The Octonauts and the Pollution Incident

Chapter 5

@thethirdweasleytwin

"Hello? Bianca?" Tweak's paws trembled as she held the phone and silently pleaded for Bianca to answer.

"Yes? Tweak?" The kindness and enthusiasm in Bianca's voice seemed like a breath of fresh air compared to the gloom and worry that Tweak had been living under for a while.

"Listen," Tweak swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn't bring herself to tell Bianca what was happening. No. What MIGHT happen to her brother, "The Captain and the majority of the crew are very sick with a virus." Bianca gasped, and her tone, which had been soft and loving before, turned hard.

"Don't worry. I'll come as soon as I can."

Kwazii surfaced from the water to see a polar bear wearing a pink sweater carrying a cub in each arm sprinting towards him. He opened the windshield of the Gup to let Bianca and the cubs in.

"Nice to see you, matey." Kwazii smiled sadly and shook Bianca's hand as she got in before leaning in close and whispering, "With the state of things now, is it really a good idea bringing the cubs along, matey?" Bianca shook her head forlornly before clutching both her cubs a little closer to her chest.

"I know about the virus, and Pearl's son, but what else am I to do with them? I can't just leave them alone."

Kwazii stayed silent, but fear shrieked inside of him and dug its nails into his heart. What was going to happen to him? To Bianca? To Orson and Ursa?

"Where is my brother?" Bianca asked Shellington and Pearl in the Launch Bay once she'd arrived. 

"In the Sick Bay." Shellington answered and grabbed her arm in an iron grip, "Bianca, he's not... well." He mulled over his words before he spoke, not wanting to alarm or upset her.

"Maybe it's not something the cubs should see." Pearl suggested, "I can watch them while you go to the Sick Bay." She placed a comforting paw on Bianca's shoulder. Bianca didn't want to leave her children, but she needed to see her brother.

"Alright," She agreed and knelt down to her cubs' level, "Mummy needs to see your Uncle Barnacles now. Remember how I told you he was sick?"

"How sick?" Ursa asked innocently.

"I don't know, darling. It's why I need to go see him. I love you, my cubs." Bianca smiled tenderly and held both her children close, like she'd never let them go again.

No amount of bracing herself could have prepared her for the sight of her brother, sickly pale with dark shadows under his eyes, looking like he was fading away before her eyes. Tears sprung to her eyes but she impatiently wiped them away. She couldn't break down, not with her brother like this. Tweak walked in on the sight of Bianca fighting back tears, and without words, wrapped a strong, reassuring arm around the mother wracked with emotion, but trying so hard to repress it for her children's sake. Bianca crumbled in her arms and began to sob helplessly.

"Barnacles-" She stuttered as Tweak held her tighter, and stroked her hair. They held each other silently in the room for what felt like hours, two broken women healing each other, until the Captain began to stir and opened his eyes.

@Burritogirlboss

Bianca took a minute to compose herself and dry her tears. She walked over to her brother to find him staring at her. She smiled, or at least she tried to. She didn't want to make him worry so she tried to have a believable smile, but was clearly failing to do so. 

She grabbed a chair and sat near by his bed and took his paw. She didn't know what exactly to say, but Barnacles noticed this and spoke for her. "So how have you and the cubs been?"