Anxious Jeopardies

Chapter Four

"Ana, what the hell?" Someone had knocked on the door at about three in the morning. She got up to go get it; she was a light sleeper, and the pounding continued to augment the pain in her head. When she opened the door, Derek was standing there in a disheveled suit with ferocity painted on his features.

"Can you please be a little quieter? I don't want Sophie to wake up."

He yelled anyways. She was used to his mood swings, so she just closed the door and stood silently on the porch, staring down at her leg and bloody jumpsuit. "I send you on a job, and you get fatally injured. You come back but ignore the fact that you're supposed to check in with me. You tell Eric everything and he drops you off here, but you tell him to leave. I get worried sick because you haven't come back yet, and then he drops off your car."

"I didn't die. You can stop worrying about me."

Derek continued. "I ask Eric where you are, and he gives me this address. When I get here, you're asleep in some random guy's house!"

"I know what this looks like-"

"No, you don't. I asked you to check back in with me. Do you know why?"

"Yes-"

"Why?"

"So you could make sure I wasn't injured." She sighed and rubbed her hands on her face. "Can you please stop treating me like I don't understand anything?" Ana was ignored.

"And you were. A broken rib! You think you can just go on in life with a broken rib and... And a stabbed thigh?"

"I have before! And I didn't want to stay here; you should know me well enough by now to know that, but the guy wanted me to." She blushed, realizing how that sounded. "He said that I shouldn't be walking home in my condition. How can you disagree with that?"

"Oh, I see. I can't touch you, but he's allowed to do whatever he wants."

'"He never touched me! He never did anything to me!" She yelled, coming down the steps of the porch. "I don't even know where he went. It's like three in the morning, you do realize that, right?"

"Yes. I just want you to be safe..."

"No. You just want me to do what you want. You wanted to walk all over me, so I had to set rules. If I didn't, you would have somehow convinced me that this was unsafe and that I shouldn't do it anymore. I love this job! I don't mind getting injured. It's only going to make me stronger. I know that I'm putting my life in danger, but I have control. It works. I'm doing it to save the people who are in my situation without control. Don't you realize that? You would've persuaded me to believe that I was good for nothing."

"This is unsafe! Why can't you understand that?"

"I do understand! I've been hurt more times than most of the people we work with. Do you think I care? If I cared, I would stop doing it! It is completely my choice!" She yelled back, stepping closer to him. "You're just scared of losing me because I'm the only person who doesn't hate you. There's a reason everyone hates you! I don't think that you want to make me regret being your friend for all of those years, Derek. I don't think you really want to mess with me right now." 

Derek saw someone come up behind her and his previously annoyed look turned mad. She kept shouting, her voice cracking once and a while. "I'm kind of pissed off at you, if you hadn't noticed. Maybe, instead of yelling at me for not listening, you could go back to your tidy little office and go save some people yourself!"

"Ana?" The ginger turned around to see Jake drowsily standing in the doorway.

"Oh, God. Jake, I, uh, this is Derek. He was worried about me and I got mad. But I really have to go now. Can you, uh, tell Sophie I'll miss her." She hated her awkwardness.

"What about me?" He smiled sweetly and his voice was joking, but Derek was already fuming. Ana didn't need to give him more reasons to get mad. She gave him a small smile in return, but the brunette grabbed her non-scarred arm and dragged her to his car.

Ana looked over her shoulder to see Jake standing with a shocked and very confused look on his face before she was pushed into the car by Derek. He drove her to a hospital, staying purposefully silent the whole ride.

"What the hell are you doing? I've told you; I don't need a hospital."

"You're going in there whether or not you want to. I need to make sure you're okay! I can't lose you."

"Why? Your operation won't run as smooth?" She mocked him.

"No. I care about you, Ana. I lo-"

"Don't say it. Nobody has ever loved me and nobody ever will. Most people can barely tolerate me. I'm too cynical and sarcastic and who knows what else. Don't start now." She crossed her arms like a child. She apparently cared about her stubbornness more than her maturity. "I'm not getting out of this car."

"Yes, you are." He forcefully pulled her out. She jerked away from him when she was outside, but he grabbed her arm and turned her around. The man slapped her hard across the face, shouting indecipherable things at her. She blinked. She stepped away from him, giving him the coldest glare she could muster.

Putting a hand to her burning cheek, Ana said, "Great. You won. Have fun enjoying the fact that you're not ever going to earn my trust again." She started walking away from the medical building. She was still a few miles away from her house, but she didn't care. She needed to get away from Derek. She heard him yelling her name. He was saying he was sorry, but she ignored him. She started running, despite the pain in her thigh, hitting the pavement harder with each step. He didn't follow her.