"Code Blue"
By I am a good fighter
Powerpuff Girls created by Craig McCracken and all characters associated with the show are owned by Cartoon Network
-1-
It started with the headaches.
Blossom had noticed that for the last week, Bubbles would occasionally massage her temples or her forehead. She didn't do it all the time, just a few times in school or when they were home watching TV. It was never when Bubbles was being active, only when she was sitting down and concentrating, so Blossom thought maybe her sister was having trouble with her eyes again. But whatever it was, Bubbles didn't seem to be aware of it.
That Thursday morning, while their kindergarten teacher, Ms.Keane, was standing at the blackboard, Blossom heard Buttercup whisper, "Hey, Bubbles, you OK?"
When she turned to look, Bubbles was rubbing the side of her head. "Huh? Oh, sure!"
"You got a headache?" Buttercup asked quietly.
"Not really. It just hurts a little, but it always goes away."
"So, she HAS been aware of it!" Blossom thought. "Bubbles, are your eyes bothering you again? Maybe you should sit near the front."
"Time to get out the specs!" Buttercup grinned.
"Nuh, uh! I'm not wearing those stupid glasses again!"
"Girls!"
They whipped their heads to see their teacher and most of the class watching them.
"Something you'd like to share with the rest of us?" Ms. Keane asked, raising an eyebrow, hands on her hips.
"Bubbles has a headache, Ms. Keane. I think it's her eyes again." Blossom said.
"It is not!" Bubbles insisted, not realizing she was starting to rub her forehead again.
"Bubbles, I think you should go to the school nurse for an aspirin."
"Make sure it's baby aspirin!" Buttercup laughed. Mitch Mitchellson and some of the other kids joined in. Blossom frowned at her green-eyed sister.
"I'm FINE!" Bubbles shouted, her face turning red. Suddenly, she winced with pain and grabbed her head with both hands. Her sisters stood up, looking very worried.
"No, you're not fine." Ms. Keane said, rushing over and taking Bubbles by an arm. "Blossom, take her down to the nurse's office."
"I think I should take her home and let the Professor look at her."
"Yes, Blossom, that's a good idea."
Whatever it was had passed, and Bubbles took her hands away.
"But, I'm okay, really!" she protested. "I don' wanna go home!"
Protesting did no good. Soon, Blossom had one arm around Bubbles' shoulders and they were headed out the door.
A perturbed Buttercup watched them leave. "Ms. Keane, I think I should go with them!"
"Why, Buttercup? Are you getting a headache, too?"
"Maybe a little." she lied.
"Then go ask the nurse for some baby aspirin." her teacher smirked. She crossed her arms and scowled at everyone who laughed at her, but soon, Ms. Keane got everyone's attention back on the next lesson.
Buttercup grew concerned as the day went on. She expected the professor to send Blossom back, but her sister never returned. When the bell finally rang, she sped home and entered through her bedroom window. She was shocked to see Blossom lying on their bed, looking distraught.
"She's sick, Buttercup. She got another real bad one on the way home and I got her into the bathroom just in time."
"Eeewwwwww!"
"Yeah. Professor's still looking at her. It sounds like the flu."
" I think that's all it is, Blossom."
Professor Utonium walked in, carrying a pale-looking Bubbles, curled up in his arms.
"I'm outta here!" Buttercup made a beeline for the door, but the professor held up his hand.
"Whatever it is, Buttercup, you've already been exposed to it. There's no harm in sleeping in the same room."
"There is if she pukes on me!"
"Buttercup, that's MEAN!" Blossom exclaimed.
Bubbles' look of sadness grew sadder and she whimpered.
"Now, Buttercup!" the professor admonished her sternly. "I expect you to help care for your sister, just as she would for you if you were sick!
But she never got sick, nor did Blossom or the professor come down with what Bubbles had. Bubbles' headaches became more frequent and more severe, and what little she did eat she didn't keep for very long. She was kept out of school and the professor would not let her do any crime or monster fighting until she was over it. He spoke to her pediatrician on the phone twice, and each time he was assured that simple bed rest and fluids was the proper course. But on the fourth day, Monday, when she seemed no better, he made an appointment for the next day.
That morning, she woke up feeling great. Her head felt fine and she was so hungry that the professor had to constantly remind her to eat slowly. He knew how anxious she was to get back to school with her sisters and get back to protecting Townsville, but there was nothing good to be gained by rushing things.
The doctor gave her a clean bill of health. "Just a five-day bug, Bubbles. You're as good as new!"
She was so happy she kissed the startled doctor. It made the man's day, but the moment would be totally forgotten when she was back in his office the next morning.
Everyone was happy to have Bubbles back at school. Her energy was contagious, and all of the children were in a happy mood. Perhaps too happy, Ms. Keane thought. By recess, she had become slightly annoyed at the disruptions. On three different occasions, Bubbles had suddenly gone into a giggling fit over something the teacher never learned the cause of. Her sisters were no help, Buttercup especially, but the third time it happened, Keane caught Blossom giving Bubbles the eye. She called recess and sent the kids out into the schoolyard to play.
Bubbles raced outside, laughing. Buttercup chased her. Suddenly, Bubbles tripped on something and fell in a heap. Keane gasped, but Blossom, standing next to her, said "Relax, Ms. Keane, it's only Bubbles!"
"Oh, that's right. You girls can't hurt yourselves by…"
"Bubbles!" Blossom shouted, leaving a pink trail behind her as she flew to her sister, who sat, bawling, on the ground. When she got there, Buttercup was looking down in disgust at Bubbles, who was holding a dandelion by its broken stem. Tears flowed from her eyes as she cried out loud. All the other kids began to crowd around in a circle to watch, and Keane pushed her way through.
"Bubbles, it's only a stupid weed!" Buttercup growled.
Bubbles stopped crying and blinked. "Hee. Yeah, I guess that is kinda silly. Hee hee!"
She started another giggling fit and threw the stem to the ground. She stood up and stomped on it. "Stupid weed!" She continued giggling, her voice rising in pitch as she looked around on the ground for more dandelions to stomp. "Stupid weeds!" Her face reddened and her laughter turned to angry screaming as she squashed every one of the offending yellow flowers she could see. Keane and the kids stood stunned. Blossom and Buttercup grabbed onto their out-of-control sister.
"Whoa, Bubbles, calm down!" Buttercup yelled.
Bubbles' face went pure white and she sagged. Blossom helped her to her knees and knelt beside her, frightened out of her wits. "Bubbles, what's the matter?!"
Bubbles grabbed her head with both hands. "Oooohh, it hurts, it hurts worse than ever, make it stop.!" She leaned forward and threw up.
"Everyone, back inside, now!" Keane commanded. "Move it!" Without waiting to see if the children moved, she turned to the girls. "Go, girls, now!"
They didn't have to be told. With her sisters carrying her, Bubbles looked blankly past them. "Girls? I'm scared!"
"Take it easy, Bubbles, you're gonna be fine." Buttercup told her.
"Yeah, Bubbles, you just weren't over the flu yet, that's all." Blossom said, exchanging looks with Buttercup. They were scared, too.
"No." Bubbles said. "Blossom ? Buttercup? I can't see!"
The sudden wild mood swings and the return of the headaches told Bubbles' pediatrician one thing: He was out of his league on this case. But what REALLY concerned him was the sudden loss of vision. "Professor," he said quietly, hoping she wouldn't hear. He knew all of the girls' capabilities. "I want you to take her to the hospital, right now. I'll call ahead."
Townsville General Hospital is an impressive facility, offering the most advanced medical care available. The building itself is kept up to date and designed and laid out for efficiency. Located several blocks from Townsville Hall, its front faces south, and a small park across a wide avenue. You cannot drive up to the front. The main building is rectangular in shape; deeper than wide, and is fifteen floors total, not including the ground floor, which is actually the basement. Running at forty-five degree angles from the east and west sides of the hospital are wings that house patient rooms. Also fifteen stories, there are four total and they are arranged so that if you were to view the hospital from the air, it would resemble a large X with a vertical box at the center. The main floor of the hospital houses, as you enter from the front, a half-circle shaped reception and information area. Directly behind it is a large room for press conferences with the media. Just inside the main entrance, to the right, is the large, comfortable waiting area. Directly behind it are some small rooms where doctors can discuss a patient's status with family who have been waiting. Behind these is the hospital security office. To the left of the main entrance is the gift shop, and beyond that, numerous offices or rooms housing the admissions department, and also the hospital chapel. Behind this section on the hospital's west side is the emergency department. Its outside entrance faces the circular drive to the west. The ER takes up the remaining space to the rear of the hospital. Adjacent to it in the center of the main floor are the operating rooms, preparation and recovery rooms; and further back, one of the two imaging units that serves the hospital, providing diagnostic X-ray, CAT scan or MRI services. The other, needed in a facility this large, is on the 7th floor. Taking up the remaining first floor space, on the hospital's east side and behind the security offices, is office space for some of the doctors in the surgical departments, and patient discharge, whose exit is between the two wings on that side. The emergency department and discharge areas are essentially opposite each other. Massive parking lots to hold literally thousands of cars surround the property on the east, north and west sides. A large, attractive grassy area rings the wide sidewalk at the south entrance.
The second floor, in the front of the building, houses the hospital administration's offices. Individual doctors' offices are scattered throughout the remaining floors of the central building, depending on the floor that houses that particular physician's specialty. Each floor contains a specialized area of treatment, or several depending on the size of the department. For example, the oncology department takes up the rest of the second floor and all of the third. The neuroskeletal department takes up all of the fifth, while the burn unit requires only a third of the eighth floor. The reason for this division is for ease of patient care. In the old days, a patient, once out of danger, was sent to the first available room. Doctors had to run all over the building to make their rounds. The new set-up is far more efficient. Intensive care units serve most, but not all of the floors. Doctors' and nurses' lounges are also found on most floors.
On each floor, the northeast patient wing is reserved for the hospital's pediatric patients. For example, the second and third floors house kids with various forms of cancer. At the point where each wing of the hospital meets the main building, there is a nurse's station. Here, the corridors widen and bend, also at forty-five degrees, and extend into the main building, where they end at another nurse's station. Beyond these are the hallways that lead to the other departments on each floor. At the outermost end of every wing is a combination waiting area/solarium for visitors and patients who are well enough to move about, to sit and talk, read or watch a communal TV set.
Naturally, a series of connecting hallways runs through the entire facility. It would take a good while to get to any of the wings from the hospital's interior. The usual elevators and stairwells are arranged throughout as well, with the elevators serving only the main building. Staircases and exits are located adjacent to the elevators, near the nurses' stations and at the far ends of every wing.
After notifying the mayor's office of where the girls would be if needed, Professor Utonium got them all into the car and drove to Townsville General Hospital. Bubbles was expected and quickly taken to the imaging unit for tests, and the other two girls and the professor waited for several hours, between the waiting area near the main entrance, and the cafeteria, in the basement.
At just after eight, the professor and the girls were approached by an intern in blue scrubs and the professor was asked if he could speak privately for a few moments. Blossom and Buttercup exchanged worried looks, but the intern smiled and said it would take only a few minutes. While they sat and talked quietly, worrying, the professor went with the young doctor to one of the nearby small consultation rooms. There, he was told that Bubbles was going to be admitted. Tests showed there appeared to be something more serious than the flu, and due to medication she had been given, she would sleep comfortably through the night. There was no use in trying to see her. He apologized for not being able to provide more information; that would have to come from a specialist. An appointment with one had already been scheduled for the next morning.
There was nothing for any of them to do but go home and try to get a good night's rest.