Crash Into Me (Into Me Series Book One)

Chapter Seventeen - Wait

Jet's POV

I stare at the clock. 6:28 pm. Only about an hour left before I can leave and be with him. My heart flutters at the thought of Jackson, a smile working its way on to my face. He has very quickly become one of the most important people in my life. The rational side of my mind keeps nagging at me, telling me that I'm letting him in too quickly, trusting him too much, letting him see the dark side, but I don't care. He makes me genuinely happy, the happiness I've been since Mom died.

The voices leave me alone when he's there. Whenever I wake up screaming, his arms are around me in two seconds flat, soothing me and telling me that it's okay. He holds me, running his fingers through my hair until I fall back asleep. He gets me out of my head. He makes me feel warm and whole inside. He's either the love of my life or the worst heartbreak I will ever have, and that terrifies me.

The sound of a call light going off snaps me from my trance.

"Your call light is on, how can we help you?" Rosie answers the call light system's phone. She nods her head a few times, looking around the ER. "I'll let her know, she'll be in in a minute." She puts the phone down and looks at me, "Hey, bed 23 said her IV pump is beeping and she has to use the restroom."

Bed 23? Which one is that again? Mrs. Abbot? Mrs. Seinfeld? I look down at my report sheet, flipping through the papers until I find the info on bed 23. Ah! Yes! Mrs. Walters. I would do anything for this woman.

I spring to my feet, tapping my badge on the sensor of the computer to lock it. My feet take me on the familiar route to bed 23, stopping by the Pyxis (think of it as a giant medication vending machine) to grab another bag of Lasix (medicine we give heart failure patients to remove excess fluid from their systems which in turn makes them pee a lot). The sound of the IV pump grows louder as I near her bed.

"Knock, knock," I announce before opening the curtain.
​"Sweetheart! What are you still doing here?" the frail, elderly woman in the bed asks me, her eyes widening as she looks at the clock on the wall.
​"It's not quitting time yet, wanted to come see you before I left to say goodbye," I say as I smile at her, rubbing some hand sanitizer into my skin.
​"This hospital works you guys way too hard! I've been watching you run from room to room for hours today, always making sure your patients are taken care of. Do you ever take time to care for yourself?"
​"Mrs. Walters, if I did that then I wouldn't have time to come hang out with you and make sure you're okay!" I explain. I walk over to her pump and hit the "review" button. Bolus will be done infusing in three minutes, might as well stay here until it finishes out so I can switch her over to the maintenance drip.

I help Mrs. Walters to her feet and over to the bedside commode. She does her business as I tap into the computer, scanning her wristband and the new bag of meds. I enter in her latest blood pressure and sign off the medication. I help her back into bed, dumping her urine. I get her cozy and tuck her back in, smiling at her.

​"Well, I'm sure you have a lovely husband at home that can provide you with some comfort at the end of a long day," she gleams, her eyes bright. Good. She has a lot more color to her than she did when she came in. She's more alert as well, I need to update Dr. Evans before I leave. My mind floats to Jackson again and I smile, looking away.
"No husband for me, Mrs. Walters," I tell her.
She nods at me as a blush begins to work its way onto her face, "I'm sorry I asked about a husband, just old habit, I guess. So, you're one of those lesbians then?" she stumbles.
​I chuckle, "No, I'm not exactly one of those either." How would I even explain being pansexual to this woman? "I just haven't found the right person to spend my life with." I think of Jackson again. I really hope he is.
​"I can understand that. I felt the same way when I was your age! Turns out that my best friend was the one for me after all. I was in denial my whole life, kept telling myself that I didn't want to make things complicated between us and ruin our friendship. The only thing I regret now is not getting together with him sooner! I miss him every day. He never stopped being my best friend."