to my world," Sadness whispered, "Or at least how it used to be."
"Fine," Burger Beard griped, "Ignore me. I've got stuff to take care of anyways." Burger Beard then ducked away into the break room. But, before he left, Sadness swore she heard him say, "You won't have to worry for long anyways."