Chapter Twelve
Pepe stared at her.
He slowly walked up to her.
He stared at her.
With two fingers of one hand, he held his nose. With one finger of another hand, he slowly reached out, and very lightly poked her ankle.
"WHUH!" She jerked awake, arms prepared to chop, and he jumped back. Her eyes landed on him. "...Uh..." She settled back down and went back to sleep.
He stared at her. "...Dios mio,
SHE'S ALIVE!"
"Who is? Your imaginary girlfriend?" Rizzo called from another room.
"No, no! MISS PIGGY!"
"WHAT?" A lot of voices said that.
"Si, si! She's here! She's alive! Come look! But hold jour nose, hokay. She smells like a pig."
"Pepe, WHAT are you smoki-- SHE'S ALIVE!"
"SI! H'I told jou dis, hokay."
"MISS PIGGY!"
"MISS PIGGY!"
"MISS PIGGY!"
"MISS PIGGY! ...Is she okay?"
"H'I don't know. She came in, h'and she fell asleep, and h'I woke her up, h'and she threatened to kill me, h'and she went back to sleep."
"...Well, then I guess it's her."
"Of all the times for Kermit to be at the swamp..."
"Where's Scooter?"
"RIGHT HERE!" The go-fer came pushing through the crowd with a blanket in one hand and a pillow in the other. "If she's gonna sleep here, she might as well be comfy!" He knelt down in front of her, eyes darting over her thin-- dangerously thin-- and filthy form. "...Miss Piggy?" he said gently.
She didn't stir, and he lifted the blanket to spread it over her.
"WHUH!" She jerked awake, arms set to chop, and she met his eyes and froze. "Uh..." She settled back down, and he quickly set the pillow between her head and the wall. She flinched when she felt it, but her eyes caught him again, and she settled, and was soon back to sleep.
Scooter swallowed hard. "Gee," he said, spreading the blanket over her a little better, "She sure is... nervous..."
"She sure is
dirty."
"She sure is
thin!"
"...Guys... I don't think she's healthy," Rowlf said gently.
Scooter shook his head. "Her bones are all sticking out... She probably hasn't eaten much..."
"...But she made it," Fozzie said quietly.
For that, they stood and stared at her in total reverence for a long moment, and probably would have stood there longer, had it not been for one thing.
The phone rang.
"...KERMIT!"
They turned and raced for the phone. Gonzo got it first.
"KERMIT?"
"Whoa—uh-- hi-ho--"
"SHE'S HERE!"
"...What?"
"PIGGY!" Gonzo danced around a bit. "Piggy's here! She's alive! She's asleep!"
"...Pi-- ...Piggy..."
"YES! PIGGY! SHE'S HERE!"
"...She-- ...She-- she's THERE?"
"YES! SHE'S HERE! She's HERE!"
"...I-- ...There's a train leaving in ten minutes! I'll be on it!"
Click.
Gonzo hung up the phone. "HE'S COMING!"
"Shhh! You'll wake Piggy!" Scooter scolded.
Janice knelt down next to Rowlf, who was next to Scooter, who, of course, was guarding Miss Piggy. "...Well, like... Whaddaya think, Doctor Bob?" she said quietly.
Rowlf sighed. "Well, Nurse Janice... I think Nurse Piggy has seen better days," he said softly, "...But not in a long, long time."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was evening by the time Kermit opened the door at the boarding house.
When he did so, the door nudged against Miss Piggy's foot, and she jolted up. "WHUH--" She saw him. "Uhh." She settled back down.
He slipped inside and knelt down next to Scooter. "Piggy?" he whispered.
Her eyes remained open, and she shifted her head to let them settle on him. Now that was a shade of green she hadn't seen in a while.
"Welcome home, Miss Piggy," he whispered.
...Home... Her lips shifted in the vague direction of a small smile.
"Would you like some help getting up the stairs?" he asked gently. "You could probably use a bath."
She hesitated, processing... and nodded once.
Without another word, he scooped her into his arms and picked her up, nodding towards Janice for her to follow him as he carried the lady pig up the stairs.
It should not have been such an easy thing for him to pick Miss Piggy up off the floor and carry her up the stairs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Miss Piggy soaked in that bathtub for a long time, watching as the water turned brown.
Then she drained it and carefully got out and dried herself off, with help from Janice. Safely wrapped in her old robe-- it fit her
so very loosely-- Janice led her back to her bedroom, notified Kermit that she was done in the bathroom, and helped her change into a nightgown, which also fit very loosely...
Clean clothes. It felt
so very strange. The clothes she had been wearing for a full year were neatly folded in a corner in her bedroom, on top of that old pack.
Janice was helping her into bed when Kermit came in with a bowl of soup. "Piggy?" he said softly.
She settled against her headboard with a pillow behind her, and Janice stepped aside.
Kermit sat down on the bed. "Are you hungry?" he asked, with every intention of getting this soup into her no matter how she answered.
She nodded, and he let out a sigh of relief.
She reached for the bowl, but he shook his head. "You rest," he said softly. "I'll feed you."
She pouted, but made no further protest.
He scooped spoonful after spoonful into her mouth, and she took it eagerly. It was mostly broth, with a few noodles, but Rowlf had advised against shocking her system with too much too soon. Heaven only knew what she'd been eating.
The warm broth felt marvelous on her throat. Warm food! It had been ages since she'd eaten warm food...
Then he scooped the first noodle into her mouth. She froze, startled, almost panicky, and then identified it. Her face relaxed, and even took on a vague hint of pleasure, and she swallowed and waited eagerly for the next spoonful.
He bit his lip. "Does it taste good?" he asked as he gave her another spoonful.
...Taste? ...Did that matter? ...She gave him a quick nod.
"Oh, good," he said softly.
Eventually, he ran out of soup.
"Do you want me to get some more?" he asked.
She shook her head. She was full. She was even content.
"Okay then," he said gently. "You want to sleep?"
She nodded. She was exhausted.
He nodded. "Okay," he said softly. He hesitated for a long moment, and then he took her hand-- so hard and rough-- and gently squeezed it. "It-- ...It's good to see you again, Piggy," he whispered.
She looked at his hand on hers and nodded. Home.
He squeezed her hand again. "Sleep well, Piggy," he said softly, and he stood up with the empty bowl and went to her door.
She looked around her bedroom one last time, eyes searching, checking, detecting... no danger. She pulled the blanket up and lay down in her little ball-- lying down instead of sitting, for a change-- and quickly fell asleep.
Kermit frowned, still watching her, noting that she was in the fetal position. The poor thing had to have been through so much... But she was safe now. She was
home now. She was...
...She was alive...
With a deep sigh, he turned out the light and gently closed her door.