Chapter 11

JPOV

Monday went quite quickly. Our French teacher kept us in a little after the bell to drone on about our homework, so I was late to lunch. When I got there, Chris was already sat with his bloke mates. I went over to sit with the girls and ate my sandwiches while we gossiped.

In gym that afternoon, Chris didn't come over for a conversation but he did say 'hello' when I came in and we smiled at each other every time we caught each other's eye.

Things weren't progressing in the lightning speed that Dawnafus and Darcy's relationship had. But, in a strange way, I was sort of enjoying the chase.

The next day, Nessie and me were walking to lunch together. I was just staring into space ahead of me not really paying attention to anything when Nessie whispered "isn't that Darcy?"
I focused my eyes where she was pointing, and recognized his scruffy hair a few metres in front. A crowd of other students making their way to lunch separated us, but I could just make out that he was walking with someone. I could see the back of their head, they had long, dark red hair.

"Who's that he's with?" I asked Ness.

"I think it's Sophie" she replied walking on her tiptoes for a better view. She looked at me and elaborated, "She's in a couple of classes with me. She's a bit...well...snobby, to put it politely."

"So what's she doing with Darcy?" it was a rhetorical question since neither of us knew the answer.

As we carried on to the cafeteria, Darcy and the girl went off in a different direction.
I was thinking about following him, when we passed Chris. He smiled at me, so I pulled Ness over to him, fearing my pounding heart would drown out my brain and I wouldn't be able to form coherent sentences by myself. All thoughts of the girl and Darcy dissipated at the sight of Chris's smile.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked with as much confidence as I could muster. I could feel humungous butterflies whizzing around in my stomach. "This is Nessie by the way" I added quickly, before I could forget.

"Hi" he smiled at her. How was she not dazzled by his smile? I suppose when you're as gorgeous as Ness, how could anyone have that effect? I started to get a little paranoid that he would ignore me and start chatting to her instead. Why did I have to bring my most gorgeous and perfect looking friend over here with me? "I'm good." he replied facing me again. "How was your weekend?" he asked me.

"It was fun. Ness and her boyfriend came over and we had a bit of a games tournament" I thought I would subtly drop the hint that she had a boyfriend. I saw Nessie roll her eyes at me.

"Totally whooped your butt" she muttered with a sly smile.

"sounds cool." he said with a chuckle. "Well I'd better go meet the guys. See you around." he turned and walked off towards the cafeteria. When he had gone, I grabbed Nessie's shoulder and muttered a sort of whimper. He was so fit!

She just laughed at me and held me upright. "Shall we go get some lunch now?" she asked.

...

That evening I went out to the local diner with Clare and Laura, just to hang out. Dawnafus had gone round Jacob's with Nessie to get her car radio sorted.

Like usual, it was pouring with rain. However, I had decided to dress up a little this evening...in case we bumped into anyone tall, blonde and gorgeous. I was wearing a skirt and some lovely heels I bought a few weeks ago, but hadn't had the chance to wear out yet.

It turned out I had dressed up for nothing though, Chris wasn't there. I still enjoyed myself as we ate our burgers and fries, and talked about school and the fact that there was a Halloween party coming up next weekend.

Apparently, it would be at some jock's house, but everyone was invited. It would also be fancy dress. That became our next topic for conversation - what to wear. Clare declared that she would be going as a cat, since she had seen a great costume online and had already decided she wanted it anyway.

After a few hours, we started to gather up our things to leave. We made our way to the door, and then one by one made a dash through the rain to the car. Laura went first, as it was her car and she had to unlock it. Then Clare went, using her handbag to cover her head, which didn't really work since it was so small.

Then it was my turn. As I started my dash, I caught my left heel on the step. With my right foot I tried to steady myself, but my new shoes just slipped against the wet ground. I started to fall.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. As I tumbled down the steps, instead of fearing that I would break my neck, all I could think was 'why did I have to wear a skirt today?" and "ahh! It's all wet!" Although I'm not sure if I said anything aloud other than 'Ahh!"

Then I felt my head hit something sharp and everything went black.

DPOV

One minute I was handing Jake a screwdriver and the next minute I was being picked up by him. I'd blacked out and collapsed.

"Something's wrong with Josephine" I screamed out, panic flowing through me. I felt a familiar feeling of fear wash over me. I could feel that something had happened to my sister.

"What are you talking about?" Nessie asked. She had walked out of the house when she heard the commotion.

"It's why I blacked out. Because she did" I tried to explain. I began to cry with concern for my sister.

"Hang on a minute" Nessie said pulling out her mobile phone.

"Who are you calling?" I asked.

"Umm the hospital, to see if they have had anyone brought in matching Josephine's description" she said walking away.

"Oh God" My legs gave out and I would have hit the floor again had Jake's strong, hot arms not been there to catch me. He sat me down sideways in the passenger's seat with my legs out the open door.

"Thanks" I said turning my head to face him. I started biting my nails as I nervously awaited Nessie's return.

"How bad is she?" I asked as soon as Nessie came back.

"It's nothing that serious. She fell. She's sprained her ankle and has got a tiny cut on her head from where she hit the ground. Their probably going to keep her in for observation over night, just to be on the safe side."

"I need to go to the hospital" I stated. My voice was higher and slightly shaky.

"You may as well let Jake finish installing your stereo, he's only going to be about ten more minutes. Besides their probably still treating Jo and you won't be able to see her yet." Nessie seemed to be acting a little strange, as if she was keeping something from me.

"All done" Jake said proudly, pulling himself out from the car.

"Thanks. I better go" I said climbing over to the driver's seat.

"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you. Keep you company?" Nessie asked.

"No. It's alright, I'm gonna pop home and pick up Mum. It's already quite late and she's probably worried about us" I felt guilty for not calling Mum as soon as I knew. I just figured it would be better if I were there when I told her. I knew she would want to get to the hospital just as badly as I did.

I peeled out of Jake's driveway and went speeding off home.

When I got home the first thing I did was try calling Darcy. I got his answer machine.

"Darcy it's Dawnafus, Jo's been in a little accident and is at the hospital. It's nothing too serious. I'm going over there now and I could really use a hug. Hope I hear from you soon. Bye."

"Girls, is that you?" Mum called as she came down the stairs. "Dawn what's happened?" she must have seen the red, puffy eyes.

"It's Jo. She's at the hospital, she fell or something."

"What? Let me get my keys" she ran off into the kitchen to pick them up.

We were in Mum's car on the way to the hospital.

"How bad is she hurt" she asked in an urgent, panicky voice.

"I think she's hurt her ankle" I answered.

We spent the rest of the journey in anxious silence.

When we arrived at the hospital Mum went running over to the front desk. "Do you have a patient by the name of Jo Rittlerup?" Mum asked.

"Let me check…Yes" a stout old lady with a purple rinse answered. "Just down the hall and to the right."

"Thanks" I called out as we went swiftly down the corridor.

In the room we saw Clare and Laura sat outside a closed curtain.

"Mum this is Clare and Laura, this our Mum" I said quickly, being anxious to go and see Josephine.

"Hi Ms Rittlerup" Clare said politely.

"Hi" Mum said with a tense smile, then her eyes flicked back to the curtain. I'm sure that Clare would understand that Mum was more worried about Jo then being pleasant at the moment.

She pushed open the curtain and the two of us went through. Wow her doctor was fit.

JPOV

Hmm...What was that smell? I recognised it but couldn't quite place it. I opened my eyes to see worried faces all watching me. I realised I was lying on a hospital bed. That explained the smell - disinfectant. I was in hospital. But why?

"Oh Josephine! Are you OK? How's your head?" Clare asked frantically as my eyes fluttered open.

"What happened?" I mumbled as I woke up some more. I could feel a slight throbbing above my eyebrow...what had happened to me?

"Apparently you slipped down some steps and hit your head when you fell. You have a slight laceration on your forehead, and your right ankle is quite swollen, but otherwise you seem to be fine," a velvety voice told me. A young doctor had walked in through the curtain. He was very good looking, even if he was a bit old for me. At least the girls weren't staring at me now though. "I'm Doctor Cullen and I would like to do a couple of quick tests to check for any signs of a concussion, if you wouldn't mind?" he asked.

I felt a bit of a blush start, and nodded. Clare and Laura were made to stand outside the curtain for a moment while he shone a light in my eyes.

"Cullen... are you related to Renesmee?" I asked, trying to make it sound like polite conversation. Truth is, neither me or Dawnafus had met any of Nessie's family. She would change the subject if they came up in conversation.

"Mmhmm." he answered. I took this to mean 'yes', but he didn't seem to want to elaborate. "Now if you could stand up for me, I would like to check your ankle."

I twisted my body and dangled my legs over the side of the bed, before tentatively putting weight on my right foot.

"Ow ow!" it hurt more than I had expected it to.

After a bit of poking, prodding and "does this hurt?" Dr. Cullen deduced I had twisted my ankle.

While he had been doing this Dawnafus and Mum had turned up.

"The swelling will go down in a couple of days, and you should be walking fine in no time." He assured me. "The cut on your forehead will heal quickly, its not a case for stitches. I would like to keep you in overnight however, to keep an eye out for a concussion."

Dawnafus seemed a little confused as he said this, but I let it pass.

"Oh sweetie are you OK? You should be more careful on the slippery ground!" Mum said giving me a quick kiss on the forehead. Then she turned and pounced on the doctor, dragging him off to ask her own questions and make sure I was going to be fine. I noticed she was blushing slightly too. Well, he was a very good looking man.

"Hey sis, you alright?" I asked Dawnafus. She had an odd expression on her face.

"Yeah, just thinking.." she trailed off. "Was that the first time he mentioned keeping you here over night?"

"Yeah, why?" That was an odd question.

"It's just, well, when I knew you had hurt yourself.. I blacked out too" she added in explanation. I nodded as I understood. We usually felt it when something had happened to each other. She carried on. "Anyway, I was with Ness and Jake. Nessie called up the hospital to see whether you had been brought in. She said you had cut your head and twisted your ankle, then said you might have to stay overnight."

She sighed and sat on the bed next to me. "He's only just deduced you have a twisted ankle, and then said he'd keep you in...so how did Nessie know that half an hour ago?"

That did seem strange. I thought I'd add in a little more detail to the mix.

"You know that gorgeous doctor that Mum's questioning now? Well his name is Doctor Cullen. I did ask if him and Nessie were related, but he only hummed an answer and then changed the subject. I think there's something a bit odd about her family."

"Maybe. Well, I still like Nessie, and most people have a weird family. I'm sure there's an explanation for it all."

We chatted for a little bit more about how our evenings had been post-blackouts. Then after a lecture about the kind of shoes I wear from Mum, they left to get me some fresh clothes for the next day.

The girls stayed for a few minutes longer, but I could see it wasn't for my benefit. They just wanted to check out the doctor some more. I couldn't blame them. Soon enough though, they left too.

A/N I have started a new story. It's this story but from Nessie's point of view. Please check it out and let me know what you think.