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CHAPTER 9

Jade's POV

I ignored the angry screeches, honks and curses coming from the other drivers as I sped down the street towards the hospital where Cat was located. Tires squealed against the asphalt, the wheel turning sharply, the smell of burnt rubber filling my nose. My hands were shaking as I steered us the route. I should've let Beck drive.

He was here actually, right next to me, sitting shotgun. André had taken Tori in his own car since I couldn't put up with her continuous sobbing after I had told them what I thought was causing Cat's body to turn green.

"Maybe you should just pull over and let me drive," Beck suggested after we almost got hit for running a 'red' light.

"Screw you too!" I shouted out the window, giving the other driver the finger as they blasted their horn at us.

"Yeah, all right, let me have the wheel," Beck said firmly, putting his arms over the middle and trying to take control.

"I can handle it!" I yelled at him, taking an overly large left turn. We were almost to the hospital anyway, and I wanted to beat André and Tori to it.

"You're going to get us killed," he muttered, hunching back down and pulling the seatbelt more firmly across his chest and lap.

We arrived within the next three minutes, no difficulties of any kind. I'm just glad the police weren't out at the moment. There was a small booth at the front of the parking lot and I approached it cautiously. Rolling down the window, I peered out into the darkness and saw the face of an old lady sitting inside reading a magazine. I reached out and rapped on the cold plastic.

Startled, the woman dropped her papers and saw that I was waiting to speak with her.

"How long do you plan on staying?" she asked me.

"I don't know."

"Fine, Miss. Name of patient, please."

"Cat Valentine."

"Miss Valentine is currently busy at the moment," the woman replied, her eyes slowly scanning down the laptop screen in front of her.

"It doesn't matter. I'm here to see her whether she's busy or not," I seethed.

"Watch the attitude, please, Miss," she continued to drawl. "All right, I suppose you can go in, but you'll have to wait a while." She pressed a thick red button by the computer, and the yellow-and-black striped bar rose to let us pass.

"Sheesh, was that too much to ask?" I said as I found us a decent parking spot.

"I still don't know why they have those kind of people asking those kind of question," Beck replied thoughtfully while unbuckling himself. We exited the car, I locked it up, and headed towards the hospital doors.

After we were in, Beck sat down in the lobby while I went up to the front desk.

"Me and my boyfriend are here to see Cat Valentine."

"Oh I'm sorry, but you can't visit Miss Valentine at the moment," the normally kind woman answered. "She's currently in an emergency surgery. But we will admit you to see her doctor once her guardians come and allow you to."

Surgery? So that's what must've kept her 'busy.'

"What do you mean?"

"Sit down," the lady gestured to the empty chairs surrounding coffee tables full of magazines and newspapers. "I can assure you, ma'am, the entire situation is under control."

I gave her a fleeting, desperate look before going over to the plush chairs and sitting down next to Beck.

"When are we allowed to see her?" he asked, reaching over and taking my hand.

"She's in surgery," I spat.

His eyes widened, and he said nothing. He didn't need to.

Tori and André appeared quickly, all of them looking flustered and red in the face. They occupied the chairs next to us.

"Is Cat really in surgery?" Vega asked, almost like she still couldn't believe the dreadful news.

"Yes," I snapped, in no mood to discuss the matter with her.

"I'm just asking," Vega replied, looking like a hurt puppy. I curled my lip and faced Beck. About ten minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine entered, their faces nothing but emotionless masks at this point.

"I cannot believe we are here again," Mrs. Valentine said sourly as her husband went up to the front desk. "Do you kids know what happened this time?"

"She's in surgery," Beck responded.

She stopped cold, her lips shaking. "For what?"

"They wouldn't tell us until you guys came." Beck refused to say anything about my accusations of poison; although I was getting the terrifying feeling that I might have been right.

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"Can I get the family members and friends of Cat Valentine up here please?" A doctor with thick curly hair and a small mustache called up from the front desk. We all stared at each other before getting up and walking towards him. It had been well over an hour since every one of us had arrived and it was about time we were getting some answers, I hoped.

"Follow me. We're going to a private room." Mr. and Mrs. Valentine took the lead, Beck tugging me along, and Tori and André behind us.

The private room we came into was colored a pale green, the lights dim and only focusing on the conference table set up in the middle, its glossy surface gleaming. Chairs similar to the ones in the lobby were set up around it.

"Have a seat," the doctor instructed calmly, taking the seat at the head, leaving us to play musical chairs to get closest to him so we could easily hear what he had to say.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Valentine asked as she took his right-hand side, and her husband took his left.

"You'll find out soon enough," the doctor replied once we were all settled. Everyone was still extremely jittery, even when the doctor turned on some soothing music on the stereo in the corner. I felt like I was in some yoga class, not that I'd ever taken it before.

"My name is Dr. Mike Hinton," he began. We stared at him blankly as he continued. "You might've heard from my nurses and secretaries that your daughter—and friend—has had to receive and emergency surgery, which was finished up several minutes ago, in fact."

"What was it for?" Mr. Valentine interrupted.

Dr. Hinton ignored him, but that was okay seeing as the question was answered within the next few words coming out of his mouth. "I'm sorry we didn't get your permission, but like I said, it was an emergency.

"She began to have a coughing fit, and complaining that her stomach was hurting. I tried to find the cause of it, which ended up leading to this."

From one of his lower white coat pockets he pulled out a folded sheet of thick paper, tossing it onto the table like he was some sort of mob boss with a profile envelope for the newest gang member.

No one made a move to pick it up; instead, Mrs. Valentine asked, "And what did you find happened to my baby?"

"This," Dr. Hinton replied softly, picking up the paper and opening it towards himself, so we couldn't see. "We have identified and labeled it as a sort of highly acidic poison that's never been seen before, almost like someone had just recently invented it." My eyebrows shot up, and I saw my friends jerk upright with attention in their seats. "The poison was beginning to eat away her insides and we had to remove most of the skin around the stab wounds to get it out of her system."

"How did it get in her in the first place?" Mr. Valentine asked worriedly, even though the answer was clearly very obvious.

Dr. Hinton's jet black eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth slid into an uneasy smile. "The poison seems to have been in her body ever since she was stabbed, and is only now turning up to destroy her, which means that it might be too late and have already spread widely. But we assure you, we are running tests and doing everything we can to try and find a cure to stop it."

Mr. Valentine's eyes were sunken into his head, and he looked terrified. Tori was biting her lip so hard blood was dribbling down her chin and André was blinking furiously. I took a glance at my boyfriend, his hands were clenched tightly and his expression full of anger and remorse.

"Currently, Miss Valentine's odds of being, what you'd call 'normal and fully functioning' are quite slim, and we will see about performing skin grafts to help with the healing."

"Are you saying my daughter was injected with some sort of unknown, incurable disease?" Mr. Valentine shouted suddenly.

"I'm sad to say that's the truth sir," Dr. Hinton replied.

"What do you suggest we do? Did you file the report with the police yet?" Mr. Valentine's questions kept coming and coming, and he was standing up, a vein pulsing in his temple.

"Calm down, Randy," Mrs. Valentine shushed, pushing her husband back into his seat.

"Yes, we have, sir. As I heard, one of your fathers is working on the case as we speak." Dr. Hinton eyed me, Tori, André and Beck. Tori raised her hand and nodded, Dr. Hinton looking relieved. "However, back to Cat's condition, if we perform the grafts and she still does not get better, she will be need to be removed immediately and taken to a rehab center that specializes in these 'acid attacks.'"

He stood up, obviously dismissing the case as we sat there, jaws dropped in shock.

"Can we see her?" Mrs. Valentine had tears in her eyes.

"We've put her in a medically induced coma to keep her out of panic," Dr. Hinton replied, looking grave and sad. "You can still visit her, though, but try not to be too alarmed at her new look." Mrs. Valentine gasped, a hand covering her mouth. "Come this way." He walked over to the door and we followed.

One by one, we left the private room, me being the last. After Beck was on his way, I felt Dr. Hinton grab my arm.

"Yes?" I asked, taking a few steps back.

"Your name is Miss Jade West, I believe?" Dr. Hinton asked while shuffling through his many coat pockets. "And you were also hurt the day Cat was attacked?"

"Yes," I said, uncertain of what that was going to mean.

"Did you get a chance to see the knife he used to stab Cat with?"

"Well, he tried to use it on me, too, so I guess it's the same one. It looked like a regular weapon, honestly, except the blade was covered in this cloudy, almost-greasy liquid, I think, if I remember correctly."

"Okay. I've never heard of a poison looking like that, unfortunately," he said, still rummaging around. "But that's not why I needed to talk to you. Listen closely.

"Cat gave me something to give to you. It was after Miss Tori Vega had passed out and was promptly dragged out of the room, leaving your friend with me and me alone. Through all of the pain, she had the strength to retrieve this object and tell me what it was for."

I didn't know whether to be sad or happy about this.

"Aha!" Before I could see what was in his palm, he closed it, hiding it behind his back. "Cat had this hidden underneath the mattress of the bed. I'm going to assume it was given to her by her parents and won't cause any harm to the human race if I give it to you." What the heck is he talking about? "Normally, I would have this checked out a little more extensively, but it is not in my possession to do so. I trust that you'll take care of it and use them to its full potential, yes?"

He reached for my right hand dangling by my side, opening it and placing a set of keys in my palm. My fingers naturally closed up on the item, keeping it safe. I had counted three, not recognizing the shapes or having any idea of what they unlocked.

"They may be just keys, but surely they mean something to you," he said with a wink, while gesturing that I should follow after him to Cat's room. "Obviously it must be special if Cat wanted you to have them, of all people."

I am special to her, I wanted to tell him, but kept my mouth shut.

Instead, I pocketed the ring of keys, giving Dr. Hinton a thankful nod and walking by myself down to my best friend's room, promising to figure out the true purpose behind those entities.

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