Away (5 page)

“Yes, your nurse, Trish,” he said. “That’s my mom.”

“She is?” I was stunned. No one mentioned anything about those two being related while I was at the hospital. How was I to know this?

“She is. And she’s pretty wonderful, I might add.” You could tell, just from the look on his face, he loved his mother deeply. I wonder if it was him or a sibling who gave her that ‘mom’ necklace that she wore around her neck.

I thought back to how much she helped me and soothed my frazzled nerves at the hospital. “I had no clue she was your mom,” I admitted, now slightly apprehensive to be staying in their house. Trish knew my secret. I didn’t know whether she would approve of a girl like me staying in their house. I dropped my gaze to my hands that held my glass of water.

“Are you sure,” I started to ask him until he interrupted me.

“She insisted,” he answered me without letting me even finish my thought.

“She did?”

“Yes, at the hospital when I was waiting for you. She came out to talk to me, telling me that she didn’t want you to be alone, to see if you would stay with us in our spare room,” he answered.

I sighed in relief and took a sip of the cold water. It felt good running down my throat. It was hot here today. We both sat in awkward silence until I finished my sip of water.

“And your dad? What’s his name? What does he do?” I asked, then immediately regretted it. I just assumed he had a father, and I would feel like the world’s biggest jerk if he didn’t.

“His name is Bart, and he works on the farm,” he said with a distant look in his eyes.

“Oh you guys own a farm?”

“No. We used to own it, but we sold it awhile back and now my dad just helps run it,” he answered.

“Why did you sell your farm?” I asked, intrigued about his life here, I wanted to know more. The small town country life was nothing I was used to. I watched him as he looked at the wall behind me, keeping his eyes steady as he sat there for a moment before answering.

“We just couldn’t keep up with all the work. It had been in our family for a few generations. It was hard, but sometimes there are just things in life that you have to do,” he said quietly. He focused his eyes back on mine, and they looked distressed, like he was bearing something but didn’t want to share.

Trying to divert his attention elsewhere, I changed the subject. “Any siblings?” I asked in a more chipper voice.

“Do you always play 20 questions when you meet someone?” he asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I like to know everything about a person, about a family, especially one that I’m staying with,” I stated.

“Cassandra, that’s just called being nosy.”

I shot him a crusted look and crossed my arms over my chest. “I just wanted to know more about you.”

He held up a hand in front of me. “You’re real inquisitive. I get it.”

I sat there in silence; his tone was getting a little snippy, and felt as though I was crossing a line that I shouldn’t be. The need to know everything gets me in more trouble than it’s worth. He got up from his chair and started leaving the table. Maybe staying here was a bad idea and an even worse decision on my part to accept.

“Have you eaten anything since yesterday?”

I shook my head. I hadn’t eaten anything since before I left for Alamosa, and I could tell it was starting to wear on me.

“You need to eat then. What can I fix you?”

I raised my head up to see him standing in the kitchen. I was more than stunned to hear him ask that. I thought for sure he was ready to help me pack and take me back to the bug-infested motel again.

Unfortunately, the idea of food was starting to make my stomach turn. So much, in fact, that I thought I was going to heave on this very table. I looked over at Jason who had his eyes already on me. They had a look of panic in them, and I contemplated what to do next, shifting my head from him to the hallway. He was getting ready to speak when I decided now was a good time to run again. I dashed from the table and went straight to the bathroom, kneeling before the toilet, and purging up nothing but bile. Nothing was left in my stomach to come up. It was yellow and acidic and burned my throat to the point of tears. I laid my arm across the seat and rested my forehead against it. I reached over for some toilet paper to wipe the streaming tears from my eyes when I saw his silhouette standing in the doorway. He bent down, handed me a towel, and rested his hand on my back.

“I’m taking you back in,” he said quietly. I wiped my eyes first, then took the towel down to my mouth, wiping away any last remnants of bile I could.

“No, Jason, I’m fine,” I tried to convince him.

“Clearly,” he said quietly, in a sarcastic tone. I knew this looked bad to him. I did. There was nothing I was going to be able to say to him though.

He grabbed the towel from my hand and ran it under the faucet. I lowered my eyes back to the toilet I was hugging. Nasty. I immediately flushed the contents down, seeing it was just making me more nauseated. He knelt down in front of me and delicately put his hand underneath my chin, raising my head up as he wiped my face. I closed my eyes, and enjoyed the feel of a cool towel over my face and having someone take care of me. I opened my eyes only to meet his directly in front of mine. I could tell I was going to have to fight this battle of going to the hospital again. I moved his hand down from my chin and began to ease myself up from their toilet that I was certain I’d need to clean up. His hand grabbed a hold of my arm, helping me up.

“Your mom will be home tonight, right?” I asked him.

He peered down at me cautiously as we stood still in the bathroom. “Yes, why?”

“She’s a nurse so she can look me over. I don’t need to go to the hospital again,” I said. He took in a deep breath, narrowing his eyes as though he was thinking it over. He released his breath and started walking us out of the bathroom.

“Okay then, I can agree with that,” he answered. Yes, I won a small battle. “Don’t get too excited though. If she says you need to go back, then you’re going back.”

We continued back to the room I was staying in. I sat down on the bed and could feel the tension as he stood close to me watching every move I made.

“I’m not going to break Jason. I really am okay,” I tried to tell him, gazing down at my hands that were fidgeting nervously in my lap.

He cleared his throat and walked over to the bed, kneeling down in front of me. I couldn’t help but look down at him. “You must think I’m crazy,” he said, rubbing his hand over his scruffy face. “I just don’t like to mess around with this kind of stuff.” He said it so quietly that it was practically a whisper; almost as if he was uncomfortable telling me how much he cared.

“I’m not used to having someone take care of me or worry about me. I’ve never been in this sort of situation before, so I’m not taking this very well,” I confessed.

He closed his eyes for a split second and let out a long exhale. “I’m sorry no one has been there to take care of you,” he replied, finally moving to sit down next to me on the bed.

It made me sad that he felt the need to worry about me. Not having even known this guy for two full days, he was only the second person I’d ever met that I knew genuinely cared about me.

“Hey.” I turned my head toward him. “I don’t even know your full name.”

He looked at me while running his hand through his soft wavy hair. “Jason Dean Bradley,” he told me.

“I like it,” I said.

“What’s your full name Sweetheart?”

“Cassandra Elizabeth Pierce,” I revealed to him.

“I like
your
name,” he said in a low voice as he nudged my shoulder with his.

I could feel my lips curling up into a cheesy schoolgirl grin, and there was no stopping it. There was just something extraordinary about this guy, and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew I not only enjoyed it, hell, I admired it. I could bet money he was one of those guys who had a lot of friends and a lot of girls chasing him down. He was the guy everyone knew and loved to be around. He literally could light up an entire room, and erase any tension floating around.

“So do people call you J.D.?” I asked, curious about any nicknames he might have.

“No, definitely have never been called JD,” he told me with a slightly disgusted look on his face. Well then, I guess I would definitely not be calling him JD. “Do people call you Cassie?” he asked with a teasing voice.

“No, they don’t,” I said. I couldn’t deny I kind of liked it though.

“Well, that’s a bummer.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

He brought his face closer to mine, positioning his mouth by my ear. “Because it fits you, and your pretty face,” he whispered.

Cue the flutters that were going crazy in my stomach and the goose bumps that now covered my body. I didn’t know whether I should confess I was a mess, and he should stay as far from me as possible, or if I should shut up and embrace the compliment. It’s been a long time since I’ve received one that felt real, and that one did. Too real. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I flashed him a grateful smile and began to rebut his nickname choice for me. Before I knew it, I realized we had hung out the whole afternoon when both our heads turned to the sound of the front door unlocking and opening. I knew in an instant that it was his mother returning home from work. Our conversation ceased, and it was apparent that the ease from this afternoon was gone the moment we heard the door open. Jason quickly motioned with his finger that he would be just a moment and got up from the bed. He would be returning, with his mother to come look me over more, even though we both knew the real problem that was haunting me.

W
HILE
J
ASON
STAYED
OUT
OF
the room at Trish’s request, she sat on the side of my bed next to me. Her eyes were steady on me. I tried hard to stay calm, but my eyes looked at everything but her.

“Trish, p-please don’t say anything,” I pleaded with her, not wanting anyone else to know how much I messed things up.

She put her arm around my shoulders, “Sweetie, it’s patient confidentiality. I’m not allowed to. Not only that, I would never say anything. That’s your news to share.”

“Thank you,” I said with a deep sigh.

“I’ll tell Jason you’re fine and that you just had a rough couple of days, which you did,” she said. I was thankful she was on board with my request.

“In the meantime, ginger ale and crackers will help with the upset stomach. Help yourself; they are in the kitchen, and anything else you would like too. And don’t forget your vitamins,” she said, giving my shoulders a quick squeeze before getting up from the bed.

“I appreciate it Trish, I really do,” I told her.

“I’m glad you decided to stay here. I know Jason was worried about you, he said you were pretty scared when he found you.”

“I’m glad he was there to help,” I said, thinking about my ‘town rescuer’.

“Me too,” she said before walking out and leaving the door open behind her.

“See, I’m fine,” I announced to Jason as I saw him peeking around the corner once Trish finished telling him my ‘cover’ story.

He stood by the door, his arms crossed over his chest. “I guess,” he said, as if he didn’t believe his mother or me.

I couldn’t blame him, but it wasn’t something I was ready to tell the world. I yawned and put my hand over my mouth, covering the obnoxious face I made. Nothing is even remotely attractive about a yawn. I noticed Jason covering his mouth while he yawned.

“I didn’t sleep well in the motel as I’m sure you already knew,” I said, waiting for an ‘I told you so’, but it never came.

“I’m pretty tired too. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs, and my mom is just on the other side of the hall,” he informed me.

“Downstairs?” I questioned him, not knowing there was a basement. I never got that part of the tour. Some tour guide he was.

“Yeah, sorry I never got to show you. It’s probably best if I give you directions though,” he joked.

“I think I’ll be okay, but thanks.”

He was extremely persistent in making sure I knew how awful of a direction taker I was. I was never going to live this down, probably not even from Mel. MEL. Holy shit. I sat up in panic mode causing Jason to take a step back from the bed.

“Cassandra?” he asked, sounding apprehensive. I got up, pushed past him, and started for my luggage, hopeful it would be in there.

“My phone. I need to call my friend to let her know what’s going on Jason. Oh my God, she is probably freaking out. I was supposed to be there last night!” I told him, feeling my stomach multiply in knots as I thought about how worried Mel would be. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t think of this last night. For all I knew, she could have called the police, or worse, my family, to start a search for me. Oh no. This was too much to think about. My head began immediately throbbing as the room started slowly spinning like a merry-go-round. I watched as everything passed by me. My chest grew tighter; my breathing got shorter and soon far surpassed becoming rapid. It all hurt; the shortness of breath was too much for me.

“Whoa,” I mumbled as the walls around me were starting to slowly cave in. I felt hands on my shoulders and a voice speaking to me, but the thoughts of Melanie continued to take over my body and mind. Her name ran rampant through my mind. Melanie. Melanie. Melanie. It was all I could focus on. I was dropping lower and lower, until I felt myself being laid on the bed.