Just Jump

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

          As Kale reached the door to Elliot's hospital room, he paused.  Peering in through the window, he saw her with her head tilted toward the window.  He didn't know if she was sleeping, and by the looks of her chest she might've been.  It was rising and falling slowly; the breaths she inhaled seemed deliberate, almost as if she wasn't sure she wanted to take them. 

          Swallowing and standing still, Kale debated on walking away from the door and leaving her laying there. He knew it was the easy way out, since it was his fault she was in the bed in the first place, but he still wanted to leave. 

          He hadn't known Elliot for very long -- at least, not like some of her other friends knew her, and she didn't have many -- but for the length of time he did know her, she'd been a good friend.  She was honest, even if it meant being brutal and hurting people.  She would always apologize, though.  She never seemed to lie . . . except for this morning, when she'd lied to protect and keep Kale's secret. 

          He hadn't even asked her to do that for him.  He didn't seem to be able to wrap his head around the idea that she would do it by choice.  Why would she lie for him?  He hadn't really done much for her except comfort her when she was crying before . . . and that was all of two times. 

          Kale closed his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath.  When he let it out, he allowed his eyelids to slowly slip open.  It enabled him to see his breathe fog the glass window in front of him, distorting Elliot's body through the steamed glass. 

          Then, without thinking it over any longer, Kale gently pulled the handle of the door down and slipped inside.  He gently shut the door behind him and walked over to her bed side.  Looking down at her, Kale took in her features. 

          The side of her face that he could see, she hadn't had any cuts or bruises.  Her eyes were closed, allowing Kale to see the length of her natural eye lashes.  She wasn't wearing any makeup, a contrast to many girls they both went to school with.  Her skin was slightly flushed, probably due to the blood the doctors and nurses returned to her system after her surgery. 

          "Stop staring at me," she groaned out, her eyes still closed. 

          "I'm not staring . . .  Staring is rude," Kale muttered, watching as her eyes slowly fluttered open.  She turned her head and looking into his blue eyes.  After a moment of holding one another's gazes, a confused look washed over Elliot's face. 

          "What?"  She asked, looking away. 

          "Nothing . . .  I just don't seem to know what to do with myself right now," he sighed, looking up at the window to break their held stares.  Elliot sighed, too, looking across the room at the wall in front of her. 

          Her eyes scanned the painted over, shining brick.  It seemed smooth to the touch, however she could see the ridges and bumps that the paint had coated over.  As her eyes travelled the surface of the wall, Elliot noticed there was a small, wooden cross with a gold man tacked to it. 

          She knew it was supposed to be Jesus . . . and Elliot couldn't make herself look away from it.  The small cross represented something to someone that she knew she would never fully be able to understand.  Sure, she believed in God, but she wasn't a hardcore Christian or Lutheran.  Her mother always went to Sunday morning church, but Elliot had never really thought to tag along.  The most she'd ever went into a church was for baptisms, weddings and funerals . . . and even with all that, she'd never really thought about a church as a House of God.