A/N: Hey, I have no homework! That gave me a ton of time to write! Yay! I am also happy to tell you that I have 2 chapters done for my Xmas story already! And they're both looooong. Check the story out when I post it on the first of December! Also, I tried to do that division bar thingy between scenes last time, but it didn't work. So I'm back to separating scenes with 5 LM's. :) I also found a typo in my last chapter. I wrote, "'I love you,' Gordo whispered into his ear." Woops! I don't think I need to go and take the whole chapter down and put it into edit, though. We all know whose ear he's whispering in. ;)
Boris Yeltsin: You made me laugh, lol. Thanks for reviewing!
Bubbles2337: Cliff hangers are so fun to write! :P Thank you. Here's your update!
Tomboy22: Yeah, haha I found that sweet, too. Aren't all guys perverts? Lol. But cliff hangers are so fun to writeeee. Okay, fine, I'll update. Here you go.
River Tam: Thank you for reviewing! Yeah, sorry about the delay there, lol. I'm at a new school this year and the homework's crazy. That means no time for fanfiction on most days. :( I'm glad you like! Here's your update. BTW, you are rocking your story "Star of David!" It's epic and I can't wait for your next update! :) Also, I've gone through and read your other LM stories. They're all fantastic and I hope you finish them this year!
"Gordo?" Miranda spoke into the phone, her voice shaking.
"Miranda?" He asked, not noticing the tone in her voice. "Do you know what time it is? 11:30!"
"I-I know…"
"Are you okay?"
"It's Lizzie," she began sobbing into the phone.
"Miranda, what's wrong with Lizzie? MIRANDA? Tell me what happened!"
"I came outside to find her, and she was lying on the ground…she's unconscious…"
Gordo couldn't for the life of him figure out why Miranda had called him and not 911, but that emotion was soon overcome by grief. "Call 911. I'm on my way," he said, already scrawling a note to his parents.
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Gordo, living right around the corner from the school, got there before an ambulance. He got out of the car and ran over to a crying Miranda. He found it strange that people could pass on by, so oblivious to the mini soap-opera tragedy that was going on in the middle of the sidewalk. Gordo quickly gave Miranda a reassuring pat on the back and grabbed Lizzie's wrist, feeling for her pulse. She had one. He leaned down close to her face to listen for breathing. She was. His first aid classes he had taken in Jr. High had finally paid off, and Gordo figured that she had fainted from shock. But what had scared her so badly?
An ambulance came zooming around the corner and onto the lawn of the school, right next to the trio. Then people stopped and stared. Gordo watched the paramedics load Lizzie onto a stretcher, then drive away. He and Miranda got in his car and drove to the hospital. It wasn't until they had been driving for a good 10 minutes that Gordo finally spoke. "Thank you for calling me."
Miranda sniffled. "No problem."
"I think she's going to be fine. She had a pulse and was breathing." Gordo then reached over and took Miranda's hand in a comforting gesture.
"Are you sure?"
Gordo pushed aside his logical thoughts (he could never really be positively sure about anything) and said, "I'm pretty sure."
At the hospital, they were escorted into the emergency waiting room, where they sat together playing cards to pass the time and keep their nerves down. It wasn't until the doctor came out to speak to them that Gordo realized someone needed to call the McGuire's. He made a mental note to do it in a little bit. "Mr. Gordon?" The doctor asked, pulling out his file on Lizzie.
"Yes, sir?"
"She'll be just fine. She fainted from shock. If I were you, I'd talk to her later, see if you can pinpoint why exactly she blacked out, okay? I do need you to see if you can contact a family member of Miss McGuire that is at least 18 so they can come sign her release forms."
"Will do."
"Thank you. Check in with the front desk when you're done calling people."
Gordo turned to Miranda, who seemed to be hypnotized by the deck of cards in her hands. "Miranda?" Gordo said. "She's going to be fine."
Miranda nodded. "I heard," she whispered.
"Well, aren't you happy?"
"Of course, Gordo. She's my best friend."
"You don't look happy."
"I'm still just a little shook up is all."
He patted her back, "I'm sure you'll be fine in a little bit. That was quite the scare."
"Yeah."
Gordo dialed the McGuire's home number into his cell phone. No answer. He tried Matt's cell phone with the same bad luck. He didn't have any other numbers to try. He walked up to the front desk. "Ma'am? I'm here for Elizabeth McGuire, but I can't get ahold of any of her family members."
"Who are you?" The nurse asked, apparently ready to go home and fall into bed.
"Her boyfriend."
"How old are you?"
"18."
"Close enough to a family member." She held out some forms. Apparently the emergency nurses got sloppy around midnight. Gordo skimmed through the forms and signed them all. "I will need a FOP," the nurse reminded Gordo.
"A FOP?"
"Form of Payment."
"Oh, oh…how much?"
"$150."
"What? She was only here 45 minutes!"
"That's the ambulance and normal emergency fee."
Gordo fished out his wallet and slapped a debit card down on the counter. "Charge it," he said; he had always wanted to say that. It was one of those things that looked cool in movies, along with getting into a cab and saying "follow that car!" The nurse looked at him like he was crazy, but entered the card number anyway. "May I visit Lizzie?" Gordo asked.
"Yeah. Room 102."
"Thank you." Gordo turned around. Miranda was gone. He figured she had left in search of the bathroom, and Gordo headed down the hall. He stepped into room 102 and looked at Lizzie. Even though she was in a hospital gown with tubes up her nose for extra oxygen support, she looked drop dead gorgeous to him.
"Hi," she said, holding out her hand. He went over and took it into his own.
"Hi, sweetheart," he said.
She laughed, despite the situation. "I'm sorry I caused such a hassle."
"It's no hassle. This is your health we're talking about."
She snorted. "I'm fine. Other than the fact that this is a major fashion crisis, here."
"You're gorgeous."
"I bet," she said, blowing her hair out of her eyes. She turned to look at him. "Did you know that I love you?"
"That was random. But thank you, I love you too." Gordo leaned down and kissed Lizzie.
"Oh my gosh. I completely forgot about my parents! They're probably worried sick!"
"I tried to call them, but they didn't answer."
"When am I allowed to leave?"
"Pretty soon, I guess. Want me to go ask?"
"Would you, honey?"
"Of course," he said, and headed off in search of a nurse. A moment later, Gordo returned. "The doctor's coming in and then you can leave."
"Nice to see you're with us, Elizabeth," The doctor said as he entered the room. Lizzie tried not to cringe at the use of her formal name. "Let's just do a final examination and get you out of here." Gordo was asked to leave the room, so he went off in search of Miranda. She was back at her spot on the waiting room couch, TV remote in hand, nervously flipping through the channels.
"Miranda," Gordo called. She turned to him. "They're doing a final examination and then we can leave."
"You visited her?"
"Yeah. I looked for you, but you were gone. I thought maybe you went to go find the bathroom."
Just then, Lizzie came trotting out of the hospital in her pink sweater, blue jeans, and Converse sneakers. She was running her fingers through her hair as if they were a brush. "Hey, guys," she said. When she saw how scared Miranda still looked, Lizzie hugged her. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere," she said, holding her best friend tight.
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Lizzie woke up the next morning to an empty house. Her parents and Matt had gone out to breakfast to celebrate the first Sunday of summer vacation (and the fact that Matt had finally gotten over his flu). They had been pretty mad when Lizzie came home an hour late last night. But after she and Gordo had explained everything, most of the anger was gone and they were just glad that Lizzie was okay. Lizzie had felt guilty, though, and opted to stay home this morning. She turned and looked out the window. It was only 9:00; much too early to get up. Just as she rolled over, the doorbell rang. Figuring it was Gordo, Lizzie got up just long enough to open her window and yell, "It's open," before falling back into bed. A minute later, Gordo was standing in his girlfriend's doorway, arms folded, watching her trying to sleep. He smiled and curled up on the bed next to Lizzie, taking her up in his arms.
They cuddled in silence for a minute until Gordo said, "Liz, honey, I need to talk to you about something." He was reluctant to interrupt the moment, but knew he had to find out what had happened last night.
"Mhmm?" Lizzie sat up, trying to shake the sleepy feeling out of her body.
"What happened to make you faint last night?"
"Gordo, no. I don't want to talk about it." She shook her head.
"Sweetheart, I have to know. I want to keep you safe."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. What happened?"
"Gordo, just stop, okay? I don't want to talk about it yet."
Gordo knew he should have stopped there, but he kept pressing; a great mistake. "Honey, even the doctor said that I should try and find out what happened. I just don't want you to get hurt, and-''
"God damn it, Gordo! I said I don't want to talk yet! Just get the hell out of here…I need to be alone." Gordo flinched at her rather strong use of language. Lizzie hardly ever swore.
"Liz-''
"LEAVE, GORDO! Leave…just leave."
And that was what he did. He left and didn't call her for the rest of the day.
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"Gordo!" Lizzie called out. She had just parked her car in front of his house. Perfect timing, too; Gordo was just coming out of the house.
"Yeah?" He asked. What was she doing there. It was his first Monday of freedom and he had planned on enjoying it, not stand in his driveway talking to someone who got mad when offered help.
"I'm sorry. I never should have yelled at you like that. I was just…" she shook her head and took a deep breath. "What happened just scared me, is all. I've seen stuff like that in movies but never in real life."
"Did someone hurt you?" Gordo replied, trying to push down the worry he felt arising. He was supposed to be mad at Lizzie, not be worried about her.
"No," little tears began to slide down her cheeks. "Someone came up behind me while I was outside. He put his hand over my mouth and told me not to scream. Then I fainted."
"And they just left after that?"
"They took the cash out of my pocket. It was only 10 bucks, though. I'm just glad they didn't beat me up or something."
"Me too," he held out his arms and she walked into them. "I can never stay mad at you for long," he whispered.
"I know," she played and pulled out of his grip.
"Honey, I think it's time to get your parents involved in this, though."