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With the bottle empty and his mind ablaze, Hookbill looked at Alli in confusion. But as this was his normal facial expression, she did not notice anything. The World? Destroyed? Hookbill bobbed his head from side to side and then crawled under his desk and then slumped up to his chair. The room was spinning. He felt sick. "I think I need a doctor,” he said at last.
"How ironic," snorted Alli. Hookbill shook his head. What was in that whiskey? He picked up the textbook and looked at the empty bottle. The whiskey label, it seemed, was glued over the top of another. So Hookbill removed the label to find another that said, 'vinegar'.
"Oh good grief," said Hookbill, ready to be sick, "I don't feel so good." he dashed to the window, opened it with surprising ease, and was sick. Alli slumped into the chair and waited patiently as the little man returned to his chair and then dashed back to the window again. Hookbill finally got back to his seat and stayed there. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked, forgetting nearly everything Alli had said.
"Oh, I have this huge pain in the back side," she sneered, "I think its called 'Hookbill's disease'."
"Really? Then go and find a cure." Hookbill waddled to the door and tried to escape, but Alli whacked him over the head with something. "Ow!" he cried, holding his head, "What was that for?"
"It was the cure," she sniggered as the little man tried once again to hide under the desk. "Look, don't you understand?"
"Oh, I understand perfectly well," said Hookbill, "You’re trying to kill me, and I'm trying to escape. It’s a sort of paradox, you see?"
"No," Alli nearly tripped on some of the mess, "Do you even know what a paradox is?"
"I don't, and I don't want to find out. If there is nothing wrong with you, then go away!"
"With pleasure," but as she turned, a crab from under the desk grabbed her ankle and refused to let go. Hookbill squeaked and grabbed a stick and began beating the crab with it. Eventually it let go and scuttled off to its hiding place.
"That thing was probably full of germs," said Hookbill, "The nurse will probably know what to do. Go and see her. If she says anything about surgery, just say... something... Its not pleasant." Alli left and the little man began to wonder in his mind. 'The one who found me?' was she responsible for all this? It didn't matter right now. All that mattered was getting away. Hookbill had formulated a plan. He walked to the door, but he jumped as the burse boomed from the intercom.
"I've sent Alli down for surgery." she said.
"What?" screeched Hookbill, grabbing the Palantir, "She doesn’t' need surgery!"
"Oh yes she does. That crab wasn't full of germs, but a bit of its claw is lodged in her leg."
"I told her to refuse surgery."
"Well, she fainted." there was a pause.
"Fainted, or was knocked out?"
"Both."
Hookbill slumped on the tabled and thumbed his fist on the table. The door swung open dramatically.
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