The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Chapter 12 (Hailey's POV)

"Hailey! Haileyhaileyhaileyhailey!"

I whip around just in time to see Pete run around the corner of the hospital hallway with the most gleeful expression on his face I've ever seen. He's going so fast he can't stop himself in time, so his body slams into mine with a loud and painful thud.

"Dude! What's wrong?!"

"Nothing's wrong!" He shouts in my ear, untangling himself from my body. "She remembers, Hailey! She remembers me!"

A huge smile erupts onto my face, sharing Pete's delight.

"She's okay? All the memories came back to her?"

"Yes! Come see!"

He skips away like a little kid on Christmas morning. I love seeing him happy. The fact that Cheryl is the cause of his happiness makes me love it even more.

We run to Cher's hospital room, almost knocking over annoyed nurses in the process. Well, I almost knock them over. I may be a fast runner, but I can barely keep up with Pete when he's this set on getting to his destination. He easily weaves through people and slides around corners when I knock into people and run into walls.

Finally approaching the hospital room, Pete impatiently knocks on the door, hearing a muffled "come in". Pete flings the door open and bounds over to Cheryl, hugging her as if he hasn't seen her for years.

"Dude, stop slobbering all over me. You're not a dog," she grumbles. She was never much of a hugger.

He hesitantly lets go, slowly walking back to me with his head hung low.

"Aww, poor baby," I sarcastically swoon. He just playfully glares at me and flips me off.

"Can we go to the bus now?" Cheryl impatiently asks.

"Yeah, I think so. The doctor said whenever you're up and ready we can just check you out. I'll go get the guys. You want help getting up?" I ask Cheryl.

She shakes her head a little too fast, wincing. "I don't need any help. I'm okay."

Rolling my eyes, I head to the door. "Alright, Miss Independent."

I walk out of the room and start my quest on looking for the guys. Where would I find a handful of immature guys who love to eat? The cafeteria it is.

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*Pete's POV*

"You sure you're alright?" I cautiously ask Cheryl, who can barely push herself up into a sitting position.

"Yes, dickweed, I'm fine."

Ouch. I gotta be patient with her. The doctor did say symptoms of concussions are unusual mood swings (not that its unusual) and we have to handle her like we would a young child. So, as my usually impatient self, its hard. Especially with Cheryl.

Watching her struggle to even sit up is hard, too, so I get up and move towards her. I support her back with my hands and pull her up, ignoring her insisting that she can do it herself.

"See? I'm perfectly fine. I'm sitting. I think I can manage to stand now."

I raise my hands in mock surrender, rolling my eyes. "Alright, alright."

She pushes off the bed with her hands, wobbling on her feet and almost falls over, so I hurrily catch her in my arms. She looks up at me, and I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Maybe the kid isn't alright," she mumbles and leans into me, causing me to burst out laughing at the reference.

After she stood up, I realized I didn't think this through. I was planning on getting her a wheelchair, but I can't leave her alone to stand here on wobbly feet.

Luckily, Hailey comes walking in at that time.

"Hey, can you get us a wheelchair? She can't walk that good yet," I call to her. She nods, running back out, slamming into Patrick, both of them blushing up a storm.

"We need to play matchmaker," Cheryl whispers to me, gesturing to Hailey and Patrick. I grin at her, loving the idea.

"Totally. With both of us involved, we can get them fucking on the counter in no time," I whisper back, causing her to laugh and cringe. It must hurt to laugh. "I'm sorry," I murmur. She just shakes her head.

"Heyyyyyy, Cheryl! How's it goin?" Joe enthusiastically asks.

"I'm not dead, so that's good." She coughs. "I think."

By that time, Hailey comes running in with the wheelchair, parking it behind Cheryl. She sits down, and I take my place behind the chair, grabbing the handles and pushing her out the door.

"I can't wait to get back to the bus," Patrick says after we check Cheryl out of the hospital. Then he suddenly smacks his forehead. "Never thought I'd say that."

Hailey giggles, and Patrick looks down at her, blushing. Cheryl and I share a glance, and we wink at each other.

"What's with you two?" Patrick asks me.

"You'll see soon enough," I simply say, smirking at Patrick's confused expression.

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"PETE!"

"Coming!" I yell, running from the bunks to the living area of the bus to Cheryl.

"What's wrong?" I breathlessly ask.

"I'm hungry," she grumbles, looking at me expectantly.

I rush to the kitchen, finding something she might like. Pulling out some Lucky Charms, I pour some in a bowl and go to the refrigerator for the milk. Only to see its chunky.

"Shit," I mutter under my breath.

"Pete!" she yells impatiently.

"One minute!"

"Hurry the fuck up, bitch sticks!"

Goddamn, I didn't think so much anger could be contained in such a small body. Being patient with her is becoming extremely hard.

I finally make her a sandwich and run to the living area, ready to give her a small piece of my mind.

"Thank you so much, Petey. I really appreciate everything you're doing for me," she gushes, smiling sweetly at me.

What the hell is going on?

"Uh, you're welcome."

She smiles warmly at me again before biting into her sandwich. I slowly back away, confused as shit. Hailey walks by me, seeing the expression on my face.

Smirking, she says, "Girls, huh? Get used to it."

Oh, great.