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Chapter 17: Recovery, Discovery

Confidence Heart hovered over the highway with her cell phone held up to her ear, "Underground? OK...wait." She rotated in place, her face scrunched up slightly, "OK, I'm not good at sensing magic but I can feel WHAT THE FUCK?!" Confidence Heart shouted as she saw the giant pillar of blue flame erupt from the ground, "I think I have something, hold on!" Confidence Heart flew off towards the flames.

"Hello! Down here! Help!"

Confidence Heart heard the shout from below and stopped in mid air then took a dive towards the ground.

Zippy fell backwards as the fennec fox literally dropped out of the sky and landed next to him, "Guidance Heart! Oh shit what happened?" She lifted Guidance's limp head up from the ground.

"Some sort of sedative," Zippy panted. Now that the adrenaline had worn off he was exhausted, more than usual in fact, and his left wing felt numb. "I don't feel so good." Zippy fell back and slumped down as his world went dark.

"Shit!" Confidence Heart dialed Take Care's number. "Hello Take Care! I've got two patients, Guidance Heart and a strange bird like us, both unconscious. I'll send up a signal just get down here! No I can't wait! I need to find Anger Heart!" Confidence Heart fired off a beacon from her tummy symbol into the sky then jumped into the air and jetted over towards where the pillar of blue fire had been.

What had once been an underground animal testing laboratory was now just a scorched crater. Confidence Heart flew low over it, unable to distinguish anything in the earth which had been burned black and white from the intense heat. Confidence's ears twitched as she heard a groan from the ground and turned to see some of the ashen dirt moving. "Anger Heart?" She dropped out of the sky an saw some red fur under the ash.

With a thrust of her right arm, Confidence fired off a burst of wind that blew most of the dirt off of Anger Heart. The fox twitched and coughed and Confidence gave a sigh or relief, at least he was still alive. She picked the unconscious fox up in her arms and then lifted off into the sky. Anger Heart's fur was splotched with blackened dirt and ash, he seemed a bit thinner than before but he at least he was breathing.

OoOoO

As soon as Confidence Heart hung up her phone, Love Heart dashed out of the control room. He was halfway to earth in a cloud car when he heard Take Care's Ambulance behind him. He looked back over his shoulder as he felt his tummy symbol grow warm. He chanced a look down and saw that his tummy symbol was glowing, "A lost Care Bear?" Love Heart accidentally slowed down until the ambulance passed him, "Shit!" He stepped on the gas to try and catch up.

Confidence Heart's tummy symbol beacon still shone over where Guidance Heart and Zippy had collapsed as the cloud ambulance landed. Take Care and Get Well jumped out and were at Guidance and Zippy's side in an instant to check their vitals.

"Her heart's stopped. Get Well, get the defribulator," Take Care's gaze snapped to her daughter.

Get Well jumped up and retrieved the device from the ambulance, "The roadrunner isn't much better, he'll need the same immediately."

Take Care's eye widened in shock for a moment but she grabbed the paddles off the machine, "No time, I'm sorry but I'm already ready for her." She rubbed the paddles together then pressed them to Guidance's chest and pressed switches.

"What's going on!?" Love Heart jumped out of his cloud car which left it to fly into pieces a short distance away.

"Both of them need defribulation!" Get Well said as Take Care shocked Guidance Heart again.

"That's a shock treatment right?" Love Heart was at the roadrunner's side in an instant.

"Yes, why-?" Get Well got her answer as Love Heart mimicked Take Care's motions with the paddles using his hands as fields of yellow lightning appeared. Before Get Well could stop him, Love Heart pressed his hands to the roadrunner's chest and zapped him.

Take Care saw this out of the corner of her eye but didn't have time to admonish him as she checked Guidance Heart, "She's coming out it, please stay with me!" She set the paddles aside then pressed her hands to Guidance Heart's chest and started pressing down hard in rhythm with her own heartbeat to perform CPR.

Get Well shoved Love Heart aside, which made him fall, as she went to attend Zippy, "Are you out of your mind?! You don't know if that can even work!" She checked the roadrunner again through the singed chest feathers, then her eyes went wide as she pressed down on his chest, performing CPR just like Take Care. "That did something! Please let this work."

Love Heart shook his head rapidly and stood up right as Confidence Heart landed near to them, with Anger Heart in her arms. "What's going on?"

Take Care stopped for a moment and checked Guidance's heartbeat, relieved to hear a faint thumping, "She's alive!"

"So is he," Get Well ran back to the ambulance and pulled out a stretcher, "But we need to get them back to the hospital now!"

Take Care nodded as she ran for another stretcher, she saw Anger Heart in Confidence's arms as she wheeled it back to Guidance, "How is he?"

"Don't know, but he's breathing and alive." Confidence Heart looked down at Anger Heart, who groaned again.

Love Heart checked the fox then started, "He has four tails."

"What?" Confidence Heart looked over at Anger Heart's behind and finally saw the fourth tail alongside his other three. "What the hell did they do to him in there?"

"Ask later, heal now! Help me, Love Heart." Take Care and Get Well had transferred Guidance and Zippy to stretchers and were about to lift them into the wide back of the ambulance. Love Heart hurried to help both of them and Confidence Heart lay Anger Heart down on a bed to the side, it always amazed her just how much space was in Take Care's ambulance. "Guidance Heart needs a shot of adrenaline now!" Take Care shouted

"Alright, mom. You two will have to find your own way home." Get Well shut the door in front of Love Heart and Confidence as the ambulance took off with its sirens blaring.

OoOoO

Guidance Heart's eyes opened and she blinked back the light. "Hello?" she could barely get up the energy to whisper.

Get Well Bear was at Guidance Heart's side in an instant, "Good, you're awake. I was worried you wouldn't wake up. Can you tell me what happened to you?"

Guidance groaned and tried to move her arm as she grasped at memories. Her arm wasn't moving, "Too much...can't...sedative..."

Get Well shook her head, "No, a sedative is the last thing you need right now."

"No...Sedative...they gave...me one...a strong one...said it...stopped...a heart..."

"What? I need to tell mom right now, just try to stay awake!" Get Well turned and weaved out of the room while Guidance Heart forced her eyes to stay open.

OoOoO

It was a harrowing evening at Take Care's hospital. Love Heart had stopped to deliver the report to Tenderheart and immediately came to wait with Confidence Heart and make sure they had survived. Love Heart was on his feet in a moment and almost in Take Care's face when she emerged from the emergency room.

"Are they alright?!"

"Anger Heart is going to be alright, I'm not sure about the other two." Any reassurance Take Care's words had brought evaporated in the face of the fierce glare she gave Love Heart, "What the hell were you thinking!? Electrocuting that unconscious bird with your magic?!"

Love Heart winced. Like most Care Bears, other than the magi, Souful and Darien, Take Care rarely swore so a 'hell' was a big deal from her, "I was trying to drifribulate him?"

"Do you even know how that machine works?!" Take Care jabbed a finger into Love Heart's chest, "It's by some miracle that you restarted his heart but if you had been even slightly off you would have sent him into cardiac arrest or killed him right then and there, or any number of other things! His feathers and skin were badly burned, worse than if I had done it properly." Take Care pressed her nose up right to Love Heart's, "I want you to promise me you'll never do that again, do you promise me?"

Love Heart gulped, Take Care was probably the only person in the Kingdom of Caring who could scare him, "I promise."

"Is this a bad time?" Independent Bear had entered the waiting room in the middle of Take Care's admonishment, "I heard Anger Heart and Guidance Heart had been found."

Take Care sighed and stepped back, "Yes, and we might have a new member if he survives this."

"Survives? What's wrong?" Indy walked over to Take Care as Love Heart took the moment to sit down, holding his chest as he felt his heart pounding.

Take Care was about to speak when Get Well emerged from the emergency room, "Mom! Guidance Heart's awake! She need something but I don't know what?"

"Alright, I'm coming. Excuse me," Take Care turned to re-enter the emergency room.

Love Heart jumped up, "Let me see her, I need to make sure she's alive."

Take Care sighed, "Fine, but don't do anything without asking me first." Love Heart nodded and followed Take Care into the emergency room.

Indy sighed and sat down next to where Confidence had sat to watch the whole thing, "Sorry I wasn't there."

Confidence Heart shrugged, "It's fine. There wasn't any fighting and Take Care was able to handle it."

Indy looked down at his feet and frowned, "Yeah..." Confidence Heart gave him an odd look but didn't say anything.

OoOoO

Guidance Heart struggled to keep her eyes open, and even then only managed to keep them open as slit as Take Care and Get Well stood over her. "Guidance, can you tell me anything?"

"Gave...me...a seda...tive...said...heart...stopped."

Take Care looked up at Get Well, who nodded. "We need to do a blood test now, just hold on," Take Care took out a syringe and carefully drew some blood from Guidance's arm. The pain from the prick at least proved helpful in keeping Guidance awake as Take Care's hemo-plasmic indicating device ran the blood test.

One look at the printout was all Take Care needed, "She has a powerful sedative in her bloodstream and a persistent one at that. The adrenaline is keeping her alive or now but she'll need stimulants and an antitoxin to flush it out or it will stop her heart."

"I can help," Love Heart stepped forwards.

Take Care turned to face him, her face severe and skeptical, "How?"

Love Heart touched the dark green star on his forehead, "Unicorn magic can neutralise poison in the body. Aurora taught me the spell when I lived in Pegasus Falls. If it's like a poison then I can try it on her."

Take Care only had to think for a moment, "Will it hurt?"

Love Heart averted his gaze for a moment, "Possibly, but I promise it won't harm her."

Take Care looked back at Guidance Heart, then back to Love Heart and sighed, "I hate to rely on magic but alright, just be careful."

Love Heart's star and hands glowed as ran them over Guidance's body. He winced slightly as he sensed the sedative in her body. Love Heart grit his teeth as he cast the spell through his hands. There was a pulse of light, then two, then a third. Love Heart stumbled backwards as sweat beaded on his brow.

Get Well caught him and guided him to a chair, "Are you alright?"

Love Heart nodded, "I tried, but it's a potent poison. I couldn't remove it all at once."

"So it didn't work?" Take Care immediately went to take another blood sample.

Love Heart shook his head, "I managed to neutralize some of it, I think."

Take Care had already put the next sample through her device and was checking the readout, "There's some progress, the toxicity has decreased by about 25%."

Love Heart smiled, "Good, then it's working, let me try again."

"Not a chance," Take Care helped him to stand, "You're already worn out. Go home, get some sleep and you can try again tomorrow."

Love Heart wanted to protest, until he felt his feet wobble from being overtaxed, "Alright. Can you tell me how they're doing before I go?"

Take Care nodded, "If you can wait for a few minutes for more tests I can give you the full rundown."

"OK." Love Heart leaned up against the wall and watched as Take Care and Get Well ran through the tests.

Finally, Take Care collected the notes and run through them for Love Heart. "Anger Heart's mostly just exhausted but there are trace amounts of foreign substances in his systems. I can give him some medicine to help flush it out if he's willing to spend most of a day on the toilet, but he'll be fine with some rest and proper food. As for his fourth tail as far as I can tell it's no different than the other two he's grown. The roadrunner's body shows extensive signs of experimentation but the immediate concern was that he had a heart attack and nearly went into cardiac arrest. I'll need more time to assess the full effects the experiments on his body, all I can be certain of is that he has a caffeine dependency."

Love Heart quirked an eyebrow, "A caffeine addiction?"

Take Care shook her head, "No, this isn't like Swift Heart and Fauna's addiction where they would become irritable and sleepy for a couple weeks if they stopped drinking. The roadrunner's body has been experimented on and addicted to the point that if he doesn't receive regular doses his metabolism will shut down. There's no way to wean him off this because the effects are on a cellular level. The best we can do is manage his dependency with proper doses," she flipped a page, "His heart attack was caused by a large dose of coffee that had about three times the caffeine content of the coffee I've had."

Love Heart shuddered, "What did they do to them down there?"

"Hopefully we'll find out when Anger Heart wakes up." Take Care looked over at the fox then back to her notes, "As for Guidance Heart: she has the same trace of toxic substances in her blood but the more immediate concern is the sedative going through her. You were able to reduce the toxicity but until it's gone we're going to have to keep a steady dose of adrenaline and stimulants in her or her heart could stop again." Take Care sighed, "Unfortunately this means she's not going to be able to sleep until you finish purging the sedative so she'll be beyond exhausted when this is over. She might sleep for a full 24 hours afterwards and she'll have to avoid caffeine and sugar for at least a week until her body stabilizes."

Love Heart had recovered enough to stand on his own and nodded, "OK. Thank you. I'll be back tomorrow to try again."

"Good. Now go, I need to get Guidance's doses started immediately."

OoOoO

Indy waited for half an hour after Love Heart left until Take Care exited the emergency room. "Take Care, may we talk for a few minutes?" Indy stood up and approached her reception desk.

Take Care nodded, "We can. What about?"

"About today's mission. Confidence Heart filled me in as best she could, "is it true Love Heart tried to electrocute a lost family member?"

Take Care sighed, "Yes he did, and by some miracle didn't kill him."

"I see," Indy looked down at his feet. "He doesn't know CPR does he? Don't answer I already know." He looked up at Take Care, who had her attention focused on Indy, "I think we need to know CPR, all the Care Bear Magi do, and first aid training. If I had been there I wouldn't have been able to do anything," Indy was shaking slightly but he took a deep breath then continued. "We need to be more than just fighters we should be able to help people in danger without relying on magic."

"Like first responders."

Indy snapped his fingers, "Exactly."

"Umm, excuse me."

Take Care and Independent Bear both turned to see a brown tabby kitten Care Bear Cousin standing in the doorway to the house part of Take Care's house; her tummy symbol was a heart wrapped in caution tape. She was barely a year old, six in Care Bear years.

"Cautious Heart?" Indy asked.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping, I was just reading and I heard you talk about this..." Cautious Heart put her hands behind her back and shuffled her feet.

Take Care stood up and walked over to her daughter and crouched in front of her, "It's alright, Cautious. What do you want to say?"

Cautious Heart looked up into Take Care's face, "Well...they'd all need first aid kits to take with them, stuff that doesn't just fade after a while. I could make some for them, since you'll be busy."

"OK. What do you need in a first aid kit?" Take Care asked.

"Well..." Cautious Heart counted off on her fingers, "Bandaged, sterile wipes, gause, ummm antiset...antisec..,antiseptyke?" She looked to Take Care for answers.

Take Care smiled, "Close. Get Well and I can help you make a list later, OK?"

"OK, mom," Cautious Heart gave Take Care a hug then turned back into the living room.

Indy smiled, "Cautious Heart's picked up a lot living here."

Take Care couldn't help but chuckle as she stood up, "She's not as voracious a reader as Get Well but she's a good listener, even when she's not part of the conversation. Now as to your request, Indy: it's a good idea but it's going to have to wait until those three have recovered and I have some free time in my schedule. I'll call each of you to let you know when we can start lessons. Just to double check that's: you, Love Heart, Confidence Heart, Anger Heart, Guidance Heart, Defender Bear and Truth Bear right?"

Indy nodded, "It is. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now excuse me, I need to check on my patients. It's going to be a rough week."

OoOoO

Love Heart was back early the next morning and already casting his spell on Guidance Heart as she lay on the bed. Take Care oversaw the work and asked Love Heart to stop when he paused to swipe the sweat from his forehead and she ran the blood test again.

"She's down another 35% of what she was yesterday," Take Care looked at Guidance Heart's hooded eyes, "Sorry, but we need to keep you awake until were done, Guidance."

Love Heart nodded, "Yesterday was the first time I tried that spell, I have a better grasp on it now. I should be finished by tomorrow."

Both of them heard a groan from nearby as Anger Heart stirred. The fox put a hand to his forehead as Take Care moved to stand over him, "Anger Heart. Can you hear me?"

"Uh-huh. Take Care? Am I home?" Anger Heart tried to sit up then fell back.

"In my hospital. How do you feel?" Take Care went to her notes.

"Tired and sore."

Take Care nodded, "Sounds about right. I can give you something to help flush the garbage out of your system but you'll spend most of the day on the toilet."

"Maybe," Anger Heart finally sat up and spotted Guidance next to him. "Is she alive?"

"She is, but she's going to be here for at least another day. Love Heat's been purging the sedative from her system.

"That's good." The voice didn't come from Anger Heart it came from the roadrunner.

Take Care was at the roadrunner's side, "Are you alright?"

"Better now. My chest still hurts though." The roadrunner sat up and saw where he was. He felt a shiver through his spine as his legs twitched, "Did we escape?"

"You did. You're in the hospital in the Kingdom of Caring. My name is Take Care Bear. Can you tell me your name?"

"They call me Zippy," he looked Take Care up and down, "Are you going to test me?"

"I need to give you a check up." Take Care's look softened when she saw the fear on his face, "Don't worry, I promise it won't hurt."

Anger Heart was sitting up as Love Heart stood next to him. "Alright, Anger Heart. Tell me everything that happened after you disappeared last month."

Anger Heart took a deep breath, "I'll try." He felt his tails twitch behind him then turned to look, "I have four? I..." Anger Heart choked up, "Oh god, I burned them alive..."

OoOoO

In a forest near the destroyed lab, a door in a tree slid open and Dr. Fright stepped out. He stood under the shade of the trees and peered through the foliage in the direction of where his lab used to be. "An unfortunate turn of events, but you haven't heard the last of Dr. Fright, Care Bears."

"Indeed they haven't." The voice came from a man in a business suit with short brown hair and brown eyes nearby.

Dr. Fright gulped, "Control...This is just a minor setback, I-"

"Don't try to explain this, I had a feeling this would be happen but not with literal fire." The man, Control, walked over to the edge of the trees to survey the ruins. "Fortunately for both of us I had your computers linked to ones at my headquarters to backup everything you ever saved to them. The loss of information was minimal, though I still need more information on the sedative you tested."

"You're not angry?" Dr. Fright sighed in relief, after the last time he'd worked with a dark wizard he was wary of their tempers.

"Oh I'm blindingly angry, but not at you just at the creature that did this. But that will have to wait," he turned back to Dr. Fright and put hand on his shoulder, "Now you need to come with me, I doubt this will go unnoticed and I can't have any connections drawn back to me."

Before Dr. Fright could utter another word, Control spoke the words of a spell and they both vanished with a *pop*.

OoOoO

Love Heart stood in front of the rest of the Care Bear Family after he had repeated what Anger Heart had told him. He wasn't surprised to hear worried and hushed mutterings between everyone who had gathered and a few looks of horror directed towards him. Love Heart nodded to Tenderheart, who banged his gavel to restore order.

"Thank you Tenderheart," Love Heart turned back to the assembly, "Before anyone says anything, yes Anger Heart is being punished for this. He's under house arrest for the next ten days, more if I deem it necessary."

Share Bear raised a hand, "Isn't that a little lenient. I mean what he did..."

Love Heart glared at her, "And what would you suggest? Building a jail to throw him in for life? Banishing him to earth forever? Executing him!?" Love Heart's words turned into a shout which caused most of the family to recoil from him. Love Heart bile was raised as he continued his tirade, "Anger Heart reacted to protect someone he cared about, and I agree it was severe but if we bring the hammer down on him it's going to make things worse! If we turn our backs on him then it will destroy him!" Love Heart took a deep breath then continued, "He's already remorseful for what he did and he needs to know we're not going to abandon him. If we kick him out or lock him up then he might kill himself, or worse, turn on us and become our enemy. I don't want anyone to visit him if they just want to kick him when he's down. I'll decide if he needs more discipline when his house arrest is over." Love Heart sat down with his arms folded and glared out across the hall, daring the assembly to challenge his decision.

Brave Heart could see the unease that ran through the crowd and jumped up to take over, "In better news, we have a new member of the family. Zippy?" Brave Heart turned to see the roadrunner who sat nearby sipping a cup of coffee.

Zippy smiled and waved a wing, "Hello."

"So, Zippy, tell us about yourself." Brave Heart extended a hand toward the bird.

Zippy finished off his drink then sighed, "I hatched in the lab and they experimented on me for most of my life. I managed to escape a few years ago and hide out in a city for a while, I made some friends but I kinda messed up and got caught again a couple months ago. I escaped again right before Anger Heart and Guidance Heart found me and they caught me when I panicked and I ran right back into them. Not much else I want to talk about."

"That's fine," Brave Heart nodded towards him, "So do you think you're going to stick around?"

Zippy smiled, "Sure, why not? This is a hundred times better than the last place I lived. So do I get a fancy new name and a stamp like you have?" He pointed a wing at Brave Heart's stomach.

"Of course. So what do you want to be called?".

"Zippy sounds good to me. So what, is it 'Zippy Heart Roadrunner'?" He gave Brave Heart a weird look.

"If that's what you want, you can still just go by Zippy," Tenderheart piped in.

"Alright, so what do I do to get a symbol like that?"

"Just hold still," Brave Heart's tummy symbol glowed and fired off a replica made of light that circled around Zippy before it settled on his tummy feathers. He watched as the light faded and revealed his tummy symbol, a shoe with a heart on it and small blue fairy wings.

Tenderheart smiled. "Welcome to the Care Bear Family, Zippy Heart Roadrunner."

While everyone else was getting to know Zippy, Darien slipped out of the Hall of Hearts.

OoOoO

Anger Heart sat in his house and stared at the pill that Take Care had given him. He winced at a random pain in his side and considered what she had said. This would flush the rest of the stuff they'd injected him with out of his system, literally. He didn't love the idea of spending the rest of the day on the toilet but if he was stuck inside and alone then it might at least make the day more interesting, he didn't have to but it would speed the recovery process.

A knock at his front door roused Anger Heart from his contemplation. He sighed and trudged to the front door to answer, his four tails brushing the ground behind him.

Anger Heart was surprised to see Darien on his front step. "Hi. Can I come in?"

"Sure," Anger Heart turned around and walked to the couch. Darien stared briefly as the fox negotiated sitting down; now that he was up to four tails seating with a solid back had become more of a chore to use.

Darien didn't sit down. "Did you destroy the lab?"

Anger Heart averted his gaze, "Yes..."

"Do you remember what they did to you?" Darien leaned down to get a look in the fox's eyes. He didn't seem to protest or maybe it didn't matter to him.

"Some, I don't want to think about it."

"Believe me, I know where you're coming from," Darien sat down next to Anger Heart, "If I'm right, that place was a new version of where I was tortured 'for science' for years. If you tell me what you remember, then I'll do the same."

Anger Heart finally looked Darien in the eyes, his gaze was harsh as usual but there was a vulnerability hiding behind that harshness. Anger Heart took a deep breath and began, "The first day they gassed me unconscious, injected me with something that made my whole body hurt, strapped something over my face and dumped me in a water tank. All I could feel was pain."

Darien shuddered, "Sounds about right, but they never did the pain stimulation with sensory deprivation to me."

They talked for over an hour, sharing what few horror stories about they lab they could bear to remember, until Anger Heart told him about the sedative that nearly killed Guidance Heart and his subsequent fiery eruption. Then they both went quiet.

They sat in silence for five minutes before Darien spoke. "Thank you."

"For what?" Anger Heart looked up from where he had been staring at his feet.

Darien clenched his hands into fists, "For torching that fucking hellhole and everyone in it!" His voice rose to a near shout, "I just...I needed to hear it, to make sure that place was gone." He stood up, "Just remember, those people were monsters and they deserved that. None of us deserved what they did to us," He clenched his fists again then released.

"Thank you...I think...I need time to think about this." Anger Heart stood up and walked over to the table where the pill Take Care had given him was sitting.

Darien grimaced at the sight of the medicine as Anger Heart picked it up but said nothing as he exited the house and almost bumped into Zippy Heart Roadrunner.

"Hey, I'm Zippy." He had a cup of coffee in his wing.

Darien just brushed past him, "I'm Darien and you might want to leave Anger Heart alone for a while."

"OK, but I still want to talk to him." Zippy finished off his coffee and tossed the cup away, which dissolved as it had been conjured for him by Brave Heart.

Zippy Heart found Anger Heart having just swallowed the medicine with a glass of water. "Hey, Anger Heart, how are you feeling."

"Lousy, and not getting better anytime soon." Anger Heart grumbled then turned to the roadrunner, "I see you got a tummy symbol now, so what should I call you."

"I'm still Zippy, or Zippy Heart Roadrunner. I just stopped by to say thanks for busting us out of that place."

Anger Heart smiled, "Thanks. I just..." he grabbed his stomach, "oh crap! Too fast!" He bolted for the bathroom.

Zippy darted to the bathroom door just as it slammed in his face, "Are you alright?" The groans and disgusting noises from inside made him recoil. "I'll just leave you to that then." He slipped out to leave the fox to the rest of his unpleasant day.

OoOoO

While she had technically been awake all night, Guidance Heart was only in a haze of consciousness until a sudden jolt of stimulants were shot into her body which roused her to proper wakefulness.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Get Well was sitting next to Guidance Heart and she carefully removed the IV from her arm, "How do you feel."

Guidance shook her head and sat up, "Tired, energized, worn out and hungry."

"That's good. Love Heart just finished purging the last of the toxic substances from your body and I gave you a big dose of stimulants so you can get home." Get Well helped Guidance Heart stand.

Guidance shook her head to help clear it, "Where's Take Care?"

"Playful Heart came in with a broken arm, so she's dealing with that. I can handle this, and your dispatch papers. Also mom said not to have any sugar or caffeine for at least a week." She sighed, "It's still a lot to do."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Guidance Heart turned to face her.

"Well...if you have time." Get Well twiddled her thumbs, "I want to be a doctor, like mom." Guidance was about to speak when Get Well started pouring out her soul to her, "I see how hard she works and how she helps people. I don't want to just tell people to get well, I want to help them too, especially mom... I see how hard she works and pushes herself; the Care Bear Family is growing every year, if we're not finding lost family then everyone else is having kids now. I want to help her and be the sae kind of pillar everyone else can lean on, maybe even give her a break once in a while. I've been acting as mom's unofficial nurse for a while now."

"How did you find this out?" Guidance Heart cocked her head to one side.

Get Well smiled, "I guess I've always been a bit too mature for a kid, maybe it's because of mom or something else. I mean I used to sit through meetings alone when I was a kid and mom was busy, and I love to read. When I finished reading all the novels we had I asked to read some of mom's medical texts, and she humored me but I still did my best to read them. I'm going to medical school in a year or two. Bright Heart's lessons have told me everything I need and I just need to pass a few placement tests to prove I'm qualified. I'm nervous but excited."

"That's great to heart, good luck..." Guidance Heart yawned.

"You should get going before those stimulants wear off. You'll probably sleep for a whole day. Guidance Heart nodded then left without a word.

OoOoO

Anger Heart finished a bowl of cereal. He had just woken up after his long day on the toilet but he wasn't quite awake either. The sound of the door opening drew his attention and his face lit up as he saw Guidance Heart enter.

"Guidance!" he up was and embraced the raccoon before she could even react, "You're alive!"

"Yes, I am. Thank you," Guidance hugged him back but she could feel sleep overtaking her. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Anger Heart's grip loosened, "I can but it's not pretty."

"Mmmm, OK, tomorrow." Guidance Heart yawned then started to go limp, "Get Well said I'd sleep for a day........." Guidance Heart slumped up against Anger Heart, fast asleep.

Anger Heart was worried for a moment until he heard her snoring. He carefully dragged her to their bedroom and lay her on the bed. As he felt exhaustion set in, Anger Heart climbed in next to Guidance Heart and snuggled up alongside her then fell asleep.