Saving U(S)

Chapter Sixteen

Tobin held Alex near her, stroking her hair.

"I missed you so much," Alex sobbed. "I looked everywhere.."

"I know," Tobin whispered. "I'm sorry.."

"You have no idea how hard it was for me.."

Alex stared into Tobin's eyes, tears dripping down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Alex," Tobin choked out a reply.

"Where were you?"

Tobin hesitated.

"That's kind of a difficult question," she murmured, playing with the hem of her Nike jacket. "I'm not sure I really want to talk about it.."

Alex opened her mouth to protest, but she closed it, and instead said,

"That's fine. You don't have to talk about it. You're here now."

A knock sounded at the door.

"It's open!" Tobin called, her voice breaking.

Ali walked in with Becky.

"Sorry to interrupt," she apologized, giving Tobin a hug. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"We're fine," Tobin replied.

"Good to hear," Becky gave a soft smile and sat on the edge of the bed. "We missed you. A lot has happened."

"Like?" Tobin asked.

"Well... where to start?" Becky sighed. "Christen's in the hospital-"

"Wait-!"

Ali squeezed Tobin's arm. "Let her finish."

Becky nodded. "Christen is very sick. We're not sure if they can cure her."

Tobin felt fresh tears on her cheeks as she nodded, speechless.

"Julie started self harming, but we think she's fixed that. She and Christen came out to the media, so that's another thing. Pinoe, Kling and Moe are in jail for attacking a news station, so Jill's pretty pissed, too. Um, Hope was in a mental hospital for awhile, but she's cool now. Actually, she and Kelley just got engaged, so there's some good news to weigh out the bad news."

Tobin buried her head in Alex's chest. Had her absence caused all of this shit to happen? (Besides the engagement, which was wonderful, by the way). She felt horrible. These were her friends, and she couldn't even begin to help them.

"I think it will all be okay," Becky finished. "We'll get through this as a team."

Tobin felt Becky and Ali join the embrace. She finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's okay, Tobes,"Alex whispered. "We're here. What ever happens next, we'll always be together."...

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Christen was dying.

There was no doubt about it. She wasn't going to make it.

"Please," she rasped, her voice hoarse. "Just put me out of this. I just want to die."

"Three minutes and it'll be over," Dr. Lewis spoke from behind the protective glass screen. "You can go three more minutes."

Christen gritted her teeth, swallowing a scream. Heat burned in her head, and she felt sharp jolts of pain shoot through her abdomen.

God, when will this suffering end?!

"Please," she hissed through the stinging pain. "Make it stop."

"One minute," Dr. Lewis promised. "Just 60 more seconds."

Christen let out a shriek. She arched her back as heat flooded through her body, feeling as if she were on fire.

"MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOP!!!!"

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Morgan knelt over the curb, coughing and hacking up blood.

"Stop it!" Kling yelled, trying to writhe free of the policeman's grasp. "You can't do this to us!"

The other policeman grabbed Morgan's hair and smashed her head into the concrete. She rolled over on her side, gasping, feeling the sticky, red fluid running down her forehead and into her eyes.

"STOP IT!"

Kling tried with all her might to break free- stomping, twisting, and even biting the cop- but he held her firm.

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!"

The other policeman grabbed Morgan and slammed her into a brick wall. She made contact, then collapsed in a billow of dust on the ground.

Suddenly, before anyone could comprehend, both policeman went down. There was a screeching of tires and much shouting. Then, Servando appeared.

"Get in the car!" he called to Kling. "I got Morgan! Hurry! I just stunned them! They'll be up any second!"

Kling hesitated, wanting to help Morgan.

"GO!" Servando yelled, bending over to pick up Morgan. "I GOT HER! JUST GO!"

Kling turned and dashed out of the alleyway. She dived into the open door of a black Chevy SUV and hit the floor.

"Hey Klingy."

Kling looked up in surprise at Pinoe, who was wearing the goofiest smile.

"Shit, Pinoe, when did you get here?"

"Oh, Servando just bailed me out of jail, so yeah." She helped Kling onto the seat next to her. "He's actually a great guy, I can't believe we hated him so much."

Servando appeared and gently, but quickly, laid Morgan on the seat besides them, her head resting on Kling's thigh.

"Don't worry," he said, jumping into the driver's seat and gunning the engine. "I'm gonna get you back to your team."