A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while. I haven't had a review in almost a month. I'm accepting any feedback, so please click the blue button.
The gang made their way back to the Lightning home, Val leaning heavily against Twister. Her ankle felt sprained, or at the very least, twisted (no pun intended).
"Oh my God, look at you!" fretted Jenna when she saw her daughter's scratched face and slightly torn shirt. "What happened?"
"I had a skateboard accident," Val explained, rubbing her sore shoulder.
Jenna folded her arms. "Don't tell me you were at Friendship Fell. That place is--"
Her husband cut her off. "Jenna, I think we'd best take care of Valencia's wounds before we talk about punishing her."
Lars dutifully went to retrieve the first-aid kit the Lightnings kept by the door. Jenna ushered Val and Twister behind a Chinese-style folding screen. The other kids gathered outside it.
Twister cleaned Val's face, putting liquid bandages over the cuts. Now came the tricky part: gently tweezing the gravel out of her arms, palms, and lower back. He began work with the same quiet intensity he brought to editing his movies.
"You sure did a number on yourself," Lars commented, poking his head around the screen.
"Get lost!" Twister snapped. "I still haven't done her back."
The younger Rodriguez repositioned himself in an attempt to block off his brother's view. It didn't work, so Roderick helped by holding a towel over the opening.
Slowly, Val hiked up her shirt a couple of inches, just enough for Twister get at the gravel. She hissed in pain as the tweezers poked her. Several long minutes later, she felt Twister move away from her.
He stepped triumphantly around the screen. "The operation was a complete success," he reported.
"Thank you, sweetie," Val said as she emerged, pecking her boyfriend on the cheek.
"I haven't given you your prescription yet, Miss Lightning," said Twister. "You need to...relax on the patio, prefrerably with a large bowl of ice cream."
"Okay, doc," she said winking.
Then she and Twister disappeared up to the deck.