Adopted by Heathers Cast

That's The Reason We Despair

"Guess what's coming up, Sunshine?" Elle asked with a big smile plastered on her face. I was oddly confused and said, "What?"

"April 4th." Elle said, not breaking a smile. It didn't click for a second, then it hit me.

"I've known you for almost a year." I said softly. Elle smiled and said, "And also, we have to go to the doctors today to check on your knee." I sighed and said, "No needles, right?"

"For once, yes. No needles." Elle said. I sighed in relief, this is the first doctors trip in forever that there hasn't been any needles.

"What are they gonna do to me?" I asked, worried. I rubbed my knee and Elle said, "Probably just check and see how your knee looks."

"No chance of surgery or anything like that, right?" I asked. Elle sighed and turned away, mouthing something to Jessica.

"Elle? Earth to Elle McLemore..." I said, waving my hand in front of Elle's face. 

"Oh...um...yeah." Elle said, tripping on her words a little. "Well...um..."

"Just tell me." I snapped. Elle backed away from me and sighed. 

"Well...you've dislocated your knee twice now, and um...I was talking to the doctor over the phone yesterday...wait, how did you dislocate your knee the second time?" Elle asked.

"According to Katie, I fell out of bed in my sleep. I woke up on the floor in the worst pain I have ever felt in my life." I said. 

"Yeah, unless you fell on top of your kneecap, there is no way it could've dislocated that easily." Elle said with horror in her eyes. 

"But her bed is pretty high up off the ground." Jessica pointed out. Elle sighed and said, "Yeah, but she wouldn't dislocate her knee from that!"

Elle and Jessica argued for about ten minutes straight, until Elle looked at the clock and sighed. "Cat, we have to go."

"I don't want to." I pouted. Elle sighed and said, "This is for your health, Sunshine." I didn't want to go. The way Elle was acting made me think I actually needed surgery.

"I'm too scared, Mommy." I said. "I can't do this, I'm too scared."

"Catlynn Sunshine-" Jessica started to snap, but Elle cut her off. 

"Jessica. Stop. She's scared." Elle snapped. Jessica rolled her eyes and then we headed off to the doctors office.

_________

"I'm nervous." I said, playing on my phone. Elle smiled softly at me and said, "I know you're nervous, Sunshine, but it's not going to take long. And no needles!" I sighed, I was having a hard time trusting that it'll all be okay.

"Catlynn McLemore?" the doctor said. I raised my hand awkwardly and tried hard not to cry.

In the doctor's office, they checked my knee out and asked how it felt and such. It didn't take very long. And Elle was right, there wasn't any needles. Thank God.

"Mommy? Can we go home?" I asked, grabbing Elle's hand. 

"In a few minutes, Sunshine. The doctor wants to talk to me, okay baby?" Elle said. She kissed my head and then the doctor led her out to the hallway.

I sighed, wishing that someone was here to hug me. I drummed my fingers on my legs for a few seconds, which kept me busy and calmed me down a little.

"Do you want to give her the news?" I heard the doctor say. I shot up, wondering what the news was. I started to cry a little, but I was way too old to be crying at a doctor's office.

"She'll probably take it better coming from me." I heard Elle say. Then the door creaked open. Elle ran over to me and threw her arms around me.

"What's going on?" I asked. Elle sighed and the doctor motioned for her to speak. Elle took my shaking hand and said, "Sunshine...um...you have a decision to make."

"What do you mean?" I asked, concerned and scared. 

"Um...I was right." Elle said. "What happened last weekend was not normal." I was confused, and Elle must've sensed this because she said, "Your knee shouldn't have dislocated like that when you fell."

"I may have tried to put my knee back in place so Katie would feel better." I sheepishly confessed. Elle gasped and said, "Katie didn't tell me that!"

"I told her not to. I didn't want you to get mad at me, Mommy..." I said, gently hugging Elle. "Katie was crying and I thought if my knee went back into place, she would feel better."

"You had good intentions, Sunshine, but you could've hurt yourself more..." Elle said, starting to stare off into space. 

"What's going on?" I asked.

"That's probably why you need surgery..." Elle said in a monotone.

"I'm sorry, I need WHAT?" I said, starting to cry. Elle sighed and said, "You have two options. Either you get the surgery, or you...um...quit ballet."

I froze in fear. This was the hardest decision I've ever had to make.

"I can't, I'm sorry." I said, running out of the office.

AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger. Actually, I'm not sorry. I like cliffhangers and giving my readers a bit of a scare. God, I really am evil. Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!