A/N: Sorry this took so long. I'm doing reviewer responses first this time because although I've finished the chapter I haven't typed it up yet…I'm lazy. Anyway…
Flonshoe: You'll see what the lightning has done to Jess in chapter five, but not today, sorry. You have a friend in Switzerland? Do you know where about in Switzerland they live? Maybe they even go to my school, maybe I see them everyday. Come to think of it I do see a girl at school with a backpack that says Canada on it…and one of the guys in my class wears Canada boxers (don't worry, he's one of those guys who wears his jeans really low so everyone can see his boxers when he sits down). Erm…this is a bit long now. Woops. Thanks for reviewing! I just saw someone respond to a flonshoe's review on fictionpress. That must be you. How cool.
Iluvmybeagle: We might be getting a beagle, yeah. We just need to convince my mum…we're working on it. I'm going to put a picture of a beagle on the ceiling above my parents bed so the first thing my mum sees when she wakes up is a beagle. Even my dad's in on it. Mwuhahahaaa. cough erm…sorry about that. Thanks for saying I'm a great writer, I love it when people say that :) My God I can't shut up today…thanks for reviewing :)
Nikki007: Fluff rocks. It's so…fluffy…cough yes…anyway. Thanks for reviewing!
Lulu: Lulu as in lulu who sings 'shout'? She scares me. Green Day did Shout when I went to see them in February…aaanywho, thanks for reviewing :)
Uh…Yeah: I don't watch the OC, but I know I stole it from somewhere…Meh oh well. Don't let me forget about Rob's cousin. Cos I have a brain like a sieve and chances are I'll completely forget about it…completely. I think Rob wears cotton socks, black ones. But we will never know because…well we never really see his feet. Not that we see any of him but when he comes to see me he won't let me look at his feet. Well who can blame him, no one likes feet. Feet are horrible…it's also a very strange word if you say it over and over again…feet. Erm…yes. Thanks for reviewing :)
Ok. On with the story…which I will type up later…
Ok, I'm back…and I'm going to type it up. Here we go.
I didn't open my eyes when I woke up. Opening my eyes would mean having to admit to myself that I was awake and I'd have to get up. Getting up meant going to school, which I really didn't want to do. So when I first woke up in the morning I just lay there with my eyes closed. Then I realised that something felt different. I was on my back, I never sleep on my back. I wriggled my toes and in place of the thick comforter that's normally over them were thinner layers of blankets. And the weirdest thing of all, someone was holding my hand. Unless someone had come into my room in the middle of the night, rolled me on to my back, changed my covers and then fallen asleep holding my hand, I was not in my bedroom.
I cracked one eye open only to promptly close it again. I was literally blinded by white, and there's only one place as white as that. No children, I was not at the North Pole, I was in hospital. Well fan-bloody-tastic. But who was here with me, holding my hand? I knew it wasn't a woman, it didn't feel like a woman's hand anyway. So it couldn't have been Mum and that ruled out Ruth as well, not that it was very likely that Ruth would be holding my hand. Who was it then, Dad? Mikey or Doug? For a second the thought that it might be Rob flashed through my mind but I pushed it away. I was mad at him and he was probably angry at me too, I'd just got up and walked away from him.
I opened both of my eyes this time, slowly and blinking rapidly afterwards to try and prevent blindness. At first I stared straight at the ceiling. This was unbelievable, Lightning Girl had been struck again. Except this time I was in hospital. I turned my head to the left and was surprised to find a head of curly, dark hair resting on the bed, next to me. It was Rob after all. He was still here, even though I had run off. I could see some bruising on his face, obviously from Bryan, and I felt really sorry for him. But I was still mad. He was sleeping peacefully and the sun shone on his face, only making him look more beautiful. I lightly squeezed his hand and his forehead creased, like it was annoying him. If my mouth and throat hadn't been so dry I might have laughed.
"Rob." I whispered, not that that was going to wake him up but it was worth a try. "Rob." I tried again, a little louder this time, shaking his arm a bit. My voice was croaky, it sounded like I had a frog in my throat. Rob only grunted and shifted a little, man this guy was a heavy sleeper.
"Rob." I croaked again, squeezing his hand as hard as I could, which wasn't actually all that hard. He shot up from where his head and arms had been resting on the bed. He looked a bit worse for wear, as well as the bruising on his face he had bags under his eyes and looked extremely tired.
"Mastriani! Jess. Oh God, you're awake. Don't ever, ever do that again." Me? What did I do? He's the one who got into a fight, not me. "I was so worried about you. Don't run away from me like that again." What am I, a five year old? Stay close, I don't want you to get lost. I didn't say anything at first, I was angry that he was so busy being mad at me that he didn't realise he had done anything wrong himself.
"Sorry." I mumbled, I don't really know what U was apologising for but for some reason I did. I looked away and we sat in an uncomfortable silence for a minute, Rob still holding my hand, playing with my fingers. Then I pulled my hand away roughly and Rob coughed, getting up and mumbling something about going to tell someone that I was awake. I was hoping that he had gotten the message that I wasn't very happy with him, even if he didn't know why. To be honest I didn't really know why either, I mean I was annoyed that he had gotten into a fight with Bryan but only now. When it was actually happening I didn't really mind, Bryan deserved it. So why was I so mad now?
I didn't have time to muse over this however as three people walked into the room, the first person being a doctor and the second two my parents. As soon as my mum saw me she rushed over to me and almost suffocated me, she was hugging me so hard.
"Oh Jessie, I was so worried about you!" That's exactly what Rob said, only he was telling me off at the time, "What were you doing, going off on your own like that?" Hang on, this sounds familiar.
There was a cough from behind Mum and the doctor smiled, "Sorry to interrupt but I think it's best if I check up on Jessica here." She smiled at me, although she was talking to Mum.
"I'm trying to talk to my daughter, she has been unconscious for two days." Two days, huh? How was I still sleepy then?
"It's ok, Mum. I don't mind." I croaked, she was smothering me a bit. I know that she was just worried but it was slightly scary.
The doctor smiled again, "Right. I'm Dr. Wilson, you can call me Jenny if you want. Do you know where you are, Jessica?"
I rolled my eyes, "Hospital. And it's Jess." I replied in a bored voice, not returning her smile. I was slightly more awake now.
"Right, and do you know why you're here?" Her voice was sickly sweet, it got on my nerves.
"Got hit by lightning again."
She raised an eyebrow, "Again?"
"Lightning Girl. That's me, in the flesh." I sighed, it's not like I was proud to be 'Lightning Girl' or anything. Sure it means I was doing good and contributing to the world but it was nothing to boast about.
"You're Lightning Girl?" She looked extremely shocked, what has she never met a psychic before? Or I guess she would think I was a former psychic, I had told everyone I had lost my powers after all.
"Yes." I replied, exasperated. Why would I have said I was Lightning Girl if I wasn't?
Dr Wilson coughed, "Right. Wow. Well, er…do you know what day it is?" That one wasn't so easy to answer. Well let's see, the date was on Saturday, Mum said I had been unconscious for two days…
"Tuesday?" I tried, that seemed to make sense.
"Right, you seem to be all here and everything. I'm going to have a nurse run a few tests on you a bit later but I'll leave you to say hello to your family for now." Finally, I mean she wasn't there for long but it seemed like she'd never leave. Wait, what was that about tests?
"Tests? I'm not being tested on." I didn't want them prodding and poking me like some scientific phenomenon.
"It's nothing to worry about, Jessica. Just to check up on you, make sure you're ok." She smiled again, before leaving the room. Great, tests, way to make me feel like an even bigger freak of nature. Unfortunately (not) I didn't have time to think about these lovely tests as I was again attacked by my parents. Well, my mother anyway.
"Jess, what were you thinking? Why were you out in the rain like that, in the middle of a thunderstorm? Didn't you think to find cover? Why weren't you with Rob? Didn't you think about what might happen? I thought you would have known better, Jessica. We were all so worried about you." I was bombarded by questions from Mum. Dad stood behind her, I caught his gaze and he rolled his eyes.
"Mum, one question at a time please. In fact, can we leave the questions until later? I'm really tired." I did actually feel really tired, in part it was just an excuse to make Mum shut up but I was feeling surprisingly sleepy. Mum looked rejected but she still agreed with me.
"Oh, of course sweetheart. Do you feel up to seeing anyone else before you go back to sleep? Doug and Michael are here. Or I can send in Rob if you want, I know he was here when you woke up but you probably didn't get to talk to him properly." Wow, this was a first. Mum was actually offering to let me see Rob. Too bad I didn't want to.
"No thanks, Mum. I'll talk to Doug and Mike later." I didn't mention Rob.
"Oh. Ok, well you get some rest, Jessie, ok?" I simply nodded, not bothering to say anything. I didn't wait until everyone had left the room before closing my eyes, I would have, just to be polite, but I was so tired and my eyelids felt so heavy. I heard everyone shuffle out of the room before all the noises in the background faded away and I slept.
When I woke up again there was no one there. Or I thought so anyway, that is until I looked over at the corner of the room and noticed Rob slumped in a chair, fast asleep. Strange, both times I had woken up he had been there. Granted he wasn't wide awake and watching my every move but he was there. I watched him for a bit, it was dark now so there was nothing for me to do but just that, watch Rob. Besides, the room kind of gave me the creeps and Rob seemed like one of the only things to look at that didn't involve dark corners or freaky shadows. I could never have gone back to sleep now, I was wide awake.
As I was watching Rob sleeping I heard someone coming down the hallway. Echoing footsteps aren't exactly the most comforting sound in the world. Needless to say I was relieved when it turned out to just be a nurse. He smiled at me as he came in, a warm, genuine smile.
"Didn't wake you, did I?" I shook my head but I don't think that it was a question that he meant for me to answer because he just kept talking, "I'm just checking up on everyone, you know, nightly rounds and stuff. Or I guess not because that makes this place sound like a prison or something."
"It is a prison." I whined I quite liked this guy, "Oh and try to keep your voice down." I gestured towards Rob, asleep in the chair.
"It's about time he got some sleep. He's been here since you arrived you know, hasn't even gone home." The nurse said, glancing at Rob, "He was really worried about you."
I frowned, "Yeah, that's what he told me but somehow he seemed more mad than worried."
He turned back to me, "Sometimes when people are worried it can be mistaken for anger."
I thought about his for a second, before nodding slowly, "I guess. Thanks for your words of wisdom, er…" I realised I had no idea what his name was.
"Dylan."
"Right, Dylan. Thanks."
"You're welcome. Anyway, everything seems fine in here. I have to be going, someone else will be here in the morning. I suggest you go back to sleep."
I groaned, "I can't, I'm not tired."
He smiled, telling me to "Just try" before leaving the room. I sighed and pulled the blankets around me. I wanted to wake Rob and talk to him but, if what Dylan said was true, he was just as tired as I wasn't. I lay there and thought about things, just things in general. I thought that my life was starting to improve, or my love life at least, but I had to admit, at that moment I thought my life sucked. My boyfriend didn't trust me enough to tell me what he was on probation for, my brother was schizophrenic (not that this was anything new) and I had frigging psychic powers. Not to mention that I was in hospital, due to being struck by lightning for the second time within less than a year.
Then it hit me, the first time I had been struck by lightning I had received my powers. I had ESP from then on. Now I had been struck again, would something else happen? Would I change again, gain new powers or something? That would make my life so much harder, I didn't even want to think about it. Maybe my psychic abilities would disappear? It was entirely possible, the first time I had gained them, why not lose them the second time? I started to think that I really wouldn't mind if that happened. I loved being able to contribute to society but if I could be normal, I don't know, maybe it would all be different. Mum and Dad would have an easier life without 'the psychic thing', Doug would be so much less at risk of having an episode too.
I knew that not having my 'gift' would mean that I wouldn't be able to find people but there was still those other psychics that I had met, Mrs Pierce and that Malcolm guy, they could do everything without me. Losing my ability wouldn't be such a big deal, at least I would no longer be lying when I said that I had lost my powers and could no longer find missing children. It made sense that that was what would happen, when I was first struck by lightning I gained my powers, so when I got struck a second time it only made sense that I lost them. Ok, I wouldn't be able to help little kids anymore and I would miss that, I'd miss being able to make a difference. If that was what was going to happen though, if I was going to lose my psychic abilities, then I had to accept it. If it was going to happen then it was going to happen and there was nothing I could do about it. So I accepted the fact that it would happen, all in all I didn't mind, and I finally drifted off to sleep in the early hours of the morning.
(A/N: If you're confused, Jess has basically convinced herself that she is going to lose her powers, but we all know that that isn't the case, don't we ladies and gentlemen? Or probably just ladies…)
I woke up again at around nine o'clock, I know this because someone had put my watch, the one Rob had given me, on the bedside table. Rob was still in the chair on the other side of the room and coincidentally was also just waking up. He looked startled when he saw that I was awake and sat up straight.
"Jess." Jess. This was serious. His voice was hoarse from sleep, or lack there of, and he looked kind of rough. He got up and came to sit on the bed, taking my hand, "I'm sorry Jess, I was a complete idiot, this is all my fault." He was apologising right away and he really did sound sorry. But not matter how much of an idiot he was this, me being is hospital that is, was definitely not his fault.
"It's ok, I was stupid. I shouldn't have run away, it's my fault, not yours. I just wanted everything to be perfect and it all got messed up. I'm sorry too." Easier than I thought it would be, I thought that everything would be really awkward but in fact we were having no problems. We were both sorry, everyone's happy.
"I know, I really ruined it, didn't I?" Rob smiled at me, "Maybe we should try again some time, when you get out of here."
I smiled back at him, "Yeah, I'd like that." We sat in silence for a moment, this one more comfortable than the day before. Rob was tracing the lines on the palm of my hand and I giggled, "What are you doing, trying to read my palm? Go on then, tell me my future."
He gave me one of those half amused, half disgusted smiles of his before rolling his eyes and launching into a very silly description of what my future was going to be like.
"Well this line here says that you're going to get a dog." He started, tracing a random line.
I giggled again, I think I was going crazy because I'm not really a giggly kind of person, "I already have a dog."
"I know, but this one isn't Chigger. His name is Bert." He told me, a dead serious look on his face. (A/N: Bert after Bert from the Used, because he's just so cool. And my friend is obsessed with him. I personally prefer Gerard from My Chem.)
"Oh, right. Well then that changes everything." I replied, just as serious as he had been.
"You're damn right it does. Now be quiet and let me finish." I nodded, trying to hold in the laughter that was about to bubble over.
"Right, go on." I let out a little snort of laughter, much to my embarrassment.
"Well that was attractive." I glared at Rob for the comment and he quickly tried to turn it around, "No, it was very cute. Anyway. This line," He followed another line with his finger, "Says that on your eighteenth birthday your dad will give you a Harley, so long as you wear the outfits your mum keeps making for you."
I smiled, "How did you know that?"
"You told me once." Huh, well that explains it.
"Oh. Ok, keep going."
"And this line here," He explained, tracing one last line, "Says that some time, in the not too distant future, your boyfriend will plant a big wet one on you." Well that was very…forward.
I grinned, "Oh yeah?"
He smiled back, "Yeah." He leaned forwards and did just as he had promised. Well if everything else he had said was correct, I was going to get a dog called Bert. Somehow I didn't think that was going to happen though, unless I changed Chigger's name.
We kissed for a while, our tongues probing at each other and Rob reached a hand up to caress my cheek, my own hands tangling into his dark hair. When we pulled back, both breathing hard, we sat in silence for a moment, neither of us saying anything. I was the first one to speak, I needed to know something.
"Rob?"
"Hm?" He murmered nonchalantly.
"When Bryan mentioned your probation…why did you flip like that?"
He tensed up beside me, "It doesn't matter." He said stiffly.
I gave him a look, "Well it obviously does matter. You wouldn't have reacted like that if it didn't matter."
"Jess." His voice was stern and loud, he was almost shouting and it made me jump a little. He noticed and apologised.
"Look, Jess," He started again, much calmer now, "Just drop it, ok? It's all to do with why I'm on probation and I'll tell you that when I'm ready, alright?"
I just nodded and we fell into silence again. Once again I was the first one to speak, but this time to apologise.
"I'm sorry."
Rob gave me a confused look, "What for?"
"I know I'm really stubborn sometimes…and pushy. And sometimes I can be insensitive and I don't know when to stop."
He took my hand again, interlocking our fingers, "You're not insensitive. Stubborn is right though." He smiled at me to show that he didn't mean anything by it and I shoved him lightly.
"Do you know when I can get out of here?" I asked, changing the topic.
"I don't have a clue. Want me to go get someone for you?"
"No, it's ok, I'm pretty sure someone will come in later." I shifted in the bed a bit and Rob took the opportunity to make himself more comfortable. "Are my family here or did they go home?" I didn't really talk to my parents the day before and I hadn't see Doug and Mike yet.
"They went home. They said they would be coming in later though." Rob informed me.
"They actually talked to you? Wow, that was an improvement. The other day my mum didn't even really want to look at you." Well maybe it wasn't that bad but she really didn't like him.
"Aha, so you admit that your mum hates me?" He kind of had me there.
"Nooo…she doesn't hate you, she just…strongly dislikes you. So anyway, you talked to my parents?" I asked, bringing the conversation back to the subject at hand.
"Yeah, well I talked to your dad anyway. If your mum had to talk to me it was more talking at me, than to me. She still doesn't seem to like me all that much. Although she has stopped glaring at me." He added, as an after thought, making me laugh. "Hey, did you know your dad used to have a bike?"
"Yeah, he told me the other day. Were you as surprised as I was?" I asked him, I was still finding it hard to believe myself.
"Nah, wasn't really surprised. I swear I saw it staring at my Indian the other day." He mused.
"Really? When was that?"
Rob didn't have time to answer me however as at that moment someone came bursting through the door, shouting "Knock, knock!"
I looked at the intruder and pretended to be annoyed, though I was smiling really, "Doug, you're supposed to actually knock on the door, not just say 'knock, knock'. And even then you're supposed to wait until someone tells you to come in." Doug just ignored me and came to sit in the chair by the bed.
"Don't you mean 'hello my favourite big brother, how lovely it is to see you'?"
I pretended to think about it for a second, "Hm…no. Where's everyone else?"
"Mike said he'd come later, he's gone to see Claire. Mum and Dad are talking to the doctor." I nodded absent mindedly.
How come Mum and Dad were talking to the doctor? I was the patient and I had hardly talked to her yet. I was thinking this over when I noticed Doug glaring at me. Or at least I thought that he was glaring at me, but it turned out he was glaring at Rob. Woops, almost forgot about him for a second there. Rob must have noticed also since he sat up straighter in the bed. He didn't get up though so he obviously wasn't too worried about Doug doing anything to him. I was surprised when Doug didn't actually say anything but I didn't say anything either.
"Anyway, Mum and Dad will be in in a minute or two."
"Ok. By the way I'm impressed that you've managed to leave your room for something that's neither food nor work." I grinned cheekily at him and he laughed sarcastically.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Jess."
I was about to say something back when Rob gave an ear splitting yawn from where he was sitting next to me.
I looked at him, "You're tired, go home."
He shook his head, "I'm fine." He wasn't though; he was rubbing his eyes as he said this.
"No, you're not. You can hardly stay awake, go home." He opened his mouth to object again but I stopped him, "Rob. Go. Home." I said slowly, enunciating each word.
"Right. I'll see you later." He slid off of the bed, giving me a quick peck on the lips.
Doug made a face, "Ew, please don't make kissy faces in front of me."
I rolled my eyes, "What are you, five? Ok, but only if you and Tasha refrain from kissy faces in front of me."
He nodded, "Deal."
Rob who had been watching the exchange between the two of us quirked an eyebrow, before yawning again. Aw. "Aaaanyway, I'll see you later Mastriani." He left the room, leaving me to stare after him. That's one nice back…er…back. A nice back he's got there. Doug's voice brought me out of my thoughts of Rob's…back.
"You really like him, don't you?"
I blinked, well duh. Then I blushed, "Yeah, I really do." Jess Mastriani blushed. Woah.
"I thought so. Just…be careful, ok Jess?" Oh it's my favourite time of year again, 'let's all talk in code' day. Although I had some idea of what Rob was getting at, he still didn't make much sense to me. Maybe I'm just stupid.
I nodded anyway, "I will. Be careful I mean."
Doug returned my nod, "Right." He glanced at his watch, "I have to go to work now. I'll come and see you tomorrow."
"Won't I be out by tomorrow? Do you know when I can get out of here?" For most of the time I had been in hospital I had been sleeping and I still hated the place.
Doug shook his head, "Nope, sorry Jess. See you later."
And then he left too and I was all on my own. I felt lonely and would have given anything for someone else to come and talk to me. But then my parents came in and suddenly I would have much rather been on my own. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents but I didn't want Mum fussing over me, it was really annoying.
"Hi Jess." Dad greeted, "We were just talking to Dr. Wilson. Has Doug gone already?"
"Yeah, Doug's gone, he said he was going to work. What did the doctor say? Can I go home now?"
Before Mum or Dad could answer a nurse came in with a tray, holding a bowl and a glass. She pulled out the table that went over the bed and placed the tray on it. "Here's your breakfast, sorry it took a while. Porridge and orange juice."
I made a face, the porridge was really lumpy and grey looking. The nurse just smiled and told me to 'eat up' before leaving the room. I took a sip of the orange juice but didn't touch the porridge. Mum dug around in her bag, producing a yoghurt and spoon.
"Here Jess. I didn't think you'd like the hospital food so I brought you something else.
I smiled at her gratefully, "Thanks Mum." I peeled the lid of the yoghurt before digging in. "So, what did the doc say?" I asked, my mouth full of yoghurt.
"Jessica, don't talk with your mouth full." Mum scolded me. I rolled my eyes but swallowed the yoghurt before speaking again.
"What did the doctor say?" I asked again, for the third time in five minutes.
"You're being kept in another couple of days for observation." I groaned, I wanted to get out!
"What kind of observation? She said something about tests earlier."
"They just want to make sure that the lightning hasn't caused any side effects or anything. Oh and apparently someone will come in later to see if it has done anything to your psychic abilities." Dad answered me, "But I don't really see why they would do that."
I started paying a little more attention after this, "Just someone? Did they say who?" There weren't that many people who would know enough about my 'psychic abilities', as Dad put it, to know if they had been changed by the lightning, not really anyway.
"No, sorry Jess. Well I'm sure you'll find out later. I'm really sorry Jess, I know we haven't been here long but we have to go." Dad told me apologetically. I nodded, I really didn't mind.
"That's ok, I'll see you later Dad, and you too Mum."
Mum gave me a kiss on the cheek, "Bye Jessie, we'll come and see you later. I'll bring you something nice to eat for lunch." I was pretty sure they weren't supposed to bring me food, but never mind, it was better than hospital food.
Once again I was left on my own. But not for long as seconds after my parents left the room a figure appeared in the doorway. This particular figure was on crutches and despite the fact that he was inside was wearing a hat and trench coat. I was not particularly happy to see this certain person.
"Krantz. How nice of you to drop in."
A/N: Phew. My God, it takes me ages to type things up. Not because I'm a really slow typer but because I have to take breaks in between. Lots of breaks. So that was chapter four. I hope you all enjoyed it :)
Love from Quietly Losing Control (someone dissed my name today. They said it made no sense, but they don't know that it comes from one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite band. That's I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light by Brand New, in case you were wondering.)
