AN: I'm so sorry for how long this update took! I hope this chapter is well worth the wait and I'll try my best to be faster!
Buttercup's POV
I woke up and it was still dark in the room. I looked over to a clock to see that it was only 4:30 in the morning.
"What the fuck…" I flinched in surprise when I didn't hear my voice. I had almost forgotten that I was even in the hospital. My head pounded as I turned my head to catch sight of a red letter on a table next to my bed.
Using my unbroken arm, I reached for the offending paper and read it with difficulty due to the lighting.
'Well, well. You live to see another day, but do you really think you can do anything in your condition? Unless you can somehow escape the hospital without telling anyone, your daddy is as good as dead… unless you take his place. But do you have a way to tell me that? It'll almost be boring if I can't hear you scream, but I guess I'll have to settle for what I can get.'
I sat up and was almost glad I couldn't talk since I wanted so badly to scream from the pain that shot through me. I needed to get out of here before anyone could stop me, but the second I got off of this monitor, a whole herd of doctors would rush in.
The heart monitor cart beeped at a steady pace, and it hit me. The monitor was my way out.
Reaching out with my right arm, I moved the cart back and forth. With a smirk, I moved myself, which proved to be extremely difficult to do considering how much everything hurt.
'This is for the professor. I can handle a few minutes of excruciating pain.'
It took a while to get in position, but I managed to hold onto the unorthodox vehicle like a scooter, using my broken leg to push myself forward. I slowly opened the door, making sure it didn't creak. As soon as I got into the hallway, I started to feel my head spin, but that wasn't about to stop me.
James's POV
After leaving the hospital the night before, I checked into my apartment and moved everything in. Despite how tired I was, I couldn't go to sleep after seeing how injured Buttercup was. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her being pulled out of her crumpled car.
After finishing with my unpacking, I decided to visit the hospital, hoping they would allow me to visit her again. I couldn't tell if it was the fact that I felt responsible for her condition, or something else, but I just felt drawn to her…
I pulled into the nearly empty hospital parking lot and walked into the building, only to come face to face with the very girl I came to visit.
"Hey. I was just coming to check on you… Shouldn't you be in your room?" A look of determination attempted to cover her pained look, but I could still see she was struggling. She clenched her jaw and shook her head no, pointing to the door I had just come in through.
"Buttercup, I know it's frustrating to be injured and unable to do anything, but they're helping you here. I'll walk you back up to your room." I walked towards her, but she scooted back, a panicked look in her eyes. Once again, she pointed at the door and tried to scoot past me, but I easily picked her light frame off of the rolling monitor. I held her gently, making sure not to hurt her at all.
The second she realized what had happened, she started flailing and reaching for her makeshift scooter. She was trying to talk, but nothing was coming out. The sight of her panicked state honestly broke my heart.
"Why are you trying to leave? Do you just want fresh air? I can walk you outside for a little bit, but I am going to have to bring you back in." She looked up to me and nodded her head rapidly, before grimacing in pain at the movement.
Buttercup's POV
I wrapped my good arm around him as he walked towards the door, hoping he would be able to tell it was a hug. He smiled down at me as we got out the door and sat me down on a bench, bringing the monitor as to not alert any of the nurses. I smiled as I was now out of the hospital, technically completing my challenge. The stress fell from my shoulders and I let out a breath of relief.
"Feel better?" James locked eyes with me and I couldn't keep the smile from my face.
Not being able to thank him in words, I nodded and leaned into him, wrapping my good arm around him.
"You're welcome. Are you ready to go back in now?"
Butch's POV
It was a little early for my liking, but I had to see her. I fucked up and even though she said she didn't want another relationship, I felt like I still owed it to her to show her I still loved her. I got out of my bed and ran straight to my car, not bothering to waste my time by getting ready.
Since there was no traffic so early in the morning, it didn't take long to get to the hospital, but I wasn't really sure how to feel about what I saw. That kid James from the other day was sitting on a bench outside the hospital with my girl.
What was she doing out of her room? I parked my Escalade and walked over to the two, sitting on the other side of the girl I loved so much.
"Looks like you're feeling a little better. Or are you just being stubborn again and trying to escape?" Her gaze shifted over to me and she allowed a sheepish grin, holding up two fingers indicating she was just being stubborn.
I frowned slightly and gently traced the stitches on her neck.
"Still can't talk?" Her face fell and she shook her head, a sad look in her eyes.
"Hey it's okay. Your voice is going to come back eventually. It just needs time to heal." Her downcast look lightened a little, but I could still see how upset she was.
"Maybe it's time for you to go back inside now…" We both turned to James, but to my surprise, she actually nodded and allowed him to pick her up. I felt jealousy burn at my heart, but I couldn't be mad, she wasn't mine anymore.
"I'll go with you guys." I took hold of the rolling heart monitor and walked with them up to her room.
Buttercup's POV
I sighed in disappointment as my room came back into view, but I didn't have the means to fight it right now. I was lucky that James let me outside in the first place.
He laid me gently on my bed and both boys stood in the middle of the room. I grabbed the pen and paper and started to write.
'Thank you for letting me outside for a little bit. Butch, can you bring chemical X from the lab so I can just get out of here?' The two read the note and each had different reactions.
"It was no problem." James smiled to me. I looked to Butch and saw a conflicted look in his eyes.
"Buttercup. I know that worked last time, but what if it doesn't this time? I'll bring it up to your sisters, but I can't promise they'll go along with it." I pouted to my counterpart and sent him a pleading look.
"I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything." I smiled brightly and a nurse came in.
"I'm sorry, but you two can't be here right now." My smile dropped as the two boys were ushered out of my room.
HIM's POV
I growled in anger as she so easily completed the supposedly impossible challenge. I wasn't expecting her to wake up so early that almost everyone was off duty! I turned to the professor and caught a smug look.
"I told you she would be able to pull it off. For someone who's fought her for so long, I'm surprised you don't understand the power of her determination. When have you ever known her to accept defeat?" I snarled at the professor and surrounded the man with scenes where his daughter had just about given up.
"If I remember correctly, she's come very close to giving up a few times. Don't think I won't make this harder. By the end of this challenge, I will destroy her!"
Blossom's POV
"Butch, you're crazy! She's lucky she didn't die the first time she did that! I'm not risking my sister's life like that!" Butch looked to me with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Blossom she can't even talk or move without being in pain! I'm honestly surprised she even survived a crash that bad! I can't stand to see her like this Blossom, she looks so weak!" I thought back to when I was at the hospital with her. She seemed so happy that we came to see her, but I could see a broken look in her eyes that honestly broke my heart.
"Yeah I know… She's… she's been different since the professor went missing. It's honestly scaring me. I don't know if she feels neglected since he's been gone, or even if she's acting out to hide how hurt she is that he took her powers, but she's just seemed… different. Everytime I look at her, I see this lost and broken girl instead of the tough, invincible sister I'm used to seeing. I… I'll give you the chemical X, but I'm coming with you to give it to her." Butch clenched his jaw as if stopping himself from saying something.
"Thank you Blossom. We should probably head over soon." I looked at him skeptically.
"Butch? Didn't you say you knew what was going on with her? Please tell me, I just want to be able to help her." He took a breath and looked up to me with apologetic eyes.
"Blossom… I really can't tell you more than I told you already or else Buttercup, someone else, and I will most likely be killed. I'm sure if you thought hard about it, you could figure it out, but I can't tell you exactly. You're a smart girl, you can figure it out. Now please, let's get to the hospital." I nodded and thought through everything I knew about the situation.
"Okay… but you drive, I need to think." He nodded and led me out to the car. Once I was buckled, I started to think.
'okay. This all started the second day after the professor went on his business trip. He said something about a challenge and she's done something crazy every day. It had to be a daily challenge, but how long was it going to last? Whoever gave her the challenges must've heard about her missing powers and threatened to kill her if she didn't complete them. Kit said something about a red note, so that must be how the challenger contacts Buttercup. It could be HIM… He's the only one I could think that would have all eyes and ears throughout the city, and the only one evil enough to do this to her. That would explain how Butch was involved… but who was the third person involved? It had to be someone important to Buttercup…'
"Butch… can you just tell me if the professor's involved in this?" I saw him tense and that was the only answer I really needed.
"So he is… How do we get them out of this?" I looked to the green ruff and his jaw clenched again.
"Blossom, you can't. If you or Bubbles get into this at all or try to save him, he'll kill all three of us. The best bet is to let your sister take care of it. The best you can do is just go by the rules. Cheating is punished harshly. Just drop it because you really can't help. We're here and right now, giving her that chemical X is the most you can do for her so she can complete her challenge for tomorrow." I teared up at the fact that I couldn't help her in these challenges, but I decided to support her no matter what she did. At least now I knew she wasn't going crazy.
"Okay. Let's go." I hopped out of the car and walked to Buttercup's room, Butch in tow.
Buttercup's POV
I sat in my bed and kept trying to talk, hoping that my voice would work if I kept trying, but nothing ever changed. I ran my fingers across the stitches on my neck, wondering how bad it looked before.
I jumped at the sound of my door opening and locked eyes with my older sister, my ex lover behind her. My chest ached every time I looked at him, but I was scared to take him back at the same time. I couldn't show that though.
I sent a fake smile to them and waved.
"Hey Buttercup, you're going to like what we brought you." Blossom spoke up and pulled out two shots of chemical X. My fake smile turned to a real one.
Blossom smiled back and gently injected me. To my surprise, an immense amount of pain ran through me and my breathing became uneven. I looked to my sister in panic. I gripped at her hand and I could feel tears streaming down my cheeks.
"Oh my god! Buttercup? Buttercup are you okay?" I felt her hand on my forehead for a second before she pulled it back.
"Shit! She's burning up! Buttercup, calm down! You're going to be okay!" I felt my arms start to move unintentionally and everything seemed out of my control.
I couldn't hear it, but I could tell that my my heart monitor sped up from the look of horror on my sister's face and the doctors rushing in. I wanted to call out to my sister, but my voice still wasn't working. The last thing I saw was Blossom's tearstained face before I lost consciousness.
Blossom's POV
No… This wasn't supposed to happen! I let my sister squeeze at my hand as she writhed in pain and the sight itself made me cry. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.
The doctors tried to take her hand from mine, but I wasn't having it.
"Stop! I'm not letting go of her and none of you have the means to force me away! I've left her before, but I just can't this time! She's my sister and I'm not walking away from her!" Tears streamed down my face as she arched her back as if attempting to get out of her body. My eyes widened in horror as more tears streamed from her eyes, but this time her tears were black. Her nose started bleeding, and almost as if out of a horror movie, instead of red, it was also black.
"Buttercup!" I shook her gently and brushed some of her hair from her face.
"I don't get it! You were fine last time and there was so much more…" I trailed off as I realized she wasn't injected last time.
"Shit! Buttercup, please!" I leaned over top of her and let the tears fall.
"I know I've been a shitty sister lately, and even before that, but I care about you and don't know what I would do if I could never see you again. You want me to cuss? I'll do that for you! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Does that make you happy? Please I'll do anything, just stop this!" I screamed as black liquid started bleeding from her stitched gashes.
"Dammit Buttercup! You're tougher than this!" Her breathing went crazy and the chemical started leaking from her mouth. I reached up with my hand and wiped the black liquid from her face and put it over the stitches on her cheek. My eyes widened in understanding as the scar started to heal. I looked down and realized she was breathing the way she was because her ribs were moving back into place.
She was going to be okay… she was going to be okay.
My frown turned into a relieved smile and I let out a small laugh. She eventually stopped struggling and opened her bright green eyes.
"Language, Blossom." Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, but I couldn't care less. A huge smile split my face and I pulled my sister into a hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay! You scared me to death!" She returned my embrace and I could feel her smile against my shoulder.
"I'm sorry Bloss." I squeezed her tighter and finally let her go.
"Let's get these nurses to let you go."
After a quick examination, the doctors realized that she was completely healed.
"Well… it looks like you can go home now."
Buttercup's POV
After getting all of my stupid casts cut off, I walked out of the hospital and hopped in the back of Butch's car, allowing my older sister to have the front.
"Thank you guys." Butch looked back as he pulled out of his space.
"Anything for you B." Blossom nodded in agreement, and then turned her attention towards her phone.
The ride home was silent, but for once, I didn't dare break it. As we pulled into the parking lot, I smiled to see all the cars in front of the house.
"Everyone's waiting for you inside Buttercup." I couldn't hold the smile back from my face as I hopped out of the car and ran towards the house. The second I opened the door, I was tackled to the ground by all my friends and my youngest sister.
"Oh my god! I'm so glad you're okay!" Kit was the first to talk and she wrapped her arms around me. My eyes widened as Bradley added onto the hug.
"Yeah it's great to have you back Buttercup." James opened his arms and joined in the overwhelming embrace.
"You look a hell of a lot better than you did this morning. It's great to see you not severely injured for the first time." I couldn't help but to giggle even though I was slightly uncomfortable in my position.
Group hugs sucked.
Bubbles squealed and I knew I may never get up again. The blonde girl jumped on the already too big pile and I was officially very uncomfortable.
"As much as I love you guys, I'm not too fond of group hugs, so I'd be very appreciative if you guys could maybe… get the fuck off!" At hearing the profanity, everyone scrambled off of me and once again, I was safe. I swear, cursing really is the only way to make people pay attention to what I'm saying…
I looked to all of my friends and allowed a small smile. They could be crazy, but I would do anything for them.
AN: Sorry this chapter was kinda boring, but I wanted to focus on BC and Blossom's relationship as well as more character development for James. Hopefully I can get the next chapter out faster than this one, but no promises :((