“Do you really mean that?” Jenna whimpers, tears making uneven lines down her pale face. She stares into my eyes; the smell of cigarette smoke permeates my senses. I cup her hand in mine.
“Jen, I was ready to give you everything five years ago. I’m still ready. I love you, Jenna. I always have, and always will.” I am on the verge of tears myself.
“But, I’m so—dirty. I’m not worth your love. I’m so disgraced, and I can never be the Jenna who you knew.” Jenna hiccups and leans against my chest. I put my arms around her, not minding the filth that’s collecting on my jacket. She breaks away suddenly and coughs terribly.
“The Jenna I fell in love with is still there. I didn’t fall in love with the virginal Jenna Jackson. The Jenna I fell in love with was the spunky country girl who stuffed snow down my shirt and asked me to climb to the top of the apple tree and laughed when I fell.”
Jenna stares back up at me, unconvinced that I’m telling the truth. “Really?”
“Really. I love you so much that I’m going to take you to the hospital so you can get checked up.”
At the mention of “hospital”, Jenna fights in my arms. She is weak, though. “No,” she whimpers brokenly, “No, not to the—hospital. I—I am alright. Don’t need to go—there. They will—will find out who I am.” I hold her firmly.
“Jen. I don’t know how long you have been like this, but you need to see someone. Do it for me, please. I’ll be by your side the whole time.”
Jenna, hyperventilating, asks me between hiccups: “D—do you p—promise?”
“I promise,” I tell her sincerely, brushing my hand through her knotted, matted, dyed blonde hair.
“B—but what about Jorge?” Jenna asks suddenly.
“Who’s Jorge?”
“H—he’s my b—boss. H—he’ll kill me if I r—run away.”
I take Jenna’s hand. “Jen, as far as I know, you’re a missing person. You don’t need to be scared. Once you get to the hospital, he can’t hurt you. We’ll even see if we can call your parents.” Jenna jerks her hand out of mine.
“No!” she wails. “I can’t go back! They hate me! Everyone does! That’s why I ran away! Please don’t take me! Please!” she pleads.
“Jenna,” I firmly explain, “I was so close to losing you, and I’m not going to let you go now. We need to do this. Look at this place! Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life? Chicago is no place for a country girl like you! You need the summer heat, and feel the breeze blow through your hair as you ride across the plains. Whaddaya say?”
Jenna quickly shakes her head. “No. No. I—I’m not good enough.”
“Jen, we are going to the hospital, even if I have to carry you.”
“No. No. No. I’m not going.”
“I’m still calling the police. You need to come home, Jen. Home to Kansas.” I start out the door, looking back with sadness in my eyes. “I don’t want to do that,” I tell her.
Jenna sniffles, coughs and then looks back at me. “You promise that you’ll be by my side all the time? Every hour?”
“I’ll stay as long as I can. I promise that I will take you back home.”
“Oh—okay. I’ll come.”
I smile as Jenna gives me her shaking hand. I wrap my jacket around her and we walk a few blocks to the nearest hospital.
YOU ARE READING
Kansas Summer
SpiritualEveryone wants a perfect love story, although we find that it's impossible at times. Colin King and Jenna Jackson believe they have written the best one of all. However, their faith in their relationship is sheltered by the small Kansas town they...
