JATP one-shots

Injuries Pt 2

Two days. It's been two days since Julie's twisted her ankle, and it hasn't gotten any better. 

With the help of a lot of pain medicine, though, she's taught herself how to walk on it without making it hurt to the point of tears. 

However, her pain medicine is starting to wear off, and unfortunately it's on the second shelf in the cabinet. Usually, she would just climb onto the counter, but she doesn't want to risk hurting herself even worse.

"Lex?" Julie calls into the living room defeatedly. 

Alex walks into the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"I'm vertically challenged," she sighs, subtly leaning more on her uninjured foot as her ankle starts to throb.

Alex laughs, walking over to her and easily opening the cabinet. "What do you need?"

"Ibuprofen," she says, hoping he won't ask questions.

He gets it and hands it to her. "Why do you need it?"

"Um..." she opens it slowly, stalling. "Cramps."

Alex looks at her suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Yep." She pops two in her mouth and takes them dry. "Thanks."

He takes the bottle from her, setting it back into the cabinet. "No problem."

Alex poofs out. He's smarter than she anticipated, and he's catching on.

In the studio, Alex finds Reggie and Luke hanging out and writing.

"Guys, something's wrong with Julie."

The other ghosts look up, alarmed.

Luke's the first to stand up. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know." Alex runs a hand through his blond hair. "But she's acting different. Haven't you guys noticed?"

"Well yeah," Reggie says. "She was laying in bed basically all day yesterday, but she said she was just tired. And today she's up again."

"But she had to have me get her pain medicine," says Alex. "She can usually just get onto the counter and get stuff herself. She doesn't like asking for help."

"What was it for?" Luke asks. "The medicine."

"She said cramps."

"But that was last week." Now Luke's really worried. He'd thought his girlfriend was better, but something else is definitely going on.

"That's what I was thinking!" Alex looks at the doors. "We need to get to the bottom of this."

"She won't tell us," Reggie says. "If she hasn't told us already, she isn't planning on telling us. We need to find out for ourselves."

Luke sighs. If only she would just tell him when something's wrong. 

"Hey bubs," Luke says, walking into her room.

She turns around in her desk chair, smiling at him before returning to her homework.

"How are you feeling?"

He sees her visibly stiffen, her pencil pausing over her math problem. "Fine." She turns back to him. "Why wouldn't I be?"