Part 6 (1/2)
”He's awake,” she says.
”Oh thank G.o.d.” I swallow but it doesn't help to soothe my dry throat. ”Can I see him?”
She nods. ”Follow me.”
Chapter 11.
There's a digital clock on the wall of Jace's hospital room. Red LED lights blare the time at me the moment I open my eyes. It's two-sixteen in the morning. The light is off in here, but the heavy oversized door is cracked a bit and it lets in all the light from the hallway outside. Hospitals don't shut down when it's time to go to sleep.
I yawn and sit back, straightening my spine from the awkward way I had been sleeping. The plastic fake leather armchair in the corner of Jace's hospital room had sufficed as my pseudo bed. I had dragged it across the room, right up next to Jace's bed, carefully avoiding the wires and tubes that hung from various places on his body.
The doctor had informed me that Jace suffered a concussion. After extensive testing, they said the damage wasn't bad but it wasn't good. He'd need to stay for observation and make sure his brain didn't start swelling or something elsesome kind of fancy medical term that made my stomach tighten. Instead of dwelling on what might happen, I had promised myself to stay calm and trust that everything would be okay. There's no way fate would take Jace away from me. Not now.
My right hand is wrapped tightly in his. It's sweaty and uncomfortable but I don't dare move. As much as I want Jace to wake up and talk and laugh and kiss me, the doctor said it's best that he gets some rest now. His body can heal better when he's sleeping, and I'll just have to wait.
I rearrange the flimsy pillows in my chair and try to get in a more comfortable position. I tuck my other arm under the lowered handrail on the side of the bed and rest my head on the mattress next to Jace's shoulder. My anxiety fades as I close my eyes and soon, sleep overtakes me.
When I wake up for the second time, it's because a nurse walks into the room. She lifts an eyebrow when she sees how I'm positioned both in a chair and on Jace's bed. I sit up quickly and rub my eyes. I almost expect her to chastise me for how I was sleeping, but she doesn't say anything at first.
She checks Jace's monitors and taps something into a tablet. ”Good morning,” she says finally as she adjusts the IV bag and checks the time on her watch. ”Breakfast hasn't been here yet?”
I shake my head. ”I don't think so.”
”Has he woken up this morning?”
I shake my head again. My hand is still interlocked with his, my hand sweat and his hand sweat merged into one sticky mess. Still, I don't want to let go. Jace's constant sleeping doesn't seem to bother her. She tells me she'll request an extra breakfast tray for me and then leaves before I have time to tell her that won't be necessary. I'm still so full of nervous energy that I'm not sure I could eat right now even if I had food in front of me. And hospital food? No thanks.
After what feels like hours, I turn on the television in the room and try to find something worth watching, but nothing takes my mind off of the situation. I want Jace to wake up so badly but I don't want to be the one who wakes him up. I want to be patient and allow him to sleep as long as he needs to. But...I might yawn a little loudly and make a big deal about standing up and repositioning myself next to him on the mattress.
It doesn't work.
Even when his cell phone blares to life on the table next to the bed, Jace sleeps soundly. I peek over at his phone, the top corner of which is lit up red to signal that the battery life is low. It's his mother calling, and honestly, I'm surprised she didn't call sooner. I glance over at Jace and when he hasn't woken up by the third ring, I take the phone and answer it.
I'd normally be a nervous wreck talking to his mom for the first time ever, but somehow I manage to say h.e.l.lo without my voice cracking.
”h.e.l.lo?” She sounds confused at first and then her voice softens. ”Is this Bayleigh? Or did my son develop a high-pitched voice?”
I smile, hoping it takes the nerves out of my voice. ”It's Bayleigh. Jace is still sleeping.”
”Really? I guess he didn't have work today?”
”Work?” The word suddenly has no meaning to me. ”Why would he beWait, do you not know what happened last night?”
”I haven't heard from Jace in days, honey. Why, what's wrong?”
She called me honey the first time she's ever talked to me. That's kind of a huge deal, but I'll have time to be excited about that later. Right now I feel sick to my stomach over the fact that his own mother doesn't know he's admitted into the hospital. It was all my fault. I'm the fiance. I'm his emergency contact. I should have been smart enough to call her but it never even crossed my mind. I spent all night worrying about Jace and never once worried about his family.
I swallow and try to think of the best way to give a mother scary news. ”Well...first of all, he's okay. But he's in the hospital from wrecking his dirt bike yesterday.”
”What?” she snaps as if I've just told her some juicy gossip instead of terrible news. ”He better not have broken any bones right before the wedding! Oh, I'm gonna kill that boy if he did.”
”No...no broken bones. Just a concussion and some sc.r.a.pes and bruises.”
”No brain swelling?” She asks the question as if it were as casual as asking what's for breakfast.
”No swelling.”
”Good.”
Jace hasn't stirred since I answered the phone. I decide to talk a little louder. ”Do you want me to wake him up for you?”
”That won't be necessary, honey. I trust you're taking good care of him. I was just calling to invite you two to come over and see Gary and I next weekend. Do you think ya'll can make it?”
I almost blurt out Who is Gary? but before I put my foot in my mouth, I remember that's his dad's name. Plus there's a bigger situation at hand right now. His mother just invited us to come visit them in California. For the first time.
”Um, sure,” I say without really thinking about it. ”I mean, a.s.suming he's out of the hospital and feeling better and all that, I'm sure we can come over.”
”Oh he'll be out of there by this afternoon,” she says with a laugh. ”You take care of him but if that boy tries milking it just for the attention, you better tell him to get off his a.s.s and take care of himself, okay?”
”Okay.” I can't believe she's taking this so lightly. Her son is in the hospital. The hospital. My mom would be freaking out if I were in the same position, but Jace's mom acts like it's no big deal. ”I'll talk to him when he wakes up.”
”Great,” she says in the same cheerful tone she's had she's the beginning of our conversation. ”Tell him Dad's credit card has a lot of miles on it so he won't need to buy plane tickets.”
”Sounds good,” I say.
”Okay, hun. Talk to you later!”
When I hang up Jace's phone, I stare at the home screen for a few seconds while I take it all in. I've just spoken to Jace's mother for the very first time since our relations.h.i.+p began. And it wasn't even that scary. She was really nice. I mean, he had always promised me that his mother was nice, but I guess I never believed it. And up until now, I had known that the first time I met them would be at our wedding, but I was trying to cover up the nervous feelings I had about that and try to focus on the wedding. Now we'll be meeting them before the big day.
We're going to be staying with them in California. At their house. Will they make us sleep in separate beds? Will his mom's niceness be just an act meant to lure me to their home where she'll then berate me for ruining her son's life? What if she meets me and doesn't like me and then demands that Jace call off the wedding?
A heavy sadness presses into my chest as I stare at Jace's phone. His background is a picture of us at the motocross track, him in his gear and me in my homemade T-s.h.i.+rt that says: The Future Mrs. Adams.
I remember when that picture was taken. It was during spring break when I spent the week with Hana while our guys rode dirt bikes all day. We both made s.h.i.+rts like that, using a plain t-s.h.i.+rt and iron on glittery letters, only hers was about Ash, of course. I had had so much fun with Jace and my new motocross friends. It never occurred to me that my boyfriend's sport is a dangerous one. I spent that whole week hanging out at the track and making fun of Jace for how smelly he got after a day of riding in the hot Texas sun. I never once thought that one day I'd be sitting next to him in the hospital.
His phone beeps one last desperate cry to be plugged into a charger and then it dies. I frown. Bringing a charger is probably something I could have put on the list for Becca. After they let me see Jace and they gave him his own hospital room out of the emergency area, Becca had went back to our apartment and collected some items for me. Clothes, toothbrush, snacks and my tablet. The tablet's charger also worked on my cell phone. I didn't think to ask for Jace's charger as well.
”Hey beautiful.” Jace's voice is groggy from sleep and probably the drugs in this IV bag. ”Why do you look so sad?”