Second Chances - Unraveling Part 22

He chuckled. "I shouldn't have bothered. It tastes like sludge," he dropped the full cup into the trashcan.

I giggled. "Want some water?" I pointed to my second cup.

"I'm more of a Mountain Dew kind of guy," he said. "Or Gatorade, that's good too."

"Your kidney's must hate you," I slurred as sleep threatened to take me.

Jared seemed to see this. "Go to sleep, Katy. I'll be here when you wake up."

I believed him, because in the end, I trusted him.

I blinked my eyes open and morning light greeted me.

No nightmares.

I hadn't gone a single night without the nightmares since Preston raped me.

It must have been the drugs, or maybe, the man next to me had kept them away.

I looked down at Jared and knew he had to be uncomfortable. He was in the chair, with his arms and head resting on the bed, beside my legs. He was going to have a terrible crook in his neck, but he looked so peaceful, I almost hated to wake him.

Unfortunately, I really had to pee.

"Jared," I pushed his shoulder lightly. He groaned in his sleep, but didn't wake. "Jared," I said a little louder and pushed a little harder.

"Huh? What?" he came sputtering awake. He blinked owlishly. "Are you okay? Do I need to get a nurse?"

"No, silly," I said. "I need to pee, but you were holding down the covers and I couldn't get out."

"Oh," he said, scooting back in his chair. "My bad."

"It's fine," I said, sitting up in bed and wincing in pain.

"Katy!" he cried when he saw my wince.

"It's just my ribs, they're really sore," I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

I held my side as I slowly stood. Luckily, the nasty hospital gown was tied in the back.

I tiptoed the three feet or so I had to walk, into the bathroom. I closed the door and flicked on the light.

There was no mirror, probably so patients wouldn't have to look at themselves.

I sat down on the toilet and said through the door, "Jared, can you step out for a second?"

"Why?" I heard him growl.

I blushed. "I can't pee with you standing there, listening."

"Oh," he said. "I'll give you a minute."

"Thanks," I said.

As soon as I knew he was gone, my bladder emptied itself.

I washed my hands and was crawling back into the bed when Jared opened the door.

"Feel better?" he asked with a crooked grin.

"Much," I smiled.

"I talked to the nurse," he said, stretching his stiff back, "and she said the doctor should be in, in the next twenty minutes to check on you. If everything looks okay, you can go home."

"That sounds wonderful," I fiddled with the scratchy blanket.

Jared plopped into the chair. "Katy..." he trailed off.

"Yeah?" I looked over at him.

He leaned back in the chair and seemed to be contemplating something. Finally, he said, "I want you to stay with me for awhile-"

I opened my mouth to argue, but he shushed me.

"You're hurt, and it's going to be hard for you to get around. Let me help you," he pleaded, looking at me with round puppy dog eyes. He was not playing fair. I was putty in his hands when he looked at me like that.

"Jared I-"

"Please, Katy? The thought of you, alone, in that condo tears me up inside. All I'll do is worry. Please, stay with me."

I took a deep breath to center myself.

Honestly, the thought of having to hobble around at home, by myself, wasn't appealing.

"Okay," I whispered.

"Really?" his eyes lit up.

"Really," I nodded. "I'll just want to get some of my stuff."

"Of course," he replied with a grin.

His leg bobbed up and down as we waited for the doctor to make his rounds.

I wasn't looking forward to the doctor showing up, because I knew that meant he'd touch me. I shuddered at the thought alone.

"What's wrong?" Jared asked.

I knew there was no point in lying, not with Jared, so I said, "I don't want the doctor to touch me."

"Katy," he leaned forward and cupped my cheek. "I'll be right here with you. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know," I whispered and meant it. Jared made me feel safe, nothing, no one else, especially a man, had made me feel since my rape.

When the doctor came, Jared comforted me by holding my hand. He would nod rea.s.suringly at me, as the doctor looked me over, I locked my eyes on his and never looked away as the doctor poked and prodded me.

Jared centered me.

"Well," the doctor said, taping my ribs back up, "everything looks good, I'll get the discharge papers together and you should be out of here within the hour."

"Great, thanks," I said.

As soon as he was gone, I realized I didn't have any clothes, and voiced this to Jared.

He chuckled. "You've got plenty of clothes. I don't know how, but all the clothes you and Karlie bought, survived the crash unscathed."

"Really?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "They're in my car, I'll go grab a couple of bags and be right back."

"Thank you," I said, releasing his hand. "For everything that you've done."

"I haven't done nearly enough," he murmured and pressed his lips to my forehead before he left.

I pressed my fingers to my forehead, where his lips had been just moments before, and a smile spread across my face.

I was totally screwed when it came to Jared, because the heart wants, what the heart wants, and my heart wanted Jared.

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 G.o.d," 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 b.u.t.toned 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 s.h.i.+rt 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.