A/N: It's soooo weird how far I've come as a writer!

To date, Stuntwoman is the second-longest story I've ever written in terms of word count. Man, my chapters used to be small LOL!

We've got one more chapter after this that I will have it out by next week. As I've stated, I'm taking a week off toward the end of the month, but I did promise to end this story before then. Not fair to leave you in suspenders for TWO fics during that time!

Plus, I'm taking a little TLC before burnout even starts!

Jade was at her meeting with whom she silently dubbed "the brain trust" when her phone vibrated.

At quick glance, she saw it was from Tori and smiled.

"Excuse me, boys!" the production manager said, rising from her chair. "I need a drink."

She used the subterfuge to deftly check her messages. One missed call from Tori. Jade was about to text her when a new message popped into her inbox.

Her eyes widened.

"Jade? This is Trina. Listen, Tori had been shot and we've going to the hospital now!"

The temperature in her body plummeted and her knees began to quake.

Jade held her head like she was physically assaulted with the information.

"Jade?" came a concerned Tony.

"Hey, Jade..." Dorian said wandering over to her. "Do you need some air or something?"

She wordlessly shook her head aggressively.

"L-L-Listen...I gotta go! It's an emergency."

Malcolm and Dorian looked at each other while Tony stood up.

"What happened?" the spectacled man asked.

Jade clutched her chest, heaving uncontrollably.

"My girlfriend, Tori!" she blurted out. "She's hurt bad. I need t-t-o..."

"Jade!"

She calmed a hair when Tony set his hands on her shoulders.

"It's fine. Just go. We got this."

Jade nodded, looking at nobody in particular as she grabbed her bag and bolted out the door.

The three guys sat in silence, sighing from the sudden burst of bad news.

"Hope she's okay," Dorian finally said.

Malcolm squinted at Tony.

"Did she say girlfriend?"

Tony nodded.

The director huffed and pulled out his wallet. Once he found a $50, he slid it across the table to him.

"You win," McGinley admitted in defeat.

The producer looked at his duo with confusion.

"What the hell was that about?" he asked.

Tony shrugged.

"Just a friendly wager."

Dorian shook his head and muttered about needing a cigarette before leaving them alone.

"What made you think they were an item?" Malcolm asked.

"Because in my experience, nobody is that chummy with the production manager."

By the time Jade got to her car, a follow-up text came through with the name of the hospital Tori was taken to.

She started the car and entered Southern California Hospital into her GPS and sped out of the parking lot.

Her mind raced as she drove the excruciating fifteen minutes to the big building. Signs posted that visitors needed to pull into the five-story parking structure across the way. Jade begrudgingly took her ticket and drove up to the third level and bolted for the elevator down.

Jade's nerves were wound tight.

She wondered if her parents had this kind of anxiety when they took her to the hospital in the middle of the night. The back of her head was a bloody mess, and her mom and dad had more questions than answers. Jade was much younger than her parents were at the time, but she was convinced that a heart attack was not off the table.

The pale woman started whispering a chant to herself as she walked:

"Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay."

Jade eyes the information desk in the heart of the lobby and got the bearded man's attention.

"Excuse me? I was told Tori Vega is here!"

He nodded and checked his computer.

"Ah, yes. Admitted less than a half hour ago. They have her in the ER right now. I'm afraid you're going to have to wait out here."

Her heart ached.

"That isn't good enough!" huffed Jade.

"I'm sorry," he shrugged. "I will send a message to the doctors looking at her that someone is waiting for her."

Jade waved him off and sat down on a brown chair, feeling defeated.

She then tried dialing Tori's cell in hopes of getting a hold of Trina.

No answer for several minutes until finally a text:

SORRY! They wouldn't let me leave right now. Where are you?

Jade texted back that she was down in the lobby.

Trina replied that she would be down as soon as she could.

Another twenty minutes passed as the brunette hugged herself. Not being able to take any more of this, she called her mother.

"Mom?" she sniffed.

"Jade? What's wrong, baby?"

"My girlfriend is in the hospital, and they won't let me see her and I'm really freaking out right now! I...I...I..."

"Jade!" came her mom's soothing voice. "Breathe."

Jade wiped her eyes as she shivered from the air conditioning.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I'm just so scared."

"Listen, honey, you need to stay positive. Your mind is making you think about what if? but that is just noise."

Tori had come up in conversation recently and Lorrie couldn't be happier for her daughter. She sounded like she was everything Jade needed, and it made the distance that more bearable.

"Jade, turn that around. What if Tori is fine? From what you told me; that girl is made of tougher stock!"

She managed a small smile as tears continued to rain down.

"But she isn't indestructible."

"Nobody is. But it's going to take A LOT for Tori to be taken from you. Besides, I intend to meet your first girlfriend!"

Jade looked up and noticed Trina approaching.

"They're here. I gotta go!"

"Okay, you go see what's up and call me soon!"

"I will. Love you!"

"I love you."

She put her cell away just in time for Trina to sit beside her.

"Is Tori alright?"

Jade looked like she was going to explode until Trina took her hand.

"She will be!" she nodded enthusiastically. "Cops found the bullet at the scene, must've went clean through her."

The production manager swallowed what felt like a bowling ball.

"Missed her spine, vital organs, pure flesh wound!" Trina added.

Jade held her stomach and while it was empty, she thought she could throw up all of the nothing inside of her.

"What happened to you?" Jade asked, noticing the bit of blood staining Trina's white outfit. But she didn't seem to care at all.

"Little woozy and my heart won't stop racing," the older Vega breathed. "But I'll manage."

Jade turned to face Trina head on.

"What exactly happened?"

"We met for dinner and after, went our separate ways..." Trina cleared her throat. "Then this guy came out of the shadows and tried to take my purse. Tori flew in to get him off of me and he shot her before running away."

Her pales hands clenched into fists.

"That's Tori," Jade sniffed, shaking her head. "Always diving in to help someone else!"

Trina rolled up her sleeve to scratch an itch, revealing a blue bandage wrapped tightly around her arm.

"What's with that?"

"Um...Tori didn't get any internal injuries, but she lost a lot of blood. It was a gusher when I saw her. They said they got it under control, but she will need a transfusion."

The big sister pointed to the bandage.

"That's why I couldn't come down right away. I know these hospitals are always hurting for donations and it helps that I'm a blood relative. I wanted to give more but they wouldn't let me."

Jade pressed her lips together.

"Where is it?" she asked.

"Where's what?"

"The place where you can give blood. I can help Tori, too!"

Trina raised an eyebrow.

"What type are you?"

"O Negative!" Jade said.

The Latina blinked and stood up.

"Well, let's get it on, then."

The nurse hummed as they removed the needle from Jade's arm.

"Please elevate your arm while I get the bandage."

"I know the drill," she sighed.

This was all similar territory for her as she used to be a regular at the plasma center.

"Okay," they smiled as the entrance to Jade's vein was wrapped tightly until it healed in a matter of hours.

Jade was not a fan of pink but that was the nurse's color she grabbed.

"Thank you," she nodded to the nurse who happily took the bags of blood away.

Trina led her to the waiting area where a fridge of full of Gatorade and boxes of animal crackers awaited.

"I liked donating plasma better."

"What's it like, compared to this?" asked Trina.

Jade opened a red box of the fauna-shaped cookies and munched on an elephant.

"Like this but without the wooziness. Not the biggest fan of cookies. Wish they had brownies instead."

"I really appreciate you doing this," Trina smiled.

She rubbed her cheek.

"You probably blame me for what happened I guess."

Jade glanced over to Trina, still munching on her snack.

"Why the hell would I think that?" she asked with a full mouth.

Trina shrugged.

"If Tori wasn't there, she wouldn't have gotten shot."

The shorter woman put down her cookies and tapped the other's knee.

"Trina, I saw your sister put a finishing move to help a complete and total stranger. If it wasn't you, it would've been someone else. You know why? Because Tori has a big heart. People like to write her off because of how she looks, but she really cares. And I'm glad that you appreciate her as much as I do."

"Why are you doing this?" Trina asked. "Why are you being so nice to me when...I don't even know you."

Jade sighed, trying to hold herself together.

"You matter to Tori. For me...that's enough."

Trina smirked.

"I'm beginning to understand what she sees in you."

Jade stood up and straightened her shirt.

"Trina, right now the two people who love Tori the most are here. So, we had better both be there when she wakes up."

Trina exhaled and nodded.

"You drink coffee?" she asked

The shorter girl nodded.

"How about I buy you a coffee while we wait?"

Jade patted Trina's back.

"I think we'll get along fine."

The girls got a hold of the doctor to get some kind of an update.

"Where is she now?" asked Jade.

"Right over at intensive care," he replied, gesturing down the corridor with his clipboard. "Don't worry; the regular recovery wing was full. There were some openings in the I.C.U."

He stopped at Tori's door, which was open as per procedure. If an emergency were to come up, crew and equipment needed to get through without the door being obstructed or locked.

Trina put her hand on Jade's shoulder.

"You go ahead."

"You're sure?" Jade asked.

The tan woman nodded.

"I'll be right there. Just need to make a phone call first."

"Okay, thanks."

After Jade retreated into Tori's room so they could have a bit of privacy, Trina scrolled through her contacts until finding their mother. She mentally prepared herself for the rocky conversation that was going to follow. Just blowing in after months of no letters, emails or calls. What's more; she hadn't spoken with Tori in years.

"Just do it," sighed Trina.

She pushed call.

The phone barely rang once before a recording came on that the number she dialed was out of service. Trina was confused by this. She tried calling again. And again. And again. The poor woman just couldn't accept that her mom was unreachable.

She then attempted to look her up via Facebook and message her that way. But her profile was taken down. Trina did a search for Holly Vega in the Baltimore area and came up empty.

Trina gripped the arm of a black metal chair across from the room and sobbed.

(Jesus FUCKING Christ! Tori was right. She just forgot us. That bitch waited until we were old enough to ghost us!)

The woman tried to be quiet as staff passed her by. Trina wasn't in the mood to answer why she was sad. Plus, she wanted to get it all out of her system before going inside so that Jade doesn't see her distressed. When she had run out of tears to cry, Trina steadied her breathing. Luckily given the situation, she didn't have to be completely composed.

Trina felt ready to go inside to join Jade to keep her sister company.

Tori had gotten out of it okay, but despite being awake she was too weak to talk to anyone.

Rather than overwhelm her, Jade and Trina let her rest for the night. They have all the time to talk later.

It did help with Jade's nerves that she was there right in front of her and not dead.

Jade maintained a vigil over her girlfriend, only occasionally getting up to use the bathroom or get a drink from the fountain. Sensing her depleted energy, Trina told Jade to close her eyes for a while. She could keep an eye on Tori, and they can always switch when Jade wakes up. She protested the whole way until sleep won out and Trina covered her with a blanket.

Tori's chest continued to rise and fall almost in step with the heart monitor. It was necessary after a substantial blood transfusion.

"Hey baby sis," she said softly to not wake anyone else up in the room. "You landed a really special one there. Don't keep her waiting forever..."

That last sentence tumbled out accompanied by tears.

"Thank you for staying with me," Trina shakily added. "You're the only family I have left."

Trina kissed her forehead and texted Tommy that she was going to stay with Tori for the night and probably all day tomorrow.

He replied with his condolences and that he will talk with her when she gets the chance.

She was then surprised by an additional text asking if Tori had any favorite flowers, which made Trina grin widely.

"Guess we both lucked out in love, huh?"

Jade stirred in her chair as she became aware of sounds coming from someone else in the room.

(I know those sounds. Tori!)

She opened her eyes in time to see Tori yawning and looking down at her bandaged side.

"Tori?" Jade asked, her throat dry like the Sahara.

Brown eyes met blue and the paler one leapt out of her chair and rushed to Tori's bedside.

"Don't move too much, babe!" she commanded.

Tori didn't protest and stayed still.

"You're here," the Latina smiled. "When did...?"

Jade took her hand and kissed it. She then held it against her face, allowing Tori to feel her in return.

"DON'T YOU EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

Tori grinned, caressing Jade's cheek.

"Babe, I'm fine. Really."

"Tori," Jade huffed. "For weeks, I've watched you fall off buildings, crash cars, and missed being blown up by this much!"

The stuntwoman could understand how that would weigh heavily seeing your girlfriend risk life and limb time and again, only to end up at a hospital because of something random happening away from the movie set.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

Jade brushed back her hair and sighed.

"Didn't mean to holler at you but you really were giving me palpitations back there."

Tori bit her lip, finding Jade's worried face endearing.

"You drive me crazy, Vega. You know that? I love you and..."

A tan hand pulled Jade down to her level to land a deep kiss.

"I love you, too" she grinned.

Tears welled up in both their eyes as they hugged, Jade being really careful not to go too tight.

"Is this a bad time?"

The couple noticed Trina standing with a hot brown bag and a full cup holder.

"Who wants breakfast?" she shrugged.

They spent the morning eating and talking. Tori still had some pain in the side when agitated, so the girls had to try to keep from making Tori laugh.

Trina had spent the last two hours at the police station going through photos of men who were arrested the night before. Nobody matched the man who robbed her and shot Tori. Then news of a crooked pawn shop raid yielded some people getting picked up. A purse matching Trina's description was mentioned was recovered at the scene, so the police did an impromptu lineup and she watched them from a two-way mirror.

The fifth man in the row of six was pointed by Trina. She'd never forget his face.

"So, they got him?" asked Jade, sitting close to Tori's side.

"Yeah," nodded Trina. "They said it's a slam dunk for first degree robbery. Being armed and shooting his weapon will tack on more time."

Tori huffed with a grimace.

"Let's see how tough that pussy is without his precious gun! I would've fucked him up if it were just me and him."

Jade leaned her head against hers.

"That's right baby."

The couple kissed, making happy sounds while they did so.

"Easy with that stuff, I'm eating!"

Trina joked around but she was very happy for her sister. Tori found someone who worshiped the ground she walked on and brought out the best in her at the same time.

"Where is she?"

All three women perked up at the very familiar voice.

Suddenly two men came in carrying massive bouquets of flowers.

Tori shook her head.

"Babe, when did you do this...?"

"I didn't!" Jade insisted.

Trina shrugged in confusion.

Shelby then appeared in the doorway, facing the staff.

"Yes, yes, sweetie! I will take pictures later! Right now I need to see..." she turned to look inside. "TORI!"

The actress flocked to Tori's bedside and hugged her neck, just avoiding the bandaged area.

"Shelby!" the stuntwoman groaned, trying to breathe. "What a surprise."

"Jade," she beamed. "How are you holding up, are you okay?"

The production manager held up her hands.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Thanks for coming to visit Shelby."

The bright girl sighed, letting go of her friend.

"It's the least I can do."

She then noticed Trina sitting in the room.

"I know you, don't I?"

"Yes," Trina nodded, leaning to shake her hands. "We've talked about that upcoming project."

"I'm here for pleasure, not business. But since you're here, I told you if Tori is out, so am I."

Tori chuckled.

"You're a real one, Marx. Trina, I'm in if Shelby is."

Trina was surprised.

"Oh! Um, that's great. We can talk about contracts and all that later. Why don't you join us?"

The starlet took in the good vibes from the three ladies and wanted in.

"I'd love to."

Shelby found a chair and sat with baited breath as Tori and Trina recounted the harrowing night they had. Jade intertwined her fingers with her girlfriend's while she listened intently. Yesterday, she thought she was going to be sick and now, Jade was so happy. Not just for Tori being okay, but to be back on speaking terms with her big sister and making an unlikely friend in Shelby Marx.

(They really do look so similar; how were they not sisters?)

(But I would never trade my Tori for anything. She's one of a kind!)

(And I will love her until this town either melts or gets swallowed by the earth.)

A/N: Thanks to Invader Johnny for bringing my attention to the existence of "World Blood Donor Day." That was my catalyst for publishing this update so early, so I could make it for a June 14 release. If it's safe for you to do so, find your local Red Cross and help save a life!