It’s back!!! Echo & Rider will be rewritten and hopefully will be better than it was. Hope you like it! Constructive criticism is definitely welcome. –decree of fate

Chapter 1//Echo

For as long as I can remember I’ve always hated emergency rooms and hospitals. Just the smell was enough to make me sick to my stomach, which was kind of ironic since hospitals are a place where you get healed and stuff. They aren’t supposed to make you sick. Oh, well. Well, back to my original point...I hate hospitals and emergency rooms. But that’s where I am right this second. I’m having a great old time in this emergency room. The nurse took forever actually getting me a room and then we had to fill out these forms with my information but since my parents haven’t gotten here yet we haven’t been able to fill out the insurance part yet.

Now, why exactly was I in an emergency room in a hospital which I hate?

One simple answer...my brothers. Well, actually that’s more than one simple answer since there’s three of them. We had gone rollerblading, well, actually they had gone rollerblading with some friends of theirs and I had to tag along since Mom didn’t want me home alone after the whole stove incident. Well, them being them decided to go as fast as humanly possible to ditch me for a little while. Not a very nice thing to do. So, me being me, sped up to keep up with them. Now, don’t get me wrong...I don’t suck at rollerblading so I thought I was okay, that is until I sort of tripped over that one rock. I swear I didn’t see it. I probably should have been paying more attention but it’s kind of hard to when you’re trying to keep up with your three stupid older brothers and their friends. So I fell. Well, my brothers did turn around when I screamed out in pain. Then, they did the only thing they could think of...rush me to the emergency room and call my parents afterwards. So, that’s why I’m here in the emergency room.

I really hope I didn’t break my ankle though. It really felt like I did when I fell and plus I had been crying. It was extremely embarrassing since all my brothers’ friends were there. But it really hurt.

Aero and Ridley helped me as gently as possible onto the bed as Tobias and my parents came into the room. He had been waiting for them in the waiting area of the emergency room.

“Sweetie, are you alright?!” my mother gushed in alarm as soon as she came into the door.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

A doctor finally came in. He was slightly older than my parents and had on glasses. He also had slightly graying-brown hair and big brown eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat and had a folder in his hand which I guessed was my chart or something. “So, Miss Wolf, what happened?”

“I was rollerblading, tripped, and fell.” I gave him the abridged version cutting out embarrassing parts.

“Echo, is it?”

I nodded.

“Pretty name.”

I blushed.

“We’re going to have to x-ray your right ankle. Hopefully, it’s just a little twist and not a break or fracture. Just wait right here and I’ll have the x-ray technician get that x-rayed for you.” He left the room and after a little while a blond-haired, blue-eyed man came in grinning. He looked to be in his late-20s and had a wheelchair with him.

“Hello! My name’s Al Taylor and I’ll be your x-ray technician this evening,” he said the same way the stewardesses say their stuff on a plane.

“Um, hi.”

“Okay, let’s get you into this wheelchair, Miss Wolf.” Ridley helped the x-ray tech get me into the wheelchair. “You can all wait here. We’ll be right back,” he said to my family.

He wheeled me into a semi-dark room and had me sit on this bed, actually a hard surface area, in there. He covered me with a really heavy blanket to protect the rest of my body and positioned my right ankle gently so he could get a clear x-ray of it. He left the room and I saw a light flash. I was finished, finally. He came back into the room and took the blanket off of me. He put me back into the wheelchair and wheeled me back to the room.

“I’ll be right back with the x-rays and the Doc.”

“Well, he seemed nice,” Mom said as soon as he left.

“Don’t you think he was a bit young though?” Dad asked.

“Dad.” I smiled at him.

“Well, at least we know you’re feeling better,” Toby said.

“Yeah, she’s not crying anymore,” Ridley teased.

“I wasn’t crying!” I said defensively.

“Yeah, you were. Don’t lie,” Aero said, “You were crying worse than a baby.”

“Boys! Leave your sister alone,” Mom scolded.

“Yeah, she might start crying again!” Toby said.

“Mom!” I yelled annoyed.

“Tobias!”

“Yes, Mother?” he said sweetly.

“Leave your sister alone.”

“Okay, Mother.” He moved ever so slightly so that he was right by me and whispered so no one else could hear, “Crybaby. Tattletale.”

I did the only thing I could think of doing...I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Mother, did you see that?” Toby asked.

“Echo,” Mom said warningly.

“But he, er...” I started to say but my brothers gave me a look.

“He what, Echo?”

“Er, nothing. Just kidding!” I smiled at her.

Mom just rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned towards the door when the doctor came back in.

“Well, Miss Wolf, let’s just take a look at these.” He put them against the x-ray viewer thing on the wall and turned out the light. My brothers all leaned in, interested. “Yes, just as I thought. It’s just a sprain. Just a little one but you’ll be off that ankle for a few weeks. I will give you a small strap-on cast to put on it and just try to stay off of it. Do you have any crutches?”

“Yeah, we have crutches, a few actually,” Toby answered.

“Okay, well, that’s all then.”

“Thank you!” Mom said as he handed me the small black strap-on cast.

Ridley grabbed it out of my hand and put it around my right ankle gently. He and Toby slowly got me off the bed and Aero grabbed me. He put his arm around me and leaned me so that the weight was off the ankle.

“You’re welcome!” the doctor said, leaving, and then we left the hospital as well.

“Gosh, Echo, you were crying over a sprain? A little sprain?” Ridley asked.

“I wasn’t crying!” I yelled at him.

“Yes, you were! You were crying all the way to the emergency room!” Toby said.

“Boys! Leave your sister alone. Now, what really happened? I know Echo wouldn’t just trip and fall like that,” Mom asked.

“She just tripped. She wasn’t paying attention. Right, Echo?” Aero said as he helped me into the back seat of the car.

“Echo, is that true?” Mom asked me turning around from the front.

“Um, well, you see...” I started.

“In other words, no.”

Aero, Ridley, and Toby glared at me again.

I was sitting in between Ridley and Aero, and Ridley leaned over saying, “If you tell her we tried to ditch you then you’ll be in for it.” They had already gotten in serious trouble for trying to ditch me at the mall and if they got in trouble again then Mom said that they would really be in for it next time they tried to ditch me.

“Echo, I’m waiting for an answer!” Mom said angrily. Uh, oh...this wasn’t good.

“Um, I wasn’t looking where I was going and tripped over a rock. It was a complete accident!” I lied, well sort of. I mean I really wasn’t looking and did trip over a rock.

“Echo Blaze Wolf, tell the truth,” Dad said sternly. I hate it when they use my full name.

“Um--” I started again glancing nervously at my brothers and trying to ignore the pain of my ankle. Wait, my ankle! “Ow!” I yelled, “Mom, my ankle really hurts! Do you have any painkillers?”

“At home, Sweetie. But right now I want you to tell us the truth.”

“But it really hurts!” I whined.

“Echo, did they try to ditch you again?” Dad asked glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

“No,” I said a little too quickly.

“That would be a yes,” Mom said turning around from the passenger seat again to look at the four of us.

“No, it’s a no,” I protested.

“Boys, what did you say to her?!” Mom asked my brothers angrily.

“Nothing, Mom. We didn’t say anything to her,” Tobias said.

“Echo, what did they say to you?” Dad asked me.

“Nothing, Dad.”

“Yes, they did. Now tell us what they said!”

“Uh, um...well...y’see...” I stuttered glancing nervously at my brothers again.

“Don’t look at them. Tell the truth now or no TV for anyone this weekend!” Mom said sternly.

“Um...” I started again.

“Echo Blaze Wolf,” Dad said again with a hint of warning in his voice.

“Well, er, we went rollerblading and the guys thought it would be a little fun to go a bit faster so they sped up and I sped up too so I could stay with them and I tripped and fell. Aero, Ridley, and Tobias rushed me to the emergency room and then called you.”

“So, they did try to ditch you and then you ended up getting hurt because of it. Boys, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Luckily, your little sister didn’t get hurt any more than she did. This is the second time you have tried to ditch her! You all will be given extra chores and no TV for two weeks,” Mom lectured. I didn’t dare look at my brothers. “You better not try this again or you will be in even more trouble. Do you understand me?” Mom asked my brothers.

“Yes, Mother,” they said in unison.

We finally pulled into the driveway and Dad parked. Toby and Ridley got out of the car and Aero helped me out. We went into the house and Aero helped me over to the coach. Ridley grabbed the smallest set of crutches from the closet and put them next to me on the coach.

“These should fit. They’re from when Aero broke his foot last summer. He was a midget back then.”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny, Ridley,” Aero said sarcastically while taking the seat on the other side of me. Ridley sat down in the lounge chair.

I smiled at them.

“What are you smiling about, twerp?” Tobias asked angrily.

“Er, nothing,” I said quickly. Tobias always called me ‘twerp’ when he was angry at me.

Mom and Dad came into the house and checked the answering machine in the kitchen. “We’re going to turn in. You four better not stay up too late,” Mom said as she and Dad went to their room on the other side of the house.

As soon as my brothers were sure they were asleep, they rounded on me. “You are in for it, twerp!” Tobias yelled softly.

“Tobias, you really wouldn’t anything to your little sister when she can’t even walk, would you?” I asked grinning nervously up at him.

“Then in a couple weeks you are definitely in for it!” he said angrily. His light green eyes had gone slightly dark.

“Let’s go to sleep, everyone’s a little cranky today,” Ridley cut in stretching his arms up over his head and yawning.

“Good idea!” I got up and grabbed the crutches. I hobbled forward on them as best as I could without falling over. Tobias still glared at me. Aero tried to also but he looked more like he would fall over any second. Ridley and Aero went first up the stairs and I hobbled behind them. Tobias came behind me to make sure I wouldn’t fall back down the stairs.

I hobbled into the room Aero and I had to share. Ridley and Tobias had their own rooms and Tobias even had his own bathroom in his room. Ridley’s and our rooms were connected with a bathroom. I feel onto the bottom bunk while Aero went into the bathroom to change. I put the crutches down next to my bed and fell back onto my pillow. I had the bottom bunk, thankfully. Aero came in, his light brown hair a complete mess. He had on his blue plaid pajamas. He shot me a look, turned off the light, climbed into his bunk, and fell back onto his bed with a thump.

“Aero?” I said quietly, not sure if he was asleep or not.

“What?” he said irritated. He wasn’t.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about Tobias. He’ll forget about this by the time you get rid of that cast thingy,” he said, his voice softening a bit.

“Okay, thanks, Aero. I love you. Good night!”

“Same to you, Echo.”

I soon fell asleep, trying not to turn over since my ankle still hurt. Argh.