Forever More, Chapter 2

"Anny Behwl!" I smile down at my nephew, Malich. It's his 3rd birthday today and the family's getting together to celebrate.

"Malich, come here, auntie missed you." I pick him up and he rubs his grubby little hands in my hair. So much for my shower. "Wow, you're so big! I think you grew." He nods happily then squirms to get out of my arms. Jordan and his wife Lisa just got here with their two boys and Malich wants to go play. Thomas is their youngest at 4 and Malich adores him.

It's weird to think that all of my brothers are grown and have their own families. They're all married but Leon, who's engaged to be married next year, and all have their own kids but Leon. The family's betting on whether or not his fiance, Corrine, ends up pregnant before the wedding. Only Becca and I think it'll be after.

Nate and Becca have their daughter Heather, and their sons Oliver and Aaron. Jordan and Lisa have their sons Blaire and Thomas. Freddy and Kris have their daughter Lauren. Mark and Penny have Malich and are expecting another baby in February. And then there's Leon and Corrine. Phoebe is still pregnant and due in May. She found out she's having another girl and is really excited. As for Draco and I, we're content with our 4 and aren't looking to have any more kids. Especially since we have twins and don't want more of them.

I let Keera run off outside and go find a couch to sit on. I sit down beside Kris and Lisa, who are talking about preschools. Keera started last month, so it's been very, very quiet around the house during the day. I sink back into the couch and sigh, it's really comfy. "You look tired honey." I nod.

"It's this stupid dream." I've been having the same dream every night for almost two months. It's driving me crazy.

"What dreams?" Becca and Penny join us on the couches.

"Oh, Bell's been having weird dreams for a while now."

"Nope, the same dream, over and over."

"That's odd." I nod again.

"And annoying. You know I haven't had a nap in like 3 years and now I've been having one every single day." All 4 girls chuckle.

"You know Bell, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're pregnant again." I groan.

"Don't even joke about that. As my luck goes I am pregnant and carrying triplet's or something."

"Well I hope you figure this out soon. You look utterly exhausted."

"I feel utterly exhausted." Just then I hear a screech from outside. All 5 of us jump up and rush outside. My heart and stomach drop when I see a yellow jacket, Keera's yellow jacket, fall to the ground from 10 feet up. "Keera!" I run over but Draco beats me there.

"Did you bring your wand, Bell?" I manage to shake my head. "Someone start my car!" I'm vaguely aware of someone running back into the house toward the front door.

"Mommy!! My arm hurts!" I kneel down beside Keera's limp body and push the hair out of her eyes.

"I know honey, you're going to be okay." I look up to Draco. "Is it safe to move her?"

"Does anything else hurt, Keera? Your back or your head?" She shakes her head, tears and sobs escaping her.

"No, just my arm."

"Which one honey?"

"My left one." Draco positions her so he's not touching her left arm and lifts her up into his arms. I follow as he carries her through the house and to the car.

"Bell, Draco, I called the hospital and they're waiting for you." I climb numbly into the backseat and Draco lowers her in with me, her head on my lap. I stroke her hair while Draco gets in the drivers seat and speeds down the road.

"Draco, slow down, we don't want to get into an accident on the way there." He slows, but barely.

"Of all the days I don't bring my wand anywhere, this has to happen. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"It's no one's fault. Accidents happen." He shakes his head. "She'll be fine, Draco. Just concentrate on getting us there in one piece." I'm surprised at how calm I am. Whenever Ethan had accidents like this I was always in hysterics and Draco was the calm one. Weird how it's reversed now.

Draco pulls up to the hospital 10 minutes later (when it should have taken 20 minutes) and parks right in front of the ER doors. "Draco, you can't park here, they'll ticket or tow the car." He ignores me and opens up the backdoor, taking Keera into his arms and carrying her into the ER.

I sit in the car for a few seconds, almost having a heart attack when someone knocks on the window. "You can't park here, miss." I stare at the policeman for a few seconds before registering what he said. I get into the drivers seat and park the car in a proper parking space. "Ridiculous. I can't believe it's 10$ just to park here." I walk back to the ER doors and spot Draco sitting in a chair. I sit down beside him and place my hand on his back. "Where is she?" He reaches for my hand.

"They took her into the back. They told me to wait out here for you." We sit in silence for a few minutes before a nurse comes up to us.

"Mr and Mrs Malfoy? She's back here." We get up and follow the nurse through a couple sets of doors and finally to a small room. Keera's laying on the bed looking very small and pale. "The doctor will be with you soon." I sit down on the chair and take Keera's right hand in mine. Draco paces around the small room.

"You're going to make yourself sick, stop it." He stops pacing and leans against the wall. "How does your arm feel, honey?"

"It still hurts but not as much." I smile.

"I bet it's not even broken." 15 minutes pass and the doctor finally makes his appearance.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Malfoy." He walks to the wall and turns on an x-ray window. He sticks an x-ray picture onto the window and taps his pen against the picture. "Well she didn't break anything. Just a bad sprain. For that I can put a splint on her so she doesn't move her arm too much. Nothing much else I can do." Draco and I both sigh with relief. "Don't let her use her arm too much for the first week or so. Is that her dominant hand?" I nod and look down at her arm. "She'll probably need help with anything she uses that hand for. Eating, writing, etc. The splint shouldn't get wet, so it would be best to help her bathe until it's taken off. I'll just go and get the splint and then you're free to leave." The doctor leaves the room and I look at Draco.

"See? Not even broken. She'll be just fine." He nods and smiles. "I should call everyone and let them know she's okay." I get up and walk over to him, stretching up on my tip toes to give him a quick kiss. I walk to the reception desk and a nurse smiles at me.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a phone." She points down the hall.

"Walk through those doors and down to the end of the hall. The phone's on the right side." I thank her and wait for the big doors to open. Before I even start walking down the hall I get this weird feeling, like I've been here or done this before. Which is crazy because this is the first time I've been to this part of the hospital.

As I'm walking down the hall the feeling gets stronger and I suddenly realize why. This is my dream. A long hallway with doors on either side. I recognize some of the details from the dream. Like the date, which I feel like I should have clued into before now. I shiver and walk down the rest of the hall to the phone. I dial Mark and Penny's number and it's answered on the first ring.

"How is she?"

"She's just fine Mark. She only sprained her arm." I can hear Mark breathe out a sigh of relief then yell to everyone in the room that she's fine. "The doc's putting a splint on her and then we can go back home."

"Everyone's been worried, especially Aaron, he feels terrible."

"Why? It was an accident."

"Apparently not. He said they were arguing about something and he pushed her and she fell off the bridge." Mark has two huge oak trees in his backyard about 5 feet from eachother. Each one has a tree house for the older kids to play in. They were complaining about having to climb down one to climb up the other one, so the guy's installed a bridge connecting them. I'd tried it out myself and thought it to be pretty safe.

"Well, tell him it was still an accident and that Keera's okay."

"Will do."

"Okay, I gotta go Mark, we'll be back soon. Save some of that cake for me." He laughs.

"We haven't even opened presents yet. Malich refuses to do anything until his 'Key' gets back." I laugh a little.

"All right, well we'll see you soon." I hang up the phone, sigh and walk back down the hall. I get to the doors and let out a huge breath. They open for me and I rush back to Keera's room. She's sitting up on the bed with a metal splint on her left arm.

"Hi mommy." I smile and sit beside her.

"Hi sweetie."

"The doctor gave her some Children's Advil and said we're free to go."

"Are we going back to the party now?" I nod and help her down to her feet. I take her good hand and lead her down the halls and out of the hospital.

The Boy Next Door, Chapter 10

"Is that any way to say hello to your grandma?" I hear a chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Oh, I'm sorry! It's been a very bad morning." I plunk on my bed beside Adrian. Out of the corner of my eye I catch his arm move as if to go around my shoulders, but I guess he thinks better of it and moves it to his lap.

"What's going on?" I sigh deeply.

"I can't go into detail cause it involves a friend, but I'll say that Brenda really needs to mind her own damn business." I scoot back and sit with my back against the wall. I briefly wonder if Adrian feels awkward at all.

"You've been saying that for months."

"Well this time she went too far and got involved in something she shouldn't even know about. I was going to take care of it and now she's gone and ruined everything."

"You're sure you won't move here for the summer?" I smile.

"You know I can't, grandma. I have things to do here before I go off to college."

"Well you know the offer is always there, bunny."

"I know. So what did you call for?"

"I talked to Brax." Uh oh.

"What did he have to say?"

"Told me something about you and a young gentleman."

"I swear you're the weirdest grandma ever."

"You're changing the subject." I look at the back of Adrian's head and suddenly feel terrible for ignoring him right now. I'm so used to talking on the phone while Lyss is around that I guess I've forgotten my manners.

"I uh, can't talk about that right now."

"Is he there with you?"

"Yes. So I'll call you later okay?" I can just imagine the wink my grandma would give me if she were in front of me right now.

"All right. I look forward to your call."

"Love you, grandma."

"Love you, bunny." I hang up my phone and toss it into my lap.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting my grandma to call and I don't talk to her very often." Adrian turns around and gives me a smile.

"No, that's okay."

"So what are you doing over here anyway? I know I told you to come, but you said 'hang on I'll be over in 5' and then didn't do anything." I chuckle as he smiles again.

"Honestly, I didn't have a plan. I just didn't think you wanted to be alone right then." I feel a blush creep up my neck.

"No, I guess I didn't." Adrian is about to say something when my phone rings. Again. This time I actually scream. "Ahhhh!" I check caller ID to see that it's my dad this time. For a second I consider answering but decide against it. I can be lectured later. I turn off the ringer and stuff the phone under a pillow.

"Not going to answer?" I shake my head.

"Are you kidding me? I feel like I've talked to every damn person I know on the phone today. First my brother, then Lyss shows up, then you, then my grandma, now my dad. When will it end?" Either my rant or expression strikes him as funny because he suddenly bursts out laughing.

"I'm sorry, but it's just kind of hilarious." I roll my eyes in a playful way and then smile.

"Maybe I'll see it that way in a week or two." He grins and I feel my stomach do a flop. I debate whether or not to give him a surprise shove when there's a knock at my door. I thunk the back of my head against the wall.

"Emma?"

"What?"

"Your dad said he's tried calling and you won't answer. Is your phone working?" I roll my eyes and Adrian grins at me.

"Sorry, it's dead. I haven't plugged it in yet."

"I have him here, do you want to come get the phone?"

"No thanks. I was just going to eat and then go out."

"Where?"

"None of your business, Bren. Now go away." I sigh and get off the bed, frowning when I realize that my casserole is now cold. I'm starving but don't want to go down to the kitchen to heat it back up. I open one of the water bottles and take a sip while I think.

"So you're going to show me around after all?" I turn around and shrug.

"Since it seems I have nothing better to do, sure, why not?"

"Showing me around town should be on the top of your to-do list for the day." I raise my eyebrows as I cap my water.

"Oh, really?" Adrian nods while getting off the bed and going to his ladder. He lowers it down to the ground and starts to climb out when I stop him. He looks at me with a confused look on his face. Impulsively I walk over to him, lower my head, and give him a quick but hard peck on the lips.