Chapter twenty-nine
The room immediately came to attention. The nurse could feel them watching her. She shifted uneasily. “Um,” she said, “I’m looking for Kermit the Frog?”
They glanced at Kermit. He glanced at his father and back at the nurse. “That’s me,” he said.
The nurse pointed behind her with her thumb. “There’s, uh, someone waiting to see you, out in front of the hospital? They said it’s urgent.”
Kermit’s frown deepened. He turned to his father. The old frog nodded. Kermit stood up and followed the nurse out of the room. “It better not be a reporter,” he mumbled to himself as he walked down the stairs.
He kept his eyes to his feet as he pushed the door open with a sigh. He stepped out into the sunlight and reluctantly looked up.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
Fozzie stopped pacing the walkway and looked up at his friend. Behind him, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Rowlf, Scooter, Clifford, and Pepe, stood up from the bench and stepped forward. Sweetums stood behind the bench.
Kermit stood in the open doorway, slowly looking from one face to the next.
Gonzo stepped forward with his arms spread out and a smile on his face. “SURPRISE!”
Kermit took a deep breath. “Hi,” he said.
They stood there for a moment.
“Are you mad at us for coming?” Fozzie asked suddenly.
Kermit looked at him slowly. “Mad?” he asked quietly. He shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’m glad you’re here.” He let the door slip shut behind him.
They stepped out of his way as he walked over to the bench and sat down. Fozzie sat to his left, Gonzo to his right. The others made a circle around them.
“So?” Rowlf said quietly. “How is she?”
Kermit was looking down at his feet. He shook his head. “It... It’s not good, guys,” he said quietly. “She... The nurse... The nurse just... told us, that... Well she said... she said that...” He took a deep breath. “There... Something with the... the anesthetic... something was... was wrong with it... and...” He was shaking, and he couldn’t speak.
Fozzie put a hand on Kermit’s back. “Kermit?” he said.
Kermit looked up at him.
“Let
us be strong for
you this time.”
Kermit took a deep breath. “The nurse just told us it’s very likely... that...” he shook his head. “She won’t... make it...”
Fozzie hugged him. Kermit clung to his friend and buried his face in his fur, as the floodgates finally opened and he poured out ten years of tears for his mother.
Fozzie hugged his friend. Gonzo put a hand on Kermit’s back. Everyone huddled around the frog, supporting him, comforting him, giving him much needed time to cry.
They sat together there for almost half an hour before Kermit was able to sit up and wipe his eyes. “I... I don’t want to lose her,” he said quietly. “
We don’t want to lose her, you know? The whole family, we... we still need her.” He looked around at them. “I mean, she’s sort of like... like the center of the family, y’know? And we all... we all need her.”
Fozzie nodded. “We understand,” he said. The others nodded.
Kermit sighed. “It’s still hard,” he whispered.
They were quiet for a moment.
“Well, Boss?” Scooter said. “At least you’ll still remember her when she’s gone.”
Kermit looked up at him.
“And you always knew that you had a mom,” Gonzo said.
Kermit turned and looked at him.
“And you’ve always known where you can go to see her,” Rowlf said.
Kermit looked up at him.
“And you can still see all your brothers and sisters,” Clifford said.
Kermit looked at him. He slowly looked at all of them. “I... I guess I didn’t think of that,” he said. “...Thanks.”
They nodded.
He looked around at them again. “Hey, um... guys?” he said. “Uh, if you guys are here... who’s taking care of the theater?”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dr. Teeth looked over the clipboard, then tossed it over his shoulder. “Alright, so what are we puttin’ in the show?” he asked. “How bout we give ourselves a number?”
“How bout two numbers?” Floyd said.
“Consider it done!” Dr. Teeth said. “What should we play?”
“Like, something rully loud, fer sure,” Janice said.
“LOUD! LOUD! LOUD! LOUD!”
“Down!” Floyd ordered.
Zoot looked around. “Wh-What?”
Dr. Teeth shook his head. “Go back to sleep, Zoot.”
Zoot shrugged and leaned back.
“Hey Lips,” Floyd said. “Let’s give you a little spotlight this week.”
“Sounds good,” Lips said.
“Alright, but we do need more in the show than us,” Dr. Teeth said.
Floyd blinked. “What else is there?” he asked.
“Like, Vet’s Hospital,” Janice said.
“Alright,” Dr. Teeth said. “And what else?”
They glanced around at each other.
“WANT MUSIC!” Animal shouted. “DRUM SOLO!”
“Rully, like, that’s all we know,” Janice said.
“We’ll cal it a tribute to music, and just do all songs,” Floyd said.
Dr. Teeth smiled. “It’s a good thing the frog likes music,” he said. “Alright, let’s start pickin’ songs.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The front door of the hospital opened and an old frog stepped out, leaning heavily on his cane. The small group around the bench didn’t notice him, nor did they notice the little frog that bolted out from behind his legs.
The little frog ran behind the bench and tugged at the monster’s pant leg.
Sweetums looked down and smiled. He bent down and picked the frog up. “Hey little fella,” he said.
“Hi,” Robin said quietly as he hugged his friend’s thumb.
The group looked up, noticing Robin for the first time.
The old frog watched as they greeted his grandson. “Kermit,” he called.
Kermit quickly turned to him, and the others followed his lead. “Yeah Dad?” he said.
The old frog beckoned with his hand. “Why don’t you and your friends come in,” he said.
Kermit looked around at his friends and stood up. The others followed him as he walked over to his father.
The old frog put a hand on his son’s shoulder and nodded to the small group. “Your clump?”
Kermit shrugged. “My clump.”
The old frog nodded. “It’s a nice clump,” he said. Kermit put a hand on his back as he turned to go inside.
The group followed them through the doors. Fozzie turned to Gonzo, confused. “Clump?”