by Mertz, L.
“Well, I guess I should be thanking you for a night out,” he says.
“Yeah, well, I had a good time. I know that we didn’t get to see too much, but there’s always next time.”
“Definitely a next time. I’ll watch you get into your building then I’ll head home. Good night and sweet dreams, Kelsey, and thank you again,” he says and gives me a quick kiss.
“Good night, Johnathan.” I turn and start walking into my building and turn to him, smile and wave. He waits until I get into the elevator before he leaves. Leaning my head back on the wall, I think about tonight and how much fun I had with him and I know that my head is going to be full of sweet dreams.
Johnathan
As I head to my condo building I think over the night we just had. It was a great date. I pull out my phone and check to see what time it is. It isn’t too late, but I’m exhausted from being on the road for the past ten days. I’m glad for this one day break. I have the full day off tomorrow and then it’s back to work. Kelsey was so cute when she got all embarrassed. I’m glad that the officer was a fan or he probably would have made us leave. I turn down the block and don’t notice the guy standing on the corner until I accidently bump into him.
“Oh, sorry, man. I didn’t see you there,” I say to him and start to walk around him.
“What do you mean you didn’t see me? Am I invisible to you, man? Well am I? I asked you a question,” he starts shouting at me.
“Sorry, dude. I really didn’t mean to bump you, I tell him again raising my hands up in surrender. I don’t know what his issue is, but I don’t want anything physical to happen. I just want to get to bed.
“Man, shut up. I’m so sick of you little rich boys thinking that you can just move on into our area. I’ve been here my whole life. You,” he looks me up and down, “you’ve only been here what a few days. Please, you need to go, but before you do, give me your money. I know you have some and I need some, so hand it over.”
I grab for my wallet out of my back pocket and that was my first mistake. I turned slightly to my left and that’s when I felt it. It was a knife and it stabbed me in the right side of my back. I have never felt pain like that ever, not even when I got stuck under the tractor back home.
“Give me. Your. Fucking. Money. Now,” he says into my ear. “And if I hear sirens or you scream I will come back and finish you, got me?”
All I can do is nod. I’m glad that this is just my back-up wallet with only cash, my ID and credit card in it. My other wallet is locked away in my condo and that has all my important stuff like driver’s license, other credit cards, and pictures of my baby girl. Oh crap, Annabelle! My mind immediately goes to her I have to fight for her I can’t let her lose her dad after she lost her mom. I’m on the ground now and it’s cold, so cold. I hear someone in the distance.
“Hey, Johnathan, stay with me. I called 9-1-1 they’re on their way. Hang on.”
I can’t hold on any longer and I succumb to the darkness.
Johnathan
I can hear something beeping. It’s not my alarm that buzzes, but this beeping is steady. It’s my heartbeat. Why can I hear my heartbeat? I remember watching Kelsey walk into her building and then I start toward home. Oh, shit! Now I remember I was mugged and stabbed. Oh God! I have to call someone. I start to open my eyes and it’s bright in here. I feel something in my hand and press the button.
“Oh, hello there, Mr. Myles. I see you’re waking up. My name is Annie and I’m your nurse. Do you know where you are?”
“In a hospital.” I try to swallow but my throat is too dry. “Can I have some water, please?”
“Of course, hon. I’ll be right back and I’ll try to find the doctor he’ll want to know that you’re awake.”
Annie looks to be slightly older than me and blonde, but she’s pretty too. . She’s back in a matter of minutes with some water and after I drink some my throat feels better. Annie starts to check my vitals, and tells me that everything is looking good and that the doctor will be in soon. I try to sit up but my right side hurts immediately. I cringe and grab my side. I feel stitches.
“Annie, has anyone been called to know that I’m in here?” I ask.
“No, hon. Is there someone that you’d like me to call for you?”
“Yes, please, could you call Butch Smyth? His number should be in my phone. That is if I still have it.”
“Well, let me check the bag with all of your personal belongings.” She looks in the clear plastic bag that was under my bed and I see her pull my phone out. “Oh, here it is. You have to get the number for me please. I don’t know how to use these fancy things. I still have a flip phone,” she tells me.
I give her his number and she walks out to the nurse’s station. When she returns she tells me that the doctor is currently delayed with another patient and that Mr. Smyth said he would be here as soon as possible. She then gives me a shot of painkiller into my IV and tells me to rest. I thank her for her help and drift off into sleep.
Kelsey
“Kelsey, baby girl, wake up… Kelsey, wake up.”
“Huh…what…what’s going on? Grandmother? What are you doing here? What happened?”
“Kelsey, dear, get up and get dressed we have to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Go shower and I’ll set some clothes out for you, okay?”
“Grandmother, what is going on? Is Grandfather ok? Is it Mom?”
“They’re fine, dear. It’s Johnathan. He got hurt last night. Your grandfather got a phone call this morning from the hospital.”
I get up and go into the bathroom, shower, brush my hair and teeth. I put on the clothes Grandmother left for me, and head into the living room. Grandmother is sitting on the couch with my grandfather and they are talking to each other. I can only pick up some words, “hurt” “stabbed” “lots of blood”.
Grandfather hears me, jumps up and grabs me into a hug. I feel a tear leave my eye and look up at him. “Oh, no baby girl. He is okay. In the hospital, but okay. We must go see him. His family is on their way,” Grandfather says to me while wiping away my tear. “Let’s go to the car.”
We get into the elevator and then walk outside to the same sidewalk where he left me last night after our beautiful night together. Grandmother gets into the back seat and I follow her while Grandfather gets into the driver’s side and pulls away.
We arrive at the hospital; Grandfather tells the nurse who we are looking for, and that he was called to come see Johnathan. We go up to the floor where Johnathan is and the nurses there tell us what room he is in but only that two of us can go in at a time due to the severity of his injuries. Grandfather tells me and Grandmother to wait in the waiting area and he will go in to talk to Johnathan first. I haven’t spoken since we left my condo. I don’t know what to say, he was fine last night when he left me. It feels like forever before Grandfather comes back to the waiting area.
“Is he okay? We went walking last night and I knew he was tired but he said he was fine.” I don’t understand what is happening I just saw him.
“He was mugged and stabbed. They had to do emergency surgery to stop the internal bleeding, but he is okay and should be one hundred percent in four to six weeks. Do you want to go see him? He told me that you took him around town last night. I’m glad that you weren’t with him when this happened, but I’m not glad that it happened.”
“Yes, I want to go see him,” I tell Grandfather.
He tells me that Johnathan is in the room three doors down on the right. He stays with Grandmother because Johnathan’s family should be arriving soon from the airport; they flew in as soon as Grandfather called them. I walk down the hall and stop just outside of his room. Taking a deep breath, I push open the door and walk in.
He’s not as bad as I thought he would be, just a few bruises on his face and just one IV tube going into his arm. I walk over to the bed and grab his hand. He opens his eyes and smiles at me. I can’t help but smile back and then I feel the tears start fa
lling. I don’t know how I can feel so much emotion for someone that I don’t even know that well. I can already feel myself falling in love with him.
“Shhh, Kelsey, stop crying. I’m okay, really. I can’t play ball for a while, but I’m okay. Please stop crying,” he tells me.
Sniffling, I say, “I’m glad that you’re okay. I’m not happy about you being in a hospital. What happened?”
“Well, I was walking home after dropping you off and I bumped into this guy. I don’t even know what he looks like, but he started going off about me doing it on purpose and other things and then he asked for money so I went to get my wallet and he stabbed me. It all happened so fast. The next thing I remember is telling someone my name and then I woke up here and had the nurse call your Grandfather.”
I hug him around his neck to avoid his side. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. What are you going to do now?”
“Well, I’m supposed to rest and recover and then I’ll be back on the ball field in no time, you’ll see.”
“My Grandfather said that your family was on their way.”
“Yeah, he told me he called them after my nurse called him. I couldn’t think of anyone else to call and I didn’t want to call you.”
“It’s okay. Grandmother woke me up. They both came to my house to get me. Is it okay if I get up in the bed with you? I want to be closer to you right now.”
“Of course that’s okay,” he answers me smiling.
He moves over some and I can see that it was uncomfortable for him to do so. I climb up in the bed and lean my body against his. I feel better knowing that he is going to be okay.
“Will you tell me more about your family since they are going to be here soon?”
Johnathan
I didn’t want to tell her about Annabelle yet. I don’t know how she will take it. I haven’t really focused on a relationship with women since she was born. I wasn’t a saint by any means, but I wasn’t a man whore like Kevin. I was only twenty-one when she came into my life and it has never been the same since.
“Well, there’s my mom and my Aunt Cindy, but she’s not my, mom’s sister, but her best friend since childhood so for all purposes she’s my aunt. Then there’s my best friend Kevin, whom I’ve told you about before, he’s Aunt Cindy’s son. We are only a few months apart, but I’m older. I always remind him of that.” I tell her, while thinking to myself if Mom is going to be bringing Annabelle or if she left her with Aunt Cindy.
“They sound nice. I can’t wait to meet them, sorry that it had to be like this but, I’m glad anyway.” Kelsey starts to get up from the bed.
“Where are you going?”
“Just going to sit in the chair. I don’t want someone to walk in on me lying in bed with you.”
Just as she sits down my mom comes crashing through the door.
“Oh my gosh, honey, are you okay? Of course you’re not, you were stabbed. What am I saying?” Mom says while coming over to the bed and grabs me for a hug. It hurts a bit, but I’ll suck it up for her. When she finally releases me she looks over and sees Kelsey in the chair watching us.
“Hi, I’m Kelsey.” She extends her hand out to my mom.
“Well, hello there, I’m Johnathan’s mom, Charlotte.” She ignores her hand and hugs her. Kelsey’s back is to me and mom is giving me the thumbs up, winking at me. I just sit there shaking my head and try not to laugh.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“That’s funny I have heard nothing about you.” Mom is now giving me the “Mom eye” that I have come to respect and fear.
“Sorry,” I tell her, shrugging. I don’t have anything else to say.
An older gentleman walks into the room. He’s wearing a tie and a lab coat so I’m assuming he’s my doctor.
“Mr. Myles. Hello, I’m Dr. Jensen.” He stops to grab my chart and shakes my hand. “So, you were stabbed in the lower abdomen, but no major harm was done, you did lose a significant amount of blood and had to have a transfusion. But, overall you will recover just fine. You need to be on bed rest for at least a week to ten days and then very little moving around. I want you to check back in a week to have your stitches checked out and possibly removed. I will have you released and out of here in about an hour or so. Any questions?” He finally stops, and I wonder if this is really just another day in the office and if he sees a lot of stabbing victims.
“No, doctor, thank you,” I tell him.
“No, problem. Ladies.” He nods his goodbye to Kelsey and Mom while walking out of the door.
“Well, that was something. He acted like people get stabbed every day,” says Mom.
I start laughing because that is exactly what I was thinking. I wince in pain. “That’s what I was thinking too. How long are you in town for, mom? Did Kevin come with you?”
Speak of the devil. “Hey, ass, you just had to go and get stabbed, didn’t ya?” Kevin is at the door and Annabelle is in his arms. “Sorry, she kept begging me to come back here to see you. You know I can’t say no to this little thing.” He pulls at one of her pig tails.
I look over at Kelsey and see that she looks confused and keeps looking back and forth between Annabelle and myself. I can see the wheels turning in her head. Well I guess I better tell her now.
“Um, Kelsey, meet Annabelle, my daughter.”
Kelsey
Oh shit. He has a daughter. I did not see that coming. Get ahold of yourself, Kelsey. I walk over to, who I now assume is Kevin, and say hi to Annabelle. She doesn’t acknowledge me but just keeps looking at Johnathan. I mumble that I’m going to go and start to walk out the door when I feel a hand grab my arm. Looking over my shoulder I see Charlotte.
“Please, don’t run away. I’ll get him to explain everything once he’s out of here, okay? Come to the condo later and I’ll make everyone dinner.”
I nod and say, “Okay”, to her and walk out to the waiting room to find my grandparents. I walk right up to my grandfather and ask him if he knew about Annabelle and he tells me that he did. I can’t believe that he would keep that from me and then also try and push Johnathan and I together like that. I can’t deal with baby momma drama. I just can’t. I don’t pay attention to my grandfather yelling my name as I walk out of the waiting room to the elevator and get in before he can reach me. I need to process this. I know that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions or anything, but I am and I need Lauren.
*****
I don’t remember the cab ride back home I just know that I’ve made it home and Lauren is in the kitchen making coffee.
“Hey, girl, is Johnathan okay? Butch left me a note saying that you were at the hospital with him and to call once I woke up.”
“He has a daughter.” That’s all I can think about right now. He has a kid, a little girl.
“Wait, what? I know he got hurt, but what?” She grabs two mugs out of the cabinet and makes us coffee then guides me to the couch. “Explain.”
I don’t know where to start because I don’t know much. How could he keep this from me? He talked about her, but never did he indicate that she was his daughter. I’m so confused.
“Well I knew that Annabelle was around, but I assumed she was like a little sister or something. The huge age difference threw me off, but it happens. He never once indicated that she was his. I can’t deal with the drama that comes with an ex that is also the mother of his child. I don’t want to deal with that. I guess my mother was right about him being a player or whatever. I don’t know.” I place my head in my hands. After a few minutes I turn and look at Lauren who has been very quiet since I started talking.
Clearing her throat, she says, “Well, I think that you should let him tell you everything and then go from there. There is probably a very big reason that he didn’t tell you about her. And if there isn’t I will hurt him for hurting you. I know that you aren’t used to what a relationship with a guy is supposed to be like, but you will both screw up sometimes and you have to be
lieve that things will work out for the better.”
“Who are you and what the hell have you done with Lauren?” I can’t believe all of this came out of little miss non commitment herself.
“Well, let’s just say that I’m trying to change for the better myself. I want to be happy, Kelsey. As much as I say I don’t want to be in a relationship. I really want to. I haven’t been with anyone like that in years and I think that it’s time to grow up and put myself out there, for real.”
Lauren gets up and goes to the kitchen. I hear the water turn on from the sink and I get up and walk in there after her. I give her a hug from behind and invite her to come with me to his condo for dinner tonight. She agrees and we both go to our rooms for a little rest. I text Johnathan that I will be at his place later for dinner with his family along with Lauren. I don’t get an answer back and that’s okay. I strip off my clothes that I had on at the hospital and fall into my bed. I immediately fall asleep.
Kelsey
After our naps, Lauren and I are finishing getting ready to have dinner over at Johnathan’s and I get a text from him,
Johnathan: Hey, thank you & Im sorry. I will see you 2nite. :)
We head on over to his place. We are both dressed casually in shorts and t-shirts. Even when the sun goes down it’s still really hot. We are walking down the street and just about to arrive at his place when I see Kevin standing outside on the phone and smoking. He keeps running his hand through his hair looking agitated.
“Who’s that?” Lauren asks as we get closer to the door.
“That’s Kevin. Johnathan’s best friend,” I tell her. I didn’t notice before, but Kevin almost looks like Johnathan except his hair is lighter and when he turns and sees us coming so are his eyes. He’s wearing a t-shirt that looks like it has seen better days and a pair of tight blue jeans with boots. He snubs his cigarette out on the ground and walks toward us.