Sing

I Knew You Were a Weirdo

00000

II - Wake Up

Johnny paced.

And he paced and he paced and he paced.

The front desk lady, a brown cow, was concerned that he might wear out the flooring.

"Sir?"

Johnny kept pacing, wringing his hands all the while.

"Sir?"

Johnny's anxious pacing continued.

The front desk lady sighed and then she spoke more forcefully. "Mr Egerton!"

Johnny jumped, hands flapping a bit like frightened birds.

The front desk lady looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry sir, but you're making the other patients nervous."

Johnny looked about the waiting room, seeing that several of the people seated were staring at him, some with looks of concern and discomfort.

"I'm sorry everyone," Johnny said. "I'm very worried about my friend."

"We understand son," an old walrus with a broken tusk.

"Some of us are waiting on news on our family too," a large bear in business attire said.

"Is s-she a good friend?" a young bespectacled cheetah asked in a rather shaky voice.

Johnny wiped his eyes and cheeks, where tear tracks hadn't had a chance to dry.

"My best friend."

The sound of doors being opened none too gently was heard.

Johnny turned and smiled, but only a little.

The Moon Group had arrived.

Buster Moon was the first to enter, he looked quite distraught but he maintained his professionalism.

Rosita was next. She looked terribly worried. She may not have known Nooshy as long or as well as Johnny, but the street dancer left an impact on her in the short time they knew each other.

Gunter followed after her. He was carrying a package of Kleenex, and he just tossed a bundle of used tissues in a nearby trash bin. And judging by the redness of his eyes, he had been making use of them.

Meena came in next. She was in tears, wiping her eyes with a pampered handkerchief. Porsha was by her side, doing her best to console the gargantuan girl. She apparently had been crying too.

Ash came in last. She appeared the worst. She was walking, head down, almost like a zombie.

Finding Nooshy the way she did must've hit her harder than I thought, Johnny thought. I guess I better talk to her.

"Johnny!" Buster Moon called out. "How's Nooshy?"

The front desk lady shushed him.

"Sorry." A sheepish Buster lowered his voice. "Buster, any news?"

Johnny bowed his head and shook it.

"So," Meena said. "They're still in surgery?" She blew her nose.

Johnny nodded, head still bowed.

Rosita approached the young gorilla. "Johnny, I know this might sound like a stupid question, but are you ok?"

Johnny still hadn't lifted his head. "No," he said, his voice breaking.

Rosita took Johnny's hand and led him to one of the waiting chairs, sat him down, sat down next to him and put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

Johnny leaned into her and cried.

Meena sat on the other side and held onto him who shook with every wracking sob.

Buster and Gunter stood off to the side, watching the sad scene unfold.

Porsha stood off by the entrance, arms crossed. Apparently, this tragedy was so unfamiliar to her that she was not quite sure how to process this. She and Nooshy were acquaintances at worst, but the dancer had always gone out of her way to compliment her ability to perform and even showed her some pointers which were more than useful. Nooshy was nothing but good to her if a bit sassy.

And yet, at the same time, Nooshy treated her like a sister.

Then the doors opened again. Those present had hoped it was the doors to the surgical theater. It was not.

It was the doors to the parking lot and in came Clay Calloway.

There was none in the room who did not turn to notice the famous rockstar.

The somber lion took no notice as he took a seat nearest to the exit.

One thing he did not particularly care for was being the center of attention during a very serious situation.

What he did take notice of however was Ash saying nothing as she practically dragged herself to the women's restroom.

Calloway looked on sadly at this. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"What's wrong with Ash?" Porsha asked.

"She's...especially upset," Calloway said without moving in his seat. "I imagine finding her friend in the condition she's in was a terrible shock."

Buster looked at the old lion with a knowing look, as though he knew more than he let on.

"Johnny?" Rosita said. "Are you going to be ok? I'd like to check on Ash."

Johnny said nothing but he nodded.

Rosita kissed Johnny on the forehead and she stood up to go to the ladies room.

00000

In one of the many stalls of the ladies room, Ash sat on the toilet, hugging her knees with her face buried in them.

She wiped her raw eyes and nose with the toilet paper in the stall and she was starting to run low.

Her heart was aching, not only with grief but fear as well.

She has to make it, she just has to. I'll never be able to face Johnny again if she…

The train of thought was too terrifying for Ash to finish and her grief and shame came back full force and a new wave of tears came.

Deep, wounded sobs choked from her throat but she tried to muffle them as she did not wish for anyone to hear.

If Johnny ever knew, he'd hate me forever. I let Nooshy go out on her own. I knew it would be dangerous and I let her go alone.

"Ash?"

The porcupine opened her eyes without lifting her head.

This was not what she wanted right now.

"Are you ok sweetie?" Rosita asked.

"Not really," Ash said, sniffling. "I'm just...really messed up with what happened to Noosh.

Rosita was skeptical. "Is that all it is? I'm getting the impression that it's more than that. Do you want to talk about it?"

Ash cursed inwardly. Why does she have to be so good with reading people?

"It's nothing Rosita."

"I don't call shutting yourself in a bathroom stall nothing Ash."

"It's complicated."

Rosita wasn't buying it. "I don't think it is Ash."

Ash sighed exasperatingly. "It's my fault ok?"

Rosita was taken aback. "What on earth are you talking about?"

The tears came back with abandon. "Noo-Nooshy got hurt because I-I let her go for a walk alone."

"Ash, Ash no, you couldn't have known what would happen."

"But I knew better," Ash snapped bitterly. "You never go for a walk alone at night, especially in a city like Newark. I know that much and I let Nooshy go anyway."

"Ash," Rosita said as calmly as she possibly could. "Nooshy goes out on her own at night all the time, for a short time, and she hasn't had any problems. Granted, that's a risk no one should take but Nooshy isn't like other girls. She grew up in the city alone nearly her entire life."

Ash wiped her nose with the sleeve of her sweater. "But I shouldn't have let her go alone…"

"Do you think you could have stopped her if you wanted to?"

Ash paused. It was true. Nooshy had always been self-willed. When she had wanted to do something on her own time, few could seldom convince otherwise.

The only one who could convince Nooshy to do anything was Johnny. They were…are best friends.

"If I hadn't got to her in time…"

"The fact is you did Ash. You called for help and help came."

"That lady in the nightdress called for help. All I did was scream for help because I hadn't charged my phone."

"And that's exactly what you should've done," Rosita said insistently. "Most people don't have the courage to scream for help and you didn't know help was already coming. You acted when you did Ash."

"But-"

"No buts!" Rosita said sternly. She then crawled through the underside of the bathroom stall so she could talk to Ash face to face.

Startled, Ash said no more but she didn't stop crying.

Rosita pulled her close.

Ash did not resist and she cried into her shoulder.

"It's not your fault Ash, it's not Nooshy's fault either." She pulled away without letting go to look into Ash's bloodshot eyes. "Now listen. Listen to me. It's nobody's fault Ash. No one but that monster who hurt her. You're not to blame for this Ash. This was an unfortunate situation which resulted from a circumstance you had no control of. You can't feel responsible when these things happen because they happen. Which is very fortunate that Nooshy got help when she did. And she couldn't be in better hands or have better friends. You. Johnny. Meena. Myself. Buster. Everyone. Do you understand Ash? It's not your fault."

Ash hiccuped and was about to wipe her nose with her sleeve until Rosita stopped her. She reached into her purse for a handkerchief and used it to dry Ash's eyes and nose.

Ash laughed and Rosita laughed with her. "I'm not a little kid Rose." Ash was still laughing.

"I know," Rosita said, smiling widely. "But I'm allowed to be a mother when you need one."

Ash's laughter turns to crying once more, except this time they were not tears of abject sadness but happiness.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You're welcome, now why don't we get out of here and join the others?"

Ash nodded. "Do you think Noosh will be ok?"

"She's a tough one Ash, she'll lick this. I'm sure of it."

Ash sniffled.

Rosita unlocked the bathroom stall and led Ash by the hand out of the ladies room.

00000

The operating room.

A team of doctors and nurses wearing scrubs, caps and masks worked briskly yet with microscopic precision as they worked to save their newest patient.

"Ok, that's enough," an aged surgeon, a tortoise, said as he carefully sowed an unseen part of the patient's body.

Once that was done, he turned to another surgeon, a donkey. "Earl?"

"Be finished in a minute," the donkey said as he finished wiping clean a cut before sewing it up as well and bandaging it.

"There," said the head surgeon. "That's all we can do for now."

"That was a very risky procedure Dr Lawrence," Nurse Sue, a golden retriever said. "She almost went into shock twice."

The stern tortoise remained resolute as another wiped sweat from his aged brow. "She most certainly would have if we had taken more time to repair the damage."

"Still…" Nurse Sue cleared her throat. "May I go to inform her friends?"

"Of course you can Sue, and...you may take the next day off."

"Thank you sir but I'd rather stay and make sure Nooshy is ok."

The doctors and nurses smiled behind their masks.

Dr Lawrence smiled as well. "Suit yourself."

00000

It was almost 3 o'clock in the morning.

The Moon Group were now the only ones in the waiting room, with the exception of a warthog in a camouflage jacket who appeared to be in a slightly drunken stupor.

Ash was asleep in her chair with her head in Rosita's lap who was gently and lovingly stroking her quills.

Meena was asleep as well. Fortunately, there were chairs just massive enough to compensate for her elephantine frame.

Porsha was asleep next to her.

Gunter laid down in his seat in a rather comical fashion which was not unexpected of him.

Buster and Clay Calloway were up watching the news on the waiting room television which was suspended on the upper wall, just trying to pass the time as they awaited news on Nooshy's condition.

Johnny on the other hand, could neither sleep or pay attention to the news. He was focused solely on the doors leading to the operating room.

Buster, Calloway and Rosita watched him sadly before returning to their own business.

Then the faces of Buster and Calloway registered surprise as a newsflash just came on that was not altogether unexpected.

In fact, it was bound to happen.

"Ma'am?" Buster said, addressing the woman behind the front desk. "Could you turn up the volume on the television please?"

"Of course." The cow took a remote from behind the desk and turned up the volume so that the news could be heard by all in the room."

"-confirms that nearly two hours ago, dancing sensation and member of the Moon Group, Noelle Ann Wright, stage name Nooshy, was hospitalized following a vicious assault after her latest performance at the Gateway Theater in Newark, New Jersey."

All those in the room turned to watch with astonished anticipation.

Those asleep were stirred immediately.

Even Johnny couldn't help but watch with apprehension.

The image of Nooshy was shown the screen on the upper right corner by the female news reporter, a mountain lion.

It was the picture taken when the Moon Group attended a premiere showing of one of Nana Noodleman's latest films as honorary guests due to the success of Out of this World.

Nooshy was wearing the bright red retro suit, complete with jacket, pants and boots that was custom designed and paid for by Nana Noodleman herself.

And she was wearing the same mischievous grin that she was so well known for, like she was thinking aloud, 'Here I am. Come and get me.'

Ash laughed. "Ms Noodleman wanted to put a dress on her at first."

"I know," Johnny said, laughing as well. "She hated dressing up at all."

The newsflash continued and went on to show what looked like multiple pieces of footage of the attack in question.

What the Moon Group saw chilled them to the bone.

It showed the dark alleyway, illuminated by a single lamp on the walls of one of the buildings.

And there was Nooshy, suspended and pinned against a brick wall and kicking wildly as she was being choked by her assailant.

Seeing this was too much for the performers of Moon Theater. It was one thing to know your friend was assaulted, it's another to watch it happen and be helpless to do anything about it.

Buster Moon looked away, tears in his eyes.

Meena sobbed as she covered her face with her large ears.

Ash gritted her teeth as though she were in pain and tears welled up in her eyes too.

Rosita held her as she looked away. She was crying as well.

Johnny didn't look away or cry. He just stared with a cold fury in his eyes, teeth bared and his hands clenched into fists.

The scene cut to Nooshy prying her way out of the leopard's grip and then, to the delight of the Moon Group, smashed something hard on top of the assailant's head.

"Yes!" Ash said smiling.

"Get em Noosh!" Porsha cheered.

Johnny's look of cold anger ebbed and he smiled with relief and pride at Nooshy's show of bravery and strength.

Which only got better when Nooshy was shown to have acquired a 2x4 wooden board and broke it across the assailant's face.

"Ouch," Gunter said grinning.

"Ouch is right," Rosita said, equally impressed.

And then the footage showed Nooshy trying to run but then stopped when the leopard grabbed her from behind and broke a glass bottle on her head.

"No!" Ash screamed.

Porsha covered his mouth, tears running down his face and running over her hands.

Johnny snarled as he nearly punched a hole through the tv screen, but he managed to restrain himself, breathing heavily as he tried to calm down.

The panic was short lived as the footage further showed that Nooshy, instead of going down as expected, turned quickly, kicked hard with her knee into the leopard's groin.

"Oooh!" was the collective cry of those in the room.

The leopard doubled over, and Nooshy grabbed hold of head and delivered another knee to his face.

"Yes!" Meena cheered, raising her arms triumphantly.

The leopard staggered to a wall, and Nooshy took advantage of his pause to pull out a small device which couldn't be seen clearly in the footage, there was a small flash of light, and Nooshy jammed it into her assailant's body.

The assailant went erect and he went down like a rock.

The Moon Group cheered and clapped as the footage finished.

As Buster finished clapping, he nervously addressed Johnny. "Did you know she had a taser?"

"Noooo," Johnny said, both hands up, putting emphasis on the 'O.'

Ash wiped the tears from her eyes. "That was great."

"I know," Rosita said. "What'd I tell you? Nooshy's going to be fine."

Clay Calloway chuckled. "Almost feel sorry for that savage."

"Who was that anyway?" Porsha said. "He looked familiar."

Ash looked at the young wolf quizzically. "Familiar how?"

Before Porsha could answer the porcupine, another image was shown on the screen, a mugshot of the assailant.

He was every bit as brutish and vicious as he looked.

The leopard had a sneer to him and a deadness in his eyes which seemed to scream pure evil.

"The assailant had been positively identified as Giuseppe DiMarco, a wanted criminal for multiple felonies such as assault and battery, petty theft and murder. Allegedly, he is the brother and personal enforcer of ruthless gang leader Sean DiMarco."

A pindrop could be heard in the room if not for the television.

Raucous laughter sounded in the waiting room.

All present turned to see the warthog in camo slapping his knee as he laughed obnoxiously, drunkenly.

"Gus DiMarco! Gus the Chopper! And the brother of Sean DiMarco?! That girl is so dead! Dead!"

The warthog laughed and laughed.

But stopped when someone very tall stood in front of him.

He looked up and saw a young gorilla looking at him with the most livid look on his face he had ever seen and he was towering over him like an angry god.

"What did you just say?" Johnny said, his voice dangerously low.

"Just statin' the facts kid. When his brother finds out an' believe me he will, that trick is going to wish Gus killed her."

Johnny exhaled through his nose hard, lips peeling off his teeth, his eyes burning with hate and anger.

Terrified, the warthog squealed softly.

And quick as lightning, Johnny grabbed the warthog by the lapels of his camo jacket and lifted.

"No! No!" the warthog sputtered as he struggled to get free.

The rest of the Moon Group were shocked beyond belief. This was not the Johnny they know and love.

Rosita jumped from her seat. "Johnny! Don't!"

Johnny didn't seem to hear her. "You take that back! You take that back right now! You ever say anything like that about her again and you'll regret it!"

The warthog was crying now. "I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"

Johnny breathed heavily as the rage burned inside him but when he saw how terrified the warthog was and how he pled to him with tears streaming down his face, the rage seemed to die immediately and he came back to himself.

And that anger was now replaced with shame and guilt.

And disgust, disgust on how he had become the very thing he promised himself he'd never be.

A cowardly thug.

Very gently, he placed the warthog back in his seat. The warthog raised an arm to cover his face as he looked up at Johnny with fear.

"Please forgive me," Johnny whispered.

The young gorilla turned to look at his friends.

The way they looked at him almost broke him.

They all looked at him as though they'd never seen him before.

Even Calloway looked startled, and he was not an easy man to shake.

The shame he felt at that moment was the worst he had ever known in his life, even worse than when he almost stole the chest which he thought contained the $100,000 prize money from that singing competition more than a year ago.

Johnny lowered his head and went to sit somewhere in the very back of the waiting room.

But a cloven hoof grabbed him by the hand, stopping him in his tracks.

Johnny looked down to see Rosita looking up at him. No trace of fear, only the same kind, motherly smile she always bore when she believed it was called for.

Johnny's lip trembled. He opened his mouth to speak but Rosita shushed him.

She led him back to his seat, between herself and Meena.

"You're not going to ask him to leave are you?" Buster asked the front desk lady, who already turned the tv off, deciding it was better for the moment.

"No," she answered. "Billy has been giving us trouble for some time now. While I'll ask you to make sure it doesn't happen again, I can't deny that your friend did what our security had been too frightened to do: put that obnoxious pig in his place."

"Hey!"

Ping.

It wasn't a loud sound but it resonated in the room like a small bell. All those in the room knew what that meant.

Johnny looked hopefully to the display that read Surgery in Progress. It had already gone dark.

It was over. The surgery was finished.

The sound of someone coming towards the doors was heard and they were getting closer.

The Moon Group stood up fast and waited by the doors. Johnny stood at the front, hands clasped as though in prayer.

The doors unlocked and Nurse Sue came through, her elastic gloves already being taken off.

She looked at the group of people who anxiously waited to hear the news, silently praying that it was good.

She smiled, albeit it was a small one. "Normally, we'd call the patient's family to be here but seeing as Ms Wright has no living relatives aside from her mother who's currently…indisposed-"

"We are her family," Ash said firmly.

Sue's smile was no longer small. "I thought as much."

"Please," Johnny said, falling to his knees. "Is Nooshy ok?"

"She's fine. Her surgery was a success."

A collective sigh of enormous relief was released as though the entire had held their breaths without knowing it.

There were tears, silent thanks, and embraces.

Johnny wiped his eyes of the tears that had just now formed in the wake of this happy news.

Sue shook her head. "Wait, there's more."

All eyes were back on her as new anxiety rose up in the group. There's more? Was Nooshy going to be fine or not?

"As you know I'm sure, your friend's injuries were rather extensive. She had suffered a mild concussion which is treatable of course. There was a deep cut on her from the blunt trauma that caused said concussion. It required some stitching but not much. Also, she had suffered three broken ribs and two cracked. One splintered and we had to operate to repair the damage. We were successful but the stress of the surgery nearly caused her to go into shock, twice. And she has a bruised stomach but that is minor."

"But will she make a full recovery?" Buster asked.

Sue nodded. "In time, she most certainly will."

"Can we see her?" Meena asked.

"Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't allow visitors at this hour…"

The Moon Group looked terribly stricken by this, especially Johnny.

"...but under these extremely unique circumstances, the doctor in charge has decided to make an exception. But he asks that until Ms Wright wakes up that only one person at a time enters her room."

"Where is she now?" Rosita asked.

"She's sound asleep in her room. I'll take you there. Right this way please."

00000

"Here it is, Room 305," Nurse Sue said. "Now please do not try to wake her. In order to help the healing process, we had to put her into induced sleep. Once she wakes up, please notify us immediately. She will need painkillers periodically."

"Of course, thank you Nurse," Buster said.

"One last thing, the room next to hers, Room 307, you may rest in there if you like but please mind the other patients, so keep your voices down."

"We will, thank you."

"You're welcome." With that, Nurse Sue turned to leave but not before addressing a certain someone.

"If you don't mind me saying, I'm a huge fan Mr Calloway."

The old lion smiled warmly. "Thank you dear, but just Clay please."

Sue returned his smile. "As you wish...Clay. I'm Sue."

"Pleased to meet you Sue."

With that, Nurse Sue sheepishly took off, albeit at a faster pace as though she were too bashful to stick around.

"She was nice," Porsha said.

"So who wants to go in first?" Johnny said.

"I think you should," Rosita said.

"Me?"

"Yes you." Rosita put her hooves on her hips. "You've waited the most patiently out of all of us."

Johnny looked skeptical. "After what I did in the waiting room?"

Porsha laughed. "I don't think we have to worry about you manhandling the Nooshinator."

"That's not what I...Nooshinator?"

Porsha nodded. "Yeah, you saw what she did to that guy."

"But Nooshinator? Really Porsh?" Ash said.

"The point is," Rosita said, getting back to the subject at hand. "The point is Johnny, we know how much she means to you. Tonight was a big scare for you, for all of us. But when Nooshy wakes up, I don't think she'd want to wake up to anyone but you."

Johnny averted his eyes, his face suddenly rising in temperature.

Rosita smiled a knowing smile. She turned to Buster. "Mr Moon, excuse me, Buster, I really need to get back to my family. You will let me know when Nooshy wakes up."

Buster nodded. "Of course, but I will need to check on Miss Crawly. If she hadn't been so exhausted, she'd be here too."

"In that case," Clay Calloway said as he yawned. "I'll stick around, hold the fort."

"Are you sure?" Buster asked. "You seem pretty tired."

"I am. You go ahead Moon. I can always catch some Z's here."

"I'll stay too," Meena said.

"I volunteer," Gunter declared enthusiastically.

"Porsha?" Rosita said.

Porsha scoffed. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Ash?"

The porcupine was pinchy-toed. "Well…"

"Would you like a ride back?

Ash squeezed her eyes shut. "No. I want to stay. I don't think I'll be able to sleep, not until I see Noosh open her eyes."

"That's settled then," Rosita said as she embraced the porcupine and kissed her on the forehead.

"Thank you Rose...for the talk."

"You're welcome. Good night everyone."

"G'night," Porsha said with a wink.

"Good night," Meena said also.

"Night Rosita," Johnny said.

Clay Calloway simply nodded in acknowledgment before he yawned once more and entered the room that was laid for tonight's visitors.

As soon as Buster and Rosita were gone, it was Ash, Meena, Gunter, Porsha and Johnny standing in the hallway outside Nooshy's room.

"Aren't you going to go in?" Porsha said, almost impatiently.

Johnny said nothing.

"...Johnny," Ash said, making her annoyance quite clear in her voice.

"Alright I'm going," Johnny said, holding his hands in a placating motion. "I'm just not…" He put his hand on the door handle. "I'm just not sure how I'll feel when I see the shape she is in."

"Courage Johnny," Gunter said. "You must not let fear keep you from being at your lady's side when she needs you most."

Johnny froze up.

He breathed in a few deep breaths as he turned to address the bombastic pig.

"She is not my lady."

Gunter smiled but then shrugged as gave the universal 'Oh well' gesture.

"I'm just going to go in now," Johnny said, deciding he wanted to be somewhere other than where is now.

And with that, very gently and quietly, he opened the door, and without seeing the other side stepped in, turned around and just as quietly, closed the door.

Ash shook her head humorously. "Weirdo."

"I heard that," said a slightly muffled voice from behind the closed door.

00000

Johnny stood there, staring at the door.

He did not turn around but the sound of the heart monitor's steady beeping was loud and clear.

It was oddly comforting because it told him that Noelle was alive and quite well.

Nooshy, she prefers to be called Nooshy.

The first time Johnny made the ill-advised decision to refer to Nooshy by her birth name earned him the stinging misfortune of the lynx grabbing his face by both cheeks.

The memory of it was enough to make his cheeks ache.

Ok, just look at her. Might as well leave if I'm not going to face her.

Taking a deep breath, Johnny turns around.

His eyes were closed.

Fearing what he might see, he kept them shut, anything to put it off.

And then he opens them.

And what he saw ate at his heart like a knife.

Nooshy was lying motionless in a hospital bed, patient scrubs and all.

A tube was in her nose and a pulse monitor on her right forefinger.

Her head was bandaged to the point that she looked like a poorly wrapped mummy.

Only her face and ears were visible.

She looked to be in a deep sleep and she was.

As awful as it was to see Nooshy in such a state, seeing how relaxed she looked and even with her makeup washed off, Johnny couldn't help but think that she looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

Only the way she looked when she wore that bright red outfit on the night of Noodleman's premiere could come close.

Johnny closed his eyes as he remembered that night.

I had to hide the fact that I almost fainted when she stepped out of that limo.

The way the red suit glistened in the light of the camera flashes. How graceful she was in heels.

The way her snow white fur shined in the moonlight.

And when she saw him looking at her as she walked down the red carpet, she playfully winked.

That almost did me in. Sure glad she didn't notice the way I squirmed.

Finding a chair, Johnny picked it up rather than dragging it across the floor, as he didn't wish to risk disturbing Nooshy's recovery.

Sitting down, Johnny studied the face of Nooshy, seeing how peaceful she looked, so at ease and still, something almost foreign to the energetic lynx.

Johnny looked back at the door to make sure it was closed.

He then leaned his ear to the wall which he knew on the other side was the room his friends would be staying in.

He heard very faint snoring, one rather robust and hoarse.

Calloway.

And the others, petite yet melodious.

The girls.

Certain he would not be overheard, Johnny looked back at his sleeping friend.

"I don't know if you can hear me Noosh," Johnny said softly. "But I'd take beatings from Kickenklobber a thousand times if it means you'd wake up."

Nooshy did not reply. Not even an ear twitch.

Johnny clenched his eyes shut.

He reopened them as a tear rolled down his cheek.

Johnny gently took her right hand in both of his and he relished on how soft her fur was in his hands.

And he said, "I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you...as you have protected me so many times Noosh."

Taking a deep breath, while stroking Nooshy's petite hand, Johnny considered his next actions.

In case I don't get another chance.

After all, when would he ever get another chance like this?

Besides, what chance does a cool, spunky girl like her have in seeing anything in...someone like me.

And with a heavy heart, very softly, Johnny began to sing.

Should I try to hide
The way I feel inside
My heart for you?

Would you say that you
Would try to love me too?

In your mind
Could you ever be
Really close to me?

I can tell the way you smile
If I feel that I
Could be certain then
I would say the things I want to say tonight.

00000

So engrossed Johnny was in his serenade that he would never have noticed the camera from a phone filming the entire event from an air vent in the upper wall.

"So cute," Porsha whispered gleefully to herself as she watched the romantic scene unfold.

...