Dannies, Death, and Dates

Chapter 5

"Woah, woah!" Dani yelled, pinwheeling her arms frantically. Her skis slid into each other and she toppled over. Again. 

Gage laughed, gliding to a stop next to her in a spray of powder. He dug the edge of his snowboard into the hill and pulled her upright. 

"Sorry," Dani muttered, brushing snowy hair out of her mouth. 

"You're doing great for your first time," Gage encouraged. "You've got good balance. All you need to do it keep your skis from locking."

Frustrated, Dani pushed off the mountain again. It was like skateboarding on a treadmill. She bounced over a snowdrift and yanked herself upright. She was NOT going to embarrass herself again!

"Yeah! Yeah!" Gage cheered, skimming along beside her. 

"You're getting it!"

Dani turned to grin at him. This felt great! Maybe she did have the Fenton talent that Danny was lacking. 

The next thing she felt was a moment of weightlessness, a chill wind, and a sickening snap. Someone was screaming. In a haze of cold white and pain, Dani found herself lying spread out on the hill.  The scream was echoing from her own mouth. She clenched her jaw shut and tried to turn around. Pain seared up her right leg, making her gasp. 

She began to slide helplessly down the mountain, leg twisting tortuously with every movement. 

Hot tears burning the chill from her face, she gasped, 

"Ah! Help!"

Her vision blurred form the pain. Everything faded to murky black. Faintly, she heard a voice. It was saying something, but the darkness took her before she could understand it.

...................................................................................

"Dani? Dani!"

"Is she alright? Did the fracture break skin?"

"Why weren't you with her Danny? What happened?"

Voices jumbled together. Dani opened her heavy eyes. A blurred scene slowly came into focus. Maddie and Jack Fenton were bent over her, looking sick with worry. Danny hovered nervously behind them, breathing fast. 

She could feel snow beneath her and the jumbled voices of a surrounding crowd. 

She was at the bottom of the hill, lying near the ski patrol building. Doctors pushed the family out of the way and converged on her.

"Can you hear me?" a bearded man asked her, shining a small flashlight into each eye.

Dani nodded slowly. 

"Can you tell me what happened? How did you get down the hill with this injury?" he said, now examining her leg, which felt like it had been injected with fire.

"I don't... I can't remember," Dani groaned. "Was skiing. With Gage. I think I fell and broke... broke my leg. Passed out."

"But how did you get down here?" the man questioned again, now helping to load her onto a stretcher. 

"I don't know!" Dani moaned, the pain in her leg stabbing with every heartbeat. As the team lifted her up and into the ski patrol lodge, Dani looked over the crowd. There were people of every kind gathered around. 

She thought she might have seen a flash of amber eyes looking worriedly after her. But maybe it was just her imagination.