2. Charge (A TFP Fanfiction)

Chapter 12

I sighed as I got up from my desk, feeling the scar where the stitches had just come off stretch. Almost out of instinct, I reached to my right to grab my crutches. When my hand snatched empty air, I remembered with a smile that I no longer required them. I looked down at my leg, where my cast had been replaced with a boot-like one that I could walk on. The past three days had shown that my recovery was going well, and I felt extremely relieved and proud. Ratchet, of course, had been glad as well, but still always fret over me. I thought it was sweet.

As I swung my backpack over my shoulders and limped out, I heard hurried footsteps behind me. Thinking nothing of it, since it was school, I continued walking. Then out of nowhere, I felt a slap on the back. I turned sharply with a yelp of surprise. 

"Hey, Tay!" Jay shouted, waving his hands enthusiastically. His eyes were wide and excited, and he threw himself into a fit of laughter. 

I put a hand to my chest and exhaled. "Jay! You scared me!"

"That was the idea!" he chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, walking beside me as I made my way out of the school again. "So, going to go see your friends again today?"

I nodded my head nonchalantly, but I was smiling. "Yeah, I go see them everyday with the others."

"That's awesome! You seriously need to take me sometime!" he exclaimed.

This kind of talk always made me uncomfortable. I sighed and shook my head. "When they're ready. They go through a lot, okay?"

He gave me a quizzical look. "Yeah, okay, sure. Whatever you say. Sorry.."

I gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry. It's not you. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

He immediately perked up. "Sweet! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" He slapped me and the back again and took off running, laughing like crazy again.

I snorted and shook my head, holding back some more laughter. I felt Miko walk up next to me, watching Jay go. "Wow, that boy sure has energy!" she said in awe.

Jack, who was walking out with her and Raf, smirked. "Says the girl who runs through GroundBridges to get pictures all the time!" he laughed.

Raf beamed, looking up at me as he held onto the straps of his backpack. "So, is Ratchet picking you up today, or do you need a ride?" he asked.

"No, that's okay," I replied, waving my hands in shy dismissal. "Ratchet has been very keen to picking me up during my recovery."

The three other kids shared a look, before nodding. "That's true," Raf said. "You still haven't been on that race with me and Bee, though."

I smiled apologetically as I heard our guardians beeping at us to hurry up. "Okay, maybe tomorrow! See you in a bit, guys!" Despite the funny cast on my leg, I was quick to pick up speed and run over to where Ratchet was waiting at the curb.

"Taylor!" he said as I swung the door open. "You shouldn't be running like that!"

I giggled nervously as I shut his door. "Sorry, sorry. Just ready to get out of the stuffy classroom."

The doctor hummed in response as he started to drive away. "It's been a long time since I was in education. It seems much different than your 'school' however."

I was waving out the window to the other kids, and turned back around as he spoke. "Really? You had school, too? What was it like?" I asked, intrigued. 

He scoffed. "I already said it wasn't like your 'school'. Also, how would you have expected me to become a medic? We learn, embedding the data into our processors through time, study, and experience."