Emerging Compassions

Chapter 35: Wonderful News!

(Carl's POV)

Once we arrived at the hospital again, we all, including Goddard, hurried in to find out if Jimmy had improved any. We checked with the front desk, then retreated to the waiting room we'd been in only the previous day. We heard a call over the intercom stating that the doctor was on his way to inform us how our genius friend was doing. "Finally...," I muttered, turning to face the direction he was headed from, "I hope it's some good news."

"So do I, Carl," Cindy sighed in agreement, looking in the same direction as I was.

A few moments later, Dr. Lang arrived. I could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't good news he was gonna share with us...

"Eh, what's up, doc?" Sheen asked playfully again. I couldn't help but giggle quietly to myself; that was a pretty good pun!

"That's beginning to get old, young man," the doctor gently scolded him. Then he continued, "Your friend James continues to be in a coma. We're doing everything we can to keep him as stable as possible. We've been monitoring his health, and according to our calculations, he should come out of his coma within a week, seeing as his concussion wasn't as major as it could've been... We'll keep you informed as his condition progresses." He then left to head back to his medical duties with his attendants at hand.

"Wow, even just a WEEK seems like an eternity to me! !" Sheen put in once he'd left.

"We're just gonna have to wait, Sheen," Libby informed him, taking his hand in hers, "I'm sure these next several days will just FLY by..."

"I sure hope so," I groaned, resting my chin in my palms with a sigh.

Goddard just cocked his head a bit, then licked me a couple times.

"Thanks, Goddard. I needed that," I gratefully told him, patting him on the head.

About 2 hours later, which seemed to take forever, by the way, a nurse came up and informed us, "Visiting hours are over for a couple hours, kids..."

"Hey, we're not kids! We're teens, lady! !" Sheen barked at her, standing up immediately and glaring at her.

"SHEEN! ! !" Libby snapped, slapping his face, "Be polite!"

"Ow! Okay, Libby, jeez! !" he exclaimed, rubbing the side of his face.

Cindy just winked at her with a slightly ticked off look on her face, then politely told the nurse, "Okay, we'll be off now, ma'am... C'mon, guys. Let's head on home."

We all got up from our seats and followed her out to the hovercar. She set the coordinates for Retroville, turned on the autopilot, and we were soon on our way.

About half an hour later, which is how long it took with how fast the hovercar was, we were home. Boy, it sure wasn't the same in Retroville without Jimmy.

Before we knew it, Judy and Hugh came rushing out of their home and right up to the 4 of us. Without a moment's hesitance, she anxiously asked, "Is my baby okay? ! How much longer is he going to be in the hospital? !"

"Calm down, calm DOWN, Mrs. Neutron!" Cindy reassured them, "With the current care he's receiving, they said he should be out of his coma within a week. I'm just as glad as you are that his concussion wasn't worse than it is now! Just call me if you need to talk, Judy." With that, she gave Judy a big bear hug to reassure them that he'd be okay soon enough. She gladly returned the favor and replied gratefully, "Thank you, Cindy. I certainly will. Let's go, Hugh." The 2 parents then left to head back into their home.

It would be a long 6 days before we heard anything about Jimmy again, and when that day finally came, boy, were we thrilled!

We were just minding our own business at the Candy Bar when Cindy's cell phone rang. She immediately grabbed it and informed us, "Hey, guys! I think this is the doctor who's taking care of Jimmy!"

THAT got our attention! We hurried over to her to see what the doctor would say...

"Hello? Yes, this is Cindy Vortex. Is this Dr. Ethan Lang? Oh, good! How is he? He IS? ! Wonderful! ! How soon may we come visit him? Today, you say, this afternoon? Excellent! See you then! Good-bye!" she conversed with him, then hung up with a huge, excited grin on her face.

"Well, someone's sure excited!" Sheen observed.

"I sure am! Dr. Lang said we could come visit him this afternoon, and he's scheduled to come home this evening! !" Cindy squealed with excitement.

"I am SO glad t' see my girl upbeat an' happy again!" Libby commented, "That is such wonderful news!"

"I know! !" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat with the rest of us and giving her a tight squeeze out of sheer joy, which Libby gladly returned.

As for Sheen and me, we just hooked arms and "happy-danced" for, like, 2 minutes straight.

After we all calmed down, Cindy checked the time on her cell phone. "It's 3:20, so let's go pay him a visit, shall we?" she suggested, motioning us to follow her, which we happily did. We ended up at Jimmy's clubhouse, and there his newest rocket sat, ready to be used for the first time. It resembled his old JimBus from when he was 11, only more hi-tech and roomier.

"We'll be using this, since I've no idea what fuel he uses for his hovercar," Cindy added, "So, hop in! I'll take the controls, since he taught me how to drive this thing in the 11th grade when he made this." We strapped ourselves in, she took the controls, and we blasted off toward Phoenix, making sure we brought Jimmy some fresh clothes since he was coming home that day. Boy, was he gonna be in for a SURPRISE! !

End of Part 1... Stay tuned for more!