"Oh sweetie..." Ella was the first one to speak up, leaning her head in a bit closer as Riley gently nuzzled her in return, the girl's gentle touch doing wonders for both of them.

Riley could see faint wetness in the corners of her eyes, and upon a quick glance to the side, also Lily's and Andrew's, her smile widening a bit as she tried to calm them down-

"I'm alright, I promise..."

Andrew was the first to crack, sniffling quietly as he wrapped his arms around his sis, first few words coming out as little more than sobbing noises before her embrace stilled his anxiety, Riley continuing-

"And I... love you all so much." Not even she managed to hold back from tearing up some at all the hardly held in emotions in the room, leaning in to rest her cheek on his, hand gently petting his shoulder.

"We love you too!" Timmy squeaked out from his position, seemingly oblivious to the rest of his family's tears before wrapping his arms around all his siblings, Lily having since squirmed close enough for the tyke to just barely reach her.

Riley slowly slid her head across her siblings' heads, gentle nuzzling succeeding at calming Lily down as well, the girl's breathing deepening out.

Everything *was* gonna be alright.

They rested like this for a few moments, even Timmy remaining quiet as he took in his sister's touch, a few stray tears from everyone dampening the bed's covers.

"How are you feeling sweetie?" Mom softly asked after a while, gathering everyone's attention as she sat on the edge of the bed, reaching a paw in to gently stroke Riley's hair, left a fair bit brighter after decontamination.

"Well, the best I've felt since I woke up that's for sure." Riley responded with a soft chuckle, Andrew's gentle hug only deepening.

"And as for the rest, just sore but otherwise roughly fine." She giggled inwardly at her brother loosening his embrace a bit, juuuust in case.

"What about the hand?" Lily brought up in response, Riley lifting her arm just a bit while trying not to move anything past her forearm, the cast thankfully protecting her from doing anything too painful.

"I think the doctor mentioned something about... physics therapy?"

"Physical therapy. Hopefully it's not gonna be too bad but may take a while." The skunk mom cut in to correct her, Riley opening her mouth to ask a question before being interrupted once more.

Rick walked right in with a rather filled bag, discussion with the doctor that came in right after making him oblivious to the scene in front of him, at least for a few moments before he realized that Riley was awake, the sight making him stop in his tracks.

"What did you buy dad!?" Timmy couldn't hold back his excitement, sliding off Riley's bed and yanking at the bag his dad held, the latter's expression sliding from brief surprise and unease to a wide, soft smile.

"Well, hope the sleepyhead is in the mood for some fried chicken!"

***

And sure enough she was. Even with all its grease, fast food chicken was so much better than... whatever food substitute it was that she actually ate this morning.

The side effect of everyone having something else to focus on besides Riley's obvious injuries was also dearly appreciated by pretty much everyone, the atmosphere quickly becoming much less heavy.

And much more fried chicken-y.

Arrival of the doctor further calmed everyone down, all worrisome questions answered by someone much more knowledgeable about the broken bits of Riley's body than the poor girl herself. However, the answer to one last question got everyone particularly excited, Lily audibly squeeing once the doc told the family that Riley could be discharged as early as the day after tomorrow, finding absolutely no opposition to that possibility.

And neither did Lily and Timmy in trying to scramble onto Riley's bed with her, the trio eventually managing to scramble into something vaguely comfortable with the tyke on his big sister's lap, and with help from their parents, she managed to sit back up on the bed, sliding to the side enough for Lily to be able to squeeze in with her, resting her head on her big sis' shoulder.

With the bucket of chicken eventually emptied, its spot was once again taken up by the Scrabble board, Timmy busy holding the tiny bag of fries with one paw as the other kept reaching over and composing the words his big sis kept whispering in his ear.

Lily decided to stay on the sidelines as the rest of the family played on, her tail wrapped around Riley as the latter awkwardly did the same with her bad arm.

The day passed by slowly, the family game giving everyone some much needed comfort and normalcy, the Ashers playing well into the sunset with nobody really wanting to stop, least of all Riley herself.

But as the day turned into evening and evening into night, even the most determined siblings started to slowly drop off, Riley taking turns between scritching the sleeping Timmy and Lily as the drowsiness crept up on her too.

And once even Andrew was too out of it to make a move on his turn, everyone collectively agreed it was time to call it for the day, everyone still awake giving Riley a big ol' hug and a goodbye before carrying the sleepyheads out of the room.

A few moments later a very drowsy Ella ran back in, Riley blankly staring at her for a while before the skunk mom finally spoke up-

"Meant to give you this bag earlier and got caught up in things. Don't forget to charge it this time, hehee." Ella leaned in to give her still awake daughter a small bag, giggling at her own forgetfulness and planting one last smooch on Riley's forehead, the girl giggling happily and sending her off with a gentle wave before letting out a massive yawn she'd been keeping in for hours.

She had to stop herself from passing out immediately upon resting her head back on the pillow, crinkling of the plastic bag snapping her back to more or less awareness.

One swift motion later, she dumped the contents onto her lap, several very welcome sights making her involuntarily smile. There was her phone, the charger, and a small bag of the peanut butter candy, though her still full tummy immediately opposed her when she tried to grab a couple.

And perhaps most surprising were her glasses, or at least an identical replacement, snuggled up securely inside their case, the girl suddenly feeling very dumb for just dumping all the contents like that.

With how little she'd used them, she had a really hard time figuring out whether the glasses were just a replacement or just a result of some... very dark magic needed to somehow get that scent off.

Probably the former.

But who knows, maybe its magic.

With glasses and candy moved onto the bedside stand, she picked her phone up, smiling at seeing it thankfully fully charged.

And fully filled up with messages, just about everyone outside of her immediate family had the same idea to send her some variation of 'Get well soon!', sometimes more than once, mostly just Ella's parents.

That is, aside from Maddy and around a dozen messages of worrying about her she had accumulated, Riley focusing her entire leftover willpower on somehow typing out a response with just her non-dominant hand, the feat probably enough to earn her a spot in some sort of distinguished afterlife-

'''
Riley Asher: hi maddy im awake now and have my phone
Riley Asher: dont worry im fine
'''

The girl took a deep sigh, hoping it would be enough to at least calm Maddy dow-

*BZZZT*

No way...

'''
Madeline Johnson: Oh God Riley are you alright!?
'''

Was she staring right at the phone just as Riley had responded or what?

Weird phone sorcery.

'''
Riley Asher: yeah sore a bit but im awake and well
Riley Asher: sorry about the date
Madeline Johnson: Who cares about that, I'm just glad you're alright
Madeline Johnson: Really really happy you're alright
'''

Riley couldn't help but smile just a bit at that, feeling warm on the inside at Maddy's words and care.

'''
Riley Asher: thank you maddy 🙂
Madeline Johnson: <3
Riley Asher: maybe we could try again?
'''

There was a noticeable pause before she even saw the indicator that Maddy was typing, a hint of concern over accidentally saying something dumb souring her smile a bit before she saw Maddy start typing again, messages popping up just seconds later-

'''
Madeline Johnson: Yes yes yes
Madeline Johnson: When are you out of the hospital!?
Madeline Johnson: And where would you wanna do it?
'''

She may be just a bit excited.

'''
Riley Asher: day after tomorrow but im free for visits
Riley Asher: and sitting here is boring as fuck alone
Riley Asher: so maybe tomorrow?
Madeline Johnson: That's
Madeline Johnson: That's a great idea, what hour would work for you?
Riley Asher: any hour i suppose probably early before my family so its not awkward
Madeline Johnson: How's ten sound?
Riley Asher: great
Madeline Johnson: See you then c:
'''

It was a date. A hospital date even.

Despite her sleepiness, the realization still made Riley giddy, making her briefly hold her phone to her chest in an imitation of a hug, the adorable display soon being cut off with yet another yawn, the rest of Riley that wasn't preoccupied with being gay for Maddy calling out for some well-deserved rest.

She reluctantly granted herself the wish, phone placed over on the bedside stand before the charger joined it- at least for the few seconds before she accidentally pushed the latter onto the floor, the sudden sound of plastic banging against the vinyl surface derailing any half-conscious plan of action she might have had, making her shrug slightly before turning over onto the other shoulder and finally letting her head rest on the pillow, sleep claiming her before she could even get comfortable.

Or turn the lights off for that matter.

***

*BZZZZZZZT*

*snore*

*BZZZZZZZT*

*snore*

*BZZZZZZZT*

M-mhn...

Riley stirred around on her bed, trying to blindly reach where she'd normally leave her phone-

*BZZZZZZZT*

Except with the wrong hand and in the wrong location, the resulting jolt of pain enough to force her into full awareness, a couple tears rolling down her cheeks at the intensity of her body's punishment for daring to move her bad hand.

*BZZZZZZZT*

As she breathed shallowly and waited for the pain to fade down to a manageable level, the buzzing of her phone had finally caught her attention, the girl shifting awkwardly towards it and just barely reaching it with her better limb, a quick glance at the display making her gulp loudly-

'''
📞📞 | 📶 3G+🔋79% 10:22AM
--------------------------

Incoming Call

Madeline Johnson

🚫 📞
Decline Accept

'''

Fuck.

The pain took a back seat to the fact that she overslept so badly as she scrambled to finally accept the call, anxiety about Maddy getting pissed at being unintentionally abandoned like that bubbling up as she brought the phone to her ear, trying to defend herself just in case, voice cracking slightly-

"I-I'm sorry, I-I-I-I-"

"Riley? Is everything alright?" Maddy responded calmly, the warm concern in her voice stilling the creeping anxiety in Riley's mind, the girl taking a few moments to gather herself before responding-

"S-sorry for oversleeping..." Riley squeaked out, shuddering as a couple more tears dropped down onto her covers.

"Oh don't be silly, you obviously need rest and I only just got here. O-oh dear, did I wake you up just now?" It was Maddy's turn to sound slightly sheepish and apologetic, Riley rushing back to reassure her-

"D-don't worry, it's l-late enough a-already, heh..." She chuckled quietly as she looked at the sunlight filling into the room through the slightly opened blinds. Guess they really did stay up quite late yesterday...

"A-alright. S-so, how does this work? I-I assume I can't just waltz into your room, right?"

"Probably not, uh... try talking to the receptionist I guess? I've honestly no clue." Their combined unease evaporated as they shifted focus from being sorry to each other towards actually trying to meet up, Riley hearing a few clearer steps amidst the sea of background noise before Maddy set the phone down on the desk and spoke up away from it-

"U-uh, excuse me?" Her voice soft and rather withdrawn, sounding cuter than it had any right to...

"Good morning, how can I help you?"

"H-hello, I-I'd like to visit a friend w-who's staying here."

Friend, h-heh...

"Of course, what's their name?"

"R-Riley Asher."

There was a longer pause and some muffled keyboard noises, Maddy audibly gulping before the clerk finally responded-

"Right. Well we've had quite a few people request visitation who were just journalists- so we'll need your ID and a verbal confirmation from the patient."

Verbal confirmation?

"O-of course, d-does a school ID suffice?" She could hear Maddy scramble around for a bit before laying something down on the table with a quiet slap, the nurse muttering a quiet 'Good enough' before typing out some more, leaving them both at an impasse for a good few moments before the clerk spoke again-

"Take a seat over there and if patient agrees you'll be taken in."

"T-thank you..." Maddy's quiet response was overshadowed by the knocking on Riley's door, the sudden noise jolting her back into awareness before she replied with a stuttering 'Come on in!'.

She took a deep breath as she put the phone down and hurriedly ended the call, her shoulders slumping in relief as she saw the nurse from yesterday, Lucy, enter the room.

"G-good morning!" Her voice cracked a bit from the nerves, the nurse waving softly at her in return as she spoke-

"Good morning Riley. How are you feeling today?" Her voice was noticeably warmer compared to yesterday, stress draining out of Riley as she responded-

"I'm, I'm r-r-really good! Just, moved the hand a bit and it hurt a lot..." She winced as the pain decided to make a comeback, her whole body having been slowly growing more and more achey since she woke up, especially her chest.

The nurse nodded and quickly walked up to the bedside table, shooting her a soft smile as she noticed the bag of candy before pulling out the ampule from the drawer. The expression was almost immediately washed from her face however, as she tripped on the dropped charger, tail moving much faster than Riley thought it was possible for one to before she quickly regained balance and picked the charger up, Riley only able to offer her an embarrassed 'Sorry'.

"It's fine, don't worry, should've spotted it myself, sigh..." The exhaustion underlying her voice made itself very apparent. Lucy reached up to rub her forehead a bit before shaking it off and continuing her procedures.

And once again, the injection of the clear painkiller made her feel alive once more- or at least no longer completely preoccupied with her aching wrist.

Just in time as the nurse turned to leave, Riley catching her attention with-

"E-excuse me!"

And after taking a quick sigh, Lucy turned back towards her, looking down at her with a wordless question.

"S-so my f-f-friend is waiting a-at the reception since sh-she wants to visit me and they told her she'd need my verbal confirmation or something, w-what's up with that?" Riley asked skittishly, not wanting to grind on the nurse's good will.

She chuckled dryly and responded in a deadpan voice-

"That's what they say to people they want to piss off, basically. I take it you would indeed want her to visit, right?"

"...y-yeah." Riley almost whispered back, pinkish blush contrasting greatly against her pale skin, making the nurse smile softly in response through her grogginess-

"Can do, if she's still waiting. What's her name?"

"M-madeline. T-thank you f-for this, L-Lucy..."

"You're welcome, just try to keep stuff off the floor next time, heh." The nurse chuckled before leaving the room, relief mixing with another heap of embarrassment on Riley's face.

She definitely didn't have to be told twice.

Lucy's absence gave her a well needed breather, letting her at least finally plug the charger in and hook the phone up to it before finding a comfortable position on her bed that would also leave enough space for Maddy to sit on- or at least trying to, her legs growing restless as she kept checking out all the poses she could contort herself into.

Without the secondary goal being too overt of course.

And of course, now that she had the candy, she better make some use of it, grabbing the small bag and trying to work it open with just one claw-less hand, utterly unsuccessful. Her more and more ingenious ideas ended up with just her good hand hurting and the plastic bag looking no worse for wear, the girl's seething resentment towards inanimate objects growing by the second as Maddy and the nurse were surely getting closer and closer.

A few moments of thinking as intense as her floating head could get her, she had finally come up with the revolutionary idea of using her teeth. Riley grabbed one side of the bag as firmly as she could with her mouth as the good hand strained against the other, the girl closing her eyes as she gave everything she could into the feat-

Straining herself hard enough to manage to miss the duo actually walking into the room, her strategy finally succeeding moments later.

In a way of absolutely tearing the plastic bag apart, individually wrapped candy launched all over her bed and the rest of the room, brief triumph quickly dampened as Riley opened her eyes to look at the aftermath. The mess scattered across the room combined with Maddy's barely held back laughter and nurse's obvious amusement made her really wish the bed had some sort of eject mechanism to catapult her straight into the sun.

"I'm gonna leave you two alone now~" Lucy giggled softly before giving them some well-deserved privacy, the inflection of her voice enough to deepen Riley's blush by a dozen shades on its own.

She kept staring at the door for a while afterwards, not having the heart to look back at her visitor before she thankfully got lent a hand anyway.

Literally.

Maddy crouched down to grab the few pieces that had managed to clear the entire bed and land on the vinyl floor, giggling quietly all the while before dumping the finds back on Riley's bed, amusement and sincere gratitude combining in her voice as she spoke up-

"Thanks for the candy, teehee." -and had one herself, her soft smile widening at the sweet taste as she cleared herself a spot amongst the debris and sat down on the side of the bed.

"Y-y-you're w-welcome Maddy..." The embarrassment refused to wash away even as Maddy's actions made it clear that she didn't mind the well-intentioned goof, the weasel girl unable to hold her laughter back any more after taking another glance at Riley, her blush intense enough by this point to power street lights on its own.

"You're absolutely adorable, you know?" Maddy's words definitely didn't help with the blush, but at least gave Riley enough mental fortitude to look her in the eyes, finding... absolutely no malice or ill will in them, just a lot of amused happiness.

That felt better than it had any right to, her heart finally slowing down a notch as she slid just a bit closer, bolstered by Maddy's warmth. She eased on her laughter in response, moving herself just a bit towards Riley as well.

"So uh, aside from, well, all this, how've you been doing Riley?" Maddy cursed herself for the sentence coming out so clunky, hoping Riley would get the point.

Which she didn't, but it didn't matter.

"Much b-b-better than when I was k-knocked out that's for ss-sure. F-family came to visit yesterday and g-god did I need that badly."

"Aww, glad to hear Riley. Was a stone off my heart when you sent me that message yesterday, I can only imagine their sheer relief, heh."

"Y-yeah... c-can't say I didn't appreciate your messages either..."

It was Maddy's turn to blush brightly, the weasel girl looking slightly away from Riley as she tried to dismiss it all-

"N-nah, i-it was just me being a panicky kit, o-of course you w-wouldn't have been able to respond and all..."

"But you cared enough to do it."

Bingo.

The red of Maddy's embarrassment pushed itself through the soft white fur of her cheeks, the furred girl shaking a bit as she nervously chuckled in response, a cheeky smile sprouting on Riley's face as she involuntarily leaned in, the excitement, appreciation, and the mild high of her painkillers combining into one emboldening mixture.

Enough to make her sit up on the bed and lean in, sitting there for a moment before whispering out, voice shaky from excitement at what she was about to do-

"And I really appreciate that~"

-and kissing Maddy lightly on the cheek, the realization that yes, she indeed just did that, made both their hair stand on end, much more of it in case of the recipient.

After the initial shock of... that actually having happened, Maddy turned slowly towards her, expression an inscrutable mishmash that Riley couldn't even begin to parse before being pulled into a close and surprisingly warm hug. Maddy's elated squeak that followed downright melted something inside her, Riley responded with the closest approximation her throat could produce as she wrapped her one good arm around her in return, all the warmth making her feel pumped enough to scale mountains.

On a wheelchair no less.

They both held each other for a long while, neither willing to risk breaking the magic of the moment by saying something that wasn't excited squeaking or squeak-adjacent humming, Riley only prying open her eyes upon feeling something brush against her face, smiling even wider upon realizing it to be Maddy's puffed up, rapidly waving tail, the sight enough to warm her heart on its own.

That is, if the other thing she saw didn't still it immediately afterwards, the sight of a surprised Rick peeking into the room with the door half open making her freeze in panic. Her brain raced ten miles a minute to figure out, well, anything before being cut off with a soft, barely perceptible giggle from the direction of the door, Rick speaking out loud enough to be clearly heard soon after-

"Awwh, she's still asleep. Say, how about we go check out the arcade nearby and come back in a couple hours?" His tone not giving anything away as he gently closed the door, Timmy's muffled squeaks of excitement enough to convince the rest of the family to try again later.

They both held each other, completely frozen for a good few moments, neither saying a word until all the group steps have faded away completely, the curse of awkwardness only finally being broken by Maddy, voice as deadpan as it was disbelieving-

"...I love your dad, holy shit."

"Y-yeah, s-so do I."

Their lil' exchange didn't relax them much in itself, Maddy holding back a quiet chuckle before speaking up once more, keeping her voice just as flat-

"Wanna kiss again?"