19
I SIGNED MY NAME ON THE LINE AND THE NURSE SMILED. “I’ll be right back with a wheel chair.”
“I can walk.”
Her smile faltered a bit. “No, sweetie, let me get you a chair. There’s no need for you to be uncomfortable.”
“I have bruised ribs and a broken wrist. I can walk,” I snapped.
She looked over at Jared and he shrugged in a, ‘what can you do’, manner.
“Okay,” she said, “I’ll be right back with your copy and then you can get out of here.”
“Thank God,” I said, rummaging through the bags Jared had brought in.
I found a pair of jeans, a tank top, and loose sweater.
“Do you have some scissors?” I asked him. “To cut off the tags.”
“Do I look like I carry around scissors?” he raised a brow.
I laughed. “Not really.”
“I do, however, carry a pocket knife,” he grinned, pulling out the blade. He cut off the tags and I gathered up the clothes, disappearing into the bathroom.
It took me forever to get the clothes on, because my stupid arm cast kept getting in my way.
First, I couldn’t get my jeans buttoned and then I couldn’t get my sweater over the cast.
I couldn’t wait for the dumb thing to come off.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t bought a brush, so my hair was just going to have to look like a mess.
I knew there was a ponytail holder in my purse, which had survived the wreck, along with my shoes and jeans from that night. My shirt however, was shredded in places.
I opened the bathroom door and rummaged through my purse until I found it.
I brushed my hair, as best I could, with my fingers and pulled it back in a sloppy ponytail.
“I want to get out of here,” I told Jared, hands on my hips.
He chuckled and stood to stretch. I knew his back had to be killing him, after being in that chair for so long.
“I can tell,” he said. “The nurse should be back in just a minute.”
“I’m going stir crazy!” I began to pace in the length of the small room.
“You haven’t even been here for twenty-four hours,” Jared remarked.
“I just hate hospitals. They smell like bleach and things are always beeping. It’s annoying.”
Jared chuckled as the door opened.
I grabbed the papers from the nurse, said thank you and began to pick up my stuff.
“Katy,” Jared said. “Katy!” He said a bit louder when I wouldn’t listen. “I can get your stuff.”
“I’ve got it, Jared,” I snapped, not wanting to be helpless.
“Katy,” he began taking the bags from my hands. “You were in an accident last night, you’re hurt. You don’t need to be carrying these heavy bags. Let me help you.”
I sighed, you couldn’t argue with Jared.
“At least, let me carry my purse, so that I don’t feel like a complete invalid,” I clutched it closer to me.
He laughed. “You can keep the purse. Come on,” he nodded out the door. “Let’s get you out of here before you wear a hole in the floor.”
I followed Jared down to the main lobby.
“Stay here,” he nodded to a chair. “I’ll go pull the car up.”
“I can walk,” I said, holding my head high.
“Katy,” he groaned. “I had to park pretty far away and I don’t want you to tire yourself. I’ll be right back. You know…” he paused.
“What?” I sighed, the fight going out of me.
“You don’t have to be so tough all the time, Katy. It’s okay to be vulnerable,” he said softly, those brown eyes boring into me and seeing more in me, than anyone else ever had.
My lower lip trembled and I wanted to tell him that, no, I couldn’t be vulnerable.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he assured me. “Don’t run.”
“I won’t,” I whispered, my voice cracking as I took a seat in the hospital lobby.
People bustled around me, going about their business.
I watched through the glass doors for Jared’s Toyota to show up.
When I saw the bright blue of his car, come around the curve and under the awning, I stood and scurried out the doors.
Jared came around to open the passenger door.
I looked at the ginormous vehicle and cringed. Getting inside that thing was going to kill my ribs.
“Do you mind if I lift you?” Jared asked softly, from somewhere behind me.
At this point, I didn’t have much choice.
“Help me,” I said.
“I’m going to lift you up,” he warned. “Okay?”
I nodded.
Slowly, he swept my legs out from under me and lifted me into the passenger seat like a small child.
I reached for the seatbelt and pain lanced through my side. “Ouch!” I exclaimed.
“Hang on a second, let me get it, kitten.” He pulled the seatbelt out and buckled me in. This close, his citrusy smell threatened to overwhelm me.
He pulled away and smiled. “All good?” he tapped my knee.
I nodded, hoping I wasn’t blushing like a fool.
We pulled away from the hospital and a rumbling started in my stomach.
“I’m hungry,” I said.
Jared chuckled. “I’m starving too, that hospital food tastes like ass.”
“You know what ass tastes like?” I laughed.
“Metaphorically speaking, of course,” he shrugged. “There’s a McDonald’s down the road. Would that be okay?”
“At this point, I’d eat just about anything,” I said, trying not to flinch every time he drove over a bump in the road.
He turned into the drive thru and I told him what I wanted.
I pulled out my wallet but he refused to take the money.
“Jared,” I whined. “Please, take it,” I held out the twenty-dollar bill. “You stayed the whole night with me at the hospital and now you’re letting me stay at your house. This is the least I can do.”
“No, Katy,” he glared at me. “Put your money away, and let me take care of my girl.”
My cheeks flamed at his words but I refused to argue with him anymore. I put the money away and dropped my purse onto the floor of his car.
He got the food and pulled into a nearby parking lot.
“Bagel for the lady,” he said, handing me the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. “And two chicken biscuits for myself. This is quite the feast,” he winked at me.
“Tastes good to me,” I said, already taking a huge bite.
He chuckled and unwrapped his sandwich. “You’re easy to please.”
I shrugged. “I’m not some complicated chick that’s going to flip out if you forget my birthday. I don’t care about those kinds of things, so eating somewhere fancy is pretty far down on my list. I’ve learned that it’s the simple things that matter the most.” I turned to face him. “When you’re older, you aren’t going to look back and remember that your boyfriend took you to the coolest restaurant in town. You’re going to remember the time you sat and looked up at the stars.”
Jared looked away and I wondered if he was remembering our ‘non-date’, the way I was.
He cleared his throat. “Katy… do you… see yourself… with me?” he looked up at me with those long black lashes framing his brown eyes.
“Y-yes,” I stuttered.
He took a deep breath and looked… relieved.
“Good,” he said, softly. “That’s really good,” he said a little louder. “Because I see myself with you.”
I didn’t really know what to say.
Jared cleared his throat. “I’ve –uh- never,” he squirmed in his seat, “dated before. So, I don’t really know the proper way to go about this,” he looked at me. “But I want to be… exclusive with you.”
I snorted and his cheeks flamed. Oops. “Sorry,” I said, “it’s just… I don’t date.”
“Oh, right,” he opened the wrapper of his second biscuit.
“No, Jared, what I mean is, you don’t need to have the ‘I want to be exclusive’ talk with me. It’s not like I’m hanging out with any other guys. Except for Rollo, but he doesn’t count,” I winked.
“So…”
“So,” I blushed. “I think you’re saying you want to date me.”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “I’ve never had a girlfriend before so you’ll have to bear with me, while I learn.”
“I doubt that you’ve never had a girlfriend,” I scoffed.
“Never,” he said, with a chuckle. “What about you? Any jealous ex boyfriends I should know about.”
“I’ve only ever dated one guy,” I whispered.
“Oh,” he said.
“We dated all through high school,” I took another bite of my bagel. “It –uh- it didn’t end well,” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
“You wanna talk about it?” he took a sip of his drink.
“No,” I answered.
“That’s fine,” he said, balling up his trash and dropping it into the paper bag.
He waited until I was done eating to drive to my condo.
Every time I pulled up to the building, I always hated how stark it was. It was far too modern for me, but since my mom was paying, I had no input.
Jared followed me up, and I let him in first.
I motioned to the lumpy white couch in the living room. “Make yourself at home, it shouldn’t take me long to pack a couple of things.”
“You better pack more than a couple,” he said. “At least a week’s worth.”
I gulped. A week? At Jared’s house?
There’s no way I’d come out of this unscathed.
I grabbed my green and navy striped duffel bag from the top of my closet. I had all the new clothes I bought, in Jared’s car. So, all I really needed to grab was pajamas, underwear, and my bathroom stuff.
I dropped my sweatpants and sleep shirts into the bag and then attacked my bathroom.
Finally seeing myself in a mirror, I did a double take.
Oh hell.
I leaned out into the hallway and called to Jared. “I’m going to take a shower!”
I closed and locked the door, and I swear, not two seconds later there was a knock.
I opened it and said, “What?”
“Your cast, you can’t get it wet,” he pointed at it.
“Crap, I hadn’t thought about that,” I put my head in my hands. “I want a shower so bad. I smell disgusting and it would just make me feel better.”
“Do you have something else you can do in the meantime? I can run down the road to the drugstore. I know they sell something you can put over a cast,” he crossed his arms over his chest.
“You’re a life saver!” I cried.
He chuckled. “Glad you think so, I’ll be right back.”
“Get some money from my wallet,” I told him.
“I don’t think so, Katy,” he chuckled, walking away from me.
While he was gone, I finished packing my stuff and left my bag by the door.
Still hungry for some reason, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was rinsing my plate when Jared knocked on the door. I let him in and took the bag from him.
I pulled out the box of cast protectors and laughed at something else I saw in the bag.
“Tampons?” I asked, pointing to the box in the bag.
Jared laughed. “Karlie needed some.”
“I thought guys were afraid of the feminine aisle?” I raised a brow in question.
“Only guys that are insecure in their manhood are afraid of tampons. They’re just weird little cotton things. It’s not like they’re going to eat you,” he pointed to the bag.
I laughed and handed him the bag.
I opened the box and pulled out the plastic thing I was supposed to wrap around my cast.
“Can you help me?” I asked Jared.
“Sure,” he said, expertly putting it on, checking to make sure no water could get in anywhere. I noticed, that when he had to touch my skin, he did so, lightly. He was easing me into his contact and that small gesture made me fall a little more for him. “You’re good, go get your shower,” he smiled.
“Thanks,” I smiled back. I felt a little dazed as I walked back to the bathroom.
Jeez, now Jared was affecting my equilibrium.
I turned the hot water on and opened the glass door.
The water beating against my skin felt like heaven.
There was dried blood in my hair and it freaked me out a bit as I watched it swirl down the drain. I guess the doctors had cleaned the rest of the blood from my body, because I couldn’t find any, anywhere else on me.
I washed my hair and body, and was so relieved to smell like a normal person.
I dried my hair with a towel, brushed it, and pulled it back into a bun. I had already brushed my teeth, but I did it again anyway.
It was amazing how rejuvenated a shower and brushing your teeth could make you feel. I felt like a whole new person.
I found Jared, stretched out on my couch, with his arm thrown across his face. He let out a little snore and a part of me melted.
No one should ever be that cute while sleeping.
I shook his boot covered foot and he sputtered awake. “Sorry,” he said, rubbing his stubble covered face. “I’m really sleepy,” he yawned.
“Me too,” I said.
He smiled and straightened his rumpled white tee. “Ready to get out of here?”
I nodded.
He grabbed my duffel bag and tossed it over his shoulder.
I locked the door and my stomach lurched.
I was really staying at Jared’s house.
Oh, God.
I don’t think I could have ever agreed to it, if Karlie wasn’t going to be there.
On our way to Jared’s house, he stopped and picked up a pizza for Karlie and Holden.
He pulled in the driveway and told me to wait for him to help me.
He guided me down from the car, moving slowly so that my ribs weren’t hurt in the process.
He grabbed my duffel bag and the pizza and said, “I’ll come back for your other stuff.” He nodded at the shopping bags.
Karlie opened the door and the expression on her face was half-upset, half-pissed. I was sure she was at her wits end with Holden.
Jared handed her pizza and she scurried into the kitchen.
Grabbing some glasses from a cabinet and filling them with ice, she said, “How are you feeling, Katy?”
“Tired and sore,” I sat down next to Holden on the couch.
“I bet,” Karlie said. “Would you like some water?”
“That would be great,” I said, adjusting a pillow so that I would be more comfortable.
“Jared?”
“Gatorade,” he said, taking the chair next to the couch. He rubbed his eyes.
“What about me?” Holden asked.
Karlie scoffed. “You can get your own,” she snapped.
Holden chuckled and stood. “Whatever, kiddo.”
She glared at him. “I hate you.”
“You know,” he said, going into the small kitchen and brushing against her, “hate is a very passionate word.”
“Holden!” snapped Jared. “Leave her alone, I don’t feel like listening to you two, right now.”
“Fine,” Holden grumbled, grabbing a can of Coke, and a plate.
He popped open the box of pizza and put four pieces of pizza on his plate.
Karlie gaped at him. “Pig.”
“Shrimp,” he grinned.
“Real original, Sharky,” she rolled her eyes at him.
“One day, those eyes are going to roll right on out of your head,” Holden chuckled.
“I doubt that,” she smirked, stuffing a piece of pizza in her mouth. She carried a glass of water over and a bottle of Gatorade.
She handed me the glass and Jared the bottle. “Thanks,” I smiled.
“No problem,” she went back into the kitchen for her plate and drink. She scurried past Holden and took the empty space next to me, on the couch, before Holden could.
“Real mature, Karlie,” Holden said, sitting on the floor.
“You snooze you lose,” she shrugged.
After that, they ate in silence. Jared dozed off, asleep in the chair, and I tried to get comfortable. The pain was starting to get unbearable and I dreaded having to take any more pain meds.
Holden and Karlie finished off the pizza and cleaned their plates.
“I’m heading out to the gym,” Holden said. “If you need me, call me, even you.” He pointed at Karlie.
“I wouldn’t call you if I was bleeding on the side of the road.”
“Angel, I’m hurt,” he put a hand to his chest.
“Get out of here, I’m sick of looking at your face,” she pushed his shoulder.
“I think you’re sick of looking, but not being able to touch,” he grinned cockily.
Karlie paled and then looked down at her hand on his shoulder. “I’m touching you now, so your argument is invalid.”
“I didn’t know this was a debate,” he chuckled.
“It is now,” Karlie smirked.
He laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll see you guys, later.”
I waved as he grabbed his keys.
Jared let out a snore from the chair.
“I’m going up to my room,” Karlie said. “Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m good,” I pointed to my half full glass of water.
“If you need me, just yell. Jared could sleep through the apocalypse so it won’t bother him,” she bound up the steps.
I grabbed a green blanket off the back of the couch and draped it across my shoulders.
I hoped to fall asleep, but the pain in my ribs was not conducive to sleep, and neither was the couch. Since it was leather, my body kept sliding off of it and I had to catch myself before I fell to the floor.
Finally, I grabbed up the remote and turned the TV on to distract myself. Hopefully, a mind-numbing reality show would be able to distract me from the pain in my ribs.
An hour so later, Jared woke up.
“Damn it, I keep falling asleep,” he rubbed his eyes.
“You’re tired,” I shrugged.
“So are you,” he stood, stretching. “I wanted to get you set up in my room before I took a nap.”
“Your room?” my voice spiked. “You never said anything about me staying in your room!” My need to run was kicking in and in about ten seconds I was going to be out that door.
“Relax, Katy,” he bent down, hands on the arm of the couch, so that we were eye level. “There’s only my room and Karlie’s. We don’t have a guest room for you to stay in, and I’m certainly not letting you sleep on the couch. You’ll stay in my room and I’ll sleep here. I knew you wouldn’t be comfortable with that, Katy, and I’d never, ever, push myself on you. You know that, kitten.”
“I-”
“Don’t say anything,” he shushed me. “No arguing.”
“But-” he pressed his finger against my lips and I nearly jumped out of my skin at the shock of his touch and the heat flooding my body.
“No buts, Katy. I’ll be fine on the couch. I feel much better knowing that you’re here, with me, and not in that tiny condo, fending for yourself.”
My cheeks colored and I looked down. His finger dropped from my lips, taking the heat with him.
He grabbed my bag and started up the steps. After about three, he turned and saw me, still sitting on the couch, stunned.
“Come on, Katy,” he grinned. “My room is up here.”
Like an obedient dog, I followed him.
“Karlie’s room,” he pointed to a closed door with a pair of ballet slippers hanging on the knob. He walked a little bit further and pointed to a door on the opposite side of Karlie’s room. “Bathroom. There’s a powder room downstairs but this is the only full bath and let me tell you, it sucks sharing a bathroom with your little sister,” he winked at me, over his shoulder. “And this,” he opened the door at the end of the hall, “is my bedroom.”
The room was surprisingly neat for a twenty-four year old guy. There were some dirty socks on the floor, but it wasn’t overflowing with trash like I had thought it might.
The walls were painted a charcoal gray and the furniture was black.
The only color came from the blue-gray comforter and orange pillows.
Jared stood back, watching my face. “Not what you were expecting?”
“No, I guess not,” I shrugged.
“What were you expecting?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I never really imagined what your room would look like.”
He chuckled.
“What?” I asked.
“You are so different than other girls,” he said, softly.
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.
“No, it’s a good thing. I like that you’re so honest,” he licked his lips.
I sat on the edge of his bed and tested the springiness.
“Well,” Jared put his hands in his pockets and awkwardly swayed back and forth, “I’ll –uh- leave you to it.”
“Okay,” I smiled, finding his awkward demeanor, endearing.
“I’m just going to let you sleep, if you get hungry, feel free to raid the fridge.”
“Okay,” I said again, this time laughing.
He waved and then closed the door.
What the heck?
I don’t think I had ever seen Jared so… unhinged. He’d only gotten weird when I sat on his bed. Did he want me to leave?
I was tempted to go running out the door and ask him, but the bed felt so good.
I could already feel my eyes growing heavy.
A little nap wouldn’t hurt anything, right?
I laid back and closed my eyes.
That’s when the nightmare started.