You Are Something Else, Juniper Zwinggi

Chapter 11

"You need stitches," he said wrapping my hand with his tie.

"So do you," I said holding a tissue to his eyebrow.

Who knew we would be leaving a formal party with bloody limbs and bruises. As soon as we stepped off that elevator we had people jump out of our way and gasp. The loss of blood made everything around me look like I was in a dream. Lynn and Dave rushed to us but I couldn't really hear what they were saying. The adrenaline was still coursing through me so all I could hear was my own blood pumping in my ears.

We were put into the car and taken to the nearest hospital. I hated hospitals. Hospitals reminded me of the night of the accident and mom being escorted out because she was yelling at me. Pat had been pronounced dead at the scene of the accident but they had wheeled us in together so I had to stare at Pat's body bag for over an hour before they took him to the morgue. The whole ordeal had been poorly done.

Jake held my left wrist upwards and tight so to staunch the blood flow as we were taken to a treatment room. Lynn stood with arms folded and tight mouth as she watched the nurse apply butterfly stitches to Jake's eyebrow and cheek. Another nurse was about to give me numbing shots so she could give me stitches on my hand and few places up my arm.

"Will one of you please explain to me how this happened?" she asked.

"Ow, ow ow," I cried when the nurse stuck the needle into the big gash on my palm. If Jake wasn't holding my other hand I would have punched that nurse in the face. I had already punch one person that night, why not another? Tears of pain escaped my eyes and I sniffed.

"You will find out soon enough. Can I just say it was to protect Juniper and leave it at that?"

"Jacob Anthony Fisher, I thought we were done with fighting. You are twenty-one years old, your father and I cannot protect you forever. Even though you were protecting Juniper, it could have been handled a different way. Particularly in a way that didn't result in both of you ending up in the hospital."

"I'm sorry, mom," he said. It sounded like they had this discussion many times before.

The nurse had to stick me two more times before it was all said and done. My arm was bandaged up to my elbow while Jake escaped with only an ice pack around his ribs.

When they released us, Lynn put us in an Uber and sent us back to the house. She and Dave were staying over night in Sacramento and wouldn't be back until the next afternoon, most likely doing damage control. The whole ride home I held my injured arm close but had my other hand on the seat next to me.

Jake took it and laced his fingers with mine. My knuckles were already beginning to swell so I couldn't close my hand all the way. 

"I'm sorry," he said and I could only shake my head. I couldn't even look at him for fear of crying. I was feeling so many emotions; anger, frustration, hunger, sadness, more anger. All I wanted to do was sleep and maybe eat an entire pint of chocolate ice cream. I ended up falling asleep in the car, I didn't even remember when we got home.

------------------------

I woke up early the next morning with a headache and two sore hands. I was in a soft bed with thick blankets covering me. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them so they would focus but the sun hadn't quite risen high enough yet to entirely light the room. This room looked like my room but the floor to ceiling glass walls were on the opposite side. I could smell Old Spice and felt a presence beside me in the bed. A soft breath was hitting the side of my face and I turned my head, expecting Luka to be there. Instead, I found Jake sound asleep.