AN: Eddie's parents learn what happened. Again, if you feel like Eddie felt in the last chapter, please get help. Call the suicide hotline 988 or go to better help dot com. You are not alone! You are loved!

Meena has not crossed over into believer yet. She's taking an interest in something that Alphonso enjoys because she loves Alphonso. Will she make that jump? I can't tell you because that would be telling. You're going to have to keep reading. Ryan will probably never make that jump but he is stuck in an ER waiting room with literally nothing else to do. So his moment in this is more a funny reminder that ERs are boring.

Part 26

Leaving Jerry with the troupe, Nana Noodleman decided to meet her ex-son with the police. She could see that he was not prepared for her to be there.

"Mom, what are you doing here? Did he come crying to you? Ahhh!" He held his cheek where a nice hoof print was forming.

"You wretched, disloyal, monster. How dare you call me, Mom? Because of you and your cruelty, my grandson almost died last night!"

Frederick froze. "What? What do you mean almost died?"

"He took your ultimatum and told you to shove it up your ass! He cut his wrists! And only the quick thinking of Mr. Green and his partner saved him! How dare you? I told you to stay away! He was doing well! He was recovering! Why didn't you listen to me?" She clenched her fists. "Damn it, Frederick, I cannot lose my grandson."

Adelaide stood in shock. "What? We want the best for Eddie! We love him! He's our son!"

"We were just trying to get him away from these terrible friends you've let him associate himself with. Including Mr. Moon. At least he can't corrupt Eddie himself anymore." Frederick said.

She snapped her hoof and the police stepped forward. "You are to stay away from Eddie. This is your last warning. If you really care about him then stay away." She stomped off to her car, ignoring the cries of her son and his wife as the police read them their rights. Last night had scared her. She had already lost so much. She was sure that losing her grandson might well finish her off. She'd try and talk Rosita out of pressing charges once but she wouldn't insist. It was her mercy they would need now. She wasn't sure how merciful the mother pig was feeling at present.

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The following morning, Lance groaned, wondering why his back hurt before remembering. He had stayed the night in the waiting room with Ash. The chair was horrible but the sheep had saved his daughter's life. He needed to be there. And Ash was there.

"Daddy?" He heard a small voice and he opened his eyes all the way.

"Raquelle? Little Lance? What? What time is it?" He yawned and sat up, looking for his phone.

Gunter looked at his own. "It is 8:30. Time to be getting up. Family emergency means no school." He rationalized. The piglets were hugging their dad while the babies lay in their stroller.

Lance nodded. "Makes sense to me. It's just one day of kindergarten."

"Is Mr. Eddie okay?" Raquelle asked.

"He sure is. The doctors patched him up and he's just fine," he reassured her. "We're just waiting for official visiting hours and for him to be moved to a bigger room."

Gunter shook his head. "So they're admitting him?"

Clay nodded. "For his safety. Until an action plan is developed and his parents are dealt with." He would have given his front teeth for a child and these people treated him like trash. Sitara held his paw. And they had turned his attempt to help him into a weapon to hurt him.

She squeezed his hand. "He'll be alright. He's surrounded by a huge family that loves him now."

Ash sat up with a moan. "Hmmmm…. Hey when did Darius get here? What's he doing here?" The yak was sleeping in one of the chairs.

Meena groaned as she remembered. "Sometime last night. I think he came with Suki. He wants to join us full time." She smiled as she felt her husband kiss her cheek in good morning.

"Honestly, I didn't think we'd ever see him again. Why'd he just bail on us back there?" Ash asked.

"He said it totally freaked him out. I guess I understand that," she replied. "It was a bad night." Even now the image of Mr. Moon falling filled her mind until she felt her husband pull her close.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, we'll have to talk about it as a group but we always want more players." But Darius had been a point of contention throughout the whole three weeks.

She nodded and whispered. "As long as he learns how to act and gets my name right."

Suki moaned as she and Marcus woke up. "What do we know?" She asked.

"Still the same. They're going to move him to a larger room soon," Clay told them what he heard the doctor tell Norman.

Alphonso pulled out his Bible, his study book and his pen. Meena looked over his shoulder. "Where are we this morning?"

He looked at his notebook. "We are in Exodus." When Meena asked to join him on their first morning as husband and wife, he was ecstatic and started them back in Genesis. Softly, he started to read to her. "One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up."

Ryan looked over at them. "How does a bush not burn up?" He asked, coming over.

Alphonso shrugged. "That's why it got Moses' attention. I'm sorry. I can do this later."

Ryan shook his head. "No, go ahead. It doesn't bother me anymore. And I'm bored. Please, read, before I find a phone book."

The elephant nodded and began again. "'This is amazing,' Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it." When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" "Here I am!" Moses replied." He read through the chapter.

During the next hour, the doctor was in and out, keeping Norman updated on Eddie's care until Rosita came out and let him go back.

"You look exhausted, Rosita," Gunter observed. "Did you sleep at all?"

She grinned sheepishly. "Not really. Those chairs are torture."

Meena nodded. "That's why Alphie and I slept on the floor." She gestured to their bed made up of their jackets. "How's Eddie?"

She hugged her children each in turn as they ran up to her. "He's alright. Johnny, Ryan, you saved his life last night. Thank you."

Johnny nodded. "What else could we do? I'm just glad we got to him in time. I just can't believe this happened."

"I completely missed the signs. I should have known something was wrong. Why didn't he tell us?" She asked the room, not expecting an answer.

"He didn't want to worry you," Gunter admitted.

She looked around and realized she and Norman were the only ones who didn't know. "What?"

"We thought we were dealing with it so there was no need to say anything. You just had the quints," Ash explained.

Rosita sighed and started to sit only to realize there was a body in the seat. "Oh! Hey, what's Darius doing here?"

"He came to me looking for some way to contact you," Suki replied. "At about the same time, Marcus messaged me and there wasn't time to talk after that."

The yak moaned in his chair and opened his eyes. "Rosita! Hey!" He jumped up. "Great to see ya. "

"Uh huh, yeah, same here, I guess," she said, unsure how to handle the actor. "What can we do for you?"

He scratched his head. "Well, I tried to find you afar but I couldn't and I tried other gigs but… I don't know, there's something about this troupe. I want to be a full member if it's possible."

The sow rubbed her temples. "Darius, I appreciate that you feel this way. We're all going to have to talk about it but I don't even know when the next show will be. We've been doing variety shows to keep the place going but that's it."

Suki bit her lip. "About that…. You know I've been auditioning shows… I have a show selected for Christmas but…" She sighed. "The board isn't willing to void your contract with Crystal."

Porsha sat up. "What does that mean?" She'd heard her father talking business before but the jargon was above her.

Rosita sighed. "They want us to come back don't they?" She asked.

Suki nodded. "Either that or pay back everything that was spent on the show. I'm sorry, I've tried convincing them that what Crystal did should void the contract but they're being stubborn. Now with this situation, I might be able to buy some time."

"If you could, that would be helpful. Right now, Out of this World is out of the question," Rosita asked. "Eddie isn't going to be ready for anything in Redshore for a while."

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The room was quiet. Norman was just sitting beside him. "I'm sorry…" Eddie said softly. "I really am… please, don't be mad…."

The father pig sighed. "Eddie, I'm not mad. I'm upset. I'm disappointed. I'm relieved you're alright. Last night, I was scared. We already lost a dear friend recently. We thought we were going to lose you too. Do you understand how terrifying that was?"

Eddie nodded. "I just wanted to protect you and your family. Mom and Dad, they…"

Norman stopped him. "Eddie, you never have to protect us that way. We'd rather take anything they think they can throw at us." He wanted desperately to make the sheep believe that.

The sheep sighed. "But you shouldn't have to. You shouldn't have to protect me. I'm a grown sheep. I'm 41 for Pete's sake! And I need protection. I am such a worthless coward."

"Eddie, that could not be further from the truth! You are not worthless and you are not a coward!" He pleaded. They needed to change this way of thinking. Otherwise, they'd be there again far too soon. "Those two are not your parents because they didn't do anything that parents are supposed to do. They abused you. They emotionally abused you and gaslit you. They are not your parents. So nothing they say means anything."

Eddie looked over at him. "But I can barely take care of myself. And Mom said…" he looked down. "Of course it's not true but it just made the point that I can't protect myself. I'm a burden on everyone. I have nothing to offer or give. I miss Buster. He loved me and made me feel like I could do anything. He's the one who always made everything right when my parents were giving me grief."

Norman nodded. "You were close to each other. I can't tell you what to do, Eddie. I know you loved him. If I lost Rosita, I'm not sure how I would survive it. But Eddie, I would have to at least try. Because my kids need me. Your friends, your family, we all love and need you. You don't have to do this alone."

Eddie nodded. "I'm sorry… I… I'll try harder and I'll get help when I can't do it…" He felt terrible for making them all worry about him.

"Eddie!" 25 tiny cries echoed as Rosita came back with her piglets. His adopted brothers and sisters jumped onto the bed and rushed to hug him.

She giggled as she watched them bring a smile to his face. "I couldn't hold them off any longer. They're getting ready to move you to a bigger room, sweetheart. Then everyone is waiting for a chance to see you and make sure you're okay."

Eddie smiled despite how he was feeling. "Thank you. I love you all… I just hope that… I can be worthy of it."

She hugged him tight. "You are worthy of it. You deserve to be loved and cared for." She inwardly swore to make them pay. She had failed to save Buster. She would not fail Eddie.

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Lance was flipping through the internet want-ads while waiting. He knew they could probably go home but Raquelle really wanted to see Mr. Eddie first. And he didn't want to leave Ash yet.

At some point, Alphonso's loud friend, Tyler came over. "Hey, are you still looking for a job?"

The crested porcupine looked up. "Yeah, I can't find anything that lets me still have time to be a dad." He went cross-eyed when a copy of their flier appeared in front of his face.

"You guys are hiring?" Lance asked.

"Yep. Alphie wants to step back a bit now that he has a wife to go home to," Tyler explained.

Lance thought about it. "Look, I appreciate the offer but I'd like to find a job on my own." He explained. "You don't need to offer me a job just because I'm dating Ash."

"We're not," Alphonso interjected. "I want more time with Meena since we're still getting used to being married." He smiled at his blushing wife. He kissed her cheek. "Look, just think about it."

Lance looked over at Ash who was talking with Gunter and Johnny about something. He couldn't make out the conversation. He had refused a job with the theater because he didn't want anyone saying he only got the job because of his girlfriend. He just wasn't sure this wasn't the same thing. Even if the business owner insisted it wasn't. "I'll submit my résumé. If you're still interested, we can talk."

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While everyone was talking, the tabby cat snuck back to the hospital rooms. He found Rosita and Norman talking with the doctor while they prepared to move Eddie's room. The piglets were still playing with Eddie when Jerry went into the room.

He glared at the sheep. "I thought you said you'd be my friend." He said softly.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah, I did…"

"Then why? You said it would be hard but we needed to try!" Jerry all but shouted. "That we'd do it together."

The sheep looked down. "I'm sorry. I did say that. I just didn't know any other way. I'm sorry." He looked at the cat. "I miss Buster."

"Yeah, I get that. I miss Mr. Crystal. But if we're going to do this together then you need to be trying too!" Jerry said.

"Jerry, what are you doing here?" Rosita asked as she and Norman came in with the doctor.

Eddie shook his head. "He was just saying hi and reminding me of a promise I made him." He explained.

She hugged him. "As long as he wasn't bothering you, sweetie. We need to go back to the waiting room while they move you but we'll all be up as soon as we get the new room number." She promised.

AN: Alright I'm exhausted. I'm going to split the hospital stay into a few parts I think. Next part, the others get to see Eddie.

Question: Eddie's love interest (comment)

Jerry

Darius

Someone else (make suggestion and tell me why you think he would be a good match for Eddie)