He's A Jerk, But He's Cute

RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE!!!

A few days later, I awoke alone in my still freezing and bright hospital room. If almost instinct, I sprung up and looked around before I felt like my sinuses were clogged with warm stagnant blood and I was making it finally move. I laid back down with a sigh and a cough following it.

I felt gross to say the least. But I also felt glad. I wasn't dead and other then my face feeling filled with bodily fluids I was fine. I could move my fingers, wiggle my toes—my ribs hurt a lot though, as I realised when I took a deep breath. "Augh." I groaned loudly.

"Where am I?" I whispered hoarsely to myself. Of course, I did know where I was. The hospital. But I wanted to know why I was here and what had happened to get me here? Had there been a car crash? And if so, why wasn't my skull fractured or why wasn't I in a 3 year coma like in the movies? Despite the cliché, it would've made perfect sense because I was resting my head against the window.

"I see you're awake, " someone said at the door. A doctor with some Harry Potter looking glasses looked over my body and examined my face. "You don't seem to be in much pain. I doubted you would be... Over the last week you've been heavily medicated for pain. And you've had your nose cauterised for the first time. Congrats."

He walked over, the click of his dress shoes resonating in my ears. "What happened to me? Why does it feel like my throat is... It's like— Gah, it's really hard to describe o- out loud," I stuttered, winded from the effort.

"Your sinuses were crushed in the accident. Your friend Piper wasn't exactly to blame as she was hit from the back and in any case that's seen as the other driver's fault. Although, she was DUI," the doctor said and placed a clipboard on the table with several brightly coloured flowers next to my bed.

I glanced over the flowers and felt a smile come to my lips as I looked over the cards.

Get better soon, Weasley!- Annabeth
Annabeth's note was attached to some roses and fan art of me and the Weasleys I had made when I was 14. I couldn't believe she had kept it that long...

I don't know how to make a bouquet and I'm broke- Fish Jesus. My smile widened as I looked at Percy's attempt to make a bouquet out of the yellow weeds that were on the school lawn next to the garden. I figured he probably tried to pick a flower out of the garden and had been shooed off by the crazy gardener.

Gingers have no soul- Hannah Montana

If I had a dollar for how many times I had heard that, I would be richer than Bill Gates.

Then something caught my eye that made me want to squeal with excitement. A Collide With The Sky vinyl was under Hannah's card and it had a little snippet of hair taped to it and a sticky note that said 'btw this is 100% genuine Kellin Quinn hair. you better be thankful.'

"Mrs. Dare, your parents would like to see you," a nurse with striking blue eyes said as she picked up the clipboard the doctor left. Apparently, I was too focused on my gifts to notice him but I shook my head on instinct.

"Uh... Can I not see them? At least right now?" I asked, with a lot less trouble. My throat felt clearer and my nasal passage; the same.

The nurse shifted on her heel and moistened her lips. "Since you're still a minor, I'm pretty sure you can't just say no to that. I only told you they were coming as a warning. Trust me, you need to prepare when your parents find out you were in the car with someone who was high. You're probably screwed to be honest... At least you didn't die though!" She said the last part with fake enthusiasm and opened the door.

My father stepped in with some flowers and asked the nurse to leave for privacy. Then it began.

"RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE, WHAT ON EARTH WOULD POSSESS YOU TO DO SOMETHING SO INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS AND STUPID?!?" He yelled, throwing the flowers into a blue chair in the corner.

I looked down at my fingers which were making busy work picking at the blanket on my legs. "I—"

He cut me off by putting a hand up and wrapped his arms around my shoulders tightly and squeezed.

"You're gonna kill me, dad," I choked from his deathly grip. Although, I was glad he wasn't mad enough to shun me. I loved that he was hugging me.

He held me a little looser and looked up at me and for the first time in my life I saw tears in his eyes. "Rachel, don't you dare do anything like this again... I can't lose you to people so idiotic and irresponsible."

"Idiotic and irresponsible"? Hey! This is Piper he's talking about! I thought and bit my lip. It wouldn't do me much good to say anything about Piper right now. My main problem was getting my emotional father to leave.

I loved him but he wasn't possibly dying like Piper. I didn't know of her condition as of yet and I had to. Even if the doctor purposely didn't mention it I had to know.

"I'm sorry, dad. I'm really sorry," I said, moving my arms to hug him back tightly. "Now, I'm sure you're really busy and I really need to pee so... "

He nodded with his lips pursed into a line. "I understand. You just want to rest... Oh yeah! When you get back to school, they'll be a surprise for waiting for you. Try to look nice, okay? Who am I kidding? You're my daughter, you'll always look nice."

I blushed at that and waved as my dad walked out of the room. I breathed a sigh relief which made me give a small cough.

Now. If only they let me see Pipes.