The Gift: A TAWOG Story

Chapter 19: The Reunion

To Gumball's perspective, lights flashed in and out every second, but Gumball quickly perceived them as moving. Each light was a narrow strip moving upward at lightning speed.

Gumball then realized that the strips of light were not moving, he was. He was laying flat on his back on a gurney, being rushed down a hallway by several doctors and nurses, being chased by Richard and Nicole as well.

The hallway was filled with Gumball's ear-piercing screaming and crying that sent chills down everyone they passed. The pain was so intense he could not use his words.

"They will do everything they can to make it stop hurting, sweetie!" Nicole said with tears in her eyes. "I promise it'll stop hurting!"

He continued to scream in agonizing pain as he was wheeled into an emergency examination room, where the nurses stripped him of his t-shirt and boxer shorts to attach several cables on bandages to his body, the entire time struggling to restrain him in his gurney. Nicole and Richard watched in terror as several machines were turned on to record body temperature, blood flow, heart rate, respiratory rate, and brain activity.

"Hold still," said one of the bandage doctors. Four nurses held the hysterical little blue cat down as the doctor gave him a shot to sedate him. Within minutes, he was asleep and an oxygen mask with a tube was placed over his snout.

About an hour passed as Nicole and Richard waited out in the waiting area of the hospital. Nicole just rested her head on her husband's shoulder as they held paws waiting for a doctor to come out. Finally, one did.

"He is doing just fine," said the Bandage Doctor. Nicole and Richard were relieved and hugged each other. "He did give us quite a scare with all that screaming though."

"Where did it hurt, Doctor?" asked Nicole.

"Everywhere," the Doctor replied. Nicole and Richard were speechless. "His muscles were contracting and tensing up at alarming rates throughout his body. He basically had cramps all over. This is beyond what we've ever encountered. We had to give him some intense pain meds to control the cramping.
But he's fine now if you wanna check up on him."

The scene cutaway to Nicole and Richard entering the hospital room and checking on their son, who was sound asleep with a steady heart rate and brain activity.

"I think it was when he went crazy, Richard," said Nicole. "His poor little adolescent body must have had trouble responding to his unprecedented behavior."

"Nicole, look!" Richard said, pointing at Gumball, who was now muttering in his sleep.

"No," muttered Gumball. Nicole and Richard leaned in close to listen. "Don't... don't eat it..."

"He must be dreaming about you, Richard," Nicole said with a smile, gently elbowing her husband. Suddenly, Gumball's moaning and grunting became more tense. He kept wincing and shaking his head.

"He must be having a nightmare," said Nicole.

"Well come on, then," said Richard, approaching the little blue cat. "Let's wake him up."

"No, let's not, Richard," Nicole said, putting her paw in front of her husband. "Let's let his nightmare wake him up." Sure enough, within seconds, Gumball shifted to the side of his bed and a little slope formed out of his blanket. He slid down it to the floor and screamed, waking himself.

"Gumball!" Nicole said. She and Richard rushed over to give their son a hug. "Thank Heaven you're okay, sweetheart! Did you have a bad dream?"

"Yes, I did, actually," said Gumball. "But it wasn't about you, Mom, I swear. It was actually about, well, here's how it went: I was in my room and suddenly the entire house floated away, leaving me in just my bed on the ground. Then all a sudden, my bed started walking! It carried me to the edge of town and that's when, well..." He scratched his head. "A giant walrus snuck up on me and, well, he interrogated me, then played around with me, and then ate my mattress. I ran away from it and that's when I slipped and fell down the side of the cliff and, woke up." Gumball then looked directly at the camera. "Twenty bucks to whoever gets that reference, by the way." He then looked back at his parents. "But where am I now?"