Chapter 33

Fuck This Cast

Alice seemed to be on crack.

Or she had Seen something.

Or both.

But Willow was leaning more towards the first option if she was honest, warily side-eying the Seer as she twirled throughout the hallway of the school. Could vampires get high? Could they drink? See; these were all important questions that she needed the answers for, Willow silently shook her head as she clicked after her.

Alice and Scott were at that 'no one knows we're dating but really everyone knows because we're not subtle' stage of their relationship – what with Georgie catching the two of them sharing their New Year's kiss with the other.

'Wills, Wills, Wills.' Georgie burst into her room, 'Oh hey Jasper.'

'Hey.' The blond raised an eyebrow, a slow grin stretching across his face. 'Finally, catch on?'

Willow was missing something, 'What's catching?'

A yelp was pulled from her as Georgie launched herself onto the bed and her leg twinged a little. 'I caught our favourite manic pixie and my brother kissing on New Years.'

'When the fuck did that start?'

Jasper laughed, shifting him and her closer to the wall so Georgie had somewhere to sprawl, his arm around her waist. 'Like, a week after the accident? Usually, you two suss these things out within days, you're losing your touch.'

'I was in the hospital, I have an excuse,' Willow bantered back, pushing herself up the bed a bit more against the pillows. 'What's yours?'

'That my brother and one of my best friends were just in a car accident?' Georgie smacked at her and Willow grinned, hand to her chest.

'Aw, I made you worry so much you didn't see your brother finally getting with his crush? Bless. But also,' she snatched up a pillow and began to smack her with the syllables. 'Priorities.'

'Stop smacking me. Don't think I won't hit your leg, you cripple.'

With a laugh, Jasper grabbed the weapon in question. 'Yeah, nope, we do not need a repeat of Christmas. Once was enough.'

The two complained and Willow pointed to him. 'It wasn't like I meant for that to happen.'

'But it did,' he raised a brow, 'because you weren't paying attention.'

'Rude.'

Jasper kissed her forehead before getting up off the bed, 'I will leave you both to gossip.'

Georgie suddenly became encompassed with the book Willow had lying around on her bed – Little Women – as she grabbed Jasper's collar and pulled him down for a kiss, feeling his hand settle on her neck. 'I'll leave the window open,' she whispered, too quiet for Georgie to hear, 'I love you.'

'Love you too, sweetheart. Bye, Georgie.'

'Bye Jasper.'

Willow hated watching him leave but boy, did she like to see him walk away.

Not only did it mean that the girls could then use all the ammunition they had collected over the past few months after Soe (Scott and Zoe – it was either that or Zott which were both equally as bad as the other, Willow was not about to deny.) Much to Scott's absolute displeasure. Well, that's what he got for a) being friends with a trio of harpies and b) knowing A, still tried to keep his relationship quiet from them.

Boys. They could be so dumb sometimes.

Apart from that startling event, Richard came back with unfortunately very little drama. And no couple/duo photos of whomever he went with. It drove her nuts. And because Carlisle was as tight-lipped as a premium bank vault, he didn't tell her anything. Which was just plain rude. She just wanted to know who her dad liked that was all. Maybe see if Jasper would get her a background check.

Maybe. But nothing.

He did have presents from everyone for her, even though the Help had already given Willow both Christmas and Get Well Soon things, she only complained about that a little. The picture that Baby Finn had drawn for her – what he probably thought was an elephant along with her and him – that went up on her pinboard with a smile.

As 2004 crept its way through the first week of January, all Willow became was fed up with the hunk of plaster around her leg.

Apart from keeping the hardware in her leg coming out, the only good thing the thing was useful for was using it as a sketchpad in class. It was chunky, clunky, and so goddamn itchy in annoying places that Willow found herself getting more and more frustrated with it as the weeks went on.

Yay.

At least she only had a fortnight left, she mused, as she twirled a pencil around her fingers, staring out the window in Statistics one early mid-January morning, trusting Emmett to word this shit in a way her brain would be able to compute. Also, her shin felt like a mosquito had gone to town on it. But could she scratch it? No, because there was about an inch of plaster of Paris in the way. And she couldn't take a ruler to it because that was so unsanitary.

Emmett glanced at her from the corner of his eye, where Willow was gnashing her jaw like some rabid animal. 'What'cha doing?'

'My cast is so itchy.' She whined into the table, her free leg jiggling to burn off some anxious energy. 'And I can't scratch it.'

'So, the gnawing is for…'

'Nothing. Just to stop me from gnawing through the stupid thing. What's got Alice looking like an Energiser bunny on crack, by the way?'

He leant back in his seat, his leg currently being used as a rest for the said stupid cast, 'Apparently, someone's coming whose going to provide some entertainment for Edward.'

'That's not at all terrifying.'

'Carlisle says Chief Swan's been uncommonly exuberant since like, New Years and I don't think it's because he got some.'

Her face scrunched up at that image as she packed up to head to Government and Politics. 'Doesn't he have a kid? A girl?'

Emmett's honey eyes brightened with excitement, 'Maybe that's her. You got everything?'

'Except motivation.'

'Eh, that shit ran out on you years ago.'

She looked at him blankly, his dimples carving craters on either side of his cheeks. 'Thanks, Emmett.'

'You're welcome.'

Her bag got slung down onto the ground as she swung into the cafeteria. 'What's got your wings in a twist, Tink?'

'Nothing.' Alice grinned, the smile brightening as Scott came in, causing a majority of them to roll their eyes because Jesus Christ.

'Uh-huh.' Rosalie drawled, 'And Willow has full motion of her leg.'

'Bitch.' The brunette gasped, pegging a chip towards her. 'And I have an appointment next week thank you very much, Rosebud.'

'What day?' Alice near leapt down her throat, causing her to blink in shock before taking her diary out.

'Uh, the seventeenth, at one. Dad's picking me up early so I won't be in Bio.'

'Oh, thanks so much.' Edward grimaced.

She grinned like a cat. 'But this means that Amanda can have time to speak with you. I hear she was wanting to see if you wanted to go see a movie with her.'

He sent her a deadpan look. 'I hate you.'

'No, you don't.'

All she got for her matchmaking skills was a tomato fired towards her.

Rude.

The days went by in what felt like milliseconds and decades both at the same time.

When the seventeenth came around, there was a rusty, orange truck that Willow didn't recognise right off the bat and cocked her head in thought. 'Must be the new girl.'

'That poor truck.' Rosalie mourned, tossing her golden waves over her shoulders. 'Honestly, a little rust remover, sanding and a bit of paint and it would be right as rain.'

Willow pushed her glasses up as she shifted a little, 'You know, I don't really think she cares… Probably shitting bricks at the fact that she's the new piece of drama in town. Emmett, I'll see you in class.'

Jasper cupped the back of her head, kissing her gently as Scott followed her to the office because they had homeroom together and she kinda still needed help with doors. 'Morning, Mrs Cope, how are you today?'

The redhead looked up, leopard print glasses down her nose. 'Oh, good morning you two, you here to get your slip, Miss Willow? Your Dad notified us earlier this week, said he was picking you up for an appointment.'

'Yes, ma'am.' Willow smiled, leaning against the countertop, 'Is that new truck the new girl, by the way?'

'Yes.' She smiled, 'Isabella, Chief Swan's daughter. You lot will be nice right? Oh of course you will. Butterscotch?'

'Yes please.' The two of them chorused because they were both suckers for granny sweets.

Mrs Cope clicked away on the computer for a second or two before pushing away on her rolling chair to the printer, the green slip being printed out. She dated and signed it before handing it over. 'There you go, Miss Willow. I hope everything goes well for you. Remember, just come here at your lunch and sign out and you're good to go.'

'Yes, ma'am.' Willow nodded, folding the slip into the inside pocket of her denim jacket, Jasper's zip-up hoodie on underneath it. 'See you at lunch. Thanks very much. Come on, Scotty.'

Scott was texting on his phone, butterscotch already knocking around his mouth, 'See you, Mrs Cope. Stop being stubborn, Willow.'

'Stop texting on your damn phone then.' She groused as they made their way into the school. 'I'm sure Alice has already worked out what the girl's name is, and you'll see her at lunch anyway.'

'Probably,' he commented as they headed for class, 'how does she do that?'

Because your girlfriend is a vampire with the ability to see the future, her brother is a telepath and my boyfriend is an empath. 'Maybe she just has a knack for it. Good morning, Mr Marcus, can you sign this please?'

'What's it for?' he peered down, pen spinning in his fingers.

'Whether or not my leg gets cut off.'

'Oh, alrighty then.'

The two always did have the same sort of humour.

'Thanks.' She smiled and clicked back to her seat by Scott. 'Honestly, though,' Willow spoke under her breathe, 'fuck this cast.'

Her best friend, being the caring person he was, snorted.

The prick.

Apparently, the Cullens needed to come up with some sort of dramatic ass entrance that lunch period, Richard not having left the house yet, so Willow was spending time with her human friends. 'What do we think?'

'I'm getting déjà vu.'

'Ha.' Scott laughed, 'Deja Lu.'

'Oh for fu…'

'That was terrible.'

'Leave, you cretin. What does Alice see in you?'

'You're all bitches.' He rolled his eyes and sank back on his seat. 'I thought it was funny.'

Willow patted him on the hand. 'Okay, Scotty.'

He sneered at her before viciously tearing into the apple on his tray.

Georgie began to peel her orange. 'How much you wanna bet that when the Olympians get here, she'll gawp?'

'That,' Lucy declared, 'is a fool's bet. Besides, you shouldn't blame the girl, don't you remember how many boys ran into walls because of Rosalie and Alice?'

'And how many times Goldwin tripped over her words in front of Edward?'

They snickered and Willow snagged an orange segment, observing the lunchroom. Isabella Swan seemed to be what probably deemed her as the protagonist in a YA novel, what with her aversion to being in the public eye, brown hair and brown eyes, and remarkably pale skin for someone who had been living in Arizona for a decade or so. But then again, melanomas were a real issue and a deadly thing at that so, maybe she was just cautious in the sun?

Eric Yorkie, Mike Newton, and Tyler Crowley had nearly fallen over themselves as she stepped into the room with Jessica Stanley and Willow quietly mused about what it was about the girl that had Alice near frothing at the bit.

Her phone buzzed. Jasper.

On our way now. Carlisle needed to talk to us about something.

Okay, see you soon.

'The others are on their way.' She offered to the group, stealing a handful of crisps from Scott's tray, 'Apparently, Carlisle had to speak to them about something, probably to do with the cousins up in Alaska. Esme mentioned something about a trip up there.'

Georgie sipped at her sprite. 'Would you go up if you were asked?'

Willow thought on it, 'I dunno, I guess, maybe? I've always wanted to go up there anyway so it depends, I guess.'

Scott brightened in the corner of her eyes and the three girls mimed a gag as the Cullens graced them with their presence. 'I will kick you in your cast.'

'Not before I get your shin.'

'It's about damn time. This one nearly has to go.'

'Hold on,' Willow pulled her head back, frowning with a laugh to Georgie, 'Dad still hasn't left the house yet. And my appointment isn't till 1.30 so suck it.'

'Emmett, darling,' Lucy blinked, perplexed, 'why do you have a bag of eggs?'

Georgie threw her head back, releasing a stream of cackles throughout the lunchroom. 'I didn't think you'd do it!'

'You dared him,' Jasper drawled, kissing Willow's cheek in greeting before snagging the spare seat to her good side, 'so of course, he did it.'

'Wait, wait, wait, what's this about?' Willow shook her head, pushing her glasses up.

Emmett beamed at her, dimples on full display. 'Gi thought I couldn't carry a dozen eggs without breaking them. Like those working dogs. So, she dared me to bring some in.'

Lucy leant forward, 'Are they boiled?'

'Soft.'

'Fair enough.' Willow admitted before twisting over Jasper's shoulder. 'Where is Edward?'

'Fixing his hair.' Rosalie quipped and the humans snorted just as the telepath came in.

The piece de resistance was, that he just did a two-finger push up when he sat down? 'It's the two-finger sit down,' she declared, 'it'll really win the girls over.'

'I thought so.'

'Yeah, with the hair and the aloofness,' Georgie drawled, orange hovering by her mouth, 'you'll be beating them off with a stick.'

The table erupted in laughter and Willow felt her phone buzz in her pocket. On my way now. Georgie had bodily moved to see if Isabella Swan was watching him and Willow wordlessly moved her head back to where it should have been. 'You are in public, Samara, try not to give the kiddies traumatic nightmares, please.'

Jasper stood up and held her bag in one hand as she took her crutches from Scott. 'Good luck.'

'Have fun in Bio, Edward!'

'I hate you!'

'I doubt it. See you later, assholes.'

Even now with her being eighteen, there was a certain excitement about the idea of getting out of school earlier. Even with finals looming. As the two of them dandered along the halls to the front office, Jasper relaxed a little. 'What?'

He looked down at her. 'Nothin' Just somethin' Jessica Stanley mentioned.'

Willow stopped in the hallway and cocked her head up at him. 'Hon, what is it?'

'Apparently, I nearly always look like I'm in pain.'

'Nearly always' How can you be nearly always in pain?'

He huffed a breath, arms looping around her waist. 'Angela said that the only time I don't look like that is around you.'

'That is disgustingly sappy.' Willow declared but Jasper did see the light flush to her cheeks and her heart speed up in pride. 'But if I had to feel what everyone else was, I'd probably look in pain too. Ignore her. Now c'mon.'

'You reckon she's gonna cause trouble?' Jasper wondered as the two of them began on their quest to the front office.

'Dunno.' Willow shrugged, or as much as she could with her crutches, 'Depends on her demeanour, I guess. And the type of introduction Edward will give her in Bio. She's probably going to take my seat, urgh. That's just rude.'

'Edward could save it for you?'

Her nose scrunched up. 'Nah, Banner usually does group work so she'd have to pair up with him. Hopefully, he doesn't act like a dick. Now gimme kiss before you head back,'

Jasper huffed a laugh, 'So demanding.' But granted her the soft gesture, murmuring 'I love you.' against them.

'Love you too, now goooo before the bell rings. I'll text you later.'

He still waited whilst she clambered into the car, even put her bag in the back like a gentleman. God damn Southern Vampire Cowboy.

Willow still felt awkward when she just clicked past patients in the waiting area, the joys of being a child of a doctor, she guessed? She followed Richard and Dr Torres down to X-ray, not really paying attention to their conversation, mainly just taking in the hospital once again. Forks General wasn't big, didn't need to be, they didn't have a fancy OR wing with, like a Neuro, or Plastics, they maybe had an ENT surgeon on the roster but any big things like OB-GYN, Cardio, that sort of thing, either went to Port Angeles or if they really needed the big guns, down to Seattle Grace. Dr Torres was a resident that was under the supervision of Forks' own Dr Malcolm, who was as old as dirt but knew his shit. She was also mainly down in Seattle.

'Hop up, Willow.' She grinned at her, taking her crutches from her.

Nodding, Willow pushed up and Richard helped to swing the cast up and the radiologist nurse handed her the blue apron thingy to limit radiation. 'X-ray! Clear.'

'Clear.' Richard and Torres called back, and the X-ray went, making a faint popping noise as if someone flicked a towel out and Willow got directed to get the other side of her foot. And again, the popping noise.

Richard came back to help her down and Dr Torres grinned at her, 'Why don't you go and hang with your Dad and I'll come to get you when these come back?'

'Thanks, Dr Torres.'

'Yeah, thanks, Callie.'

The two wandered to Richard's little office, which he got with being Head of Emergency, and Willow tugged out her little travel kit – the watercolour things that Edward got her for Christmas and smaller brushes and a few pencils – and smiled as Richard slid her over a cup of clean water and a few towels. Inspired by the fact that her leg had just been x-rayed, she began to sketch out an anatomically correct hand and slid it over to Richard to double-check before she coloured it when Carlisle poked his head in.

'A little birdy told me you were here.'

'Hi, Carlisle.' She grinned, swinging in the chair. 'How are you?'

'I'm very good. How's the drama in school today?'

Willow laughed. 'Rose is only slightly annoyed at the limelight being taken from her but apart from that, they're all pretty content right now. Gi tried to do a Samara on the poor girl before I left but apart from that fact and with her being in my Bio class, I don't have much interaction with her. Seems alright, though I feel like Rosalie wants to get under the hood of her truck; maybe give it a little TLC.'

'Rose just likes to fiddle.'

'I have to beat her off with a stick, but she saves me several dollars when the truck makes a weird noise and I have no idea where it's coming from.'

'That's Rosalie?' Richard looked up from the paperwork he had leftover.

The two of them nodded. 'She's always had a knack with machines, and I think she might be going into either engineering or mechanics in college.'

'Go her.' Dr Torres declared, and Willow shut her sketchbook, 'Good news.'

'Seriously? But it's only been, what, four weeks?'

Richard laughed. 'Are you complaining?'

'No, no I am not. Please get this off me, it's so itchy right now.'

'You'll be in a brace for the next few weeks though and with a cane.'

'I'll be able to scratch my leg though. And sleep comfortably. And wear jeans. I'm so excited. Emmett will be so disappointed about his art though.'

Carlisle laughed gently, 'Missed opportunity.' He tapped the doorway as his pager went, 'I'll leave you to it, congratulations Willow.'

'Thanks.'

Dr Torres grinned at her, 'Let me go set up the saw for you and I'll come to get you.'

She waited for both of them to leave before Willow aggressively fisted the air, bouncing in her seat as Richard looked on in amusement. She had to hold back the warble of a war cry that was bubbling in the back of her throat but she did it. Just. But she did.

Suddenly, when Dr Torres came back, Willow turned into fucking Quicksilver, clicking right over to the bed and hopped right up. The Hispanic orthopaedic surgeon laughed, 'Excited?'

'It's like my birthday, graduation and Christmas has all come together. Yes, I am.'

Dr Torres held the saw up, 'Want to do the first bit? I'll help.'

'Yes.'

An hour later Willow was tentatively walking along the ramp with a leg brace on and her handy-dandy crutches, just until she was confident enough with it then she could transition with the cane. The first thing she did, after taking in the shiny, raised, blush pink scar that went down her shin and over her knee was scratch. For a good few minutes.

It was on par with an orgasm.

Richard waited by the car, 'First thing you're gonna do now?'

'Have a bath, shave, put trousers on without having to force them over a cast. Scratch. Maybe even put socks on.'

'Hop in.'

The ride home went fast, and Willow raced as fast as she could up to her room and put the bath on, before rummaging for a bath bomb and some bubbles. This was a bubble-and-bath-bomb occasion. Maybe even a face mask. Plopping the lavender bomb in, Willow went to get some pyjamas before sitting on the tiled bit by the tap. There was a slight flare of pain when the straps went loose but what really was strange was how light the leg felt with nothing on it.

Now that she was alone, Willow finally just took a second, finger sliding over the scar. She hadn't been behind the wheel since the accident, not that she could've with the big cast on, but she was trepidatious on progressing back to driving again. Even though it wasn't her in the driver's seat. Sometimes she could hear the screech of the logger truck's tires, the crunch of glass, that echoing snap of her leg and like her whole body was on fire.

The buzz of her phone had her hissing as she banged her knee on the towel rack.

The New Girl is Edward's Singer.

Well, what the fuck did that mean?

And we are in Twilight.

Also one of my best friends nearly showed up at my house waiting for a chapter, so this is for you, Pads. Happy now?

And for those who may recognise the Ortho goddess-in-training in this fic, there may be several more recognisable but not a crossover per se, just some of my favourites. Because I'm bitter about some of their endings.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy and are excited for next week.

Enjoy,

K x