Air Pressure
Chapter Two

Time freezes as Jade lurches to a stop in the doorway. People yell as car brakes scream and Jade nearly doubles over, hair swinging over her shoulder as the driver's head busts through the glass window and the youngest Vega girl falls to the ground. Fragments from the window raining over Tori, Jade sprints as people crowd around her, and someone starts calling 911. Jade falls onto the greasy road, the scent of sweat and coppery blood (pooling around Tori's leg) heavy in the air; Jade's eyes widen as Tori blinks and smiles, tan fingers twitching in a pale hand's grip. Bile climbs up Jade's throat and she swallows, pushing it back down while tears spring in the corner of her eyes. Tori's eyes flutter before she finally closes them completely, and Jade shakes.

"No!"

The sounds of sirens swim in the air, going loosely through one of Jade's ears and out the other. She gasps and looks down at Tori's left leg, blood trailing from shards of glass embedded in her shin, and Jade hovers her free hand over Tori's leg, finally hearing the muffled groans of the drunk driver. Her head twitches as she moves her hand and grips onto the skirt of her dress, fingers cramping against layers of ruffles. A few teens are pulling small pieces of glass out of the driver's head, and Jade recognizes him as Gage Jones.

She squeezes Tori's hand one last time, before rising quickly, fists clenched at her sides. She trembles as anger gathers in her chest, mounding into heaps of unshed fire, though she doesn't move from Tori, and instead stares at Jones intently.

"You," Her voice is calm—dangerously calm—and the other teens move in closer, lapping up the drama, knowing that shit's about to go down. Jones gulps and Jade breathes harshly out through her nostrils, watching him raise his hands in surrender.

"Dude, I'm sor—"

"Shut. Up." Voice still calm, Jade relishes in Gage's hisses of pain. She scoffs—in what, no one knows—and hurriedly turns back to Tori and drops down, muttering, "I don't have time for this," though she has no idea what to do. She turns her attention back to the half-Latina's leg. Jade isn't some fucking doctor, she doesn't know what she has to do, but she figures she knows more than any of these other idiots. She knows that if she pulls out the glass, Tori will just lose more blood than she already has, and Jade figures that she'll have to wait until the ambulance comes and let them do their job.

Jade's obsidian hair curtains her face as she leans over, heart clenching as she helplessly watches Tori's eyebrows quiver unconsciously in pain. She takes in a shaky breath and blinks, water clinging onto her eyelashes. Jade looks up and sniffs, finding a drunken Trina with tear tracks down her cheeks leaning over Tori's right; Jade growls as Trina gulps, and the older Vega asks, "Is she okay?"

Jade glares, spatting out, "What the hell do you think?" and looks back down, rubbing her thumb over Tori's knuckles as she chews her lip. Trina doesn't speak again, and falls silent, hand hovering over her sister's wrist though she never grasps it.

Five minutes (which feel like five hours) later the ambulance pulls up and quickly pulls out a gurney as someone goes to check out Gage. Jade nearly whimpers when they pick up Tori, ripping her away from her, and drop her (carelessly, in the West girl's eyes) onto the gurney. She's back at her side seconds later, Trina as well, and the EMT looks at the both of them questionably.

Trina chirps, "I'm her sister," and Jade gulps.

"I'm her—" Jade stops. She's Tori's nothing, she's nothing; she's nothing. The EMT growls—"Let's go!"—and Jade looks down Tori, about to painfully walk away when Trina cuts in.

"She's her cousin," Trina hurriedly says, and then says it again, "her… her cousin." Jade looks at Trina gratefully, before the EMTs quickly roll Tori into the ambulance, and Trina and Jade follow suit.

;;

Jade twirls her hair around her finger, catching a few purple strands with black, and taps her foot against the waiting room's carpet for the umpteenth time. She gulps, awkwardly sitting near the Vega family, who, besides Trina (which she figured out on her own accord), know nothing about her and Tori's brief… fling. She watches Trina snuggle closer to Mr. Vega, who rubs Mrs. Vega's arm, through her lashes, and rises to leave them alone. She walks out into the hallway, about to head to the vending machine even though she's not hungry at all, before there's a flash of red and Cat comes bouncing up, hair in a mess and garbed in pink pig pajamas. Jade's heart clenches as her best friend's doe eyes widen, filled with concern as the resident redhead fires off questions.

"What happened? Where's Tori? Is she okay? Is she okay? Oh my God—are you okay? I brought Mr. Snuffles!"

At this, Cat raises a giant peach-colored stuffed cat, familiar to Jade, which she knows is one of Cat's most prized possessions. Cat chews on her lip, eyebrows knitted together, and Jade smirks, thankful to have something to take Tori off of her mind.

Cat frowns, cocking her head, and holds Mr. Snuffles close to her chest, rubbing her nose against his, which Jade finds utterly adorable. Cat stops and slightly slouches over, resting her chin against the beloved cat.

"Do you think Tori will like him?"

And Jade finally gets it. Cat's the antidote to Tori, the deadly poison, the toxicity that won't leave her mind. Malice spreads inside of Jade, subtly covering up the good morals she has locked away. Cat's the answer. Adorable, little, vulnerable Cat has always been the answer. It's perfect, genius, really. Cat, though temporary as she will be, is useful, an important tactic in this love war. She's—

Jade's heart hammers, sweat licks at her palms as she begins chewing on her lip again. She berates herself. She'd do something physical, only if the witnesses were gone. She internally, mentally punches herself, knees her heart and slaps her brain. What the fuck? She's already used Cat—she's always used Cat—and Cat always comes back, being the loving, forgiving person she is. Jade swallows down the lump in her throat, beginning to lose herself in her thoughts. She used Cat before and hell if she'll use her again. She can't hurt innocent, beautiful Cat again—that'd break her, that'd destroy her best friend, and maybe Jade herself as well. And Jade hasn't even apologized yet for the first time, using Cat as some sex buddy, and then throwing her off to the side. Suck it up, Cat, she had said. That was nothing; you're fine, she said. It was nothing to Jade, and yet… it was everything to Cat.

Jade's head swims. She has to make things right between her and Cat—between her and Tori as well. Maybe she should just leave the both of them alone. That's the best course of action, let them just… relish and appreciate each other like they could never get from her. Let them love each other shamelessly and proudly like Jade never could. Jade's frozen, strong, defiant persona falters, and for the first time in a while she feels vulnerable, exposed—like she has to cover herself up in order for no one to see that she actually cares about certain people.

She thinks she loves them both. Or maybe she loves neither of them. It's confusing and complicated and, just, ugh. Cat frowns and snaps her fingers in front of Jade's eyes, and Jade gasps; she blinks a few times.

"Jade," Cat asks, "Are you okay?"

And Jade hates herself. One minute, all she wants to do is see Tori: Make sure that she's fine, make sure that she isn't dying, that she isn't about to never wake up and never laugh or smile or sing or act or anything ever again. And on the flipside, all she wants to do is just forget about everything. Just go to Cat's house and eat cupcakes and watch Disney movies and then sneak out late like when they were twelve. Worry is a bitch, but so is nostalgia.

Jade's lost again, and it takes a second for her to remember that she's standing in the hallway of a hospital, that her recent kind-of-girlfriend is in surgery with a fifty-fifty chance of living, and that her older, less recent, kind-of-girlfriend is standing in front of her, holding a giant, stuffed cat with a top hat she's had since she was six, and that she has to choose between one or the other, or just leave and let them be—and Jade doesn't know what to do. Not one bit.

"Jade…?"

Cat steps forward, frowning, and takes Jade's hand with her own free one, that one that's not wrapped around her midsection with Mr. Snuffles under her grip. Jade gulps, and wants to flinch and entwine their fingers at the same time. She hates herself, but then again, she doesn't.

"Cat."

Her voice is needy, Jade just needs someone—and Cat knows, dear God she always knows—but so does Tori.

"Cat…," Jade's voice cracks, "I—I can't leave…"

"I never said you should, Jade."

Jade's voice turns small and feeble, a certain type of her voice that only two people have ever known, said two obvious contenders. Jade takes in a shaky breath and runs a hand through her hair. God, does she want a smoke.

"But I kind of want to, too."

Cat sighs, and because she's fucking Cat Valentine she says the right thing as usual, "How about this," she proposes, "Why don't we stop at my house and we'll change, and then we'll come back and get food, and then we'll wait."

Jade gulps, "Just wait?"

Cat shrugs, feeling helpless herself, "Yeah. Just wait."

;;

"Here."

Jade stands in Cat's doorway, leaning against the wood as Cat strides forward. She holds out a pair of Jade's casualwear, a deep blue tee with the words Cereal Killer and a spoon printed white on the front, and some black Addias sweatpants, along with black undergarments dotted with miniature white roses. Jade takes the clothes in her hands, and catching her questioning look, Cat adds innocently—

"They're from last week. I was going to give them to you at school on Monday, but…," She trails off and looks down, and Jade nods, knowing Cat knows she understands anyways.

Jade quickly changes in Cat's purple bathroom, and when she steps out, she finds Cat pulling on a pink hoodie over her yellow shirt (the one with a Carebear on the front—Jade thinks it's Grumpy-bear-man, or whatever), wearing grey Addias pants as well. She slips into some tennies, and hands Jade a pair from the mess of stuffed animals Cat calls a closet. Jade takes the shoes silently and slips them on, before standing awkwardly on the plush carpet of Cat's pink, slightly cramped room.

She perks up as Cat takes a deep breath. The shorter girl takes a step forward, now only inches apart from Jade. She looks up, brown eyes staring into green, lips slightly parted. She opens her mouth as if to say something, but quickly snaps it shut and rips away. She hurries out of her bedroom wordlessly and down the stairs, Jade quickly following suit, confused as ever, but Jade's been confused a lot lately.

;;

Jade chugs down more of her coffee, drumming her fingers agaisnt her knee as Cat wiggles in her own uncomfortable chair, Mr. Snuffles tight against her chest. She sighs as Jade does, and the both of them perk up, finding the rest of the boys jogging up. Jade frowns as Beck doubles over, hands on his knees, Andre plops into the chair next to Cat, and Robbie falls flat on the floor, much to the staff's dismay. All three of them look at Cat and Jade accusingly, and the later innocently (hah) sips her coffee while the first hides slightly behind her "self-proclaimed" British cat.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us Tori was in the hospital?" Beck exclaims, still breathless, and the girls turn to Robbie, who raises an eyebrow (still splayed out on the floor), and then to Andre, who grunts disaprovingly and shakes his hair haughtily. Jade finally lowers her Sky Bucks cup, filled with plain black coffee, and rolls her tongue over her teeth. Honestly, in the midst of things, she hadn't thought of telling the guys about this at all, and she has a fleeting theory that Cat didn't either.

Jade straightens up. She sets the styrofoam cup on the end table beside her and lets the icy, bitch part of her personality (which, truthfully speaking, is in all actuality only about thirty-ish percent. But it's not like Jade'll let anyone know that) take over. She says bluntly, "I forgot," and Beck rolls his eyes before falling onto the carpet beside Robbie. Jade would've investigated this further, had she not be so stressed.

Andre sighs, "Well just tell us what happened," and Cat sits up as well, not knowing the complete story. Jade told her about it on the car ride to the Valentine household and back, but only breifly. Jade swallows, and subtly starts to pull the strings on her loose t-shirt.

"There was this party a few hours ago—" (and Jade really can't believe it was a few hours ago, as it feels like days) "—and Tori was there with Trina. Stuff happened. There was a car wreck. Here we are," Jade shrugs, "It's as simple as that." But it isn't just that and it's not simple. Jade looks around and gulps again while everyone continues to stare. She sighs and launches into a deeper, more detailed explination, sans the bathroom… and the pool… and the part where she was about to throw up.

And, though, they're confused at why Jade seems to care so much (not that they think she's so heartless as to not care that Tori could die, it's just that at some parts she seemed nearly sick)—even more so at why Jade is so involved—Cat, Andre, Beck, and Robbie beileve her, which Jade is thankful for.

There's a somber, solemn pause as everyone soaks the information, before Robbie chirps from the floor and Jade shifts in her seat, "Well what's up now?"

Jade clutches the fabric on her knees tightly, lips pursing as she stares at the floor, "Some idiot EMT pressed down onto her leg too hard for too long. The glass went down into her leg tissue and made the cuts turn into gashes. She's… she's in surgery now, with a fifty-fifty chance of living because she lost too much blood and the fucking surgeons are taking too much fucking time and—"

Jade shakes and her chest heaves as Cat cuts her off, gently placing her hand on the paler girl's wrist. Jade doesn't respond, and instead scowls at the carpet, ignoring the stunned silence as best as she can. It doesn't work well.

"Where are her parents and Trina?"

Jade doesn't really know who asked the question. Her fingers cramp, still gripping her pants, and she hears Cat's voice say, "Talking to the doctor."

Everything seems so far away. Cat's touch feels light as a feather and at the same time, heavy as a brick. A battle rages through Jade—Tori or Cat, Tori or Cat—and she squeezes her eyes tight, wanting everyone to disappear. She feels Cat's hand move over her arm and to her fingers, gently plucking them one by one off the sweaty fabric. Jade takes in a shaky breath before her eyes fly open, and she shoots up out of the chair as Cat's hand recoils. Everyone looks at her questionably, and Jade swallows, muttering, "Don't wait up," before running a hand through her hair and quickly walking away.

Jade hears Cat's gasp, hears her get up out of her chair and jog after her; hears the sound of her tennis shoes scuffing against the linoleum and her panting breaths. Jade stops, and feels Cat grip the back of her t-shirt as she nearly runs into her.

"Jade—," she says breathlessly, and Jade doesn't turn around.

"I want to be alone." Her voice is cold and sharp, though underneath Jade feels like she's about to break.

"I—Jade—Okay…"

Cat lets go of Jade's shirt, and Jade takes in a breath through her nose before walking towards the elevator, leaving Cat alone in the hallway and Tori alone in a hospital room. She slows to a stop in front of the elevator and presses the down button. The doors slide open with a quiet hum, and Jade steps in, feeling sluggish as she presses the 'One' button. She leans against the wall, exhales, and kicks the metal, relishing the pain in her heel.

"Fuck."

;;

A/N: So hey y'all~, here's the next chapter. I'm still not sure if this'll be Jori, Cade, or Cori. It depends on if it'll work with the plot and what you guys want. I'm still contemplating on if it will be Cat's POV next, and then eventually Tori's, so it alternates, or if it'll just be Jade's the whole way through. Anyways, hope you liked the chapter, and you should review. Because every time someone reviews this story, a rainbow is made and a kitten is born. And everyone loves kittens. And rainbows.

—Professor Lazyass