Disclaimer: You guys should know by now that I don't own the Gallagher Girls, I just like to write stories about the characters.
Author's Note: Hey guys, it's me again. Thank you all SO MUCH for reviewing, reading your kind words has started to make me cry now guys. Having this many reviewers is a dream come true so THANK YOU!:D I really hope you like this chapter and enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it! So, I give you chapter 7...:)
The next morning I got up at 5.30am as usual. I always had to get in a dance rehearsal before normal lessons commenced, it eased the worry in my mind. Quietly as possible, I slipped on my favourite blue leotard, a hoody and tracksuit bottoms to go over the top, and some trainers for the walk. On my way out of the room, I also picked up my dance shoes and my iPod, which held my newest composition that I had created with Liz, classical with a modern twist.
I walked into dance studio 1 and flipped the switch on the right hand side of the door frame, bright lights flooding the room instantly. I squinted, my eyes not having adjusted properly to the luminescence of the lighting yet. I walked over to a bench on the far side of the studio, stripping off my hoody, trackies and trainers, replacing them with my dance shoes. After plugging in my iPod to the permanent dock found in the studio and setting it to the right song, I got into my starting position.
I listened to the song once through, smiling as I remembered playing the piano and singing with Liz last night. That smile quickly turned into a frown when I thought about the other part of the night, Zach shouting at me, kissing me, me slapping him...Wow, I just gave him another reason to hate me, great... Luckily for me all of those unfortunate events were forgotten when the music started its second repeat. My body started to move to the music, I knew the dance off by heart, each step coming naturally. Despite this, it didn't stop me worrying about freezing on stage when the time came.
Flip, plea, split-leap, twist – wait... I wasn't meant to twist yet. All of a sudden a searing pain went through both of my ankles as I tried to land, my feet slipping on the floor instead of landing on the balls of my feet and bending my knees. No, this couldn't be happening! I attempted to balance myself by putting my feet flat on the ground, but my knees buckled, sending my crashing face first to the ground. Just before I hit the ground, I heard cruel laughter, but then again, it could have just been my imagination. Soon enough, black spots were clouding my vision, making it impossible to see. I tried shouting for help, but I couldn't manage to get the words out, silently screaming in agony instead. All of the feelings were being lost. I was numb.
The first thing registered as I regained consciousness was the obnoxiously bright lights shining above me, which could only belong to a hospital. I smelt the stench of unnaturally sterile metal equipment that you only ever smell in a hospital. Then I heard the beeping of machines, yep, I was definitely in the hospital. I blinked a few times, trying to block the shining glow from the blubs above me, but quit after I realised it wasn't working. I then tried to roll over, but pain shot through my body, and I quickly refrained from moving at all.
"Ah, Miss Morgan, you're awake. I wouldn't advise you to try to move until after I administer your next set of pain killers, which will be in a few minutes," a pale looking doctor said to me with a smile which ended up looking more like a grimace to me.
"Where-" I cleared my throat, my voice raspy from not having talked in a while. "Where am I?" I asked whilst looking around at wires and machines I was hooked up to.
"You're in Roseville Community Hospital love. I just have to ask you a few questions, then you're free to ask me anything you want," the doctor said with a solemn look on his face. "Oh, I'm Doctor Fibbs by the way," he quickly added as an afterthought.
He asked me stupid questions like, "What's your full name?" and "Where do you go to school?" I mean, he blatantly knew, so why the heck did I have to answer. All I wanted was the pain meds and to go back to sleep. Nevertheless I answered all of the questions, and to each of my answers he nodded and made a mark on his clipboard.
When we were finished and he had given me my painkillers, I asked the most obvious question, "What happened to me?"
The doctor answered with a sad look on his face. "It appears that you were practicing a vigorous dance routine when you slipped. I'm afraid you have torn both tendons in your feet, as well as tearing the ligament in your right knee. Your legs have severe bruising, a cracked left knee cap, as well as your arms being quite sore with bruises too. You have three broken ribs, swollen fingers, a nasty bump on the head and suffered minor blood loss. Lucky for you, there are no signs of memory loss and you didn't puncture a lung. Even though it sounds bad Miss Morgan, I would be grateful to whoever is looking out for you up there, your injuries could have been much worse."
Wow, I didn't expect it to be that bad, though thinking about it, my body felt about equal to the description. I can't imagine what I must look like right now, I hope I don't scar too badly. Oh well, I'll just have to put in extra hours in at the gym if I want to get better in time for the musical in three weeks.
"I'm sorry Miss Morgan, but that won't be possible," the doctor interrupted my inner turmoil. Oops, I guess I said that out loud!
"But-" I started.
"No buts," Dr Fibbs cut me off, giving me a stern look. "Even if you receive the treatment available to repair your tendons and ligament, you still need recovery time of at least two weeks. The soonest we can give you the treatment is in eight days, and even then, with the cracks in your ribs it will be too dangerous to even attempt any type of vigorous exercise. I have spoken to your mother on the phone, and she insists that your insurance would barely cover the cost of one of the treatments. I am sorry Miss Morgan, but you are going to have to take a break from dancing for at least 5 months before you even attempt the simplest dance sequences."
I was quiet as I let all of this new information sink in. He'd contacted my mother! She was going to be so angry. Not to mention the fact that there is a high possibility of me losing my dance scholarship now I wasn't actually able to dance.
"Sorry Doctor," I said as politely as possible, "but I'm afraid I will lose my scholarship if I don't dance." I was trying to not let my frustration show through, but he was trying to stop me from competitively dancing, which caused me more trouble than he could ever realise.
"I have also contacted your school. The headmistress assured me that she would find a way to accommodate you under these terrible circumstances," he said kindly, but I simply nodded and kept quiet, knowing there was no point in arguing.
All of a sudden, I could hear shouting out in the hallway, which could only mean one thing, my mother, she was here. I shot Dr Fibbs a wary glance, almost an apology in advance for my mother's behaviour, just before the door burst open. An angry version of my mum was stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, ready to bite of anyone's head who dared to cross her. After having a full blown argument with Dr Fibbs, she managed to get him to leave the room for five minutes.
She then turned to me with narrowed eyes and walked right up to my bedside. I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop any fear from showing.
"What the hell do you think you're playing at Cameron, are you stupid? You will not fail me like that other waste of space of a daughter. We have worked too hard for this for you to screw it up now. You will have the treatments to repair your stupid ass, and then you will perform your dance solo in the show, got it?" I nodded in agreement to her orders, not wanting to make her madder. She leaned closer to me, so close that I could smell the alcohol on her breath, and said, "If I don't see you perform in that freaking show in three weeks time, I will drag your sorry ass back home with me, just like you used to, okay Cammie?" I just nodded again, hoping she would just leave. She got up to make her way to the door, but before she left she turned and whispered menacingly, "And Cameron? You were the one who wanted to go to some fancy school. You mess this up, don't even think about getting another chance at rich school. We all know you don't belong there anyway."
I tried to hold in my tears, I wasn't a baby, I have no real reason to cry. I knew I would have to get all of the treatments, it was the only way to stay at Gallagher. I'd just have to use my university savings to pay, and take what money the insurance company would give. There was no other way out of this, and I didn't mind about the money or having to dance straight after the operation without proper adequate recovery time. I was just a little scared of the operations themselves. Oh well, I would just have to push the fear out of me like I do when I perform on stage. No pain, no gain, right?
The doctor walked in a few minutes later, and when I told him that I wanted all of the treatments, he said, "I'll have to discuss this with the hospital board, I can't guarantee anything due to your age and young body."
Just as I was about to reply with a 'That's fine doctor, let me know as soon as possible though' the door opened and in came Zach of all people.
He looked at me expectantly when he said, "Ask the board about what exactly?"
"One, that is none of your damn business, and two, what is he doing here?" I asked the doctor.
"Sorry," said Dr Fibbs," I did ask him to wait outside but I guess young Zachary here was just too eager to see you." Zach's cheeks turned a light shade of pink with embarrassment.
I was torn between saying, "Awwww," or laughing at him. I decided with the second option, which made my success in embarrassing him even better, his cheeks going a deep red colour.
"I'll give you two a minute alone, then I'll discharge you Miss Morgan. I believe a teacher going by the name of Madame Dabeney is here to collect you both," the doctor said, then stepped out of the room.
There was an awkward silence between Zach and I, so I decided to break it by asking, "So, how come you're here?"
He just shrugged and said, "Madame Dabeney needed a ride...Plus, I wanted to know that you weren't...you know...dead."
"How charming," I said sarcastically.
He just rolled his eyes and asked seriously, "Cammie, really, how are you?"
"I don't know Zach, how do I look? Bruised and battered? Yeah? Well that's how I feel."
He held his hands up in surrender and exclaimed, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you. I was just being polite, but if you're going to act like a bitch about it then forget it."
Luckily, Dr Fibbs knocked on the door then, coming in although there was no reply. He had just prevented another one of Zach and I's inevitable arguments. With him was a wheelchair, and when he asked if I needed help, Zach answered for me and said, "Don't worry doctor, I'll help her," and with that, the doctor left the room again.
When I just looked at Zach as if to say 'What the hell' he just rolled his eyes and said, "I just thought you would rather have my hands touching you than some perverted old doctor's."
I replied with, "He's a doctor, he's meant to help his patients."
Zach just winked at me and said, "I know."
He lifted me off of the hospital bed, holding me bridal style. Once he had carried me over to the chair, he held on to me, his nose brushing against my cheek. He whispered to me, "I really did come to see if you were okay. I was more worried than you'd think" and when he talked, his lips brushed my cheeks, making them go bright pink I am sure.
Before he set me down in the chair, he gave me a light kiss on the cheek. I suspect he was quite wary after my slapping adventure the other day. Without saying another word, he rolled me out to where Madame Dabeney was waiting in the waiting room. I gave her a look that said 'Don't say a word' and she didn't just simply went and signed the papers.
"You know Gallagher Girl, I'm glad you're not...you know...dead," he said with a smirk on his face, which made me blush, which then made him laugh.
I smiled at him shyly and said, "I'm glad I'm not dead too."
He laughed again, and stated, "Well, I'm going to go put your stuff in the car and get it started. Tell Madame Dabeney for me, kay?" and with that he was off.
As Madame Dabeney finished the last of the papers, Dr Fibbs came over to me. He assured me that, "The application for all three operations has been submitted. I have to warn you that it is highly unlikely that you will end up receiving all of them. Don't get your hopes up. I will be in touch shortly though, to confirm any details and let you know whether we shall carry on with the procedures. Goodbye for now, Miss Morgan."
"Bye doctor, thanks for taking care of me. And hey, maybe I'll get lucky again and be accepted for all of the treatments!"
"Maybe Miss Morgan...maybe," and with that he walked away, his name being called over the intercom to go to room 503 immediately.
Madame Dabeney was back soon enough, and as she came up to me whispered, "Mon petit Chou, so beautiful but so broken," using her French nickname for me 'petit Chou,' meaning little cabbage. She caressed my face with a sad smile on her own, and said nothing more, just silenly wheeling me out of the hospital and towards the black Land Rover Zach had warming up.
AN: There you have it folks, chapter 7! I really hope you enjoyed reading this, it took me ageeesss to write up! It's a good thing y'all are such great reviewers or I probably wouldn't spend so much time on this story. I promise I'll update soon! Anyway, I'll be posting a new story soon called 'The Popstar Protection Programme, so check that out. It will hopefully be up in the next few days. It will be a slow update type of story since my focus is on this one. If there is high demand for it though, I will update faster. Please don't forget to review for me, I love reading your thoughts on the story. I can't express how much it means to me that I have over 20 reviews now, I thought I'd get a couple, but never this many! Anyway, love you guys, you're the reason I keep calm and carry on writing! ~XOXO