Hensley hoped that her second day of school would be less eventful. That was not at all the case.
It started off normal. Hensley learned her lesson from yesterday, getting up earlier to beat Kaufmann to the bathroom. As a thank you for the day before, she made him coffee; a gross drink with no creamer and no sugar. He had the humor of a child, but the coffee order of an old man. Much to her initial surprise when she first met him, Red preferred a sweeter coffee than Kaufmann did. Red was so no-nonsense that she had assumed he would be the one to take black coffee. He didn't hate it as much as Hensley did, and used far less sweetener in there, just liking what Hensley expertly measured as a 'splash and a half' of creamer.
Anderson didn't like coffee at all, which was wrong. Hensley didn't have time to make any tea and he wasn't a breakfast eater, leaving Anderson shafted. She whispered a sorry to him as she grabbed her granola bar and headed out the door. He was good natured about it and knew she'd do something for him if she could.
She had just closed her passenger side door and was about to head towards the school when she heard the screeching. Locating the out of control van was easy. Following its trajectory was sickening.
"No." Hensley whispered, she dropped her bag and ran. She was almost too slow but was able to position herself so the van would hit her instead. Edward joined her in the same moment, grabbing Bella and holding out his hand to help Hensley with the van. Her and Edward's eyes locked for a split second as the van hit them.
Immediately Hensley groaned in pain, something in her should shifting in a way it was not supposed to. Edward hadn't been properly prepared either, or maybe Bella was in a weird position because Edward nearly dropped the girl on the ice.
"Are you alright?" He whispered, just low enough that Bella couldn't hear once she was safe.
"Fine, cars are heavy." Hensley whispered back, squinting in pain.
Edward lightly scoffed before turning his attention to Bella, "Bella, are you alright?"
The girl looked up at him, really looked and then noticed Lexi sitting with her back against the van. "I-I'm fine. How…how did you guys get here?"
"Careful Bella," Edward warned her as she went to move, "you hit your head."
Hensley met Edward's gaze once more and worked the rest out in her head.
"No, I didn't. How did you get here?"
"Careful Edward, if she doesn't remember hitting her head, she might have a concussion." Hensley feigned concern for Bella.
"Alexandria?" She heard Jasper calling her name, effectively pulling her out of the conversation. He sounded panicked, desperate to make sure that she had survived. With how little he probably knew about her, she could see why he was worried.
Edward and Bella got up first, the former slowly helping up the latter. They were crunched in such a small space that it was hard for Hensley to move around with them there.
"She's fine, Jazz." Edward muttered to his brother as he climbed out from between the cars. Hensley helped Bella out from between them, picking her up and handing her to Edward. Jasper was not calmed by Edward's words, nudging his brother out of the way so he could see Hensley for himself. He growled slightly at the fact that Bella was in his way, until Edward kicked his leg.
Jasper sighed, reaching up over the hood of Bella's truck to take Hensley's hand and pull her out. As soon as she was free, Jasper crushed her in a hug. Hensley couldn't tell which one of them was trembling. Probably her, but she didn't focus on it too much. Jasper was hugging her and that was all she could think about at the moment.
"Are you alright?" He pulled back to look at her face, not releasing her from his grasp.
"I'm alright." She tried to maneuver her shoulder around to test it, wincing when it ached. "Shoulder is a little sore."
He went to say something, but Edward grabbed her arm and started pulling her from Jasper. Jasper let out another low growl, earning a sharp glare. "The ambulance is almost here, and she needs to have her shoulder looked at. Not to mention the scene you're causing."
Hensley wasn't sure what kind of scene Jasper was causing, but she could see the ambulance pulling into the parking lot. Edward gave his brother a pointed look, trying once again to pull Hensley from him. Something in her snapped and she ripped her arm out of Edward's hand, burrowing herself closer in Jasper's side.
Edward cocked his head, raising a brow and looking as though he was trying to figure something out about her. Jasper had no trouble staring Edward down as he walked Hensley around him to the paramedics.
When they got to their destination, Hensley lightly pulled herself from Jasper to talk to the medics with Bella, informing them that, consistent with her earlier story, Bella had hit her head and didn't remember it. Bella looked frustrated with her, especially as they forced her onto a stretcher and into a neck brace. Hensley did kind of feel bad, knowing it was all for naught. Though she had done far worse things for far worse reasons.
Bella was quick to rat Hensley out as well, telling the medics that her shoulder was injured. They then insisted that Hensley accompany them as well. Hensley gave Jasper an annoyed look, but he offered her no assistance or outs, simply saying, "I'll meet you there."
The ride to the hospital was quick, seeing as it wasn't very far away, just like everything in this tiny town. On the way, she called Kaufmann and let him know that she had been in accident. She wanted to avoid it, but if she wasn't better by the weekend, she would need proper documentation that she was actually injured.
The paramedics led Hensley and wheeled Bella down the hallway to the ER rooms to get them both setup in the temporary holding room. A nurse attended to them quickly, taking Bella out of the room for a head scan right away. Bella tried to protest to no avail.
They left Hensley alone in the room, saying something along the lines of someone being with her shortly. For all Hensley cared, they could take their sweet time. There was no way she was going back to school after this and that meant she was either going to be sitting around at the hospital or sitting around at home.
It wasn't long before the door opened and for a moment Hensley thought she was the one who needed the head scan.
"What are you doing here?" Carlisle…her father, asked. He looked at the clipboard in his hand again, pulling the piece of paper down so the clip wasn't covering as much of it. A disbelieving chuckle left his lips and after a quick glance around, she hopped off the table so he could pull her in for a hug.
He leaned back slightly, raising an eyebrow at her for something she didn't quite understand. Whatever it was, he must have worked it out in his own head because he didn't say anything, simply bringing her back in.
"It's been too long." That much was true. It had been four years since she'd last seen him. Four years since he had been released and told his services were no longer needed. She had been relocated quickly after that, much to her dismay and irritation.
He looked the same – of course he did – pale and kind-eyed. There were many days where the softness of his expression was Hensley's lifeline, tugging her through the choppy waters of hell into the safety of heaven. Though the moments of peace in his company were rare, they were Hensley's favorite moments. He always knew how to cheer her up and make life feel slightly better. Some of the best pick-me-ups were ones he brought from the outside, little treats or gifts that she could keep on her person or hide in books or in between the layers of shirts. The first time she tasted chocolate, at the ripe age of nine, was a truly wonderous day. It was right up there with the day he had taught her how to make origami frogs when she had been eighteen months.
He had always gone to bat for her, vehemently arguing with the directors at every stupid decision. It was because of Carlisle that Hensley was even allowed to attend a public school and interact with normal children. If the Board had their way, she'd be locked in the facility nearly 24/7.
Carlisle released her far too quick, though she understood why. It was dangerous should they be seen. "You were involved in the accident? Do you go to school here?"
She nodded, figuring she should finally answer his questions instead of soaking up the moment. "Yes. I was relocated to Port Angeles this last weekend. For whatever reason they didn't like the school there, so I'm trekking it to Forks for school. My first day was yesterday."
As he stepped back from her, his face dropped, eyes closing for a couple moments as he nodded. The expression, one of understanding, didn't fit the situation. Clearly there was something else going on. When he opened his eyes again, she urged him to fill her in.
"You met my 'children' yesterday." Of course. How had she missed it before? Cullen, vampires…she really could be dense, couldn't she?
She groaned, shaking her own head, "How did I not put that together yesterday? I knew…" She trailed off, realizing she was speaking far too loud for this conversation. "I knew, but I didn't."
"Don't feel bad. They also knew but they didn't." He gestured to the hospital bed, "Have a seat, let's take a look at your shoulder."
Carlisle guided her arm around into various positions, feeling where the places were that hurt the most.
"What'd you do?" He asked quietly. Far too quiet for any human to hear.
"The van was going to crush her. I was trying to stop it, but I misjudged the angle and it hit wrong."
Carlisle smiled down at her, "Always the superhero. We'll get some x-rays of that shoulder and see how we look. Buzzer on the wall, call if you need anything."
"Wait," Hensley stopped him as he turned to walk away, "Does this buzzer call you directly?"
Carlisle saw right through her thoughts, giving her the same faux-disappointed look he often had when she got in trouble, "If you buzz that every five seconds, I'm getting the nurses to put restraints on you."
Hensley smirked, "Fine, fine. But you're getting an A- for service."
Five minutes later a nurse came and took Hensley for x-rays. Aside from the awkwardness of having to take her bra off, they were quick and painless. When she got back to the waiting bed, Bella was back with a man in a police uniform, who she could only assume was Charlie, her father, and Kaufmann, who was sitting on Hensley's bed.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, sitting down next to her roommate. During her phone call she hadn't told him she needed him.
"Um, I'm here to see you." He rolled his eyes as if it were obvious.
A new kind of realization hit her then and she jabbed Kaufmann in the ribs. "Dude!" She hissed, trying to avoid Charlie and Bella overhearing, "You told Davidson!"
Kaufmann scoffed in disbelief of what he was hearing. He shook his head at her, as if she was the crazy one, "Uh, yeah! You called me and said you were hit by a van!"
"Well, I called, didn't I? Couldn't have been that bad."
"You called from a damn ambulance! It had to be somewhat bad." Kaufmann gestured to Hensley, "You don't get in ambulances for nothing. Or for fun. Or for-
"What are you doing here? Are you a doctor?" Entering the room, Carlisle cut him off, jokingly narrowing his eyes. Kaufmann had known Carlisle…well, as long as he'd known Hensley.
Kaufmann looked around like he was waiting for more police to show up and arrest him. "No."
"Are you immediate family?"
"No."
"Then how did you get here?"
Kaufmann groaned, looking up at the ceiling before meeting Carlisle's eye, "Come on man, I slipped the receptionist 20 bucks to get in here. Please don't make me leave."
Charlie chuckled, shaking his head at Carlisle, who sighed, "You paid her? Why the hell didn't you lie and say you were her brother like a normal person?"
"Oh, I don't know, probably because it says 'Kaufmann' right here?" Kaufmann pointed to his last name on his military uniform.
"Have you never heard of split families?" Carlisle hit him lightly on the head with some paper with a laugh, "use your head!"
He took a couple small stacks of paper from behind his clipboard and moved them to the top so he could read them, "X-ray looks good, nothing broken. Just some soreness from being jostled around. Ice three times a day, no more than 20 minutes at a time. Over the counter pain meds as needed. Come back and see us if the pain worseness or doesn't get better in seven days. Any questions for me?" Hensley and Kaufmann both shook their heads. Carlisle turned to Kaufmann, holding out the clipboard a pen to him, "As a representative of the agency of her guardianship, I need you to sign this form saying you have received and understand these instructions."
"And what if I don't?" Kaufmann asked just to be an ass, as told by his shit-eating grin.
"I can go out to the waiting room and get Rooney to sign them."
Hensley felt like she had been hit in the stomach with the van. Her eyes flashed up to his, a sinking pit in her stomach. She wasn't sure if she was going to throw up, pass out, or both at the same time. "What?"
"I heard Rooney is out there. I'm sure it's fine," Carlisle quietly tried to reassure her, "He probably just wants to make sure you're okay."
Hensley sighed, closing her eyes for a second. She wasn't at all convinced that was why he was there. She knew better than that. And she was going to kill Kaufmann. "Carlisle, I hope you know how to surgically remove a foot from someone's ass because we'll be back in 5 minutes to have that procedure done."
Carlisle chuckled, shaking his head while Kaufmann signed the paperwork. "It'll be fine. Top copy is for you, bottom for Rooney." He handed Hensley to two chunks of paperwork and whispered, "I had another doctor sign the orders, so he doesn't know I'm here. Let me know if you need anything." Then louder added, "Take care of yourself."
Hensley nodded, muttering a "Thanks, Carlisle" before walking out with Kaufmann. She heard Carlisle start talking to the Swan's and she felt a small pang of guilt at making Charlie worry about Bella for nothing.
"You know," Kaufmann teased her as they walked down the hall, "maybe if you stop running in front of vans Rooney won't come visit."
Hensley gave him a dirty look and elbowed him, "Or maybe if my roommate wasn't an idiot. Besides, I was trying to save her life, dick."
"Just because you're weird doesn't mean you have to play God."
"She's a good kid."
Kaufmann rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and some people say that about you."
They walked out into waiting room and Hensley was immediately met with Emmett and Jasper bombarding her. Emmett asked how she was while Jasper grabbed her by her non-injured side and pulled her in for a gentle hug, which she eagerly returned. He couldn't make her shoulder feel better, but damn if he didn't do something for her soul. The worries and guilt of the morning melted away, replaced by a peace Hensley had never known outside of Jasper. It was warm, like a thick fluffy blanket. Ironic due to his cold skin.
"Who the fuck is this?" Kaufmann stood up a little taller, pulling his shoulders back to look more intimidating. He took a couple steps closer to the pair to properly eye Jasper up. Emmett was content to play bystander, looking between Kaufmann and Jasper to see what would go down.
Hensley reluctantly let go of the blond, crossing her arms to express her displeasure at his behavior, "This is Jasper and that's Emmett. They're Carlisle's kids." Both Cullen's gave her an odd look at the mention of Carlisle.
"And he's hugging you because…?" Kaufmann waved her forward.
"Because he hates me and is trying to kill me."
Kaufmann didn't find her sarcasm humorous. He was quite testy, spitting out, "For all the bitching you did at me about him, ya ain't being very careful yourself."
Hensley couldn't argue with that. She'd forgotten all about Rooney. He surely wouldn't be pleased to see her hanging on someone, let alone someone who was like Carlisle. And Hensley had no doubt that Rooney could spot one a mile away. The sick pit returned to her stomach, and she thought she might actually be ill. It eased up slightly when she saw Rooney's back to her, taking what looked to be a rather hushed phone call, given that he was in the far corner of the room.
"Got lucky this time." Kaufmann read her mind. "I have to get back to work, but I can take you home first. Get your car later."
"I can take you home." Jasper interjected, looking only at Hensley.
"No, ya can't." Kaufmann was in no mood to argue. He waved Hensley along. "You got stuff for Rooney, yeah? Can ya give it to him so we can go?"
Jasper tried again, "If you're in that much of a rush-"
Kaufmann cut him off with no more than a glare. He glanced at Rooney to ensure the man was still occupied before he stepped up to Jasper, "Ya got no idea what you're getting into. Let her go before you get us all in hell."
Jasper didn't release Hensley until she nodded at him. Kaufmann narrowed his eyes, surely trying to analyze what was happening. That would be the second conversation Hensley wasn't looking forward to that day.
"I'll go talk to Rooney." She excused herself from the heavy air. Rooney was still on the phone when she approached, so she maintained a respectable distance and waited. She kept her eyes trained on the paperwork Carlisle had given her for the most part, only sneaking a glance towards Kaufmann and Jasper when she thought it was safe. The pair were talking, well, Kaufmann was talking. Jasper's expression was neutral and thus difficult to read. Part of her wished she could tell what was going on. Another part of her knew that it was better she didn't.
"Hensley." The sound of Rooney's deep voice almost made her jump. Almost. "No need," He told her as he noticed her move to salute.
Rooney was an older man, in his early 50's with a full head of grey hair. His voice was surprisingly soft, comparable to Carlisle's, but deep. He walked with a slight limp, having had his knee blown out in a helicopter accident back in his youth.
Rooney had been with the Agency as long as Hensley could remember and had been the one Carlisle had had an accidental run-in with, which ultimately resulted in her creation. Out of every higher up Hensley had encountered, Rooney was by far the least scary, but she had no trust for anyone except her boys in that place.
"How are you?"
"Well, sir. And yourself?"
Rooney nodded, "Doing well, thank you. How are you really?"
"Well, sir. Doctor recommends ice and rest until the pain has subsided." Hensley shuffled through the paperwork Carlisle had given her until she found the packet of paperwork with a sticky note saying it was for the agency. Silently thanking Carlisle's organization, she handed the packet of paperwork to Rooney.
His pale green eyes scanned the document, confirming everything Hensley had just told him. While she waited, she heavily resisted the urge to move. Her body was practically shaking, and she was willing it to stay put in front of him. Hensley hadn't even double checked that Carlisle's name was nowhere in that documentation. What if he missed a spot? What if there was a page in the back that Carlisle missed?
After flipping through and grazing each page, he finally released her of her anxiety, "Excellent, thank you. I'll pass this along to Davidson and we will see you bright and early Saturday morning."
"Thank you, sir." Hensley nodded to him, quickly turning away to find the comforting conversation of literally anyone else.