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Chapter 5: Arabelle

I wake up to someone or something poking me in my side. Cracking one eye open to avoid bright light, I briefly see what looks to be a broom stick. Opening my other eye and blinking, I look at the person holding it. And to my surprise it's my dad. He motions for me to get up and points to the doorway to the kitchen. I guess I don't get up in time because once again he pokes me with the broom. Shaking my head, I stand up and put my hands in the air surrendering to my crazy family.
Once in the kitchen, Arrow makes me sit in a chair at the kitchen table. In front of me is a small box. I stare at it, confused and then look at my parents. My dad smiles and my mom gestures to the box. Picking it up, I shake it lightly and hear a jingle. My eyes go wide. Is it what I think it is? I open the box- having some trouble on the tape. A smile forms on my face when I pull out a set of car keys.
"Now it's nothing new or like your Jeep but it's something to get you through the rest of the school year. I hope you like it sweetheart." My mom says, her smile getting bigger.
Getting up I give her and dad a hug, slight tears forming in my eyes.
Arrow taps my shoulder and points to the garage door. I get up quickly and open the door to see a small 2003 Ford car. It's only two door but that's okay with me. After the Jeep I don't want anything super fancy or big.
"So sis. Time for the doctor." He says with a smirk. "We'll be back in a little bit mom! I'd say you drive but that's a no from me."
"Be safe!" I hear her yell from the kitchen.
Yeah, yeah. Let's go ding-dong I text him, walking over to the passenger side of the car and climbing in.
"Keys, Bell. Keys." I toss him the keys and close the door.
He climbs in and starts up the car, opens the garage door and backs out. Pulling out I glance over at our neighbors house, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe that guy was just visiting. I look away after a few seconds and feel a pair of eyes watching me but I don't look back. Because as much as I want to look, the part of me that is afraid to look wins in the end.

~*~*~*~

As we're sitting in the emergency room waiting, Arrow starts to fall asleep. I keep poking him on the arm but when that doesn't do any good I yank a piece of his hair and he quickly jolts up, rubbing the spot that obviously hurts.
"What the f-" He's cut off by a nurse.
"Arabelle King? Dr. Kahler will see you now." She says with a kind smile.
"I'll wait here Belle." Arrow says.
I get up and follow her back to a room and sit on the seat thingy.
"Any pains or swelling?" The nurse asks, looking at her clipboard. Feeling awkward, I shift uncomfortably, waiting for her to look up. When she does she notices the slight bruising on my neck. "Oh I'm sorry. Dr. Kahler said that when you were last here you couldn't speak but she didn't mention it was a lasting effect." I quickly wave my hand to signal it's okay and I think I got my point across. "Okay how about this. Thumbs up for yes, thumbs down for no?" I give a thumbs up and a small smile.
For the next 10 minutes we go through a list of yes/no questions which should have only taken 3-5 minutes but didn't. By the time we finish Dr. Kahler walks through the door.
"Glad to see you back Arabelle. How's your wrist?" She asks, in the same gentle voice she used the last time I was here. I don't think she could speak harshly if she tried. Giving her a thumbs down, the nice nurse-whose name I found out is Eliza- explains our process with the thumbs. "Okay. Do you think you could write down and explain what happened and what hurts?" I shake my head yes and she hands me a notepad and a pencil.
When I finish up writing everything that happened this morning down, I hand her the paper. As she's reading over it, Eliza takes my vitals and such.
"You're honestly extremely lucky to have survived a crash like that Arabelle." Eliza says.
I just shrug lightly, not really wanting to talk about this. Luckily Dr. Kahler starts talking again.
"When you fell you most likely just bruised it a little more. I would suggest icing it for the rest of the night and for the next couple days. You can try going back to school if you want but I don't recommend pushing yourself too hard. If you do however, I do not wanting you carrying any books or heavy things. Alright? Come in for a checkup in the next month or so." She says with a smile.
I give her a smile back and walk back out to where Arrow is waiting. To no surprise he's sitting there flirting with one of the nurse. Walking up, I give him a quick wack on the head, keeping on my path to the doors out of the hospital. I don't even have to look behind me to know he's trailing behind me. As I reach the car I motion for him to unlock it.
"Ah, not so fast big sis. I was a moment away from get her digits. I have to make you pay somehow." Arrow says with a devilish grin.
Placing one hand on my hip, I give him a death glare while flipping him the bird. After so I pull out my phone and pretend to text.
"Belle, who are you texting." He says getting antsy. I look up and give him a smirk. "Fine, fine. Whatever. Get in the car." He blurts out, unlocking the car.
As I climb in I look at the clock on the dashboard and notice that it's almost 6pm. When we get home I'm grabbing some food and going up to my room. The drive home was quiet and quick. As we pull down our street the sound of music reaches us before we even get home. When we pull into our drive the source of the music becomes quite clear- ours.
"Who the hell is throwing a party in our house?!" Arrow yells before getting out of the car and storming inside. I shake my head and turn off the car, putting the keys in my pocket and head inside our lovely crowded house.