#pointless party

Purre groaned, lifting its paw to his face as blinding white walls entered its vision. He tried to sit up, only for an unfamiliar, pink paw to stop it.

“Hang on, new guy.”

Purre yelped, and the creature next to him - a masked ferret - flinched in response.

“Woah, calm down!!” he said, reaching out to Purre again, “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m Dr. Handerson! You’re in Rainbowcare Hospital.”

“Fuck- huh? When did I…” it began, trailing off as he looked around. The room had white walls and bright posters. Purre was on a hospital bed and its fur was strangely dull..

“Uhm, see, about that. Rainbowcare is purgatory. You’re dead.”

“WHAT!?”

“You’re dead,” Handerson repeated, “This is purgatory, meaning you weren’t ready to die.”

Purre curled into a ball. Why was this happening? It didn’t do anything to deserve this. He had a life, an alright job, and someone it could very well consider a son! Why did he get thrown here now??

“Hey. It’s alright. It only gets worse from here, so we may as well make this quick! What’s your name?” Handerson squeaked.

“I.. uh, Purre..Covey.”

“Mhm. That’s all I need. But our surgeons might need to know more.”

“Your.. your what? Aren’t I dead anyways?”

“Yeah, but upon death, most patients get an affliction called Grayheart. Same happened to you. They need to fix it.”

Purre nodded, as Handerson guided it out of the room. “It’s a bit of a walk, so I’ll take you around the hospital on the way! Think of it like a mini-tour.”

They walked along the empty halls in silence until the ferret pointed to a room.

“Shortnick!” He shouted, catching the attention of a light pink giraffe decked out in hospital wear. In the room with her was a bat, holding a bucket in her tiny wings.

“Oh, Harrison. Hello. New patient?” Shortnick asked, towering over Purre, as Harrison nodded.

“Mhm! This is Mx. Covey. We’re headed to the surgeon’s office!”

“Oh. Well, good luck, Covey,” Shortnick murmured. It forced a smile awkwardly.

As they continued, Purre piped up, “Who are the surgeons anyway?”

“Ah, none other than Dr. Cuddles and Nurse Doom! They’ll treat ya right, I hope..” Handerson answered. He was quite welcoming and comforting, despite the somber aura from his mask.

“Mmhmmm..” Purre replied mindlessly, and soon came to a stop when it noticed Handerson had, too.

“Hey? uh, Poin?” he called into the room beside them, “We have a new patient!”

“Well, ain’t that great..” came a sarcastic tone of voice. Purre already didn’t like it.

“That was Dr. Party, he’s my brother. He’s also the other therapist here, besides Dr. Bullet,” Handerson explained, “I doubt he wants to greet you. He’s uh… busy.”

“I see that as a relief,” Purre muttered as the duo began walking again.

Just down the stairs was their destination, where a pink, hairless bunny stood. Next to him was a long, eight-limbed rat.

“Cuddles! Doom! We have a new patient!” Handerson exclaimed.

The rat, Doom, skittered up to Purre. “Hi!!! My name is Nurse Doom, welcome to Rainbowcare! Has the place treated you well?”

“Leave ‘em be, Doom. We have a job to do,” the rabbit, Cuddles, intervened.

With that, it was led into a dim-lit room. He could barely react before he was strapped down.

Party tapped his claws against the clipboard he grasped like a lifeline. No more patients today. He always hated having no one to take his anger out on.

When he had Bullet or Tom he could soak up their pain just to feel better about himself. He could brush it all off with a thinly veiled “kill yourself”. But when alone, he had no one but the past.

His mother, Newie, seemed to hate seeing him happy. He must’ve just picked up on it. She always told him to end it all, if he was so depressed. It sucked, but he still used it against his pitiful patients, and only then could he see why his mother acted such a way.

If others are hurt, clearly you’re stronger. Strength was what defined him. No one truly recognized it, but he knew he scared many of the residents, which was enough for him.