Chapter Text
"Urghhhh." Tilly groaned as she crawled onto the kitchen chair. She felt terrible, and was it just her or was Cricket looking even greener than her?
In fact, everyone at the table was looking pretty crummy, even Papa, who was just barely fighting back sniffles.
"Hey Tilly could you pass the-hyuck-" Cricket interrupted himself with a gag. ",cereal when you're done with it?"
"But that was the last of the cereal." Tilly explained, still handing her brother the box.
Cricket gave a queasy headshake. "No, I just need something empty to puke in." With that he ducked his head and did exactly that.
"Papa I think, me and Cricket might be sick." Tilly announced.
"I think me and Gramma are too." Papa reluctantly admitted. "I don't know how we all got sick at the same time though."
"Maybe that'll teach you not to eat gas station sushi." Chip snarked as he walked in, seemed he was the only person not sick. "I told you it was a-yikes." Chip flinched as he looked up from his phone saw them all. "You all look terrible."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Gramma defended, raising a shaky fist. "I feel fit as a fiddler. I-" Whatever else the old woman had to say got drowned out by the oak as she face planted into the table.
Tilly sighed, letting her own head fall. The cool table felt so nice beneath her burning forehead.
Chip raised both brows as he looked around the room. "Ooookay…so is everyone down for the count or?"
At the unanimous round of coughs and hacks Chip sighed. "Alright then. Guess with Gloria at the cafe, I'm playing nurse today."
"Oh no, there's no need for that Chip, I have work to do any-" Papa cut himself off with a gag as he forced his near throw up back down with a cough.
Chip put a hand up to stop further protest. "Not to fear Bill, I'm confident I can nurture you all back to health in no time." He gave a pair of finger guns for extra reassurance .
Gramma turned her head to the side, a resigned look on her ancient features. "We'll be dead by five." Cricket puked some more into the cereal box to accompany her prediction, not exactly a good omen.
"Too easy." Chip sighed to himself as he sat down on the couch after having just closed the door to Bill's room. By far the farmer had been the most difficult to make stay in bed, but now that that was out of the way everything else should be a breeze.
Chip thumbed through the T.V. channels as a few hours quickly ticked by.
He frowned as he checked the clock. It was around eleven now, maybe a bit early for lunch ,but the sooner he got it out of the way, the better. Chip heaved himself off the couch with a sigh as he walked into the kitchen.
Sick people liked soup, right?
"Shouldn't be too hard." Chip said to himself as he scoured the cabinets for a pot big enough to feed four people. He grabbed a silver pan from the top cupboard and slid it over the stove.
He hummed as he dug through the fridge and realized they had no chicken, just a pack of hot dogs and the ham Gramma and Tilly made for dinner last week.
They were also out of plain pasta sadly.
"Yeesh, who forgot to go grocery shopping?" Chip tutted to himself. "Guess it's time to improvise."
Sick people liked 19 cent ramen with bits of boiled hot dog mixed in right?
Chip set a timer on his phone as he let the soup simmer, yep totally easy-
The former ceo frowned as he heard a floorboard creek behind him. He raised a brow and turned just around in the kitchen chair to see Bill tiptoeing towards the backdoor.
Chip narrowed his eyes. " Bill , what are you doing out of bed?"
The farmer jumped. "Oh, uh hi Chip." Bill coughed. "I was just gonna-"
"Just gonna what Bill?" Chip crossed his arm and legs like a homemaker who just caught her husband sneaking out in the dead of night. "Just gonna try and sneak out to do farm work perhaps?"
Bill gritted his teeth sheepishly. "Well I just thought-you know there's so much to do-"
"Oh yeah." Chip agreed sarcastically as he stood up. "Like getting back to bed."
Bill forced out a laugh. "Now Chip I'm a grown man, I think I can determine when I'm not up for something."
Chip blinked. "Okay. Also you do realize you forgot to put your boots on."
"Huh, what-" Bill smacked himself in the forehead as he twisted around to look at his feet. "Oh-heh, whoops, guess I left them in my room. Thanks Chip."
Bill walked down the hall to his room and just as he stepped inside, Chip closed the door behind him, taking the kitchen chair he dragged along to stick it underneath the knob.
"For your own good Bill." Chip said as he wiped his hands and headed back towards the kitchen, ignoring Bill's muffled confusion. He'd have to slide Bill's soup under the door later.
"Hey,hey,hey" Chip sang as he opened the door to Tilly and Cricket's room. "How we feeling?"
Cricket coughed in reply, his complexion greener than his name as he stretched back against his hammock. "I haven't thrown up since half an hour ago." The child raised his wobbly arm in the air. "New record."
Chip raised his brows as he adjusted the mask and dishwashing gloves he put on before entering. "Okay…"
Tilly moaned, rolling back and forth in the covers. "I swear, from this day forth I will never so much as lay eyes on another gas station sushi."
Chip sighed as he stepped down their bedroom stairs. "Well, here I made soup." He stretched his arm out as he laid the bowl on Tilly's bed. He set Cricket's bowl on the kid's beside dresser.
"Alright, sustenance." Cricket weakly cheered. He reached out for the bowl and slurped down a big spoonful. "Hot dogs, nice. Phoenix here girl."
Chip's eyes widened as Cricket whistled and Phoenix lifted her head from her dog pillow and waddled over.
"Uh what are you-"
Chip's eyes widened even further as Cricket attempted to feed Phoenix some of the soup off his spoon.
Before he could Chip was thankfully able to grab his wrist. "Hey, you're supposed to be getting better here, are you trying to get more sick?"
"Phoenix is our-" Cricket interrupted himself with another miserable sneeze that Chip just barely managed to duck. "-family guardian she deserves a treat once in a while."
Chip's gaze flattened. Seriously? "Then save it for a while when you're not sick." Chip shooed Phoenix down, causing the dog to whine a little, pointedly jumping up into Cricket's hammock and burrowing beneath the boy's covers.
Cricket huffed, crossing his arms. "Clearly you've never had a dog."
"No, but I had a goldfish named Gary, and he lived for ten years thanks to me, I mean sure he changed colors every now and then, but that's besides the point."
Cricket blinked, sharing a look with Tilly Chip couldn't identify. Chip shook his head. " I'm getting off track, look just, no sharing your food with the dog, got it?"
Cricket pouted, turning to face the wall.
Tilly sighed, folding her arms over her covers. "I wish I had an animal with me right about now."
"Why don't you summon one with your freaky animal powers then?" Chip suggested.
Tilly shook her head. "The only indoor animals we have are Phoenix and Dirtbag, Phoenix's busy comforting Cricket as you can see, and Dirtbag never leaves Gramma's side."
Chip couldn't help ,but frown. "Oh...that sucks."
Tilly nodded. "That it does, I'll just have to hope this dreaded illness leaves me soon-" Tilly cut herself off with a gag before diving for the throwup bag hanging off her bedpost.
Chip hastily closed their bedroom door, trying not to shudder as the muffled sounds of puking filled the air.
Chip knocked on Gramma's door. "Hey I'm coming in, you better have disabled those booby traps, also for the love of blort please don't be naked."
Chip took the lack of an answer for yes, and quickly opened her door.
"Urghhhhhh." Gramma moaned. "Grim? Is that you? Have you finally come for me?"
"Even better." Chip replied with a smirk as he carefully tiptoed across the potentially booby trapped floor.
"I made soup." The former ceo announced as he carefully set the bowl on Gramma's bedside table. The old woman narrowed her bespeckled eyes suspiciously as she laid there, flat on her back with Dirtbag curled up at her feet.
"You didn't burn it, did you slic?"
"How do you burn soup?" Chip asked back as he bent down to fetch the bed table she kept under her bed frame and set it out over her torso.
"Ask Nancy." Gramma coughed. "Alright you did what you came to do, now scram!"
Chip barely had a moment to respond before Gramma was swinging her cane at him.
He ducked out of the way and rolled backwards on the balls of his feet. The blonde rolled his eyes as he dusted himself off. "You're welcome."
Chip turned back to the door, but just as he was about to leave her, Gramma started coughing again. Chip looked over his shoulder just to make sure she hadn't coughed up a lung or something, and then he noticed something peculiar.
She was still lying flat on her back.
Chip frowned. "Uh, you okay?"
"Do look un-okay!" Gramma barked. "I'm fine, now leave!"
Chip sighed, letting go of the door knob as he walked back over to her bedside. "You can't get up can you?"
Even her cane swinging was all directed up, and he certainly didn't see her grab it herself.
Gramma still scoffed. "I can get up just fine."
Chip silently quirked his brow. Without a word he pinched the bridge of her glasses and took them off her.
"What the-You trying to get hurt booshie boy!?"
Chip ignored the threat, dangling the glasses just above her head. "Go on, try to grab them from me."
A minute silently came and went, nothing.
Chip sighed, heading for the door again. Stubborn old hag. "I'll be back."
Just as Chip had gathered as many throw pillows as he could carry, he couldn't help ,but notice a white, fluffy silhouette clawing at the front window.
"Huh?" Chip frowned as he stepped closer and realized it was that cat Tilly liked to play with, what was its name again, Annabell? Andy? Anonymous?
Chip snapped his fingers. "Anousheh! That's it."
The cat tilted his head, continuing to claw at the window from her position on the porch swing.
"What? You wanna see Tilly?" Chip pursed his lips as an idea came to mind. He shrugged, unlatching the window and pushing it open.
"Meow." The cat put his paws on the window seal,but went no further. Anousheh tilted his head again, as if asking Chip why Tilly didn't just appear at his beck and call.
"Kid's sick, you'll have to come inside."
"Meow." Anousheh didn't move. He looked back and forth for Tilly and if cats could pout he was sure doing it now.
Anousheh pushed himself back off the window seal and laid back down on the porch swing still calling out for Tilly.
Chip shook his head. "No, come inside." The former ceo gestured towards himself with both hands as he stepped back. "C'mon kittie, here boy."
"Meow." Anousheh's slanted eyes fell even flatter as he stretched his back legs out dismissively.
Chip sighed. "Stupid cat." He went to close the window again, only for Anousheh to jump up onto the window seal and hiss at him.
Chip felt his eye twitch. "Could you make up your mind?" He deadpanned, deciding to leave the window open.
"Meow." Chip pinched the space between his brows with a head shake as he hiked the armful of pillows further up his hip and walked away. "I don't have time for this."
"You know you could've just said you needed help." Chip pointed out as he pushed the pillows behind Gramma's back and fluffed them up until she was actually able to reach the bed table.
"Pft." Gramma crossed her arms. "Do I look like I need help? I'm as fit as a fiddle!"
"Maybe a broken one." Chip muttered out the side of his mouth as finally finished adjusting her. "Okay, is there anything else you need?"
Gramma predictably rolled her eyes, as she reached out for her spoon with a dismissive sigh…only to poorly try to hide a groan of pain.
Chip narrowed his eyes. "Hurting there, Alice?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Gramma replied, eyes just as narrowed as she forced herself to lift the spoon up.
A sickening crack filled the air and after a minute, Chip realized with an aggravated sigh she couldn't move her arm.
"Is this like that arthritis you old people get?" Chip sighed again. "Okay where's your medication?"
"I'm not old!" Gramma barked. "And even if I was, I don't need no medication!"
Chip waved her off as he headed for the door again. "You know what I'll find it myself, be back in a jiff."
Chip raised a brow as he realized Bill had slid his empty soup bowl under his bedroom door.
"Good on you Bill." Chip called through the door as he picked up the ceramic bowl. "Just hang in there, it'll all be over soon and you'll be back to plowing those fields in no time."
Chip made a quick detour to the kitchen so he could toss the bowl in the sink.
"Meow?" The former ceo looked over his shoulder to see Anousheh looking at him curiously from the otherside of the kitchen window, he ducked his head and slid his flexible body through.
Chip watched with mild interest as he began feasting on Bill's leftovers.
Huh….that gave him an idea.
Chip crossed his fingers as he laid down the last piece of bologna and opened the door to Tilly and Cricket's room.
Anoushe looked up from the 'subtle' bologna trail Chip left her and tilted his head with another confused. "Meow?"
He tentatively stepped forward, following the sound of Tilly's uh, unique snoring until he was all the way through the doorway.
As soon as the cat's eyes caught sight of Tilly he meowed in excitement quickly leaping up the ladder to her bed.
Chip couldn't help ,but breathe a sigh of relief when he noticed the smile on Tilly's asleep face as the cat snuggled beneath her arm. The former ceo risked a glance at Cricket from the other side of the room.
Kid was completely passed out with Phoenix practically smothering him like a rug.
Chip felt a smile stretch across his own features as he quietly closed the door again.
Yep, easy.
"Wait am I forgetting some-Oh that's right." Chip comically slapped his forehead when he remembered Gramma's medication.
The former ceo whistled to himself with ease as he quickly strode into the bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet.
"Okay just gotta find the-"
"I told you I don't need no medication." Gramma barked as soon as Chip opened the door. "And what was that shrill scream of terror I heard just now?"
Chip couldn't even feel offended he was so horrified. "What. Is. This?"
Gramma frowned as he showed her the absolute mess that was apparently her medicine basket.
The old woman shrugged. "I don't know, just a bunch of junk Bill makes me take, via sneaking it into my food every now and then."
Chip took, a deep, deep breath. "Alice, how are you even still alive? Half these meds aren't labeled." Chip shook the basket for emphasis. "And one of these isn't even a medication bottle, it's an old mason jar!"
Gramma shrugged. "Eh, probably not important anyway."
"Probably not imp-Do you hear yourself!?" Chip badgered as he paced the room. "If my dad skipped half of the meds you did, he'd be in the iron lung!"
Gramma waved him off with an eye roll. "That ain't gonna happen, I'm a Green and we pride ourselves on not needing no fancy doctors to stay alive." The old woman coughed. "Not one of my relatives ever died before 90, why my grandaddy lived to be 100 in fact. Now tell me how old did your grandad live to be?"
"104." Chip deadpanned.
Gramma's eyes widened momentarily before flattening again in response. "Eh, was probably all genetics anyway."
"No, it was because he took the medications prescribed to him by the medical professionals." Chip ducked down to scrounge around in the drawer of Gramma's bedside table. "Which is exactly what you're gonna do once I call your doctor so I can sort out your nightmare of a medicine basket. I'm also getting you a new pill dispenser, most functioning ones should have more than just tuesday and half of a wednesday still legible. "
"Like heck you are." Gramma barked smugly. "I'd like to see you even find that quack's number."
"555-342-460. Cool." Chip folded the notebook paper that was taped to the top of the drawer-most likely by Bill- back up and stood up.
"What the-don't you dare, booshie boy. Booshie boy!"
"Oh, what's that I'm wearing earplugs." Chip defended sarcastically as he quickly picked up Gramma's medicine basket.
"No you're not!"
"No, I totally am, watch as I completely ignore you." Chip tuned out Gramma's threats and demands to 'get back here' as he quickly shut the door behind him.
Good thing the only pill bottle that was properly labeled was the arthritis medication, which he managed to sneak into her soup when she wasn't looking.
"Yep, easy." Chip groaned sarcastically as he pulled out the kitchen chair and sat down, facing planting into the table with a loud sigh. He'd just finished organizing all Gramma's medicine.
"Riiiinnnnggggg!"
"What noooooow?" Chip whined into the wood as he unstuck his face and got up to grab the phone.
"Hello?"
Chip frowned. "Hello-"
"-hyuck, Bill is that you?"
Chip's frown creased as he recognized Nancy's voice. "No this is Chip, what's up?"
"Is everyone-hyuck, alright? I think that gas station sushi gave-urgh-me food poisoning."
"Uh duh." Chip replied. "You and everyone else."
"Are they gonna be okay?"
Chip raised his brow. "Yeah I'm taking care of it….what about you?"
"Oh, yeah. I'll be okay-hyuck-just gotta sleep it off." The unmistakable sound of barfing erupted from the other end of the landline.
Chip tried not to wince. "Okay, but like, you've got someone there to look after you right?"
"Huh? Oh uh, not really, but that's just how it goes." Nancy replied. "I'll be okay, just make sure everyone at the house is taken care of-" Nancy cut herself off with more puking presumably and then hung up.
Chip couldn't help ,but frown as he hung up the landline. He drummed his fingers against the counter in perplexity.
Okay…
Not like it was impossible to recover on your own, he'd done it before when he got the flu right after Dad left for retirement. Chip tried not to shudder as he remembered, writhing around on the couch for days, having to order his one of his employees to pick up more Tylenol, kept awake all night in that big, empty apartment by the constant headaches and relentless puking…
Chip shook his head.
Yeah Nancy would be fine probably. Plus it wasn't like he could just drop everything to come check on her who would take care of-
Chip halted his thoughts as he heard the front door open.
"Urgh you guys would not believe the day I just had." Gloria called from the living room.
Chip's eyes widened. "Huh, that's convenient."
"Wait a second, what smells like death and ruin in here? And Chip, where are you-"
Chip barely bothered to make eye contact as he slipped his sandals on and headed for the front door. "There's more soup in the fridge, make sure Alice takes her evening medication, and if Bill tries to do farmwork again, use the hose."
Gloria didn't have time to ask any more questions, before Chip had already closed the door and was sprinting to his car.