A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(52)

“Jessica.” William repeated, interrupting my reverie.

I sighed. “William, you aren’t strong enough for stories about my silly adventures. Let’s wait until a full recovery.”

“Jessica.” It was a whisper now.

“He has a right to know, Jess,” Adam said.

I knew Adam would gang up on me. I just didn’t know it would be quite so soon. It sucked that Lump wasn’t here to fortify my side.

“Well, fine. Adam, you saw the whole thing, you tell him. I am going to go get a coffee. Does anyone have a dollar?”

“Stay Jessica,” William begged.

“William, if you want the story, I am going to get a coffee. If not, I would be happy to stay.”

“Will you come back?”

“Of course I will. I don’t have keys or a purse or any idea how to get home.” I was a little irritated, if only because I knew what lay in store for me. I figured I would be mad now since I later I would be yelled at.

Tom held out $5.

“Thanks Tom.” I turned and left.

On the way down to the cafeteria I got lost. I then found a coffee cart and waited in a line. I got it, drank it too quickly, sat and watched the bustle for a while, and went to accept my fate.

I bet Superman never had these problems from the people he saved.

As I walked back in the room the conversation stopped. I grudgingly looked at William and saw the pained expression I knew would be there. I sat in my chair.

“I think you should go home.” His voice was even and resolute.

I stopped mid-way down with a look of disbelief.

Any other time tears would have come to my eyes immediately. Rejection like this was hard to live through. Especially in front of people. But this time he could shove it up his hole, as Claire would say.

I dare one of them to try and throw me out.

“F-off.” I said, continuing to sit down, not caring about what others thought of my naughty slang.

“Jessica, I want you to go home. I don’t want you here.”

“Oh shut up. I didn’t sit and sleep on this uncomfortable chair for five days to be told to go home before you were allowed to go with me. So if you want me home, you better get better and go with. That place is not my home until you are there with me.

“And one more thing. If any of your body guards tries to throw me out, I will sick Camille on you. I am legend here. Just ask for the report Madga is filing on my aggressive behavior.”

I leaned back in the chair with my arms folded.

“Who is Magda?” Tom asked.

“One of the nurses on the third floor. She tried to stick me with a needle when I was trying to get up here. They did that trick when I tried to follow William after the ambulance dropped us off. I was ready for it this time. I...well, the report she filed says I hit her hand and pushed her against the wall. Luckily, the other nurse didn’t see anything, and the nurses up here didn’t hear any of the story, or my name, or who I was going to see, so the paperwork said I sneaked out and the claim was trashed.”

“You did that to come up here? To me?” William hadn’t stopped looking at me since I walked in the door.

“Of course. What good was it to stay on the third floor?”

“You could have rested, Jessica. And healed. They said you refused pain medication in case I woke up.”

“Well. Yeah. What if you had woken up last night and I couldn’t wake up with you because I was on meds?”

My resolve to stay strong was weakening. The pain and fear and worry of the last five days was starting to come through.

“They say you aren’t healing properly because you wouldn’t go home to sleep. You are hurting now. I can see it.”

“But William, you are hurting worse. I couldn’t indulge. Not with you...like that.” My voice cracked.

“What if I lost you?”

“What if I lost you? I couldn’t bear it, William. I couldn’t bear to see that bull attacking you. I couldn’t bear to watch and do nothing. Not when I could have done something. Not when it was in my power to stop it. Or try to stop it. I would do it again. I will do it again if I have to. That’s all the explanation I can give you. Please don’t send me away.”

I was crying by the end. I had my head down on the bed and was crying into it.

“I can’t hold you Jessica. I can’t move to hold you.” William’s voice told me he was in pain for what I had said. For what I had suffered. He didn’t know the half of it. Try to sit vigilance to someone in a coma of all things.

After a while, when the tears subsided, I noticed that his family had left. They obviously wanted to give us a moment. When I straightened up, William’s familiar eyes were on me.

“Jessica,” he said, “I don’t want you to get mad, but I would like you to go home. I would like you to sleep in our bed tonight. You can come back bright and early in the morning, but tonight, please do me the favor of sleeping in our bed.”

I wiped another tear.

“I will be moved shortly to a room on the second floor,” he continued softly. “They reckon I’ll be here another couple days before I can go home. I’ll have to be an invalid at home for a while, but I can go home. All I have to do now is heal. So I am safe. You saw me through the hardest part, and I will forever thank you. I felt your presence the whole time. You helped me find my way back. I said as much to the others. But now, for me, please get some real sleep.”