Insanity

Epilogue

A FEW DAYS LATER

The hospital room was quite cold. It wasn't a big surprise, most were, though she wished it was just a tad bit warmer.

Penny laid on the cot of her hospital room, a green thin blanket snug close to her. Bandages were wrapped around her torso, thankfully clean compared to how they were days ago. Unfortunately, she only had so many activities to do in her room. A broken TV sat in the corner, a visiting chair sat empty at the bedside, if anything all she could do was observe her surroundings. To listen to the noises that came and went outside the door. To sit and ponder on what had exactly happened that day.

She knew something had been wrong. With the way he constantly looked sleep deprived, his sudden crying in class, even times where he seemed to keep himself from talking to something. She could only assume it was that voice she knew of briefly.

The door suddenly creaked open. Penny soon smiled warmly at the visitor.

Gumball stood at the doorway, waving to her as a nervous expression occupied his face. He was wearing a medium-colored gray hoodie jacket over his teal hospital shirt and pants, and still seemed to retain those same eyebags. He did not move from his spot.

The fairy motioned him to come over, to which the feline reluctantly did. As he stood by the bedside, she sat up carefully, and the two hugged, with a rather bittersweet feeling.

"..I'm so glad you're okay.." Gumball let go, carefully holding her hands, though his regret was ever so present. He was almost afraid to touch her. "I-I thought I-"

"It's alright, I'm alright." She said, reassuring him, smiling. She soon frowned, almost hesitating to say it. "It was certainly.. A scare anyways...What exactly happened?"

The cat froze, soon letting go of her. There it was, the elephant in the room. He knew he couldn't brush past it much longer. He took a silent breath, exhaling slowly. "..I was having a.. Mental episode."

He saw Penny listening carefully to his words, prompting him to continue. "..You remember that voice right?.. Well.. It was really bad.. And.. I ended up hurting and killing others thanks to it.. That day, there was a fight at school.. A kid was accusing me of murdering Tobias's parents. To be honest he wasn't really far off, but.. It got ugly. I couldn't take it, so I fought him. Darwin stopped me in time luckily, and took me away from it.. But.. It was awful."

"..Were you keeping this hidden from everyone?.." The fairy asked, heavy worry in her eyes.

"..Yeah." He lowered his gaze to the floor, almost hesitating to say further. "I tried telling Darwin about what was going on.. He didn't understand, so.. When after school came, he didn't know that I was walking home only because the voice told me to.."

Gumball sighed, finally looking up at her with utmost sorrow. "It's been... A whole mess. I don't really want to talk about what happened after that.. But.. The short form is.. I'm going to be in a mental hospital for a while.. And probably a bit of jail after."

Penny's eyes widened with surprise. She knew she should've guessed that, but hearing it said to her directly from him was.. Something. She couldn't bear to imagine the thought. The cat must've somehow figured out her thoughts, looking a little startled as he gently held her hand.

"It's okay.. It's not as bad anymore.. I've spent a couple more days in the mental hospital, and well.. So far it's good, they aren't trying to actively hurt me and lock me away.. But that's besides the point." He struggled to get the next few words out, unable to look her in the eye. "I wanted to come visit you before I'm there officially. I just.."

He stopped, feeling himself beginning to tear up. Now he could only let his heart do the talking. "I'm sorry I hurt you.. I didn't mean to.. I-I couldn't control those things going on and I feel absolutely horrible about it.. And I.. I don't know if I can ever make it up.."

"..It's okay.." Penny wiped some of the tears that fell down the feline's face, letting her hand rest against his left cheek. "You were struggling, you couldn't help it that much.. I'm not mad.."

"Your dad is.." Gumball quietly uttered, leaning his head slightly into the touch.

Her face shifted to discomfort, as her frown deepened. "..That's true.. But I'm not like him, am I?"

"No.." His voice was barely a whisper, his sight back onto the glossy floor.

"Gumball, listen." Penny made him turn to look at her. Her frown remained, as she kept a serious, yet sympathetic expression. "I can't promise that we can stay together after this.. But I'm here for you.."

As she continued, she took both his paws. "I care a lot about you, and I understand how hard it was to go through all that.. You aren't going to be alone anymore, you know that?.. You have me and your family, we'll be here no matter what, even when it feels like everything is crumbling apart.. I promise that.."

Gumball wiped away some of his remaining tears, a smile starting to form on his face. His ears perked up however, as he heard someone come to the door.

One of the mental hospital staff was by the doorway, careful not to intrude onto the moment too much. "Watterson, it's time to go now."

The cat nodded, though reluctantly turned to face the fairy. "..Goodbye Penny.."

"Goodbye Gumball.." She responded, hugging him as best as she could with her current state. "I love you, and I wish you the best of recovery, okay?.."

"I love you too.. Thank you.." He kissed her on the forehead one last time, waving just like how he came in, the fairy waving back, as the staff member escorted him out. As he left, his smile slightly grew.

Not a creepy murderous smile he had worn before. A genuine feeling of happiness towards all of this. He noticed the voice floating nearby, blowing a raspberry, but swiftly ignored it, focused on walking down the hallway. He wouldn't let it bother him anymore. No matter how long it would take, he was going to control this side of him. As he approached the exit doors of the Elmore General Hospital, one thought stuck in his mind.

He was gonna be okay.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I first started Insanity, I didn't know exactly where I was headed. Like most of my stories at the time, I made up things as I went. It's crazy to me now that.. I finally finished this with a neat little bow, with everything complete. I won't lie to you, I had a tough time preparing myself to finish these chapters. I've held onto the story for so long, and well.. Now it's time for it to go. I can't think of any other way I would want this beautiful, bizarre tale to end.

I want to give a few thanks for a moment. Thank you to my middle school music tastes for the concepts I daydreamed from you. Thank you to a user on Discord for that one roleplay we did that inspired some scenes for Insanity III. Thank you to my friends, who laughed along with me at our silly little jokes about this story (may the Angst Gang Goes to McDonalds tale live on forever).

And lastly, I thank you, dear readers. Thank you for the reviews on all three Insanity parts, even if some of them were weird haha. And of course, thank you for being so supportive. I'm so happy at the journey this fanfic has had over its five year run, and I can't be any more grateful for my lovely audience that has stood here to enjoy this tale.

With that said, thank you for reading Insanity, and I hope you all have a lovely day or night.
-Is8

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the publisher. I hope whoever reads this will find whoever is talking down the damn story Is8 has made. It's amazing art and nobody should delete it just because they're Is8's haters. Wattpad, have sense for once! 

-Shad