"What did I tell you girls about hanging on to them?" She asked.
"We were just keeping poor Micky warm." Arlene replied.
"Well, Micky's going to be fine, so please leave him alone now." Chris ordered.
"Ok." Chris's sisters replied. They got their cocoa and went back into the den and sat in the various chairs arranged around the room. Micky finished his soup and Arlene took his bowl back to the kitchen.
"Can I get up now, nurse?" Micky asked.
"Sure, if you feel up to it." Chris replied. Micky unwrapped the blankets from around his legs and back and slowly got up. He walked over to the couch with the other three Monkees and sat down. Stephanie went back over to the window to watch for her parents.
"So, now what?" Micky asked.
"So now you tell us how you came to be walking instead of driving here." Chris replied, raising her eyebrows.
Micky explained how his car had ended up in the ditch, then how he had fallen and fell off the side of the road. Everybody shook their heads at Micky's story. Micky was lucky to be alive. Chris said so out loud.
"Lucky for you, Steph saw you walking towards our house." She said, "And told us you were walking. We all saw you fall off the side of the road."
Stephanie had a huge smile on her face. She had saved her idol Micky Dolenz! Still, she kept vigil by the window to watch for her parents.
While waiting for Gerry Anderson and his wife, his daughters and the Monkees talked about their lives. As was mentioned before, Chris had one more year of nursing school to go before she got her stripes.
Arlene was a freshman in high school and loved to play the flute, Marcia was in fifth grade and love to sew, and Stephanie was in first grade.
The Monkees told the girls about the kind of hectic life they led.
They had to be at the TV studio early in the morning, work until evening, then go to the recording studio to work on an album. When they weren't doing that, they went on tour or made public appearances around town to promote their records. The four girls were startled by what the Monkees told them. They realized that being famous wasn't really all the glitz it was made out to be.
"Wow, do you guys get a chance to breath?" Marcia asked.
"Only if its been scheduled at least two weeks in advance." Davy replied seriously.
The girls just shook their heads.
"How did you guys find the time to come here?" Chris asked.
"Well, there's a break in filming right now." Micky replied, "And we can't, or should I say won't, start a new album until things have been settled with your Dad's record company."
"But we have a tour coming up in a few months." Mike added.
"So our dad is going to make things ok with you four?" Marcia asked.
"I hope so." Mike put in, a little angrily, "Your Dad's company is making a lot of money off of us, but not giving us any freedom to do our songs. Nor are they giving us enough money."
"Mike, cool it man." Peter whispered.
"Well if you want to be presented as something you're not, go ahead Peter." Mike retorted, "But I was promised input on our albums, but I'm not allowed any."
"What do you mean, `you don't have input'?" Marcia asked slowly. "That's you on your albums."
Mike looked at the floor as he realized his goof.
It was supposed to be a secret that the Monkees really didn't play on their first two albums. The other three Monkees glared at him.
"Well Mike?" Davy said angrily, "Aren't you going to answer the young lady?"