Chapter Five

I guess it was about a week and a half later when I was woken by the sound of pacing in my room. My eyes fluttered a little and I heard Liam yelling that I was awake.

I put a hand to my head for a moment before I fully opened my eyes. I saw Stella's face hovering a few inches from mine. I smiled at her and she fell against me, giving me the biggest hug she could muster.

"I was scared, Starr," she said tearfully. "You were asleep for a really long time."

"I'm fine, Rabbit. I guess I was just sleepy," I replied, rubbing her back reassuringly.

"Jane?"

I looked over at my mother who was sitting next to the bed, nervously wringing her hands. Behind her I saw my father and deduced that it was him who had to be pacing.

"Hi, guys," I said weakly as Liam climbed onto the bed and hugged me as tightly as Stella did.

Mom, Dad, Rabbit, and Nugget. Where's Nolan? I wondered, looking around.

"Aaron, why don't you take the kids down to the cafeteria so I can talk to Jane," she suggested, glancing up at him.

He grunted and plucked the children off of the bed. Dad hovered over me for a moment with tears in his eyes before he leaned down and kissed my forehead. I smiled at him, and he left the room with Stella and Liam.

"I'm so happy you're awake, sweetheart," she said softly.

"Me too. I guess I just needed a good night's sleep."

"Jane, you"ve been asleep for a week," she replied seriously.

"A … week?"

How is that possible?

"I need you to tell me exactly what happened and why you were so far away from home."

"He just wanted to do something nice, so that's where he decided to take me. And I don't know what happened, Mom. One minute I was sitting next to him holding his hand and the next I was flying down the stairs," I replied truthfully.

"Yeah that sounds like what he told us," she replied thoughtfully.

"Where is he anyway? He promised he'd be here when I got here."

"He was, Janey. The hospital called us to let us know that you were here and what happened. He was in the waiting room practically beside himself with guilt. Aaron … You know how your father can be," she finished heavily.

"Daddy made him leave, didn't he?" I asked sadly.

"Yes. He also told him that he's not allowed to come anywhere near you again. That his carelessness with you is what put you in danger for the second time," she said quietly.

"That's not fair! He was just trying to be a good friend!"

That's all it took for me to burst into uncontrollable sobs. Two simple sentences.

"Honey, whether he meant to or not, he put you in danger. Especially by not telling us where he was really taking you," Mom said brushing my hair out of my face.

I couldn't even respond. The one friend I had made, the one person who truly made me feel good about myself, had been officially banned from my life.

"Jane, would it help if I told you that he's been coming by the hospital every night? Not inside, but I've been meeting him out in the parking garage to let him know how you're doing. That way he doesn't have to run into Aaron and … and … he knows that you're still with us."

I took a deep breath to try to stop the tears, but it was no use. I was too far gone into critical life crisis mode that I wasn't going to recover from this any time soon.

"I know what you need," she said. Mom got up from her chair and went to the door. She peeked her head out, before coming back to my side and grabbing the telephone receiver from the table next to her. I heard her punch in some numbers. After a brief conversation, she handed the phone to me. I was doing the wracked breathing motions that come with coming down from the earth shattering sobs, so I hadn't heard who she was speaking to or realized that the phone was being handed to me.

"Jane, take this phone and hurry before Aaron comes back," she said urgently, pushing the receiver next to my ear.

I turned my head slightly and sniffled into the receiver. Mom placed it between my shoulder and my ear. She had the phone on her lap so that I wouldn't have to adjust myself too much.

"Hey, Janey," a voice said softly.

I immediately started to cry again. In between gasps for air and fresh tears, I managed to gasp out a few "I'm sorry"s".

While I was of the mind that my father should have been the one on the phone right now apologizing to Nolan, I knew he was too stubborn to ever do so.

"I can barely understand you," he said with a chuckle.

"Mom ... told ... me that … you … were here," I gasped between sobs.

"Well, I promised, didn't I?"

I took a few more shuddery breaths. I wanted to be able to speak to him and if I kept crying, Dad would walk in and catch me.

"Can you come visit me, please?" I asked in a small voice.

"Oh, Janey," he said sadly. "I want to, more than you know, but Mr. East …"

I must've looked completely shattered, because Mom reached over and grabbed the phone from me.

"Nolan, you come by tomorrow morning, and you stay here all day with Jane. I'll figure out what to do with Aaron and the kids," she said before hanging up.

"How are you going to manage that?" I asked her.

"I'll figure it out. I want you to understand that I'm very upset with Nolan for not telling us where you would be and for not calling us when you had your accident. But … he seems to make you happy. So, I'll do my best to make sure you have the day together tomorrow. Even if I have to slash all the tires on the cars," she said with an expression of determination on her face.

Stella's voice rang down the hallway and Mom put the phone back where it had originally sat. Dad re-entered the room with them, and Liam came over to me with a small cup of vanilla ice cream.

"I made this for you, Starr. And Stella helped!" he said proudly, holding it out to me.

"The staff told them they couldn't take it out of the cafeteria, but they insisted," Dad said, shaking his head.

"Thanks guys, I'll eat it in a little bit," I replied with a big smile.

Mom suddenly got up from her seat and left. Dad sat down in her chair with a heavy sigh and looked at me.

"How are you feeling, kiddo?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine Daddy. I just can't believe I slept that long, is all," I lied.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said, clearing his throat. I glanced over at him, and he turned his face. Dad was crying and he didn't want me to see.

"I'll always be okay, Daddy," I replied. "I just need you to start trusting me."

"I do trust you," he said meaningfully.

I sighed as Mom walked back in. She told my father that since I was awake now and everything seemed to be okay—she had just come from talking to the doctor—that it would be best if they let me rest for the remainder of today and tomorrow. He grudgingly agreed and the children climbed on the bed to hug me again. Dad leaned over and kissed my forehead. Mom hugged me and slid a piece of paper under my arm.

"We love you, honey," she said. "We'll see you in a couple of days, okay?"

I nodded and waited for them to walk out before I checked the note. It was a phone number and small note from Mom all at the same time.

Call this number as soon as we walk out. It's all taken care of for you, Mom.

I reached for the phone and set it next to me on the bed. Curiously, I dialed the number.

"Hello?"

It was Nolan.

"Hi," I said softly.

"I'm on my way. Your mother called me after she arranged everything with the nurses and doctor. I'll see you soon, Janey."

He hung up with no further explanation of what Mom had done. I sighed and put the phone back. I closed my eyes for a moment and let my breathing steady itself. It would take him at least forty-five minutes to get here so a short nap wouldn't be out of order.

But I opened my eyes again after I reasoned with myself that I had already slept for a week, and that would be ungodly redundant. I looked out the window and watched the cars going by on the freeway. I watched the birds flying high above the cars. And I watched the clouds starting to fuse together, perhaps for a quick rain storm.

I heard one of the nurses come into the room to check my IV; I heard her walk out as the raindrops started to slowly pelt the window. I heard the hospital personnel walking along the hallways, and the sounds of carts being wheeled by. Or people; I wasn't sure which.

More raindrops fell against the window and I smiled. I loved when it rained; it was such a calming thing to watch and the way the world smelled after was such a delight.

The storm moved in quickly as the sky darkened to a stony gray. A flash of lighting lit up the sky and was immediately followed by a clap of thunder. The window became a blurry, wet view but I didn't turn away from it.

"What are we looking at?" a voice whispered next to my ear.

I jumped so hard that the bed shook. I turned my face toward the voice and started to laugh. Nolan looked as startled as I felt.

"Geez, Janey. I didn't realize how jumpy you were," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, you did just scare the shit out of me," I replied.

He smiled his genuine light-up-my-world smile. I returned it before focusing my attention back on the blurry world outside.

"You know, I kind of want to sit down, but I'd be obstructing your view if I did," Nolan said with a laugh.

"Actually, you should sit. I'd bet you look amazing with a thunderstorm backdrop," I said matter-of-factly.

"Are you flirting with me, Janey?" he asked with a grin as he settled into the chair in front of me.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't fight the smile forming on my face. Nolan leaned onto the bed and looked at me for a moment before speaking.

"I have been worried sick about you. Jessie's been great with keeping me in the loop of how you've been. I think she realized how much I cared about you when Mr. East kicked me out of here and I destroyed half of the waiting room on my way out," he said with a chuckle.

"That's so weird," I remarked.

"I just didn't want to leave you," he replied with a shrug.

"No, not that. The fact that you called Mom; Jessie, and Dad; Mr. East."

"I don't think he'd appreciate me referring to him as, Aaron," he replied dryly. "I'm not his favorite person at the moment."

"It wasn't your fault, though," I said, reaching up and brushing his hair behind his ear.

Another flash of lighting. A booming clap of thunder. Nolan really did look beautiful with the storm raging behind him. It made his emerald eyes look more precious and mysterious, for some reason.

"I never answered your question, by the way," I said, letting my hand rest on his.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning.

I smiled again and let my eyes wander to the window for a moment.

"You know, I didn't tell my parents this, but when I landed I heard something snap. Inside of me. Do you know if the doctor ever found out what it was?" I asked.

"I can go ask," he offered.

"They won't tell you," I replied, shaking my head. "You're not immediate family. Hold on; let me buzz the nurse."

A moment later, a nurse materialized.

"Hello, Jane. It's good to see you awake," she said with a pleasant smile.

She was older with a smattering of gray hair, a kind face, and crow's feet. She was unreasonably thin and was swimming in her scrubs. But I honestly liked her right away.

"My name is Debbie and I'm your nurse," she continued.

"Hi, Debbie. This is Nolan," I said, gesturing toward him.

"Hello, young man," she said warmly.

He blushed and smiled in return.

"So, what can I do for you, Jane?" she asked, turning her attention back to me.

"When I fell, I heard something snap. Did you do any X-Rays on me, by some chance?" I asked curiously.

"We did."

Silence.

"And did you find anything?" I asked.

"Yes."

Silence.

"Can you tell me what you found?"

Her eyes traveled to Nolan for a moment, before she shook her head.

"Oh, if it's because he's here, it's okay. He's cool," I said breezily.

"It's not so much that. It's just ... Well I remember the first night he was here. It's obvious that he cares a great deal about you," she explained uneasily.

Then it's not good news. Great.

"Nolan, do you want to know? Or do you want to wait outside?" I asked him.

"I would rather know, than not," he replied quietly.

Debbie sat down on the side of the bed and took my hand.

"When you had your accident, you cracked your femur bone wide open. We think it caused an infection because you spiked a fever when you passed out. We're going to be keeping you here for a little while. Just to be on the safe side," she said.

"No wonder I was in so much pain," I said more to myself than her.

"Is she going to be okay?" Nolan asked.

"We don't know, dear. That's why we're keeping her here."

What?

"Um, I feel fine actually. If I had an infection, wouldn't I still be boiling?" I asked.

"While that may be true, we'll have to perform another surgery on your femur, Jane," she said softly.

"No."

"Jane, you don't understand; if we don't and the infection spreads --"

"No thank you," I insisted, cutting her off.

"Janey—"

"Please don't, Nolan. I don't want any more surgeries."

Debbie looked at me for a moment before she stood up and walked out.

"Jane, you have to do this. Please. I won't be able to live with myself if—if something happens to you because I took you to the aquarium," he said, his voice breaking.

"Nolan, I'll be fine. I promise. I've had worse things than an infection happen to me since I've wound up with wheels," I said to him.

"Promise?"

"Promise."