Chapter 25

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"Do you think he'll care if I eat his jello?"

"I dunno."

"I like jello."

"Maybe you should ask."

"But he never eats his jello!"

"Duh, because he isn't even awake yet!"

"...it's been three days. I'm totally eating his jello."

"I think we need to talk about your badness level."

"Yum, strawberry! You want some?"

"...yeah."

The first thing Jack became aware of when he finally woke was unfamiliar voices coming from somewhere to the right of the bed he was in. He tried to turn his head toward whoever was talking, but the effort proved to be too much for him, and his eyes seemed to be pasted shut anyway.

Swallowing thickly, he worked his tongue through the dry, cottony feeling in his mouth. When blue eyes finally managed to crack open, he squinted up at the white-tiled ceiling in confusion. The light hurt his eyes, so he closed them again with a little pained groan.

"Hey, I think he's waking up!"

"Well go get your sister, stupid!"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Pattering footsteps hurried out of the room, and someone shuffled closer to his bed. Jack forced his eyes open again—just in time for a head to lean into his vision. At least the shadow blocked out some of the light, and Jack managed to work up enough strength to lift one hand and rub at his eyes a little.

"Hey, you're totally alive!"

"I am...?"

"For sure!"

Jack could barely recall anything. He had been at school, right? On his way to class... and then he vaguely remembered the feeling of falling, and the far-off sound of Hiccup's voice. But he had probably been imagining that part.

The hand at his eyes lowered a little and he narrowed his eyes, studying the IV that was hooked into his hand—and that was when he realized he was probably in the hospital.

"Hellooooooo~?"

Turning his attention to the person who was still leaning over him, he blinked a few times at the huge eyes that were peering down at him. They belonged to a little girl, maybe twelve years old, tops, with her black hair pulled back in a ponytail and littered with a plethora of candy-themed barrettes and pins. She was wearing a hospital gown, which just served as proof as to where he was.

She was holding a jello cup and a spoon, but seemed to have forgotten about them for the moment.

"Wow, you've been out for days, mister!"

Jack swallowed again, shaking his head slightly—then stopped when just that little movement made him dizzy. "What happened...?"

"How should I know?" She shrugged, then leaned back and when Jack looked to the side she had dropped down into a chair next to his bed. She began eating the jello, slurping it down with a happy smile on her face. "All I know is you've been here for three days and this room has all the good TV channels. And they kept bringing you food even though you were unconscious."

Jack watched her silently for a moment, then finally asked, "who are you?"

"'Name's Vanellope." She looked back up at him long enough to flash a toothy grin, "nice to finally meet ya, Jack!"

"How do you know my name...?"

A shrug. "I read your chart. Doi."

"Oh."

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