A fishy tail

Chap 15, 16

The ride home from the hospital was silent.

The stay had lasted a day and a half, for Papyrus to get over his concussion. It had taken several hours for him to be able to recall Undyne's phone number, another hour for his friends and family to arrive. They had yet to talk about what occurred, but they would have to soon.

The woman who had found him had filled them in on the details that he could not recall. The human had been walking to her car, when she spotted him lying on the ground, some marrow pooled around his head. She had seen a car drive off, but she did not see Sans, nor who had struck him with a crowbar. Papyrus's injuries were superficial, the pain was curbed by over-the counter painkillers.

In all honesty, the results of his stupidity hurt worse than getting hit.

Stars, he had been so stupid. So, so stupid. Of course, something was bound to happen. Papyrus should of known better, he should of gone with others, he should've- Stars, there was so many things he should've done. Sans would be here with them. Sans would be safe. The grief hit him suddenly, too suddenly to even attempt to hide his tears. Undyne, who sat by his, noticed right away and reached out to comfort him.

" It's okay, paps-"

" No, S-Stars, No It's Not Okay. I-I Messed Up So Bad, Sans Is- Stars I'm So S-Stupid" Papyrus sobbed into his hands, effectively cutting her reassurances off. Undyne had none of it, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders and making him face her.

" No you're not, Papyrus. We all messed up by getting too comfortable too quickly. But we're going to get Sans back, got it? They're not going to keep him. We're going to kick those jerks asses, and we're going to bring him home" Undyne stated, entirely serious, leaving no room for doubt. Papyrus didn't entirely believe her, but Undyne wouldn't lie to him about this. He messed up, but he had to fix his mistake. He wouldn't let Sans go through that. Undyne grinned at the determined expression on his face.

" First things first, we're going to go home, you're going to get some sleep, and then we're going to start searching, got it nerd?" she informed, Papyrus started to disagree, but she cut him off.

" You're no help to him when you're like this. You need some rest, okay?"

She was concerned for him, they all were. Papyrus gave in grudgingly. It was true. The skeleton felt moments away from passing out, he was no help like this.

" Do... Do You Think Sans Will Be Okay?" He had to ask. To hear someone else's opinion, despite what he felt they would say. Despite what might be empty words, he needed reassurance that everything would be okay.

" T-they wouldn't hurt him. He's.... he's v-valuable to t-them" Alphys shared, the last part practically whispered. Valuable. It made his soul hurt, to think that there were people horrible enough to do something like this for money. The company's biggest mistake was thinking that they could get out of this unscathed.

When they arrived home, Asgore helped him up the stairs and to his room. It felt all too lonely without the smaller there. He was glad that he was too exhausted to think linger much on the loneliness.

Papyrus must of been more exhausted than he had thought. The sun was rising in the sky, signaling that they night had gone by. He turned to wake sans--- and grimaced when he remembered. Right. The tall skeleton got to his feet, and headed over to his closet to change clothes before he hurried downstairs. His fragile act of enthusiasm for their search was cracked the moment he saw the grim expression on Alphys's face.

" What Happened?"

" W-we, uh, we found him. I-It's on tv" Alphys informed him of the situation. It did nothing to ease his fear, he followed her into the living room where the other members of the household sat in front of the TV, sharing similar expressions of grimness and anger. It had been quite awhile since he had seen his mother truly angry, and perhaps the first time he'd ever seen that expression on his father's face. Papyrus understood, though, at the news being covered on the TV.