Author's Note

Wow.

Everybody's a psychic...or I'm just really obvious. xD

Okay, so Leah and Tommy are together. Now, what about Cassie and Paul? Who knows? They're definitely not together in this chapter, for sure.

Gryffindor Gurl2: I suppose I forgot to mention this last chapter, but Paul is banned from visiting because Cassie is so pissed. Oops!

Iced Coffee: Cassie is short--perhaps around five foot two or three--with shoulder length black hair and big gray eyes. Hrm, what else? She usually wears darker colored clothes [not like 'emo' or anything like that] and usually has her hair down. Is there anything else you would like to know?

So, Cassie gets to go home in this chapter, but Quil isn't going to make it easy on her with the whole Paul deal. [Werewolves/Shape-shifters with imprints have to stick together!] We also get a little Tommy action. Not as much as I had wanted, but there is always future chapters. So, as always:

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Twilight.

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Hospital Part Two and Going Home

"Quil, quit eating my food."

"But you're not eating any of it."

"I was going to."

"LI-AH!" Quil accused, pointing a finger at me. I swatted at him gently, not wanting to pull at my stitches.

"Quil, you shouldn't harass the patient," Carlisle said. "Especially when their boyfriend is a volatile werewolf."

"Ex-boyfriend," I corrected snippily. Quil rolled his eyes at me, and Carlisle smiled gently.

"Carlisle, I swear," Quil said. "Have you never seen a more naïve child?"

"I'm not a child!" I protested. "And give me back my food!"

"No," Quil said childishly, holding the hospital tray out from my reach. I glared at him, and he crossed his eyes at me.

"Doctor Cullen," I whined. "Do I have to have a nurse? It's not like Quil does anything."

"I resent that," Quil grumbled, taking a big bite out of mashed potatoes. Carlisle smiled, writing down something on the clipboard. Again.

"What do you write in there?" I asked.

"Updates on your injuries and how well you're progressing for your parents to know," Carlisle said, and Quil snorted.

"Don't forget about Paul," Quil grumbled. I glanced sharply at the sheepish doctor.

"You tell him how I'm doing?" I hissed, and Carlisle rubbed his neck nervously.

"He wants to know how you progress," he said quietly. I glared at him, and Quil patted my head.

"Paul didn't mean to, Cassie," he said quietly. "This was the last thing he wanted to do to you, and you know it."

"Not only does he incapacitate me, but he sends you in to guilt me?" I hissed, and Quil flinched. There was an awkward silence until Doctor Cullen cleared his throat.

"Quil, could you run these to Mr. Barker and his wife?" he asked, handing the clipboard and papers over to Quil. He nodded his head and walked out of the room.

Doctor Cullen moved around the room, almost in an anxious manner.

"How bad am I, Doc?" I asked. Carlisle looked at me for a moment, but then took a seat in the chair Quil had just vacated.

"Cassie, when you first came in, we didn't think you were going to make it," Carlisle informed me quietly. "You weren't breathing, and you didn't have a pulse. It was difficult, to say the least, to resuscitate you when there wasn't an inch of you not covered in blood. You lost a lot of it, and you kept bleeding. It didn't help that you had been caught in the rain when this whole mess occurred.

"When you were finally revived, the nurses and I had to work quickly to stitch up your wounds to stop the rapid blood flow. Luckily, the scratches weren't too deep and didn't nick anything vital."

"How about scars? How bad will they be?"

"They'll extend from your left shoulder down to the back of your right thigh. All in all, you will be perfectly fine except for a few rare days when your leg will act up and you'll have a slight limp." I pondered this information for a minute, and Carlisle spoke again. "You should really forgive him, Cassie."

"Oh, and why is that?" I challenged.

"Because he loves you," he said, and I snorted. "Cassie, I'm not one to pry in one's life, but Paul really does care about you. The whole time you were here, even when we were busying ourselves with reviving you, he stood by you with the saddest expression. And when you were in a coma—when we thought you wouldn't come out of it, that it was permanent—he still stayed beside you, ever hopeful and persistent that you would awaken. Now, if that isn't love, I don't know what is."

"Wow. I never took you for the romantic type, Carlisle," I said. He chuckled, picking himself out of the chair.

"Quil will be here shortly with visitors." I looked at him strangely, but then the door opened, revealing Quil, Tommy, and Al.

"Visitors for a Miss Munchkin!" Quil announced, waving his hands about grandly. Al ran over to me, and hugged me. I let out a gasp of pain as she grazed the stitches, and she squeaked.

"Sorry! Sorry! Oh, Cass!"

"Wow, less than a minute in and you're already causing her bodily harm, Al," Tommy teased, and winked at me. I glared at him.

"You and Leah, huh?" I accused, watching as color rose to his cheeks. Tommy cleared his throat uneasily, and Quil clapped him on his back.

"Good luck taming the shrew, man. I hope you've had all of your shots," he teased, and I giggled into my pillow.

"Yeah, ha ha. Very funny, guys," Tommy said sarcastically, flushing a bright red.

"Whatever happened to being a member of Kappa Slappa Ho?" I questioned curiously. Quil gasped.

"You too, man? Oh my God! I've found my long lost brother!" he cried, hugging Tommy and 'sobbed' into his shoulder. Tommy patted his back, making soothing noises.

"Have you been abusing your nursing powers and stealing prescription drugs, Quil?" I asked suspiciously. Quil turned to look at me calculatingly.

"You do realize, of course, that now I'm going to have to kill you."

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"Is it okay if I have some alone time with Cassie, guys?" Al asked. Doctor Cullen and the guys nodded their heads, making their way towards the door. After the door clicked shut, Al grabbed my hand.

"How are you holding up?" she asked softly, and I smiled wryly.

"I've lost a ton of blood, I have about a million uncomfortable stitches in my back, I'm in pain, strangers get all touchy-feely when they bathe me, and I have my ex-boyfriend hanging around who very nearly phased in the hospital when he was told he was banned from seeing me. So, overall, I'm excellent." Al sighed quietly, and I groaned. "You're not going to try and convince me that I should get back together with Paul, are you?"

"No, of course not. I'm happy that you are sticking up to him," Al said, eyes sparkling dangerously. "I'm glad that Jake kicked his ass."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. After you were admitted into the hospital and we saw that you would be okay—well, as okay as you were going to get—Jake took Paul out into the woods and let him have it. But, it wasn't much of a fight since Paul didn't fight back; I was kind of disappointed when I heard that," Al grumbled. I blinked at her once, then twice.

"Is Paul okay?" I asked grudgingly. Al rolled her eyes, looking just a little annoyed.

"Apparently werewolves heal fast, so he only has a few scars."

"Oh," was all I said. It was silent, and when I looked up at Al, she had tears in her eyes. "Al? What's wrong?"

She sniffled delicately, wiping her eyes on the heel of her palm. "I just can't help but think that if I had stayed—"

"Shut the hell up, Allison," I growled. "Don't go blaming yourself for what happened. We all know that it's Paul who did this to me, not you." Al chuckled quietly, wiping her eyes again.

"Yeah, I kind of guess it is his fault," she said. "But when I see you just lying there, knowing what's under that thin hospital gown, I can't help just think…" Al trailed off, sniffling quietly. I reached up and mussed her neat hair, and she sighed.

"Don't worry, Al. I'm going to be just fine. Just you wait; I'll be up and around in no time, stealing your cheerleading uniform and destroying your closet," I teased, patting her head. Al didn't say anything. She just grabbed my hand tightly and sat with me for the rest of the day.

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"Cassidy."

"Quil," I mocked.

"Quit being a baby and get in the damned wheelchair."

"No. Wheelchairs are for paraplegics and old people, which I am neither. So, how about you go and give that to someone who really needs it and let me walk out of the damn hospital with some dignity?" I asked, crossing my arms and scowling. Quil was in his nurse uniform again, regarding me with a blazing expression.

"Cassie, you know you can't walk without risking opening up your cuts. Come on. You know it's going to be a pain to walk, so why don't you just get in the wheelchair? It's comfy…"

"No."

"Cassidy Anne Barker. Get in the damned wheelchair."

"Make me."

"Don't make me yank you from that bed and strap you down into the chair, 'cause I'll do it," Quil threatened. I snorted, rolling my eyes.

"You know you won't do it, and we both know that I'm not getting in the wheelchair willingly. So, how about you save our time and put away the silly wheelchair?"

"I am so close to strangling you with this stethoscope it's not even funny," Quil growled, looking wistfully at the would-be weapon around his neck.

"I don't even know why Carlisle let you have that silly thing. What are you even going to do with it?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Strangle you."

"Quil, please let me walk. Please?" I asked, giving him my best puppy dog pout. Quil groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I can't."

"And why not?" I growled.

"Paul will kill me, quite literally, if I let you walk out of the hospital in your condition," Quil said.

"Oh, not him again! Quil, I told you before, Paul needs to stay out of my life. He's a psychopath, and I don't want him!"

"He's your soul mate, Cassidy! It's kind of hard for him to stay away, in case you haven't noticed!" Quil said exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air. "God, Cassie, I never knew you were this hardheaded! Now, just do the world and my sanity a favor, and get in the wheelchair before I bash you in the head with it." I looked at the wheelchair in disgust, and then at Quil's serious expression.

"Fine," I grumbled reluctantly. "But I'm going to get in it on my own. No helping, not even if I ask for it."

"Alright, alright Miss Munchkin. Just hurry up, would you? Oprah's going to come on soon and I don't want to miss it."

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"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow," I hissed each time I took a step. "Ow. O—"

"Dammit, Cassie! Get back on the couch!"

"But I'm hungry!" I wailed. Quil came out of the kitchen, pointing the spatula at me dangerously.

"Cassidy, you get on that couch right now or I will call your parents over to this house. Now, march, young lady! March!" he shrilled, and I grumbled incoherently.

My parents still hung around, even though I had been out of the hospital for two weeks. It was nearly August, and they said that they would stick around for a couple of months. College had been delayed for me because of my injuries, but I would start halfway through September. Even if it killed me.

Someone knocked at the door, and I almost went to get it, but Quil cleared his throat sharply. I turned to glare at him, but limped to the living room grudgingly. I had to ease myself onto the couch instead of just plopping down like I used to. It was all just a pain in my ass.

Quil straightened his apron—this time reading 'Bootylicious Princess'—and headed for the door. I rolled my eyes, flipping the channels on the television. Another sucky thing was that nothing good was on during the daytime.

I could hear Quil talking to someone, and I strained to listen.

"Quil, just let me see her," Paul begged. My eyes narrowed.

"Naw, man. No can do. Cassie will be pissed, and then she'll tell Gal Pal Al, and then Al will tell Embry, who'll kick my ass for pissing off Al! I'm too beautiful to die!" Quil whined. Paul sighed, aggravated.

"Look, just ask Cassie if she'll talk to me. Please, I'm desperate," Paul begged. Quil grunted something, and then he cleared his throat.

"Cassie, is it okay if—"

"No," I said automatically, flipping the channel.

"Told you," Quil chuckled. There was a sharp smacking sound, and Quil yelped. After a moment of what sounded like a tense whisper-conversation, Paul sighed raggedly.

"Okay, I'll leave. But I'm not going to give up so easily, Quil."

"I know that, and you shouldn't," Quil said, and I snorted. Paul sighed again, and I knew that he had heard me. I didn't care. Not a bit.

After Paul left, Quil gave me a sad side-glance.

"What?" I asked irritably.

"You know you're hurting him, right?" he asked. I shifted uncomfortably in my spot, flipping the channel. "This is really killing him, Cass."

"I don't care," I grumbled. Quil exhaled noisily.

"Whatever you say," he said, heading towards the kitchen. "Whatever you say…"

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I groaned, kicking the covers off. Why is it so hot? Where the hell am I? A freaking oven?

I lay on my stomach, smashing my pillow over my head. It was hard to sleep, and when I finally managed to, I dreamed. It was always about Paul, either in human form or in his wolf form—usually resulting in a nightmare.

Sitting up, I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and eased myself up. The moonlight beamed through my window, and the wind made the tree branches screech against the house. I stood in front of the window and peered out.

And, as usual, the silver wolf napped on the front lawn. Sometimes, when he was asleep, I liked to look out at him, as strange as it was. His ear twitched, and he raised his head to look up at my window.

We watched each other until the sun rose, just like every night. Paul looked to the rising sun, like he always did, and then back to me. I pulled back from the window and watched as he stood up, and headed towards the dark woods.

As I climbed into bed, letting exhaustion wash over me, I couldn't help but feel sad and a little guilty. But, as always, only just a little.

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I'm too tired to put an extra long AN like I usually do down here [someone somewhere in the world just screamed 'Thank God!'], so I would just like to thank you all for reviewing and making my day. So, hopefully you guys like this chapter and the future ones I have in store.

I've already started the next chapter, and I know it's going to have mischief. And, Paul will be [also] coming in that chapter.

So, as always, click the lovely green/gray button and REVIEW. Do it. I dare ya.