A/N ...I'm trying really hard to work on more chapters and update
more often, and now, since school is over, I have more time to work! jumps
for joy!!! well, I have so many plot bunnies in my head, I need to figure
out what I think should happen now. Any ideas are appreciated a LOT
It was barely three days until December, and the ground was starting to get snowy. Marissa and Kip had been together about two months, and the Titans were having the best season that anyone could ever imagine. With a day until regionals, things were starting to come down to the wire.
Surprisingly, Marissa and Kip had been going extremely strong. She had found that although he wasn't the smartest guy in the world, he more than made up for it. The reason she liked him so much was that he was everything that Ray hadn't been. Kip was devoted, had his priorities straight, and knew how to treat a lady. He wasn't the type to lie, or act like he owned her.
Marissa was meeting Kip at a place halfway between Alexandria and Groveton that the guys had told her about. She got out of the taxi she had taken there and found him at a seat already.
"Missy, I think I should talk to you about something," he said. Marissa knew what those words meant. Those words never came up unless something bad was about to happen. She braced herself for it. "You know, football's a big thing around here, and with regionals hovering around and everything, interschool relations aren't great, especially with your school and everything. I mean, my friends know you and they're fine, but some other people aren't so great with it,"
"Uh huh," Marissa said. Now, she was absolutely sure that this couldn't be good.
"And, well, I've been thinking," he said. "I like you a lot, and I don't want people at your school to think of you as a traitor or anything, because that's what people back home think of me. So, the only way I thought of to keep that from happening was...well...to stop seeing each other."
"Okay," Marissa said calmly. Inside, she was screaming about how he could just come out and say it that straight. "Okay," she repeated
"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "But I'd rather hurt you now by telling the truth than later by lying,"
"Okay," Marissa insisted. "Look, I'm heading home."
"At least let me give you a ride," he said, starting to stand.
"I can walk." Marissa snapped, leaving. She wasn't even paying attention as she walked, and when she reached her front door, she was surprised to see Alan there.
"Where were you?" he said. He barely had time to finish when Marissa slumped, sitting on the railing of the patio, groaning loudly. "Marissa, I'm guessing you're not much of a morning person."
"He dumped me," she whimpered. "He didn't lead up to it with anything...just out of nowhere, BOOM! It's not fair. I thought things were going okay. I'm just a big nobody,"
"Aw, Missy," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and rubbing her back. "This ain't about you. He's a stupid bastard. He's missing out on the greatest girl in the world. Come on, that stupid ox isn't worth bawling over,"
"It ain't fair," she repeated. "I mean, am I just so horrible that nobody's ever gonna like me?"
"You just need to find where you fit. I know somebody out there'd give his left nut to have you, and you don't even know it. You don't need a boyfriend," he said, "You're not one of those nobodies who need to feed off of somebody else to feel like something. I bet the dumb oaf just got threatened, because you're gonna amount to more than he ever will,"
Marissa shook her head and took a deep breath. "Alan, you're the best," she said quietly. Ever since their little tryst in his car, they had grown closer and closer, just as friend. Within those two months, it seemed like Alan was a better friend than she had ever known in her entire life.
"Well, my lady, I don't like to brag," he laughed, "Okay, maybe I do like bragging. But that's beside the point—I do rock, don't I?" Marissa hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Hey, don't be abusive now,"
"Damn it, Alan! I'm supposed to be sad now," she laughed. "Sunshine was right when he introduced you to me,"
"Huh?" Alan said. "What'd he say?"
"He called you a dork, remember?" Marissa giggled. Alan pretended to look hurt. "But you're the best dork a person could ever be friends with. So what'd you come over for in the first place?"
"We need to leave early to catch our bus!" he said excitedly, "Regionals, remember? We need to go! Come on! Come on!"
"Oh god!" Marissa screeched, "I totally forgot! I need to get dressed! Wait right here, okay?" She ran into her house, pulled her cheerleading uniform off of its hanger, and put it on. She leaned out the window and yelled at Alan. "Catch!" She dropped her bag out onto the lawn, then went to looking for her shoes. Soon, she found her white sneakers, slipped them on, and ran out the door, grabbing a brush and the scrunchie that matched the uniform exactly. They drove down to the bus stop and met up with the rest of the team. This day was going well after all.
"You guys won! You didn't just win, you got them GOOD!" Marissa squealed, tugging excitedly on Alan's jacket sleeve as they strolled around the beaten path of a park, just down the street from where people were still cheering loudly about the Titans' big victory. "And you got to play! This is so amazing!"
Alan was about to reply when something interrupted the moment. There was an odd crunching sound in the distance. Their walk in the park was quickly interrupted, and they briskly walked down the two blocks to investigate. They saw a red Camaro out in the road, busted to scrap—Gerry's Camaro.
The realization hit Marissa first. She dropped onto her knees, bug- eyed and slack-jawed. "Not Gerry," she whispered. Alan knelt down next to her. "Please, just not Gerry." The ambulance showed up, and Marissa tried to stay calm, attempting to get a glimpse at the victim before they drove away. Her worst fear was confirmed when she heard somebody scream—"Somebody call the guys, it's Gerry!"
"Let's get to your car," Alan said, putting an arm around her shoulder. They walked back, and Marissa reached for the driver's side door, but didn't protest when Alan gently shoved her aside. The whole drive to the hospital, she repeatedly ran her hand through her hair in frustration, her eyes clenched shut.
Alan noticed how tense she was, and wanted to calm her down before they got to the hospital. "Missy-"
"Don't talk to me," she sighed quietly. "Just...don't" It was then that Alan knew that she definitely wouldn't take it too well if anything bad had happened.
She was practically hyperventilating when they first walked through the doors. Apart from the coaches and Mrs. Bertier, they were the first ones there.
"I'm so sorry," Marissa said, approaching Mrs. Bertier. "But this is Gerry. He's the strongest guy out of anyone. Nothing's gonna happen, right?" She was biting her lip, trying to keep everything back. She wanted to cry, kick, scream, anything. She just wanted to be able to do something.
"It's just not fair," Mrs. Bertier said wistfully. "Gerry was a good person. He had everything going for him." She looked into Marissa's eyes. "I think you're the strong one out of all of us,"
"Bad things happen to good people," Marissa said, changing the subject. She knew that she wasn't strong at all. She knew how easily she could fall apart. It had happened, but it wasn't going to happen again. "There are so many people out there that should be there in Gerry's place. Some people deserve it a lot more than he does,"
"You've been good for Gerry, especially with the trouble of the team and all, but I got to ask you just another favor for him," Mrs. Bertier said. "I need you to be able to help Gerry through all this. He listens to you."
"He's okay, right?" Marissa said breathlessly.
"He won't be able to walk again," Coach Boone said, speaking for Gerry's mother. Marissa clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking her head.
"That ain't Gerry," she said, forcing out a weak laugh, which resembled more of a cough. "Gerry wouldn't give up like that. He's got a career just waiting for him. It wouldn't happen...not to him. You've got the wrong guy," Alan came up and hugged her from behind. She clasped her hands onto his arms and started crying. "I can't do anything," she said quietly. "I told you, I'm nobody."
It took a while, but Alan managed to get her back to normal. By now, everyone was there. Marissa, now the level-headed one, helped keep Julius composed, walking him to Gerry's room. She wouldn't go in, but instead she walked outside, brushing past Rev and Alan on the way. She looked at her feet as she went, and ran into someone. She looked up and narrowed her eyes.
"Ray," she hissed. "What the hell do you think you're doing, showing your face around here? You know you aren't welcome around us. You hate our kind, don't you?"
"I ain't here for you," he said, looking past her shoulder, where Alan and Rev were following her out. "I came to give Gerry a piece of my mind—"
"You mean you're gonna go tell him how much of an ass you think he is while he can't get you back," Marissa said coldly, shoving him backwards, away from the door. She knew that could stoop pretty low, but this was a new extreme, even for him. "Well, if he ain't gonna be the one to put you in your place, then I'll do it for him." She raised her fist and was a fraction of an inch away from his face when Rev pulled her back, and Alan grabbed her fists and pinned them in front of her. "Let me go! I'm just gonna kill him! No one's gonna care if he dies!"
"Letting a bunch of nobodies like them hold you down—I thought you'd amount to more than that," Ray taunted, "Missy, you really have gone soft." Marissa broke away, but instead of moving to kill Ray again, she walked out to her car. Ray followed her out and stood in front of her while she started her car.
"Move," she hissed. "I swear, Ray, I can't deal with you right now. If you don't move, I swear to God, I'll run you over, and I'll laugh my ass off while they drag me to the slammer, watching them scrape you off the sidewalk."
"I ain't moving," he said, crossing his arms resolutely. "What's your problem? You can't drive like this!"
"Who do you think you are?" she snapped. She reversed her car quickly—
And she didn't even see it coming. All that stayed clear was a bright flash, her head whipping wildly around, and a sharp pain all over. Suddenly, she could feel the consciousness dribbling out of her like drops of water from a leaky faucet.
"No," Alan said, watching from a distance. He and Rev ran out. Ray, seeing them coming, ran away. Alan pried the mangled door open, and her head slumped out. He pulled her out, and backed shakily away, leaving the situation to the paramedics, who had just arrived to see what had caused the noise.
"No," came a unanimous whisper as Marissa was rushed inside.
"Not Missy too," Mrs. Bertier said.
It was well after an hour until anyone was admitted to see her, but they all gladly stayed. No one dared to tell them to leave. But Marissa wasn't even awake now. What hurt the most was that she didn't look tiny and frail like the people they saw on TV hospitals. She looked like she was about to wake up at any minute, but they knew she wasn't. They had just been able to breathe because Gerry was going to survive, then Marissa went and did this...
"Don't do that," Alan said, grabbing her hand and shaking it gently. "Don't lie there like that. Stop, please,"
Rev took the chair on the other side of her, and Blue knelt next to him. Gerry didn't know about her yet, so they tried to keep quiet.
A nurse walked in and sighed. "You boys really got something for this girl," she said. She was a young, in-training nurse. "I suppose they told you what's going on,"
"Haven't heard a word," Rev said, not taking his eyes off of Marissa.
"She needs a lot of blood." the young nurse said. "I mean, they saved her leg, no problem, but it lost her a lot,"
"So what does that mean?" Alan asked, standing up and crossing his arms. "They tell you this kind of this stuff, right?"
"I didn't think it'd be me who'd need to tell you this," the nurse said. "But if she doesn't get a whole lot of blood in the next couple of days, she isn't about to make it,"
"Take mine," Rev said, rolling up his sleeve. "We're family." It held an eery significance that this was the first time he had been able to just open up and say those two words, and it had to be under these circumstances.
"It ain't that easy," she said. "She has type-O blood. I don't know that much about this kind of doctor stuff, but I know that not many people match with her. I told the coaches, and they told me to check out the players' records, see if anyone she knows is a match,"
"So do you know yet?" Blue said.
"Yeah, I do, in fact," the girl said, pulling a manila envelope from the bottom of the cart. "You've only got a few matches in all of Alexandria, and only one that fits completely. I shouldn't be showing you this, but I guess you guys deserve it. I'm breaking a lot of rules, though,"
Alan grabbed it and looked inside. He raised his eyebrows and passed the packet on to Rev and Blue.
"Did you call him already?" Alan asked, turning back to the nurse, but she had already taken the papers and gone. He looked at Rev. "Ray won't help her."
"Who says?" said a voice in the doorway. It seemed that Ray hadn't wasted any time.
"We don't want you here," Rev said. "My sister'll find someone else,"
"She can't afford to," Blue said grudgingly.
"You're right," Rev said, wincing. He looked unkindly up at Ray. "Marissa ain't gonna forgive you. She's never gonna know you were here, got it?"
"This isn't right," Rev said as they waited outside of the room. "He's gonna use this is another chance to get to Marissa." He paced back and forth. "The moment she wakes up, he'll just be dogging her night and day, saying she owes him. You know Marissa. She's big on justice, and fair play. She won't stand for it if she owes the guy something,"
"She knows better than that," Alan said simply, rubbing profusely at his forehead.
"Yeah, but Ray doesn't," Rev muttered. "He'll rub tonight in her face, chew her up, and spit her out all over again before she has a chance to blink,"
"Look, the girl can take care of herself. She's done it before," Blue said. "Right now, we've got other things to talk about. We need to let Gerry know about this."
"Don't bother," Alan said. "That trainee nurse went and opened her big mouth. I was just there when it happened,"
"How'd he take it?" Blue asked.
"Better than we might have expected," Alan said, "But it still wasn't pretty. He tried to throw a lamp, but it was attached to the desk. Tried to break any loose object he could reach. He didn't do any lasting damage, though,"
"I'd like to do some lasting damage," Rev muttered. The rest of the guys eyed him incredulously. The Rev they knew didn't talk like that about anyone, not even someone like Ray. "I tried to respect the guy, I really did," he said, as though he thought he needed to explain himself after his outburst. "But it wasn't worth the effort,"
"It's been three hours since they finished," Alan said anxiously, sitting down next to Marissa's bed. "Why won't she get up?" He leaned over and hugged her. He just wanted her to be up so much, he started imagining her waking up and laughing at him for looking so stupid, hovering around like he was.
"Alan, just quit," Blue said, scratching his neck irritably. "You're not helping. You're making a big deal out of nothing,"
"She could never wake up, and you think that's nothing?" he said. "God, I REALLY wish this wasn't happening right now." He was imagining what was happening right before they had heard the crash from the park. He was imagining how he was talking to her, and how we was so close to saying...
But he swore he didn't imagine that her hand moved lightly against him. He pulled back, and found himself looking into the brown eyes that had been closed just a moment before.
"Alan?" she muttered hoarsely. He took in a deep breath and hugged her again. "You're choking me." she said quietly, but he wouldn't get off. She worked up enough strength to push him off and laugh weakly. "Go figure. I nearly die, and you try to kill me,"
"You're alive," Rev panted in relief, coming up next to her. "Don't you ever go getting into your car when you're that crazy ever again."
"Aw, boy," she laughed. "I'm always crazy."
"You know what I mean," he chuckled weakly.
"I'm fine, you know," she laughed. "I wanna see Gerry,"
"Well, you're still queasy," Rev said, "Try sleeping it off a little more,"
Marissa, in no mood to argue, went on to comply with what her brother had told her to do, sleeping for another half hour. When she woke up, she yawned, rubbed her eyes, and immediately tried to hop out of bed.
"Shouldn't you lay down a little while longer?" Blue asked.
"Screw that," Marissa snapped. She swung her legs slowly out from under the covers and stepped shakily out. "Okay, now, where the hell am I?" She suddenly stumbled slightly, and leaning partially on Alan. "Which room's Gerry in?" she said, considerably winded from forcing herself up so quickly.
"He's right across the hall." Rev said. "Maybe you should get dressed, though."
"Good idea," she said. "And yes, I can do that myself." She spotted a bag of her things in the corner, picked it up, and changed in the bathroom. After about ten minutes and a nice splash of water on the face, she emerged in a black pleated skirt and a school sweatshirt.
"Back to normal," Alan laughed. They followed Marissa as she walked barefoot across the hallway into Gerry's room.
"Knock, knock," Marissa laughed.
"Missy," he said, propping himself up on his elbows. "Looks like you're doing good."
"Actually I feel like crap," she sighed, plopping down into the seat next to his bed. "I mean, the light gives me a headache, I'm hungry, and everybody thinks that I'm suddenly made of glass. I can't deal with being treated like this,"
"Aw, they're just worried," he said. "I mean, I was worrying out of my mind about you,"
"You didn't have to," she muttered. "I can't believe I was actually stupid enough to get into that car when I was practically out of my mind," she said. "I don't see how I made it. Maybe it'd be better if I didn't,"
"They never told you," Gerry muttered. "You had some help,"
"Help?" Marissa asked.
"Interesting bit of information," Gerry said. "You and Ray have the same blood type."
"No," she whispered, putting the pieces together. She couldn't have survived this. She had stitches all up and down her sides, she was black and blue all over, and she thought she'd made it just by some miracle? "Why'd he do something like that? What the hell does this guy want from me?"
"I'm not saying you should get back together with him—I'd recommend that you never do," Gerry said. "But it was pretty brave to do what he did. It brings back the time where I actually thought he was a good guy. You ought to cut him some slack."
I"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Marissa said, slamming her car door as she got inside.
"Just let me—"
"If you don't move, I swear I'll run you over," She said, gunning the engine fore all it was worth. Then, there was a bright light and the crash of steel on steel.../I
She sat bolt upright, her forehead tingling with the beginnings of perspiration. For a minute, she just stared around at Rev and Alan, who had each fallen asleep at a different chair in the room.
"Good thing I didn't wake them," she muttered to herself, "They would've had a fit if they knew I'd gotten riled up over some silly dream," She laid down as quietly as possible, and fell asleep, thinking only about the reason she was in that hospital in the first place
It was barely three days until December, and the ground was starting to get snowy. Marissa and Kip had been together about two months, and the Titans were having the best season that anyone could ever imagine. With a day until regionals, things were starting to come down to the wire.
Surprisingly, Marissa and Kip had been going extremely strong. She had found that although he wasn't the smartest guy in the world, he more than made up for it. The reason she liked him so much was that he was everything that Ray hadn't been. Kip was devoted, had his priorities straight, and knew how to treat a lady. He wasn't the type to lie, or act like he owned her.
Marissa was meeting Kip at a place halfway between Alexandria and Groveton that the guys had told her about. She got out of the taxi she had taken there and found him at a seat already.
"Missy, I think I should talk to you about something," he said. Marissa knew what those words meant. Those words never came up unless something bad was about to happen. She braced herself for it. "You know, football's a big thing around here, and with regionals hovering around and everything, interschool relations aren't great, especially with your school and everything. I mean, my friends know you and they're fine, but some other people aren't so great with it,"
"Uh huh," Marissa said. Now, she was absolutely sure that this couldn't be good.
"And, well, I've been thinking," he said. "I like you a lot, and I don't want people at your school to think of you as a traitor or anything, because that's what people back home think of me. So, the only way I thought of to keep that from happening was...well...to stop seeing each other."
"Okay," Marissa said calmly. Inside, she was screaming about how he could just come out and say it that straight. "Okay," she repeated
"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "But I'd rather hurt you now by telling the truth than later by lying,"
"Okay," Marissa insisted. "Look, I'm heading home."
"At least let me give you a ride," he said, starting to stand.
"I can walk." Marissa snapped, leaving. She wasn't even paying attention as she walked, and when she reached her front door, she was surprised to see Alan there.
"Where were you?" he said. He barely had time to finish when Marissa slumped, sitting on the railing of the patio, groaning loudly. "Marissa, I'm guessing you're not much of a morning person."
"He dumped me," she whimpered. "He didn't lead up to it with anything...just out of nowhere, BOOM! It's not fair. I thought things were going okay. I'm just a big nobody,"
"Aw, Missy," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and rubbing her back. "This ain't about you. He's a stupid bastard. He's missing out on the greatest girl in the world. Come on, that stupid ox isn't worth bawling over,"
"It ain't fair," she repeated. "I mean, am I just so horrible that nobody's ever gonna like me?"
"You just need to find where you fit. I know somebody out there'd give his left nut to have you, and you don't even know it. You don't need a boyfriend," he said, "You're not one of those nobodies who need to feed off of somebody else to feel like something. I bet the dumb oaf just got threatened, because you're gonna amount to more than he ever will,"
Marissa shook her head and took a deep breath. "Alan, you're the best," she said quietly. Ever since their little tryst in his car, they had grown closer and closer, just as friend. Within those two months, it seemed like Alan was a better friend than she had ever known in her entire life.
"Well, my lady, I don't like to brag," he laughed, "Okay, maybe I do like bragging. But that's beside the point—I do rock, don't I?" Marissa hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Hey, don't be abusive now,"
"Damn it, Alan! I'm supposed to be sad now," she laughed. "Sunshine was right when he introduced you to me,"
"Huh?" Alan said. "What'd he say?"
"He called you a dork, remember?" Marissa giggled. Alan pretended to look hurt. "But you're the best dork a person could ever be friends with. So what'd you come over for in the first place?"
"We need to leave early to catch our bus!" he said excitedly, "Regionals, remember? We need to go! Come on! Come on!"
"Oh god!" Marissa screeched, "I totally forgot! I need to get dressed! Wait right here, okay?" She ran into her house, pulled her cheerleading uniform off of its hanger, and put it on. She leaned out the window and yelled at Alan. "Catch!" She dropped her bag out onto the lawn, then went to looking for her shoes. Soon, she found her white sneakers, slipped them on, and ran out the door, grabbing a brush and the scrunchie that matched the uniform exactly. They drove down to the bus stop and met up with the rest of the team. This day was going well after all.
"You guys won! You didn't just win, you got them GOOD!" Marissa squealed, tugging excitedly on Alan's jacket sleeve as they strolled around the beaten path of a park, just down the street from where people were still cheering loudly about the Titans' big victory. "And you got to play! This is so amazing!"
Alan was about to reply when something interrupted the moment. There was an odd crunching sound in the distance. Their walk in the park was quickly interrupted, and they briskly walked down the two blocks to investigate. They saw a red Camaro out in the road, busted to scrap—Gerry's Camaro.
The realization hit Marissa first. She dropped onto her knees, bug- eyed and slack-jawed. "Not Gerry," she whispered. Alan knelt down next to her. "Please, just not Gerry." The ambulance showed up, and Marissa tried to stay calm, attempting to get a glimpse at the victim before they drove away. Her worst fear was confirmed when she heard somebody scream—"Somebody call the guys, it's Gerry!"
"Let's get to your car," Alan said, putting an arm around her shoulder. They walked back, and Marissa reached for the driver's side door, but didn't protest when Alan gently shoved her aside. The whole drive to the hospital, she repeatedly ran her hand through her hair in frustration, her eyes clenched shut.
Alan noticed how tense she was, and wanted to calm her down before they got to the hospital. "Missy-"
"Don't talk to me," she sighed quietly. "Just...don't" It was then that Alan knew that she definitely wouldn't take it too well if anything bad had happened.
She was practically hyperventilating when they first walked through the doors. Apart from the coaches and Mrs. Bertier, they were the first ones there.
"I'm so sorry," Marissa said, approaching Mrs. Bertier. "But this is Gerry. He's the strongest guy out of anyone. Nothing's gonna happen, right?" She was biting her lip, trying to keep everything back. She wanted to cry, kick, scream, anything. She just wanted to be able to do something.
"It's just not fair," Mrs. Bertier said wistfully. "Gerry was a good person. He had everything going for him." She looked into Marissa's eyes. "I think you're the strong one out of all of us,"
"Bad things happen to good people," Marissa said, changing the subject. She knew that she wasn't strong at all. She knew how easily she could fall apart. It had happened, but it wasn't going to happen again. "There are so many people out there that should be there in Gerry's place. Some people deserve it a lot more than he does,"
"You've been good for Gerry, especially with the trouble of the team and all, but I got to ask you just another favor for him," Mrs. Bertier said. "I need you to be able to help Gerry through all this. He listens to you."
"He's okay, right?" Marissa said breathlessly.
"He won't be able to walk again," Coach Boone said, speaking for Gerry's mother. Marissa clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking her head.
"That ain't Gerry," she said, forcing out a weak laugh, which resembled more of a cough. "Gerry wouldn't give up like that. He's got a career just waiting for him. It wouldn't happen...not to him. You've got the wrong guy," Alan came up and hugged her from behind. She clasped her hands onto his arms and started crying. "I can't do anything," she said quietly. "I told you, I'm nobody."
It took a while, but Alan managed to get her back to normal. By now, everyone was there. Marissa, now the level-headed one, helped keep Julius composed, walking him to Gerry's room. She wouldn't go in, but instead she walked outside, brushing past Rev and Alan on the way. She looked at her feet as she went, and ran into someone. She looked up and narrowed her eyes.
"Ray," she hissed. "What the hell do you think you're doing, showing your face around here? You know you aren't welcome around us. You hate our kind, don't you?"
"I ain't here for you," he said, looking past her shoulder, where Alan and Rev were following her out. "I came to give Gerry a piece of my mind—"
"You mean you're gonna go tell him how much of an ass you think he is while he can't get you back," Marissa said coldly, shoving him backwards, away from the door. She knew that could stoop pretty low, but this was a new extreme, even for him. "Well, if he ain't gonna be the one to put you in your place, then I'll do it for him." She raised her fist and was a fraction of an inch away from his face when Rev pulled her back, and Alan grabbed her fists and pinned them in front of her. "Let me go! I'm just gonna kill him! No one's gonna care if he dies!"
"Letting a bunch of nobodies like them hold you down—I thought you'd amount to more than that," Ray taunted, "Missy, you really have gone soft." Marissa broke away, but instead of moving to kill Ray again, she walked out to her car. Ray followed her out and stood in front of her while she started her car.
"Move," she hissed. "I swear, Ray, I can't deal with you right now. If you don't move, I swear to God, I'll run you over, and I'll laugh my ass off while they drag me to the slammer, watching them scrape you off the sidewalk."
"I ain't moving," he said, crossing his arms resolutely. "What's your problem? You can't drive like this!"
"Who do you think you are?" she snapped. She reversed her car quickly—
And she didn't even see it coming. All that stayed clear was a bright flash, her head whipping wildly around, and a sharp pain all over. Suddenly, she could feel the consciousness dribbling out of her like drops of water from a leaky faucet.
"No," Alan said, watching from a distance. He and Rev ran out. Ray, seeing them coming, ran away. Alan pried the mangled door open, and her head slumped out. He pulled her out, and backed shakily away, leaving the situation to the paramedics, who had just arrived to see what had caused the noise.
"No," came a unanimous whisper as Marissa was rushed inside.
"Not Missy too," Mrs. Bertier said.
It was well after an hour until anyone was admitted to see her, but they all gladly stayed. No one dared to tell them to leave. But Marissa wasn't even awake now. What hurt the most was that she didn't look tiny and frail like the people they saw on TV hospitals. She looked like she was about to wake up at any minute, but they knew she wasn't. They had just been able to breathe because Gerry was going to survive, then Marissa went and did this...
"Don't do that," Alan said, grabbing her hand and shaking it gently. "Don't lie there like that. Stop, please,"
Rev took the chair on the other side of her, and Blue knelt next to him. Gerry didn't know about her yet, so they tried to keep quiet.
A nurse walked in and sighed. "You boys really got something for this girl," she said. She was a young, in-training nurse. "I suppose they told you what's going on,"
"Haven't heard a word," Rev said, not taking his eyes off of Marissa.
"She needs a lot of blood." the young nurse said. "I mean, they saved her leg, no problem, but it lost her a lot,"
"So what does that mean?" Alan asked, standing up and crossing his arms. "They tell you this kind of this stuff, right?"
"I didn't think it'd be me who'd need to tell you this," the nurse said. "But if she doesn't get a whole lot of blood in the next couple of days, she isn't about to make it,"
"Take mine," Rev said, rolling up his sleeve. "We're family." It held an eery significance that this was the first time he had been able to just open up and say those two words, and it had to be under these circumstances.
"It ain't that easy," she said. "She has type-O blood. I don't know that much about this kind of doctor stuff, but I know that not many people match with her. I told the coaches, and they told me to check out the players' records, see if anyone she knows is a match,"
"So do you know yet?" Blue said.
"Yeah, I do, in fact," the girl said, pulling a manila envelope from the bottom of the cart. "You've only got a few matches in all of Alexandria, and only one that fits completely. I shouldn't be showing you this, but I guess you guys deserve it. I'm breaking a lot of rules, though,"
Alan grabbed it and looked inside. He raised his eyebrows and passed the packet on to Rev and Blue.
"Did you call him already?" Alan asked, turning back to the nurse, but she had already taken the papers and gone. He looked at Rev. "Ray won't help her."
"Who says?" said a voice in the doorway. It seemed that Ray hadn't wasted any time.
"We don't want you here," Rev said. "My sister'll find someone else,"
"She can't afford to," Blue said grudgingly.
"You're right," Rev said, wincing. He looked unkindly up at Ray. "Marissa ain't gonna forgive you. She's never gonna know you were here, got it?"
"This isn't right," Rev said as they waited outside of the room. "He's gonna use this is another chance to get to Marissa." He paced back and forth. "The moment she wakes up, he'll just be dogging her night and day, saying she owes him. You know Marissa. She's big on justice, and fair play. She won't stand for it if she owes the guy something,"
"She knows better than that," Alan said simply, rubbing profusely at his forehead.
"Yeah, but Ray doesn't," Rev muttered. "He'll rub tonight in her face, chew her up, and spit her out all over again before she has a chance to blink,"
"Look, the girl can take care of herself. She's done it before," Blue said. "Right now, we've got other things to talk about. We need to let Gerry know about this."
"Don't bother," Alan said. "That trainee nurse went and opened her big mouth. I was just there when it happened,"
"How'd he take it?" Blue asked.
"Better than we might have expected," Alan said, "But it still wasn't pretty. He tried to throw a lamp, but it was attached to the desk. Tried to break any loose object he could reach. He didn't do any lasting damage, though,"
"I'd like to do some lasting damage," Rev muttered. The rest of the guys eyed him incredulously. The Rev they knew didn't talk like that about anyone, not even someone like Ray. "I tried to respect the guy, I really did," he said, as though he thought he needed to explain himself after his outburst. "But it wasn't worth the effort,"
"It's been three hours since they finished," Alan said anxiously, sitting down next to Marissa's bed. "Why won't she get up?" He leaned over and hugged her. He just wanted her to be up so much, he started imagining her waking up and laughing at him for looking so stupid, hovering around like he was.
"Alan, just quit," Blue said, scratching his neck irritably. "You're not helping. You're making a big deal out of nothing,"
"She could never wake up, and you think that's nothing?" he said. "God, I REALLY wish this wasn't happening right now." He was imagining what was happening right before they had heard the crash from the park. He was imagining how he was talking to her, and how we was so close to saying...
But he swore he didn't imagine that her hand moved lightly against him. He pulled back, and found himself looking into the brown eyes that had been closed just a moment before.
"Alan?" she muttered hoarsely. He took in a deep breath and hugged her again. "You're choking me." she said quietly, but he wouldn't get off. She worked up enough strength to push him off and laugh weakly. "Go figure. I nearly die, and you try to kill me,"
"You're alive," Rev panted in relief, coming up next to her. "Don't you ever go getting into your car when you're that crazy ever again."
"Aw, boy," she laughed. "I'm always crazy."
"You know what I mean," he chuckled weakly.
"I'm fine, you know," she laughed. "I wanna see Gerry,"
"Well, you're still queasy," Rev said, "Try sleeping it off a little more,"
Marissa, in no mood to argue, went on to comply with what her brother had told her to do, sleeping for another half hour. When she woke up, she yawned, rubbed her eyes, and immediately tried to hop out of bed.
"Shouldn't you lay down a little while longer?" Blue asked.
"Screw that," Marissa snapped. She swung her legs slowly out from under the covers and stepped shakily out. "Okay, now, where the hell am I?" She suddenly stumbled slightly, and leaning partially on Alan. "Which room's Gerry in?" she said, considerably winded from forcing herself up so quickly.
"He's right across the hall." Rev said. "Maybe you should get dressed, though."
"Good idea," she said. "And yes, I can do that myself." She spotted a bag of her things in the corner, picked it up, and changed in the bathroom. After about ten minutes and a nice splash of water on the face, she emerged in a black pleated skirt and a school sweatshirt.
"Back to normal," Alan laughed. They followed Marissa as she walked barefoot across the hallway into Gerry's room.
"Knock, knock," Marissa laughed.
"Missy," he said, propping himself up on his elbows. "Looks like you're doing good."
"Actually I feel like crap," she sighed, plopping down into the seat next to his bed. "I mean, the light gives me a headache, I'm hungry, and everybody thinks that I'm suddenly made of glass. I can't deal with being treated like this,"
"Aw, they're just worried," he said. "I mean, I was worrying out of my mind about you,"
"You didn't have to," she muttered. "I can't believe I was actually stupid enough to get into that car when I was practically out of my mind," she said. "I don't see how I made it. Maybe it'd be better if I didn't,"
"They never told you," Gerry muttered. "You had some help,"
"Help?" Marissa asked.
"Interesting bit of information," Gerry said. "You and Ray have the same blood type."
"No," she whispered, putting the pieces together. She couldn't have survived this. She had stitches all up and down her sides, she was black and blue all over, and she thought she'd made it just by some miracle? "Why'd he do something like that? What the hell does this guy want from me?"
"I'm not saying you should get back together with him—I'd recommend that you never do," Gerry said. "But it was pretty brave to do what he did. It brings back the time where I actually thought he was a good guy. You ought to cut him some slack."
I"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Marissa said, slamming her car door as she got inside.
"Just let me—"
"If you don't move, I swear I'll run you over," She said, gunning the engine fore all it was worth. Then, there was a bright light and the crash of steel on steel.../I
She sat bolt upright, her forehead tingling with the beginnings of perspiration. For a minute, she just stared around at Rev and Alan, who had each fallen asleep at a different chair in the room.
"Good thing I didn't wake them," she muttered to herself, "They would've had a fit if they knew I'd gotten riled up over some silly dream," She laid down as quietly as possible, and fell asleep, thinking only about the reason she was in that hospital in the first place