EDITOR'S NOTE: This is going to be my first multi-shot and I hope you guys enjoy it. Review or PM me any suggestions or anything thoughts you have on this. :) I'll be glad to take constructive criticism and anything really. Thanks to everyone who have read my stories before and I'd like to hear any feedback you guys have. Anyway, enjoy :)
Your Rehabilitation; My Restoration
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It was March 18th when Caterina Valentine lost her memory. It was also March 18th when Jade West cried for the first time in a long time.
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That damn accident. It took Cat. It took MY Cat! Nothing does that. NO ONE does that to her! To me.
I punch the wall angrily, ignoring as my knuckles cracked and bled. I was making small indents...It wasn't enough. I punch the wall harder, taking my anger out on it, but as I continued my boxing, pain started to fly up my arm. I toughen up and swallow the pain...I just wish Cat could do the same.
The accident had been two nights ago. Just two nights on a seemingly normal, average Friday. Some drunken asshole had offered Cat a ride home from this party she went to. At first, she had just laughed and said 'kk' in that ditzy way of hers and got in the front seat, but when he got in the driver's seat, she could tell he was drunk. He probably smelled like some kid that had just hopped off the train from jail. So Cat politely said she would rather walk because she just remembered she had a fear of cars (which was a lie if you couldn't tell). She jumped out and started to walk towards the party and around the back of the car like the IDIOT she was. She should have walked IN FRONT of the car. The guy, who wasn't paying attention, gunned the gas and backed up out of the parking spot, and hit her. She went flying.
She suffered from that. A lot.
An ambulance was soon called after the driver fled the scene and they rushed her to the hospital, calling Cat's mom on the way over there. Cat's mom then contacted me and I, shocked as all HELL and WAZZED, immediately ran to my car. In a matter of minutes, I was at the hospital, in the waiting room, begging to go to Cat's room.
They wouldn't let me.
So I forced them...kinda. I grabbed a doctor as he walking by (Yes, walking, not running. He should have been sprinting because he was supposed to save, uh, what was it again? Oh yeah, Cat's LIFE!) and kicked him in the shin, angry. He started screaming and bawling like a little kid. Get hit by a truck and then come whine to me. This sent everyone into an uproar and I was soon thrown out of the hospital, screaming at the doctor who was on the floor, grabbing his shin in pain. Next time it's a hammer. Ganks.
Luckily, though, the next day I went, I was allowed into Cat's room. She had been sleeping.
And she looked awful. Her frail body was broken and there were numerous road burns on her. I was shocked. Yes, Jade West. Shocked. I just stood there, watching, mouth wide open. Outside in the hall, the hospital workers were bustling back and forth, like something was more urgent than Cat.
I silently went over to her bedside and kneeled down beside the bed. She didn't have many bandages on yet and I could see the wounds and stitches on her small little body. Her red hair was dirty and looked more black than anything. There were a bunch of needles in her skin and tape everywhere.
Cat...
Soon, they sent a nurse in who told me more about Cat's injuries. What they thought would heal and what they thought would scar. At first, it wasn't to bad. No...not until they got to the part about Cat's memories. My precious Cat's memories.
She had lost them.
As the nurse went on about how they couldn't make a full diagnosis yet since she wasn't awake, I started to tear up, then, cry.
I escorted myself out of the building.
And now I was going back to see her today with Beck, Andre, Robbie, and Vega.
I wish it had been Vega instead of Cat.
I punched the wall one more time and then left the house, not bothering to bandage my fists. I didn't have time. Just like Cat didn't have time to jump out of the way of the big car. Beck had just texted me. He was here with the others and now it was time for me to go see Cat. This time would be different from the time I went. This time, she would be awake.
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"Here. Please...only two at a time," the nurse said and I glared at her. She was lucky I didn't kick her in the shin. I would go with however many people I wanted to go with, but I won't because it might frighten Cat.
"Fine," Andre agrees and looks at us, dismissing the nurse. Even he wasn't in the mood to push things. "Who's going?"
"I'm going first," I growled and I can see Robbie back off. Wimp. Cat was in a world of pain and everyone was dying to see her, but he backs off. He didn't deserve to see the red head.
"So am I!" Tori declares.
Yuck. I would rather have Robbie than Vega...
I almost protest, but bite my tongue. I can't delay seeing Cat any longer. I wonder how she'll look with all the bandages and cringed. I never could stand it when Cat was hurt, even though I enjoyed the pain of others, like Trina.
Vega nods to me and then I walk down the hall, eyes flickering to every door we pass. Inside each is a patient, but none were as important as the patient I was going to see. She was a better person than them, and deserved better treatment.
Finally, we stop in front of the door. Cat's door.
I rip the door open in my angst to see Cat.
When I see her, I pause.
And tear up.
Again.
Cat's arms and legs are wrapped tightly. Her hands are blistered and her face is bruised. There's a cast on her head, covering some of her red hair. There's IVs hooked up to her and a heart beat monitor beeping. Not only that but Cat had huge bags under her eyes and she seemed to be drifting off...
"Cat?" I call softly and I hear Tori do the same. When she didn't even notice us, I walked up to her bed and gingerly shook her hospital bed. Gingerly.
"Jade!" Tori nearly screams, jumping out of her panty hose. "Cat's sick! You can't just shake her bed an-"
"SHH!" I command, ignoring Tori's whines as Cat came to attention. Tori fell silent and I inwardly smirked. I knew best.
"H-Hey," she whispers and it nearly breaks my heart to see how out of energy the usually peppy girl is.
"Hey, Cat...It's us. Do you remember me?" Vega asks and I nearly slapped her. Obviously she didn't remember us. She had a little something called AMNESIA. I roll my eyes, wondering if she even knows her name is Cat.
"Umm...Ye...No," Cat sighs, taking long pauses in between her words and I jump to conclusions. Would she have speech impairment? The doctors didn't say anything about speech impairment! I was going to kill them! "But...You look sorta familiar," Cat says, pointing to me, attempting one of her small signature laughs but ends up heaving for breath. "M...K...J..." she trails off, muttering to herself as I stare, in complete and utter bewilderment.
"Yes! J! That's me, Cat. Come on, remember!" I beg. I could see Tori out of the corner of my eye looking quite hopeful to. She said the first letter of my name...If only she could finish it...
Cat says nothing and just looks at me blankly, like she totally forgot what we were talking about.
"Come on, Cat! You're almost there! JUST TRY!" I cry, shaking the girl's arm, causing some of the bags on the hooks to rattle.
"I d-don't want to..." she pants and I throw my hands up in the air in near defeat.
"GOD, WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID!" I complain and soon enough I hear Vega yelling at me, but I tuned her out, focusing now on the tears that are threatening to fall from Cat's dark chocolate eyes. I...I didn't mean to...
We are suddenly escorted out, me feeling more shaken then I've ever felt in my life.
I take a seat in the waiting room as Tori stands silently, mad.
"Robbie and I will go. Andre, you can go last," Beck says, slightly confused as too why Vega wasn't spilling everything about the interaction with Cat. We all know she loved to talk.
"If you're wondering," Tori began. Here we go again. "Jade got us thrown out! She started yelling at Cat!" And blah blah blah. I slumped down in my chair, blocking out the exasperated sighs and arguing, thinking about Cat.
Would she ever remember us? Would she ever remember me? I couldn't take it if she never remembered. The doctors said they had a feeling everything would come back to her, but they weren't positive. They didn't know. They also didn't know how frail Cat could be. They never asked about her and about how she goes about life. They don't know if she could bounce back emotionally or not because they never bothered to ask about her personality. But, I know. I know she will have a lot of trouble bouncing back. Sometimes, when she has her bad days, she's a little off and I can tell. She's like a broken doll those times. When I think of her that way, I know she wouldn't have the strength. But, still, yet, other times, she's strong. I can recall when she dealt with the death of her childhood friend, Lynn. She was strong then and I had hope in her to bounce back when I thought of her in that way.
I resist the urge to break into tears as I recall another memory:
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I was in fourth grade, sitting in first period, bored and whittling down a pencil with scissors. It was halfway through the class and Cat still hadn't showed up. Odd because for some reason, the cherry hair colored girl loved school. She told me daily and she said things like, "Oh, Jade! I wonder if the turtle will make it home! I can't wait to here the rest of the story!" and, "I love talking to my friends everyday! Don't you?" Honestly, the excitement got to me sometimes, but I tolerated her, as I always would.
"Open your books up t-" the teacher started to see but was cut off as the door swung open with a loud bang. I looked up immediately, startled, accidentally cutting my finger and drawing blood...Cool.
"I-I'm sorry," a whiny voice said. I instantly recognized it as Cat's. I sat bolt upright in my wooden chair, cursing it quietly as it squeaked and moaned under my weight. "I have a late pass...but can I just wait outside for a little? I might disturb the class," she said, shuffling her feet and staring at the floor. The teacher, slightly startled, agreed, and Cat walked out, sniffling.
I swiftly stood up and promptly walked towards the door. God, Cat was such a mess sometimes. I guess it was up to me to fix her. Like the barbie doll I had fixed for her in the second grade. She wouldn't stop crying about it so I jammed it's head onto it's neck, willing the plastic to slide into place, and surprisingly, it stuck. Thank goodness or I would've been forced to listen Cat's complaining for hours because I was in the same class as her.
"Where do you think you're going, Jadelyn?" the teacher called after me, but I snorted and ignored her and she sighed. "Jade, stop."
I hate authority.
"I'm going to help Cat! Are we SUPPOSED to sit her and do nothing while she cries?" I explained exasperatedly.
"Don't raise your voice at me," the teacher reprimanded and, knowing I could not win this battle and knowing I had to go out to help Cat, I gave in and apologized and the teacher agreed to let me go out into the hall to go to my pet, Cat.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked as I started walking towards the girl huddled on the floor. The floor was so dirty; why did she have to sit there of all places?
I sucked it up and sat by her and she looked up at me.
I was shocked; there were no tears. And here I thought she would be a mess!
"Hey, Jade," Cat said solemnly, looking up into my grey eyes with her dark brown ones.
"What happened to you?" I almost spat.
"Yesterday...my friend Lynn went up with the angels," Cat said, looking down at her feet leaving me very confused. What? What angels? There wer- Oh.
"I-I'm sorry. Are you...okay?" I asked, thoroughly puzzled. She was acting fine, but when she spoke, her voice shook and, plus, I could see her hands trembling.
"Yeah, I'm okay Jade. Mommy said to be strong, so I will. Mommy said Lynn's really happy and is singing right now. With them. With the angels," Cat spoke, locking eyes with me and then, as I fiddled with the pencil I was still holding, she looked at my hands.
"Jade...You're bleeding," she said, her voice melancholy.
I had forgotten all about it. "I'm fine," I retorted.
"No. No, you're not," Cat said and reached in her backpack, pulling out a part of her baby blanket that she always kept on her at all times even though we were in the fourth grade. She gingerly wrapped it around my finger and smiled up at me.
"There, all better!" she crooned and placed a kiss on my finger and I immediately tore away from her, causing her to laugh which took me aback. How could she be so strong? Sometimes, at the oddest times, this girl amazed me...
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God, how could this happen to her...She was such a sweet person.
I hope she doesn't go up with the angels alongside Lynn because...
Because I need her down here.
She's my strength.
Next Chapter: "I Could Really Use a Wish" - CAT'S POV
"And it was like she was in a nightmare. Everything was surreal. She felt trapped, like she was stuck in a well."