A Hard Landing

Rosita shoved Buster onto the catwalk before spinning off into the air again, and Buster hit the ground hard. In slow motion he watched his left arm extend reflexively to stop his fall, and he gasped when it bent unnaturally.

Time caught up to the koala and he rolled to a stop. Pain exploded in his body all at once, and he gasped for air. His left arm was a blaze of agony all the way up to the shoulder, and other aching spots on his body indicated further injuries. Buster's arm was probably his worst spot, and trying to move his fingers made his vision go white- definitely broken.

Buster coughed and tried to stand, wobbling and wheezing with tears in his eyes but eventually making it to his feet. He reached into his right pocket to call Ms. Crawley, then remembered that Jimmy Crystal had smashed it. Johnny's act was over, maybe he could ask him for a ride to the hospital instead. Buster considered this for a moment, but then his heart sank.

Rosita had saved Buster's life by tossing him onto the catwalk and stopping him from falling all the way to the stage. But if she knew that her quick rescue had hurt him, she would blame herself. Buster could already hear her tearful apologies, and it broke his heart. None of this was her fault in any way, but of course she wouldn't feel the same.

Leaning against the wall to rest for a moment, Buster took a deep breath, wincing as his ribs sang with pain in response. After the performance was over, everyone would head home on the bus. Maybe he could wait until everyone was home, then quietly slip out and go to an urgent care. Buster nodded to himself, stopping when the motion triggered a surge of pain in his head. He would be able to claim that all of the injuries were from falling down the stairs, and Rosita would have no idea otherwise!

It seemed like a great plan until everyone was on the bus. Buster had somehow made it through the rest of the play and the escape from Crystal's tower, even with his vision whiting out every time someone so much as bumped his left side. His head throbbed, and when his singers got the news from Suki that another major company wanted to host them, their cheering made him feel sick from pain.

Buster was thrilled for his performers of course- this meant they'd made it! Yet a haze was settling over his brain, and he didn't even notice when Rosita gently lowered herself onto the seat beside him.

"Buster, are you alright? You're a little pale."

Buster smiled at her. "M' fine." his words came out all smashed and slurred together, and Rosita's eyebrows shot up. Buster knew that the words sounded wrong, and it should've worried him. Yet it didn't; the word felt strangely removed, as if he was viewing it from some other space apart from himself, behind a wall of glass.

In a soothing tone, Rosita replied, "I didn't understand that, could you repeat it?"

Buster tried, but the words fell out of his mouth in bizarre, distorted streams. It was like his mouth felt loose, his tongue nonexistent, and he lacked the energy to force it.

The alarm grew in Rosita's eyes, and she stood. "Everyone! I think Buster's having a stroke!"

Cries of alarm and concern echoed through the bus, which swerved into a different lane to head to the hospital instead of the new hotel the group had been heading to. Buster felt too disconnected and agonized to protest.

Rosita sat back down and got his attention. "It's okay, I'm just going to help you until we get to the hospital, okay? Can you lift your arms for me, like this?" The pig lifted both her arms at the same time, straight out in front of her.

"N-no." Buster managed to say, lifting only his right arm. He didn't dare try to move his left, and flinched sluggishly when Rosita reached towards it.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Rosita asked, and her tone had changed from soothing to no-nonsense mom. "Can you show me where?"

Before Buster could try, a wave of dizziness forced his eyes to close. He lurched forward, the last thing he heard being his friends screaming his name.

When Buster woke up again, his entire body ached. Thankfully the worst of the pain was extremely dulled, forced back by a thick blanket of pain medication. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times before he was able to focus on his surroundings. A blue cast contained his left arm, already covered in his friends's names. Most of the rest of Buster's body was covered by a blanket, but he could see an IV snaking away from his right elbow.

"Buster, are you awake?" Ash was sitting beside the bed, and she grinned when Buster looked at her. "You really scared us back there."

Johnny, Gunter, and Meena stuck their heads in, and also smiled when they saw Buster looking back at them. Everyone came flooding into the room, including Rosita- but unlike her friends, she didn't look happy.

Buster cowered at the sight. "Hi guys..."

"Broken arm, dislocated shoulder, severe concussion, fractured ribs, sprained ankle, multiple cuts and bruises. Did you ever think that it might be a good idea to tell someone?"

Rosita's arms were crossed, and she was doing her best to look angry, but Buster could see that it was really the way that Rosita was trying to mask her fear. "I wasn't feeling too terrible-"

"You had a seizure on the bus because of the concussion. I thought you were going to die, so don't you dare say that you didn't feel awful! I can't believe you didn't tell us that Crystal beat you so badly."

Buster looked away from Rosita, unable to bear the tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I should have told you all. But these injuries aren't actually from Jimmy Crystal directly." Buster turned back to Rosita. "I didn't want you to feel guilty after saving my life... but this all happened because I landed on that catwalk when you rescued me."

Rosita immediately sat down, covering her mouth with one hand. "I thought that I might have dropped you too hard. But the show was still going, and I was so overwhelmed by everything happening-"

"It wasn't your fault Rosita." Buster groaned; the pain medication was beginning to fade a little, and he could feel his ribs protest whenever he spoke or moved. "Please don't be upset with yourself. I owe you big time- I'd rather be a little banged up than just a smear on stage." Buster shivered at the mental image.

Rosita nodded, and seemed to relax, if only a little bit. "Well, if you ever get hurt again I'm sure that all of us would feel much better if you said something right away." Everyone nodded, and she added, "What do you remember from last night?"

"Uh, everything's kinda jumbled. I remember falling, and being caught, but there's a gap after that. Then I remember being on stage I think? And then I was on the bus, but everything was weird, all slow and distorted like a bad dream. And then I was here."

"Well that's most of it which is good. The play went amazingly, and now another major company wants to steal the show from Jimmy Crystal and we took them up on it. Crystal also got arrested for trying to kill you. Oh and Porsha is staying with us now." Ash explained this part, and Buster felt a wave of relief.

"That's great! I can't wait to see the set!" Buster exclaimed, then winced as his body protested. "It might have to wait a couple days though."

Rosita gave him a stern mom gaze. "Try a week. The doctor says you'll need plenty of rest, and I intend to make sure that you take all of it."

Knowing better than to argue, Buster laughed. "I'm just glad that you'll all be with me."

The group stayed in Buster's room for a long time after, enjoying each other's company and celebrating their success. Buster might have been sore and tired, but also?

He felt like the luckiest koala in the world right now. 

*It has been a LONG time since I posted on here but I had to make an exception for Sing 2. I loved the movie so I had to write on it. Also cross posted on AO3. Thanks for reading!*