A few hours after falling asleep in his bed with Loona, the sick little Balin slowly woke up feeling more groggy and blurry than he was this morning.

He soon regained his vision to see that Loona was no longer snuggling beside him.

"Loona?" he quietly called out with his scratchy voice.

All that responded though was the sound of crickets and a few car crashes from afar, outside the apartment.

He then noticed himself twiddling his thumbs and sensed his own boredom, just lying in bed, sick as a dog. Or rather, a hellhound.

Maybe... he had...

*ALASTOR-STYLE STATIC*

Nah, he couldn't contract that. That's impossible! ...Isn't it?

BACK TO THE STORY!

If video games weren't gonna do him good, and he wanted some quiet from his closet TV for a while, he soon decided to play a quiet game. Using his imagination, he looked around the room and played a little 'I Spy.'

"Hmm... I spy, with my little eye..." pondered Balin, looking around his room before spotting his first item. "Ugh... my slobber towel."

Sighing in sadness, Balin pointed to his personal towel on his bedside table, used for and covered in his alarm clock's and/or Loona's slobber whenever both would lick his face to wake him up.

"I spy... with my little eye..." he sighed out loud to himself again, continuing to look around his bedroom before finding a concerned Loona at his doorstep. "L-Loona?"

"Is everything okay, kiddo?" she asked walking up to him slowly. "I heard you call out to me."

"No, I just... wanted to see where you were." he replied, sniffling a little and wiping his nose with a tissue.

"Ya know, it is a good sick game, but 'I Spy' ain't exactly the best one to play in bed." Loona smirked, stroking the little boy's hair.

"No, it isn't, is it?" snickered Balin. "I learnt that on an episode of Family Feud."

...

FLASHBACK:

One night a couple of years ago, Balin and his mom and dad were sitting on the couch of their old home watching some Family Feud on their TV.

HOST: "We surveyed a hundred people and the top 5 answers are on the board. Name a game you can play in bed. *Contestant's Buzzer* "Steve!"

PLAYER (STEVE): "I Spy!"

HOST: "I Sp-" *TV Audience Laughs* "I SPY?!"

Elton, Raven, and their 4-and-a-half year old Balin were also laughing, having understood that funny answer.

FLASHBACK ENDS

...

"Heh. I see." chuckled Loona, after Balin told his story. "But it's okay if you were just checking on me. So sweet of you. Unless... you wanted to keep on snuggling. Didn't you?"

"Uhh..." stuttered Balin as Loona teased him with a smug little grin over her muzzle.

"Sorry bud, I on the other hand gotta keep on cleaning this apartment." she giggled. "Make it shinier than Blitzø's stinky one."

"BLEGH!" the two pretended to fake gag then giggled, while Balin nearly had a gag reflux for real.

"But don't you worry." continued Loona. "I invited some friends over to keep you company whilst I do all the boring work."

"Oh. You didn't have to, Loona." Balin modestly coughed. "I don't want to get them sick too."

"Hey. It's like I said before. A lot of demons don't get sick from humans." the hound reassured him.

"Oh yeah." said Balin in memory. "But then again, I thought you said some humans make you so sick, you want to puke out your tummy."

"That's only what I think about the bad ones on Earth." laughed Loona. "Although, even if we did get your sicknesses, it'd be just like a normal common cold."

"If you say so."

Soon, the doorbell rung and Loona playfully perked up her right ear.

"Oh, that must be them now." she said, before calling out to them. "C'mon in, guys!"

"Uhh, Loona?" a voice said from out the door. It sounded like Tex. "We can't! You have the key!"

"Oh, shit. Duh." she whispered to herself as she quickly left the boy's room and opened the door. "Just be gentle in there, you three." she whispered from outside as Balin listened.

"No probs." A more feminine voice spoke, sounding like Marijiana's.

Indeed it was Marijiana and Tex, who along with Neptune peered their hellhound heads through the boy's bedroom door.

"Awww. Hi there, you sick baby." Neptune greeted softly, kneeling down to the boy's level. "Ohh..."

"OMS. Look at you." Marijiana added in sorrow, rubbing his burning cheek with her paw. "You look as sick as a dog, mini dude."

"D-Don't tell him that!" Neptune reprimanded.

"No offence." the great pyrenees hound rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"How're you holdin' up, lil' man?" Tex asked, standing next to the door.

Balin then let some more bad coughs into his arm, as if he was nearly coughing up blood.

"...And there's my answer." Tex replied to himself.

Loona just let out a flustered chuckle hearing that.

"I-I'm, I'm sorry." said Balin in his croaky voice.

"Hey, no, no, you don't have to be sorry." Marijiana's assured him. "We've got you."

"Loona? Can we... have some alone time with this poor puppy?" asked Neptune. "Good thing we're undertaking Child Studies in college."

"Please...?" the two hounds said in a unison of puppy eyes.

"Well then, if this child would love the company." Loona then showed a grin from the border collie hound to the little boy, seeing if she could get an answer out of him.

All he could do was nod, trying to see if he could speak without coughing.

"I'll take that as a yes." Neptune cooed. "Here. Make some room, honey."

The two hellhounds got on both sides of the boy's bed, soon cuddling him on the soft mattress underneath his Starry Night blanket.

"I loved your *COUGH!* singing last night, Neptune." the boy looked at her sharp red eyes with his blurry ones. "Can you sing me to me, please?"

"Your wish is my command, honey." Neptune said, happily rubbing his cheek

"You just rest that little smile of yours." added Marijiana, wagging her fluffy tail to fan him with her warmth. "We'll cool you down."

Those words soon brought one smile to Balin's face, slow as a turtle but sweet.

As Marijiana continued fanning him with her tail and Neptune started singing him a lullaby version of Destiny Child's 'Survivor', Loona and Tex decided to let them rest. So they grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge, one alcoholic and one root-beer, and sat at the couch to watch a Hellish reality show called 'Envy Shore.'

Loona couldn't help but look back and forth from the TV to Balin's room, time and time again, like a concerned dog.

"You OK, girl?" asked Tex in a whisper, noticing one time she looked.

Loona then looked back at him with a nervous blush on her cheek. A look that told her she couldn't lie about her feelings this time.

"O-Only a little." she whispered back. "Can I be honest with you, Tex? F-For once in my life, I-I've never... worried, before."

"Yeah. It's understandable, girl. You do seem to like the kid." smiled Tex softly as he drank. "I mean, I was as worried as you when I heard the sad news from V's office."

"From V's-?" Loona then looked at her hellhound dream-partner and threw a pillow at him playfully. "Tex!"

"What? She hired a hellhound as her bodyguard." he laughed back. "What else would she have hired? An even buffer looking hell-CAT?"

"I'll pay to see that day." scoffed Loona with her grin.

"But seriously, Loo. For 7-years-old... I think that little dude's strong." Tex soon spoke with more sincerity. "I know he can get through this."

"Stronger than... me?" asked Loona with one more look of concern.

"Maybe even me." he replied.

With that, the two continued watching their 'Envy Shore' as Tex wrapped his arm around Loona's shoulder, making her cheeks underneath her fur red and the tip of her tail wag.

THE NEXT DAY...

Balin's sickness grew a little more concerning, as he was now sleeping on his side groaning while his insides were churning in his tummy.

Loona sat by his side, until she heard the door being knocked and went over to see it was M&M, holding some get well gifts; including a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Judging by her baggy eyes, Millie must've spent all of last night learning how to bake them.

"Christ-on-a-stick, what happened to the old lady." she teased.

"A fate better than you calling me Fatty." replied Moxxie with an eye-roll. "How's the sport feeling right now?"

Hearing that name, Millie then popped out of her insomnia like magic, her eyes turning back to normal.

"Uhh, well, while he'd appreciate the gifts, he's feeling a bit worse." Loona said.

"Worse? Awww, that's sad." Whilst Millie's heart sank, her energy grew a little more. "Where is the sick darling?"

"In his room, but I don't think that's a good-"

"Balin? It's Aunty Millie!" she yodelled out to him, peaking into his room.

Once she went inside, she gave him a gentle hug along the shoulders. Even as gentle as she was, it was still rough enough to make Balin's gurgling go up to his chest, as the blanket fell down to reveal a vomit bag next to him.

"Uh-oh." Millie whispered.

"...Idea." Loona and Moxxie finished her sentence together, before Loona continued speaking. "He recently got the stomach bug part."

"U-U-U-Uh-oh!" the boy gasped as his neck started swelling.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Millie picked up the boy in her strong arms and ran straight past the two. "You can kick your paw-pad up my ass, Loona!" she then exclaimed to the hellhound.

Soon, Millie rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

"It hurts, Aunty Mill- BLEEEEGGGGHHHH!" the boy started projectile vomiting into the toilet bowl.

"I know, honey." the tomboy imp consoled him, gently holding his head as he puked. "That's it, let it all out."

Hearing this outside the bathroom with her sensitive hearing made Loona more worried than ever, while Moxxie just sat on the couch, eating a cookie and watching TV to pass the time. ...Rather awkwardly.

A few moments later...

Minutes after the drama, Millie grabbed a small cloth from the cabinet, licked it a little, and wiped a spittle of vomit from Balin's upper-lip.

"There we go, donut-hole." she smiled.

As she cleaned him, Millie didn't notice for a second that Balin's face was now as pale as a vampire's.

She then walked him out of the bathroom to see Stolas and Via with some get-well-soon gifts of their own, even a bouquet of rare flowers from Stolas' garden.

"Dear goodness, little one." exclaimed Stolas. "What pray-tell are you doing out of bed? Especially like this?"

"Come on, darling." Via picked him up. "Let's get you tucked back into bed."

"Hang on, princess!" Loona stopped her. "Especially like... what?"

Loona then walked over to Via as she showed her Balin's pale face and skin, making her gasp and snatch him from her arms.

"Balin, are you okay? What happened?!" she asked in a panic, as he groaned. "Here. Let me feel your temp again."

She then pressed two fingers against his forehead again, and they both sizzled to the temperature.

"Gah! FUCK!" she hissed in pain. "OK, you take him, princess. I'm calling the hospital."

"I'll drive you to the Sloth one in the van!" called Millie as she ran out of her apartment.

As Loona went into her phone to call the number for Hell's 911, Via then took Balin to the couch and sat down, cradling him like her baby as he began shaking and shivering.

"Shhhhh. You're okay. Just slow down and breathe." she soothed the boy, gently stroking his still-sore chest from the puke-fest. "All the bad stuff in your tummy must be gone by now."

Little did Via know, that wasn't what Balin was shaking and shivering about. He heard Loona mention the word 'hospital', which made him tense up a little after that.

IN THE SLOTH RING...

Millie dropped Loona off at St. An's Hospital in the Sloth Ring, where she booked for Balin's last-minute appointment.

...And where she and Blitzø shared the same fucked-up moment together.

Carrying Balin into the hospital, Loona quickly signed the papers ...for 10 minutes, due to the reception... and before she knew it, the two were sitting in the doctor's office waiting for him to arrive.

As they waited, Loona played on her phone until she felt the sick AND nervous Balin clinging to her leg.

It was almost like he didn't want to be there. Which was odd, because being the resident kid he was, he was never nervous. But today, he knew these nerves were for good reason.

"You okay, kid?" she asked, lifting him onto her thighs.

"Yeah. I'm still sick and sore, but I'm fine." replied Balin, as Loona rubbed his back. "It's just... normally, I'm okay with going to the doctor, but why am I so-?"

"Afraid, all of a sudden?" Loona finished him, as the boy nodded and whimpered. "Well, sounds like we're 'bout to find out."

Soon, Doctor Goldstein waltzed into the office, wearing a country club outfit over his medicine coat. He had a goatee, a lit candle for hair, and was literally a goat.

...No matter how great he said he was.

"I swear to Satan, if I get demoted to a 3-day-access on that public goosegrass-ridden course, I will have 'Infused God' for breakfast and throw an UnHappy Meal at a child!" he complained to himself out loud.

Taking his seat, he then breathed himself into a cheerful face.

"Welcome Toona. Oh, sorry, Loona."

Saying that name, and remembering his experience with her, the doctor then put his unamused face back on.

"Oh. Fuck. It's you." he sniffed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I said I was sorry for the last time I was here with- AND I'm lucky I wasn't barred that time." apologised Loona pathetically. "Great! Because I really need your help with this kid."

"Let me guess. Does it need its shot next?"

"What? No, it's- HE'S already sick!" she exclaimed. "Can't you just look at him?"

"I would, but why should he need medical attention here?" the doctor then protested looking at the kid. "That's- That's a human! It's like that re-ally can't say that word anymore should've booked for 5 MORE years or something, when I wasn't getting a hole-in-one with a heat-seeking golf ball."

Angrily growling, Loona then pulled the goat doctor close to her muzzle.

"Listen good, asshole!" she seethed. "I said I was sorry and that I mended my ways in coming back here. But you're lucky now that I'm not as pissed off all the time because of him. So you WILL check up on my little friend and you WILL drop this smart-ass attitude you have on me! I'm still as tough and am not afraid to have another word for 'lamb' for dinner."

"Okay, okay. I-I apologise, Miss." Goldstein gave in. "We'll just get started, right away."

Having nodded with a whiff, Loona gently put the doctor on his spinning chair as he moved in front of Balin.

"Alright, son. Say 'AHH...'"

With that, Balin hesitantly opened his mouth as the doctor put a paddle pop stick onto his tongue, checking its temperature. Afterwards, it was so hard to get off, as if it was now sticky or covered in little barbs.

"Huh. Fascinating..." Goldstein said to himself.

He continued observing him, from looking into his puffy eyes and in his ears with a microscope to feeling his forehead and cheeks underneath his wolf-fur jacket.

After a few minutes of examining...

"So...?" Loona asked with her unamused expression, and a little worry.

"I think this little friend of yours has contracted CLV." said the doctor.

"CLV?" Loona tilted her head in confusion, before gasping at what he meant. "Canis Lupus Virus?"

"If it makes you feel better, lots call it Hellhound Fever." the gopat added.

"I know what it means, dipshit!" barked Loona. "It's just, how can a human-?"

"Don't worry, Ms. Loona." he assured her. "I'm sure it's some kind of cold his species have back on Earth."

"His species?" Loona looked at him, feeling offended on Balin's behalf. "I'll have you know, I thought this was a cold that 'his species' have as well! But does THIS look like a species of human colds to you?!"

Loona then took off Balin's hood to reveal his white-coloured face, putting a surprised look on the doctor's face.

"Well now. Th-This does look, rather serious." he said. "Pale skin IS another symptom in a human's case, so, I'll prep him up for X-ray right away."

"X-ray?" Balin then spoke up a bit, suddenly feeling scared. "Loona? What is an X-ray?"

"It's a machine where we look through your body for any sign of injury or sickness." the doctor explained. "Sadly, we only look at one particular part when we're told to. I'll be right back."

As the goat doctor left his office, Balin clung onto Loona so hard, he then said: "I know- I know I'm sick, Loona. But I... I-" he then buried his face into her furry belly. "I don't want to go to the X-ray!"

"Hey, c'mon, I know." she frowned with a little care. "These demons are just gonna scan your... hellhound fever. It IS like a normal doctor's appointment, kiddo."

"Please, don't let them-" the boy cried. "Please! Don't let them take me, mommy!"

Loona's heart then stopped racing again, just as it did his first night in Hell when he last called her that. Time had slowed down for her as the little boy's words ran on repeat in her head, like a bell with a distinctive speaking voice. Even one with a sore throat.

"Mommy." he whispered and sobbed into her chest once again, confirming her ears. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Seeing how delirious he became, Loona's eyes started watering a little. But she was calm enough to make a decision on how to soothe him. She now knew exactly what she was doing.

"Balin? Sweetie?" she began speaking in her most maternal voice, rubbing his back and showing a smile, making him open his eyes and look up at her. "Baby? I know you're scared. But mommy needs you to be brave for her. The doctors want to help you feel better. Just like Mr. Blitzø, Uncle Moxx and Aunty Millie, Stolas, Via, Neptune and Marijiana, Tex, and lots of your other friends."

"Even you, mommy?" whispered Balin as he rubbed her cheek.

The hellhound took out a bottle of water with one paw and opened the cap with one of her fangs. "Here. Have some water for me. Will that make you brave for me?"

Balin slowly nodded to her.

"Good. I already opened it for you. There you go, darling." she spoke softly again, putting the bottle in his mouth as he began drinking it like a baby.

The doctor returned to the office with a gurney and three other doctors, who all stopped and witnessed the affectionate sight.

Balin soon finished the bottle, feeling only a little better. But the first thing he saw after wiping his tears, was Loona's smile as her tail swished left to right like an angel from Heaven. A good one.

"So. Are you feeling okay now, Balin?" she asked him in her motherly tone again.

"Will I be okay with the doctors?" asked Balin back.

"Every step of the way, sweetheart.' replied Loona.

A couple of the nurses started crying at the scene, blowing their noses into their surgery masks, while the goat doctor was just lost for words at this relationship.

"Okay, mommy." Balin then loosened his grip on Loona's waist, as she softly placed him onto the gurney. "I'll see you soon."

"There's my big brave human boy." she said in her normal voice again, but still in a motherly tone as she kissed each cheek. "Now go feel better for mom, okay?"

"Bye, mommy!" waved Balin as the doctors pushed the gurney to X-ray room.

"I... I-I, I love you. B-Balin." stuttered Loona, as one of the nurses stayed behind and escorted her to the waiting bay.

...

30 MINUTES LATER...

Loona was in the waiting bay playing on her phone a bit, but still looking back and forth for Balin, until the goat doctor came out.

"Mrs. Loona?"

The hound's phone time ground to a halt as she stood up and speed-walked all the way over.

"Yes, doc? Is he okay?"

"Well, you were right about your worries." he explained. "But the X-ray proved successful. For a human, this is obviously a first. But he appeared to have a raspy tongue, delusions, throat spasms, stomach-lining inflammation, and... it appears in his bloodstream was mixed with a little DNA from... hellhound saliva?"

Loona then gasped having heard that symptom, thinking it must've been her or at least another hound's fault. But she didn't worry about that a bit for now.

"He's gonna be okay though, right?" she asked him further.

"You'll be happy to hear his rapid fever is now cooling down." the doctor replied again. "He should be normal white again shortly."

"Oh, thank fucking Satan." Loona sighed in the most relief she ever had. "C-Can I see him?"

"He's just resting now. But you can see him when we discharge him as soon as he awakes." he said.

"Well... it ain't easy for me to say. But..." Loona then showed the doctor what she wouldn't normally show anyone else quickly. A smile to him. "Thanks. Again."

"...Anytime, I guess, ma'am." replied the doctor a little awkwardly. "We'll let you know when he's awake."

Loona then sat back down in her waiting seat as the goat walked back into the emergency room.

A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.