Just Like Me: Jordan Poole

22

Destiny listened to the beeping noise over and over again, much like she had for the past 2 days.

In many ways, Destiny was like her mother as much as she hated to admit it. Janine was wired to crave control and Destiny wished so badly that she had even an ounce of control over this situation.

Jordan was heavily medicated, on top of what was already in his system from Kim. He'd had his stomach flushed half a dozen times and was now on regular hospital issued medication to keep his system stable.

Naturally, Destiny had been here the entire time.

Her siblings were back in town by now but none of them knew of what Janine did. Destiny was the only person in her family aware of it. They were just told he passed out at the draft party and wasn't doing well.

They'd been bringing her food and encouraging her to 'come home' but her home was not there anymore. Not just because Destiny was married and her home was with her husband, but also because she'd rather die than to say she shared a home with the woman she had the misfortune of calling her mother.

Destiny sighed, holding Jordan's hand as she looked at his wedding ring. Seeing it served as more of a punishment than a relief and the more she looked at it, all she felt was worse.

"Baby." She whispered, tangling her fingers with his.

Instead of his response, that Destiny knew she wasn't going to get, the door opened slowly and revealed Joe and Ryan. Mariah came in last. Janine had yet to have come to the hospital. Destiny hoped she knew better.

"Hi, Tink."

Destiny lifted her head, the hood of her jacket falling off in the process. "Hey."

Her voice came out hoarse and quietly, still cutting through the stillness of the room. Destiny looked pretty bad and sounded bad, too. But she felt worse than anyone could ever know.

"You hungry?" Joe asked.

She released Jordan's hand, turning towards them. "Mhm."

Destiny wasn't really hungry but when Jordan woke up, he was going to kill her knowing she didn't eat much. Joe brought her Chipotle anyway, something light and simple, and having had the capability of cheering her up since she was younger. Janine never let her have it.

"Did they figure out why he passed out yet?"

The 23- year old set her jaw, wanting to answer her sisters question honestly, but deciding to wait until after she talked to Janine. "No. Maybe dehydration."

"That's fairly common in athletes." Joe said, looking down at his phone. "Your mother's on her way here from the house."

"Where was she?" Destiny asked after a few seconds.

"Helping Jordan settle in Indiana." Ryan said. "She felt really bad that she couldn't be here for him. She said she had her assistant get him to the hospital as fast as she could."

All Destiny could think was 'wow' as she continued to eat her food. She ate the entire bowl, needing the energy and preparing herself for seeing her mother.

"Oh." Was all Destiny could say.

Destiny's family left and Jordan's family came, having went home for the night. They also didn't know exactly what happened but they were thankful for Destiny, whom had been by his side the entire time.

"I told him not to be on the go so much." Jordan's mother put a hand on his forehead. "It really wears on your body."

His dad crossed his arms. "Boy always been like that."