A Path Through the Woods(A RiaEgg Story)

CHAPTER 9: "Our Fears Have Been Confirmed."

"We understand. How long do you think it'll be until he's ready to come back?"

"Hrmm...Probably a while. Maybe a month or more until he can start playing normally again, and that's if everything goes smoothly."

Ria paused before continuing.

"There's...not even a guarantee that he'll survive."

"Oh...That is bad," MrEgg's employer replied. "Well, in the mean time, we'll just keep the guest musicians coming in; we have at least five scheduled to play over the next week...This place isn't the same without him, though."

"A lot of things won't be the same..." Ria sighed. "...I'll keep you updated on his condition though, alright?"

"Yes, thank you, Ms. Ria. We're hoping the best for him."

"So am I."

*beep beep beep*

"Oh, I've got another call coming in. Might be the hospital," Ria informed him. "I'll tell you if anything happens"

"Goodbye, and good luck."

Click...

She ended the call with the manager and answered the incoming one.

"Hello?"

"Crewmate Regional Medical Center. Is this Ria?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing this is about MrEgg?"

"Yes, ma'am. Dr. Doktor wants to see you in his office as soon as possible. It's urgent."

Ria felt her heart skip a beat...She could already sense that whatever Dr. Doktor was going to tell her, it wasn't going to be good.

"...I'll start heading over right now," she told the receptionist. "Thank you."

Click...

She made her way back outside and over to her bright lime coup, her heart starting to beat faster...She had a feeling she already knew what kind of news the doctor was going to break to her.

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...

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"It's me, Ria. I came as soon as I got the call."

"Excellent. We'll get Dr. Doktor in for you."

The receptionist called the black, masked crewmate to the front desk to meet Ria, and it only took about three minutes for him to arrive.

"Ria..." he addressed once he saw her in the waiting room. "Would you follow me to my office, please?"

She nodded and stood up, following the doctor down a different hallway from the one she'd been taking to see MrEgg, and he lead her over to his office, opened the door for her and invited her in, following right behind her as he shut the door.

"...You may want to sit down," he told her solemnly, to which she did...The unsettled look on her face was growing more and more intense with each passing second, and she stared at Dr. Doktor as he sat down across from her in his own chair, each of them looking the other dead in the eye.

"Is...H-he's not..." she stammered, not wanting to believe something like that had happened so quickly. "...Is he...?"

"Dead?"

She gasped, and her hands rose up to her mouth...She could feel a scream bubbling up in the back of her throat, but before she could wail in agony, the doctor continued to speak.