(Original DA Post: April 1, 2017)

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“Excuse me, Mr. Blaze?” The Blissey nurse walked up to Blaze, who was starting to doze off in his chair after hours of tiring himself out from worrying.

“Oh! Uh, yes?” He jumped at the nurse’s voice. Crus and Slash snapped to attention as well.

“The doctors have said that you’ll be able to go in to see Incinerate in just a few minutes.” She kindly said. Blaze, Crus and Slash’s faces all lit up.

A few moments later, Froaker came running in the door. He pushed Slash aside and grabbed onto Crus.

“Where is he??” He asked hysterically.

“The nurse just said we’d be able to go in in a few minutes. Maybe you should sit down or something.” Crus said to his brother, trying to sit him in a seat. Froaker was shaking and staring wide eyed at Crus waiting for an answer. Froaker finally calmed down a bit after a second and took a breath.

“Have they said if he’s ok?”

“They didn’t say he wasn’t ok…” Slash pointed out, to which Froaker gave him an angry look.

The nurse came back over to them, “You all may come into Incinerate’s room now. Please follow me.”

They all get up and follow the Blissey into a hallway. They eventually arrive at a door on the right side of the hallway. The nurse opened the door and let the four of them enter, closing the door behind them, staying out in the hallway. The room was fairly large for a single patient room. Incinerate was laying in the bed, still asleep. The left side of his head was bandaged up, covering his left eye. They walked over to his bed and looked at him sleeping. Froaker sighed.

After about a minute, a Sceptile entered the room wearing a white coat.

“You must be Incinerate’s family. Hi, I’m Drieza, Incinerate’s doctor.” She held out her hand to Froaker and the two shook hands.

“Hi. Uh, so, is he okay?” He asked

“Yes, he will be fine. He may have headaches for a while and he may have pain where his eye was, but other than that he will be perfectly fine.” She explained.

“Thank you so much.” Froaker said. He looked over at his sleeping son. The whole situation was so surreal, he felt like he was dreaming and would just wake up like nothing happened at all.

“I’ll let you all be alone with him for a bit before he wakes up. When he does wake up, he may still be a little dizzy from the medication, and he’ll likely be confused about where he is.” Drieza explained. She then exited the room, leaving the family alone with Incinerate.

Froaker sighed as he sat in the chair next to the bed. He looked at Incinerate without saying anything.

“You okay?” Slash asked.

“Yeah, it’s just...weird seeing him like this. Aw man, I don’t want him to wake up and be in pain.” Froaker put his hand over his face.

“She said he’ll be loopy when he wakes up, I’m sure he won’t feel it, at least not right away.” Slash assured him.

Froaker groaned in response then shook his head. “Wait, so...how exactly did this happen?” He looked over at the rest of the group.

“Uh…” Blaze tapped his finger tips together and looked away. He sighed and looked back at Froaker. “Well, on the way home from school, he was really mad about something. Then when we got home, he went into one of the cabinets and pulled out some drink and downed the entire thing until he was really drunk.”

“What cabinet did he get it from?” Froaker asked.

“The one over the fridge.” Blaze replied.

“Knew I should’ve put that somewhere else.” Froaker said.

“Was that supposed to be a hiding spot?” Slash asked. “He’s not a baby.”

“Whatever, he’s fuckin like, 3 feet tall or whatever I didn’t think he could get up there that easily!” Froaker snapped back.

“...Sorry?” Slash said, holding his claws up to his chest and stepped back a little bit.

Froaker sighed, “It’s just been a long day, I’m sorry.” He put his hand over his face and leaned on the armrest of the chair.

“C’mon dude, let’s go find you something to eat or drink.” Slash said.

“What if he wakes up while I’m not here?” Froaker asked, sounding a little scared.

“Don’t worry man, there’s probably a vending machine around somewhere.” He patted Froaker on the back.

Froaker sighed, “Alright.” He got up and followed Slash out the door but looked back at Crus, “If he wakes up, text me.”

“Will do.”

Slash and Froaker left the room and walked down the hall, looking for a vending machine.

“Oh, by the way, what happened with the cop?” Slash asked as the walked.

“I just had a tail light out or whatever. The dude gave me his number to call if I needed help changing it.”

“Ooh.” Slash nudged Froaker with his elbow.

“Shut up.” Froaker said, annoyed.

“Oh come on, what’d he look like.”

“He was an Arcanine. There. Happy?” Froaker said.

“Were you?” Slash smiled.

Froaker looked at him, blushed a little, then looked forward again. “Not interested.”

“Okaaaay.” Slash said.

“Look, I’m just trying to wrap my head around everything that’s going on right now.”

“Alright, alright. It’s just been a long time since you’ve been with someone. Last one I remember was that girl when you were in college.”

“I chose to not date anyone when the kids were born. It’s not like I’ve been trying.” Froaker clarified.

“Well then, maybe if you call him you’ll make a friend.” Slash suggested.

“There’s one. You’re buying it.” Froaker said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, I know.” Slash said.

The door to the room opened and Froaker and Slash entered. They were holding bottles of water and other drinks.

“Here.” Froaker handed Blaze and Crus each a drink and he opened his and took a sip.

“Thanks.” Crus said as he opened the drink. “You okay?”

“Yes.” Froaker said, still just looking at Incinerate.

Crus leaned over to Slash, “What happened while you guys were out there?”

“He’s just...thinking about a lot.” Slash whispered back. He looked over at his brother who was still just watching Incinerate sleep.

Crus put his hand on Froaker’s back, “They said he’s gonna be fine, dude.”

Froaker sighed, “I know. I just want him to wake up so I know he’s okay.”

A few hours passed by of just sitting around waiting for Incinerate to wake up. Froaker loosened up a bit after a while and the four of them were just talking for a while.

“Hey, what time is it?” Blaze asked.

Crus looked at his phone, “Almost 12:30.”

“Oh man, I didn’t think it was that late.” Blaze said.

“Maybe you guys should go home and get some sleep.” Froaker said.

“I think we should. We all have to get up early.” Crus said.

“Alright. I’m gonna stay here in case he wakes up.” Froaker said as he yawned.

“Are you sure, man? I mean, he might not wake up until the morning.” Crus said.

“Well I don’t want him to be alone here when he does wake up.”

Crus looked at him and sighed, “Just don’t force yourself to stay up all night. I’m sure if he wakes up he’ll wake you up.”

“Mhm.” Froaker mumbled as his eyelids lowered a little. Crus, Slash and Blaze exited the room and went back home. Froaker kept watching Incinerate for when his eyes would open, but he noticed that his were beginning to close on him. He decided to play around on his phone to try and keep himself awake.

Another hour or so passed since Froaker was left alone with Incinerate, at least that’s what he thought until he actually looked at the time on his phone.

“3 a.m.” He said to himself. He groaned a little and rubbed his eyes and tried to get more comfortable in the chair. After a few minutes, he heard something move. He jumped awake and noticed that Incinerate had moved a bit. He looked up over the bed so he could see Incinerate’s face from where we was sitting. Another few seconds passed before Incinerate slowly opened his eye. Froaker stood up and walked over to the bed before Incinerate could fully wake up. Incinerate’s eye opened completely, but he then squinted again as he tried to focus on what was in front of him.

“Froaker?” He said, his throat a bit scratchy.

“Hey buddy.” Froaker responded. Incinerate reached over to his left as if he was grabbing his glasses off of his night stand but was a bit surprised when there was nothing next to his bed. He looked back at Froaker and squinted again. He put his hand forward and put his palm on Froaker’s face but pulled it away.

“Oh, you’re right there.” He said. “You look like a blurry blob.”

“Oh, I guess they took your contact out.” Froaker said.

“What?” Incinerate asked. “Wait, why are you in here?”

“...You don’t remember?” Froaker asked.

“Remember what? Yesterday after school is kind of a blur to me.”

“Oh boy, um…” Froaker thought about how to explain what happened. “Okay, um, you’re in the hospital right now.”

“Um...what? What, what happened?” Incinerate sounded nervous.

Froaker sighed, “It’s a long story. I’ll have Blaze explain everything to you tomorrow. But, uh, just to summarize...they had to remove your eye.”

Incinerate’s eye widened and and he moved his hand up to his face where the bandages were, “It feels like half of my face is gone.” He said as he rubbed the left side of his face.

“Yeah, you’re gonna feel numb for a while.” Froaker said. “Besides that, though, how are you feeling?”

“Confused.” Incinerate answered. “And kinda scared. I really don’t have my eye? Why don’t they just replace it?”

“I don’t know if they can do that, bud.” Froaker told him.

“So what, I just walk around with an empty socket?”

“No, you’ll wear an eyepatch”

“Great.” Incinerate put his palm on his head. “As if the blue flame wasn’t enough for people to question and make fun of.”

“Well, maybe they’ll be scared of you or something. Like, they won’t wanna mess with you or something.” Froaker tried to cheer him up, even though he knew it wasn’t true.

“You don’t know the people at my school.” Incinerate said.

Froaker sighed, “If they’re anything like the ones I went to school with, then I have some idea.”

“That stupid...dumb Tokage is the worst.” Incinerate folded his arms and looked away, but his expression changed from angry to nervous. “Tokage’s just...stupid.”

“Oh, that’s where I know her from.” Froaker said.

Incinerate looked at him confused, “What?”

“Your nurse, I knew I knew her from somewhere. It’s his mom.” Froaker clarified.

“She is? I’ve only met her a few times.” Incinerate said.

“Yeah. Sorry I just finally realized it.” Froaker said.

Incinerate sat there for a second and didn’t say anything. He looked down at the bed.

“Hey. Froaker?” He finally spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“Um…” Incinerate started, still not looking at Froaker.

“Everything okay?” Froaker asked.

“Um...y-yeah. Nevermind.”

“What’s wrong, bud? You can talk to me.” Froaker gently rubbed Incinerate’s back to comfort him.

“It’s nothing, seriously.”

“Alright. Well, if you ever need to talk, just come to me.” Froaker said. He wrapped his arm around Incinerate and hugged him from the side.

“I’m really tired.” Incinerate said as he laid his head back on his pillow.

“You’re on a lot of medication, just take it easy. It’s also the middle of the night.” Froaker said. “Why don’t you go back to sleep?”

“Okay. Are you gonna stay here or are you gonna go home?” Incinerate asked, his eyes drooped a bit.

“I’ll stay if you want me to stay.” Incinerate nodded his head before falling back asleep. Froaker smiled and kissed Incinerate’s forehead before going back to the chair and drifting off to sleep himself.

Froaker was woken up by his phone vibrating under him in the chair. He opened his eyes and looked around, the sun shone brightly through the single large window in the room. He smelled maple syrup and saw that Incinerate was already awake and eating food that one of the nurses had likely brought him.

“Hi.” Incinerate said with a mouthful.

“Morning.” Froaker replied. “How long have you been up?”

“A little while. Tokage’s mom came in to give me medicine.” He held up his arm and showed Froaker the thin tube connected to him, the part attached to his arm hidden under a large bandage.

“Oh. How are you feeling?”

“My face hurts. I can’t even chew on that side.” Incinerate said, taking another bite of his food, which looked to be pancakes, from what Froaker could see. “And if I move my head too much I feel dizzy.”

“Wait, so have you even been up to go to the bathroom yet?” Froaker asked.

“I had help walking there. It wasn’t easy cause I got dizzy so easily. I also can’t see still.” Incinerate explained.

“Oh crap, that’s right. Well, at least you’re able to get there and you’re not just stuck in the bed.” Froaker said.

“Yeah, thank god. Oh, your phone went off before.”

“Oh yeah. It’s probably Crus and them. They were here last night.” Froaker said. He picked up his phone from underneath him and checked it. Slash and Crus had both called him. “I’d better call them back. Do you want me to go home and get your glasses?” Froaker asked him.

“Yeah. Check on Makalu too.” Incinerate said.

“Alright. I’ll be back in a little bit. You have a way to contact the nurse in case you need something, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a button that calls them.” Incinerate said.

“Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Froaker said

A little while passed by since Froaker had left and Incinerate finished up with his breakfast. It wasn’t the best food he’d ever had, but he wasn’t known to be picky. Plus, he was starving, so anything would’ve been perfectly fine. He laid in his bed, bored and still pretty tired. He heard a knock on the door. He assumed it was Tokage’s mom coming in to check on him, so he said “Come in.” The door opened and Incinerate saw a green blur, like he expected, but it looked shorter than his nurse.

“Hey man.” Incinerate jumped at the familiar voice. He squinted and tried to focus on the blur.

“Tokage?” He asked.

“Yeah. My mom told me you were in here.” He held his hands behind his back and his head down a bit as he talked to Incinerate. “How are you feeling?”

“In pain.” Incinerate answered.

“Oh.”

Incinerate sniffed the air, “It smells like...Cinnabon.”

“Oh yeah. Here, you like these, right?” Tokage held out a small box. Incinerate moved his hand in front of him, trying to feel what Tokage was handing him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just can’t see. My dad just left a little while ago to get my glasses from home.” He told him.

“Oh, that makes sense. Here, I’ll just put it on your table. It’s a Cinnabon from downstairs.” Tokage put the box on Incinerate’s food table that reached across the bed. Incinerate looked at the box and then back at Tokage.

“You...bought me a Cinnabon?” He felt his face warm up a little bit.

“Yeah. I was just downstairs and...you know, thought I should get one. For you.” He was relieved that Incinerate likely couldn’t see how red his face was right now.

“Oh, well...thanks.” Incinerate said. “Wait, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Yeah but I asked my mom if I could go in later. I uh, had some stuff to take care of.” He lied. “Speaking of which, I really should probably go. I’ll see you later.” He nervously said as he slipped out the door. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it and let out a deep breath. He shook his head and started down the hallway back to the main entrance.

Incinerate looked at his door. His face felt hot and he put his head back on his pillow. He shook his head angrily. “God dammit.” He said to himself.

Froaker entered the house and was greeted by Makalu’s barking. Everyone was out of the house, either at school or work. He opened the back door and let Makalu outside to do his business. He nervously looked into the kitchen, expecting to see the aftermath of what had happened yesterday, but it looked like Crus, Slash and Blaze had cleaned everything up for the most part. Either that or the blood was cleaned up by whoever came and picked Incinerate up in the ambulance.

While he waited for Makalu to be finished, he went upstairs to collect Incinerate’s glasses from his room. He opened the door to his room and saw his glasses sitting right on the night stand next to Incinerate’s bed, like how Incinerate had expected them to be when he woke up. He picked up the glasses and looked down between the bed and the nightstand and saw a white wire.

“So that’s where my charger keeps going.” He unplugged it and walked back downstairs. He tossed the charger into his room and looked out the back door. Makalu was waiting with his front feet against the glass and looked up at Froaker. Froaker opened the door and Makalu ran inside and went straight to his water bowl for a drink.

Once he had what he needed and Makalu was taken care of, he walked back out of the house. He locked the door and then got back into his car and drove off to the hospital. Since it was still fairly early in the morning, traffic was light. Everyone was already at work, which meant Froaker would be able to get back to Incinerate quickly.

Froaker walked into Incinerate’s room and saw him sitting in his bed, eating the Cinnabon.

“I’m back.” He said. Incinerate looked over.

“Hi.” He was still getting the few minutes with Tokage out of his mind.

“Where’d you get that?” Froaker asked.

“Oh, um...Tokage got it for me.”

“Well that was nice of him.” Froaker said.

“Mhm.” Froaker sat on the edge of the bed next to Incinerate and handed him his glasses.

“Alright, something is bothering you.”

“Thanks.” Incinerate took the glasses and put them on, ignoring what Froaker just said.

“Incinerate, if you talk about it you might feel bet-”
“Nothing’s wrong.” Incinerate cut him off.

“Is it something about Tokage?” Froaker asked, trying not to upset Incinerate. Incinerate didn’t respond, he just looked down at his table with a displeased expression.

“I…” He started, “Nothing. It’s nothing, I don’t wanna talk about it.” He took another bite of his Cinnabon.

“Alright. Sorry.” Froaker said, to which he got no response, not even a look.

“Thanks for the glasses.” He said again. “How was Makalu?”

“You’re welcome. And he was fine. He just needed to go outside.”

“He had water and stuff?”

“Yeah, Blaze probably fed him and gave him water last night or before he left this morning.”

“Ugh, I hope rumors aren’t gonna spread at school. That’s just gonna make it more awkward when I go back.”

Froaker rubbed his back. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Blaze isn’t gonna start spreading the word about it.”

“That reminds me, how long am I gonna be in here?” Incinerate asked.

“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to your nurse much.” Froaker told him.

“I’d rather just be home. I’d rather this had never even happened.” Incinerate said as he took another bite of his Cinnabon.

“I know, bud. Does it hurt right now?” Froaker said as he rubbed his son’s back.

“Mhm.” Incinerate nodded with his mouth full. He swallowed before speaking again, “I have a headache. I tried watching TV but the screen hurt my head too much.”

“The nurse said that will go away. Just take it easy for now.” Froaker said.
“Okay.” Incinerate said. He rested his head on Froaker’s shoulder and shut his eye, still with Tokage on his mind, making his headache even worse with confusion.

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Incinerate really loves Cinnabon. Also, hey he's awake now. And Tokage is back. For a little bit, anyway.
I literally did this drawing all in one go. It took a good three or four hours to do, but I think it turned out not too bad. I could've put a bunch of weird hospital things in, but I thought that would take away from the characters a bit, plus I wanted this to go up tonight since I work the next two days at least. And man, It's been a long time since I've drawn Tokage. He's not the easiest to draw, but when he looks right, it's really satisfying.

Alright, that's enough from me. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!