Chapter Ten

Claire froze as she saw Mrs. Davis pacing back and forth in the hospital waiting room. She sighed as she looked down to one of the toys which she had grabbed. She knew that the cowboy, Woody, was with Andy and she could only hope that that was the best choice to make. The cowboy wasn't going to make his condition was, right? "I'm sorry." Claire said as she lifted the spaceman in her hands. "I feel like I should know who you are. I think that a lot of kids were into space toys when I was younger but…" she turned him over and laughed a little. "I wonder if you'd care that I'm not sure who you are."

Molly came and sat closer to her, "That's Buzz Lightyear," she told her. "Andy had him before for like forever," she rolled her eyes. "I mean, I kind of understand why he would have bought him back from that girl. He's this space ranger who takes on the galaxy and tries to defend it from an evil emperor. There was this whole TV show too and some video games."

"I feel a little strange for not knowing," Claire laughed before sitting Buzz down on the seat beside her. She put her hands on her knees. Somehow she needed to figure out what these toys were doing and how she could help them. Obviously putting them in landfills was bad but was there anything that a human girl could do that would be considered as good.

"Don't worry. Andy will need something to watch when he gets out," Molly said before she shivered and bowed her head. Claire watched her and felt guilty seeing the tears come out of her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered and Claire pulled the girl into her arms. She rocked her gently and saw Mrs. Davis approaching them.

"I'm sorry that your visit with us has to go li-" she apologized and Claire shook her head.

"No. I'm just…I'm just hoping that Andy doesn't have to suffer so much. He's been doing so well and I'm just hoping that his condition won't relapse." She looked away before turning to the mother of her long-term boyfriend. "Did you really want Andy to trash his toys?" she asked and Mrs. Davis came over to them. She gently lifted the Buzz toy and set it on her lap.

"I would never actively encourage that," she said and Claire tilted her head. "As you can probably tell, we don't have the biggest house and I couldn't just leave Andy's room that way for him when he had a college dorm room. It was already agreed upon that Molly would get his old room and Andy could come and sleep in the guest room when he came back from college. I wanted to house as many of the toys as I could but it's his decision," she said before sighing. She looked away as if remembering something painful. "It might sound strange to you but when I was a young girl, I had a doll that I loved so much but when I needed to move and I found her again, I realized that she might make someone more happy than she made me. I wanted to donate her to another girl who might not have the money for toys. I regretted giving her up but it was for the best. Different people have different choices. We all have to make our own."

Claire nodded before Molly looked at the two of them.

"I read somewhere that adults sometimes can use toys in like therapy or something," she said and Claire nodded. She could understand that. Maybe just being held by someone, being talked to by someone, having someone treat you as if you were a precious item, maybe that was enough for a toy to be happy.

As they sat there, a doctor came and turned to Mrs. Davis. "Andy's awake. We do have to talk about further treatment options but you can come talk to him now. I'll let you know when -"

"Let's go get some food," Claire said with a pained look at Molly who nodded. Andy's mother turned to them, she opened her mouth to argue that they should come too but Claire just turned to face her. "We'll be okay. Could you bring him this though?" she asked as she held forward the Buzz Lightyear toy. Andy's mother nodded and hugged Molly close before going to see her son.

SWBLSWBL

Woody stayed in his doll-like position as he watched the doctors test Andy. When he was a child, Andy had never had any problems that couldn't be solved quicker than this but it didn't even seem as if they were leaving this condition as stable. It was only to help with recovery. This was something which he didn't know very much about at all. What was his position here? He was supposed to cheer Andy up and bring him comfort and support but that didn't seem possible with how things were happening here? He knew that kids used their own imaginations to play with him but this kind of autonomy that he was given now that Andy knew the truth didn't make things any easier.

He watched as Andy's mother entered the room and she came over to Andy and hugged him close. Woody maintained his stillness. When the cowboy found something to be placed next to him, he smiled internally at the space ranger. Maybe together they could figure something out because in regards to Andy's condition, Woody felt as helpless as if he really was just cloth and plastic.

"You okay, cowboy?" Buzz whispered in a low enough voice that one wouldn't be able to hear it.

Woody's eyes showed his sadness but it was in a way that only another toy could see. Woody had witnessed the pain that Andy went through when he coughed, how nauseous he felt, how he had different symptoms that weren't improved by the presence of a lollipop. Were those things that a lot of toys didn't know about? You didn't experience this type of illness as a toy.

"So, we are able to release him for today but I want to make sure, Andy, that you monitor any stress that you're feeling. I can write a note to your university if you feel that the classes are too hard, maybe they'll advise for some academic accommodation."

"Yeah," the young man nodded as he put a hand to his chest. He coughed painfully before turning towards Woody. He smiled as he saw that Buzz was there too. "I'll make sure to say something if I don't feel well."

"Well, that's a start," the doctor told him before taking a seat beside his bed. "However, I do have to give you a warning. If you deal with too much stress, this could cause you to relapse. You're lucky right now, I have the feeling that you have a common cold. However, even with a cold, your body is already compromised so it might get a lot worse. I can prescribe you some antibiotics but you have to try to remain calm. Try to ease the stress out of your life. Have you considered yoga?"

Woody felt his chest tighten. Yes, Andy needed to avoid feeling stressed. He needed to try to avoid the stress that came from the mind blowing realization that toys were actually alive and that almost nobody actually knew this fact and that when you mishandled a toy it might be as bad as mishandling an animal. Was it as bad as an animal? Were toys in the same category as pets or were they more like plants?

Andy was sharing the same thoughts as he felt his chest tighten and himself get lightheaded. He felt that as a toy owner, he owed it to the friends that he had made and especially the friends that he had sold and cast away to protect them and to say that he was sorry for any neglect or pain which he may have caused any of them.

"I'm okay," he tried to reassure his mother who was watching him with a great deal of unease. "I'll be okay," he tried to smile again and she nodded.

"Just sit home, watch some TV, play some easy video games, read a few books," the doctor said and Andy nodded.

"Do you need anything honey?" Mrs. Davis asked as she placed a loving hand on her son's shoulder. Andy smiled weakly before looking at the two toys sitting on the window ledge. He reached out for both of them and sighed.

"Can you get Claire?" he asked and Mrs. Davis nodded, she pushed her son's hair back and kissed his forehead. As she and the doctor left the room, Andy looked at the toys.

"Hey," he said in a whisper since he was sure that if certain people saw what he was doing that they would make some comment about this behavior. Nobody would believe him if he ran around screaming that the toys were alive. It was better to just keep the secret. He flinched as he felt his headache but tried to still smile through it. "Sorry that I did that to you."

"You just need to take care of yourself, partner," Woody told him sharing trust with him. "Don't worry about us. We'll be just fine. We've always been just fine."

"You make yourself priority one, space ranger," Buzz saluted to him and Andy smiled before bowing his head. He shivered and quickly moved Buzz and Woody to the side so he could pull the blanket around himself.

"I think that I can do that whilst providing some aid to the toys," he coughed and Woody and Buzz shared a look. Andy might want to do something but unlike Sid, he was kind to his toys and always made sure to keep them in good condition. He had personally learned how to sew Woody's arm on for the cowboy. He didn't need to do anything that would make it up to the world of the toys because he had never been an enemy to them.

"Maybe if I learn how to fix up broken toys," he said and Buzz looked at him concerned.

"That's a noble thing but is it really what you want to be doing?" he asked and Andy froze. He had been continuing in school for his own reasons, he already had dreams that he wanted to pursue but it was as if the toys were speaking to him for a reason. They were making him doubt what plans he had.

"This responsibilities too big for one person," Woody tried to convince him and Andy sighed.

"I'll…I'll see what I can do," he told them and Woody was about to say something but when they heard footsteps, they both lay down. Yes, being the toy-whisperer was much too big of a duty for one person but they hadn't spoken to Andy for him to fill the role of a savior. He was their friend. Their owner. That's the role which he had taken to them.

End of Chapter Ten

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