I woke up, lying in a mini-pool of my own blood, my vision blurry and swimming. I moaned. I couldn't move, my body ached and throbbed so bad. Every inch of skin hurt, every bone in my body throbbing with my heart beat.
I tried to sit up, only to be met with sharp stabs of agonizing pain in my ribs. I moaned and slowly lowered my body back down, when I heard the door swing open.
Fear penetrated my gut as I froze, my painful breaths stilling in my throat.
"Jason, John? Anyone home?" a female voice wafted into the kitchen. I instantly recognized it as Mrs. Smith; my breathing unfroze, making my chest ache as I tried to inhale.
"Oh my God, Jason!" she screamed as I saw white sandals step into the kitchen. A thick casserole dish clanked to the floor, spilling green bean casserole all over the floor. I moaned as my consciousness thinned, the edges of my vision turning black.
She got down next to me and gripped my wrist, feeling for a pulse. I groaned, trying to form words but all that came out of my mouth was garbled mush. "Ssh," she quieted me, moving my bloodied, sweaty hair away from my face. She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and quickly dialed three numbers, stroking my cheek.
"Jason, honey, I need you to stay awake, okay? Just for a little longer." I ignored her and fell into unconsciousness again, relishing as the pain faded for a brief period of time.
........
"How bad is he?" "A couple broken ribs, that's probably the worst. We're lucky they didn't puncture his lungs. And his right shoulder's broken, his knee is completely shattered, and he's got a broken nose. There's a couple of hairline fractures on his back and on the ribs that aren't broken, and those will take a little bit to heal. His forehead we got stitched up, well, stapled up. Three staples, and he'll set up an appointment to get those removed. Other than that, he's perfectly healthy. No internal bleeding, which we were lucky about."
"Oh, my goodness." I recognized Mrs. Smith's voice, and a deep male voice giving her the medical over view. "Are you his mother?" "No. My husband and I live across the street. I came over to give him and his grandpa a casserole, because he had said they couldn't come to dinner. I just found him lying on the kitchen floor all bloody and broken-," her voice cracked, and I heard a chair scrape against the floor.
I grit my teeth and tried to open my eyes, let them know I was awake, but I couldn't find the energy. "When will he wake up?" "Right about now, actually. The painkillers should be wearing off soon." "Thank you." I heard steps echo across the floor and heard a door open and close.
"Jason, honey, can you hear me?" I felt a hand move my hair away from my forehead and moaned in response, my throat clogged and thick. "Can you open your eyes for me, hon?" I took a deep breath through my mouth and slowly woke up various parts of my body, twitching my fingers before being able to curl my hands into a fist; I worked through my entire body before I finally grit my teeth together and forced my eyes open, the white hospital lights burning my eyes.
Mrs. Smith's relieved face swam before my gaze as my eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and I grunted, trying to sit up so I could breathe better. "No, Jason, honey, you have to stay lying down," she scolded me, gently pushing on my un-shattered shoulder.
I groaned and fell back against the bed, rolling my head back against the flat pillow.
"When can I get out of here?" I asked, trying not to whine as the smell of bleach and antiseptic burned my nose. She stroked my cheek and moved my hair off my forehead. "Soon. They just need to make sure you're completely okay." "I can take care of myself," I said, trying not to snap at her. "I can get my own meds, get myself a cast. I'm fine by myself."
She looked a little shocked, before she regained her composure and ran her fingers through my hair. "Sweetie, I know you're bullheaded and think you don't need anyone in this world, but the doctors are here to help you, okay?" "Accepting help is a sign of weakness," I said, a lesson I'd learned from Alex. She shook her head. "Not all the time. What do you think would have happened to you if you had stayed on that kitchen floor with no help?" I didn't say anything, and she nodded. "Exactly. So just rest and feel better."
She stood from her sitting position in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs and leaned over to kiss my forehead. "You're leaving?" She nodded. "I need to get home for Robbie," she said, picking up her jacket as the door burst open, revealing my frantic girlfriend begging the exhausted looking doctor for answers to her fast-coming questions.
"Miss Harmon, I told you, he's perfectly stable. Nothing life threatening is going to happen to him; he's perfectly fine, just a little bumped up." "But-," "Hey, Jules," I said, instantly grabbing her attention.
"Jason!" she hurried over to the side of my bed and fluttered her hands over my body lightly, like she was scared to touch me. "How are you feeling? Are you in any pain? What happened to you? I don't even want to know what you did, but I want to know cause I want to make sure it doesn't happened again, but...Jason, you scared the crap out of me! I didn't know if you were okay, and I get a call from Brian saying you're in the hospital and unconscious, and he wouldn't tell me anything, then-," "Jules," I interrupted, laughing a little. "I'm fine. Breathe, babe, breathe." She took a deep breath and I fought off the urge to laugh.
"You're looking better," I said, noticing the way the color of her skin had returned and she didn't look like she was going to die any minute. She gave me a cheeky grin. "Tis' the power of antibiotics, Jase." "Tis?" "I was watching the old- reeeeaaalllly old- version of Romeo and Juliet. Don't hate." I chuckled.
"Can I have a kiss?" I asked, puckering for her. She giggled. "Sure." She leaned down and pecked my lips, pulling away after just a second. I pouted. "What? I kissed you." "But I missed your kisses," I whined, fluttering my eyelids. She rolled her eyes and pecked me again.
I whined some more until she groaned and grabbed my chin, forcing my lips open and full out French kissing me. I smirked when she pulled away. "Was that so hard?" I asked jokingly. She glared at me playfully.
"If you weren't hurt I'd slap you," she said, serious, then gave me a big grin. She leaned down and softly kissed my lips before heading to the door. My heart almost stopped. I hadn't seen her in days, and she was leaving so quick? What the noodles?
"Where are you going?" I asked, trying to not sound clingy and desperate. "I'm going to go grab something to eat," she said, turning around half way out the door and smiling at me. "Is that okay?" "Yup," I said, smiling. She rolled her eyes again. "I love you!" I yelled as she walked out the door. "Love you, too!" she called back, and I heard her mutter something that sounded like, "Get him more drugs."
