Bella's Little Sister Re-write

Chapter 5

Everything that happened next was an absolute blur. Fire trucks and an ambulance arrived on scene shortly after, Jess had been loaded up onto a stretcher against my complaints, and now we were sitting in the emergency room waiting to be seen by a doctor. I must not have been as discreet as I thought, for whenever I cast my sister a worried expression, her lips pressed into a firm line. 

"Jess. You okay?" 

I took hold of Jess' hand as she gripped the sheet below her, growing much more frustrated and angry by the second. I scoffed and shook my head in annoyance when our father demanded that he and Tyler-who had been placed onto a bed behind us-would talk later. Reiterating to my father that Jess was perfectly fine was completely useless, and I told him to calm down.

Tyler apologized from the bed, claiming that he had tried to stop. Glancing over my shoulder, I met Tyler's gaze. "She knows that, Tyler. It's okay." 

Dad was beside himself, however. "No, it is not okay. Jess could have been killed. Do you understand that?" 

I was becoming increasingly annoyed now, as well. "Yes, but she wasn't." Dad gave Tyler another reprimand, insisting that he could kiss his license goodbye. My attempts to make dad drop the subject were falling on deaf ears, so I quickly gave up. 

"I heard the chief's daughters were here." 

The tension dad was currently carrying melted away at the sound of the doctor's voice. "Dr. Cullen." 

 The name alone should have clued me in. Dr. Cullen looked similar in appearance to that of his adopted children. Jess' grip increased on my hand just then, and I spoke before Dr. Cullen could say anything to her. "It's Jess, by the way."

Dr. Cullen took a second to scan the pages of Jess' chart, meeting her gaze as he pulled a small flashlight from his coat pocket. "Well, Jess, it looks like you took quite a spill. How do you feel?" 

"She hasn't spoken to anyone in six years. Jess won't respond to anything you ask her." I frowned as I spoke the words. Why do I keep telling people that? 

The look in Dr. Cullen's eyes changed to one of mild concern and confusion, though he made no move to question me on that. "She might experience some post-traumatic stress or disorientation, but her vitals look good. I think you'll be just fine." His last sentence was directed to Jess, giving her a brief smile as well. 

When Tyler tried to apologize again, dad reached back and pulled the curtain shut, effectively cutting him off. Glancing first at my sister and then to Dr. Cullen, I took a breath and decided to test a theory. 

"You know, it would have been a whole lot worse if Edward wasn't there." I watched Dr. Cullen's expression as he briefly glanced up at me. "He got to Jess so fast; he was nowhere near her." Dr. Cullen flashed me a quick, distracted smile before stating that Jess had been very lucky. 

Dad followed Dr. Cullen from the room to sign some paperwork. I turned to my sister expectantly, though she was already watching me. Taking hold of her jacket from the foot of the bed, I stated that Dr. Cullen seemed to know something. I mentioned that her habit of closely observing people must have rubbed off on me because now I often found myself doing just that. 

As we began to slowly leave the room, I took hold of my sister's arm, turning her to face me. "Jess, you've seen it, too. The Cullen's are hiding something. And I want to find out what it is." 

We met our father at the end of the hallway, Jess' backpack slung over one shoulder. "You should probably call your mom." 

Jess took that opportunity to allow her emotions to flicker across her face, the anger and annoyance rather prominent. I groaned in frustration, knowing that mom would be much harder to console than dad had been. I followed Jess to the corner of the hallway, scrolling through my contacts to my mother's number and pressing the call button.