Chapter 2 Growing Concerns
"Tell me another one, Dad! Please!" asked the eager voice of a young child.
A fatherly chuckle answered and there was the sound of a book page being turned. "Alright, son. Here's one I think you'll love…"
Sly blinked sleep from his eyes to see the bleary face of Carmelita staring down at him with an expression of utter worry.
"Oh no," he said.
Despite his blurred vision, there was no mistaking how Carmelita's eyes widened in alarm. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"I've died and gone to heaven," Sly replied with a grin. "Complete with a beautiful angel."
The concern on Carmelita's face softened into something warmer. "Cheesy, Ringtail," she said, leaning over to kiss him.
"Are you saying you don't think that was gouda?" Sly quipped back when she broke the kiss.
Carmelita rolled her eyes, and it was Sly's turn to frown. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here, Carmelita?" he asked. "I thought you had a case in Guam?"
"I got myself reassigned to a different case," Carmelita said. "One closer to home."
"Why?" asked Sly, confused.
Carmelita gave him the same look she always did when she thought he'd said something particularly stupid.
It was then Sly finally looked away from her (beautiful) face to see just where he was.
In a hospital bed.
Well, that wasn't a good sign.
It was then he remembered what happened to land him here.
"Ah, Mr. Cooper, I see you're awake," said the doctor as he stepped into the room behind Carmelita. "Would you mind telling us what happened?" asked the kindly looking kangaroo with a name tag that said 'Dr. Rue'.
Not wanting to worry Carmelita even further, Sly tried to brush it off and sit up. "I don't know, but I'm sure it was nothing. I've been overworking late-"
He was cut off when the same pain as before shot through him, causing him to collapse back onto the bed, clutching at his chest.
Carmelita was at his side immediately, and the doctor bound over to him as well.
Fortunately, this time the pain didn't last as long, and Sly managed to stay conscious but was still panting like he'd just run a marathon.
"Want to try that again, Mr. Cooper?" asked Dr. Rue.
Reluctantly, this time Sly complied and explained what he'd felt, and answered the doctor's questions as best he could.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Carmelita once they were finished, her worry making her words sharper than she probably intended.
Dr. Rue was still dutifully writing down all Sly had told him, and replied, "We won't know for sure until his bloodwork comes in. At the moment it could be any number of things, but I assure you we'll begin treatment as soon as we can."
After taking a few more tests, and determining Sly should remain in the hospital overnight, the doctor took his leave of them to continue his rounds.
Once he was gone, Carmelita looked at Sly, her expression troubled. "Is there anything else?" she asked. "Anything at all that is out of the ordinary?"
Sly frowned thoughtfully as the brief dream he'd had before waking flashed through his head. "Well, there is one thing," he said, thinking about the exchange he'd heard. "I… I think I might have remembered something."
Carmelita's eyes widened as an expression of shock (And… was that fear? Nah, couldn't be.) flashed across her face. "You remembered?" she asked slowly. "What did you remember?"
"Not much," said Sly, shrugging off her concerns. "Just a few words. I think it was me when I was a kid asking my father to read me a bedtime story."
Rather than be happy for the sweet but simple memory, Carmelita's frown only deepened. "It may be for the best that you do not try to remember any more than that," she said.
Sly looked at her in confusion. "What? Why? Don't you want me to regain my memory?"
Carmelita frowned like she was trying to find the right way to put something into words. "It's just that I know you lost your parents when you were quite young, and I'm sure that was quite traumatic for you. I just worry you might accidentally trigger something and make your condition worse."
Sly smiled softly at her, touched that she was so concerned for him. "Don't worry. Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll be fine. We'll be back to solving crimes in no time."
"I'll hold you to that, Cooper," Carmelita said, giving him another peck on the lips as she stood up. "Excuse me a minute, I need to call in that you're not dead yet."
Sly flopped back onto the bed with a dramatic huff. "Not for long if I die of boredom being stuck in bed."
Carmelita rolled her eyes and handed him his phone. "Here, entertain yourself," she said before stepping out of the room.
Sly snickered and used his phone to open his friends' group chat and saw that he'd missed quite a few messages. Apparently, there was currently an intense debate going on about the best donut flavor.
You'veBeenStruckBy:
Hey guys!
Pinkies right BTW. Chocolate with sprinkles are the best.
Can't beat the classics.
:PinkTornado
HAH!
:Spex_Guy
There you are! I would have thought you'd chime in an hour ago.
What happened?
You'veBeenStruckBy:
Oh, nothing much. Just in the hospital.
:Spex_Guy
WHAT?
:PinkTornado
WHAAAAAT
You'veBeenStruckBy:
Don't worry about it. I'm fine.
:Spex_Guy
If you're in the hospital it doesn't sound like you're fine.
:PinkTorndo
ARE YOU OKAY?
You'veBeenStruckBy:
Guys, I'm fine really
The doctor just needs to do some bloodwork
I'm sure it's nothing.
It wasn't nothing.
Sly's bloodwork came back saying he was perfectly healthy. The doctors tried every test they could, but nothing appeared to be wrong with him.
Despite that, he continued to have attacks about once a day. At seemingly random intervals, the same pain would hit him like a freight train and leave him shaking on the floor. Some were quick, others lasted several minutes and caused him to pass out. No one could find the cause of it.
Sly hated to see Carmelita so worried. She barely left his side except when she had to go to work, and even then she did that quite reluctantly.
"It's not the same without you as my backup," she said once as she left for work.
"Please," said Sly from where he was camped out on the couch for the day. "If anyone can catch that art thief singlehanded, it's you, Lita."
She'd kissed him for saying that, but her worry was still there.
Sly had quickly grown to hate these attacks. But despite them, he refused to be confined to a hospital bed and managed to convince the doctors to let him do his bed rest at home. They reluctantly agreed only because he and Carmelita were living together, and she could keep an eye on him.
And she wasn't the only one. Even if they weren't there physically, Sly was constantly being checked in on online by PinkTornado. His concern was touching, if a bit excessive.
As if to only add to the bad news, Spex_Guy soon confided in them that his girlfriend (whom Sly only knew as Air_Heart_Babe) hadn't just gotten caught up at the store, but instead had vanished without a trace. Spex_Guy was trying to keep his cool but was clearly growing more frantic with worry about both her and Sly's condition as time went on.
Sly hated that he was stuck at home with her missing. He'd be out there helping Spex_Guy look for her if he wasn't sure Carmelita would tie him to the bed if he even tried to leave the apartment. As fun as that sounded, he didn't think it'd be of any help to anyone.
Still, he offered what Interpol contacts he could to Spex_Guy to help him find her. It was the least he could do, and Spex_Guy appreciated the effort.
So, yeah, things were not looking good all around.
Which is why it was so surprising when one day out of the blue, Spex_Guy sent a message.
:Spex_Guy
We need to meet IRL
You'veBeenStruckBy:
What?
:PinkTornado
FINALLY! I've really been wanting to see you guys!
You'veBeenStruckBy:
Wait Wait Wait! Is this even allowed?
I thought Dr. Gray said that we needed to remain anonymous.
Patient confidentiality and all that.
Not that I wouldn't love to meet you both.
:Spex_Guy
It's not-
This is more important than that.
I found something.
:PinkTornado
Found something?
You'veBeenStruckBy:
What?
You mean about your girlfriend?
:Spex_Guy
No
Well, actually possibly yes, but not just her.
I also found something about you, Sly.
Sly jerked back and stared at his phone for a long minute. Long enough that the others were clearly concerned he'd had another attack.
:PinkTornado
ARE YOU OKAY?
DO I NEED TO CALL A AMBULANCE?
PLEASE ANSWER?
:Spex_Guy
Sly! Answer me!
You'veBeenStruckBy:
…
How do you know my name?
It was their turn to have a long pause.
:Spex_Guy
I'll explain everything.
I promise.
Just, please, meet us here at 2 o'clock
(Link)
Sly checked the link and saw it was the address to a picnic table in a small park near the art museum Carmelita was staking out for her case.
Convenient.
Maybe a little too convenient.
Still… Sly hated to think he'd been catfished this entire time. Spex_Guy and PinkTornado had grown to be his closest friends, he balked at the idea it all might have been faked.
Besides, if anything went wrong, Carmelita would be there in an instant to back him up.
And then yell at him for the next several hours for leaving the apartment when on bed rest.
Worth it.
Besides, Sly wanted answers.
So as the time drew near, Sly got dressed, made sure he had his shock pistol on him, and with a quiet mutter of, "Don't try this at home, kids," he walked out the door to meet them.
A/N Remember kids, take precautions when meeting people from the internet.