Part Four: Jenn's Choice
_It's been an entire week since Aaron and I first kissed, and not a day's gone by that I haven't felt complete. He's perfect in every single way. I mean, I was raised to think that very few people like him would be tolerant of... creatures, like me. But as long as I have Aaron, I don't care about what other people think of me.
Because there's no reason to let mean things get to me. I was raised to be better than that. I just can't help but get over how Christie treats me. It's like she completely has it in for me. Like nothing that I do to try and ignore or escape her works...
And then, if that wasn't bad enough, I still have to be extra careful about talking to my parents about Aaron. After my 'stunt' as they called it, it's been almost a total lock-down around here. No visitors, no being out late, no leaving the house for anything other than necessity, no nothing. It wouldn't be all that bad, but that means that I can't spend all the time I want with Aaron, and I can't even call him 'cause I don't have a cell. Sometimes life can be so unfair..._
It was bad, yes, but it wasn't as though I couldn't still see him at school. Which was what I had been doing every single day. Though when the weekend came, I was lost on what to do. I wanted nothing but to see him, but there was no way I could... or was there?
"Hey mom?" I asked as I calmly approached.
"Yes dear, what is it?" She had been working on cleaning up the house as she always did on the weekends. It was at this time that she was most vulnerable and easily influenced.
"I just remembered that I have to help with a school project, and I need to go over to someone's house. So, I sort of need to go..." It was lying and sneaky, but what could I do? I had to see Aaron.
"Can't they come over here?" she responded, starting back to cleaning casually.
"No... They already decided that where they were going to work on it. I'm sorry that I forgot to ask about it sooner, but I just remembered." With my puppy-dog face out in full, all that I had to do was get her to look me in the eyes and I'd be set. But, she had to pay attention to me first. She had already gone back to putting her full attention into cleaning, as though it was already decided... HA! As far as I was concerned, it wasn't decided until I was holding Aaron's hand and snuggling into his neck.
Somewhat blushing from the thought, I tapped on my mom's shoulder. "Mom? I really need to go so that I can help with the project. It's a group grade, and I don't want to let my group down."
Her head lifted. That was it! She looked right at me; right into my eyes. "Oh, okay sweetie. Just promise me that you'll be careful-"
"I promise! ThankyouIloveyoubye!" And I bounded out the door before she had a chance to question me further.
I wanted to go straight to Aaron's house, but then it hit me; I'd never even figured out where he lived. During the time we spent together, he always seemed to avoid talking about himself. I guess I just figured that he was embarrassed about it, so I let it be... but all I had to go by was a cell phone number.
"Duh!" I punched myself in the head for not thinking about it sooner. I had his cell number, so I could just call him and he could pick me up! "Now where's a pay phone when you need one?"
Rummaging through my pockets for some spare change, I managed to find enough to make a quick call. But, thanks to a lack of knowledge of my general surroundings, I didn't know where to even start looking for a phone. Not that I was going to give up any time soon.
When minutes started to turn into half an hour, I started to lose hope that there were even phones anywhere in the city! But then, as if by a miracle, I saw Aaron's car out of the corner of my eye. I brought my paw up and waved as the car came closer. It wasn't until the car was next to me that I noticed that it wasn't his. The side was banged up, but Aaron's was in perfect condition.
The window rolled down and I saw who was in it. The driver I didn't know, but the girl in the passenger seat was unmistakable. It was Christie, from school. "Well, look at what we have here... The little bitch that thinks she's all that and can go around humping on Aaron's arm whenever she gets the chance. What's a whore like you doing out in the daytime? I thought that you only came out at night and for people holding hundreds."
I didn't know what to say. I couldn't think fast like Aaron, so I didn't stand a chance at making a comeback. "What do you want Christie? I've never done anything to you."
She groped herself over to the driver-side window and looked out. "You found a way to make a complete fool of me, that's what you did! Nobody's ever rejected me... until that little boy came along. And then you come in with your little bitch self and sweep him off his feet like an angel? You ruined my reputation you little mutt!"
I was afraid that she was gonna attack me, so I backed up and started walking away. I thought that would be the end of it, but no. I saw the car shaking back and forth before she opened up the passenger-side door and started walking toward me. "Oh no! Don't think that you're going to just walk away from me! You've got to learn that nobody makes a fool of Christie Michelle Renne!"
In the blink of an eye she was inches away from me. Or it could have just appeared to look that way; I was somewhat scared at that point. I backed up a step, but she countered with a step forward. She didn't let me get more than a foot away. I could honestly say that I was afraid for my life. She pulled her arm back, and I flinched. She swung at me, and I yelped.
The collar of my shirt was grabbed and ripped down the middle. It was lucky that I was even wearing a bra, because they were still a new thing for me, and I didn't have many. She was yelling, but I didn't have the mind to listen to what she was saying. I was focusing on trying to keep from taking a direct slap to the face. But I didn't know that she was going to what she did after that didn't work.
I could feel my hair being grabbed and pulled down. Tears were spilling from my eyes from a mix of pain and confusion. I couldn't tell what was happening. My stomach burst into pain and my legs gave out, but the pain didn't stop. I was bombarded with blows to my face, stomach, legs; anywhere that could be reached. My nose felt like it caved in. My chest was on fire, and made it hard to breathe. Then, I just went black.
* * * * *
When I woke up, I wasn't quite sure what had happened, whether it was a dream or if it had been real. Seconds later when my body once again erupted into pain I knew that it did, in fact, happen. My eyes were blurred, and every single inch of me ached. I wanted to scream, but I didn't even know if my lips would move.
I heard footsteps, and prayed that it wasn't Christie coming back for another round. But, there were three distinct pairs of footsteps. One I couldn't figure out, but the other two I knew exactly who they belonged to. A heavy dress shoe that squeaked whenever it was stepped on slightly sideways, and a dainty pair of tennis shoes; both belonged to my parents.
"Mr. And Mrs. Gillet, your daughter is in quite bad shape," I heard someone say, "and I'm surprised that she was even able to breathe when we got to her. Her snout is broken in two places, she has a rib that has snapped and crushed her left lung... and that's only about half of the list I have. She's lucky that the police drove by and stopped the girl from beating your daughter, otherwise... she'd probably be dead right now."
I didn't catch a lot of it. My hearing was fading in and out, the same with my eyes. It felt like I wasn't even fully awake, but just sort of floating along with the ticking of a clock that I heard.
For all that I knew, it was only a few minutes that passed. But, in reality, it had been four days that I was like that. During that time I couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality, and I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not. Time and time again, I hear Aaron's voice speaking my name, but the same I heard from my parents' voices too. I never heard them at the same time, and I wasn't even sure if I was just imagining them there.
Every time I heard Aaron's voice, I tried to call out to him, but my mouth wouldn't move at all. But, all that I heard was him singing. It was the song that we had sung together in the park not long ago. After that, I couldn't make out anything else. Were they memories, or was he really there? I wanted so badly to know for sure whether or not I was sleeping or awake. I couldn't tell a difference between anything, and it was making me want to cry.
Another thing that I heard constantly was the sound of what I assumed was the doctor. He was talking to himself, or to someone that kept completely silent. And it was always the same thing: "Slow progress..."
What did he mean by that? Was there something wrong with me? Was that why I wasn't waking up? I just wanted to wake up so badly... I wanted to see my family. I wanted to see Aaron.
* * * * *
It was almost an entire week in the real world that I was out. In that time, my room was filled with flowers, cards, best wishes, and even a few visitors. During the day, my parents stayed by my bedside. They stayed all day, every day until they had to leave because of hospital regulations. Unbeknownst to most everyone, Aaron had been coming in after hours to visit. He didn't find out about me until two days after I was admitted, and he'd spent the entire first night crying by my bedside. He stayed until the early hours singing to me and even though I wasn't even aware of him.
Finally, when my dreams stopped and I started to regain my consciousness, it had been a total of six days that I had been out. I didn't know it at the time, but I was much more lucky that I thought.
"Doctor! She's waking up! She's finally waking up!"
"Jenn? Jenn, can you hear me? If you understand me, nod your head."
I nodded my head. I was still confused, but at least I did understand him.
"Jennifer, you might be a little groggy right now, but you need to try and stay awake for me, okay? You've been in a coma for the past six days. We weren't sure that you were ever going to wake up again."
If you haven't ever heard the sound of your mind grinding to a halt, it sounds a lot like the screeching of tires right before a car slams into a wall going 90 miles per hour, or the sound of a gear seizing up in an old-fashioned clock before a spring over-twists and bursts out of the glass front. Not the most pleasant sound by any means.
I wanted to move, but my limbs felt like lead. I wanted to scream, but my jaw felt like it was wired shut. I wanted to cry, and so I did. My eyes started to blur, but a hand wiped the tears away. The tears kept coming, and each time they were wiped away.
"It's gonna be okay baby. You're gonna be okay. Momma's here sweetie. Mommy and daddy are here. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be just fine..."
It was the sound of my mom's voice, but it was shaky. I had never heard her sound like that before. She had always been a strong-voiced person. Never one to cry. That must have meant that it was worse than I had only started to take in. And that only made me start to cry even more.
Dad stayed back and simply stood watching. His lip was quivering, but he held his composure. There were also two other people in the room; a man and a younger woman. The woman whispered something to the man, and then ran out of the room. I wasn't about to ask what she was doing. I was too worried about myself.
When I tried to talk, all that I could do was make muffled squeaks and whines. The one man walked over and started to talk to me again. "Jennifer, your jaw is wired shut. Please, try not to move or talk, it will only be harder if you do."
I wanted to cry again. Just what all had Christie done to me? What did I do to deserve being beaten? I ruined her reputation? Because Aaron liked me and not her? I must have done something horrible for God to have let something like that happen...
But it wasn't over yet. "Jennifer," the man I now assumed to be the doctor said, "it's going to be a long recovery time for you. The severity of the injuries you sustained has made surgery the only option. Of course, we performed this while you were still unconscious, just on the chance that you woke up. But, for one such as yourself, it may take upwards of four months for you to fully heal. So you're going to have to take it easy for a while."
"It's gonna be okay sweetie. The doctor told us while you were in the coma. You're gonna be fed intravenously until your jaw heals back, and you're gonna have to do some physical therapy for your legs. But it's all gonna be okay," mom said, trying to comfort me. It didn't help, but at least she was trying.
The doctor whispered something to my parents then walked out the door. I didn't catch what he said, but it wasn't like it mattered. With my mom and dad being the only ones in the room other than myself, I just had one more person that I wanted to see... even though I didn't want him to see me like this.
As if thinking about him wasn't enough, I head someone running down the hallway. I had hoped that it wasn't Aaron, just because I honestly didn't want him to see me. But, as luck would have it, it was him. "Jenn!" When I looked over, I saw that his eye was swollen and his lip cracked. "I came as soon as they told me-" But then, he paused. He stared past me like I was invisible. "Mr. Gillet?! What're you doing here?"
"Aaron?!"