The Day The World Stood Still
By: Cheshyre
Title: The Day the World Stood Still (1/1)
Fandom: LAS
Pairing: None.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't make money off of it. I just use it to make other people happy. Suing me will only get you action figures.
Notes: Part of the "Dad" Universe.
Warnings: May cause eye irritation.
Lenny had come home late, but not that late. He didn't expect the apartment to be so quiet. Dinner was still on the table and the television was still on. He walked down the hall and he peeked into Punky's room. She wasn't there.
Frowning, he moved over to the room he and Squiggy shared and knocked on the door. When he got no answer, he slowly, quietly, opened the door.
Squiggy was sprawled on the floor, face up and unconscious. In a panic, Lenny rushed over to him.
He was still alive, still breathing, but he had a huge knot on his head.
"Squiggy," Lenny said, shaking him slightly and smacking his face. "Squiggy wake up. C'mon, Squig, WAKE UP!"
Squiggy groaned, but didn't open his eyes.
Frantically scrambling to his feet, Lenny ran for the phone and called for help. As he was talking to the operator, the realization hit him that he still hadn't seen Punky. He dropped the phone and ran through the apartment, yelling her name.
Lenny looked under beds and tables and opened every closet.
He finally found her, curled in a ball in the bottom of the closet he and her father shared, in the very room where he was still laying, unconscious.
"Punky," Lenny said quietly, reaching for the little seven-year old. She sobbed loudly and threw herself into Lenny's arms, hugging him tightly and crying into his neck. "Shhh. It's okay. What happened, Punky? What happened?"
"I...don't...know," she said in between sobs. "He went into his room and...and...I heard him yell. And, I ran in here as fast as I could and...and...he was dead!"
She wailed loudly and hugged Lenny tighter.
"No, Punky, no," Lenny said, almost choking from the grip she had on his neck. He stood up with her and hurriedly walked her out of the room. "He ain't dead, Punky. He's just knocked out. He'll be okay."
As he walked back into the living room, he saw the phone still dangling from the cord and picked it up.
"Oh, sorry, operator," Lenny apologized wincing as she yelled at him. "It's just...but...no...yes, I still need the ambulance...but...ya don't under...LADY I THOUGHT MY KID WAS MISSING OKAY?!"
There was silence on the other end of the line before the operator assured him that an ambulance was on its way and he hung up.
Lenny set Punky down.
"I need ya to do something really important, okay?" She nodded. "I need ya to go downstairs and wait for the ambulance and then show them how to get up here, okay?
Punky nodded and Lenny wiped away the remaining tears from her cheeks.
"It'll be okay, Punky," he told her before she ran out of the apartment.
Lenny hurried back into the bedroom and found Squiggy awake.
"Squiggy? Ya okay? What happened?" he asked as he knelt beside him.
Squiggy groaned.
"My leg gave out. I musta hit my head when I fell," he said, struggling to sit up. "Where's Punky?"
"She's fine." Lenny gently pushed Squiggy back to the floor. "Don't get up. The ambulance is coming."
"Ambulance? I don't need to go to the hospital," he said, trying to sit up again. Lenny gave him another firm push and he gave up. Squiggy felt the lump on his head. "My leg feels funny."
"That's because you're touching your head, Squig," Lenny said.
"No, I mean my leg feels funny. It's all...tingly," he said, frowning.
"Well, don't worry," Lenny assured. "The paramedics will fix you up."
An agonizing twenty minutes later, they finally arrived. They worked quickly, checking Squiggy's vitals and putting him on the gurney. As they wheeled him outside, Lenny followed, carrying Punky.
The doctors had been examining Squiggy for over an hour. Lenny was sitting in the waiting room feeling very restless. He'd have been pacing if Punky hadn't fallen asleep in his lap, her head resting on his shoulder.
Finally the doctors let him see Squiggy.
He carried Punky down the hall to Squiggy's room and took a deep breath before going in.
Squiggy was sitting on the edge of the bed putting his shoes on.
"The doctors say I can go home," Squiggy said before Lenny could even open his mouth. "I didn't hurt myself that bad. I got a hard head."
"So, everything's okay?" Lenny asked, readjusting Punky.
"They did a bunch of tests," Squiggy said, getting off the bed. "Told me they couldn't find nothing wrong."
Lenny breathed a sigh of relief.
Two months later, they were once again in the hospital.
Squiggy had been having trouble holding onto things for a couple of days. That morning, right after Punky had left for school, Squiggy's leg gave out again and he collapsed. Lenny rushed him to the hospital.
This time they did even more tests and Lenny was forced to stay in the waiting room even longer. He paced the room so much, he new exactly how many tiles were on the floor.
The doctor looked grim when he came to take Lenny to Squiggy's room. A lump formed in his stomach and quickly rose to his throat. He braced himself for the worst.
Squiggy wasn't putting on his shoes this time. He was still lying in the hospital bed, looking very pale.
"I'm afraid it isn't good news," the doctor said as Lenny sat in a chair next to Squiggy's bed.
Time, life, the whole world suddenly ground to a halt. Lenny gripped the arms of the chair and looked at Squiggy. He was staring at the doctor, wide eyed, bed sheets clinched in his fists.
"Taking into consideration your episode two months ago and the further testing we did today, I'm afraid, Mr. Squiggman, you have multiple sclerosis."
Lenny and Squiggy just stared dumbly at the doctor before Squiggy finally spoke up.
"Well, what's that?"
"It's a disease that effects the nervous system. It damages it. That's why you've been having trouble holding onto things, walking, why your leg gives out."
"Oh. So, how do I fix it?" Squiggy asked. "Ya gotta pill or something for it?"
The doctor sighed.
"I'm afraid, Mr. Squiggman, there is no cure for it."
Squiggy's jaw dropped.
"You mean I'm gonna die?"
"Eventually, yes." The doctor chuckled. "Of course, I can say the same for your friend here. MS is rarely fatal. It usually doesn't affect a person's life span. However, I can tell you that your quality of life will be affected. MS comes on in attacks, or relapses as we call them. The symptoms, like what you've been having lately, usually start out mild. You can go weeks or months, sometimes even years between attacks. However, over time, as more damage is done, the attacks become more and more frequent and more and more severe. Recovery from attacks reduces and symptoms will linger afterwards. Many people become disabled and end up in a wheel chair over time."
Lenny and Squiggy just looked at each other. Lenny, though still upset, was somewhat relieved that his best friend wouldn't be dying anytime soon. The look on Squiggy's face quickly changed from terrified to solemn.
"So, now what do I do?" he asked quietly.
"Well, we're going to start you on some medication. It should help reduce the damage the attacks do and it will also help ease the symptoms during them and hopefully reduce the frequency of the attacks. And, I'll give you a list of things you can do during the relapses and remissions to help. In the meantime, I'd like you to stay overnight for observation."
Squiggy nodded silently and the doctor left the room.
"Squiggy, don't worry," Lenny immediately reassured. "I'll go home and pick up Punky and bring her back. It'll be alright."
Squiggy shook his head.
"I don't want her comin' here and seein' me like this. Just go home and stay with her. I'll call you tomorrow when they let me out."
"But, Squiggy-"
"Len, I really want to be alone right now."
Lenny opened his mouth to protest, but instead just nodded and left.
The next day, Squiggy called Lenny to come pick him up.
It had been a rough night for both Lenny and Punky. She'd done a lot of crying and had refused to go to school the next morning, but Lenny made her, assuring her that Squiggy would be home by the time she got back and everything would be okay.
Squiggy was fairly quiet from the time Lenny picked him up until Punky got home from school. After much hugging, Squiggy sat Punky down and he and Lenny explained what was going on.
Punky listened intently, asking questions now and then. When they had finished, she sat in deep thought for a moment before speaking up.
"Maybe we should put cushions on everything so you don't hurt yourself falling down anymore."
Squiggy smiled and Lenny chuckled.
After dinner, Lenny went to bed fairly early, the past two days having exhausted him, while Squiggy stayed up to help Punky with her homework. Lenny woke up sometime after one and looked across the room. Squiggy's bed was empty.
He got up and crept into the living room. The television was still on. Squiggy sat on the couch. Punky was sprawled out next to him, her head in his lap, sleeping soundly and he was idly stroking her hair as he stared blankly at the test pattern on the screen.
"Hey, Squig," Lenny said quietly, sitting down on the little bit of space on the couch not taken up by Punky's legs. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Thinkin'," Squiggy replied.
"Oh yeah? 'Bout what?" Lenny said, wincing slightly as Punky kicked him in her sleep.
"'Bout how I'm supposed to raise my kid when I'm sick," Squiggy said. "How am I supposed to take care of her and do things with her if I'm falling over half the time? How am I supposed to take care of her if I'm in a wheel chair, huh? Ain't it bad enough she ain't got no mother? Now she has to have a sick dad, too."
"You heard what the doctor said, Squiggy," Lenny said, attempting to console his best friend. "It'll be a long time before you even have to think about a wheel chair. By then, Punky will be grown and be able to take care of herself. And, you won't be sick all the time. He said you can go years without an attack."
"But, what happens when I am sick, Len? Who takes care of her, huh?" His voice was quiet, but filled with anger. "How am I supposed to get her ready for school and make her lunches and stuff when I'm falling all over the place and can't hold onto nothin'?"
"I can do that," Lenny said softly.
"But, you ain't gonna be here forever, Lenny," Squiggy replied. "You got a life of your own, ya know? You can't spend it all taking care of me and my kid. That's not your job."
"Well, I kinda thought I would be around forever," Lenny said. "I've helped out with Punky this far, I figured I'd stay for the whole thing. Besides..." he paused. "You're my best friend, Squig. I'm not gonna run out on ya. Not when ya need me."
Squiggy looked at Lenny for a long moment.
"Ya sure you wanna stick around for this?" he asked.
"Absolutely positive," Lenny said with a nod.
"Okay."
Squiggy stuck out his hand and Lenny shook it, sealing the deal.
"Let's get the kid to bed."
Lenny picked up Punky and carried her limp body down the hall to her bedroom, while Squiggy walked slowly, carefully, sadly after them.
Three Women
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