by Meltem Y. K
CHAPTER 10
When the ambulance arrived at the hospital Jayna was waiting for them. She ran over to meet Ethel and John, and sat with them in the waiting area while the doctors worked on Pavlina.
“How did you know that something was wrong with Pavlina,” asked Ed.
“I thought I would check my email before I went to bed and found one from Pavlina. It sounded frightening to me. She was not in a good frame of mind, I called her cell; it was turned off. I would gladly have taken whatever reprimand you would throw my way if I had woken you up for nothing. I just had to be sure that she was fine, so I called the house number and talked to you,” Jayna explained.
“One of the paramedics found an empty bottle of Tylenol by her bed. It looks like she took the entire bottle. Honey, she tried to kill herself and almost succeeded. They are pumping her stomach now, but she isn’t out of the woods,” Ethel whispered.
Pavlina’s mother had a hard time keeping it together. She was oscillating between crying and sobbing.
“Why would she want to kill herself?” John asked.
“Mr. and Mrs. Pek, Pavlina had a very rough day. I was with her when she found out that she is pregnant.”
Ethel and John gasped at Jayna’s announcement.
“I am sorry that there is no easy way to break the news to you. I asked her to think about her options when I dropped her off this afternoon. She is devastated. She is embarrassed and disappointed in herself for being irresponsible. Darren broke up with her, too. They had a whirlwind romance, and now it’s over, plus she is pregnant. All of this was too much to handle.”
Ethel and John were speechless. Their whole world had come crushing down on them. John got up from his seat and was pacing in the waiting room, absorbed in his own private thoughts. Ethel resumed her crying and held a tissue to her eyes.
Jayna sat quietly and tried to keep calm. She couldn’t fall apart too. She wished she could find out how Pavlina was doing.
“Mrs. Pek, I am just going to close my eyes for a few minutes while we are waiting” she said. Ethel nodded and closed her own eyes and leaned back, resting her head against the wall; John continued his pacing.
As soon as Jayna closed her eyes she shifted into the Astral plane. Ethan was right there, sitting beside her.
“Ethan, you are here.”
“I told you I would be with you. You did well telling her parents the truth.”
“Do you have any idea how Pavlina is doing?”
“Her heart stopped; they had to shock her. She is back in her body fighting for her life.”
“Can we peak in?”
“They are pumping her stomach; it’s not pretty in there.”
“Do you think she’ll make it?”
“I’m positive. She wanted to know the gender of the baby. It’s a girl. I asked the Masters if they would allow her to see her baby, and they did.”
“She saw her baby?” Jayna was incredulous.
Ethan nodded. “Yes, she did, and that is the reason that she will choose life.”
“I am scared for her. What if she doesn’t make it?”
“You need to have more faith,” Ethan said. “Remember how your emotions will amplify and affect the people around you?”
“Right, it’s just that so much has happened in the last two days since I met you.”
Ethan gave her a hug. “You are a lot stronger than you think.”
“Does anyone know what the future holds for us?” she asked.
“The future is shaped as people make daily decisions; it’s never written in stone, but some of the bigger stuff is destiny.”
“That’s deep. So, we don’t fight any demons tonight?” Jayna asked.
“No, tonight we fought to save two lives.”
The doors opened and a doctor came towards them.
“I better pop back in my body. Please, stay with me.”
“No worries; I’m not going anywhere,” Ethan reassured her.
The doctor came up to Pavlina’s parents. Jayna opened her eyes and touched Ethel’s arm to get her attention.
“Hi, I am Dr. Edwards; I am treating your daughter, Pavlina.”
“How is she doing, Doctor?” Ethel asked.
“We pumped her stomach and got her hooked up to an I.V. She will be taken to the Intensive Care Unit shortly. We don’t expect her to wake up soon; she will sleep for a while. A nurse will show you to her room once she is settled in there.”
John and Ethel thanked the doctor and turned to Jayna.
“You should go home, Jayna. It doesn’t sound like she is going to wake up right away. You can come back tomorrow.”
“Okay, Mr. Pek; I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As soon as Jayna was in her car she immediately shifted into the Astral plane. Ethan was sitting in the passenger seat beside her.
“Hi” Jayna said, looking very relieved that Ethan was with her.
“Hi.”
“I guess you don’t need a seatbelt, eh?”
“No. Don’t worry, cops won’t be able to see me and stop you,” Ethan joked.
“I wish I could see you when I am in the physical plane,” Jayna said.
Ethan smiled mysteriously. “Maybe, one day, you will.”
Jayna shifted back into her body, started the car and drove away from the hospital parking lot. The ride home was about fifteen minutes. Even though Jayna could not see Ethan she still turned her head and looked at the empty seat beside her to address him.
“I’ve had a really rough day and an even rougher night. I would much rather fight a three headed demon than watch my friend die. Thanks for all your help tonight.”
Jayna fiddled with the radio then turned it off. She didn’t really want music, she was just fidgeting.
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you for a wonderful time last night, I never thought that I would swim with dolphins and ride unicorns all in one night. I am having a hard time adjusting to all the ups and downs of my new life. Nothing ever is just normal, I am swinging between extremes of great and wonderful and lows of unbearable pain. I don’t know how to make this normal. I guess I have to accept the fact my life will never be normal again. This is a lifestyle I could not imagine in a million years.”
A few more minutes and they were home.
“I just have to let my parents know that I am home.”
Jayna parked her car in the driveway. “This is the first time you are coming in from the front door. You know where my room is; will you wait for me there?”
They walked into the house together. Jayna couldn’t speak out loud anymore. Her parents would hear the noise and wonder who she was talking to. She walked upstairs and gently knocked on her parents’ door. Her mom called with a sleepy voice.
“Come in.”
Jayna opened her parents’ bedroom door a crack and spoke softly, “I am home, mom.”
“How is Pavlina?” Grace asked.
“She is in intensive care now. They pumped her stomach. Her parents are there, but I think they were going home too. The doctor said that it would be a while yet before she wakes up.”
“Okay, hon. You have school tomorrow, you should go to bed.”
“Today was the last day of classes. I can sleep in tomorrow. Good night.”
“Good night, honey.”
Jayna went to her room, took her pajamas - lavender set tonight - and changed in the bathroom since Ethan was waiting for her in her room. She brushed her teeth, then her hair and tiptoed back to her room, crawled into bed and immediately shifted to the Astral plane.
Ethan was lying down on her bed, his feet crossed, his hands behind his head. When he saw Jayna in her Astral form, he got up.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” Jayna echoed feeling a bit awkward.
“I was waiting for you here. Hope you don’t mind I used your bed.”
“No, that’s fine.” Jayna was a bit nervous; she was alone with a boy, in her room, in the middle of the night… “I am exhausted, but
I don’t want to sleep. I would much rather spend my time with you.”
As soon as the words spilled out, Jayna was sorry she said them. Darren had broken up with Pavlina, because she was too clingy. Is that what she was doing, the very same thing that had caused another couple to break up?
“You don’t ever have to worry about that.” Ethan pulled her close and kissed her - a very soft kiss that erased Jayna’s doubts and reassured her.
“Would you like to check up on Pavlina?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
Jayna held out her hand to Ethan; in the next instant they were in Pavlina’s I.C.U. room. Pavlina was hooked up to several machines and was pale.
“I’ll be here in the morning, Pav,” Jayna said even though her friend could not hear her. “Sleep tight.”
“Shall we go?” Ethan asked.
“Sure.”