Page 24 of Until Waverly

“You have a concussion,” Amy stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Instead of irritating me, her voice grounded me.

Still didn’t stop me from being a shitty patient. “No shit.” I tried to shift, and the worst pain I’d ever experienced shot up my leg. “What the hell?” I reached down as every bit of my body tensed and my muscle cramps drew up my leg. Maybe I’d been shot. Gunfire had a distinctive sound, and I didn’t recall hearing it. But then I didn’t remember much, because I also had my bell rung.

“Don’t touch it,” Amy snapped while slapping my hands away.

“Was I shot? Did that idiot shoot me?” The incredulousness in my tone couldn’t be helped. My dad would have my ass if I had gotten shot. I could hear the lectures now. Pay attention to your surroundings, Waverly. Don’t be a hero, Waverly. What have I told you about—I moaned. My brain wasn’t firing right anymore. I couldn’t focus.

"You weren't shot,” Joyce said. “Thankfully.”

“Then why the hell does my leg feel like it is on fire?” I tried to sit up, even as my world spun out of control and bile built once more. I had to see what was wrong with my leg. Amy and Joyce wrapped me up so I couldn’t move while Amy gave me a stern look.

“I said stop thrashing,” Amy said, holding my gaze, even though there were three of her in front of me. “You have a concussion. You keep acting flailing around like you are, and you’ll do more damage.”

I settled, scared by her words. “How bad is it?”

“It’s a compound fracture, Wave,” Joyce murmured. Even though I couldn’t see my foot, I could feel how bad it truly was. “We need you to keep your hands away from it.”

“Okay. But it hurts,” I sobbed, then winced as my head pounded as though someone drove metal spikes through the squishy matter.

“I know,” Joyce whispered, doing her best to comfort me.

My leg stiffened again, and the excruciating pain returned. I wished someone would just rip the appendage off. I could get a prosthetic, right? They’d let me keep my job. “Take it!” I squirmed, hating the way it felt like my whole body contorted in pain.Fuck. I needed to quit twitching.

“Stop moving,” Amy ordered as she put a cool washcloth over my eyes, blotting out the light. “You’re not doing yourself any favors. Now, if you lay still, I’ll tell you what’s going on.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I breathed through the torture my broken leg caused me while tears cascaded down my cheeks, running into the hem of the cloth. “What happened?”

“SWAT came in, took him down. It’s all clear,” Joyce said. “We’re free.” She gave me a quick version of what was going on around us, but between the pain in my leg and the whirly, spinning motion the world had taken on, I couldn’t handle being conscious.

“I think I might pass out again,” I said as a cold rush ran from my head down to my toes, and my arms and legs became too heavy.

“That might be best. Ortho has been paged. They are on their way. I’m sure within the hour you’ll be in surgery,” Amy said, keeping her voice light.

“Awesome,” I muttered between clenched teeth, or at least I think I did.

“You’ll be fine,” Amy stated. “We’ll see you on the other side.”

“Except I’m going to miss even more school now.” It was obvious my mind wasn’t functioning well, and I’d been worried about the small things and not the bigger picture like Alandria and who’d take care of her.

“We’ll figure it out,” Amy said.

I tap on Joyce’s arm. “Get the breast milk I pumped to my mom. No doubt she’s with Alandria at my apartment.”

“They kept the daycare in lockdown too,” Julie said, hurrying to our side with a blanket and a pillow in hand for me. “No one could stay or leave.”

I forgot.

I knew the nursery was safe so was my daughter.

Why did I feel so fuzzy?

“She’ll be outside, waiting, no doubt.” Worried to hell and back that her daughter and granddaughter had been locked inside the hospital.

My stomach twisted, not because I was going to throw up but because I was almost positive my dad had been outside, staying with my mom. If he didn’t already know about Alandria, he’d get a crash course on finding out I’d been hiding his granddaughter from him. He was going to have my ass.

Rightly so too!

“I’ll find and get it to her, Wave. I promise,” Joyce murmured.

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