frasier one-shots

Rest In Peace

A/N: wow, finally an update. it's been quite a while, hasn't it? i'm a bit rusty, i must admit. note: this takes place after niles and daphne are married, hence why daphne calls everyone by their names rather than "dr. crane" or "mr. crane"

Frasier had just gotten out of bed on a Sunday morning and changed into his squash clothes when Niles and Daphne came knocking on his door. He opened the door for them and guided them over to the table where he had lain out breakfast and a pot of coffee.

"Is your father not up yet?" Daphne asked. "I was planning on helping him with his exercises while you and your brother go out for squash."

"You make it sound like we're going to some restaurant that only sells squash, darling,"
Niles joked.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't find myself surprised if that's actually what you two have been doing on Sundays for years now," she said. "Well, anyway, I'll be off to go wake your father up. It's quite late, isn't it?"

She gathered up her exercise mats and went down the hallway to Martin's room, her heels clacking against the hardwood floors as she walked.

Niles helped himself to a muffin and pulled out his tweezers from the pocket of his squash pants to perform his signature act of tweezing his breakfast.

Frasier glared at him. "As soon as you're done tweezing your muffin, we'll go. We don't want to lose our court."

The two brothers heard Daphne knocking on the door of Martin's room down the hall.

"Martin? It's time to do your exercises," she said.

She paused. There was no response.

"Are you all right in there?" She called out.

There was still no response.

At last, Daphne opened the door and let herself in.

Niles and Frasier heard a thump as Daphne's bundle of exercise mats hit the ground.

"Martin?!"

Niles and Frasier shared a look of fear and bolted down the hall.

When they arrived at Martin's room, where the door was ajar, they saw Daphne kneeling over a limp body on the ground.

"Oh my god!" Niles exclaimed.

"Dad? DAD!" Frasier yelled. He knelt down over Martin as well and pressed his fingers to Martin's neck to check his pulse.

"He's still breathing. He's just unconscious. Niles, call 911!"

Niles spun around, looking for a telephone. He kept spinning and spinning around desperately, as if he was hoping that if he turned at a certain angle a phone would materialize.

Then, he realized he had his cell phone
in his pocket.

Fumbling with it, he called 911.

"Yes? Our father, he's passed out. It might have been a heart attack or something, we're not sure...yes...thank you."

Niles hung up and said to Frasier and Daphne, "The most important thing is not to panic. Don't panic, okay?"

They nodded.

Niles began to suck in his breaths rapidly, clearly hyperventilating.

Frasier put his hand on Niles' arm to comfort him, one hand still resting on Martin. "It'll be alright, Niles."

•••

The four Cranes were now sat in the hospital, one unconscious and in a hospital bed. They had just been informed that Martin had a near lethal heart attack. If he did wake up, it would only be a matter of time before the next attack hit.