A very important note: I have little to no idea how hospitals work. I was in one when I was like 4, but I remember nothing of it. Other then that enjoy! :D
Everything was hectic. Courtney was suffering a panic attack, something that she, and a vast majority of her peers, knew could be fatal. Gwen had tears in her eyes as she lifted Duncan from the hard ground into her small, pale arms. Only Duncan was at peace. In a sense at least. Him having lost consciousness caused his painful screams to fade to silence, moans fallen back within himself, and fear ridden expression to turn to solemn peace. The only thing missing from this scene were sirens in the distance that so often followed a disaster such as this. And truthfully they might've been apart of this mishap too if the two girls were capable of thinking straight. Things being as they were though the call was never made. "Duncan! Duncan! Please, open your eyes!" Gwen pleaded with him, trying her best to force the tears back where they belonged all the while. "Come on!" she begged, shaking him lightly as if it might really do either of them good, just a little. Stranger yet she could be seen shutting her eyes tight, doing what she'd only ever done when she caused the death of that poor couple. She was praying. She prayed that this was nothing more then a hit to the head and he would soon open his eyes back up to reveal that life she'd grown to love in their teal depths.
Courtney was beginning to get a hold of herself with the aid of an inhaler she'd swiped from her mother. But what she really needed was to see that Duncan was ok. Not that she'd ever admit it, especially not so soon after they'd been having one of their fights. She refused to be seen as weak and soft. And right now apologizing wasn't the most ideal approach anyway. For one thing he was out cold and two, and probably most important, was that she was to worked up to even think of descending the tree. She didn't want to end up like Duncan.
Gwen was on the verge of having a full fledged breakdown of her own. "Duncan you dumbass! Wake! Up!" she sounded harsh, but in reality was no where near that way. It was her fear talking, taking control of her very being and willing her to speak out like she'd never do under normal circumstances. "Stop it!" Courtney's high pitched squeal was heard above Gwen's. "He can't hear you." she said flatly, wiping at her eyes to make the tears invisible, non existent even. "It's pointless."
Gwen shook with fury. "Don't say that!" Again, it was her fear doing this. "What kind of girlfriend are you! You're basically saying he's dead!" The notion caught Gwen off guard despite her having said it and she felt a lump form in her throat and she had try with all her might to swallow it back down.
"Stupid Goth bitch! NO! Never!" she was quick to snap back, crossing her arms indignantly as she thrust her head into the air. "It's that your whining and bitching isn't helping! He'll wake up when he wakes up! Duh!" she spat, rolling her eyes as if this was so very obvious.
"You-" Gwen stopped before the idea had even fully formed. For a movement caught her full attention.
Duncan stirred ever so slightly in her arms, groaning as he moved a hand to his head to grip it tenderly. "Gha…" he murmured, no real meaning in the word, if it could even be called that.
"My God…" Gwen sighed in relief, sniffling heavily while rubbing at her eyes. "Can you not talk?" she pressed further, wanting to be able to assess the severity of his condition without doctors first so that she wouldn't have to twiddle her thumbs and freak out even longer while waiting for those incompetent losers to do it. Besides, she knew what she was doing. Her mother was a doctor after all.
"I-I…uugh…" his breathing grew labored still and eyelids became heavy. He could barely keep them open. It was a fight all the while as he stared up at the girl before him.
"Talk to me!" she commanded, gripping onto him tighter. "Come on!"
"It…hurts…" he managed to force himself to say throw his tightly drawn lips. This was the most coherent he'd been, but it wasn't all that helpful to either of them. It was obvious that 'it' hurt and there was nothing either could do.
Gwen sighed softly, looking up towards the sky. "At least you can talk. That means nothing's wrong with the cerebral cortex. Very Good." she'd learned that that was one of the things to check first. Why exactly? She didn't bother finding out. As long as she knew what to check it was all good. "Now will you try to stand for me?" she asked softly.
He nodded slowly, sitting up at about the same speed. He cringed at the movement, bringing a hand to his side instinctively. Still he did not stop. He rose to his feet with a bit of a struggle, wobbling about like a two year old learning to walk. It made Gwen worry some, but not enough to verbalize her thoughts. "I-I'm good…" he stuttered, leaving his left foot up off the ground as much as he could. It was sprained.
Gwen smiled. "I'm so glad!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together.
Courtney really couldn't tell what was going on but she gathered that Duncan wasn't dead by the way Gwen suddenly seemed so happy. She half smiled at this, happy Duncan was ok, and rolled her eyes because Gwen was so clingy.
Duncan started to smile back at her, but stopped halfway through the simple action for his stomach had suddenly twisted itself into a knot. He felt off kilter immediately after and he clutched his stomach in pain.
"Duncan?" Gwen cried with uncertainty, leaping forward toward the boy. "Are you alright!"
Duncan wanted to answer her but once again he didn't have the chance. Only this time the reason why was much more obvious. The pain in his stomach had forced its way up in the direction of his throat and he felt like gagging. He turned away from Gwen just in time too. Immediately after the chunky liquid filled his mouth and spewed out all over the ground where he'd once laid. It was the sickest thing any of the three had seen, this being so because none had ever been sick enough to throw up.
"Oh God! Duncan!" Gwen half screamed, covering her mouth with both hands, that same sick sensation coming to her stomach. She always felt this way when seeing others get sick. Yet somehow she didn't get sick afterward. She figured now was different because she was so close to the guy.
"I thought you said you were alright!" Courtney screamed with irritation mingled with a hint of worry. She had her hands cupped around her mouth so that she knew they'd hear, bringing her hands back to cover her mouth soon after as she felt something rising in her own throat. "I swear if you make me sick Duncan I'll kill you." she growled to herself, swallowing the disgusting taste of vomit back down.
The stuff was coming out so fast and constantly that Duncan was doubled over, hands on knees, struggling to find air through the mass of half solidified substance. But it did end. After a minute of nauseating sickness it was over. He gasped for air as the leftovers dripped from his nose and mouth. "…Sick…" he wheezed, lightheadedness not helping him in the least. In fact, it made it even harder for him to stand upright without stumbling about. He stumbled right into the tree and groaned, saying, "Shitty day…" before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground for the second time of the day, hitting not as hard as the first time.
"Duncan!" Gwen shrieked, avoiding the puke as she jolted over to his side, that same panic which had consumed her minutes ago coming back.
"Re-lax!" Courtney yelled at her, finally calm enough to descend the giant tree. As she swung on the limbs to get closer to the ground she said, "He just passed out is all." Then, once she jumped from the last branch to land on the ground with grace, she added to her know it all comment. "It happens after trauma a lot." she stood fully and walked over to the Goth girl. "He'll be fine." she flipped her hand around to demonstrate that this was about how severe him passing out was.
Gwen scowled up at the clueless brunette. "Are you stupid." she snapped. "Do you actually go to those special classes that you claim to take? Because I know that what you're saying is bull crap." Gwen snorted with irritation, crossing her arms to better match her feelings at the moment. "Whenever someone hits their head, especially from such a high fall, passing out is never a good thing."
Courtney emitted a low growl. "Says you! And I doubt you know what you're talking about either!" Courtney huffed, cheeks puffing out slightly.
"Oh, well, since you admitted that you know absolutely nothing, something really out of character I might add, I'll be glad to enlighten you." she took a deep breath. "When someone hits their head a number of things could result because of it. One, they more then likely are knocked unconscious, as you saw before. Two, they may become temporarily unable to speak even after waking up, which is a sign of some degree of damage to the cerebral cortex. Three, they could lose their sense of place, a lack of memory if you will. This usually clears up pretty quick. " she was smirking as she lifted Duncan up into a standing position to drag him along. "Worst of all bleeding in the brain can cause serious and permanent brain damage to multiple sections and sometimes even…death." Gwen shivered as she spoke the word. She'd never liked the thought and as such couldn't imagine being a doctor like her mother was.
Courtney swallowed hard, suddenly dearly frightened for her unconscious boyfriend. Sure she was mad at the sorry cheater but she didn't want him dead. In fact, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if this came to pass.
Gwen noticed her newfound expression of unease and guilt and frowned. But she didn't offer kind words like most everyone else might have. Instead she barked orders. "Now get your lazy ass over here and help me carry him! I know you don't want to see anything bad happen to him! No matter what you say." she stared Courtney down with an intense glare, hoping not to break her but at least to get her to help more then she was.
Courtney lowered her head, a scowl still there, as she slowly made her way over to the pair. She helped by lifting up Duncan's legs. He was heavier then she expected. Dead weight always was though so she shouldn't have been so surprised. "Where are we going…? She muttered lamely.
Gwen sighed irritably. "My house."
Courtney whined. "Why your crummy house? Hat place is so creepy and dirty and-and-"
"Courtney!" Gwen snapped, cutting the brunette off. "Will you please just shut up!" she breathed in and out deeply to remain calm. "As much as I'd love to go all the way to your perfect house we're going to the closest place. And my house is only a mile away." Gwen stared hard at Courtney, not wanting to fight over something so incredibly stupid.
This was not enough for Courtney though. She groaned in response. "A whole mile!" she griped, using her complaints to give her a sense of ease in this awful situation. She was so hurt that even this barely helped her. What she really needed was to see those teal eyes of her boyfriend. "This is gonna kill me!" she didn't notice her bad grammar, that's how badly she was doing in her head.
Gwen slammed a foot down, stopping in her tracks so she could fully face Courtney without the fear of falling over something by walking backwards. "I said shut up!" she snapped. "Duncan is hurt and all you can think about is yourself! I don't care if he cheated on you or if he killed your mother! You can not be so incredibly selfish! It's practically inhuman." Gwen ranted. "If you say another word that isn't concerning his wellbeing I swear I will break some bone in your body. Got it?" she hissed, dead serious about every bit of it.
Courtney searched her face, mainly her eyes, for any sign of a lie. There was nothing. She was astounded and a little scared to realize Gwen wasn't kidding about this. At the same time Courtney was seriously impressed by the amount of anger she was spewing out. She wasn't known for having a temper so seeing her like this was definitely at treat Courtney fully intended to enjoy. Courtney parted her lips to rely with a simple 'yes', clamping a hand over her mouth as she remembered she was forbidden to talk. Sure it wasn't like saying yes would kill any of them, but she didn't feel like testing the Goth girl before her. Not right now. So instead she merely nodded quickly.
"Good." Gwen muttered with a devilish smirk. "Now get going!" she commanded. She was getting a kind of high from this, finally able to understand why Courtney loved the action so much.
They ran on for thirty minutes, three fourths of a mile, before Courtney couldn't go on anymore. As much as she wished to save her boyfriend she couldn't take another step. She had been wheezing heavily long before and now was holding her side with one of her hands. It hurt so damn much. She was barely walking. "C-Can't…go…any-anymore…" she huffed.
"What was that?" Gwen barked, raising a brow at the severely slowed girl behind her. "I know you didn't just say something about yourself." she was giving Courtney a chance to change her answer despite the fact Gwen believed she really didn't deserve it.
"C-Can't…no…" she muttered, finally collapsing to the ground, her heart pounding in her ears and breathing shallow. She gasped from the air necessary to keep going, gripping her sides tight to quail the unimaginable ache consuming her.
Courtney!" Gwen cried, noticing the lurch from behind her and Duncan sudden weight shift. Gwen spun around quickly, concern showing through in her dark eyes for Courtney. A rare event which she never expected to happen. "Are you ok?" her worry even came out in her tone. Of course a portion of the worry was still for Duncan who she felt needed immediate attention.
Courtney shook her head slowly in the negative. "N-No…"
Gwen sighed irritably, running her fingers through her hair to semi calm herself down. "God...what to do…what to do…?" she repeated over and over, pacing back and forth to keep from working herself up to much.
Courtney stared at Gwen all the while as she slowly regained her steady breathing pattern, the pain still there. "Go…" she said softly. "Go get a phone…"
Gwen ceased her pacing to stare down at Courtney. "A phone? That's it!" she cried excitedly. "I'll go the rest of the way and call an ambulance. You'll just have to stay her with him." Gwen's last sentence was full of tenseness. She wasn't sure if she could trust Courtney with Duncan when she had been so mad at him earlier for supposedly cheating. For all Gwen knew this was all an act meant to get her away so Courtney could make it less likely for Duncan to pull out of this. Gwen hesitated in running off because of this. She wanted to give Courtney specific instructions. "And you have to be sure and keep him propped up on something, make sure he never stops breathing, and-" she stopped short seeing that her worries were for naught.
Courtney hadn't listened to a word Gwen had said, it was obvious, yet she was still doing as she should. She already had Duncan up in her arms, cradling him as she gently rubbed the dirt from his face and hair. The look on her face was sweeter then honey and so pitiful Gwen felt a mushy half smile spread across her lips. Courtney's eyes were full of tears mixed with an emotion rare enough for normal people, but nearly nonexistent for her…selfless sorrow, pure sadness for her boyfriend. "Sorry…" she choked out, biting her upper lip to keep the tears at bay. "Please…forgive me…" In that moment Gwen knew that what they had was more sacred then any other couple she'd ever seen walk around. For they may hate and fight each other ninety percent of the time, but that ten percent was more then enough to get them through life with more love then all the other couples in the world.
Gwen sighed contentedly, turning and running as fast as she could go. She was one of the fastest runners at school so she was going pretty fast. If not for Duncan and Courtney slowly her down she would have made it home in fifteen minutes easy, which was why only four minutes later she was running up the driveway of her house. It was the model of a perfect home, white on the outside and multicolored on the inside, a two story building that most wished to own.
Gwen burst through the door to her lovely home, doubling over in pain. "Got to…get to…phone." she huffed, walking slowly with the aid of the walls over to the phone on the wall by the TV which her twelve year old brother was watching at the moment. She ignored him momentarily as she punched in her mothers number, waiting impatiently for her to pick up. "Come on mom." she breathed into the mouthpiece. She didn't have time for one of her mothers 'moods' where she decided she wouldn't pick up because nothing her kids had to say could pertain to her job. "Mom!" she half screamed as if this would gather her attention somehow.
Her brother looked up from his trance on the TV. "Be quiet!" he commanded, pointing at Gwen. "I'm trying to see if Pikachu beats Mewtwo!" he cried exasperatedly.
Gwen grit her teeth. "Shut up!" she barked back. "I'm trying to keep someone from dying! Don't you think that's a little more important! Huh?" she glared darkly at her naïve brother, fed up with his obsessions.
Her brother lowered his head in shame, slowly taking his gaze from her back to rest on the TV. He didn't say another word on the matter either. Not to Gwen or even to the characters in the show when they were stupid.
"Hello?" her mother's cool voice said over the phone.
"Mom!" Gwen cried, gripping the phone tighter by the second. "Mom! I need help!" her breathing was quickly rising in frequency.
Her mother's cheery expression faded to immense worry and fear as her daughters tone sunk in. "What's the matter honey?" she pressed, looking about herself to see if anyone was around to see her 'slacking off'.
"It's Duncan mom! He-He's in trouble!" the tears filled her eyes for the umpteenth time today, her unwilling to let them fall. "W-We were up by the tree…the old tree…and-and Courtney, it was so-so-" she was talking a million miles an hour, only understanding herself because she thought it before they spilled out of her throat.
"Whoa! Whoa!" her mother interjected. "Easy, baby! You need to calm down! I can't understand you. You have to talk slower." she repeated constantly, hoping deeply to get soothe her daughter after whatever traumatic event she'd endured.
Gwen's hands were shaking now as she held onto the phone for dear life. "I…I was at the tree." she paused, taking a deep breath. "Courtney, h-her and D-Duncan, they came up there." her lip quivered and her voice caught in her throat. She, however, forced herself to keep going. "T-They fought, climbed the tree and he-he…" she trailed off, whimpering lightly. "He's unconscious."
He brother was staring at her strangely, no longer interested in his show. He wanted to know what was going on with his sister. He'd heard the name Duncan and snapped to attention. He knew she liked him some, a small crush if you will, and made sure to tune into everything involving him, his sister, and most importantly his current significant other.
Her mother reacted rather badly to this revelation. She brought a hand to her mouth, eyes wide with horror. "Oh no." she breathed more to herself then to Gwen. She didn't want her to know she, the doctor, was also worried about this scenario. "Honey, I'll be over there as soon as possible."
"No!" Gwen screamed into the receiver. "Get an ambulance!"
"No." she snapped. "You called me for a reason. If you didn't want me to be the one coming you would have just called 911 like any other person." she sighed softly. "Besides, I know you know how all this works. And I'm sure it scares you."
"Mom!" she screamed, voice trembling. "Just…just h-hurry…" she whispered.
Her mother bit her lip, holding the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she gripped the steering wheel as tight as she could and floored the car. "I'm coming baby. Just…don't panic." she didn't wait for her daughter to reply, flipping the phone shut with immense force. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear her daughter's voice. She just couldn't bear to listen to her fall to pieces like she was. Duncan was her one and only real friend in this place. No one, not in the whole two years they'd been here, had managed to work their way into Gwen's heart like he had. Her mother liked him pretty well too because he gave Gwen something to live for. So she could only imagine her daughters pain in this moment as she drove on.
Gwen just stared at the phone for a minute after the clicking sound of her mother hanging up reached her. She didn't know what to do now. She should've gone back to Courtney to see how Duncan was doing, if he was awake or even still breathing. She knew this was the best course of action. It was merely that she could no longer control her body for some reason or another. She guessed shock. So when he body decided to collapse to the floor after a moment she was not surprised. She went along with it, wrapping her arms around herself protectively like doing so might keep out all else in the world. Only it didn't. Despite the effort she was incapable of keeping her emotions under control and the flow of tears broke free of her eyes, rolling down her pale face like a river. She was sobbing uncontrollably as she shook with undeniable fear and distress. She no longer had any hope to cling to neither did she care if all easily saw this sad fact.
Her brother was frowning deeply as he looked upon the sight of his broken sister. He wanted to know what had gone wrong up at the tree, but he didn't want to make her already unstable state worse. He was young, but he wasn't stupid. His mom always said people in shock should not be messed with unless they got to the point of suicidal. And he was sure Gwen wouldn't get that far before Duncan got better from whatever it was that was wrong.
Her mother was a pulling up beside their house in a matter of minutes, she'd sped through town with no regard of the speed limit. She was sure many people driving around her were severely peeved by her actions but she didn't care a bit. All she was thinking of was her daughter and the situation she was stuck in at the moment. "Gwen!" she screamed as loud as her body would allow. "Gwen!"
Gwen had mostly cried herself out for the moment and perked ever so slightly as her mother's voice reached her. "M-Mom…" she muttered softly.
Her mother burst through the door. "Gwen!" she screamed again, looking about herself with a crazed look in her eyes.
"M-Mom…!" Gwen said slightly stronger then before, jumping up to run toward her. "Mom…h-he…he's not here. He's with Courtney a forth of a mile that way." she pointed vaguely off toward the north east.
Angela, Gwen's mom, went to say something but stopped herself, instead deciding upon merely nodding slowly. She then grabbed onto her daughter's hand and half dragged her out of the house back toward the car. She was quick to open the passenger door and shove her in before darting over to the driver's side. Still, she did not ask for directions. She was more willing to leave her daughter to her silence then risk disturbing her in her fragile state of mind.
Never-the-less Gwen opted to speak. "M-Mom…" she muttered weakly.
Her mother looked up instantly. "Yes honey?"
"Go…that way." Gwen pointed shakily over toward a dead end street, lip quivering all the while.
Her mother looked miserable as she nodded to her daughter, never letting her eyes stray from the road.
Gwen was out of the car before it came to a complete stop, jumping foolishly from it and running over to Courtney and Duncan. "Courtney! Come on!" she barked.
Courtney stared up at Gwen with a confused expression from both the car before them not being an ambulance and Gwen's stained face. But she only spoke of one of the two issues. "Are you…crying…?" she muttered softly, wiping a stray tear from her own eye.
Gwen was quick to rub at her face once her state was vocalized. She wasn't as paranoid about weakness as Courtney, but she didn't want to look weak in this moment. Not now. Courtney would need for her to be better then this. "No." she growled through her teeth. "Now get up!" she snapped harshly, eyes giving off a more sad then made feel.
Courtney nodded a little, lifting Duncan into a standing position as Gwen had done earlier, hoping for some assistance.
Gwen was quick to assist, lifting his feet up and jolting from her spot without a second thought.
Courtney was knocked off kilter a bit from the quickness Gwen displayed, but she tried not to let it show to much. She was up where she needed to be and helping put Duncan in the front seat instantaneously. She made sure she was the one to snap the seatbelt on too.
"Get in!" Gwen continued to order Courtney around, taking her by the shoulder and pushing her over to the far side of the back seat. She saw that Courtney glared at her, but ignored it, jumping in after her. "Go mom! Go!" she cried frantically as she slammed the door shut behind her.
Her mother reacted immediately to her daughter's frantic cries, flooring the pedal as she had when leaving the hospital. As such they were back as quickly if not faster then the time it took for her to reach them. "Hurry girls." she said with pity dripping from her meant to be sharp voice.
The three carried him through the hospital as best they could, quick to make it to the emergency room. Although regrettably Gwen's mom was forced to push the girl's away from where he was kept. "What! Why! You can't do this to me!" Courtney screamed, those accursed tears returning to her red eyes.
She shook her head back and forth. "Sorry Courtney. It's protocol. You can't come in until he is stable."
Gwen gloomily made her way over to a seat in the waiting room, head hanging in defeat. She didn't bother arguing like Courtney was bent on doing. She knew better then that. It didn't matter that the doctor was her mother, she wouldn't win this fight. She might as well save her energy for another time. She'd most definitely need it if something were to go irrefutably wrong.
"Get out of the way!" Courtney continued to scream. "He's my boyfriend! I want to see him! MOVE!" her fists shook uncontrollably, her lip quivering.
"Sorry." she shrugged. "I'll come get you later." she then turned ever so slowly and reentered the room where chaos was breaking loose.
Gwen swallowed hard, not wanting to breakdown again. But she couldn't keep her mouth shut. As she saw Courtney sink to the floor she realized she had managed to not go through the breaking process like Gwen had. "Courtney…" she whispered, waiting for her to turn her head toward her before continuing. "Come…sit." she patted the seat next to her. "Please…" Gwen added, throat catching.
Courtney looked dejectedly at the seat then back to Gwen, not sure if she wanted to be near this girl right now. It wasn't her fault Duncan was like this, but…she needed someone to blame. And there was no way in hell she would blame herself. She was to good for that. Still, she found herself slowly picking herself back up and walking zombie like over to sit next to the Goth girl. "What?" she muttered softly as she took her place.
Gwen sighed lightly. "I don't know what's going on right now." Courtney's body tensed as did Gwen's. The same thing crossing their mind…death. She shook the notion. "But whatever happens, we need to promise something." she paused to swallow back the tears and move her hand over top of Courtney's. "We need to promise that we won't ever give up on him. I mean…he'll probably come out of it fine, perhaps a small concussion." she stopped once more to stifle a whimper. Even this was sounding suckish to her. "But…if not…we have to believe he'll be ok. And never separate. All we have is each other now." Gwen tentatively looked up into Courtney's emerald eyes. They were glazed over slightly, but she was ok, Gwen knew. "Promise…?"
Courtney had shivered at the contact of Gwen's cold hand, but she had remained quiet enough through it all. Still, she wasn't sure. She didn't know if, after Duncan betraying her, that she could empathize with him once he was ok or even when he wasn't. The only thing keeping her here and on the verge of tears was the simple fact that he could die because of her. The guilt was what bound her to him. Once that was gone she wasn't sure if she wanted to be apart of any of this or him anymore. "I…" she trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.
"Courtney…?" Gwen pressed, that fear creeping into her tone.
Courtney sighed. "I…yes." she couldn't say no. She needed someone right now. Just like Gwen she was on the verge of losing her sanity. So for this moment, yes, she was willing to promise this. The future was all that was in question for her. Not that she would tell Gwen this. It would most definitely stick a wedge in their barely there friendship because Gwen was so deeply connected with Duncan. If Courtney even thought of abandoning him in his time of need Gwen would practically kill her. Courtney was slightly bothered by this from time to time, but for the most part she found no evidence that Gwen was into her boy. Sure she caught her staring at him and draping her arm around him, but they were best friends. Besides, Gwen was better then that bitch Kristen. Even if she was into Duncan she wouldn't dare steal him away. This was what let Courtney allow her to be around Duncan as much as she was.
Gwen smiled weakly. "Good." she breathed, squeezing her hand gently. "I'm glad I won't be alone."
Courtney's whole body shook as her soon to be betrayal at away at her. She was such an awful person. She felt she didn't deserve Gwen's condolence. It was this deep aching in her heart that prompted her to throw herself at Gwen. She wrapped her arms around Gwen's neck, transferring her quakes to her. "I-I'm so sc-scared!" Courtney stuttered. "I don't-don't want him dead. I-I was just…just mad!" she whined into Gwen's ear, causing her pity to grow tenfold.
Gwen was now shaking herself, resting her head upon Courtney's shoulder. "It'll be alright. Duncan is stronger then this. Falling from a stupid tree won't get him. I know!" Gwen insisted weakly, barely believing it herself. "You just gotta…believe."
Courtney's whimpers and moans continued. Although they had quieted considerably since the start. "Y-Yeah…" was all she could think to say in this moment. What more could there be?
Gwen was intent on soothing this broken girl. So she started to rub her back methodically. It was an odd gesture for her, a girl comforting a girl, but she couldn't stop herself. She felt obligated.
They remained this way, each helping to calm the other, until the door creaked open. They both jumped from each other instantly, eager as well as fearful of the news. Gwen's mother was smiling though, so it was obvious all was well. "He's fine." she said with cheer. "You can go in now."
Both were up in a heartbeat, pushing their way through the small door to reach him. It was a race, no longer were they one. It was once more only about them individually. "Duncan!" Courtney cried, leaping over to the left side of his bed. "Oh, God! I'm so glad you're ok." she whimpered, soft tear filled eyes suddenly turning hard and cold moments after the words passed her lips. "But you are an idiot!" she snapped.
"Hey!" Gwen growled, narrowing her eyes at Courtney for her quickness to turn cold toward him. He was still hurt. She had no right. "Don't talk to him like that!"
"I can say whatever I want!" she retorted.
Gwen rolled her eyes at the inconsiderate girl. "Whatever." she murmured under her breath, focusing all of her attention on the boy in the bed before her. He was all that mattered right now. She quickly found stool to pull up to his bedside, smiling warmly as she took her seat. "I'm so glad you're alright." she muttered, wiping a her eyes some more. "You scared me to death." her lip quivered and she thrust her head down for a moment, shutting her eyes tight.
Duncan raised a brow at her. He was so confused. Why was she so sad? Had something bad happened to him? If so, why couldn't he remember? A concussion?
Gwen lifted her head and slowly reopened her eyes, tears brimming in them. "I'm sorry…I'm just so…happy." she choked out, laughing lightly. "I don't know what I'd do if something bad had happened to you." she chuckled nervously.
Duncan frowned, furrowing his brow. "I'm…sorry." he said with as much strength as he could muster. "But…" he trailed off for a moment, rubbing the back of his head. "Who are you…?"
Dun dun dun! lol. I love this chapter. I like Courtney and Gwen interactions quite a bit, so this was fun to write. And please, if either of them were ooc at all I really want to know. I would love to improve if possible. Plus, I think I'm ready to be critiqued on the third person point of view. I've been doing a lot more stories this way and am pretty confident that I'm not completely sucking. As such my feelings won't be hurt if you point out any mistakes. Plz review! :D