Memories of the Dance We Shared
A Goofy Movie Fanfic
By Auburn Red
Chapter Four: Goofy and Max: Don't Take The Girl
Goofy, Trixie, and Max ran into the hospital room with continuous speed. To Max it reminded him of the time when he had a nightmare at Pete's house and his father practically jetted from his house to Pete's just to comfort him.
The Goof family ran to the waiting room outside the OR where another family waited for them, a large burly red-haired male dog, a small thin red-haired female dog and a younger female red-haired dog. Max panted as he approached his in-laws, "Hi, Betty, Kimmy, Rex. How is she?"
Rex, Roxanne's father, stood up and glared at Max in his intimidating stare. Despite his anxiety for his wife, Max stepped back and smiled weakly. Clearly the father- and son-in-law were not yet over that hurdle.
Betty Canis stood up to approach her husband and spoke holding his hand. "Calm down, Rex, it's alright. He's worried about her too," she eased her husband who's eyes went from anger to wide and tearful. "He has as much right to be with his wife as we do."
Betty sat her husband down as Rex beckoned for his granddaughter to approach him. Trixie ran up to her Grandpa Rex and fell into his arms. Rex gave her a big hug and bounced her on his knee.
Betty then faced her son-in-law. "Hi Max" She nodded at the operating room. "Right now, they're working on her. They said that her spine and brain suffered damage upon impact. She's in cri- well right now they're working on her, so that's all that we can hope for."
Max hugged his mother and sister-in-law to comfort himself as well as them. They also hugged Goofy who whispered assurances that Roxanne will be alright.
Max sank down sitting next to his father. "What was she doing out on the road?" He asked aloud.
Kimmy shrugged as she looked up from the text message that she just sent. At 18, she just started college studying forensic science. Roxanne was a great deal older than her and it almost seemed like Kimmy was an only child for how far apart their ages were, twelve years. They had a typical sibling relationship, one of teasing and fighting, but also one of love and support. In fact, Roxanne seemed almost like a second mother to her little sister giving her advice on dating and academics. When Kimmy came out of the closet, she told Roxanne first. Her sister was immediately understanding and supportive. She helped when Kimmy told her parents, bringing them especially their conservative, gruff, but loving father around. She welcomed Kimmy's girlfriend, Pistol, to the family considering her another sister and treated her the same way that the family (well at least Betty and Kimmy) treated Max.
Kimmy knew that she had to help her sister and one way is to find out what exactly happened to her. "We don't know," Kimmy said. "One minute, she was talking on her phone and the next she told us that she was going home. I mean it was late about 8:00 and the drive was so long, five hours. We told her to wait until tomorrow, well today I mean. But she was determined to leave. She seemed upset about something and she didn't tell us what, just that she had to go home. They thought that she may have nodded off at the wheel."
Kimmy's words rang through Max's mind: One minute she was talking on the phone and the next she told us she was going home…..She seemed upset about something and she didn't tell us that just that she had to go home. Max's breath caught in his throat and his hands shook. He knew why Roxanne was on the road. It was me! He thought. Because I called her. She was so worried even though I tried to convince her I was alright. She was so worried that she felt that she had to come home. The irony of the situation would have made Max laugh except it was so terrifying. He was so worried that something COULD have happened to Roxanne that he ended up inadvertently causing something TO happen to her. Max gripped the seat so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He stared at the operating room where even now doctors were working on his wife. He kept staring at it, using all of his will that she would survive. He almost felt that if he thought hard enough that Roxanne would live from the surgery and if he broke his concentration even for a second, she would die. Let it be me, not her, Max prayed in his mind. Take me instead. She doesn't deserve to be here. I do.
Goofy looked at Max and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Max didn't know if his father made the connection about what caused Roxanne's accident, but he held his son's hand. "She'll be okay, Max," Goofy said.
"You can't be sure of that Dad," Max said hollowly. "You of all people can't be sure of that. You don't know that she'll wake up."
Goofy hung his head sadly. He knew what Max is talking about. He would have loved to tell Max that Roxanne would recover 100% and that she and Max would grow old together and would sit in their rocking chairs watching their grandbabies. But Goofy knew that may not happen. After all, he wanted that for himself and Penny and it didn't happen. All he could do was support his son. "I don't know that for sure, son. All I know is what I feel and I feel that your wife is going to wake up and that she'll be okay."
Max lay his mother's journal on the table. "You must have really liked it enough to take it with you to the hospital." Goofy nodded at the book.
"It was in my hands when I got the call," Max said softly. "I guess I just held on to it."
"Did you learn about your Mama?" Goofy asked.
"Yes I did," Max said. "I learned about her….and you." Goofy looked at his son in surprise as Max continued. "I didn't know how your Mom and Dad died. You were on your own and you still tried to be hopeful and optimistic and strong. Did you ever think about them, miss them?"
"All the time," Goofy said. "Sometimes I felt sad missing the Mama I never knew, wondering what it would be like to have a Mama with me to heal my boo boos, comfort me when I had a nightmare, or to give me a cuddle when I felt sad. When I told my Dad this, he just hugged me and he said, 'Your Mama gave you your life, but you gave me mine.' After he died, I promised myself that as long as I lived the way your Granddad taught me, then I was honoring his life and maybe hers too."
"You were really lucky," Max said. "To have a father that loved you. I mean Mom didn't and-God, how could they treat their daughter the way they did? Did they ever have any feeling for her at all?"
Goofy lowered his head. He remembered when he told Penny's parents that she died and their response was a cold, "Our daughter has been dead to us long before that car accident." Goofy shook his head not wanting to believe, even to this day, that somebody could be so heartless especially about their only child. "I don't know, Max. Sometimes some people were just born to the wrong parents."
He hugged his son tightly as Max thought. "You weren't the only one who was lucky to have a good father." Max said. "No matter how I may act towards you. I know that I wasn't born to the wrong parent."
Goofy gave his son a tight shoulder squeeze. "Max, sometimes the only thing a father can give to their son is hope. I am giving you the hope that your wife will wake up and will walk out of this here hospital."
Max's eyes shook and he winced. He wanted to remain strong in front of his in-laws, his daughter, and his father but he felt his strength beginning to ebb. Goofy continued to hold onto his son giving him all of the support that he could.
"Is Mommy going to die?" Trixie asked. She had leapt off her Grandpa Rex's lap and approached her father. This was the second time that she saw her Daddy so sad.
Max looked at his daughter as if for the first time. Trixie didn't deserve to be burdened with worry. She deserved to think only the best positive thoughts. Max held out his arms as Trixie timidly approached him. Max wrapped his arms around his daughter and rocked her back and forth. "Of course not. Mommy's going to be okay," He said as he kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Mommy's okay."
As Max rocked his daughter back and forth whispering words of comfort, Goofy smiled at his son and granddaughter. "You and I aren't the only ones lucky enough to have a good Daddy." He nodded at Trixie.
Max smiled as he held his daughter even tighter and gave her another kiss.
The Goofs and Canises waited for what seemed like hours. Trixie had fallen asleep on Max's lap. Max himself had practically nodded off and leaned on Goofy's shoulder when he felt his smart phone vibrate. Max blinked and looked up forgetting for a second where he was. Oh yeah the hospital. The phone vibrated again almost impatiently. Max wearily shifted his three-year-old daughter off his lap then gently moved her towards Goofy. "I have a call," he said. "Could you watch her for me?" Goofy nodded and gently lay his granddaughter on the seat and lay her head on top of his lap. Trixie blinked a little bit but fell back to sleep laying on Goofy's lap.
Kimmy watched Max confused. She didn't know what was going on with him. She saw his expression when she mentioned the phone call. He looked upset and guilty, but not surprised. It was like he knew.
Kimmy picked up her purse and took out another smartphone, different from hers. Instead of purple, it was light blue. Roxanne had left her phone behind at the reception.
Kimmy had forgotten about it until she saw Max rise to answer his phone.
Kimmy flipped it on to see a wallpaper of Max, Roxanne, and Trixie. Kimmy smiled at the happy family and flipped on her sister's contact information. She flipped through "received calls," and saw one number that seemed familiar that was placed at 8:00 PM, the same time Roxanne left the wedding for home. Just to be sure, Kimmy pushed the "call" icon and heard a familiar voice on the voicemail: "Hi this is Max Goof, I can't come to the phone right now…."
Max saw the contact information: Pete, Peter Jr. He sighed knowing full well what P.J. was calling about. They were supposed to create a news video for Max's promotion interview. They had been talking about it and brainstorming ideas about it for days. Max realized how far away the past few days had seemed from the rest of his life. There was nothing like learning about your mother's death and your wife's car accident that made a work promotion seem less important.
Max heard his best friend's voice over the phone. "Max, what's going on over there, man?"
Max instantly apologized. "Oh, Peej, I'm sorry about the video. I know we agreed to work on it, but some things have come up since then and I-"
"What? No, I don't care about that," P.J. said. "How could you not tell me about Roxanne? How is she?" Max started. Okay, while it may have been a matter of public record, for the most part news did not reveal the names of accident victims unless the family was notified. Well okay they were notified. So how did P.J. know? Max was about to continue when P.J. went on. "And I had to hear about it from my sister, not my best friend!"
"How did Pistol know?" Max asked.
"Kimmy told her," P.J. explained.
Max rolled his eyes. "Why doesn't she keep her big mouth shut?"
"Hey, don't take it out on Kimmy," P.J. said. "She's worried about her sister as much as you are. Pistol was comforting her and she thought I already knew. So why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry, Peej," Max said sarcastically. "I have been in this waiting room since-" He looked at his watch. "4:00 this afternoon. I'm trying to be a rock for my daughter, my father, and my in-laws. I am worried sick about my wife and haven't heard anything about her condition. My first priority was not to contact my friend!"
"I'm sorry, Max," P.J. said. "I'm just worried about you. You're my best friend and Roxanne is my friend too. You should tell me when something like this happens so I can be there for you. That's what friends do."
"You're right," Max sighed. "I am sorry."
"So how is she?" P.J. asked. Max explained what he knew about Roxanne's condition which amounted to not much.
P.J. sighed. "She'll be okay man. She seems vulnerable and fragile, but she's a lot stronger than most people think she is."
"I know, P.J.," Max said accepting his friend's compliments towards his wife.
"She'll pull through," P.J. said.
"Thanks," Max said. He looked at the waiting room. "Look I have to go. I don't want to leave them too long."
"I understand," P.J. said. "Please keep me and Passion posted."
"I will bro," Max said. The friends said good-bye and hung up.
Max was about to return to the waiting room when Kimmy stood in front blocking his path and holding up his wife's smart phone.
"Where did you get that?" Max asked.
"My sister left it at the reception when she left because of her 'very important emergency!' Guess what or who it was about?" She asked sarcastically.
"Is it bigger than a breadbox?" Max asked. Depends on the breadbox, he thought.
"I checked Roxanne's contact information," Kimmy said. "Someone had placed a call to her at 8:00 right before she left. You'll never believe who it was."
"I'm going to guess since you aren't talking to anyone else about it-" Max began but Kimmy held up her hand.
"What did you call my sister about and why did she leave so upset?" Kimmy said.
Max shrugged. "I don't know. We talked and she asked if I wanted her to come home and I told her no-"
"-Why," Kimmy asked. "Why would she be so worried? Do you have a girlfriend that she found out about?"
"What do you think of me?" Max asked.
"Believe me, Max. You don't want to know right now," Kimmy glared. "What was she so upset about?"
"Nothing," Max said. "I found out something and I just called to see how Roxanne was."
"What did you find out?" Kimmy asked.
"It doesn't concern you," Max answered. He was about to head to the waiting room to be with his daughter and father when he heard Kimmy mutter under her breath. "I guess anything to remove your guilt."
"What do you mean by that?" Max angrily asked.
"Do I have to connect the dots for you?" Kimmy countered back. Max looked at her squarely. "She wouldn't be on the road if it weren't for you!"
Max practically shook with anger. Mostly because he had been telling himself this all day. In front of sympathy, Max could be brave. In front of blame, Max wasn't prepared. It was as though, Max's unconscious thoughts took the form of his sister-in-law. Max wanted to agree with her, but he also wanted to gain control of the situation by denial. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Whatever you told her was not worth her life," Kimmy sneered. "My sister doesn't have to be here!"
Max whirled around and faced his sister-in-law squarely. "She didn't have to come here! No one forced her and I certainly didn't ask her to! She made her choice! I had nothing to do with it!"
Kimmy glared back. "Why? So you don't have to take the blame? Max, it's your fault that she's here in the first place!"
Max raised his fist, ready to punch Kimmy's lights out, female or no when he heard a familiar voice, "Max, Kimmy keep yer voices down! We're in a hospital!"
Max dropped his fist and he and Kimmy turned to Goofy. "Sorry, Goofy," Kimmy said at the same time as Max said, "Sorry, Dad."
Goofy looked from his son to his daughter-in-law's sister. "Whatever you have right now against each other ain't as important as Roxanne! There is a time and place to get mad and this ain't it!" Max and Kimmy both glanced at Goofy visibly ashamed. "Now I'm sure you're both worried about her, but there ain't no reason to be fighting each other. I came to tell you that the doctor came out of surgery."
Max and Kimmy followed Goofy to the waiting room where a surgeon appeared dressed in green scrubs. "Roxanne has been through her surgery. She sustained spinal and brain injury which we have been able to repair."
"Is she-?" Max asked not wanting to finish this thought.
The doctor sighed. "She's alive but she's still in a coma. We moved her to an intensive care room. We won't know the extent of the damage until she wakes up."
"But she will survive," Betty asked in her husband's arms.
"She's not out of the woods especially while she's in her coma," the doctor said. "Right now it's a waiting game."
Max waited patiently outside Roxanne's intensive care room while her parents and sister were inside talking to her. His eyes winced as his vision of his wife became blurry through his tears. Kimmy's words came back to haunt him: She wouldn't be on the road if it weren't for you… Whatever you told her was not worth her life…. Max, it's your fault that she's here in the first place!. He also thought back to his mother's death. His image of her yelling, "Maximilian I'm trying to watch the road!" mixed with Kimmy's accusation: "It's your fault that she's here in the first place!"
Once again, he was responsible for the death or near death of someone that he loved. He barely acknowledged Goofy standing next to him. "It'll be yer turn soon, Maxie."
Max shook his head. If he wasn't responsible for their death, he was certainly responsible for their disappointment. How many times was he embarrassed or frustrated by something that his dad did and how often did he yell at him, particularly when he disowned him? I screwed up far more than he ever did, Max thought sadly.
Max hugged Trixie tightly as she was perched on his hip. His daughter didn't say much, but she didn't look at her mother's direction. She just buried her head in her father's shoulder. Max subtly bounced her up and down and whispered, "shh, it's alright" to her like he and Roxanne did when she was a baby and had woken up from crying.
Max stubbornly tried to keep his tears in check remembering how he described himself to P.J. : I'm trying to be a rock for my daughter, my father, and my in-laws. It wasn't the first time that he had been described as a rock.
Max was 13 years old and watched his father come home dejected. Once again, he had been fired from another job. "Don't worry, Dad," Max tried to encourage his father. "You don't need 'em! It's not like the whole place exploded! It was just a little grease fire!"
Goofy sighed sadly. Max was confused. Certainly, his father had been let go from so many positions that this should be normal for him. In fact, mostly afterwards Goofy was often hopeful, enthusiastic always eager to start a new chapter in his life. Goofy just meandered into the living room and sank down on the couch. "Maybe we can update your resume tonight?" Max suggested.
"Why bother?" Goofy said wearily. "I'm just going to lose this job too."
Max thoughtfully shoved the "Past Due" bills far from his father's sight so he wouldn't be more depressed. "Dad, what's wrong? Did you like this job?"
Goofy shrugged. Being one of several cafeteria cooks wasn't exactly thrilling. "It was okay, I guess."
"Well, then maybe you should try for a better job," Max suggested. "Maybe one you could really love." Goofy sighed and lowered his head on the coffee table. Max picked up the foreclosure sign on the house and threw it behind his back, so his father wouldn't look at it. "Or maybe Uncle Donald or Uncle Mickey can help you?"
"I done told you before," Goofy said. "I don't wanna get in the habit of asking them all the time. Because, I'll always have to and then always feel like I have to pay them back."
Max nodded knowing that his father did have some pride. Goofy continued. "Besides the best job I ever had was one I was only able to have for three years."
Max slightly grinned embarrassed knowing what job he was referring to. "Well going on 14."
"Yeah," Goofy said fondly. The sweet moment was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Max looked through the peephole and rolled his eyes.
Before he could open the door, Pete burst in as though the house were his. "Salutations, Goof," he said. "I heard about them lousy good-for-nothings giving you the old heave ho! Well, it ain't fittin', I tells ya!"
"Thanks Pete," Goofy said.
Max could smell the beer on Pete's breath from where he stood. Pete continued. "Well, this is some time for the old Bachelor King! My old lady took off and took those rugrats with her!" Max remembered that P.J. said that he and Pistol were going to go with their mom after Peg and Pete had yet another fight. Of course this was the period that would lead to the Pete family divorce, but this particular fight was only one of many such clashes. "Goof, how would you like to go tie one over with me! Just us two wild and crazy guys?"
"I don't know, Pete," Goofy said glumly. "I don't think that I could particularly not tonight of all nights." Max glanced at his father in surprise. What did he mean by particularly tonight of all nights? What was so important about this night?
"Ah come on, Goof," Pete said. "It'll be like old high school days! You, me, and some brewskis!"
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Mr. Pete," Max interrupted.
"I don't think that's your decision," Pete shot back. He then turned to Goofy. "It'll drown your sorrows."
Goofy glanced at the large cat. Then he stood up determined. "Alright, then let's go."
"Dad," Goofy said. "I don't think you should."
"Ah, come on, Max," Goofy said. "I'm a grown man! I know my limits!"
Goofy followed Pete at the door leaving a worried Max behind. "I don't think you do, Dad." He said as the door closed.
Max tried to concentrate on the television showing one of the Mutilator movies. But he was so concerned about his father that he couldn't tell if it was Mutilator 8: Final Mutilation, Mutilator 9: This is the Real Final Mutilation, or Mutilator 10: Our Bad, This is the Really Final Mutilation, We Swear. He kept looking out the window through his bedroom hoping some sign would tell him that his father was on his way home. Max began to feel drowsy and shut his eyes when a large crash woke him up.
Max crept downstairs making sure his movements were silent just in case it was the Mutilator. He inched down the stairs listening and being extra careful. He tensed as he sneaked ever so slowly to the living room light hearing a voice singing. As he reached for the light, he heard a familiar voice sing a familiar song and his fear turned into irritation: "Oh the world owes me a livin'!"
Max turned on the light to see Goofy, his father sprawled on the floor singing off-key and whistling into an empty bottle of whiskey. Max glanced over to the side to see the overturned coffee table and broken lamp that had been the result of the crash.
Max approached his father stepping on Waffles who hissed and sprinted off in protest. "Dad, are you okay?" Max asked holding out his hand.
Goofy took it and was about to stand on shaky legs. As Max tried to help his taller father to rise, Goofy lost his footing and tumbled to the ground again. "Oops head rush," Goofy said and then laughed.
Max glowered. He knew that Goofy going off with Pete wasn't a good idea and now his fears were confirmed. His father was slumped on the floor, dead drunk. Max had never seen his father drunk before. Of course, he mentioned wild parties in his youth and had the occasional alcohol on special occasions. To Max, Goofy always seemed to be someone who was high on life and didn't need drugs or alcohol to get excited and now here he was. It was a new territory that scared and infuriated Max.
Max helped his father to stand and this time Goofy complied. Max was able to move his father forward and lead him to his bedroom like a guide to a blind person. "Dad come on, you need to get some sleep."
"Sleep," Goofy said. "If only I could sleep like she-she," Goofy stammered and slurred his words.
Max opened the bedroom door and helped lead his father onto bed. As he helped his father change into his pajamas, Goofy stood quiet and ashamed. "I'm sorry," Goofy said with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Maxie that I lost my job. I'm sorry that I've been drinking. I ain't been a very good dad to ya."
"It's okay, Dad," Max assured his father. "You just need to get some sleep."
Max wrapped the cover as Goofy said, "I'm sorry" over and over become more tearful. "This wasn't what I promised. I promised that I would take care of ya and I ain't been very good at it, have I?"
"You've been doing okay, Dad," Max said.
"No, I haven't," Goofy moaned. He looked skyward and he mumbled, "Happy 10th anniversary." Before he fell asleep.
At first Max was confused. While he would have understood, his father being depressed that it would have been his wedding anniversary, Goofy and Penny were married for longer than 10 years. In fact close to 15. Plus, he had always said that they were married on May 1. Max knew that because Goofy always gave spring flowers on Penny's grave every year for their wedding anniversary. But this was January 15, what happened 10 years ago on-! Then Max remembered! This wasn't the anniversary of his parents' wedding, this was the anniversary of his mother's death!
As if confirming Max's discovery, Goofy mumbled. "I ain't doing good by myself. Many jobs, no money, stacks of bills! I'm a failure!"
Max whispered to his father words of encouragement as he held his hand and watched him as he slept as though Goofy were a small child.
The next morning, Max scanned through the newspaper want ads looking for something that his father would be good at and would pay a decent amount of money. He also poured some orange juice and made hot buttered toast. (If his father was hung over, he probably wouldn't want to eat very much). Max read through until one ad caught his eye: Wanted Children's Photographer. Max nodded and circled the letter. His father would be perfect for the job. He was great with kids, was patient, and could definitely get kids to pose and smile for the camera. It would be perfect. Max then collected the paper and the food on a tray and walked upstairs.
Goofy woke with a pounding headache as Max lay the tray down. "What time is it?" he moaned.
"11:00," Max said.
"Let me sleep a little longer," Goofy moaned.
"Nope," Max said undoing the shades. "It's a nice day and you're getting up." Goofy winced as the sun blinded him.
"What hit me, a garbage truck?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah one named Mr. Pete," Max said sarcastically. "I told you not to go with him last night."
"Well I wanted to- I wanted to," Goofy said. "Shoot, I don't remember what I wanted to do."
"Drown your sorrows," Max mumbled.
"What?" Goofy asked.
"Nothing," Max said. "Okay, the mourning period is over. You lost your job. Now time to get a new one and I found just the perfect one." He opened the paper and showed it to Goofy. "Go ahead read it."
Goofy read the ad in silence. "Well it sounds nice, but I ain't a photographer."
"No," Max said. "But you work with kids and you used to film your movies with the others."
"That's different," Goofy said.
"What's so different about it?" Max encouraged. "One camera you are moving and another you are standing still. I think it would give you more experience."
"Yeah but there will be hundreds of people probably applying," Goofy said. "I wouldn't get it."
"You won't know if you don't try," Max told his father. "Now get out of bed, take a shower, get dressed, and we'll work on your resume."
Max took his father's hand and helped him to stand. "I don't know, Maxie." Goofy said. "I don't much feel like it."
Max walked his father through the hallway towards the shower. On the way over he picked up his dad's bathrobe and shower cap. "Hey, you'll be great at it." Goofy stood in silence as Max led him forward. Time for some tough love.
Max held up the unpaid bill and foreclosure statement to his father's face. "I know you miss Mom and I know you feel guilty about everything that has happened to us since she died! Dad, Mom is gone and you aren't going to bring her back. Maybe, you got drunk because you miss her or maybe you want to live in some morbid fantasy that she's still alive! But this is reality!" He pointed at himself. "You see me? I'm real!" He moved the bills closer to Goofy's face and waved them up and down. "You see these? This is real!
You need to work to take care of this! I can't do it, I'm just a kid! Dad, if you don't try then you will fail. Mom trusted you to take care of me and you've been good at it. Don't you want to continue to be?"
Goofy's eyes softened and he fluffed his son's hair. "Thank you, Maxie," he said. " You're my rock. You know that? You've always taken care of me."
Max nodded knowing that his child-like father needed to be cared for, needed to be protected. Max had to help his Dad out so he can face reality. He would never be able to do it on his own. On his own, his Dad's klutziness and naiveté would get him seriously hurt or even killed. There needed to be an adult in the house and if Goofy couldn't do it, then it was up to Max.
Looking back on that time with older eyes, Max realized that was the beginning when his father's antics became less amusing and more embarrassing. His father became less of a wacky, but lovable goof ball, and instead became a constant source of aggravating irritation for his son/caregiver.
Max's thoughts went from this memory of his father to his wife lying in the hospital. His wife was damaged like his father was damaged then. He had to repair the damage somehow. He remembered the many times when he and Goofy had the relationship where Goofy broke things, Max fixed them. Well Max broke people and it was up to Max to fix them! He had to fix Roxanne and he had to wake her up and take care of her, his daughter, and his father! He had to fix them, he just had to.
Roxanne's hospital door opened making Max jump in surprise as he returned to the present. A weary saddened Canis family emerged. "It's your turn now, Max." Betty said. "We're going to the hotel."
Max nodded as he knelt Trixie down. Since the Canis family no longer lived in Spoonerville, they were visiting and would be staying in a hotel until Roxanne came out of her coma. Plus, they had been awake since yesterday and after driving for five hours were worn out. "I'll keep you posted," Max promised. Betty hugged her son-in-law and granddaughter.
Kimmy then hugged Max and Trixie. "Max about what I said-"
"-Forget it," Max said. "It's nothing to worry about now." Though Max couldn't help, but think that there was plenty of truth in it as well.
Rex looked down at Max, his face impassive. Max didn't know what he was thinking, but he leaned down towards his son-in-law and wrapped him in a giant wordless bear hug. "Thanks Rex," Max whispered. Rex then hugged Trixie and Goofy as they left.
Max, Goofy, and Trixie tensed as Goofy opened the door where Roxanne lay inside. Her body was wrapped in bandages and a neck brace covered her on top. An oxygen mask surrounded her mouth. Her face was also scratched and had bruises on her eyes.
Max accepted Goofy's quick embrace then walked Trixie over to her mother. "Trix, do you want to talk to Mommy?"
Trixie shook her head frantically. The closer that Max and Trixie got to Roxanne in her bed, the more Trixie resisted by grounding her heels. As soon as they approached Roxanne's bed, Trixie hyperventilated and began to scream. "NO! NO! Where's Mommy? I want Mommy!" Max held onto her as she cried in his arms.
"Honey, that's Mommy," Max said.
Trixie shook her head. "No, that's not Mommy! I want Mommy!" She sobbed in her father's arms. "I'm scared, Daddy!"
Max held his daughter tightly. He understood. Trixie was terrified about seeing her mother lying in the hospital bed, bandaged and bruised. To Trixie, she didn't look at all like her mother. She looked almost monstrous to her. Plus, she was afraid that Roxanne would die.
"It's okay, you don't have to be in here if you don't want to be," Max assured his daughter. He knelt down to be face level with his daughter and wiped her tears with his fingers. "I know you're scared."
"I'll take her home and watch her," Goofy said.
Max looked up at his father. "Are you sure, Dad?"
Goofy nodded. "You wanna go home, Trixie Belle?" The little girl nodded with tears in her eyes.
"I'll be here," Max said. He then turned to his daughter. "Can you think of good thoughts for Mommy?"
"Yeah," Trixie sniffled.
"Good because Mommy is going to need all of the good thoughts that you can give her," Max said. "Think of all the best thoughts that you can that Mommy will get better and do you know what?"
"What?" Trixie asked.
"She will," Max said.
"Really?" Trixie asked.
"Cross my heart," Max promised. It was a nice speech and to the bottom of his heart, Max wished he could believe it.
"Okay Daddy," Trixie said quietly as Max held her again promising once again that Mommy would be okay, that everything was going to be okay and that he and her Mommy loved her to the moon and back.
Max then stood up to face his father. "Thanks Dad," Max said.
"Anytime Max," Goofy said giving his son a tight hug. He then slipped a book in his hand. It took Max a second before he realized that it was his mother's journal. "You might want something to read, maybe even read it to her." He nodded at Roxanne.
Max nodded and hugged Goofy again before he and Trixie left.
Max sat down next to Roxanne and held her hand. "Hey Babe," Max said to her. He just tried to pretend that Roxanne was fully awake and listening to him. "You look…well you always look great."
He imagined Roxanne dismissing it by saying something like Max always said that. Max nodded. "Well I wouldn't say it if it weren't true. Trixie was a little- well Dad's with her right now. I think she's dealing with things the best way she can. Dad is, well Dad is Dad. What more can I say than that? Your folks are okay, they're at the hotel right now. Kimmy and I got into it, but well we'll talk about it later." He imagined Roxanne saying something about why her sister and Max don't always get along. "I know you think that Kimmy and I are too much alike. You think we're both stubborn and take things too seriously. Well maybe but I'm worried about you and I don't need your sister nagging at me- well maybe I deserve it." Max said. "I'm afraid of losing you. I'm sorry I scared you. I didn't mean for this to happen. But I discovered some things about my mother and how she died. I guess I was worried about losing you and leaving Trixie without you. You know she's the same age that I was when-" Max gulped. He imagined his wife telling him something like how he didn't have to worry about something like that. "-I called you wanting to hear you, just worried and I guess I scared you. I'm sorry I scared you. I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted you to come home scared and risk your life." Max winced. He stubbornly tried to keep the tears from falling. Roxanne needed him to be strong for her. "It's my fault, everything is my fault and I'm so sorry."
A nurse came in. Max nodded at her. She was a nightingale dressed in hospital scrubs. Max checked her name tag and read that it said, "Flo."
Flo checked Roxanne's vitals and temperature. "You her husband?" She asked.
Max nodded. "Can she really hear me?" He asked.
Flo nodded. She glanced at the EKG reading. Max didn't know what he was looking for apart from what they showed in movies and TV. "You see sometimes when someone speaks to the comatose patient, the readings go up a little." Max saw the lines seeing that they rose.
"Does she understand me?" Max said.
"I think she's just glad that you're talking to her," Flo said tactfully. "Many patients will respond to voices, music. One of my patients woke up as soon as his friends showed him the latest episode of 'The Walking Dead.' "
"That's ironic," Max quipped.
Flo nodded and laughed. "Sometimes patients respond when they're read to like the Bible, or their favorite classic or romance novel."
Max nodded. "And it helps?" He tapped his mother's journal. Could his mother help his wife?
Flo smiled. "Sometimes I think it helps the family member almost as much as the patient." She motioned to the door. "I have to go back on my rounds. You contact me if there's any change."
"I will, Flo, thanks," Max said. The nightingale nurse smiled and walked away leaving the young married couple together.
Max held his wife's hand and kissed it. "I don't know what I could tell you. But I've been thinking about my Mom lately and Dad showed me some of her stuff including her journal. I've been reading it. I don't know if you want me to read it. It's kind of bragging about my parents but-" He cleared his throat. "I guess at heart it's a romance, like those novels that I always make fun of but you loved- uh I mean love. And I know you love my Dad. Sometimes I think you get along with him better than I do." It stood to reason, Max believed. Both Goofy and Roxanne were very mellow and easy-going. Max by contrast was often serious and wound uptight, worried about something. Often times Roxanne would rub her husband's shoulders or temples and tell him to lie back and relax and let things take care of themselves. Similar to many of the things that Goofy said over the years. Max continued. "I guess I can read it out loud, if you want me to. It will keep us from thinking about-well other things."
Max opened the book and summarized what had happened so far in his mother's life including her wealthy upbringing by her parents, her reunion with Minnie and Daisy and her first meeting with Goofy, the encounter when they painted the house, and their first and second dates including the movies.
"Well I guess that's where we left off," Max said. "Do you want to hear it?" He imagined Roxanne saying yes. "Well I guess I'll give it a try." He opened the book and read the
entry that he left off. "Let's see, here it is: It's been awhile since I've written in this. I haven't been a good journal writer…."
Author's Notes
The opening where Max recalls the time Goofy comforted him after a nightmare was from the Goof Troop episode, "Date With Destiny."
Rex is of course Roxanne's terrifying intimidating father. Betty and Kimmy are briefly in A Goofy Movie as the little girl who's picture Goofy takes at the beginning and her mother. Many believe because we never see Roxanne's mother or Kimmy's father and since Kimmy and Roxanne look so much alike that they are family. I liked that idea because it makes Roxanne's family different from Max's.
Of course the nurse who is a nightingale named "Flo" is a tribute to Florence Nightingale, the famous nurse.