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It was a busy day at the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob was in the kitchen, as usual, cooking up some delectable Krabby Patties, however, some things had changed.
Not long ago, a strong current swept up and moved all of Bikini Bottom, bringing the Krusty Krab to the San Francisco Bay Area. Now the restaurant was busier than ever.
SpongeBob was typically consumed by his work, daydreaming about jellyfish and bubbles while flipping burgers. At this moment, though, SpongeBob decided to look up through the kitchen window to gauge how busy the lunch rush would be.
To his surprise, he saw a few unusual guests in line for a burger.
They were yellow and cylindrical, wearing overalls and goggles. Two of them had two eyes, but the other….
When SpongeBob looked into his singular eye, he couldn’t look away.
The three of them walked up to the boat counter.
“Bello! Ehhh sae banana?” The one with the long head asked.
“I have no idea what you want. If you’re asking for a banana, we don’t have that. We sell one thing.” Squidward rudely responded.
“Po ka???” Two of the yellow boys exclaimed.
Then, the one with the single eye spoke up.
“Bello, I’m Stuart, eh sorry for the confusion, these guys just love bananas, they ask for them everywhere. We will have three Krabby Patties please.”
“Alright, that will be out for you shortly..” Squidward said.
Stuart. His name was Stuart… How dreamy! SpongeBob kept watching the intriguing men as they sat down at the table closest to the kitchen window.
SpongeBob was so focused on the one-eyed beauty that he didn’t notice how close his hand had gotten to the grill and…
“YEOUCH” SpongeBob screamed.
Everyone in the restaurant turned toward the kitchen. Most simply stared with concern in their eyes. But Stuart? He got up and walked to the kitchen window.
Sticking his head in, he said “Bello?? Are you okay?? Do you need help?”
SpongeBob was in too much pain to respond as a single tear fell from his eye and onto his burnt hand.
At this point, the yellow brothers had gotten up from their table and started running around the restaurant yelling “BEE DO! BEE DO!”
Stuart then ran into the kitchen through the side door and grabbed the sponges uninjured hand, pulling him through the restaurant and out the front door with his two yellow companions following closely behind.
The yellow group quickly swam up to the surface.
Stuart sprang into action and pulled out his large phone that had a large letter “G” on the back of it. He quickly typed in “911” and requested an ambulance at the pier.
Soon after, an ambulance came racing down the road and pulled up right to them.
To SpongeBob’s surprise, more yellow men in overalls hopped out of the vehicle and pulled a stretcher towards him shouting, “BEE DO! BEE DO!” while pointing to the stretcher.
SpongeBob laid down and he was wheeled into the ambulance while his vitals were checked. SpongeBob was terrified and in too much pain to think. Everything too loud and happening much too quick. Until, something immediately grounded him.
A black gloved hand, belonging to Stuart wrapped around his.
A simple gesture really, but a necessary one for the sponge. SpongeBob immediately took a deep breath and understood that everything would be okay as long as Stuart was at his side.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Once they arrived at the hospital, the yellow figures raced to SpongeBob and wheeled him out of the vehicle and into the Emergency Room.
A woman with curly hair and a grayish-pink Lululemon jacket ran up to his stretcher while a man in a green pullover and a scrappy beard followed behind.
“BEE DO! The patient's name is SpongeBob, hand seems to have been burnt pretty severely on a grill, vitals seem good with an elevated heart rate.” The EMT’s quickly stated.
“Thank you minions.” The man responded.
“Hello SpongeBob, my name is Dr. Al-Hashimi and this is Dr. Robinavitch, we are here to help you now. How would you rate your pain on a scale of 1-10?” The woman asked while following him into a trauma room.
“Uhm… a 6?” The pain was definitely worse than that, but SpongeBob had always tried to be a positive guy.
“It’s okay to be honest, I can tell you’re in a lot of pain, we will give you some nerve blockers very soon,” the male doctor said.
All of the sudden, the grip on his hand tightened.
Stuart.
SpongeBob wasn’t alone.
“Bob and Kevin went to another room to give you some space, but I am here and I will stay here as long as you need me. Whatever you go through, you will not go through it alone. I promise that.”
SpongeBob gave Staurt a small smile and squeezed his hand back.
“Thank you.”
“Okay, vitals look stable and nerve blockers have been administered. SpongeBob, we are going to start cleaning the burn and making sure that there is no Krabby Patty grease or anything that could cause the wound to get infected,” Dr. Al-Hashimi stated.
SpongeBob gulped and nodded. Although he was scared, Stuart was there for him.
And that was all that mattered.