A/N: Thank you Percussion Chick for reviewing the last 2 chapters. :)
Let the drama begin. I've head this written for almost a week, but has been evil and unaccepting of documents, so... But I finally got it on here, so hope you enjoy!
The Call
A few days later, Jen was at school for a marching band student leadership meeting. Naturally, she arrived a few minutes early and decided to use the time to practice. She walked into the drum room, found a pair of sticks and someone's drum pad, and climbed up onto a shelf. Jen was concentrating hard on her music when Kayla, one of the three drum majors, walked in the room. "Jen," she called to her friend, "we're starting the meeting now, so if you'll tear yourself away from your drumming for a few minutes and join us, that would be lovely."
Jen looked down at her fellow upcoming senior and said in a mock regretful voice, "Well, if you insist, I suppose I can't refuse you Madam Drum Major."
Kayla smiled and rolled her eyes. Jen put her sticks and practice pad to the side and jumped down from the shelf. The two girls went back into the main part of the band room for the meeting.
The meeting was basically reminders that everyone had to have at least four sectionals before band camp, and then a massive game of Tips with the drum majors, section leaders, and lieutenants. Jen left the band room smiling.
In the car on her way home, Jen put in her Avenged Sevenfold CD and skipped to her favorite song on it, "Bat Country." But her Tips-induced carefree mood was not to last long. Her cell phone rang at the traffic light next to the school.
Jen picked it up. "Hello?"
A desperate, tear-thickened voice answered. "Jen!" It was not a voice she readily recognized.
"Who is this?" she carefully asked.
"Mike, Christian's little brother."
"What's going on, Mike?" Jen could not think of any reason why Christian's little brother would call her. Or how he would have her cell phone number, for that matter.
"Jen, Christian…Christian and I were walking to the park to play baseball, and when we were crossing the street…." Mike stopped.
"Mike, what happened?" Jen was getting worried by now. "You have to tell me what happened."
"A car…" Mike sobbed. "It came out of nowhere, and Christian…got hit. And they just drove away. They didn't even stop! Jen, I don't know what to do!"
"Call an ambulance. Where are you?" Jen asked.
"At the Jupiter and Hillock corner."
"Okay, I'll be right there. Call 911," Jen told Mike.
"Okay," he whispered before he hung up.
Jen quickly drove to the corner Mike had specified and got there before the ambulance. A terrible sight awaited her. Christian was lying face down in the middle of the street, his limbs tangled around him. Mike was crouching desperately over his older brother, unsure of what to do. Jen heard the siren of the ambulance in the distance. She ran out to Mike and tried to find out exactly what had happened.
Mike, however, seemed to be in a state of shock and could not tell Jen much of anything more than she already knew.
While Jen was unsuccessfully gathering information, the paramedics arrived. The blue-uniformed men raced over to Jen and Mike, who were crouched over Christian's unconscious form. Jen and one of the paramedics gently drew Mike away while the others put Christian on a stretcher and into the ambulance. "Do you know him?" the paramedic asked Jen and Mike.
Jen answered for both of them, "It's his brother. He's my friend from drum line."
The paramedic nodded. "Why don't you both come to the hospital with us then and tell us what happened."
Mike numbly nodded and the three of them climbed into the back of the ambulance with the rest of the paramedics.
On the way to the hospital, Mike did his best to explain what had happened. "So it was a hit and run," the paramedic said. "It looks like he got pretty beat up."
Another one of the paramedics said, "His pulse is fine, but his breathing could be better. I'd say he has at least a few broken ribs and a broken leg. His arm left is probably fractured."
At the hospital, Christian was taken into the emergency room, but Jen and Mike had to wait in the waiting room outside. Mike stared into space, shock making him numb. Jen hugged him tightly while they waited to hear just how badly damaged Christian's body was. Jen's cell phone rang while they sat in the cold room.
Jen looked at the number; it was from her mother. "Mom?"
"Jen, where are you?" her worried mother asked.
"Mom, I'm at the hospital with Christian and his brother Mike. Christian got hit by a car," Jen explained.
Her mother gasped. "Should I drive out there?"
"No, don't worry about it Mom. I'll be home in a while," Jen assured her.
"Alright, as long as you're sure…."
"I'm sure. Bye, Mom."
"Bye, sweetie."
After Jen hung up the phone, a doctor came out into the waiting room. He asked Mike, "Are you Christian Reynolds' brother?"
Mike nodded.
"And you must be the girl he came in with," the doctor said, looking at Jen. She nodded. "Well, Christian's going to be alright, but he'll have to stay here for at least a few nights. He has three broken ribs, all on the left side. That's what we're most worried about because they're making it hard for him to breathe."
Jen nodded again. "What else?"
"A dislocated shoulder and fractured leg."
Jen and Mike both grimaced. "Did you call our parents yet?" Mike whispered, breaking his long silence.
"Yes, they should be here any minute," the doctor said.
Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds walked through the emergency room door five minutes later with extremely pale faces. They both hugged Mike tightly and asked the doctor what exactly had happened. While he explained the situation, Christian's parents got even paler. "Can we see him?" Mr. Reynolds asked.
"Of course," the doctor told him. "He's been stabilized and taken to a room on the floor above this one. I'll take you to it."
Mr. Reynolds nodded. "Okay."
Mike, his parents, and Jen all followed the doctor up a flight of stairs and down a very clean, white corridor to Christian's room. The doctor opened the door for them and then went back downstairs to give them time alone.
"Christian?" his mother whispered.
Christian stirred and opened his eyes. "Mom? Dad? Mike, Jen? What are you guys doing here?"
Mike told his brother, "I fished your cell phone out of your pocket and called Jen after you got hit. She was the one who had a clear head and told me to call an ambulance."
Christian looked at Jen. "Thanks," he said.
"I-it was nothing," Jen stammered. "I-I guess this means you're not going to be marching any time soon?" She attempted a weak smile.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Our senior season too. Some luck I have, huh?"
Jen didn't answer; silent tears choked her.
"Jen, are you crying?" Christian asked. "You never cry, why start now?"
Jen sniffed as the tears ran down her face. "This can't happen," she whispered. "This year was going to be perfect, why did this happen? Why?" The horror of it all was finally dawning on Jen. Christian, one of her closest friends since her freshman year, had been hit by a car. The injuries from the accident were severe enough to prevent him from marching for at the first half of the season, after which it would be too late for him to learn all the music and drill in time competitions. And after this year, their senior year, Jen would never get to march with Christian again unless they went to the same college or marched in a drum corps together, both extremely unlikely events. This terrible reality made Jen cry even more.
"Jen, don't cry," Christian almost begged her. "It hurts me even more when you cry. Please, stop. I'll be alright, don't worry."
"I'm sorry, I can't help it," Jen chocked out. "But I can't imagine this year without you. Christian, we need you, you're our best tenor player. And I need you. You've always been there for me, and it seems like I've never returned the favor."
"Jen, I can't imagine not marching either. I love drum line as much as you do, so I'm going to march this year. I'll manage it somehow. I'll be there, and I know you'll be there to help me catch up on whatever I have to miss. What else is a captain good for?" Christian grinned at her.
Jen nodded through her tears. "You better be there, Christian Reynolds."
"That's the captain I know."
A/N: Nothing like some drama to get things moving, right? Hope you enjoyed, and sorry for the late update.