The horrible screaming coming from her petrified best friend's throat soon began to settle down, the hospital becoming silent once more as the cries of terror finally died out...
Hearing the newly found silence, Poppy looked towards the room Branch was being held in, the poor girl wanting so badly to be with her best friend... he needed her... and she left him...
And that silence... that pure bone chilling silence... it was somehow worse than the gray troll's bloodcurdling screams...
Was he ok? What if something happened? Why the hair wasn't she in there with him!?
—————
Eventually, after a few hours of complete and total quiet, Branch's door finally slid open, all the many doctors previously needed to hold the survivalist in place flooding out of the tiny room as one of them broke free from the herd, slowly approaching the pink troll sitting impatiently in the waiting room, the medical professional taking off a pare of bloody plastic gloves before throwing them into a nearby trash bin...
"Princess Poppy," the doctor greeted in a soft tone, looking at the young girl in front of him with no clear emotion visible on his fuchsia colored face.
Quickly, Poppy stood up from her seat, the beautiful princess looking to the doctor anxiously, the poor thing wanting so badly to know if Branch was ok... needing to know that Branch was ok...
"He is stable," the doctor finally stated, the older troll gesturing for her to enter the room Branch was in. "You may come back in and see him now."
With a quick nod, Poppy rushed back into the hospital room at a casual pace as to not look too desperate, though her heart was longing to see her best friend safe and sound...
Walking through the open doorway, the young princess immediately saw Branch laying calmly on his hospital bed, the poor boy seeming a bit out of it as his glassy eyes gazed tiredly up at the ceiling in slight confusion...
"Branch?" Poppy said softly, trying to catch her friend's attention, the survivalist looking straight over at the young princess when he heard her voice...
Taking a moment to focus on who was speaking to him, Branch finally allowed a small feeble smile to come to his exhausted face at the sight of the pink troll standing just a few feet away from him, the young boy beginning to chuckle softly...
"You're blurry," he giggled, looking weakly up at the troll before him, not seeming to fully comprehend who it actually was as he kept his head laying limply against his soft feathered pillow. "Pretty blurry girl..."
Poppy looked at her friend in complete confusion at the sound of his gurgled words, the young princess cocking her head a bit before then turning to the doctor for answers, a nurse now beside him as she showed the medical profession something clamped onto a clipboard...
"Why is he giggly?" the young pink troll questioned, raising an eyebrow in slight suspicion.
"We had to give him some anesthesia to help calm him down," the doctor informed, signing the piece of paper that was being shown to him. "He'll be a little loopy for a couple hours."
Checking over the important forms on her clipboard for a quick moment, the nurse turned, walking out of the room to go file them with the rest of the paperwork...
"If you'll excuse me, Princess Poppy," the doctor stated professionally, fixing his scrubs to be nice and neat despite the blood covering him completely. Branch's blood... "I need to go check on Mr. Astinlake's x-rays."
Turning away from the pink troll in front of him, the physician quickly walked out of the room without another word, leaving Poppy alone with the loopy Branch who just simply lay in his hospital bed, the village grump laughing quietly to himself as he looked dizzily up at the ceiling once more...
A small smile forming on her face at the sight of her friend's unusual behavior, Poppy slowly headed over to sit down beside the gray troll she cared so much about...
"How are you feeling, Branch?" she asked in a soft and calming tone, the young girl placing her hand gently on Branch's...
"Ok..." the survivalist answered with a light chuckle, the young boy looking off into space for a few more seconds before finally turning his gaze back to Poppy. "But we need to get out of here... I gotta go to the doctor!"
"We're at the doctor," Poppy laughed in response as Branch mindlessly reached out to lightly brush his fingers through her long smooth hair, the young princess thinking the usually grumpy troll's behavior was quite hilarious.
"Whoa..." Branch muttered, looking around the room with wide eyes, the village grump seeming amazed with what he had just heard come from his visitor's mouth. "That was fast..."
Laughing, Branch slowly and almost involuntarily lowered his gaze to his hands, his giggles instantly falling silent as a look of pure sorrow suddenly popped up on his face...
"Oh man..." he muttered sadly, Poppy looking at her best friend in slight concern upon hearing his despondent words. "It's gone..."
Confusion...
"What's gone?" the young princess finally asked after a few short moments of silence. "My thumb," Branch answered softly, the survivalist's half-lidded gaze locked on his right hand as a few tears of despair began to fall from his crystal blue eyes, the poor boy stroking the spot where his thumb should have been. "It was there a second ago..."
Her concern quickly fading away at the sound of Branch's explanation, Poppy couldn't help but laugh, the young princess gently lifting up his thumb which had previously been bent down, hiding itself in the palm of the gray troll's hand...
"Here. See? Your thumb came back!" she exclaimed excitedly, the young girl acting as if it were a complete surprise to her just like it was to him.
"Oh yeah..." Branch said with a smile, looking at his 'newly found' thumb for just a moment before suddenly breaking out into uncontrollable giggles.
His laughter getting louder and more hysteric, Poppy couldn't help but laugh along, both trolls seemingly having the greatest time of their lives. That is... until Branch suddenly fell silent, the survivalist giving his only friend a serious look...
"What's so funny?" he asked, genuinely confused on why she was laughing.
"You," Poppy giggled. "You're acting all loopy from the medicine the doctors gave you."
"Oh..."
Silence...
"Hey!" Branch suddenly exclaimed with a large smile, the paranoid recluse looking to Poppy in overwhelming excitement. "What?" Poppy asked in response, her smile remaining prominently place on her face. "Come here, come here!" the survivalist laughed, suddenly grabbing hold of the young girl's arm as he tried to yank her over to himself.
Chuckling softly, Poppy complied to the request, the beautiful pink princess getting a bit closer to Branch so she could listen to what he was about to say...
"I wanna tell you a secret..." Branch giggled looking at Poppy with eyes that seemed to sparkle in excitement.
"Ok..." Poppy laughed, patently waiting for her friend to continue.
"Come here," Branch laughed, gesturing for her to come closer, even though the pink troll's face was already right next to his...
"I'm already here," Poppy laughed, scooting her chair just a tiny bit closer to his bed. "What's the secret?"
His laughter falling silent once more, Branch leaned in closer to his best friend, the young boy whispering rather loudly into her ear...
"I love... Brownies," he whispered, Poppy bursting out with laughter at the 'confession'...
"It's not a secret that you love brownies, Branch," the young princess laughed, Branch looking to her with desperate eyes...
"I know..." he sighed, sounding kinda sad all of a sudden, his gaze turning away from the pink troll beside him as he lightly fiddled with his fingers. "I got scared to tell you my real secret..."
He looked back to her with a pouty lip, almost as if begging the young girl to ask him to continue...
"Just tell me," Poppy chuckled, really wanting to know the secret... the real secret...
"Okay," the survivalist giggled, suddenly filled with confidence once more. "Come here."
"I already come here'd," Poppy laughed as her loopy friend pulled her even closer to himself . "Tell me the secret."
"You know that girl... Poppy...?" Branch finally asked, whispering into the troll beside him's ear once more as he played aimlessly with her hair, his large fingers gently twisting through the silky pink strands...
"Yes... I know Poppy," the young princess chuckled, playing along with her delusional friend.
Slowly, the gray troll leaned in even closer, whispering into the young girl's ear his deepest secret... the secret he had been holding onto for what seemed to be his entire life...
"I... love... Poppy..." he whispered softly so no one else would hear...
At the sound of those completely unexpected words... Poppy's eyes shot wide open, the young queen quickly backing away from her friend in pure absolute shock...
"You... you what?" she asked harshly, not believing her ears...
"I love her," Branch repeated softly, his fogged gaze turning back up to the ceiling as he smiled lovingly at the thought of his beautiful crush, the young boy having no idea it was actually Poppy he was currently talking to, his brain so clouded he wasn't even fully aware of what he was saying. Of what he was admitting... "She... she's so nice. And no matter what... she's never given up on me... she's always there when I need her..." he whispered, his eyes slowly beginning to blink shut as sleep finally took hold of him, the warm darkness trying to yank the poor boy away from his semi-conscious state, his body loosening as the only gray troll allowed his overwhelming tiredness to take over. "And the way she smiles... the sun itself turns jealous... fearing it could never shine half as bright..."
"Wait..." Poppy said softly, the young princess finally interrupting his exasperated explanation. "So... so you really love m... Poppy?"
Branch nodded, his breath slowing down as his entire being relaxed...
"So much..." he muttered softly, the survivalist slowly drifting off. "More than... more than anything..."
"But... but you love her?" Poppy prompted, shaking the village grump's shoulders to try and regain his attention before the sleep he so desperately needed could claim him. "Like... love, love? You love Poppy!?"
"Shh..." Branch shushed with his final tired breaths... "Don't tell Poppy..."