Disclaimer:  I don't own The Babysitters Club or any of the characters.

Author's Note - This chapter is a bit tedious but bear with me, from the next chapter on, the story really starts to unfold.  blazeflametthotmail.com with the subject:  'One Smile' for comments, etc. 

Please note:  This Chapter is written in the 3rd person.

Chapter 2

A Brief Hospital Visit

Dawn was on her knees, head poised over the toilet bowl.  She'd been looking forward to today for a couple of weeks now and then this morning; she wakes up with an upset stomach.  'Great,' Dawn thought, 'of all days to be ill, it had to be today - the day that I'd come to watch Kristy play baseball.'

Dawn had almost stayed at home, in bed, that morning but Mary Anne had sat on the edge of her bed persuading her and telling her how much fun it would be.  Eventually Dawn gave in, mainly because she wanted to see Kristy again.  Okay, Kristy was bossy and domineering, but she was still a friend.

Dawn sighed and gagged a little.  She heard the bathroom door open and the rest of the BSC ran in, gathering around her.  Dawn sighed again and someone crouched down beside her.  Everyone was really concerned and proceeded to ask questions like, "Dawn, are you okay?" and "Don't worry, we're here Dawn."

The person who was crouched down reached up and took the sunglasses - which were perched precariously on Dawn's head - and placed them in her pocket.  Dawn didn't want to look anyone in the eye but she was curious about who was beside her. 

'Footwear,' she thought, 'I can always tell a person by their footwear.'  She looked down and spotted a pair of battered sneakers on the person's feet.  Battered sneakers.  Dawn sighed for a third time; she didn't even need to guess who that was.

Dawn felt tears spring to her eyes.  She was hurting a lot:  she'd been sick twice in the last two minutes and was in pain all over; her head was pounding and she felt dizzy; her legs were all shaky; her stomach ached and she had a pain in her chest.  She felt embarrassed and didn't want any of her friends to see her in this state. 

She turned to face Kristy.  "Kristy, I..." she began to say but her tears took over and she started to sob, cutting the sentence short.  Kristy, who had been rubbing her back, had now slipped her arm around Dawn's shoulders.  The rest of the BSC huddled closer to her and were hugging (or trying to hug) her.

Dawn, however, didn't like this.  She didn't want to be hugged.  Or crowded.  She wanted to get away from everyone and to go somewhere where she could be alone and cry and mope.  She didn't want her closest friends to see her crying.

She jumped up and stumbled out of the bathroom with tears blurring her vision.  She could hardly see.  She could hardly walk in a straight line and she knew it.  She could hear her friends shouting to her and knew they were following her.

Dawn broke into a run.   All she wanted was to be by herself.  Her friends obviously didn't understand that.  She kept running.  She wasn't sure where she was going and certainly couldn't see where she was going.

The BSC were, again, following Dawn.  And someone - she wasn't sure who - grabbed her.  With a new power Dawn never knew she had, she pulled away strongly, out of the person's grasp.  She lost her balance and landed heavily on the ground. 

She didn't move.  She couldn't move.  The pain in her whole body was too much and a new feeling started:  A sharp, throbbing in her left wrist caused her to cry in agony before she blacked out.

The babysitters stood around Dawn's limp body, not knowing what to do.  Then Kristy sprang into action, organising everyone, and telling them what to do. Stacey and Mallory were sent to get their parents - who had driven the BSC there - and Shannon went to find Kristy's parents.  Kristy told Claudia and Jessi to find a phone to call an ambulance and Dawn's Mom.

"She's back," Claudia muttered, smiling, as she left with Jessi. 

Kristy and Mary Anne stayed with Dawn until the adults arrived.  Then once the ambulance arrived, everything began to happen fast:  Dawn was placed on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital in New Jersey.  Everyone - except for Mary Anne who was in the ambulance with Dawn - followed in cars.  She had a quick check over at this hospital and when the people there were told that she lived in Stoneybrook, she was immediately transferred to Stoneybrook General Hospital.

When everyone reached Stoneybrook Hospital, Mrs. Schafer was already there, pacing up and down the waiting area.  Dawn was taken out of the ambulance and straight into x-ray to have her wrist checked.  Mary Anne hadn't let go of Dawn's hand until that moment.

While Dawn was being x-rayed, Mrs. Schafer tried to reassure Mary Anne, who had begun to cry, that Dawn would be okay.  A doctor came out of the x-ray room where everyone (except the younger Thomas/Brewer kids who had been take straight home by Watson) was gathered.  "Dawn looks to be fine," the doctor said, "she has a broken wrist and a few bruises from her fall but apart from that, seems fine."  Everyone sighed with relief.  The doctor continued, "it's probably not necessary for you all to stay here.  I'm sure Mrs. Schafer will keep you all posted about Dawn's progress."  The doctor smiled, "You can visit her tomorrow evening if you wish."

Everyone, except for Dawn's mom and Mary Anne, had gone home and eventually, Dawn was wheeled into a room by herself.  A cast on her left arm.

Dawn opened her eyes.  She found herself in a bed with crisp white sheets and too many pillows.  She looked around her, the room was quite small.  The walls were white with a few pictures on the wall.  The place seemed rather sterile.

"Dawn?" a voice asked.

"Mom?" Dawn replied, spotting her in a chair next to my bed, "where am I?"

"Stoneybrook General Hospital.  You've broken your wrist."  She smiled weakly and gave her daughter a hug.  She looked like she hadn't had any sleep. 

"Yeah, I remember," Dawn said resting her right hand on the cast.  "Mom, you look tired."

"Don't worry about me, Honey," she reached for Dawn's hand and held it tight.  "How are you feeling?  Your friends said you were in a pretty bad state yesterday.  And Mary Anne's really upset.  She was crying all night."

Dawn gave her a watery smile.  "I'm not too bad.  What day is it?  What time is it?"

"Sunday, 3:17," she said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"In the morning?!?!"

"No,"  Mrs. Schafer laughed a little, "Afternoon.  You were out for almost 24 hours Honey."

Dawn sighed.  "How long do I have to stay here?"

"I don't know, Dawn."  Her mother sighed too, "You can walk around though, you don't have to stay in bed."

"Okay, that's good.  I'd hate to be stuck here."  She'd already decided that she didn't like the hospital and couldn't wait to get out of there.

"How's your stomach?"  Mom asked.  She was looking happier and somewhat relieved by this point.

The memory of that awful stomach upset flooded back to Dawn.  She shuddered.  She realised, however, that it seemed to have disappeared.  "Seems better, Mom.  Must've just been a bug."

"That's good to know."  She got up and perched on the edge of Dawn's bed and stroked her long, blonde hair.  "Mary Anne's in the canteen, she should be back soon.  And your friends are coming to visit after dinner."

Dawn began to sniffle.  She really wanted to cry. "Dawn," Her Mom lifted Dawn's head up and cupped it in her hand, "you're my brave girl.  You'll get through this."  She smiled at Dawn, "I'll leave you alone for a while, okay?"  She got up and left.

The thought of the BSC coming to visit brought tears to Dawn's eyes.  "How can I face them after that embarrassing display yesterday," Dawn thought aloud, "I've probably lost my friends because of it and..."  Her voice trailed off and she buried her head in her hands and let the tears roll silently down her cheeks.

"Hiya Sunshine!"

Dawn jerked my head up and quickly wiped away her tears.  "Mary Anne!" she exclaimed.

"Dawn, I'm so glad you're OK," She said throwing her arms around me and crying a little.  "Sharon said you were awake,"  Mary Anne continued, "how are you feeling?"

"Well, my stomach bug's gone but my wrist really hurts," Dawn said wincing a little.  They talked for ages and both girls lost track of time. 

Later on, Dawn got up to go for a little walk and to find a bathroom.  When she returned, not only was there a tray of food waiting for her but also everyone in the BSC and some of their families.  She grinned.  Dawn's embarrassment had dissolved - She was so glad to see everyone.

Once they'd greeted each other and hugged.  Claudia said, "Hey, look what I brought," and produced a whole pencil case of felt tip pens!  Dawn held out her cast and everyone dived for a pen and started to sign it.

Mallory asked, "How long will you have the cast on for?"

"About 6 weeks I think," Dawn replied, "the break's not that bad."

"Can you still babysit?" Jessi asked.  Dawn looked at her mom.

"It's up to you, Honey," Mrs. Schafer said.

"I think I'll manage," Dawn told everyone.  Kristy looked pleased.

Kristy made her usual comments about the state of the food and after that, Dawn dared to ask, "So what happened after I fainted?"  Well, everyone jerked to attention and told her the story.  During this, Dawn noticed that Kristy was giving her some pretty strange looks.  She nearly said something to her but then thought better of it and decided to keep her mouth closed.  'I don't want to start a fight this soon after Kristy's return,' she thought.

The nurse came by to collect Dawn's tray and she asked the nurse "How much longer do I have to stay here?"

"Well," the nurse smiled, "you can go home tomorrow, but you'll need to come back every few days for checkups and x-rays."

Dawn grinned again.

Before the BSC members left that night, Dawn apologised for her behavior the previous day while nervously playing with her hair.

"Don't worry about it Dawn," Stacey said, "it wasn't your fault.  You were ill."  Everyone else agreed.

"So you'll be out tomorrow then Dawn?" Kristy asked.

"That's what the nurse said," Dawn told her.  She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

"So, you'll be at the BSC meeting then?"  Dawn was right!  Back to business as usual for Kristy.

"Yeah, Kristy, I'll be there."  Dawn smiled sweetly.  The whole BSC had a plan that was going to put into action for the following evening.

"By the way, Kristy," Mary Anne said, "you don't think you could come over to our house tomorrow before the meeting?  About 4 o'clock?"  The BSC (except Kristy) exchanged glances.  They knew that the plan was in action.

"Er, Sure," Kristy said cautiously.

From the moment Dawn woke up the next morning, she could feel the excitement bubbling inside her.  She dressed as quickly as she could and was brushing her long silky hair when her mom walked in.

"Ready to go Dawn?" she said.

"You bet!" Dawn replied, grabbing her backpack.

The journey from the hospital to Dawn's house was a short one - about five minutes -  but the whole time she was staring out of the window, thinking about the past two days.

She would never have thought that one day away from home would have been this eventful and was happy to get home.  She patted her autographed cast and smiled, remembering her plan.  She couldn't wait for the evening to arrive.

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Okay, that's enough for Chapter 2.  Chapter 3 is on the way!

Please R&R.  blazeflametthotmail.com with the subject 'One Smile' for suggestions, etc.