Stripey and Rosie now where living as toons for more than six months. They are now part of the Green Meadows society, as the medic resident on Dr. Fox clinic and the assistant teacher-in-training on miss Dora Rosemary's children class on school. They had some friends, like Susie Squirrel and Flappy and Geoff. But their best friends, Don and Camille, as well as Hunny, or Marco Dacassos, as was his real name, gone back to real world.
"I miss Camille." said Rosie, after a hot, stinky skunk sex session.
"Me too... I miss those two. Don and Camille were good friends. Maybe next time they have vacation, they can came here."
Then the phone rang...
"Who could be this time of night?" said Rosie, gone to take the phone.
"Rosie Skunk... Oh, hi Camille, we're just talking about you and Don... You look worried..., WHAT? JUST A MINUTE, I'LL PUT ON CONFERENCE SO STRIPEY CAN HEAR YOU."
As soon as Rosie had activated conference, Stripey could hear Camille sobbing very heard.
"What happened, Camille?" said Stripey.
"It's Don... He's in hospital... He's very bad... He's critical..." said Camille.
"What happened with Don?" said Stripey, worried.
"He was on duty and he was very stressed... So much flights to coordinate... And then... He had a very great chest pain... And his heart stopped..."
"WHAT?!" they asked.
"And then, some guys resurrected him with CPR and sent it to hospital and I gone too... And... And I just should remember Stripey's a doctor..."
"How's Don?" said Stripey
"He's in induced coma on ITU... Doctor here said he is alive and out of death risk, but no idea about sequela..."
"Any familiar backstory or background of cardiac diseases on Don's family? Had he complained of chest pain or tiredness recently?"
"Don's father uses drugs for heart disease, and his mother's dad had died by cardiac disease..."
"Bad sign... Familiar backstory... No good." Said Stripey. "Can you arrange a chat between me and the doctor that's caring Don via videoconference? I don't want to interfere on his job... But maybe I can fish some info from him. If he want qualification, says I was Dr. Carrie McNamara, MD. I'll give you my Skype info..."
Two hours after, Stripey was talking with Dr. Yeong, who was caring Don.
"If miss DeMarco didn't said you was Dr. Carrie McNamara, I would
not believe. So it's true, you turned a perm skunk toon. And now you're living on a village called Green Meadows. But why?"
"Old story... Long and irrelevant now." said Stripey "Sorry being a little rude but I know your time is precious, and I'll not interfere on the treatment. So, to business: how is Mrs. DeMarco now?"
"No rudeness at all." said Dr. Yeong "Well, he's stable, on induced coma. We made all the procedure on standard protocol, and exams are no good on middle and long term, at least on his job."
"You did ECG? Could you send me a copy via Internet? I can follow the protocol, if you want..."
"No problem. I think you'll preserve exam's privacy and... Between us... I think you can help us to give counseling for miss DeMarco. I'll send it."
Some minute after, Stripey was reading the ECG.
"Well... For now looks good, as no permanent damage was detected. No need for surgery for now." said Stripey and Dr Yeong nodded "But... Had I wrong if I say I saw a heart insufficiency forming?"
"Well, it's not conclusive, but for working as ATC it's enough to retire him, at least temporarily." said Mr. Yeong. "I heard he's one of that nuts who goes to Fall Down on ToonWorld as much as he can."
"Sorry, but there's no correlation between Falling Down and heart condition. On the contrary, there is a positive condition pointed by some studies between Falling Down and de-stressing."
"Sorry... You want me calling you miss Carrie McNamara or Mr. Stripey Skunk?"
"I would like being called Stripey. That's my name now, and I didn't forgotten my medical skills after being toonified..."
"Sure. Sorry if I offended you, Mrs Stripey. Well... We'll make a stress test and look the treatment as soon as possible. By now, Mrs Stripey, he's out of danger... We'll look for the next 48 hours. He looks evolving well, but we'll not taking chances... Maybe miss DeMarco should go into there..."
"Not at all... Just treat it well. I'll talk with her."
So Stripey did:
"Give doctors some time and go take some rest. Maybe I'll be brick-hard frank, but there's nothing you could do for now. Have any relatives or friends you could went for? Wants me or Rosie there?"
"No need. I'll arrange myself." said Camille: it was weird for Stripey and Rosie to see Camille on 'normal clothes', in Jeans and t-shirts, and not costumed as one children's history character. "I'd given the day. I'll gone to home."
"I'll stay online if you want." said Rosie.
"No way! You have work!" said Camille.
"I'm studying for my teacher's license test, so I can excuse myself a day or two with Ms Rosemary..." said Rosie nonchalantly.
"Thanks, Rosie." Said Camille, face sullen from tiredness and crying.
"We'll talk again in some hours." said Rosie, yawning a little. "Go take a rest. Don't drive yourself home: ask someone to help you back home. I'll make breakfast for Stripey and take a bath to wake me up."
And that was what happened: Stripey had gone work and Rosie stayed talking and calming Camile down. She was presented to a friend nurse of Camille, Roberta and they tried to light chat as much as she could to lighten Camille's heart, but sometimes being so much in love as Camille was for Don is a Bane and sometime she cried in sadness, and then Roberta and Rosie made their best to cheer Camille up as best as they could.
Three days after, when Rosie came from school and entered on Skype with Camille, there was some good news:
"Don's still on ICU, but had woken up. He's somewhat weak, as he just woken up, and there's still not any information.about sequela, but he looks okay for everything." said Camille.
"What a good news!" exclaimed Rosie
"The worst thing now is about Don's work. He was a little gloomy when we talked about this. He likes so much his job, and I fear he'll be depressed if he would be retired from it." said Camille.
"For now, the best thing is you stay calm and be at his side as much as you can."
"I know... My chief nurse gave me a month for put myself okay. But I fear what will happen if he lose his job."
"I understand... Well, maybe things will be defined after that stress test."
Some days after, on a weekend, Flappy and Marco, or better, Hunny, were on videoconference with Camille and Don on hospital. It was weird look how much Don looked weak and thin on his hospital bed.
"I'm now a little weak, but I'm regaining my strength. The stress.test's still in analysis, but I have faith I'll not be retired from ATC." said Don
"You should think on Camille..." said Flappy "First of all, you should think on recovering the best you can, even if you being retired from ATC."
"Flappy's right." said Hunny... Our better, Marco. It's a little weird to see that Italian looking guy and think on it as a distant relative of Yogi Bear. "I had a friend who was police and don't give a damn for this exams. He died from cardiac arrest when he was changing into his uniform."
"Hunny's right." said Stripey "You should recover yourself for living. Your job should be your last worry for now."
"You're right, Stripey." said Don
Some days after, Stripey's cell phone rang on job.
"Stripey Skunk... Oh, Dr. Yeong... Don's stress test had been published? Okay..." said Stripey, than he looks to Dr. Fox. "Felix... Maybe I'll need your help now. It's about that human friend of mine. I'll place Skype on the TV. Could you spare a hour or so for this?"
"Well, it's lunchtime anyway. I'll see if Shelly could fix us a coffee and sandwich, as you set up Skype."
The TV was a little old, but Stripey jury-rigged somewhat the TV, as Rosie did on Goatbarn Hole, and put a small and cheap webcam over the TV.
"Dr. Yeong, this is Dr. Felix Fox, MD. It's my boss now." said Stripey.
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Fox." said Yeong.
"Call me Felix, mrs. Yeong" said Felix.
"Anyway: you received the stress test results?" said Yeong
"Yeah... Looks no good at all." said Stripey
"Mr. DeMarco's heart looks a little compromised. I believe that he could work in any common job with no problem. He can sustain some works, but I think that FAA won't let him back to ATC after this."
"Sounds bad." said Felix, looking the results of Don's exams "This cardiac arrest had compromised at least 5% of his coronary capacity. For humans, that's too much."
"Exactly." confirmed Yeong
"He was informed about this? And what about FAA?" confirmed Stripey
"FAA already knows: some guys from there came here and taken all his profile from the cardiac arrest from now. And Don... We said that he's not 100% healthy, but he could live normally in any other job..."
"And his reaction..."
"He gone bonkers and called me names as a spoiled child. His wife had a good reaction, if I could say that: he constrained him and gave him a little Vallium so he could calm himself down."
"Well: I know Don and this look predictable. But and his health..."
"With exception of any stressful job, like ATC or Police or something like that, he's 100% apt for any job."
"Could I ask you, Dr. Yeong, if ToonWorld trips were a good idea?" said Felix.
"Well... How can I say: there's some articles that says that the Portal Trip, not only for ToonWorld, but for any other, could be unadvisable... BUT, by myself, I believe that, in Mr. DeMarco's situation, we could even advise a permanency on ToonWorld. A toonification would be out-of-bounds: his cardiac situation could compromise a toonification and even result on death on the process. But I think he could live more and with a better life quality on ToonWorld from now. Fall Downs'll not affect his heart more than anyone's, for better or for worse." said Yeong.
"Leave this for me." said Stripey "I'll try and convince the DeMarco's to came permanently to ToonWorld."
And Stripey and Rosie Skyped Don and Camille:
"So, you know now my situation." said Don, looking a little down.
"You're not in critical health situation." said Stripey "Considering all the info I collected about you, you're better than many people that suffered the same you had. Backstory of heart disease on family, stressful job, a little overweight... In 'normal' situations with this history, you could expect at leat 45% heart capacity compromised. You had, if much, 5%. You're almost healthy as possible. Unfortunaly, FAA don't accept almost."
"I know... But I dedicated 15 years of my life on this. I had gone bonkers so much time on job... Heck, I was on duty on 9/11, when the world had gone bananas by Bin Laden." said Don, almost fuming. Then he breathed a little and said. "It still shocking for my know that I could not do what I like most, even more than going to ToonWorld by this disease... It's a little sad and I'm a little worried about the future. I had already signed my resignation from FAA and now I'll be retired from duty."
"Well... I discussed with the medic: maybe you could came to ToonWorld for a month or two. You're resigned anyway from duty and had nothing to lose. The medic just wants you not Fall Down as much as you done before, but just as a extra security than as a prohibition." said Stripey "You could stay here on Goatbarn Hole for a time, and so you would not pay for hotel."
"It could be a great idea, Don." said Camille
"You want me to go live the rest of my life there, nah?" said Don. Stripey blushed.
"In fact, that was the original idea. But, if you want to live here for some time and you adjust with this kind of life, you could stay. I have to say, however, that toonification would be out-of-bounds: any reaction in the process could be stronger and more difficult to cope with your situation. But your life could have a improvement on his quality. And, to be frank, what have you to lose? No kids, little family and no job. Maybe you could reconstruct your life here in ToonWorld." said Rosie.
"Like you and Stripey did." said Don. "Oh, well, looks an option. I was going bonkers 'cause I couldn't see how to go out now. But, and about you, Camille?"
"Well, I'm your wife, and where you go, I'll be with you." said Camille
"Enough said." said Stripey. "Don, I'll talk the terms with your doctor: maybe me and Dr. Felix would be needed on the Portal exit as you came here. But we'll bring you ASAP."
"Thanks, friend." said Don, a little tear running from his eyes. "Maybe you're right: I can have a good life on ToonWorld by now."
And it happened: two weeks after, the two Fiat 500 was in the Portal port exit: Stripey's black one and Rosie's yellow, Don was being driven to the car in a wheelchair, followed by Dr. Fox, Rosie, Camille, Flappy, and a big squirrel, almond-furred and green eyed, dressed on a jeans jumpsuit, white shirt, and straw hat, that was Susan Squirrel, the owner from Billyhill Farm, the ranch next Goatbarn Hole.
"I could walk myself, understood?" said Don.
"Don, until we arrive on Goatbarn Hole, you'll be a patient, okay?" said Stripey "I swear Dr. Yeong and all the hospital you'll arrive well on Goatbarn Hole."
"He looka strong and hard-worker." said Susan, with a harsh redneck accent. "Dontcha you treating he as a big momma boy?"
"No, Susan." said Camille, as Mary Poppins this time. "He's not totally recovered yet. He still needs some rest."
"You know, the cows are a-giving me lotsawork. And the pigs and all the stock. Maybe a pair of good hands like his could be a-very useful in me ranch."
"Maybe, Susan." said Felix "Work with cattle looks nothing as stressful as working with airplane."
"Well..." said Don "My daddy came from Kansas, you know. I gone there every summer and winter for the holiday. And I milked the cows and moved the pigs and gave food the chickens and so on. I liked that, but I was a city boy than. I could not believe in working in the fields. Well, looks a karma." said Don, smiling a little.
"You'll see whatcha a big field and good air coulda make you. I prefer cow dung smell than this city smoke." said Susan, wrinking her muzzle "Me dad was the owner of the farm before me, and me dad's dad, and his dad before, and all so on. Me brothers came to Big City. Me? I liked the fields so much. I'm woman, but dontcha need any man saying what to do. Me can even shoot foxes and wolves and some deer for game meat."
"Well, time to split." said Stripey, putting Don's luggage on Rosie's car. "Don, you come with me, Flappy and Dr. Felix. Camille, you go with Rosie and Susan." said Stripey.
They gone the way out to Green Meadows:
"And about your family?" asked Rosie, when a smell gone into the car.
"What awful smell!" said Camille, coughing
"It's not me!" said Rosie, activating the air conditioning "My tail is knotted!"
They looked to Susan, who was smoking a self-made padded cigar.
"Oh, sorry!" said Susan, blusing as she putted out the cigar "Me didn't know you'ra uneasy with my cigars.", putting the cigars remaining on the jumpsuit
"No problem, Susan, but please, no more cigars here in the car." said Rosie. "As I was saying, and about your family?"
"They had understand what happened. They even liked the idea of a ToonWorld safe haven." said Camille.
"And you? Had you quitted your job?" said Rosie.
"Yes." said Camille "Well, I liked my job, but I love Don so much..."
"You looka a good lady, you know." said Susan "You husband's a lucky pal."
"But I believe you entered papers to work as nurse here in ToonWorld" said Rosie.
"Well... A lawyer friend of mine, specialized on toon-human interactions said that my documents as nurse are still valid. By some crazy motive, only toonified people need to make all that red-paper you and Stripey passed." said Camille
"Well, if you'ra with no jobs, my farm has enough." said Susan. "It's a big farm, and me think you can be useful."
"She would, Susan. She's quite a baker. She taught me all I know about pies and bread and cakes."
"So she looka very a-goody!" said Susan "Your bread is very good."
She laughed and stopped on a gas stop for fix something to eat and see the sun dawning. Susan lit her smelly cigar and savored it as much as she could. She looked very feminine, in a tomboyish style.
"Me lived alone by 10 years now." said Susan "Me want a mate, but I coulda not live with that good-for-nothing guys that came here. I had shot some of them out of me life, so I had bin called 'Calamity Susan' by that good-for-nothing guys."
"I know... Looks very harsh your life." said Rosie, as they take their hamburgers and fries and beer (except Don, Stripey and Rosie, who had Coke).
"Honestly? Me like that way. I can live by meself as I want and no one coulda say nothing against me. Me crops are very good and I live well. Not luxurious like you and your husband, but I have land, crop and stock and what more could me want? Me life is good. Okay, sometimes me feel that I wanna a pair of slipper to me old feet, so to speak, but I donna wanna a good for nothing toon that could not wanna work and be a eat and drink guy. I donna have any patience on this."
"I believe you, Susan... But why not a guy from Big City?" said Camille
"Me can say you all these guys are sissies that coulda not work." said Susan "I know you'ra a lady lady, Rosie. And I like you bin this way. But that's not for meself. Daddy made me strong and nature made me strong. Me swan on lake in winter, chopped logs for the hearth and woke up everyday before sun rises. That's the life for me."
"Well, sounds good." said Don "Maybe some fresh air could help me."
"So, you'ra not a sissy boy and you'ra not a good-for-nothing eat-and-sleep guy..." said Susan
"Not at all." said Camille "His health was compromised somewhat justly because he's not a momma's boy."
"Me believe you and your husband." said Susan "They call me redneck and dumb, yokel and bumpkin, hillbilly and hick. But me studied, and me works hard. Me not that dumb, no way. Me learned much on school, but life teached me more. And life teached me to see people as it was. And me can say that Rosie and Stripey made a-very good friends, and you also can lean on Stripey and Rosie. You are all a-very good people and you can lean on me all you can."
"People tends to judge by appearence." said Camille "I need to apologize myself: I though you as a redneck woman."
"Don' worry, me not offended." said Susan "You'ra not first and you'll a-be last. But this is why me believe on you: you'ra honest good fellows like Rosie and Stripey here. Me donna have problems with first impressions. But I know you'ra not bad fellows: we learn with nature. The eyes: you can hide your thought even from yourselv, but no one can hide the lights on the eyes. This is wisdom, wisdom that a bumpkin like me learn from nature and the city people don't." said she, laughing, flushing the rest of her beer down her throat.
"Well, there's some drive to Green Meadows." said Stripey "Maybe we should take some snacks and water for the trip. We'll be landing late there. If you want, Susan, you can sleep on Goatbarn Hole."
"Don' worry. Me need to do some things on crop tomorrow."
"Okay... Don, Camille, you'll stay home. We had a room for you, very good one. You can use everything there. Laundry..." said Rosie.
"No problem if I take some skunked bedclothes. I can help you." said Camille.
"For now it is this." said Stripey "So, next stop: Green Meadows." and he entered the Fiat 500.