With breakfast out of the way, or back in its cage, as the case might well have been, Scooter rounded up the usual suspects to talk over that night’s show, and to debate which female pig would be doing the singing.
“Well, you’ve actually talked to her since the accident,” the gofer was arguing, “is she up to it? I don’t want her fainting on stage.”
“I don’t think she’s feeling very well,” Fozzie responded hesitantly.
“But we didn’t talk to her this morning,” Gonzo felt strongly that Piggy would want to do the show. “Only Rizzo did, and she did walk all the way back here. She must be at least a little better.”
“A walk she probably shouldn’t have taken. Oh, we shoulda been there for her earlier.” The bear pulled at his tie in dismay.
“We had no way of knowing she was gonna take off on her own, Fozzie. This is Miss Piggy we’re talking about. She should do the show; she’ll want to do the show.”
“There will be other shows, probably, and her health is more important. That’s what Kermit would say.”
“He’s not here, and I don’t think Piggy will see it that way. Besides, who’s going to tell her she’s not going on? You, Scooter? She hasn’t forgotten her karate, I’ll tell you that.”
In the end, Rowlf settled the matter rather handily by suggesting they actually ask Piggy what she wanted to do.
Gonzo tapped lightly on her door while Scooter waited close behind, anxious to get a good look at the resident porcine diva. There was no answer at first so he knocked more firmly. “Miss Piggy? We need to ask you something. Are you awake?”
“Um, yes. What is it?” The blonde did not open the door, though Gonzo could tell she was standing right on the other side.
“It’s about the show tonight. Could- could we come in? Or could you open the door?”
“Oh, right, the show.” Piggy opened the door just wide enough to poke her head out. “I- I don’t think I’ll be performing tonight. Moi needs to rest, and recover… yes. I won’t be doing it.”
Gonzo frowned at her in dismay. “But- Are you sure? That’s really what you want?”
“Why don’t you get Amy Lu to do it? The little homewrecker- uh, that lovely young girl could use the practice.”
Scooter nodded, visibly relieved. “Great! We’ve already got Annie Sue going over everything just in case.”
Piggy pursed her lips in annoyance, “Well! Isn’t that just perfect then? You are wonderfully efficient, Scooter; you never waste a moment on such things, do you?”
He looked uneasily at Gonzo, who did his best to convey ‘I told you so,’ short of screaming it into a bullhorn. “Uh-“
“Moi needs to rest now. Good day.” Without wasting another moment on them, Piggy withdrew her head and shut the door quietly.
After a beat, Scooter made a little note on his clipboard, commenting cheerfully, “That went better than it could have.”
“That went better than it should have.” Gonzo said unhappily. “I don’t like this, not at all.”
Scooter lowered his clipboard and pulled him away from her door. “Look, I know you feel badly about this, Gonzo, we all know. You’ve been moping all morning, but it’s going to be fine. Yesterday was a bad day, but things will get better, you’ll see.”
He looked straight into Scooter’s bespectacled eyes and saw his own naked fear reflected there. “I could have- I could have killed her, Scooter. That’s not-“
