Mermaid

The Freefall

Penelope pulled into the parking lot, slamming her door roughly and sprinting through the trauma bay to the ER. Her lungs burned from the effort, her body shaking from shock and adrenaline. She approached the nurse's station, struggling to speak while trying to catch her breath. "Hi, welcome to Mystic Falls general. Can I help you?", the nurse asked, her cheery smile annoying Penelope to no end. How could all these people smile while Penelope felt like her world was burning down? "Saltzman...Josette Saltzman. She should have admitted, like, twenty minutes ago." Her throat felt dry as she said her girlfriend's name and "admitted" in the same sentence. "She had a seizure." The nurse typed something into the computer, and Penelope tapped her foot anxiously as she waited. "I'm sorry, I don't see a Josette Saltzman in our system. Are you sure this is the right hospital?" "I'm sure", Penelope said through gritted teeth. Of course she was sure- she had watched in horror as they loaded Josie into the ambulance. She wasn't stupid. "Check again." "I'm sorry, but our system is very up to date. I don't believe your friend is here." 

  Penelope slammed her hand against the counter. "No, don't give me that sympathetic bullshit!", she yelled, causing the nurse to jump back. "You don't understand. The girl I love is somewhere in this hospital and I need to see her. So I don't care what you have to do, or who you have to call, but Check. It. Again!" Penelope felt hands pulling her away from the desk, and the more she fought against them, the tighter they held onto her. "Let me go!", she yelled, but they ignored her. "Look at me. Penelope, hey, look at me", the voice said, and Penelope reluctantly obliged. When her vision focused, Elizabeth Saltzman herself was standing in front of her, her face splotchy with tears. "I know you're scared, Penelope. I am too, but you need to calm down, okay? You can't help Josie if they throw you out for assaulting the staff." Penelope closed her eyes, collapsing into the hard waiting room chair and putting her head in her hands. This was all her fault, she decided. If she had spoken up earlier, gotten Josie some help...she wouldn't be fighting for her life right now. There were so many signs, so many cries for help that had gone unnoticed. She had let Josie down.

They had failed her, and their mistakes might be fatal.
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Two weeks before
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  Penelope had not realized until now how hard the Salvatore school trained before big meets. She was used to it, of course, but it didn't mean that it didn't exhaust her every time. The practice was scheduled for every day before and after school, so both Penelope and Josie had been very busy. She hadn't spent time alone with her girlfriend since the weekend, and probably wouldn't until their meet was done and over with. Penelope would have been fine with this. She understood that Josie was captain, and her every waking moment had been dedicated to helping her team succeed. She understood because she had had to do the same when she was still captain at Bellmont. She would understand, had she not been so worried about Josie's wellbeing. Josie looked drained, the dark circles around her eyes a stark contrast to how pale she had become. She had a dazed look on her face, almost as if her mind was no longer where her body was. She would stop for a moment, shake herself out of the trance, and then go back to coaching her girls. Well, not coaching. More like screaming at them. Penelope had never seen her so stressed out.

  Hope swam up next to her, watching Josie with the same concern in her eyes. "I am sure fucking glad this is the last meet of the season. I think if she goes too much longer like this, she might collapse in on herself." "Is she always like this?" Hope shrugged. "Josie takes her job pretty seriously. She'll do anything to make sure we beat those bitches at Bellmont." She remembered who she was talking to and grimaced. "No offense." "None taken.", Penelope assured her, rolling her eyes. "They've been sending me letters saying that 'I should come back to the team or else'." Penelope dismissed the threat. "I know they won't do anything. They're all talk. They just know they can't win without me, and they're starting to panic." "Your ego astounds me, Penelope Park", Hope joked, causing Penelope to splash some water in her direction. Through their laughter, they noticed Josie glaring at them. The two girls stopped what they were doing and swam away, still giggling under their breath. "All's fair in love and war, I suppose", Hope commented, looking back at Josie out of the corner of her eye. "And it seems between you guys, there's both."
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  "I'm here", Hope said as she entered, pushing her hair behind her shoulders. She sat down next to Penelope, grabbing hold of her shaking hand. "How is she doing? Does anyone have news on her?" Penelope shook her head, gesturing to Lizzie and Alaric, who were talking together quietly. "Uh, she had a seizure", she says, her heart pounding fast against her chest. "They're running tests on her to see how bad it was." Hope leaned back, her hand covering her mouth nervously. "How did this happen?", she voiced out loud to nobody in particular. "I know she was working herself hard, but that's just Josie. She works hard. I just-how...?" Penelope leaned against Hope's shoulder, offering and receiving the comfort of human contact. She couldn't do much else to comfort Hope, or herself. She didn't have answers, no matter how badly she wanted them. She couldn't tell Hope that everything was going to be okay, because nothing felt okay at that point. They should be returning home from their meet right now, celebrating their victory. Instead, they were waiting for news- any news- that would tell them Josie would be alright.