Lost In Purple
Chapter 72: Recovery
Johnny's POV
The downpour of droplets run through my fur, destressing every centimeter of my body. It's a massage of alleviating heat that could motivate any monster to make it through the day, but obviously, repressing feelings of everyday life never truly dissipate that easily. Leaning against the ruby red granite walls of my shower, I think about the long day ahead of me. It's almost as if I'm back in grade school, wishing I could just leave and do something with my life. I still have to get through the rest of the month though, being bored out my mind while watching everyone be afraid of me. That's technically what we Scarers all want, to be the scariest of the scary. Actually, that's all what Hardscrabble wants. If we aren't the scariest of the scary, then we're nothing but corpses to be put in the ground.
It's not even worth to dwell on it all. We've all been taught to compete against each other by this absolute train-wreck of a curriculum, and I hate that it took me almost exactly four years to realize this. I also hate that it took a puny, overly-sensitive, antisocial beast of a monster to understand that I've been swindled. Would I have been better off never knowing though? Would life have continued being 'great' in the context of constantly partying and boasting and…proving myself to my family? No…no it wouldn't have. I never would have been graced by the presence of such a paradoxically beautiful, generous, compassionate, gift of a monster that is Melanie. Even though it's because of her that all of this chaos has happened in my life, I'm able to know what it's like to be the true me. With her around, I won't have to be chained to the laws of the Worthington family and can instead become an independent horror of my own making. Independent probably isn't the best word to use though because there's a part of me that knows that I can't truly be that way. I wasn't ever able to be someone without my parents influence, nor was I able to be myself without the ways people viewed me. But most importantly, I wasn't able to be the person I wanted to be without Melanie. The world has actually proved me to be a dependent being, unable to survive without someone pulling my marionette-like strings.
The water pouring down onto my skull turns frigid, sending paralyzing shivers down my spine. I race to shut the water off and leave myself standing in the shower staring at the ceiling. Of course I got lost in my own thoughts and stayed in the shower for way longer than I was supposed to, but what I should be focusing on is going to class today. Even if everything feels pointless now, I have a concrete reason.
"Do it for Melanie," I sigh before exiting the shower and grabbing a towel for me to use.
I rub the towel against my fur until it feels fluffy before facing the mirror and inspecting every bit of myself for imperfections. My horns are without any scratches or dents, my tusks aren't overwhelmingly sharp, and there aren't any spots in my fur that are bald. Seems like it's just a normal day of being me…You know…I never really knew how much I had in common with my mother. I just remembered that she had this unnecessary worry about her vanity the last time I saw her, which is similar to what I just did. I guess it's true when people say 'like mother like son' or however the saying goes.
After one last glance in the mirror, I turn away to leave my bathroom, and stroll over to my bed to grab my ROR sweater which lay flat upon the blankets. There's a moment where there's a struggle putting it over my gargantuan head, but I'm able to eventually slide it easily down my torso into a comfortable position. With that, I'm off to bigger and better things which includes sitting down and listening to a bunch of junk be boringly spewed out by an exhausted professor. I make sure that I have all my supplies which includes some writing utensils that I've placed firmly within my sweater, and a notebook that's been barely written in due to my photographic memory. Soon I find myself at the front door of the ROR house and pull it open to see a fairly grim looking day. The sky is covered by gray clouds that are spitting down tiny droplets of water, and can easily be ignored since they don't even feel like they have any impact once they graze my fur. There's no sign of any thunder and lightning, and there isn't any amount of wind that could move even the smallest leaf on a tree. It's seems to be just a regular old gloomy day.
Waddling outside, I gently pull the door shut and face the insignificant tempest ahead of me, just before I hear the front door open once again behind me.
"On your way to class, Señor?" Javier questions.
"Yeah," I answer calmly, "Is there something wrong?"
"No, but I thought you would like someone to walk with," Javier replies.
"Someone to walk with? Why would I need you to walk with me? Is someone out to get me or something?" I interrogate.
Javier grins, showing his sharp, triangular teeth. "Well aren't you paranoid? No, I'm going to the library anyways and thought that it would be nice to go with you."
Something deep within my gut is telling me that he's lying, but I'm not going to be that guy and start an argument that means nothing, so I say with suspicion, "…You may walk with me as long as you're not doing it because you think I'm 'sad' or something."
Javier does his best to stay right by my side as we travel down Frat Row and onto campus. He also asks a lot about my Family Pets class that I'm heading to. The curiosity he exudes isn't necessarily overwhelming but it's almost hysterical to see his interests transpire about the subject when he's a walking abomination that would send pets into the closest hiding spot. Like seriously, there won't ever be a point in his life where he'll have to worry about standing off against another organism with the way he looks.
"Seriously, what would you do if one of those guard dogs came running at you? Are you saying that you're being taught to just run away?" He asks as we walk underneath the trees that are dripping water.
"Only if I know I can't defend myself. Yes, they're teaching us to run away, but I'm not going to risk my life all because we want 'as little evidence of what we are' as possible," I answer genuinely.
"There can't be anything in the human world that would think they can take you on though. Like, Señor, you're massive," Javier banters.
"Oh trust me, I know. I've been working on my image ever since high school. However, I'm still going to think about it with Professor Kings philosophy. None of us are invincible, and absolutely anything can happen to us in the human world," I boast.
Javier shifts proudly, giving me a soft smile while patting me on the back of my shoulder. "Hehe, well look at you Señor, all grown up and thinking wisely."
"Ugh," I scoff, "You can't possibly be implying that I wasn't beforehand."
"If you want me to be honest, for a little while it felt like you were only here to have a good time. It especially felt that way when you let Sully slack off for that whole semester. To me, it didn't feel like you were serious about Scaring anymore," Javier explains.
We've made it to the back of the University Hall, and I completed stop walking at the sound of Javier saying that he casted doubt on me.
"Th-that's really what you thought about me?" I ask feeling fairly hurt.
The giant bug stops a couple feet in front of me, taken aback for a moment, but soon places his arms behind his back while lowering his antennae. "I-I mean no disrespect, Señor. What I'm trying to say is that it felt like you were no longer wishing to become unbound from from your family, to become the kind of Worthington you wanted to be."
"I…how…w-wait…," I mumble, realizing that he apparently knows my initial intention of becoming a Scarer.
"You recruited Sully because he was grabbing everyone's attention and because of his big name. Then you were throwing parties because everyone expected you to. You thought that if you didn't win the Scare Games then your life would be over because you weren't on top… You were doing the exact opposite of your goal," Javier elucidates.
The extremely light rain picks up a little, to the point where I can feel a slight impact hit my fur with each individual drop. The leaves of the trees begin to rustle a little bit too, as if they're a personified version of change.
"Look, Señor…I lied about my reasoning to walk with you earlier. I did want to walk with you because I thought were weren't doing well. I promise to make it up to you…but I just can't stand around saying nothing when mi mejor amigo was losing control of his life. I know it also hurt when dama de la luna stopped speaking with you, but that hurt me too," Javier says with a cracking voice.
I was prepared to try and forget about this conversation but it seems that he still has quite a bit to get out of his system. "If I had brought up all of the issues we've had with JOX earlier, and had just told everyone about what was going on, then you wouldn't have had to go through all of that. Chip wouldn't have felt like an asshole, Bruiser wouldn't have felt lost, Chet wouldn't have felt panicked… everything could have been avoided. L-lo siento…amigo…for not having Melanie's back as well as yours."
I watch as Javier stands like a soldier at attention, minus the fact that he has hunched over a fair amount out of sorrow. As one of his brothers, not by blood but by connection, I decide to close out this conversation. "…It's not your fault. I would actually say it's my own fault, and my fathers fault…and maybe Hardscrabble's fault."
I can't help but smile, shake my head, and remember the first day of the semester when the Scare Games sign up closed down. "I should have just listened to Melanie when she said to focus on myself…Only she knows best."
Javier's expression becomes more positive when he says, "That she does."
The sky suddenly turns dark and an onslaught of the skies tears plummet to the ground. Both Javier and I have to put one of our arms up to keep the water from blinding us every two seconds.
"Listen, I have to get to class, but we'll talk some more later!" I shout.
"How about after you leave class?" He asks.
"You know what, sure! Whatever makes you happy!" I answer before moving around him and sprinting to the Scaring School.
My seat becomes soaking wet when I slide my drenched sweater off my body and onto the empty desk next to me. The blue carpet and the pure white walls cage me like a songbird, and the wooden desks are so small that it seems like I'll break them with one touch. There's a blackboard at the front of the classroom that has Family Pets written on it as well as todays date, May 1st. Everybody in class has been avoiding me ever since I pummeled Faust into the dirt, which doesn't really bother me. It's no different than before, when people were so nervous being around me that they acted like they didn't even know I was there. But yeah, it's just me in the very back of the classroom, listening to Professor Yicks begin to ramble on about the insane ability pets have to detect a monster when within a human child's room.
"Today we'll be discussing a dog and cats sense of smell, which may or may not be a monsters biggest rival as a Scarer," He announces as we all take out our notebooks.
Yeah yeah, their sense of smell is considered to be a superpower that we monsters have yet to see in our world. I've heard it all before, and received quite a big lecture on it from Professor King during my sophomore year. It ended up setting the class back a whole day for the whole semester and we missed out on a study day for a final that effectively culled a quarter of the class from moving on in the Scaring Program. I mindlessly jot everything down in my notes, but at the same time I don't listen. The demented multitasking ability I posses kicks into overdrive as I think some more about Melanie and how everything really could have had a happy ending if I had listened to her. All I want is to see her living her best life, but I have to wait another few days to another few weeks before I can be certain that she'll be alright. I attempt to take out my phone to text her but catch myself before my thumb hits the screen. She…probably doesn't even have her phone right now.
Thinking about Melanie only makes me think about the Spring Formal too. If things don't go the way I would like them to, then the dress I got for her and the suit that my mother is custom-making for me would pretty much be useless. In the end, I navigate to my messages and begin typing to my mother.
"Hey Mom?"
I look up to see everybody engrossed with Professor Yicks presentation, seemingly unaware with what I'm doing in the back of the classroom. I silently pray that it stays that way.
"Jonathan! I wasn't expecting any texts from you! What do you need, kitten?"
"Would you be mad if Melanie and I ended up not going to the Spring Formal?"
With all parents there's a little bit of waiting time before there's an answer back. I can literally envision my mother using her pointer finger to input one letter every three seconds, which is driving me crazy because I would like to finish this conversation before Professor Yicks makes a scene over nothing. He tends to get very confrontational with his students and even goes as far to intentionally embarrass them in class. Personally, I would not like to be his next victim.
"What!? But you were so excited for it the other day! I thought you wanted to see Melanie in that dress and I thought you wanted to dance with her and look good in your very own custom tailored suit!?"
"I was but Melanie ended up in the hospital the night after you and I went shopping and I'm not confident that she'll be discharged in time."
"Mr. Worthington?"
I look up from my phone to see Professor Yicks and the entire class looking back at me with several different types of looks. Some are annoyed, some are scared, some are emotionless, and some are confused. Oh boy, here we go.
"Since you seem so caught up in your cellular device there, might I ask you about a cats sense of smell and how much more powerful it is than a human child's to see if you're even the slightest bit interested in what I'm having to teach you?" Professor Yicks quizzes.
I don't even put my phone down and just raise my eyebrows in a frustrated manner. I'm not trying to be disrespectful to him, but I'm guessing he thinks otherwise. I can also tell from his tone that he's trying to one up me and prove to the class that I'm being stupid and problematic, but again, my multitasking skills are otherworldly.
"It was the second bullet point two slides ago where it said that a cats sense of smell is 12 times more acute than a human child's. However, I'm going to tell you that as a monster with a heavy feline background, that it's actually 14 and whatever source you got that from should be updated or thrown out as inaccurate," I answer aggressively.
Everyone's eyes grow wide. Mine would too if I heard someone else snap back in such a manner, but I'm not going to let Yicks trample over me like that.
"…Ok…I'll be sure to double check that detail…but I'm still not happy with you being on your phone considering this your last semester before, mind you, becoming a professional Scarer, not a professional texter. So how about I test you again with a dog's sense of smell?" Professor Yicks responds.
I don't even take a moment to think and just spit everything out. "Well that's a very odd question to ask considering that you haven't even gotten to any information in your presentation about the hundreds of Canis familiaris family, but if you really want to know… 100,000 times more acute."
"I'm sorry, where did you hear this? That is entirely false, it's 10,000. You would have eventually known this if you were listening instead of making a mockery of my teaching," Professor Yicks growls.
"Heard it from Professor King in Scaring 202 two years ago. 100,000 is also, in fact, a valid answer because not every breed of domestic dog in the human world is exactly the same and the answer could be anywhere between 10,000 to 100,000, where 100,000 is the more commonly accepted fact due to the Bloodhound, Labdrador Retriever, German Shepard, and a couple others having much more scent receptors than others. Considering that Professor King has a PsyD, PhD, a doctorate, a PhD of education, and a bachelors degree in biology, I'm going to believe his word over yours," I snarl.
Professor Yicks narrows his eyes but doesn't say a word. He then returns to teaching as if nothing ever happened, finally moving onto the topic of dogs. Honestly who cares at this point, everything he's taught today has been inaccurate. I'm just going to go back to 'not paying attention' even though I am.
I read what my mother sent to me about two minutes ago.
"Oh Jonathan, I'm so sorry. Why don't we just get everything ready for next time?"
"There isn't a next time Mom, I'll be a full time Scarer within the next couple of months. Where am I going to find the time to do this after that?"
The long wait for her text back begins again. I have to watch Professor Yicks go on and on about the teeth of dogs just to keep myself from dying of boredom. What's funny is that if I wanted to learn about dogs teeth, I could just ask Melanie to smile for me. Would be way more fun than learning about the ins and outs of incisors and canines.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could make things right for you. I do think you're jumping the gun a little though. You said that it might be a couple days, and there's still some time left before the dance happens. Just stay positive my little kitten."
Clearly this is how Melanie feels whenever I promise that things will change and get better, because I'm not confident I'll be able to stay positive. It seems that there's nothing more to say to my mother though, so I shut my phone off and return to suffering. OH MY GOOOOOD, I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A CHIHUAHUA AND A SAINT BERNARD!
I had everything packed up when one-thirty came around and we were dismissed. By the time Professor Yicks even looked up to where I was sitting I was gone, vanished, dissipated into the very air we breathe. I can only guess that he'll be itching to have a serious discussion with me within the next week, but at least he knows how wrong he is about the subject he's supposed to be an expert in. It's what happens to professors who are only in it to feel important and don't actually have the means to back up those feelings, they get called out and blame it on their students being 'disrespectful'.
Being the first one out of class, I was able to find Javier waiting for me in the hallways and grab him before we get swarmed.
"Everything go alright Señor?" Javier questions. He looks back at the crowd of students leaving the classroom, whispering to each other while taking intermittent peeks at us.
"Apparently I made a 'mockery' of Yicks by correcting him twice while he was trying to embarrass me. To answer your question honestly, yes and no,"
"Why exactly are you making Professor Yicks mad? Wait no, this is normal, you being ambitious that is," Javier blathers.
"Whatever…all I know is Yicks is the biggest hack on campus. I'm honestly convinced he's just here to exert that superiority complex of his," I add.
Javier chuckles before joining me at my side. "I wouldn't know amigo, I've never been in any of his classes."
I've never rolled my eyes harder as we come up to a hallway intersection. "Yeah, well you had better be hap-"
Something with the consistency of rubber smacks into my leg and makes a 'wub wub' sound as it hits the ground. After looking down on the tile floor, I see that one small, slime like monster wearing Oozma Kappa gear. If I remember correctly, his name is Squishy. I kneel down and put my hand on his back in order to push him back up to his feet because he didn't really deserve to be knocked down like that.
"S-sorry," I say while hoping no unnecessary confrontation begins.
I notice that the others, who I believe are Don, Art, Terri, and Terry, are together with him as well. They just stand by with their arms dangling at their side, however, it's Terry who puts his fist on his side while giving me an angry look.
"Sorry? Since when do you apologize for anything?" Terry asks.
"Doesn't matter," I respond while standing up tall, "You don't have to talk to me ever again if that's what you wish."
I reach down to the ground again to pick up some of Squishy's supplies while he picks up his Oozma Kappa hat that fell off his head. I guess it was hopeless to think that this would ever be a peaceful exchange.
"You've brought us a lot of suffering you know, and now you're even causing us trouble in the hallways while we're looking around the place for next semester. It seems to me that you really have no interest in understanding how hard it is to be us," Terry grumbles.
I give Squishy all of his supplies before emotionlessly saying, "Don't tell me about how hard it is to be you. In reality you don't know how hard it is to be me. I've had to live up to the legacies set by my father, grandfather, and those before them to even be remotely accepted within my family while you five were graciously lifted up by your own families and friends. I had to follow every rule that society set in place, being told that there's no room for second chances. I only had one way forward, one life to live, while you five had somewhere to go and plans to fall back on. Then here comes those same five monsters who are given the first second chances…ever…since 1313, to join the Scaring Program after failing. They then fail a second time in the Scare Games, only to be given another second chance due to luck and technicalities while everyone else still doesn't get a second chance. They then prove their unorthodox and chaotic ways in the next event that could very much expose the Monster World to the humans. And then these monsters show everyone that their team doesn't quite compare to the others in a negative manner, while also showing everyone that they have cheaters and criminals among them. After all of that, they're still allowed in the Scaring Program because the head of the program doesn't want her ego damaged."
The anger from Terry has disappeared and the five Oozma Kappa monsters stare silently at me.
"I don't hate you guys. I hate how the world let you five receive unwarranted privilege that millions, maybe even billions, of monsters before you would never have been allowed to get. If I did what Wazowski or Sullivan did, failed the first scare final, broke into a door lab, cheated my way through the curriculum, and recklessly pushed my way through a program that wanted to spend no more time on me, then I would be out on the streets. If Bob Gunderson, Frank McCay, Raj Kapoor, Earl Thompson…anybody…failed like you all originally did…They wouldn't be here."
Art shuffles over to Terry to vocalize raspily. "He, uuuhh, kind of has a point."
I sigh and look back to see Javier speechlessly listening in before turning back to the Oozma Kappa guys. "Look…my father works for both Fear Co and Monsters Inc. He said that if ROR didn't win the Scare Games, then I wouldn't be able to step foot on an actual Scare Floor. If I didn't socialize with the people he accepted, then I wouldn't be a part of the family anymore. If I didn't follow the rules that he and everyone else followed, except you five, then I wouldn't ever be able to follow my own dream of becoming a professional Scarer…So naturally, I tried my best to guarantee my chances that none of that would happen... because I didn't know what else to do."
Don puts his tentacles on Squishy and Terri's shoulders while looking down at the ground.
"Because if I'm being honest… Sullivan, JOX, Dean Hardscrabble, you five, and most definitely Wazowski... almost ruined my life," I groan feeling myself getting inexplicably emotional.
I've noticed a couple of bystanders have stopped to listen in. They look back and forth between Oozma Kappa and I with painful expressions. Even Carrie and Britney seem to be watching all of this unfold, not sure if they should intervene or not. Now that I've noticed them all, I choose to end this conversation.
"Once again, you don't have to ever talk to me again regarding the circumstances I put you through, but at least you know why I was an asshole to you now and that I'm sorry that it all happened…And If I ended up damaging those notebooks of yours Squishy, I'll gladly replace them for you," I conclude before strutting to the entrance of the Scaring School.
I hear Javier follow behind me, yet struggling to keep up with my speed. He's quite a distance away by the time I open the entrance doors and see the sky opening up to a soothing blue. The rain has left the grass all moist and the paved paths waterlogged, but all of that will soon evaporate away to the heavens. The sun shines brightly enough around the clouds for reflections to be generated off the smooth leaves of the multicolored trees, making things feel a little calmer than they were this morning.
I fling myself outside and descend the giant staircase ready for this chapter of my life to just simply end so that I can maybe never feel such pain ever again.
"Señor!" Javier screams from the top of the staircase.
I hit the last step before turning around and seeing Javier more worried than ever before.
"Señor…," He pants while halting in front of me, "I-I'm sor-"
"Do me a favor and act like you never saw that," I grunt.
Javier looks like he wants to say something but keeps his mouth shut on the matter. I was expecting him to become sad, but I think he understands that I'm not necessarily upset and that I'm instead just moving on with my life. He nods and returns to his regal stature, acting like nothing ever happened.
"Johnny!" A voice says from above the stairs.
Oh dear god, here we go again.
Don is rushing down the stairs, causing him to seemingly waddle like a penguin while his stomach bounces up and down like ripples in a puddle of water. He's also so out of breath that it sounds like he's about to have an intense asthma attack.
"I-I'm sorry for bothering you again fellas, b-but…whew…but I just want to…apologize for everything we've put you through on Oozma Kappas behalf," Don huffs.
I jump in before he can get any more words out. "Seriously, it's not neces-"
"No I really do feel awful about this. Everything about this whole Scare Games debacle was just disheartening for everyone, and… you're right. We'll never really understand what you went through this semester and we'll never really know what it's like to be you, especially when you're a month away from finishing your degree. But, I want you to know that even if things don't go the way you want them to, then you have people to go to if you get lost," Don explains before handing me a business card.
It has his name in bold written on it and underneath it has 'sales' crossed out. 'Scare Student' is then written underneath that and his address along with his phone number is on the bottom corners.
"I know that at this point you fellas won't have to worry about not finding a Scaring position, but I want you to know that you RORs taught us more than we would ever imagine competing against you. Even though we have gotten angry with each other in the past, we would have been just like all the others you told us about without you, and for that we're grateful. If you're also willing to help us out with our scaring, we would love for you all to be our coaches, legitimate ones at that. There may still be some tension between us regarding our little skirmish at your party, but I'd like us all to move past that. And while Mike and Sullivan may have been helpful... w-we noticed that there were times where they were really only in it for themselves…and that's why I hope to turn our relationships into something better, because you've shown us all that you're someone who does care deep down, that you would like everyone regardless of who they are, to succeed" Don elucidates.
I feel a tear fall of my right eye and I have to take my palm to wipe it away before I embarrass myself. At least there's someone else besides Melanie that knows who I would really like to be. "…Y-yeah. Sure," I sigh.
"Alright, awesome! Anyhoo, I should get back to the others. I hope we'll be able to see each other again when you're all bunch of unstoppable and unrivaled Scarers!" Don exclaims while swinging his hips from side to side, looking like he's doing a little boogie. He turns around and jogs back up the stairs, looking like he's done that plenty of times before since he doesn't struggle as badly when he ran down them. His huffing and puffing lasts for an another few seconds before vanishing completely, and leaving me staring at the business card.
"...I don't think that could have gone any better," Javier says interrupting the loud silence.
"…Yeah. I'm just glad I won't have to worry about them anymore," I reply.
"Hehe, seems all our rivalry's have been mended. No more crazy JOX, and no more Oozmas," Javier chuckles.
"Yep…We can just finish our classes and graduate with honors as valedictorians…somehow," I add.
Javier pats me on the back and pushes me away from the Scaring School and towards the direction of Frat Row. "Vamos Señor, let's get some comida."
"Oh… ok. Can we get something for Melanie then? I was actually planning on seeing her after class," I respond.
Javier nods. "Sí, I'd love to go see how she's doing."
"Jesucristo…I don't think I would ever get used to living all the way out here," Javier states while uncomfortably looking at the poorly paved streets and rundown buildings.
"I agree," I mumble, "Which is why I'd like to get her out of here."
Javier changes his focus from the various brick buildings to what's in front of us, the road to the Cormeadow General Hospital. "Do you have an idea of how you're going to do that?"
I give it some thought and come up with an answer. "I'd like to first get her cousins a place in Thornberry somewhere. They've all lived together out in the middle fo nowhere their whole lives, so I can't imagine they would want to live separately. Something that at least keeps them from having to all sleep in the same room or something like that. As for her parents, I would want them over in Westpine, right next to MU. They never needed much, but I'd like to see them living comfortably enough that they won't have to go very far for work or anything. As for Melanie…It's up to her."
"Hm…alright. I'm sure it won't be too difficult for you," Javier says accepting my answer.
"It will," I stress, "It's all going to have to happen before I find a job on a scare floor which I would need to have before September."
"Pfft, stop worrying. You have tu mamá y papá, they help you with everything," Javier encourages.
"God I hope so…," I groan as we turn into the hospitals parking lot.
Javier punches my arm while smiling. "Since when did Johnny Worthington the Third ever get pessimistic and scared of a challenge? Don't tell me Melanie has got you wrapped around her finger that badly."
I find a parking spot and put the Roar River in park. I then put my elbow on the door handle and place my head in my hand. "Yeah, she does. I can't live without her around anymore."
"Well then let's go. We'll start by giving her some fruta. Maybe she'll be less likely to leave you when her Prince Charming gives her some gifts," Javier says rushing me.
I can't tell if he's joking or if he's serious. My face crinkles and I nearly gag after hearing such a cringeworthy comment. "…If you keep talking like that, I'll puke."
The two of us find our way through the parking lot and into the hospital. We check in and make sure that she's available to be seen, and we're given the green light to head up a couple floors to her room. The hallways are dead silent, and the place gives off a very uncomfortable feeling. We've probably passed by several patients who were on the verge of dying, but we'll obviously never know that. Aside from that grim note, we arrive at the door where Javier knocks a couple of times before entering.
"Hola dama de la luna," Javier sings, "We're here to make you feel better."
Melanie's gasps when she sees the two of us spoil her with our presence. She shows us that she's embarrassed when her ears drop down, her tail wags, and she grabs her blankets that lay within her lap. She even gets a little tense when we place two bowls of fruit in her lap.
"Y-you two didn't have to surprise me like this," She spouts while putting her hands over her eyes.
"But we wanted to see our favorite freshman. Don't tell me you're not excited to see your favorite seniors," I respond while feeling instantly invigorated after seeing her smile.
"I'm n-not a freshman anymore John… and you saying that is giving me an uncomfortable feeling of deja vú," She groans.
"Eh, you'll always be the coolest freshman in our eyes, amiga," Javier adds, "Now how about telling me what happened to mi hermosa dama favorita."
She lowers one ear and turns her head to the side after looking at me with confusion. I'm guessing she needs a translation for that ending part. "My favorite beautiful lady," I say while shaking my head.
Melanie's ears shoot up and she slides down under the blankets. "S-stop trying to embarrass me. I-it's not f-funny," She stutters.
I chuckle because this isn't anything new for Melanie. All of us in ROR have been saying that about her since we met her, so she must not have been told that very much growing up. Actually, that's probably spot on because I've been told that I'm 'gorgeous' by many women and 'hot' by a couple of guys before, whereas Melanie says that she never really had social interactions before college.
"Come on, tell him what happened. He's only not seen you for weeks," I say encouraging Melanie.
She retells her distressing tale to Javier and we watch as his face goes from relaxed to troubled. I can sense some serious discomfort emanating from him by the time Melanie says that she's told the police everything and that they're taking care of it.
Melanie then places her hands on her lap like a princess and concludes the story. "S-so…yeah. They're trying to discharge me now because my hearts gone back to normal but the doctors have been go-"
"Woah wait what?!" I exclaim, "They're letting you go?! Why am I learning about this now?!"
"Well…the-I don't know!" Melanie whines.
"What do you mean you don't know? You could have called meee, I would have come straight away and been ready to take you home or with me or…something!" I spout
"B-but I wanted to tell my parents first," Melanie divulges.
"Wh-huh? Why? Do you not trust me anymore, Mel?" I whimper.
"Noooo!" She growls, "I wanted my Dad to know that I was alright. Why are you making me out to be the bad guy? You know he's depressed!"
Javier tries his best to hold back his laughter but the two of us look to him and ask him why he's laughing at us like we're the biggest clowns in the world.
"Will you two get married already?" He teases.
I feel my face become flush at his comment, and Melanie throws herself underneath her blankets, causing the hospital bed to creak and squeak as if it's about to collapse. I shouldn't say that our relationship isn't like that though, I mean Jav did catch us red-handed by listening to us talk like a old-married couple.
"Whaaaaat? Now you don't want to marry this handsome face?" I playfully question while trying to pull the blankets off her.
She groans when the blankets slide off her head and reveal her natural beauty to the world. Her furrowed brows are funny to look at when she sticks her tongue out at me before grabbing the blankets and going under them again. I try to take them off of her again, but this time she's wrapped the blankets underneath her body. I have to lift her up to take them off of her and that spirals out of control quickly.
The room door then opens behind us, revealing an exhausted looking doctor with baggy lab coat. He's very short, round, scaly, angry-looking, and he carries a clipboard with a bunch of paperwork. He looks over it all with his giant circular glasses, flipping through the pages like he just gave up reading a chapter book, while I place Melanie back down on the bed so that it looks like nothing happened.
"Alright Melanie, I apologize for making you wait all day, but let's get you out of here," He states.
He describes in depth everything about what happened to her as well as what they did to treat her. He tells her to take things easy for the next couple of weeks and also talks to her about taking some medication as a way to ensure that she doesn't relapse into a weak-hearted state. He says something about Angiotensin inhibitors or something like that. I'll be sure she's taking them in a scheduled manner until she no longer needs them.
"One last thing. If you begin to feel any sort of noticeably abnormal discomfort in your chest, please come back here or to the closest hospital to see if it's something serious. If you experience the same thing but in a very mild manner, talk to a cardiologist or therapist. I've placed some phone numbers there for you in case that happens," The doctor explains.
Melanie nods but seems to be overwhelmed. I have her put her signature on the discharge documents before I take them and hand them back over.
"We'll be sure to take good care of her," I assure.
"You'd better. That was one nasty case of cardiomyopathy, and I would like to never see that in anyone ever again," The doctor grunts before taking his leave.
"Ugh…now I have to worry about my hospital bills," Melanie groans.
I pinch her snout shut gently before saying, "Well don't. I'm taking care of it and you can't stop me."
Once I let go, Melanie takes one of the bowls of fruit we brought her and pops it open. She grabs a fresh strawberry by its leaves and eats it whole before chewing it like a cartoon character does. She gazes at us with those large beady eyes of hers and offers the bowl to Javier.
He waves his hands dismissively. "Oh no, I'm full. You should give some to Señor Johnny though, he didn't eat at all today."
Melanie swallows the strawberry when her ears blast up into the air.
"Jonathan Worthington the Third, you didn't eat today?!"