ftch9

Chapter 9

Mandi woke up in strange surroundings and sat up quickly.
"Where am I?"
A light flickered on and a nurse walked in and shoved a thermometer in Mandi�s mouth.
"How are you feeling, sweetie?"
She nodded a little bit until the nurse took out the thermometer.
"I feel fine, but... but what happened?"
The nurse�s eyes narrowed in concern.
"You don�t remember? You were in an accident, sweetie. Your car was totaled. You�re lucky you don�t have any serious injuries."
Mandi laid back down slowly.
"I remember being in the car... I remember I was... I was going to see JC..." she sat up straight once again.
"Where�s JC? Is he okay? I need to get to him."
She started to get up from bed before being pushed back down and seeing the nurse�s smiling face peering down at her.
"Look to your left, sweetie."
She looked, and there he was, grinning at her, wounded arm and all.
"Hey, you. How do you feel?"
Her hand went to her forehead and she pushed back a few pieces of stubborn hair that insisted on falling in front of her face,
"I feel fine. Why am I still in this bed? I�m fine. Fine!"
JC smiled and shook his head.
"You�re fine, huh? Last time you said that you ended up being pulled out of a car wreck."
"Okay. I�m good. How about that? I feel good."
"Not going to work, baby."
The nurse pushed the thermometer back in Mandi�s mouth and she promptly spit it out.
"Did you not just take my temperature?"
JC covered his mouth to hide a laugh.
"Let me give you some advice. Don�t tangle with her when she�s upset."
The thermometer went back in.
"Unfortunately, it�s my job to tangle with her. Aren�t I lucky?"
Mandi made a face at her and JC chuckled.
"Mib mey mimb bim?"
JC looked at her strangely.
"Uh... excuse me?"
She glared at him and pulled the interfering object out of her mouth.
"Did they find him?"
His eyes glazed over slightly. The last thing he wanted to do was give her more bad news.
"They�re... they�re working on that."
"Why are you not in your own bed?"
He sat down on the chair next to her with his useless right arm in his lap.
"Because I threatened to sue if they didn�t let me see you."
Mandi giggled.
"But I seriously feel fine. I really do, seriously. I�m not even lying this time."
His eyebrows raised at her.
"Oh, so you were lying last time?"
"No..."
"Mandi..."
Her eyes locked on his and the genuine pain, worry, and concern there made her want to break down and cry some more. Either that or hold on to him and never let go.
"I found a note."
"A note? What kind of note?"
She propped herself up so she was at his eyelevel.
"A note from Robert. It was taped to the mirror."
Anger clouded those beautiful eyes.
"He was... he was in our house? He was in our bedroom?"
"I guess so."
The eyes closed as if to block out the image and then opened and locked with hers.
"What did it say?"
"It said... it said that you were dead. That�s why I was rushing. I was thinking he�d done something to you. And it said for me to... be prepared for what�s coming next."
His left hand reached out to touch her face.
"What�s coming next is that we�re going to leave here tomorrow and go home, and everything is going to be absolutely fine. He can�t hurt as again, baby. I don�t want you to worry your pretty little head over it for one second."
She smiled and slowly laid back down, her head sinking into the soft pillow.
"I wish it were that simple."
"It is. Listen, sweetie, I have to go. They told me only twenty minutes out of bed, and it�s been, like, forty."
Her eyes flicked open and he was shocked to see that they were filled with fear.
"No... don�t leave. Please don�t leave me. Please."
He leaned down to kiss her forehead and whisper close into her ear.
"I�ll be back as soon as I can. And you�ll be out soon anyways and then it won�t matter. Just a little while longer, okay? Can you do that for me?"
She nodded miserably and took a deep breath.
"If I have to."
"Good."
He kissed her one last time before being escorted out of the room by a different nurse.
The nurse with the thermometer reappeared with a long needle in her hand, and Mandi shrank back against the bed, almost as if she were trying to flatten herself into it.
"What�s that for?"
The nurse smiled and patted her hand.
"Don�t worry, sweetie. It won�t hurt. My name is Rhonda, by the way."
"I�m Mandi."
"I know who you are."
Mandi�s eyes got wider and wider as Rhonda prepared the shot and walked over to Mandi, taking her arm and pulling up her sleeve.
"Now, turn your head away. And here, blow on this."
She gave Mandi a party noisemaker, the kind you see on New Year�s Eve, and she put it in her mouth.
"Close your eyes. It�ll be over in a second."
Mandi did as she was told, winced, and blew on the toy as hard as she could until it was over. Rhonda cleaned the tiny little wound and put a band-aid over it, before turning to Mandi and smiling brightly.
"There. Now that wasn�t so bad, was it? Would you like a sticker?"
Mandi nodded slowly and Rhonda gave her a big smiley-faced sticker.
"I want to go home."
"I know you do, sweetie. Don�t worry, you�ll be out of here in no time at all."
Mandi rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I bet."
It turned out, however, that Rhonda was right. Mandi was released the next morning and was free to go home. Of course, never in a million years would she leave JC there alone. She slept in a chair that night, right across the room from his bed, but was awakened around one o�clock by a nurse who came in, sticking a thermometer in JC�s ear while he was sleeping.
"Hi."
The young lady looked at the thermometer, then at JC, with a frown present on her face.
"Hmm..."
She touched his cheek gently. Mandi watched intently, her bottom lip caught in between her teeth.
"Is everything okay?"
The nurse looked up as if she�d forgotten Mandi was there and gave her a somewhat reassuring smile.
"Oh... I�m sure it will be. JC is just running a fever, that�s all. 102. I�ll go get the doctor."
Mandi stood up after the nurse had left and walked over to stand beside JC�s bed, taking his hand in her two smaller ones.
She was forced to stand back, however, when two doctors came in to examine him. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to peer over the men�s shoulders to figure out what they were doing. One of them gave JC an injection before trying, without success, to wake him up. The second doctor turned to Mandi and put a hand on her arm, which she promptly pulled away.
"It�s a staph infection. I don�t know where it came from, but we�re on top of it."
Mandi sighed heavily and sat down again.
"But everything�s okay?"
The first doctor left and the second gave JC another injection.
"We�re working on getting his fever down. We�ll come back in a few hours to check on his progress, but we�re going to let him sleep for now."
Mandi rolled her eyes and made a face at him after he left.
"You didn�t answer me, jackass."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She sat alone on the uncomfortable plastic chair, her right leg crossed over her left, her shoulder length blonde hair falling over her face as she leaned forward to dig in her bag. She pulled out a magazine and slowly flipped through it, taking in all the useless fashion advice and "is he right for you" quizzes that these people find important. She didn�t want to be here. She would rather be reading, or writing in her journal, but she had to find something to pass the time. She was waiting.
The room was dark and the green glow of the heart monitor made it almost eerie feeling. She jumped a few inches out of her seat when JC�s body began to stir, and very quietly she called out to him.
"Jace? Are you awake?"
His voice sounded weak and small, and it broke her heart to hear his beautiful and strong voice sound so painful.
"Yeah... where are you?"
She leaned forward and touched his hand.
"I�m right here. Are you okay?"
His head shook back and forth slowly.
"I don�t feel very good. I thought you were going home."
She held his hand in both of hers, rubbing her thumb gently over his palm.
"I�m not going home."
"My arm hurts. It�s like... it has a big nail through it and it�s pinned to the bed. I can�t move it. I feel sick."
She brought his hand up to her soft lips and kissed his fingertips.
"They said you had some kind of infection... want me to get anyone?"
He shook his head again.
"No, don�t get anyone."
"K."
She smiled, trying her very best to put on a happy and brave face for him.
The second doctor chose that moment to burst in, without knocking, and pushed Mandi aside to examine JC.
"Good, you�re up. How do you feel?"
"Not very good. I can�t move my arm."
The doctor nodded solemnly and Mandi wondered why he couldn�t lighten up a little bit.
"We should probably take you down to ICU. Your arm doesn�t look so good."
Mandi�s expression grew panicked and she stood up from her seat.
"ICU? Is that really necessary? Is he going to be okay?"
The doctor helped JC onto a stretcher.
"It�s probably the best thing. Don�t worry. You�ll be out of here in two days, maybe three. I assure you. Say goodbye to your wife. We can only have visitors in the ICU at special times."
JC sighed heavily and laid back on the stretcher.
"Bye, Mandi... I love you."
"I love you too."
He waved to her as he was slowly wheeled out of the room and down to the ICU unit.
Mandi gathered up all her things, finally deciding to just go home and get some much-needed rest. She couldn�t be with JC anyway, what was the point in staying?
Walking slowly to the front desk, she slung her bag over her shoulder and pulled out her cell phone to call for a cab. There was no way she was getting behind the wheel. Her car was totaled, anyway. She thought she had done better at being brave this time. She hardly cried at all since she got out of the accident.
The accident... that was something she had to think about. The accident, and Robert. And whether or not it was actually an accident. Her thoughts consumed her attention until she noticed the hand sticking out in front of her face and the male voice asking for his money.
"Oh. Sorry."
She paid the driver and got out, dragging her bag up the steps and into the house, where she collapsed with exhaustion on the couch until the next morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whitney woke up early the next day and made breakfast for herself and Lance, who shuffled downstairs a few minutes later.
"Smells good."
"Thanks. You okay? You were tossing and turning all night."
Lance sat down slowly at the kitchen table and nodded, running his hand over his face.
"Yeah, I�m fine. I was just... thinking about everything."
She put a plate down in front of him and took a seat across the table.
"I still can�t believe it happened. And only a few days ago. Think Mandi is okay?"
"I don�t know," he yawned. "We should probably check."
Whitney picked up the phone and dialed the number while slowly eating her food.
Mandi woke up with a start at the ringing of the phone, and stumbled across the room to grab it off the hook.
"Hello?"
"It�s Whitney. Just checking on you."
"Oh, okay. I�m okay."
"Good. Need any help? How�s JC? Want us to come over?"
Mandi closed her eyes and put a hand to her head. Too many questions.
"He�s, um... he�s... you don�t have to come over, if you want... I mean, I�m perfectly fine."
Whitney gave Lance a look.
"JC�s what?"
"He�s... he�s fine."
"Oh, good. I was worried. We�ll come over a little later and from there we can go visit him."
Mandi nodded.
"Okay. I�m... I mean, I�ll be... I�ll be fine."
They both hung up and Mandi fell back on the couch, before being startled up once again by the ringing of the doorbell.
She stood up sleepily and pulled the door open, suddenly feeling one hundred percent awake.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Robert smiled nervously at her."
"Hi. Please don�t call anyone. I want to apologize. I�m sorry, Mandi. Please don�t press charges. I can�t afford any trouble."
"I don�t give a half-shit about what you can afford."
Robert�s eyes grew wide.
"You can�t do that to me. I don�t want to go to jail. I am your father. Promise you won�t tell on me."
"Why should I do that? I�m not promising you shit, Robert. And you�re not my father. You hardly qualify as a human being, never mind a father."
Robert�s hand raised as if to hit her and then fell back to his side.
"I can�t believe you said that to me! You�re the one that ruined my life. I don�t know how many times I�ve wished you were never born so I wouldn�t have to live this way."
"Then next time, try practicing safe sex. Then you won�t have another kid to ruin your life. I didn�t do anything to you and it�s not my fault that you can�t take care of your family."
"Well, we can make it right. You don�t say anything, and I�ll do something for you."
Mandi couldn�t believe how idiotic this was.
"I don�t want to make it right! I hate you! What could you possibly do for me?"
"What do you want?"
"There�s nothing you have that I want. You can�t bribe me. Why should I do anything for you? I want you to rot in hell. I�m not going to do you any favors."
Robert stepped closer, causing Mandi to take a step back.
"I think you will. Do you want to know why?
She nodded slowly.
"Because, Mandi. Because I can easily get rid of my only mistake."