A/N: I decided not to discontinue this story since based off of reviews...you guys like it! I also don't want to give up on this story because I'm still angry that FOX got rid of the show when it clearly has so much potential. Sorry for the shortish chapter, I'll make it up to you next chapter.


~20% Loaded~


"And it's Leo Roth for the win! The crowd goes wild! Ladies flash their funbags in deference! Whoo!" Dash screams, holding Leo's crutch in the air after Leo smacks the golf ball with his prosthetic leg.

The group of friends sat outside in the early morning out on the field trying to have a little bit of fun in their lives. She was not surprised when Dash and Emma woke her up to hang out, mind you this was around nine in the morning...which didn't matter to Xahlia since she only functioned well on 2-6 hours of sleep on a daily basis.

The friends were all dressed in either lounge around clothes, pajamas or in Dash's and Kara's case "stylish" clothes.

"Yeah, 'cause that happens in golf." Kara mutters from her spot against a red pole.

"Are you sure this isn't gonna break your new leg?" Emma questioned.

"Uh, yeah. Would that be so terrible?" Leo replied.

Emma argued, "Your parents might think so, seeing as they're the ones who paid for it. Also, your physical therapist will probably have an opinion on the subject. Speaking of which, aren't you meant to be working with him right now?"

"Well, aren't you the mother hen? No wonder you two broke up.#Rexyain'tsexy." Kara spoke up eyeing Emma before returning her attention back to her cell phone.

Leo asked before Emma could fire back any words to the blonde with the highlights in her hair, "Guys, do you have any idea what's happening right now?"

"Climate change?" Emma answered, while squinting from the sun.

"No peace in the middle east," Dash suggested.

"Pregnant Kardashian?" Kara added.

Xahlia rolled from her back to tummy moving to face Leo, "The cure for Ebola?"

Leo stared at his group of friends in disbelief, "Jordi is about to lose his leg."

"Oh, you meant like now, now." Dash stated.

Leo continued, "Can you just think about it for a second? Every morning, you get out of bed, put two feet on the ground, and stand up like it's easy, like it's nothing. You put your pants on one leg at a time. I mean, it's such a basic concept it's literally an expression. It means you're just like everybody else. Except me and Jordi, we're not like anybody else."

Kara pushed herself off the grass,"Oh, so having cancer gives you the right to hurl golf balls in any direction, causing potential head wounds on unsuspecting angelenos?" She sarcastically said kicking a golf ball as she walked by.

"I'm just saying today's all about Jordi, and we need to be there for him." Leo concluded.

"Yeah, well, I have a stress test to worry about. Later, losers." Kara spun on her heels leaving the friends to wonder how they could possibly maintain a friendship with her.


Xahlia lazily followed Dash and Leo around the hospital for awhile since they wouldn't leave her alone. Emma left Xahila and returned back to her room to prepare herself for her weigh in. Xahlia felt a little off today, drowsy and nauseous but she would deal with it. Finally the boys decide to sit in the waiting area for Jordi while Xahlia plopped down on another couch curling into a little ball.

Dash and Leo were peeking out of the window at some sorority house blabbering about it. Xahlia tuned in and out of their conversation, closing her eyes.

"Same stupid hair, same stupid clothes...Looks like somebody 'roided up One Direction and mated them with zombies," She did hear that part from Dash.

"Excuse you Dash, but Zayn Malik is anything but stupid. He's the hottest looking dude out of the whole group, so don't disrespect a true sex god." Xahlia mumbled from her spot on the couch.

Dash glanced at Xahlia from over his shoulder and decided not to argue with her. He turned his attention back to Leo as they discussed the party some more. Xahlia felt like she was just about to drift off into dreamland until she heard a very familiar voice.

"Leo Roth. You're late for physical therapy. Did you forget what floor it's on, because I'm happy to escort you." Nurse Jackson greeted the trouble making teen.

Leo spun around on the couch to face Nurse Jackson, "As soon as he's out, I'll go."

Nurse Jackson gave him a look, "That's not how this works."

"I tried to tell him, but the young man does not have his listening ears on today." Dash said.

Xahlia smiled but kept her eyes closed.

"This is you helping?" Leo asked with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

"Diverting attention. Strategy."

Xahlia felt herself drifting into a deep sleep while Nurse Jackson basically grilled Leo. She felt a hand gently shake her shoulder, causing her large round eyes to meet Nurse Jackson's. "You do not look well baby...I'm hoping you went for your check-up with Dr. McAndrew."

"I'm sure you would get a text if I didn't," Xahlia offered a smile while blinking several times.

Nurse Jackson sighed, "You're coming with me...Dash get that wheelchair over there."

"Wait what's wrong?" Leo wondered while Nurse Jackson helped Xahlia sit up.

Dash did what he was told bringing the wheelchair over to the two, he held the chair for Xahlia while Nurse Jackson helped place her into the chair.

"Nothing's wrong...I'm just doing a check-up myself. Leo you better have your ass in therapy by 5 and Dash you better stay out of trouble, I'm not playing with you two." Nurse Jackson ordered as she pushed Xahlia away from them.

Dash plopped down on the couch next to the one Leo sat in, "Now who am I gonna bug when you're ignoring me?"

Nurse Jackson rolled Xahlia into her new room and Xahlia lifted her head from falling forwards seeing Asiago sniffing around on the floor. "You want to hear a joke?"

"Sure I don't mind one...but don't think I'm not aware about the animal you've been hiding in this room. One of the night nurses told me and was not happy about cleaning the couple of presents he left in the hallway."

Xahlia shrunk down into the chair allowing Nurse Jackson to do nothing but smile down at the girl and continue to push her forward. Nurse Jackson moved to help Xahlia into her bed, tucking her in before grabbing her chart that was clipped to the end of her bed. "How are your headaches?"

Xahlia moved to lay on her side letting her hair rest against the side of her face, "No headaches. Just nausea and drowsiness."

Nurse Jackson flipped through the papers and looked up to see Xahlia falling asleep, "How many hours of sleep have you've gotten? Have you eaten today?"

"Probably 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep and no I haven't."

Nurse Jackson placed the chart back on the end of the bed, "That's probably the reason why you're feeling like this. I'll be back with some gum for your fluids since we don't want to give you too much, and some Pita bread. I'll see if I can find something for your little puppy too, which we will discuss later."

She smoothed Xahlia's hair back and with a 'Mhm' from the seventeen year old, Nurse Jackson left the room.


When Xahlia woke up without being interrupted she felt a bit better than before. She sat up in her bed and picked up the piece of gum that was left for her and placed it into her mouth. She devoured the Pita bread Nurse Jackson gave to her before getting her sleep on and now this gum was giving her the strength she needed. She picked up her phone seeing plenty of notifications there, a few comments from YouTube, two texts from Leo, one from Dash, two missed calls from Nico, and a voicemail from Nico.

Xahlia decided to call her older brother before texting her friends back. She held the phone to her ear as she climbed out of bed and made her way over to the bathroom. She stared at her reflection in the mirror noticing she didn't look sick...whatever that meant. When she found the time to read books...which were usually emotional...the way sick people were described always bothered her. Xahlia secretly hated hospitals after she watched her father die in a hospital bed. She never told anyone in her family how she felt about hospitals, she was not happy to leave for the hospital, not the slightest bit...but she felt like she needed to put on this persona that everything would be fine because everyone else believed it.

"Sissy?" Nico's deep voice entered Xahlia's ears.

Xahlia closed her eyes listening to her brother's voice, "Hi!"

"How's it going over there?"

Xahlia placed her phone on speaker as she pulled her curls out of a scrunchie, "Same old same old but I'm pretty sure you knew that since you always call Anthony."

Nico laughed, "Caught me. That was a few days ago that you got treatment right?"

"Yeah." Xahlia replied running a brush through her spongy hair.

"And what about today?" Xahlia could hear Nico typing quickly in the background.

"Okay...think I was a little dehydrated this morning but I've been taken care of. How are you? How's Jolene?" Xahlia asked referring to her big brother's girlfriend.

"I'm good...she's good. We're actually flying in to Cali tonight to see ma, Luca, and you." Nico let the secret out of the bag.

Xahlia quickly pulled the phone up to mouth as she walked out of the room, "You're lying!"

"Nope. I'm serious, I just purchased my ticket and Jolene's. So I will be seeing you soon, sissy."

Xahlia spun around in her room, "I'm so freaking happy now. You made my day, I can't wait to see you guys!"

"We can't either. I'm going to finish up my work here and get back to packing, so you take care and I love you."

"I love you more."

"You better," Nico repeated what the two shared over the years.

It was their brother-sister thing that everyone found so cute at family reunions. As soon as Xahlia got off the phone with her brother, she couldn't wipe the wide smile off her face. She picked up Asiago who lay on the cool ground and sat down on her hospital bed, "You're gonna meet Uncle Nico soon."

Asiago licked the back of Xahlia's hand in reply as she went through her phone to read the comments on her video. She replied back to a few, and deleted the rude ones before moving on to read the texts from her friends. She read Dash's text first before replying to him.

r u good? i sure hope so...I need my queen to be alright. -2 hours ago.

*blush emoji* I'm as good as good can b, NOW! My brother Nico is coming to Cali! u shld deff change queen to goddess in ur contacts. -Delivered

Xahlia moved on to Leo's text smiling at the concerned message and then dropping at the next text.

Hope nothing too serious happened. Please text me as soon as you read this to let me know that you are alright, since no one cares to share information with the rest of us until the last minute! -3 hours ago.

Jordi is keeping his leg. -35 minutes ago.

Xahlia held her hand against her mouth pausing as she read the text over and over. That must have made Leo feel like crap because he thought Jordi would be just like him, he didn't have to feel alone anymore. Now the whole game changed. It was different now.

I'm alive & kicking! Want me to bring you peppermint tea or coffee with a blanket & one of my amazing hugs? -Delivered

Xahlia lay back on her bed, waiting for a text from either two boys. She played around with Asiago for a bit before picking the phone that lay on her tummy.

maybe later. Wanna have some fun? -20 secs.

Xahlia didn't bother asking what he wanted to do to let off some steam, she already knew.


A/N: This is only part 1 of episode 2 and that will be the twenty-five percent when I update this story next time. I'm off to see The Lazarus effect tonight and when I come home I will watch the last three episodes of Red Band Society now that I found out that those epiosdes are being released.

Thanks for your previous reviews and favs...I hope to see some more after this chapter maybe? There's so much in store for Xahlia and I can't wait for you to read about it.

Catch ya on the flip side.

-ALovelyEccentricSoul xXx