Water under the Bridge

by Sherryl Hancock

  Chapter 3

  The next day, as Jet zipped around yet another car, cussing at them as she did, Fadiyah looked over at her. She watched as Jet’s hand tapped agitatedly and saw that she was singing the music that was on as well. She’d already consumed two cups of coffee and was now drinking a Monster Java energy drink and she was still on edge.

  “Perhaps next time we should make the appointment before you run out of Adderall…” Fadiyah commented.

  Jet glanced over at her, and grinned. “That’s always the plan babe,” she said.

  “But it did not go that way?” Fadiyah queried, blinking innocently.

  Jet laughed. “It never does!” she exclaimed. “Sucky thing about ADHD is you can’t remember to make the appointment for the thing that you need to get to take to help you remember.”

  “How often do you need to go?” Fadiyah asked, pulling out the iPhone that Jet had gotten her a few weeks back.

  Marcel and Todd watched from the back seat of the Maserati, interested in how things were going to go in this case. Their daughter was usually quite difficult when it came to being managed or chided for mistakes. So far Jet had shown absolutely no ire toward Fadiyah the entire week they’d been around the couple, it amazed them.

  Jet looked over at Fadiyah and grinned. “Are you gonna schedule an appointment to remind me to make the appointment?”

  “That is my plan, yes,” Fadiyah said, nodding as she opened the calendar function on the phone. She was still getting used to how it worked.

  Jet chuckled. “That’s cute, babe, but I have a reminder on my calendar. I just forget right after that.”

  Fadiyah pursed her lips. “Then perhaps I should make the appointment for you.”

  Jet looked over at her. “Are you taking care of me?” she asked, raising a black eyebrow.

  Fadiyah looked over at her, her look considering. “Yes, I am,” she said finally, nodding.

  Jet smiled softly. “Okay.”

  Marcel and Todd exchanged a shocked look, their daughter was definitely changing.

  Two days later they really saw how much Jet had changed. Jet came home from work early; her back had been bothering her all day so she’d taken part of the day off. When she walked into the house it was eerily quiet. Walking upstairs she looked around and then went into their bedroom. Fadiyah was lying in bed, which was shocking because she was usually up when Jet left.

  “Babe…” Jet said softly. She walked over to the bed and reached out to touch Fadiyah’s face. “Oh, honey, you’re burning up.”

  She sat down on the bed, looking down at Fadiyah who was shivering.

  “What’s going on babe?” Jet asked. “What hurts?”

  “My… head… and… my stomach,” Fadiyah said, her voice hesitant.

  “Okay,” Jet said, nodding. “Did you take anything?”

  Fadiyah shook her head.

  “Okay, let’s at least get some Tylenol into you for that fever and it might help the headache too… How bad is the pain?”

  Fadiyah shrugged.

  “Okay, let’s say on a scale from one to ten, one being no pain, ten being the worst you’ve ever felt.”

  “About five,” Fadiyah said then.

  “Okay, let me get you some Tylenol,” Jet got the medicine and helped Fadiyah sit up to take it.

  She then kicked off her boots and removed her holstered weapon. She lay down next to Fadiyah pulling the girl into her arms and holding her. Fadiyah huddled against Jet, her hand grasping at her shirt.

  “It’s okay, baby girl, I got you…” Jet said, stroking Fadiyah’s hair.

  They lay that way for a few of hours. At one point Jet heard the doorbell and knew it was her parents, they’d come to take them to dinner. The bell rang a couple of times.

  “Use your key, Dad…” Jet muttered.

  She heard the key in the door shortly thereafter.

  “Jet?” Todd called.

  “Upstairs, Dad!” Jet called back.

  Todd and Marcel walked into the bedroom a few moments later.

  “What’s wrong?” Marcel asked, sounding alarmed.

  “Fadiyah’s not feeling well,” Jet said. “We’re gonna have to reschedule dinner.”

  “No problem,” Todd said. “Do you want us to stick around though, just in case?”

  Jet considered the thought, then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks.”

  “We’ll be downstairs,” Marcel said. He saw the way Jet was holding Fadiyah and felt very moved by it.

  An hour later Fadiyah’s pain stepped up. She was actually writhing in pain.

  “Okay, show me what hurts babe, where does it hurt?” Jet asked patiently.

  Fadiyah touched her lower right abdomen.

  Jet nodded. “Okay, time to go to the hospital,” she said, moving to get up and pulling on her boots.

  “Jet, it is okay…” Fadiyah said, shaking her head.

  “No, babe, it’s not,” Jet said. “We need to go. Let’s get you dressed.”

  Jet gently and carefully helped Fadiyah put on a dress that wouldn’t bind her stomach and then called down to her father.

  “Dad, we need to go to the hospital, we need to use the Range Rover, will you drive?”

  “Of course, do you need help?”

  “No, I’ve got her,” Jet said, carefully picking Fadiyah up. Fadiyah moaned softly. “I’m sorry babe, I’ve got you, hold on to my neck, okay?”

  Jet carried Fadiyah down the stairs, Marcel waited there with a throw from the couch and was holding the door open for Jet.

  “Thanks,” Jet said to her mother. “Can you lock up for me?”

  “Of course.” Marcel nodded, hiding her surprise that Jet obviously wanted her to go to the hospital as well.

  On the way to the hospital, Jet sat in the back seat with Fadiyah on her lap. Marcel could hear her talking to the girl.

  “It’s okay baby girl, it’s okay, we’re almost there, just hold on to me, okay, it’s okay…”

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” Fadiyah whispered at one point.

  “You won’t hurt me, honey, it’s okay, you squeeze as hard as you need to, okay?”

  “You would not hold my hand in Iraq…” Fadiyah said softly.

  “That was different,” Jet said, grinning. “I would have broken your hand then.”

  “I do not want to hurt you now…” Fadiyah said.

  “Shhh… Honey, you won’t hurt me, I promise…” Jet said, kissing her forehead gently.

  When Todd pulled up to emergency, Jet looked at him. “Get someone, please.”

  Todd nodded, responding to the authority in his daughter’s voice.

  He came back with a doctor a few minutes later, and opened the back passenger door where Jet sat.

  “What have you got?” the doctor asked.

  “Twenty-year-old female, good health, she’s had a fever all afternoon, and now she’s having pain in the lower right abdomen.”

  “Do you still have your appendix?” the doctor asked.

  Fadiyah looked at Jet.

  “Yeah, I’m sure she does,” Jet said.

  “Okay, we need to get her in,” the doctor said moving to take Fadiyah out of Jet’s arms. Fadiyah immediately recoiled from him.

  “I got her,” Jet said, shifting so she could get out of the vehicle still holding Fadiyah in her arms.

  The doctor looked surprised, but nodded and led the way into the ER. He took them over to a bed and told Jet to lay Fadiyah down. Jet did, but stood next to the bed, holding Fadiyah’s hand and smoothing her thumb over her forehead.

  “Miss, you’re going to need to—”

  “Yeah, I’m not moving,” Jet said. “And you need to go get a female doctor. She’s Shia and can’t be examined by you, doc.”

  “But miss…” the doctor began again.

  Jet held up her badge. “Just get me a female doctor, now. She’s not being left alone with anyone in this place, but me, it’s as simple as that.”
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br />   Finally the doctor nodded, looking quite put out but he left the room to find a female doctor. When the female doctor came in, she looked shocked by Jet’s presence, but she moved to the other side of the gurney to examine Fadiyah. The entire time the doctor checked her, Jet kept brushing her thumb across Fadiyah’s forehead, her face right down to Fadiyah’s, talking to her.

  “It’s okay babe, it’s okay, they’re going to take care of you.”

  The doctor called for an ultrasound and had a nurse come in to draw blood. Jet continued to talk to Fadiyah the entire time, and Jet’s parents watched every minute.

  “I’m fairly sure this is an appendicitis and we need to remove it now before it ruptures,” the doctor told Jet. “Who is responsible for this girl?”

  “I am,” Jet told the doctor.

  “Does she have insurance?” she asked then.

  “I’m her insurance, do what you have to do, I’ll take care of the bill,” Jet said sharply.

  “But,” the doctor began, thinking that if Jet was just a cop she certainly didn’t make the kind of money the surgery would cost.

  “Take care of her now,” Jet said, her tone dropping an octave. “Or they’ll need to do surgery on you next.”

  The doctor hurried away, even as Todd walked over to Jet.

  “Honey we can help with the bill if—”

  “I got it, Dad, don’t worry,” Jet said, moving to touch Fadiyah’s face again.

  “Honey, they’re going to do surgery, it’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

  “Jet?” Fadiyah said, sounding scared.

  “Baby, I’m right here,” Jet said, touching her face again. “I’ll right here till they take you up, okay?”

  She glanced at the nurse who came in to prep Fadiyah for surgery. “Can you give her a sedative? I don’t want her to freak here…”

  The nurse looked over at Jet and then looked at Fadiyah. She nodded. “I need to start an IV, so we’ll put something in that, okay?”

  “Great, thank you,” Jet said, smiling warmly at the woman.

  A couple of minutes later, the nurse put the IV in, and Fadiyah looked afraid. Jet bent over her. “Just look at me babe… It’s okay, it’ll just be a little stick and then it won’t hurt, okay… Look at me babe… Look at me…”

  Fadiyah’s eyes flickered when the needle pierced her skin, but then Jet could see that she was growing tired almost instantly.

  “I love you honey… I’ll be right here, okay? Right here.”

  Before they moved to wheel Fadiyah out, Jet looked at the doctor. “No men in the room with her at any point in time,” she told the doctor. “I mean that, I’ll have someone’s ass if I hear anything different.”

  “We understand Islamic customs, ma’am,” the doctor said, nodding.

  “Good, adhere to them,” Jet said.

  After Fadiyah was wheeled away, Jet grimaced and moved to sit in the nearest chair. Her back had been screaming at her for hours, but she didn’t want Fadiyah to see that, she knew the girl would focus on her instead of taking care of herself.

  “Jet, are you okay?” Marcel asked, moving to her daughter’s side.

  “Nothing a side of mustard wouldn’t help…” Jet muttered.

  “What?” Marcel asked, glancing up at Todd.

  “I feel like a damned pretzel right now,” Jet said, leaning forward to put her chest to her thighs to try and stretch her back.

  “How about a muscle relaxant?” the male doctor from earlier asked, having seen Jet struggling.

  “Nah, thanks doc. I need to be alert when she comes out of surgery, but thanks.”

  “Let me know if you change your mind,” the doctor said, nodding to Jet’s parents.

  Over the course of the next hour, Marcel and Todd saw that Jet was indeed agitated and worried. She got up and paced, even if every so often she winced when she moved wrong. When the doctor finally came out to talk to them, she told them that the surgery went well and that there were no complications.

  “Okay, where is she now?” Jet asked.

  “She’s in recovery, in a private room,” the doctor said, her look pointed.

  “Good,” Jet said, nodding. “And there will be no male nurses in the room at any time, right?”

  “Right,” the doctor replied. “We do have protocols in place for Islamic sensitivities.”

  “Well, I know it might have been a little confusing, since she doesn’t wear the hijab or abaya or anything. So…”

  “It’s okay, we know now and it’s been noted on her chart.”

  “When can I see her?” Jet asked then.

  “I’d like to give her some time to come out of the anesthesia…” the doctor began.

  “Yeah, that’s the part I’m worried about. She’s never been in a hospital before, and she’s going to be freaked out if I’m not there when she wakes up.”

  “Alright,” the doctor said, nodding. “Since she’s in a private room you won’t bother other patients, so I’ll take you back,” she said, motioning to all of them.

  Jet followed the doctor into the room, and Jet immediately went to Fadiyah’s side. She was still unconscious. Turning around, Jet pulled a chair over to the side of the bed, and sat down. Her parents sat in chairs near the end of the bed.

  It was another hour before Fadiyah came out of the anesthesia, and as Jet had expected, she became very upset and called for Jet immediately. Jet was up and out of the chair instantly, her hand on Fadiyah’s cheek, her voice soothing.

  “I’m here, babe, right here…”

  “Jet… Jet…” Fadiyah gasped, reaching for Jet’s hand.

  “What is it honey? Are you hurting?”

  Fadiyah nodded, her eyes staring up at Jet.

  Jet reached down pushing the call button for the nurse.

  “Okay, I’ve called the nurse, try to relax babe…” Jet said, lowering her lips to Fadiyah’s cheek. “Breathe slow honey… It’s okay… I’m right here… Just breathe for me babe… Nice and easy… It’s okay…”

  The nurse came in looking at Jet.

  “She needs pain meds,” Jet told the nurse, without looking at her.

  “Ma’am, we can’t—”

  “Just get ahold of the doctor and get her out of pain,” Jet snapped.

  The nurse jumped, but nodded and left the room.

  It took another ten minutes, but the nurse finally came in with a syringe and put it into the IV. Fadiyah relaxed immediately, as did Jet. Even though she was out of pain, it was obvious that Fadiyah was restless.

  “What is it honey?” Jet asked her gently. “What can I do?”

  Fadiyah started to turn over on her right side.

  “No, babe don’t,” Jet said, touching Fadiyah’s shoulder to stop her.

  Fadiyah reached out to take Jet’s hand and pulled at her.

  “I need you close…” Fadiyah whispered.

  Jet smiled softly. “Okay, honey, okay.”

  Jet looped her foot around the leg of the chair she’d been sitting in and pulled it closer to the bed. Sitting down, she leaned her upper body in close to Fadiyah. She took Fadiyah’s hand in hers, tucking it into her arm leaning on the bed, and put her other hand to Fadiyah’s hair, stroking it soothingly.

  Once again Marcel and Todd watched the two women, and were astounded by their daughter’s tenderness. They left a few minutes later, telling Jet that they’d be back the next day.

  Jet slept with her hand still in Fadiyah’s, waking only when the nurses came in to check Fadiyah’s blood pressure and pulse.

  The next day, Fadiyah was released from the hospital, and she was told to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. Marcel said that she’d be happy to stay at the house to make sure that Fadiyah was looked after when Jet had to go back to work. As they were checking Fadiyah out, they handed Jet the bill. She looked at it then pulled out her wallet, taking out a credit card and handing it to the woman checking them out. Todd and Marcel exchanged a conc
erned look. Fadiyah saw their look, and looked over at Jet. The woman handed Jet’s credit card back, and she put it away, then signed the paperwork.

  Once done, the woman handed all of the paperwork over to Jet. Jet gave them to Fadiyah, so she could push the wheelchair Fadiyah was in. Fadiyah glanced at the numbers on the receipt that was stapled to the papers, she was sure she saw that the bill was over $100,000. She glanced up at Jet who was looking ahead of them. She decided not to say anything, but she knew that Jet had just paid a very expensive bill and without any sort of concern by the looks of it.

  Later that day, Fadiyah and Jet were lying in bed resting. Fadiyah reached out to touch Jet’s shoulder.

  “Jet…” Fadiyah said softly.

  “Hmm?” Jet murmured, glancing up at Fadiyah.

  “I am concerned,” Fadiyah said hesitantly.

  Jet moved to sit up, looking back at Fadiyah. “About what, babe?”

  Fadiyah hesitated, but was determined to ask what she wanted to know. “About the hospital bill…”

  “You don’t need to worry about that, babe,” Jet said.

  “But Jet, it was so much!” Fadiyah said, her voice concerned.

  “I’ve got it covered, babe, okay?” Jet said.

  “It is too much, Jet,” Fadiyah said, shaking her head.

  “Well, they can’t put your appendix back in, so…” Jet said, grinning.

  Fadiyah gave her a narrowed look. “You know that is not what I mean.”

  “Can you please just believe me when I tell you I have it covered?”

  “Only if you will tell me how,” Fadiyah said.

  “I have a trust fund,” Jet said.

  “What is a trust fund?” Fadiyah asked.

  “It’s money that my grandfather left me when he died. It’s in something called a trust, which is basically an account that I was only allowed to access after I turned eighteen.”

  “How much did your grandfather leave you?” Fadiyah asked, still looking concerned.

  Jet put her forefinger to the bridge of her nose. “Well, he left me a million, but that was a long time ago…”