I don't own Loonatics Unleashed
Enjoy!
The apartment had gotten quieter and quieter with each passing day. Duck couldn't believe that he was alone…again. This was a feeling that he thought he would have gotten used to eventually, but it was as if a part of him was missing. After being released from the hospital, he had paid Miranda a visit to her suite. She was in the same state that she had been when they bought her in. He wanted to spend every second with her, but even the hospital had its limitations on visitors. Ever since he had returned home, he always went down to the hospital in hopes that she had improved. No such luck.
He knew that he had to be patient about thing, but there was just so much that he could take. The doctors that tended to her didn't speak a word to Duck after how brash he had been the past couple of times. He was only glad that they did all they could to take care of her, regardless of his attitude.
Now he was sitting at the same chair by her bedside. He watched as she rested peacefully with her chest gently rising. He didn't know whether she was doing it on her own or if it was by the help of the ventilator. The heart monitor was evident enough that she was still alive and hearing that steady sound, made him feel slightly at ease. Seeing her in that same state, was getting harder and harder for him. Almost to the point where he felt that there was no point for her to return. However, he was not going to give up on her that easily.
Why did this have to happen to me? he thought. Call him selfish but even he had been through a lot, both in his past and to this very moment that he was living in. He leaned closer to the bedside and gently grabbed her hand. "Hey Rookie," he said to her as he gently rubbed her hand with his thumb, "you gotta wake up. This isn't like you to give up so easily."
There was no response coming from her.
Damn it! Duck screamed in his head. Why wasn't she responding? No matter how many times the doctors had described to him that being in a comatose state there was no response to outer stimuli, he didn't want to believe it. Please do something! Talk, touch, anything to let me know you're alive! Don't leave me like this!
He held her hand with both of his and squeezed it tightly, hoping that at least she was able to feel that he was there for her.
"Mr. Duck?" a voice said behind him as he turned around and saw a doctor and a nurse that had tended to Miranda a while ago. "We were just discussing on the next steps about the patient. The tests that we ran on her brain shows severe head trauma caused by the meteor. She has been in the hospital for almost four weeks and has shown no signs of improvement."
Damn the meteor! Duck thought.
The doctor took a deep breath, hating that this was something that she was going to say for any patient. "What do you want to do?"
How could she ask him such a question? Duck didn't know what do to himself but he knew what the doctor was insinuating. He heard of other comatose patients who were able to wake up from that state…and some had been better than others. He didn't know about Miranda, but there was no way that he could find it in his heart to have her take her last breath. He looked over at the female duck once more. She was in there somewhere and even if she was fighting for her life and suffering the get to it, he was going to let her conquer it. He didn't care if he was being selfish, he couldn't lose her. "She stays on life support," Duck simply said to the doctor.
The doctor and the nurse exchanged a glance with one another. The doctor understood how difficult it was to let go but there was only so much that they could do on their end but they were willing to continue until Duck came to his final decision. "Alright, Mr. Duck," she said, "we will make sure that she's comfortable."
Duck whipped around and walked over to the nurse and the doctor. "Just do everything you can…please," he pleaded to them.
Even if he had been one of the toughest visitors that she had dealt with, it was her duty as a doctor to tend to all her patients in the most ethical manner possible. She placed a gentle hand on Duck's shoulder and gave him an assuring look. "I give you my word, Mr. Duck." With one last smile of hope, she and the nurse left the suite and went to tend to the other patients.
Duck was close to breaking down and he was glad that the doctor and nurse left just in time. He quickly walked over to Miranda's bedside and took her hand in his. "The doctor will do everything she can," Duck said to her. "Promise me that the next time I'll see, you'll be awake."
Something within him churned when he thought that he felt her fingers move…and that gave him a bit of hope. He bought her hand to his beak and gave it a kiss. "Stay strong, Rookie," he said to her before he finally found his courage to leave the suite.
When he reached the outside of the hospital, it was already dark and threatening for some rain showers. He didn't want to go back to an empty apartment but at this time, there weren't many decent places open. He took his time walking down the streets of Acmetropolis, taking in the destruction that had happened and the construction workers that worked 24/7 to get the city back to the way it used to be. At this time of night, Duck had heard that there was danger that lurked about the streets but he had been doing it for a long time that he hadn't had any issues thus far. What person would want to go after a duck in the first place? It's not like he had any money.
He took a turn down an alley and then stopped in his place when he heard a scuffling followed by a woman's voice. He hesitated for a second. Maybe it was better to just go to his apartment and call it a night, but his conscience told him to go and help! What if it's a trap? a part of him thought to where the other part of him argued, it could be a woman in trouble? What if it was your girlfriend?! He hated that superego of his.
Building the courage, he headed towards the alley where he saw two figures dressed in black as they had a woman with a maroon-colored cloak against the wall. She was taller than any average sized female than he had seen in Acmetropolis, so why wasn't she able to take on these guys herself?
"Ahem," Duck heard himself say to the two perpetrators. "Let the lady go or you'll have to go through me." He puffed up his chest and pointed to himself.
Hearing a voice behind them, the two dark figures let go of the woman and turned around to see who it was. Seeing a duck was the last thing that they expected, but they couldn't help and laugh at the sight of such a small animal threatening to defeat them.
"Yeah laugh it up, you two," Duck said with his hands on his hips, "they don't call me Danger Duck for nothing." He got into a fighting stance as if he was going to challenge them into a fight.
The two men exchanged a look and they jumped towards Duck. Duck didn't expect them to be that quick and he found himself transported from one section of the alley to the other.
"What the—?" Duck gasped when he found himself standing on top of a large garbage bin. How did he get from the pavement up here? "Over here you two," Duck teased the two men as they turned their heads and looked at the duck. "You gotta be faster than that!"
The two men unleashed themselves towards Duck once more, but he disappeared once more and teleported over to the pavement where he was originally. "Too slow," he said as he waved his hand in the air. At that moment, he felt something warm in his hand and seeing that it was almost like fire, he shook his hand in the air and the contents from that supposed fire, flung towards the two men trapping to the wall of the alley.
What…is…happening? Duck thought to himself as he grabbed a hold of his hand with his other one.
He had managed to teleport from one place to another and trap those two men on the wall with…well, whatever that substance was. He looked over to the other side of the alley when he remembered that woman with the maroon cloak that had almost been attacked. When he got over there she had disappeared.
"No," Duck said as he held his hands the air and walked away from the alley, "this is all a dream. I'm gonna wake up in a couple of minutes and this will all be over and everything will be back to normal." When he didn't feel anything change, he pinched himself. "Ow!" he yelped and rubbed the spot on his arm that he had pinched.
At least he knew he was awake, but he was still living a nightmare.
