21At Loss (Sing 2016):
Summary: Mike's past decisions have led to unfortunate disasters, like the fall of the theater, but no consequence had been worse than those decisions catching up on his cast mates and his producer… and the claimed prize was blood.
They were rehearsing for Wicked. It was one of Rosita's kids that suggested the idea and so open auditions were held. New promising artists got onto the show, but who took the cake on performing was Rosita, and with no doubt on her acting abilities, she got the Wicked Witch part. But that was not what they were rehearsing for today. The Wicked rehearsals were due for next Monday as they had another important date coming up before the play. It was an important concert they had due next week for charity. A year before, Buster couldn't afford having a charity concert due to the financial status, but that had changed and they could held has many charity concerts as they could thanks to the recent success of the theater.
"Alright, everybody. Take five."
"Mr. Moon! I need to go to the bathroom." Meena said.
"Sure, Meena. It's break time after all." Buster nodded and the elephant went to backstage. "Ash, drink some water, I don't want you to get a dry throat." Buster said as he stepped onto the stage with his writing pad. "You guys are doing fantastic. Johnny, that high note at the end was terrific!"
"Thanks, Mr. Moon."
"But you should drink something too, alright?" He looked around. "Has anyone seen Mike?"
They shook their heads. "Last I saw of him…" Rosita said. "Was about an hour ago and he looked worried about something."
"Please…" Ash rolled her eyes. "A few hours without him insulting us will be great."
None of them could argue with that logic. That was until they heard Meena scream. They ran towards the sound of the scream only to find the elephant running towards them and hid behind Johnny.
"Meena, what's wrong?" Rosita asked, quickly going to her side to comfort her.
Eddie came running from the backstage as well. "The three bears! The ones that were after Mike when the theater got destroyed! They're back!"
They gasped. Buster frowned. "Rosita, Gunter. Take the kids to a safe place just in case. Eddie, go with them. Mrs. Crawley! Go with them!"
"What about you?" Johnny asked.
"I'll just go talk to them and tell them that Mike is not here. Now go before they find you. Hide!" Buster said in a commanding yet worried voice that gave the cast no choice but to find a hiding place.
"But, Buster…" Eddie said. "What about Nana? She was inspecting the theater today."
"I'll find her and get her to a safe place. Now go!"
Buster ran off on the other direction with his writing pad on hand. He listened carefully for any sound from the bears. That was until he saw Nana walking around, oblivious to what was happening around her.
"Nana!" Buster whispered. "You got to hide!"
"I am not playing such childish game, Mr. Moon."
"No, you don't get it. Remember the bears that destroyed the theater a while ago? The ones that were after Mike?"
Nana stayed silent.
"Well, they are here and I know that they are after that mouse."
"Heavens…" Nana started but Buster quickly pulled her away and hid her behind a wooden door with cracks on it, but enough to hide the old sheep. They could hear the bears' voices getting closer.
"Whatever happens, Nana, don't come out!"
"Moon!" She whispered. "Please be careful."
"I will, Nana." He closed the door and turned around just in time when the bears were barging into the room.
"…Should have killed the elephant when I saw her! Now surely Mike knows we are here. When I get my hands on that mouse-!" The leader said as he stopped and looked at the koala.
Buster sighed internally. Time to put those acting skills to the test. "Well, good evening, gentleman. Did you lost something?"
"No time for your stupid games, koala. Where's Mike?"
"Who?" He was trying to play dumb, but he instantly knew that was a bad move on his part when he was grabbed by the throat and pushed against the door of Nana's hideout, but the bears didn't need to know that. He heard a small gasp from inside that only his sensitive ears could have picked. He gasped for air.
"Again, where's Mike!? He owns me big money!" The bear said.
Buster gasped again. "If you think… that I will tell you… you're wrong…!" He gasped again when the grip tightened. "The police is on its way… probably waiting for you outside." At least, he trusted that one of his cast members had called the police.
"I'm not leaving until I have that mouse alive or dead! Preferably dead! I'm asking you again… where. Is. Mike?" He took out a knife.
"I don't… know. He is not here."
The bear growled, pushed the koala against a wall away from the cracked door and inserted the knife on his side. Buster gasped and yelled in pain. "WHERE IS HE!?"
"I told you I DON'T KNOW!" He screamed again when the bear took out the knife and pushed it in back again, this time with more strength. Buster cried in pain as he struggled to break free from the bear's grasp.
"Boss, I got word that Mike is on the other side of the theater." One of the bears said.
The boss let go of Buster who tightly hugged his bleeding side. The koala gasped and leaned against the wall. The bear took out his gun and pointed at the koala.
"Boss, we got to go!"
"I don't want any witnesses!" And he shot.
Then… there was only silence.
"Uh? Boss?"
"Dammit… no bullets. I'll just leave it to die a slow death. He'll die off of blood loss at this rate." He glanced at the small poodle of blood surrounding Buster. "Let's go." And the bear ran off with his lackeys to another way.
Buster managed to gather his strength and slowly got up while clutching his side. With all he could manage, he unlocked the cracked door where Nana was hiding and pulled her out. "Come on, Nana… we need to go…" He ran off with her, never letting go of her hand.
"Buster!" She never called him by the first name. "You're hurt!"
"That can wait, we need to get out of here." With a sudden burst of adrenaline and fear, the koala guided the sheep through the safest route possible and outside the theater, where the police was waiting and so were his friends. Once out, Eddie saw his Nana and ran off to give her a hug. Nana let go of the koala's hand for a moment to hug her grandson back.
Buster sighed and felt relieved that they were alive. At least… well…
…he felt blood run down his side. He removed the side of his blue suit and found his white shirt soaked in the red liquid. With the adrenaline gone, the pain went back and so did the dizziness.
"Buster!" Someone yelled.
He didn't remember when he hit the floor or when a breathing mask was placed on his face. But he knew he heard his friends' desperate calls for him before everything blurred and the noises tuned out. He felt himself being lifted and carried towards an ambulance. He felt someone grab his hand. The person, though blurry, was unmistakably Ash.
"Please, Buster. You got to fight it! Please…" Her voice, though he could barely hear it, cracked a bit. "Dad…"
He managed to give her a light squeeze on the hand 'I heard you, Ash…' before she was pushed away by the paramedics.
The others watched as their boss and friend was carried to an ambulance and taken away. Nana looked down at the floor. "He saved my life…"
"He saved all of us, Nana." Meena said.
Everything after that happened so fast. One of the bears was caught by the police and taken away for interrogation. They each gave a statement to the officers and were given first aid if needed. They were about to get a ride from Nana's limousine to the hospital when…
"What happened here?" That voice. That arrogant voice nobody wanted to hear at the moment. Mike.
"YOU!" Ash screamed at him and ran towards him with an angry look. But Johnny stopped her and held her before she did something stupid.
"What did I do now? I was running for my life!"
"If those bears don't kill you soon I'LL GLADLY DO IT MYSELF!" She yelled at him. Johnny tightened his grip, even if Ash's spikes were hurting him a bit.
"The… They were in the theater?" Mike asked as he nervously glanced around for the bears.
"Yes, the police arrested one of them and the other escaped, but they almost killed us if it wasn't for Buster!" Ash's eyes teared up and turned around to hug the gorilla. She couldn't take it. Buster was one of the few people that actually believed in her, even if he at first ignored her tastes, but he truly believed she would be a star without Lance. He was her friend and kind of a father figure. She didn't know what she would do if Buster was truly gone. "You didn't see him… there was so much blood…" Johnny gently pulled her inside the limo, because if she looked at the mouse once more, she would surely do something she might later regret.
Rosita glared at the mouse. "Don't think we want to see you in the hospital. Buster has given you a lot of chances and opportunities, but you never took the chance to work hard and redeem yourself and pay back those bears. And now looked what happened." Gunter climbed in after her with one last glare towards the mouse.
"What happened with Buster, guys?" Mike quietly asked as they started to get into the limo. Meena, being the last one to step into the limo, glared at him. Sweet innocent Meena never glared at anyone.
"Buster is dying, Mike. Those bears stabbed him while he diverted their attention to him instead of us and Nana." She looked down. "And if he doesn't survive…" Her voice cracked. Buster was a father figure for her too since her own father had died before she could meet him properly. "It's on you…" She got into the limo and off they went, leaving the white mouse behind.
OOO
The hospital clerk/nurse stared at them and sighed. "If you all don't calm down, I won't be able to identify the patient. One at the time, please!"
They all quieted down when Nana stepped in with her signature frown, making the nurse coward a little. "Buster Moon. A koala. Knife wound. Where. Is. He?"
"Right, Buster Moon." The nurse typed down on her computer. She winced. "A five and a half deep knife wound and the other six and a half. Blood loss. But other details are not clarified." She turned to them. "He's in surgery."
They all looked at each other.
"Take us. We have to know how he doing is." Ash said.
The nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry. But no one other than doctors and nurses are allowed in the surgery area. You'll have to wait here. It should be over soon."
And so they waited. And waited. And kept on waiting… They walked around, got coffee, Meena's mother dropped by to pick her up, but the young elephant declined and insisted on waiting until Mr. Moon woke up. And so her mother left with the promise to pick her up later. And they waited…
"Buster Moon?" A doctor called. They all stood up and the doctor walked towards them. He was a zebra with a worried look on his face. "He's not completely out of danger, but he is alive."
They all gave sighs of relief.
"If he had been properly stabbed, he would have died within a range of a few minutes. The knife, by some heavenly miracle, missed his lung and heart. I will like to keep him for a few more days before he's ready to leave the hospital." He said. "You may come see him."
The group followed the doctor without noticing the guilt-driven white mouse following them.
To them, the koala seemed invincible, no matter what happened to them. But seeing him unconscious in a hospital bed with a breathing mask, he just looked downright tiny, weak even. They gathered around him.
"He needs his rest. But do call me up as soon as he wakes up. I have the police getting restless for a statement. And I will need to check on his wounds too." He sighed. "He lost too much blood for my liking. In surgery we had to revive him once." They gasped a bit. "But let me tell you." He smile. "He's not going anywhere he doesn't want to go. This is the most stubborn koala I've ever met."
Mike hid behind Rosita's purse, listening to everything the doctor told them. With each word, the guilt felt heavier and heavier. The hours passed by in silent aside from the beeping of the heart monitor. They made small talk, read magazines, but mostly stayed in silent.
There was a pained gasp. Their heads turned towards the koala, who slightly moved his head and moaned in pain. "Buster?" Rosita asked.
Buster slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He tried to say something. He slowly tried to retrieve his breathing mask.
"Mr. Moon, don't do that. The doctor is coming soon." Meena said.
But Buster, being the stubborn mule (no offense to mules), removed his mask and glared at Eddie. "If you think…" His voice was low, but strong enough to be heard. "…that you are keeping my videogames when I die… you're wrong." He put back the mask with a slight smile.
"Oh, he's fine already." Eddie deadpanned. They chuckled and gave sighs of relief now that their boss and friend had awaken.
"Alright, everyone!"
They all turned and gasped when they saw Mike standing there. The group glared while Buster stared with sad, tired eyes. Mike took off his hat and sighed. "I… really have no words to express how guilty I feel right now. I should have faced them instead of running away. And you guys paid the price." He sniffed. "I'm really sorry…" He didn't expect them to forgive him right on the spot. So he turned to leave.
"Mike?" Buster said.
The mouse turned.
Buster moved a bit before speaking. "When and only when, you clean up your messes… you may come back to perform. Until then… just don't…"
Mike nodded. That was more than what he expected from the one he unintentionally hurt. He left without a last glance. Just then, the doctor walked in with a smile on his face.
"Alright, people. I'll need to ask you leave the room. I need to check on Mr. Moon."
They nodded and waved their goodbyes before leaving the room. Nana was the last one to leave. "Mr. Moon?"
"Yes, Nana?"
"Thank you." And then she left.
Thank you so much for reading this story. As many out there wanted a hurt!Buster fic, and so did I, I decided to write since no one was doing anything. XD. The father daughter moment with Ash and Buster is a big nod to my other fic 'Taking out the Trash' (thank you for reading it by the way and thank you for the praise). Anyway, I don't PM, but feel free to review!