I DO NOT OWN LAB RATS.

Recoveries

Donald was in a hospital bed sleeping, Leo was on the couch watching the TV that was on the wall, and Tasha was in a chair by the bed. She was so grateful that her husband was fine and watched as his chest gently rose and fell.

Adam, Bree, and Chase were walking through the hallway. Well, Adam and Chase were walking. Bree was trying to use her super speed, but Chase held her back. "Bree, what are you doing? I know you want to make sure Mr. Davenport is okay, but you can't use your super speed."

"Well, what do you expect me to do? Walk?"

Adam said, "Wow, Bree. With that attitude, I can see why Chase is Davenport's favorite and not you. Well, you're his second favorite."

Bree crossed her arms across her chest. "Wow. You can't let that go, can you?" Adam shrugged and Bree rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll walk." Adam and Chase smiled for two reasons: 1) their secret was safe and wouldn't be exposed, and 2) they could finally keep up with her.

They all entered the room and gasped when they saw their dad. Chase asked, "What happened?! Is he all right?!"

Tasha said, "Shh. He's fine, he's fine."

He replied, "Says the woman whose husband is in the hospital. Anyway, what happened?"

"Well, I heard Leo call for me and ran down to the lab. When I got there, Donald was curled in a ball on the floor, crying in pain. Turns out, he had appendicitis."

Adam asked, "Huh? What's that?"

Appendicitis... Appendicitis... Chase heard the term before but didn't know what it was. "I've heard the term before, but don't know what it is. I'll look it up." He tapped into his mental database and found what it was. "Got it!" The blood from his face drained at what he read. "Oh no!"

Bree asked, "What?"

"If it is not removed right away, it eventually ruptures and could be…" He then shut his database off.

Adam and Bree noticed that he was extremely worried now. Adam asked, "Why so worried, Chase?"

"Yeah. Could be what?"

He gathered his thoughts together before slowly continuing. "…fatal."

They knew what that meant. Adam gasped and Bree put a hand to her mouth. Adam said, "Oh no."

Bree wanted to make sure she heard right. "Fatal?" Chase nodded. She turned to Tasha. "Is that what he had?"

"Yes, but don't worry. He's fine now." They sighed in relief. Suddenly, they heard a groan coming from behind them. Donald was slowly waking up. Tasha went over to wake her son, who fell asleep while watching TV. She gently shook him. "Leo, honey."

"Hmm?" He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Donald's waking up."

"Oh, that's great." He stood up and made his way over to Donald, along with Tasha, Adam, Bree, and Chase.

When he fully woke up, he saw everyone's faces full of relief that he was all right. He groaned again. "W-what happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, sweetie. How do you feel?"

"Sore."

"You had your appendix out. The doctor said you should be better in two to three days, though."

"Wow. Is that why my stomach was killing me?" Tasha nodded.

Bree said, "We're so glad you're okay, Mr. Davenport."

"Me too." He noticed Chase's expression. "Chase? Chase, you all right? You look like you're gonna be sick."

Chase snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh yeah, I-I'm fine." The truth is, he wasn't fine. He kept thinking about his promise and how he broke it.

Flashback

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"I pwomise that we won't let anything happen to you, eithew."

"Thanks, buddy. I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."

End of Flashback

"Chase?" Bree asked. Chase had sworn that he would never tell anyone about that night and the promise that he made.

Chase sighed and decided that it was time to tell them. "Okay, I'll tell you what's bugging me." He sat down on the other chair by the bed. He started out slowly. "When I was little, I made a promise to Mr. Davenport. I promised him that..." He drew in a shaky breath and released it slowly. "That I would never let anything happen to him."

Donald had to think for a second before it dawned on him. "I remember that promise. You came to sleep with me because you got scared. I told you that I wouldn't ever let anything happen to you guys and that's when you made it. I thought that was the sweetest thing ever."

Bree walked over to Chase and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Is that true, Chase?" He nodded. "That's why you freaked out earlier."

He nodded again and stood up. "I broke it! I broke my promise."

"Well, I think that's our cue to leave. Come on, Leo."

Leo's eyes had tears forming in them. "That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

"I know, Leo. Let's leave them alone." Leo followed his mom out, leaving the three teens and their dad.

"Chase, you didn't break it. You didn't do anything. It wasn't your fault."

"I know it wasn't my fault, but I feel like I let him down."

"You didn't let me down, Chase. Look, I know you feel like this is your fault, but it isn't. This was just a fluke thing."

"But–"

"Stop it, Chase! This is not your fault."

"Fine. I'll stop."

"Good boy."

"I am really glad you're all right, Mr. Davenport."

Leo and Tasha entered the room with some snacks. Leo couldn't wait, so he ate his sandwich as he came in. He said through a mouthful, "Hey guys. I forgot to ask you, Big D, how're your ears since I put your drops in?"

"Amazingly, a lot better."

Tasha walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's because you had your hearing fixed. They just put little tubes in that drained the fluid."

"Well, it worked because I can actually hear now."

"That's great, honey." She leaned in and kissed him.

The kids went over to join the moment and hugged Donald. He winced and said, "Guys, please be careful. I'm sore." They all loosened their grip on the hug, and everyone took turns ruffling his hair. "Not the hair, not the hair." They all ignored him and kept doing it.

These are the words Chase says: Pwomise= Promise, and Eithew= Either