In Sickness or In Health
The next morning, Hop Pop was preparing breakfast.
"Kids, breakfast is ready!" He called.
Sprig and Polly came downstairs, but Anne didn't come up.
"Hm, kids, you stay here, I'll go get Anne." Hop Pop said, walking to the basement.
He walked down the steps and went over to Anne's bed.
"Anne, everything okay?" He asked.
The blanket moved slightly and a groan was heard. Anne lowered the blanket and... oh she sure didn't look good. Her eyes were barely open, yet bloodshot. She skin was lighter than it used to be, she was sweaty, and her voice was very raspy.
"Hop... Pop?" Anne asked, struggling to open her eyes, "Ugh, what time is it?"
"Uh... Anne, you're not looking too good." Hop Pop said, putting a hand on Anne's head, "You're burning up."
Anne could barely respond. That's when Hop Pop saw her neck.
"Ah, I see." He said, "One of the spiders must've crawled onto you the other day. Must not of bitten you until you were asleep. First you get a broken arm, then you get bitten by a spider, what am I going to do with you, Anne?"
"... Get me some water?" Anne suggested.
"Sure. I'll be right back." Hop Pop said.
Hop Pop went back up the steps as Sprig and Polly peaked down to see her.
"HOLY WATER SNAKE! YOU LOOK LIKE DEATH!" Polly screamed in shock.
"I feel like it too." Anne said.
"What happened to you?" Sprig asked.
"Hop Pop says one…of those spiders bit…me. Must've been in…one of the buckets." Anne said, taking a deep breath every few words before she started coughing.
A. LOT.
"Oh boy! Hop Pop, we're gonna need that water fast!" Sprig shouted as Polly hopped down to Anne.
"You got a tickle in your throat. Let me help with that!" Polly said before jumping and using her whole body to hit Anne's back repeatedly!
It did seem to help. A lot in fact.
"Thanks, Polly." Anne said, before laying back down.
Hop Pop came back down and handed Anne the water.
"Thanks." She said, drinking it.
She downed the water and started to close her eyes.
"Come on kids, let's give Anne some time to rest." Hop Pop said.
"You sure? Shouldn't she have a full stomach before she rests?" Sprig asked.
"We don't know if she could hold it down right now. Let's just let her rest." Hop Pop said as he guided Sprig and Polly out of the basement.
After that, Anne spent the entire day sleeping. Much to the worry of the Plantars.
"Should we be worried?" Sprig asked.
"It's normal for a spider bite, Sprig." Hop Pop said, "She just has to sweat it out."
"I know but... this seems... worse than it usually is." Sprig said, "Besides, she's human, who knows what something that affects amphibians does to a human."
"Well, if it gets to that point, then we'll deal with it." Hop Pop said, handing him a tray, "Now go see if she's ready to eat."
Sprig took the tray and walked to the basement. He opened the hatch and went downstairs.
"Hey, Anne... you hungry?" Sprig asked.
There was only a groan coming from Anne, followed by coughing.
"Anne?" Sprig asked.
He walked over and slowly took the blanket off Anne. He then let out a scream.
"HOP POP! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"
Hop Pop and Polly came down after hearing the scream.
"What's wrong?!" Hop Pop asked.
Sprig pointed at Anne, who coughed again, with more blood coming out of her mouth. The sheets that were once white were covered in red. Anne had to have coughed up at least a liter of blood.
"G-g-guys? I... I don't... feel too good." Anne said, coughing up more blood.
"Sprig, go get Maddie!" Hop Pop said, "She might know what to do!"
"O-Okay!" Sprig shouted as she hoped out of the basement and ran as fast as he could into town.
Meanwhile, Hop Pop and Polly tried to help Anne stop her bloody coughing.
"Anne!" Hop Pop said, helping her sit up, "It's going to be okay, Sprig is going to get help!"
"Hop Pop?" Anne asked, barely able to open her eyes, "I…"
She started coughing again, spilling more blood onto the bed. She groaned and fell forward.
"H… hurts." She mumbled.
"I know, Anne. Don't try to talk, we'll get you fixed up." Hop Pop said, gently patting Anne's back.
It didn't take long for Maddie to arrive.
"I've got Maddie!" Sprig shouted as he jumped into the basement, holding Maddie in his arms like a princess.
"I thought you'd be doing this to me on our wedding day but I'm not complaining." Maddie comments.
"Talk about our forced engagement later! Anne needs help now!" Sprig said as he put Maddie down and turned her to Anne.
Maddie began to look over her. She took a bit of her hair, tossed it into water, and then sprinkled something into it.
"This should help me see more about what's going on within her." She said.
"And- cuh!" Anne coughed again as more blood came out.
"Anne, please don't talk." Hop Pop said as he used a towel to wipe Anne's lip. "So what's the diagnosis, Maddie?"
"I'm working on it." Maddie said, mixing something else, "If this is from a spider bite like Sprig said, then this potion should help her overcome the symptoms, but I'm still trying to figure out what is causing the blood to come up."
Maddie pulled out a book and began writing in it.
"Hm, maybe if I... ah ha!" Maddie said, "I might have a way to fix this... at least temporarily."
"Temporary is better than nothing at all! Our human is puking up more blood!" Polly shouted as she gestured to Anne, who tried to not cough as more blood leaks from her lips.
"Shouting won't help." Maddie said as she continued working, grabbing a random pot in the basement and several bottles around them. "I'll try and get this done quickly. I know of a potion that can help with a similar problem, I just have to make it real quick. For now, try and stop her from losing more blood."
Maddie then went upstairs and the Plantars looked at Anne, trying to at least get her to stop coughing on the bed.
"Here, try coughing into the towel." Hop Pop said, putting the towel to Anne's mouth.
Anne gladly took the towel and held it against her mouth, muffling her coughs and stopping more blood from coming out.
'Oh god, please Maddie hurry!' Anne thought as she swallowed a mouthful of blood.
It didn't take long for Maddie to show up and finish her potion, immediately putting it in an empty bottl, and forcing it down Anne's throat.
"That should help stop the blood." Maddie said, before pulling out another one, "And this one should help with the sickness."
Anne grabbed this one before Maddie could get close.
"I'll drink this one... nearly choked with you forcing the other down." Anne said, her voice still raspy.
"It was either force it down or risk you coughing up more blood mid-drink." Maddie said with a shrug.
'Can't argue there.' Anne thought as she drank the second potion, nearly gagging at the taste! 'Ugh! At least it's better than my own blood.'
After drinking the second potion, Anne gave the bottle back to Maddie as her breathing became a bit easier. But then Anne laid back down, suddenly feeling very tired.
"Also it works as a narcotic." Maddie said.
"Now you…tell me…" Anne said before falling asleep again.
"That should help her get through the rest of this. As well as fix anything that got damage when she coughed up all of this blood." Maddie said before picking up Anne's towel full of blood. "Which I will take some to study more just in case."
"That would be creepy if we just didn't see her puke up two gallons of human blood." Polly said as she pointed to all the blood on Anne's bed and around the floor.
"Well clean that up later but thank you, Maddie. Really." Hop Pop said with a relieved smile.
"Well, if you need anymore help, you know where to find me." Maddie said, before smiling creepily at her future husband. "Bye, Sprig."
"Bye, Maddie." Sprig said as she walking out of the basement and the house.
Hop Pop walked over to Anne and put a clean blanket over Anne.
"Come on, Kids, let's leave Anne to sleep. Frog knows she's earned it." He said, "Sprig, can you check on her ever now and then? Let me know if something happens?"
"You got it, Hop Pop." Sprig said, looking at Anne.
'Hopefully nothing else bad will happen.' Sprig thought.