Bella's Little Sister

Chapter 5

I was not particularly happy about having to spend the better part of my afternoon at the hospital. My lips were pressed tightly together in annoyance as I waited impatiently for a doctor to examine me before giving me the okay to leave. Bella, though she tried hard to be discreet about it, continued to throw me worried expressions every few minutes. Immediately after the accident, my sister had rushed to my side, but was unsuccessful in trying to convince many of the other students who had gathered around us to give me space.

"Jess. You okay?"

Bella gave my hand a reassuring squeeze as I balled my hands into fists. Clearly, this was going to be a much bigger deal than it needed to be. My sister shook her head in frustration at my father's statement of "You and I are gonna talk", which was aimed at Tyler, who had been situated on a gurney behind me. 

"Dad, she's fine. Calm down." Bella responded.

"I'm sorry, Jess." Tyler cut in. "I tried to stop."

My sister glanced back at him. "She knows that, Tyler." Bella reassured him. "It's okay."

My father was incredulous. "No, it is not okay. Jess could have been killed. You understand that?" 

I could tell by my sister's tone of voice that she was fighting back her own rapidly growing annoyance. "Yes, but she wasn't, so..."

Dad then turned to give Tyler another sharp look. "You can kiss your license goodbye."

I clenched my jaw in frustration as I listened to dad and Bella go back and forth about Tyler and his 'reckless driving' as dad put it.

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

Dad suddenly seemed more relieved, and I could see some of the tension leave his body. "Dr. Cullen."

Dr. Cullen had the same appearance as Edward and his siblings. I gripped Bella's hand, knowing how Dr. Cullen would say my name. I had never liked my full name being used; it seemed too formal for me.

"It's Jess, by the way." Bella spoke up before Dr. Cullen could say anything.

Dr. Cullen met my gaze after flipping though the papers of my chart. "Well, Jess, looks like you took quite a spill. How do you feel?"

When I didn't respond to his question, my sister explained why. "She hasn't spoken to anyone in six years. Jess won't respond to anything you ask her."

At her words, Dr. Cullen's eyes filled with curiosity and mild concern as he shone a light in my eyes. "She might experience some post-traumatic stress or disorientation, but her vitals look good." He gave me a brief smile as he stated that I would be just fine.

Dad pulled the curtain closed on Tyler when he attempted to apologize to me again. Bella then brought up the subject of Edward and how he had pulled me away from the van. Bella and I exchanged a glance at the distracted smile Dr. Cullen flashed us.

"Sounds like you were very lucky." He said in response.

As dad began to walk away with Dr. Cullen to sign some paperwork, Bella turned to face me, though I was already looking at her. "He knows something," she stated quietly, grabbing my jacket from the foot of the bed. "The fact that you're so observant has rubbed off on me. At first, I didn't realize I was ever even doing it, but when I did..." Bella watched me closely as we began to slowly leave the room. "Jess, you've seen it, too. The Cullen's are hiding something. And I want to find out what it is."

Our father was waiting for us at the end of the hallway. "You should probably call your mom."

Slowly, I turned my gaze to my father's face, briefly allowing the annoyance and slight anger I felt to show on my own. Bella groaned in frustration, pulling out her phone as she followed me further down the hallway. I moved to stand against the wall, shaking my head and plugging in my headphones as I waited for my sister.