by B. A. Wolfe
“Your mom will be home tonight, right?” I asked him.
He peered down at me cautiously as we stood still in the bathroom. “Yes, why?”
“She’s a nurse so she can look me over. I don’t need to go to the hospital again,” I said. He took in a deep breath, narrowing his eyes as though he was thinking it over. He released his breath and started walking us out of the bathroom.
“Okay then, I can agree with that,” he answered. Yes, I won a small battle. “Don’t get too excited though. If she says you need to go back, then you’re going back.”
We continued back to the room I was staying in. I sat down on the bed and could feel the tension as he stood close to me watching every move I made.
“I’m not going to break Jason. I really am okay,” I tried to tell him, gazing down at my hands that were fidgeting nervously in my lap.
He cleared his throat and walked over to the bed, kneeling down in front of me. I couldn’t help but look down at him. “You must think I’m crazy,” he said, rubbing his hand over his scruffy face. “I just don’t like to mess around with this kind of stuff.” He said it so quietly that it was practically a whisper; almost as if he was uncomfortable telling me how much he cared.
“I’m not used to having someone take care of me or worry about me. I’ve never been in this sort of situation before, so I’m not taking this very well,” I confessed.
He closed his eyes for a split second and let out a long exhale. “I’m sorry no one has been there to take care of you,” he replied, finally moving to sit down next to me on the bed.
It made me sad that he felt the need to worry about me. Not having even known this guy for two full days, he was only the second person I’d ever met that I knew genuinely cared about me.
“Hey.” I turned my head toward him. “I don’t even know your full name.”
He looked at me while running his hand through his soft wavy hair. “Jason Dean Bradley,” he told me.
“I like it,” I said.
“What’s your full name Sweetheart?”
“Cassandra Elizabeth Pierce,” I revealed to him.
“I like your name,” he said in a low voice as he nudged my shoulder with his.
I could feel my lips curling up into a cheesy schoolgirl grin, and there was no stopping it. There was just something extraordinary about this guy, and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew I not only enjoyed it, hell, I admired it. I could bet money he was one of those guys who had a lot of friends and a lot of girls chasing him down. He was the guy everyone knew and loved to be around. He literally could light up an entire room, and erase any tension floating around.
“So do people call you J.D.?” I asked, curious about any nicknames he might have.
“No, definitely have never been called JD,” he told me with a slightly disgusted look on his face. Well then, I guess I would definitely not be calling him JD. “Do people call you Cassie?” he asked with a teasing voice.
“No, they don’t,” I said. I couldn’t deny I kind of liked it though.
“Well, that’s a bummer.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
He brought his face closer to mine, positioning his mouth by my ear. “Because it fits you, and your pretty face,” he whispered.
Cue the flutters that were going crazy in my stomach and the goose bumps that now covered my body. I didn’t know whether I should confess I was a mess, and he should stay as far from me as possible, or if I should shut up and embrace the compliment. It’s been a long time since I’ve received one that felt real, and that one did. Too real. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I flashed him a grateful smile and began to rebut his nickname choice for me. Before I knew it, I realized we had hung out the whole afternoon when both our heads turned to the sound of the front door unlocking and opening. I knew in an instant that it was his mother returning home from work. Our conversation ceased, and it was apparent that the ease from this afternoon was gone the moment we heard the door open. Jason quickly motioned with his finger that he would be just a moment and got up from the bed. He would be returning, with his mother to come look me over more, even though we both knew the real problem that was haunting me.
Five
WHILE JASON STAYED OUT of the room at Trish’s request, she sat on the side of my bed next to me. Her eyes were steady on me. I tried hard to stay calm, but my eyes looked at everything but her.
“Trish, p-please don’t say anything,” I pleaded with her, not wanting anyone else to know how much I messed things up.
She put her arm around my shoulders, “Sweetie, it’s patient confidentiality. I’m not allowed to. Not only that, I would never say anything. That’s your news to share.”
“Thank you,” I said with a deep sigh.
“I’ll tell Jason you’re fine and that you just had a rough couple of days, which you did,” she said. I was thankful she was on board with my request.
“In the meantime, ginger ale and crackers will help with the upset stomach. Help yourself; they are in the kitchen, and anything else you would like too. And don’t forget your vitamins,” she said, giving my shoulders a quick squeeze before getting up from the bed.
“I appreciate it Trish, I really do,” I told her.
“I’m glad you decided to stay here. I know Jason was worried about you, he said you were pretty scared when he found you.”
“I’m glad he was there to help,” I said, thinking about my ‘town rescuer’.
“Me too,” she said before walking out and leaving the door open behind her.
“See, I’m fine,” I announced to Jason as I saw him peeking around the corner once Trish finished telling him my ‘cover’ story.
He stood by the door, his arms crossed over his chest. “I guess,” he said, as if he didn’t believe his mother or me.
I couldn’t blame him, but it wasn’t something I was ready to tell the world. I yawned and put my hand over my mouth, covering the obnoxious face I made. Nothing is even remotely attractive about a yawn. I noticed Jason covering his mouth while he yawned.
“I didn’t sleep well in the motel as I’m sure you already knew,” I said, waiting for an ‘I told you so’, but it never came.
“I’m pretty tired too. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs, and my mom is just on the other side of the hall,” he informed me.
“Downstairs?” I questioned him, not knowing there was a basement. I never got that part of the tour. Some tour guide he was.
“Yeah, sorry I never got to show you. It’s probably best if I give you directions though,” he joked.
“I think I’ll be okay, but thanks.”
He was extremely persistent in making sure I knew how awful of a direction taker I was. I was never going to live this down, probably not even from Mel. MEL. Holy shit. I sat up in panic mode causing Jason to take a step back from the bed.
“Cassandra?” he asked, sounding apprehensive. I got up, pushed past him, and started for my luggage, hopeful it would be in there.
“My phone. I need to call my friend to let her know what’s going on Jason. Oh my God, she is probably freaking out. I was supposed to be there last night!” I told him, feeling my stomach multiply in knots as I thought about how worried Mel would be. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t think of this last night. For all I knew, she could have called the police, or worse, my family, to start a search for me. Oh no. This was too much to think about. My head began immediately throbbing as the room started slowly spinning like a merry-go-round. I watched as everything passed by me. My chest grew tighter; my breathing got shorter and soon far surpassed becoming rapid. It all hurt; the shortness of breath was too much for me.
“Whoa,” I mumbled as the walls around me were starting to slowly cave in. I felt hands on my shoulders and a voice speaking to me, but the thoughts of Melanie continued to take over my body and mind. Her name ran rampant through my mind. Melanie. Melanie. Melanie. It was all I could focus on. I was dropping lower and lower, u
ntil I felt myself being laid on the bed.
“Cassie…” I heard his voice more clearly as he continued to say my name while stroking the side of my face. “Cassie…”
The vision of his face was faintly coming into sight. I tried to focus on it and relax myself as best I could. A few moments later, his face was in full view, and I could finally catch a decent breath.
“That’s it, stay with me,” he said calmly, but the look on his face said he was ready to pack me up and either take me to the hospital or the looney house. I clearly scared him.
“I’m here, I’m here,” I said. “I think I just had a panic attack.” Unfortunately, I’d been having them more frequently these days.
“I’m going,” he started to say as I shoved my hand against his mouth, his lips touching the palm of my hand. His eyes got wide, and his head moved back while I kept my hand held against his lips.
“No, I am not going to the hospital!” I yelled to him. He calmly took my hand in his and lowered it to the bed, keeping a loose hold on it.
“I’m going to get you some water,” he said, slowly arching his eyebrows.
“Oh, sorry.” I was thoroughly embarrassed.
His hand finally let go of mine, and he left the room. Get it together, Cassandra. This was ridiculous and childish. I mean, what would my parents think of me if they saw me like this? They would for sure have me committed. Jason came back into my room after a few minutes carrying a large glass of water in one hand and something wrapped in a paper towel in the other. He set the water on the nightstand next to the bed and pulled his flip phone out of his pocket, setting it next to the water.
“Drink this and use that,” he said, peering down at me. I nodded my head in acceptance. “And eat this, no questions asked.” He handed me what was in his other hand. I opened it to find a sandwich.
“I will,” I told him.
“I’ll be downstairs. It’s the door in the back of the kitchen.”
“Thanks Jason, again.”
“You’re welcome.”
Once he left the room and closed the door behind him, I nearly drowned myself in the water. It never tasted so good. I put the finished glass down on the nightstand and ate my sandwich. Something so simple was entirely too satisfying. I put the empty paper towel aside and picked up his flip phone. I was just not going to get over his phone. I flipped it open to a small screen with the time and date in the corner and a picture in the middle. I brought the phone to my face to look more closely at the picture, being that the screen was smaller than the phones I was used to. The picture was of a tree, a large one. Squinting more I could tell that it looked damaged. Oh My God, you have got to be kidding me. I shook my head in utter shock that he would take this picture, and then of course let me see it on his phone, knowing darn well I would notice it. He was undeniably atypical in all the right ways.
When I was done being amused with the tree on his screen I navigated my way through his phone. I reached the contacts, and I was starting to feel a little too invasive. I wanted to know more about this stranger who was hardly a stranger any longer. He was too intriguing. He looked about my age if not a couple years older, he lived at home, and he had a life that I was not used to seeing. I wanted to understand it. I wanted to know if he had siblings, a girlfriend, a best friend, and then I wanted to investigate his photo albums. But, I knew deep down that I had to stop. The line would be crossed in bright red if I didn’t back off now. This Cassandra would have never let a stranger’s phone that fell into her inquisitive hands go unturned, but this felt wrong. A family I didn’t know, a guy I barely knew, welcomed me with open arms into their home, cared for me, and let me hang on to his phone without hesitation. I wanted to be like them and not question every little thing. I didn’t want to be intrusive. Letting out another breath, I decided that I did well on closing out of the contacts icon and instead started to dial Mel’s number.
On the second ring, Mel answered the phone sounding terrified. “Hello?”
“Mel, it’s me.” I started choking up just hearing her voice. I wanted so much to be with her right now. I was supposed to be with her in her warm embrace right now.
“Oh my God, Cassandra, where in the hell are you? I’ve called every hospital from Alamosa to Boulder. Please tell me you aren’t in some ditch on the side of the road. I was just getting ready to report you missing. What’s going on? Are you okay? Where is your phone? Whose phone is this?” She spouted off question after question until she ran out of breath.
“I don’t even know where the hell I am. My GPS got me lost apparently. They said I’m like 4 hours from Alamosa, my tire blew out, I hit a tree with my car, I ended up at the hospital, they thought I had a concussion, I went to a rat infested motel last night, I was exhausted beyond words and forgot to call you, then I came home with this family, I’m staying in their spare bedroom, I can’t find my phone, this is Jason’s phone I’m using, and my car is in the process of getting fixed,” I spewed out to her until I ran out of breath and had to stop to catch it.
“What?” she asked confused.
“Exactly,” I said just as confused as she was. We sat on the phone for what felt like forever in silence, but I’m sure it was only a minute or so. Trying to get a grip on what happened.
“I’m coming to get you, can you please find out where you are?” She finally asked, breaking the silence between us.
“What about my car, Mel?” I reminded her.
“We’ll come back to get it. Cassandra, right now, I just want you safe with me,” she said hastily.
I held the sobs back that were ready to escape. Just hearing that she was ready to jump in a car tonight to come and get me was enough for me to remember exactly why this girl was my best friend and my sister. Even if not blood related, she was family enough for me.
“Who’s this Jason guy and what family are you staying with?” she asked eagerly.
I wasn’t surprised she asked, in fact, it would be the first thing I would ask her if she were in this predicament. I began to think about Jason and this family I was staying with, and I could tell a smile was spreading across my face. They were nothing like my own and I was pretty sure I was more than okay with that.
“Well, are you locked up in some basement, Cass? Do I need to call the cops?” she asked quickly and frantically. I must have stayed deep in thought too long.
“No, Mel, not at the moment anyway,” I tried to reassure her. “Jason’s the one who saw me crash and called the cops and ambulance to come to the scene of the accident. Then I was taken to the hospital.” I paused after hearing her gasp. “I’m six weeks.”
“That’s okay. We’ll figure out that stuff when you get here,” she said calmly.
She clearly couldn’t see me, but it felt good to hear the reassurance from her. “My nurse just so happened to be Jason’s mom. They offered me their spare bedroom to stay in while my car…” I stopped to shake my head in anger. I still had a hard time accepting what happened yesterday.
“It’s okay, Cass,” she said in a soft voice.
I swallowed my anger back and continued. “While my car gets fixed, but I don’t even know how long that will be. They said the parts aren’t in stock, and I’m positive it needs major body work,” I said in frustration. I could hear Mel doing the same on her end of the phone while we just sat there in silence again.
“Where are you at? I’m coming to get you,” she stated.
I looked around the room I was in. It was a luxury hotel compared to the motel I stayed in last night. The Cassandra I used to be would have NEVER in a million years stayed in a stranger’s house, but there was something about this family I couldn’t help but feel at ease around. Now was my chance to speak up and have Mel either come get me out of this town or hold my peace and accept that I was staying here with complete and utter strangers until my car was fixed. I took a deep breath in and pulled the phone down from my ear, looking at the picture of the damaged tree on the screen once more. It wa
s weird and truly out of character, but I was going to stay. I put the phone back up to my ear and told Mel my decision.
“Like hell you are, I’m coming to get you right now. Give me the address,” she demanded.
“I’m fine here. This family, oddly enough, is genuinely kind, and I’ll be okay, honestly. I promise to call you every day, as soon as I find my phone that is,” I said, peering around my room wishing the damn thing would appear out of thin air.
“Are you serious, Cass?” she asked, sounding upset. “Can you rent a car maybe?”
I never thought about that, but with the town being as small as it is, I doubt they had one. “I have to use all the extra money I have to pay for the repairs on my car. I couldn’t afford one even if they did have a place.”
“So you’re staying with this family then? I don’t feel right about this.”
“I’m sure. I’ll be okay. You have Jason’s number. I called you on his phone remember?”
“Oh yes, and I intend to call it every day until you are back on the road,” she sassed. “What’s their last name? I need this information in case–in case of an emergency.”
“It’s Bradley. I’ll call you tomorrow then?”
“I guess, Cass. You aren’t giving me any other choice,” she said, sounding defeated. “You okay otherwise?”
I knew where she was going with this question, and I was glad she asked in a roundabout way; I wasn’t ready to accept anything yet. “Eh, okay, I suppose. Not great, that’s for sure,” I told her the truth.