Kit,” Jeffery said, hugging Kit. “It’s okay, cuz, I’m glad your here with me now though. Thanks goodness Uncle Baloo saved your from that fall. How did that happened anyway? Did you slip?” he asked, looking confused.

 “Jeffery, I thought I told you that story.” Kit said uncertainly, as though unsure if Jeffery seem like the forgetful type. “Heh, your memories’ must be getting as bad as your Mom’s.” He said teasingly, to which Jeffery frowned indignantly. “After Karnage broke my airfoil, I threw it at him and he ordered Dumptruck to drop me off the Iron Vulture.”

“Heh, heh, yeah…sorry Kit, I apologize.” Jeffery said sheepishly, holding a hand behind his head “And hey, I’m not that forgetful! I did however remember some of it. And yeah, heh-heh, Mom’s getting bad at times, huh?” he laughed. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

“My lips are sealed.” Kit said, waving a hand over his mouth and making a zipping motion over his lips with his hand.

Jeffery chuckles a little bit before putting up a serious face.

“Kit, have you noticed that Chris is a bit…skinny?” he asked, watching Kit’s expression. “It’s like he weighs a lot less than we do.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that he’s a bit bony and skinny, but I haven’t tested his weight yet.” Kit said, frowning. “I don’t think he was actually starved at his orphanage, but he obviously didn’t get enough to eat either.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.” Jeffery said in agreement, glancing at the bed where Chris was sleeping peacefully. “I mean, I could barely lift you, but I can lift Chris up about a foot off the ground just fine. That sweater of his hides how skinny he is really well. How much do you weigh?”

“About seventy-two pounds, thanks to Baloo trying to beef me up, before then, I was fifty-four pounds.”

“That sounds about right, you weigh about the same as me.” Jeffery said, smiling. “But Uncle Baloo should focus more on getting Chris beefed up right now.”           

About an hour later, Kit had decided that Chris had slept long enough and went over to the bed and gently shook him awake.

“W-what is it?” Chris asked groggily, letting out a huge yawn and rubbing his eyes.

“Time to get up, Chris.” Kit said, “you’ve slept for an hour.”

Jeffery came over to Chris, wearing a blue nurse’s uniform and he was looking him up and down, as though trying to determine whither Chris was the right size or not.

“Chris, I need to check you over, you don’t mind, do you?” Jeffery asked.

“No…” Chris said uncertainly as he got up out of bed and stood up. “Are we playing doctors?” he asked, gesturing to Jeffery’s nurse’s outfit

“Uh, yeah that’s it,” Jeffery said with a sideways glance at Kit. “And you’re the patience.”

“Okay.” Chris said, looking between Kit and Jeffery as though trying to see where this was going.

“Okay, Chris, I need you to take off your sweater.” Jeffery said.

Chris hesitated before doing as he was told. He took off his blue sweater and laid it on the bed. He stood there, wearing only his white turtleneck undershirt. Chris’s body appeared strangely small without his sweater, he looked very skinny indeed; his build didn’t quite match his height.  

“Good gracious, Chris,” Jeffery yelped in stunned surprise, while Kit looks a little shocked. “What had they been feeding you, a slice of bread a day?” 

“No…” Chris replied in a low voice, looking down at his feet. “We get by with three bowls of soup a day and one roll.”

“Well evidentially those soups weren’t very filling at all,” Jeffery said indignantly. He then stood directly in front of Chris, slid his hands under Chris’ armpits and lifted him up so that Chris’ feet dangled a foot and a half from the floor. “See Chris? You’re not very heavy.” He put Chris back down, took hold of his hand and pulled him toward the bedroom door. “C’mon, Chris, Mom’s got a height and weight scale in her nurse’s office.”

The three of them went down from Jeffery’s attic bedroom and down a few floors before Jeffery led them into a room that appeared to be the nurse’s office.

“This is the nurse’s office, for once we get other people living here.” Jeffery explained. “My Mom used to be a nurse, you know.”

And speaking of Jeffery’s Mom, Melissa chose that moment to walk in on them.

“Jeffery dear, what are you three doing in here?” she asked, looking suspiciously at her son.

“Chris needs a checkup, Nurse Mom, could you give him one?”

“I don’t see why not…” Melissa said, grabbing her white lab coat from the coat rack and putting it on. “Chris, hop onto the bed, please.”

Chris went and climbed up onto the bed and sat down upon it.

“What happened to your sweater, sweetie?” she asked as she checked his blood pressure, she, like Jeffery, had noticed how skinny Chris appeared and was a bit concerned about it too.

“He must’ve left it in Jeffery’s room,” Kit said, standing next to Chris and looking a little worried for his brother. “Jeffery told him to take it off.” 

“Well, blood pressure’s normal, now let’s check your reflexes.” Melissa said, and she took a very small rubber hammer and tapped Chris’ kneecap with it, which reacted instantly, causing Chris to kick out his foot under a nearby tray and sent it flying up to the ceiling.

“Whoa,” Jeffery exclaimed in shock as the tray came back down to the floor with a loud clatter! “You weren’t kidding about your kicks.”  

“Hmm, reflexes are very sensitive and very reactive…” Melissa said, marking something on her clipboard. She did a number of other checkups on her nephew, including checking his pulse and listening to his heartbeats with a stethoscope before saying: “Okay, all perfectly normal. Now to check your height and weight.”

She lifted Chris from the bed and carried him over to the height and weight scale. She was surprise at how little Chris seem to weigh, it was like carrying a sack of potatoes, really. She set Chris down upon the scale and told him to stand straight and still.

“Yes, Aunt Melissa.” Chris said, and he stood up straight and still.

Melissa adjusted the scale until it was well balanced, she frowned at the results.

“No way…” she muttered. She then measured him before letting him off the scale. “I can’t believe it, he’s underweight…” she muttered, scribbling on her clipboard.

“Underweight?” Jeffery asked, looking nervous.

“Yes, Jeffery dear,” Melissa said, frowning at her clipboard. “Chris is three foot, eight inches and weighs forty-five pounds. That’s way below average; he weighs less than a cub his size is supposed to weigh.”

“What?!” Kit exclaimed. “That’s about ten pounds less than what I weighed before Baloo started beefing me up!”

 “Is that bad?” Jeffery asked, looking downright alarmed by this time, for he knew that he and Kit were three foot, nine inches and weighed seventy-two   pounds. Chris’s weight compared to that was very worrying.

“It is very unhealthy but not life-threatening yet, as long as he gets plenty to eat.” Melissa replied “And we won’t have to worry about that, your Uncle Baloo and Aunt Rebecca will make sure he gets plenty to eat.” and then she turned to Chris. “Did you get plenty to eat at the orphanage?” she asked him.

“Um…well…no…” Chris admitted, “I used to get through three bowls of soup a day…”

“What kind of soup? Did it have beef and vegetables in it?” she asked, dreading the answer.

“No, it tasted like Thembrian gruel, but on some days we’d have a slice of bread to go with it,” said Chris, now wondering where all these questions were leading to.

EWWWWWW, Thembrian gruel? That’s nasty! Jeffery thought with a disgusted look on his face.

“Oh dear… Man does not live on bread alone…or gruel for that matter.” Melissa muttered. “Chris, the reason you’re so skinny and a bit underweight is because your body wasn’t getting enough portions from all the food groups …or even the right amount of it. You’ll need to start eating more, with a little snack between meals. Make sure one of those snacks is a big red, juicy apple.”

“Okay Aunt Melissa, I will.” Chris promised. “Can I have one now, please?”

Melissa smile gently as she nodded. “Of course, dear.” Then she looked over at Jeffery. “Jeffery, show Chris to the kitchen, please.”

“Okay, Mom. Come on, Chris.” Jeffery said, and he grabbed Chris’s hand and led him to the kitchen, very keen to get some food in Chris’ belly.

Kit however, remained behind with his aunt.

“How bad off is he?” Kit asked her, feeling very concerned for his little brother.

“Oh, not bad,” Melissa said reassuringly, putting a hand on Kit’s furry cheek and giving it a