Picture Perfect: A CaptainSparklez Story {COMPLETE}

Chapter 11: The Bad Always Follows

JORDAN'S P.O.V.

We sat in the waiting lobby, anxiously awaiting the results of the transfusion. Ruby was still asleep in a chair while Mark was talking on the phone with Nick. Nick was worried why I hadn't returned any of his calls. I sighed, remembering I had shut off my phone out of anger and annoyance.

I begged and prayed that my blood would be enough to save Carrie. She couldn't die, and this was her last chance.

One question was still rattling my brain. Something about the park shooting wasn't adding up.

Out of probably over a hundred people, Carrie was the ONLY one who was shot. Why? Why is it she would be the only one that could possibly die? Why would anyone want to hurt Carrie? Who would go to such lengths to do something as awful as this?

Could it have something to do with what she told me before the shooting happened?

"You don't understand.  I'm not...I'm not normal.  I come from a bad background.  My sister has already dealt with this and I don't...I don't want anyone else I care about getting hurt."

I glanced over at Ruby. She was stirring and beginning to stretch, blinking her eyes against the ceiling lights.

"Wha...what's going on?" she whispered anxiously. "Carrie? Is Carrie okay?"

"Easy, Ruby, easy," I said, quickly getting up from my chair and kneeling beside her. "It's alright. My blood is a match for Carrie. They're doing the transfusion now."

"Oh my God!" she gasped happily, throwing her arms around my neck in a hug. "Jordan, thank you so much! You're saving my baby sister!"

"Hey, you should know I'd do anything for your sister," I said, patting her on the back awkwardly.

"I know," she said as she let me go, "and she'd do anything for you. When she wakes up, she'll be forever grateful."

"Ruby, can I ask you something?" I said somewhat nervously.

Ruby looked at me oddly for a second and then nodded. "Sure, yeah. Ask away."

"Okay," I breathed, "I know you're Carrie's sister and I'll respect you if you don't wanna answer my question but I really have to ask." I took a deep breath. I could feel the sweat building up in a tiny river on the back of my neck. "Does Carrie...does Carrie like me?"

Ruby smiled slyly. "Hmm...define 'like'. Do you mean 'like' as in she likes you or do you mean 'like' as in she LIKES you?"

She put more emphasis on the second 'like', so I told her the second one sounded about right.

Ruby laughed and I wondered if she had noticed my reddening cheeks.

"Alright, I see where you're getting at," she said with a smile. "Jordan, as much as I would love to tell you these things, Carrie is my sister and I respect her privacy."

I sighed and bowed my head. Damn.

"It's okay," I said glumly. "I figured you'd want to stay quiet for Carrie's sake."

"But," she added, "I will tell you this; I saw you two during the lantern launch and I gotta say...I definitely saw a sparkle in Carrie's eyes."

I chuckled to myself, thinking she meant that both metaphorically and ironically.

"Something tells me that when Carrie wakes up," she continued, "everything is going to change."

She was right.

Everything did change.

Everything changed...just not in the way I had hoped.

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