Bet On It

by Elizabeth Perry

  I hear another scream, and then, I see the source.

  Beatrice runs, for her life it seems, towards a family of squirrels that are running towards a large oak tree in the water. Laci is behind her, running, slash being drug, with the leash wrapped around her wrist.

  “Fuck!” I drop Daisies leash and book it towards them. “Beatrice!” I shout, in my loudest, most stern voice.

  The dog slows down, enough for the leash to unravel slightly from Laci’s wrist, as she glances between the squirrels and me.

  The squirrels win her attention, and she breaks back out into a run.

  “Let go of the leash!” I shout to Laci, as I run at full speed until I am directly behind her.

  “I can’t. Its stuck.” She cries, pulling frantically at the fabric.

  “Dammit. Beatrice!” I roar, and the dog pauses. I grab the leash and twist it quickly off Laci’s arm before dropping it.

  “Fuck her.” I growl, pulling Laci back into my body as we hit the ground with an oomph, me breaking the fall for her as she lands on my body.

  I try to get my footing, but I can’t. We’re already on an incline, and the force of the fall has me rolling backwards.

  I throw out an arm, but it’s no use.

  I hear Beatrice splash into the water just a split second before Laci screams again, and we hit the water hard.

  I’m momentarily disoriented, but the second the water is over my head, my mind kicks back into gear.

  Laci managed to escape my embrace once we hit the water, and I kick with all my force towards the surface, panic setting in.

  What if she can’t swim? Stupid fucking dog.

  I snap towards the surface, my head spinning in all directions in a panic, when I see a blond head bob to the surface.

  She coughs, before her panicked eyes meet mine.

  I’m at her side in less than a second, wrapping one arm around her and pulling her body towards mine.

  “Holy shit. Are you ok?”

  One arm wraps around me as we kick towards the side of the lake together.

  “Yes.” She squeaks, before glancing over my shoulder towards Beatrice, who swims happily towards us, her tongue lapping water from the side as she goes.

  We make it towards the side of the lake, and once our feet touch, I slide my other arm underneath Laci’s legs and swing her up, carrying her the rest of the way out of the water.

  “Really, Jake, I’m fine. You can put me down.”

  I completely ignore her until I make my way fully out of the water. I carry her over to a small bench that sits at the top of the hill that we just rolled down, all thanks to the asshole dog that now wants to trot along right behind me.

  I sit her on the bench, watching her wince as she shifts her weight off her tailbone before crouching down in front of her and inspecting her.

  “What hurts?” I reach up, brushing her hair off her face, my blood boiling as I see the angry red scrape across her cheek.

  “Nothing, I’m fine.” She mutters, pulling back slightly from me, making me roll my eyes.

  She’s anything but fine. Her tank top is ripped in more places that I can even count, one of the straps almost completely shredded. Her shorts are just like her top, but add on stains that even a dip in the lake couldn’t wash off all over the front of them. I’m guessing the back looks even worse. Her arms are laced with cuts and scrapes in various stages, and her left wrist is swollen and in my opinion, obviously deformed.

  She swallows hard as her eyes dart away from me, as she tries to push herself off the bench to a standing position before crying out in pain.

  “The hell you’re fine.” I growl, before glaring at Beatrice who still, stands right next to us, wagging her tail as if she has no idea how much she just hurt the person nice enough to walk her.

  “Stupid mutt.” I mutter, before grabbing her lease and pointing my finger in her face. “Bad dog. Very bad dog.”

  She whimpers and hangs her head, as Laci surprises me by bursting out laughing.

  “I want to be so mad at her.” She shakes her head. “But how can I get angry at that face?”

  “She could have killed you!” I shout, motioning angrily at the dog. “You should have never decided to walk some random dog. You should have listened to me when I told you that she was an asshole. She could have drug you into the water with that leash still wrapped around your hand. Then what?”

  She winches again, before glancing between the dog and me. “Yes, but…”

  “But nothing. You shouldn’t just pick up some random dog and decide to hike through woods that you don’t even know. That was a stupid fucking idea.”

  Why I am so irate right now, I’m not even sure. But hell, I’m right, and judging by the face she makes? She knows it.

  But, she doesn’t cower to my words. Instead, she stands tall and glares at me.

  “You don’t get to talk to me like that. I don’t know who you think you are, but you are not the boss of me, got it? Yeah, maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but you don’t get to tell me what to do.”

  “I just rolled down a hill and fell into the lake, all trying to save your ass, and you have the nerve to get snotty with me? Jesus.” I mutter, before grabbing both dog’s leashes.

  “You are something else.”

  “I didn’t ask you to save me.” Her eyes cut at me before she snatches the leash out of my hands.

  I grab the leash right back and yank Beatrice towards me as Daisy trots over. I grab her leash in the same hand and take a few steps forward.

  “This is the part where you say thank you, in case you aren’t accustomed to civilized manners.”

  “Ugh!” She throws her arms down at her side, before crying out, her eyes widening as she grabs her left wrist in her hand.

  “Oh my god.” Her teeth fly to her lip as tears fill her eyes. I instantly feel like a major asshole for yelling at her, but damn. She is so freaking impossible sometimes.

  “Listen.” I force my voice to remain calm, even though on the inside, my blood is still boiling. “I think you may have broken your wrist.”

  Her eyes widen as she stares at her arm, with large red welts starting at her forearm and traveling down, to where her hand is ever so slightly going in the wrong direction. It could just be from swelling, but still. It looks awful.

  “We need to get back, and then I’m going to take you to the hospital. Daisy will walk without her leash. I doubt Beatrice will, but at this point, I’m totally ok with leaving her. We can forget this dog, and I can carry you.”

  “No.” she shakes her head firmly from side to side. “Walk her on her lease. I can walk.”

  “Are you sure?” I watch as she takes a few steps gingerly, before she nods.

  “Yes. I’m fine. Thank you.”

  I fight the urge to roll my eyes at yet another statement from her that she is fine. But I grab the dogs leash anyway, and keep one hand behind her back as we head back up the hill.

  Our pace is slow, Laci barely limping along, both of us wet and soggy, and her injured from our fall.

  It takes us almost an hour to get back to the shelter, and for the entire hour, not a single peep is uttered from her mouth.

  Which is fine by me. It took almost the entire hour just for me to get my anger in check so that I don’t explode.

  I’m pissed off at the world right now. At Laci, of course, for being a stubborn ass. I’m pissed off at Jessica for giving Laci Beatrice to walk, knowing full and well that sometimes she can be a total jerk.

  And I’m livid at the damn dog, who chooses now to walk along beside us and a nice slow pace.

  “Now that we know you aren’t pregnant, I’m able to give you some medicine for pain through your IV.” The nurse tells Laci, as she bites her lip and nods her head.

  “Thank you.” She murmurs, before she leans her head back against the pillows. “But you didn’t need to wait for a pregnancy test.” She shrugs slightly before glancing up at the nurse. “I could have
already told you there was no chance.”

  “Some people don’t show any pregnancy symptoms.” The nurse tells her, before glancing between the two of us. “It can go undetected for quite some time. It’s our protocol to run one on every female patient in their child bearing years.”

  “Oh.” Laci shrugs again. “Right, but, don’t you have to have sex in order to be pregnant?” She giggles slightly, her eyes suddenly glazing over as the medication is pushed through her IV.

  “Well, yes, unless you are the Virgin Mary.” The nurse says with a smile.

  She rests back against the pillows, and grins again. This time, it’s a wide, goofy grin that fills up her face, causing me to finally relax. I’ve been on total edge since the fall, actually, since the very moment that I realized she hadn’t yet made it out of the woods.

  We barely spoke a word as I loaded her into my car, before driving like a bat out of hell to the ER, and then tossing her into my arms and carrying her, while she yelled at me to put her down, straight through the ER doors and demanded that she be seen right now.

  I’m sure more than a few patients and staff members got a good show, and maybe even a few pictures, but I am so beyond caring about any of that right now.

  “Not the Virgin Mary.” Laci giggles again, speaking only to the nurse, almost totally unaware of my presence right next to her.

  “Just the virgin Laci.” Another large giggle leaves her, and the nurse grins wide before glancing over to me.

  “So, I guess I don’t need to tell you that sometimes, this kind of medication hits some people harder than others.”

  Laci continues to giggle, but I am definitely not laughing. Because I’m too busy sitting here, trying to absorb the words that she just said.

  Did she just say that she was a virgin?

  No. No fucking way did she say that. Or well, hell, she said it, but she can’t have possibly meant that. She was just referencing to the Virgin Mary. Right?

  I swallow hard, trying like hell to get my thoughts in check. She’s just drugged up, and saying ridiculous things.

  There is no way that she has never had sex.

  No fucking way.

  She’s got to be at least in her early twenties. I guess we never really spoke our exact ages, but still. I have never in my life met a woman at this stage of the game who hasn’t had sex yet.

  It seems impossible.

  Satisfied with the thought that she is just rambling, I sit back in my seat, and listen intently to the nurse.

  They are going to do some X-rays of her hand. Since she didn’t hit her head and doesn’t have any neck pain, they aren’t going to do any cat scans.

  “They will come in soon to take you down for your X-ray.” The nurse tells her, before opening the bag of fluid attached to her IV. “That might be a little bit painful for you, which is why we waited until you got some medicine for pain. After that, I can give you a little bit more if you need it, and then we need to get these open areas cleaned up so that they don’t get infected.”

  “Ok.” Laci’s eyes flutter closed as she leans her head back against the pillow.

  “Do you think that you would be able to roll onto your side before we do anything else? I need to see what kind of cuts, if any, you have on your back so I know what kind of dressing supplies I need to gather.”

  “Sure.” Her eyes stay closed.

  “Do you want your boyfriend to step out?”

  “My, what?” Her eyes open slightly, before another goofy grin flashes across her face. “Oh, no. He isn’t my boyfriend.”

  “No?” The nurse smiles up at me, and I grimace. I know that look. It’s one that says she is quite happy over the fact that we are not together.

  But while we may not be together, still. No fucking way am interested in her.

  Hell, no one really seems to interest me lately, which is totally out of character for me. The sad fact remains, that there is only one reason for any of that. And she’s curled up on an ER cart, looking like she has just left a boxing ring.

  “Ok, then, sir. I will just have you step out. You can stay right on the other side of the curtain. I’ll tell you when you can come back in.”

  I start to stand, as Laci’s eyes fly open. “Wait.” She glances up to the nurse, before grinning sheepishly. “Do I still have my panties on?”

  The nurse lifts the blanket before nodding.

  “He can stay.” Her eyes find mine, and she reaches out with her good hand. “Jake, will you stay? I need to be able to squeeze your hand if it hurts.”

  “Yes.” I engulf her tiny hand with my big one, and she squeezes, before turning towards the nurse.

  She cries out softly, as her gown is lifted, and in an instant, I see exactly why.

  There is just one scrape to her shoulder, that in the scheme of things, looks pretty mild compared to the rest of her. But that isn’t the reason that she gasps.

  “Holy shit.” I growl, as my eyes travel down her smooth skin, stopping just at her tailbone, where a very large and angry green and purple bruise mars her skin.

  “Oh, wow.”

  “Is that from the other day?” I demand, as Laci blinks slightly before nodding.

  “Yeah…”

  “I thought that you said he didn’t hurt you!” I’m shouting so loud that the nurse’s eyes widen, before she glances down at Laci.

  “Wait. This is old? What happened?”

  “Nothing, I just fell…”

  “Fell my ass. This is from Emilio, isn’t it? From when he knocked you over?”

  “Who is Emilio.” The nurse helps Laci roll back over, and her eyes are firmly fixed on the rest of Laci’s body. But mine? Are staring straight into hers.

  “It’s nothing.” Laci shakes her head. “I got knocked down the other day at work and landed on my butt. That’s what the bruise is from.”

  “Is Emilio a boyfriend?”

  “God no!” she exclaims, pulling her hand from mine. “He’s someone that I work with.”

  “You know,” the nurse starts. “I would be more than happy to have to social worker come into speak to you. If you need it, that is.”

  “Oh my god.” She groans, before frantically shaking her head. “No, I don’t need that. Like I said, he’s just a guy at work.”

  “A guy who should have never put his fucking hands on you.” I growl, before slamming my body back down into my chair.

  “Jake, you saw it. It wasn’t even like that.” She levels her gaze with mine, before glancing back up to the nurse. “It wasn’t like that. It was an accident. And I’m fine.”

  The nurse pauses, glancing between the two of us, before Laci smiles. “Do you mind giving us a minute here?”

  “Sure.” She nods, before looking at Laci one more time. “But like I said, the social worker would be more than happy to talk to you.”

  “Thanks, but I’m good.”

  “What the fuck are you doing?” she hisses, once the nurse is out of earshot. “Why are you freaking out like that? She thinks that I’m beaten, now, all thanks to you.”

  I swallow hard, trying my best not to explode. But dammit, that bruise on her back looks so fucking painful, and I’m so enraged right now, that I’m barely holding it together.

  “You told me that he didn’t hurt you.”

  “Why would I have told you that Jake? Why? I figured you were only asking so that you could go back to the rest of the guys and get a few more high fives.”

  “You really think that low of me, don’t you? You think that I would be happy that Emilio hit you hard enough that you have a gigantic fucking bruise on your body? Jesus, Laci. I’ve been an asshole in the past, but never on that kind of level.”

  She falls silent, before closing her eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I know now that you’re different. At least, I think that you are. But you need to understand. I was warned way ahead of time not to show any weakness to you guys. That’s why I didn’t say anything.”
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  “Fuck.” I mutter, anger still coursing through me. I don’t even know who I’m the angriest at right now. It’s just a combination of it all.

  “Listen.” I sigh. “I get it, ok? But, Laci, I’m not an asshole like the rest of the guys. And I definitely do not want to see you getting hurt.”

  My words slice through me, even as I say them, because, hell. I am the biggest asshole out of all the guys right now.

  No, I didn’t want to see her get hurt, but for fucks sake. I’m the one who took the damn bet to sleep with her. And knowing what I do now about her?

  Having sex with her in order for her to get fired would hurt her a hell of a lot more than a bruise to her ass.

  But I can’t admit any of that right now. She would certainly never speak to me again, and that is something that I just can’t have.

  She reaches for my hand, before taking it in hers. My eyes open, and meet hers, as she squeezes.

  “I know that now. And I’m sorry, ok?”

  I exhale long and slow, trying to force all of the negativity out of my system.

  “I’m sorry for freaking out. I just…I don’t like this, one bit.”

  “I really am fine. The bruise is healing, and I’m so doped up right now, that I don’t feel any pain at all.”

  She giggles again, and I can’t help but smile.

  “Alright, then, dopey. I will let the nurse know that you’re ready to go down for your X-ray.”

  My head is still foggy as Jake lifts me off the bed and places me in a wheelchair.

  “This is ridiculous.” I grumble, cutting my eyes at him. “I can totally walk.”

  He folds his arms across his chest, leveling his eyes with mine. “I already gave you two options. You chose the wheelchair.”

  “The other option was that you were going to carry me!”

  He just shrugs. “Offer still stands.”

  “You are such a pain in the ass.” I mutter, as Jake just grins up at the nurse. “I think she is going to stick with the wheelchair.”

  She laughs at him, as he flashes me his signature smile, dimples and all, before taking off towards the exit to get the car.