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Chapter 9: Vulnerable Other

"Jen… Jen can you hear me?"

Jen groaned and blinked. Her head was pounding and all she felt was sore. Her vision was blurry, though she could tell there was someone sitting next to her, someone with blonde hair. "Taylor?" she asked hoarsely as she blinked in an attempt to clear her vision.

"No Jen, it's Dana."

Jen blinked again and this time she could see her friend sitting by the bed she was on, though she was not sure how she got there. She winced. The last thing she remembered was being at the track. Wes and Eric and gone to take a closer look while she stood back. At some point she began to wander along the border of the track, thinking about the last time she had been there.

Then out of nowhere she heard a very familiar voice call out to her. Startled, she whipped around to a see a bike with striking yellow markings swerve off the track and head straight towards her. She froze and suddenly everything was happening in slow motion, the bike edging towards her, Eric and Wes turning along with several others with wide eyes. But just when she thought she was going to be hit she felt someone grab her around the waist and felt herself falling. She hit the ground and a searing pain shot up her leg before everything went black.

"Jen?"

Shaking her head she looked up. This time is was Taylor, standing behind Dana, her blue eyes filled with worry and her clothes splattered with mud. She tried to sit up but pain shot through her body and she faltered. A strong arm looped under her own and along with Dana helped her sit up. "What's going on?" she asked as the rest of the room came into focus.

White wallpaper with a pale pink floral print, expensive furnishings and the pink silk linen she noted, this was definitely not a hospital. Then suddenly a bright light shone in her eyes and she hissed in pain but followed Dana's instructions.

"I'm glad you're awake. Any longer and I would have insisted on taking you to the hospital," Dana explained as she placed her torch back into her bag.

"Where am I?"

"At our beach house," said Kim

That's when she realised that Dana and Taylor weren't the only people in the room. Wes and Kim were there as well. She blushed and turned back to Dana.

"The medic said you didn't need a hospital, but you passed out on the way so we called the doctor," Wes explained.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"We were at the track… the bike was coming at me…

She paused as she recalled someone pulling her away and her widened and shot up to sister but Taylor only shrugged. Dana drew her attention back as she examined her head before asking her where it hurt and prodding her in certain places.

"So doc what's the verdict?"

"Your leg's pretty torn up but the medic did a good job of patching you up. I've changed the bandages but you need to rest it. I recommend not moving it all for at least 12 hours. I am a little concerned about a concussion so no naps for the next 10 hours, just to be sure."

Jen heaved a sigh of relief and nodded before turning to her sister. "I suppose I have you to thank for this."

"Only if you'd rather not be roadkill."

The two sisters shared a smile to the surprise of their new friends. Taylor walked around Dana and sat on the bed, taking her hands in her own."Are you sure you're alright?"

"I have a headache and my leg hurts but other than that I'm fine... When did we switch places though?"

"You two are a riot, you know that," Dana laughed along with them, shaking her head.

"Thank you for coming Dana," said Jen.

"Your sister insisted that she call her and no one else," Kim explained, her eyes holding a lot of questions.

"Dana's the best there is when it comes to injuries like this," Taylor shrugged.

"You would know," Dana teased, earning a mock glare from the other blonde.

"Still, coming all the way here from Turtle Cove, you really didn't need to do that," Jen insisted.

She was embarrassed by the whole situation and didn't know what her sister was thinking dragging Dana all the way there, even if it wasn't that long a drive. She trusted their friend of course but she didn't want to be such an inconvenience.

"It's fine Jen. I was actually right here at the clinic for a consultation, and even if I wasn't, I still would have come. It's not often that Taylor is the one calling for you, come to think of it, she's never called."

"Very funny," Taylor growled.

Jen turned to Wes and Kim and found them watching their interaction curiously. She explained that they went to school together and Dana had been patching up Taylor's scrapes and more since then. They nodded in understanding but she couldn't quite figure out Kim's expression.

"Dr. Grayson is Jen going to be alright?" Wes asked in concern.

"I've prescribed some painkillers for her leg to help with the pain but it will heal with time. As for the headache, that should go away in a while, but if it gets worse and she starts feeling lightheaded or nauseous, then she might need to go to the hospital. For now she just needs to rest."

"Don't worry, she'll be well taken care of," he said confidently.

"Thank you Wes, but you've already done quite a bit. But we should probably get her home, I'll ask dad to come get us…" Taylor began and Jen nodded along with her.

"Absolutely not!" Kim explained, coming around the bed and taking Taylor's place pulling her hands into her own. "You came here with us and you're not leaving until you're as good as new."

The sisters shared a look, especially when Wes joined in agreeing with his sister and repeating that the doctor said she should not be moving her leg. Dana gave them an apologetic look as she agreed that not moving her leg was best for the moment. But the two of them didn't look convinced.

"Would you feel more comfortable if Taylor stayed as well?" Kimberly offered.

Jen turned back to Taylor and winced with the slightest movement. That seemed to have convinced Taylor that they needed to stay and she squeezed her shoulder nodding. She turned back to Wes and Kim and thanked them.

"That settles it then," Wes exclaimed as he took the prescription from Dana and left to make necessary arrangements.

"I should be going as well," Dana stated as she packed up her bag.

"Thank you Dana," she said weakly before settling down in bed with Taylor and Kim's help.

"I'll see Dana out and call dad, let him know what's going on. I'll give aunt Toxica a call as well, the girls can drive back home once their done," Taylor informed her.

Jen nodded and watched her sister and friend leave before turning back to Kim who continued to sit with her telling her to relax and rest.


Eric watched Taylor lead the doctor she insisted on calling to the door and walk her to her car. They hugged before she drove away and Taylor pulled out her cell phone, presumably to call her parents. From what they'd overheard from the door the Earhardt sisters would be staying with them longer than anticipated.

"Poor Jen, what an awful thing to happen," Leelee complained.

"Dr. Grayson said she'll be fine. She just needs to rest," said Wes as he joined them. "She's really lucky though, she was right in the path of that rogue bike, it could have been much worse if she had been hit. It's a good thing Taylor…"

"I don't think I've ever met someone as reckless as that one," Leelee interrupted. "Just look at her, she's covered in mud."

"She saved her sister's life, so what if she's covered in a little mud? What she did was admirable, don't you think so Eric?"

"Yes Eric, what did you think of Ms. Earhardt's display?"

Eric ignored his cousins, his eyes fixed on the young woman pacing outside the window. Her hair was matted down and clung to her face while her jacket and pants were splattered with now dried mud. Back at the track, Wes and he had lost sight of Jen, it wasn't until they heard her voice call out that they turned to look for her, but before they could even process what was going on a yellow blur shot past him, diving for Jen as she tackled her sister out of the way. The bike narrowly missed them and crashed through the railing and into the bales of hay stacked along the side.

Everything that happened after was a mad rush. Riders pulled to a stop and spectators divided themselves between the fallen rider - who was okay - and the two girls. Wes and he immediately ran towards the girls as the coordinator called for the medics. The girls seemed okay, Jen was a little shocked and the leg of her pants was torn revealing a deep gash but Taylor was already crouched beside her, ignoring her own bleeding ankle, making sure her sister was okay.

Everyone else had been concerned about Jen, Wes immediately suggesting they bring her to the house after she was patched up but he couldn't take his eyes of Taylor. Even now, as she no doubt was arguing with her mother over the phone, she ignored the pain she was probably in, her apprehension over her sister's well-being the only thing marring the radiance that her face held.

Once again she had proved just how reckless she could be, acting without concern for her own safety and continuing to hide her own injury now that her sister was safe. Putting up a strong front was something he could associate very well with her, but that glimpse of vulnerability when she sister lost consciousness intrigued him. And whether he liked it or not she was starting to become a permanent fixture in his thoughts.


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