Fire Lodge ( jenlisa )

Final part 18

Jennie went to get the truck while a nurse helped Lisa into a wheelchair and rolled her out of the emergency clinic. The nurse helped Lisa climb into the truck one-legged and then handed her a package with her discharge instructions and her pain medication.

"Now," Jennie heard the nurse saying, "you call us if you have any problems. The number is on your instruction sheet. Oh, and ski patrol has your poles and what's left of your skis. When you feel up to it, you can ask Ms Kim to take you to their office; she knows where it is."

Lisa nodded and thanked her, then the nurse shut the door and stepped back.

Jennie leaned over and put her hand on Lisa's. "I'll try to take the smoothest route home I can, but the pain medication they gave you should still be taking most of the pain away."

Lisa looked over at her. "I didn't take any. They tried to give me a shot but I wouldn't let them."

"You what?" Jennie looked at her in disbelief.

"I didn't want you to come up here and find me out of my head ." Lisa smiled weakly, looking vaguely embarrassed.

Jennie turned to face the front of the truck and started to drive. "Lalisa Manoban," she said, "that is either the sweetest or the stupidest thing anyone has ever done for me. But as soon as we get back to the lodge, you're going to take one of your pain pills and I'm putting you to bed."

Lisa shook her head. "I can't. I've got plans."

"Plans?" Jennie asked. "What plans can you possibly have that you won't put on hold after breaking your damn leg?"

"It's something important," Lisa said defensively. "And it won't take more than an hour. And after that, if it'll make you happy, I'll take a pill and go up to bed."

"Go up to bed? I don't think so. Until that ankle's healed, you're going to be sleeping in my room so you don't have to go up and down the stairs so much. I'll sleep in your room."

"But-"

"And if you're tempted to argue with me about this, just know that I'm perfectly willing to escalate from 'request from your girlfriend' up to 'order from your boss'."

"Okay," Lisa said with a laugh. "You're the boss." After a brief pause she added "And my girlfriend" with a tone of wonder in her voice. "I like the sound of that."

Jennie reached over and squeezed Lisa's hand, then put her hand back on the steering wheel. "Just so you know," she said, "from the moment you moved into the lodge, I've been trying to figure out if you were gay, and if so how I could date you."

"Really?"

"Really! It sounds like you have seriously underestimated how irresistible you are."

Lisa laughed. "Now I know you're just messing with me. Irresistible? Me?" The cab of the truck rang with the sound of Lisa's laughter.

"Laugh if you want," Jennie said, "but Dahyun and I almost got into a fight over you."

"What? You almost what? Like 'I demand satisfaction! Rapiers at dawn! I'll have my second call on you.'?"

Now it was Jennie's turn to laugh. "Nothing so formal as all that. It was more like 'this chick better get out of my way or I'm gonna beat her up one side of the mountain and down the other.'"

Lisa was astonished at the ferocity in Jennie's voice. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

Jennie seemed to draw in on herself a little bit. "Maybe? I like to think I would, but I've never really been in a fight before."