"B-Bathroom," Davina wheezed out on the phone and went silent.

Leo glanced at his phone to check if the call was still connected. "Davina. Davina. Say something." When she didn't respond, Leo bolted from the center of the field to the bleachers to swap out his shoes.

"What's wrong?" Jaiyana asked, coming to Leo's side. "Where's Davina?"

"She said bathroom. How many female bathrooms are in the school?" Leo asked, tugging on his sneakers with more force than necessary.

"There's only one she would be in," Jaiyana replied. "Wait. Did something happen to her? Is it a panic attack?" she asked, tears springing to her eyes. She turned into the school and ran. Leo followed her.

When they reached the bathroom, Jaiyana threw open the door and screamed. Leo came behind her and stumbled backwards. There was blood on the mirror and on the floor, trailing all the way to the last stall which was locked from the outside.

Leo unlocked the door and after instantly overcoming his fear of blood, lifted the small girl into his arms. His heart pounded in his chest as one of his fingers inched closer to below her nose. What would he do id he found out that she was no longer breathing?

"Leo, snap out of it. She's moving," Val yelled, his hands around Jaiyana's shoulder to keep her from falling to the ground.

Leo blinked, the haze in his head clearing a bit. The slow up and down movement of her chest was the only thing that kept his tears at bay. He swallowed his fears and rushed out of the bathroom, heading for the parking lot.

Jaiyana had tears rolling down her cheeks, her hands reaching out towards Davina as if to pull Davina to herself. "I should have been with her. I should have never left her side."

Val carried Jaiyana when she began mumbling incoherently amidst her tears. "Hey. Calm down. Davina needs you to be strong for her right now."

"Holy shit. What the fuck happened?" Rose exclaimed with wide eyes when Leo came into view with Davina. She straightened from the Jeep she was leaning against and stumbled closer to Leo, not quite believing what she was seeing. "Is that blood from her head?"

Leo's teammates who had followed him began to crowd. "I need the person with the fastest car," Leo said, walking as fast as he could. He didn't want to think of the consequences of running with Davina in his arms.

"That's me," Adam said and led them to his car.

Leo got in the back seat with Davina in his lap, keeping her upright to try to curb the blood loss. As Adam drove, Leo took off his shirt and pressed it into the side of her head. A low whine of pain escaped her lips. "I know it hurts, baby. Just hang on a little longer."

Whimpers left her lips at intervals. "Leo," she whispered under her breath.

His heart squeezed at the raw pain in her broken voice. "I'm here. I'm here."

"Don't...go..."

His hands wrapped even tighter around her body. "I'll never leave you. I'll protect you."

As Adam's car pulled into the hospital, her head drooped. Leo's heart shattered and he flew out of the car with her, running through the swing doors. "Please, help. She's not breathing!" he yelled. "Please..." His voice cracked.

Suddenly, his arms felt empty. He looked up and through his teary gaze, saw nurses wheeling Davina away through a pair of broken doors.

No. Don't take her away.

His legs moved on their own accord after them but a pair of hands held him back. "Leo, they need to do their job. You'll get in the way now."

"But..."

"Leo," Adam said, coming to stand in front of him. "Davina's not a pushover. She'll live through this."

Leo's shoulders slumped. Adam led him to the nearest empty seat and placed him there. Almost immediately, half his football team ran through the hospital doors.

"Davina. Where's Davina?" Jaiyana asked, looking around in panic. Leo weakly gestured to the doors of the emergency room. Jaiyana moved in the direction of the door but paused when she read the 'On' sign. "Oh." All the life left her eyes. "She hates hospitals. I need to call her mom," Jaiyana said blankly.

"You already called her in the car," Val said gently.

Jaiyana stared at Val. "Did I?" She looked at her phone. "I'll call David then."

"David was with..." Val trailed off. "Alright. I'm sure he'll want to know. You can call your parents while we're at it."

Jaiyana nodded. "Right. Right. So many people to call," she whispered absentmindedly to herself and retreated to the corner of the room.

Val's phone suddenly rang. Seeing the caller, Val winced before picking up. Leo could immediately guess who it was. "Hi, coach–"

Coach Matthew's angry voice rang through the phone, interrupting whatever Val had to say. Leo could understand his frustration. He would be too if his whole football team had skipped practice without warning.

"Coach, Leo's girlfriend is currently in the ER and her parents aren't here yet." Coach's volume toned down a bit as Leo could not hear his next words. "I'm here because my girlfriend is her best friend. I can't leave her now. They're as close as sisters...Sure, I'll tell him."

Val took the phone away from his ear and put it on loudspeaker. "You okay, son?" Coach Matthews asked. Leo's throat clogged with tears. Coach Matthews had been a constant figure in Leo's life since he started high school. While Coach was tough and could be an all-round butt, he was a father figure to Leo and most of the team.

Leo's response to Coach's question was a choked back sob. Coach sighed. "You know what, don't answer that. Take all the time you need."

"T-Thanks, coach," Leo croaked out.

"I expect the rest of you at practice tomorrow!" he yelled.

"Yes, coach," they replied.

"Might as well go watch a movie with my wife," Coach said and ended the call.

Rose plopped down beside Leo, her hand clenching around his fisted hands. "You need to keep a level head, okay? You're the one to talk to the doctors and to Davina's parents if they have any questions. You can't expect that from us."

Leo looked at his teammates. The only articulate ones in the bunch were Adam and Val and they hardly knew what happened or saw the bathroom. Rose had a point. "Sure."

A woman with an uncanny resemblance to Davina ran through the doors. Behind her were a teenage boy and Leo's sister, Venessa.

Venessa came to Leo first. "Did you bring her here? Davina, I mean." Leo stared at her in confusion, wondering what she was doing with Davina's family. Venessa led him to Davina's mom. "Leo, this is Davina's mom, Dory. Dory, this is my brother, Leo–"

"Davina's boyfriend," her mom breathed out. She gripped his shoulders tightly. "How's she? How's my baby?"

"ER," Leo said. "They took her in a while ago."

Dory looked behind Leo at the ER. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. She called me and told me to come to the bathroom. When I got there, there was...blood...lots of it. And she was locked...up..." Leo trailed off, realizing that it wasn't an accident. She couldn't have locked herself in.

How had he not thought about that sooner?

"Someone did that to her on purpose?" Dory asked, her eyes filling with flame. "Do you have any idea who it is?"

A name rang in his head like a bell. But how could he admit to Davina's mother that he was partly to cause for all this?

"That bitch," Rose exclaimed and stood. The few people in the hospital waiting room turned to Rose. Seeing her angered expression, they looked away immediately.

"Oh," Venessa said. "Dory, remember that childhood friend I told you about? The one who keeps making it hard for Leo and Davina to get together?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"I'm quite certain she injured Davina. She's always been a freak."

Leo gazed intently at the floor. If Dory told him to leave her daughter alone, he would let Davina go. If he couldn't protect her from Kendall, what use was it being by her side?

"You're not blaming yourself, are you?" Dory suddenly said. "Is it your fault that some girl doesn't know her boundaries?"

"Maybe if I had made it clearer–"

"If she had the guts to hit your girlfriend behind your back, she wouldn't have listened even if you tattooed your disinterest on her forehead."

"True," Jaiyana said, coming to stand beside Leo. After staring at Dory for a few seconds, she collapsed into Dory's embrace. "I will kill her."

"You'll have to wait your turn," Venessa said.

An arm snaked around her waist and Jaiyana was pulled into Davina's brother's side. "What's this about killing people?"

Venessa pouted, her usual snarky nature absent. "I'll just hurt her a little."

"Isn't this weird?" Ryan asked. "Siblings dating siblings."

"He's your David?" Leo asked. Venessa nodded. "That means you've known Davina for a while now."

Venessa grinned. "I wanted to see how long it would take you to find out. It might have been longer if that jealous..." She glanced at David. It seemed the dislike for swearing ran in the family. Venessa cleared her throat. "If she hadn't decided to lash out."

"I don't find it weird. I think it's cute. Both your kids could look alike."

The cloud hanging over Leo's head evaporated momentarily as he imagined a little Davina running circles around him. While Leo had never particularly thought of having kids, the idea didn't seem so bad if...what was he thinking about?

Dory stared at him with a knowing smile and grabbed his hands. Only then did he notice they were shaking. She needed that conversation as much as he did. "Have you ever heard the story of how Davina and I met?"

Dory's body melted in gratitude. He smiled and led her to one of the hospital chairs. His friends sat around them and tuned into the conversation. "I had just gotten back from a football practice..."

I was knee-deep in telling them about Davina and I's hour long conversation about penguin mates when the lights of the emergency room turned off and one of the doctor came out. He made eye contact with them and froze, probably wondering why a horde of people were sitting in a group.

"Are you the family of the patient?" the doctor asked.

Dory's hand gripped his in fear before she stood up, her eyes flitting to the piece of paper in the doctor's hand that she had filled a while ago. "Davina Miller? Yes. I'm Dorothy Miller, her mother."

"Yes, Miss Smith. Davina is stable now and will be ready to receive guests soon."

Leo passed out.