Page 86 of Taking Care of You
He pushes the button, and when the nurse comes in, he tells her I’m in pain. She leaves, then comes back with meds and puts them in my IV.
I feel my eyes get heavy almost immediately, and Ethan slides onto the bed beside me when the nurse leaves. He gently lays my head on his shoulder and puts his arm around me. I turn into his chest and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I wake up the next morning to a commotion outside my door. A disheveled nurse pushes inside and gives me a grimace that I’m sure is supposed to be a smile. She checks my blood pressure, checks my ribs and the ex-fix. “What’s your pain level?” she asks me, her face looking more friendly now.
“Like… a seven?” I duck my head, not wanting to admit how much I’m hurting, but not able to pretend either.
She nods and writes something on my chart.
She takes a moment, looking like she’s steeling herself to walk out the door. Before she steps out, I ask, “What’s going on out there?"
Her shoulders droop and she looks at me evenly. “There have been reporters here all morning. We’re trying to get rid of them so you can rest.”
Reporters? Why? It was an accident, but not enough to have them waiting at my door. Then I remember. There were probably still some reporters at the school from Ethan’s press conference and they must have seen everything go down.
I groan, then lay my head back on the pillow. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. Because I am. I really hate all this attention, all of this is a big mess.
“Oh, sweetie. Don’t you apologize. You did nothing wrong.” She smiles, then leaves quickly, closing the door so no one can see me.
With nothing else to do, I close my eyes and go to sleep. I dream of red cars, hard pavement, squealing brakes, and sharp pain. I jolt awake, tears running down my cheeks, in agony from the pain wracking my body. I press the button for the nurse so Ican get some pain meds. And I pray I won’t have nightmares for the rest of my life.
29
Ihave to convince Ethan to go to his meet. He got here about an hour after I woke up from my dreamless nap. He had to fight past a few reporters that hung around the front of the hospital. The charge nurse called the cops and they were all escorted out. The staff said they were hindering a medical emergency by crowding the hall and the police agreed. So for now, I have some privacy.
When Ethan sits beside me, I stare at him, wondering what he’s doing here. It’s supposed to be the middle of the school day.
I ask him and he says, “They’re excusing my absence, since I was almost involved in the accident.” He looks ashamed, like he shouldn’t be away from school. I can’t imagine how traumatizing it is to know you were almost hit by a car.
“Okay, I get that. What time is the meet?”
“I’m not going.” He doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Ethan, you have to. It’s the first meet. You’ve been training so hard.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that, Jakoby!” he shouts and gets to his feet. He starts pacing in front of my bed, rubbing the back of his neck roughly. “You almost died! Fuck that track meet! I needto be here with you.” His voice breaks at the end, and he stops and looks at me, defeated. “You need someone here with you, creep.”
I hold out my hand and he looks at it, then back at me. I wave him over impatiently and he comes over and sits on the bed, taking my hand in his. “Ethan, you worked so hard to get your time down. It would mean a lot to me if you ran today. And after the meet, you can sneak back in here. I’m sure Grace can pull some strings to get you in after visiting hours. Please?”
He sighs and leans into my shoulder. “Fine. I’m going to call Crystal. She’s been worried sick but hasn’t been able to get up here. I’ll bring her back to sit with you.”
I open my mouth to speak, but I hear a strangled sob at the open door. I look over and see my dad standing there, tears pouring down his face. Ethan gets up from the bed and steps back, and my dad rushes over. He looks over my body, hands fluttering over my leg. He looks up at me and drops his head and sobs. I look up at Ethan, not knowing what to do. He mouths ‘talk to him’, kisses my forehead, and leaves quietly.
Extending my hand, I pat his arm awkwardly. “It’s okay, Dad. I’m fine.”
Wiping his face, he looks at me with red eyes. “Crystal told me what happened as soon as I got home from work.”
“Crystal isn’t in school?”
“No, she said she was waiting for me to get home. You told her I would be back today?”
I think back and remember that I did. I told her he texted me that he was excited to see me and she must have remembered. I love her for that.
After a few seconds, he looks at my leg again. “What happened, kid? All Crystal said was that you were hurt really bad.”
Pulling in a deep breath, I tell him everything. I start with the fake dating, even though that’s embarrassing, but he needs to know the full story to understand. I tell him about how Dawn had been giving us trouble since it became public that we were dating. I tell him about spending a lot of time over at Ethan’s house, trying to find a safe place to be that would protect me from Mom’s—Barbara’s—taunts and insults. I tell him about getting kicked out suddenly for reasons I don’t even know.
Then I tell him everything leading up to the accident. I leave out the sex part. He’s my dad. I don’t think he needs to knoweverything.
