Jolene: Betrayed

Jolene: Betrayed 4

Ledger

The nurse, whose name tag reads Glenda, flashed a knowing grin and hands me my visitor pass. Jolene looks at me with a shocked expression while I remove the paper from my visitor pass sticker and adhere it to my shirt. I assume she didn't expect me to stay, but no way in hell am I leaving her here now. I am invested. And if I'm honest, I am a little concerned she may intend to sue me since she now knows I own the haunted house. Fuck it. "Jolene, how likely is it that you're going to sue me for damages," I ask her, only half joking. "Mister..." she starts but quickly recovers, "Ledger, what on God's green earth are you talking about?" she snaps. "You know, since it happened at my place... with my chainsaw," I reply, causing Glenda to look as though she now regrets giving me a visitor pass. "Not likely at all. I have no intentions of suing you. Tucker is responsible for what happened. He'll pay, trust me," she says with determination. Perfect. That is settled then.

Nurse Glenda begins wheeling Jolene towards her room, and I follow close behind. The hallway was nearly empty so they must not have been too busy tonight. I would never say that to Nurse Glenda though. My mother is a nurse, and she always told me that to announce a slow night in a hospital is like drawing moths to a flame. It's a jinx. The people will flood in. We arrive to room 704, and the nurse parks Jolene's chair next to the hospital bed and applies the brakes. I am hovering in the doorway, as to stay out of the way, but decide to go offer help instead. I feel as though my body is on autopilot because all of this is completely out of character for me. My life currently doesn't have room for this type of distraction, yet here I am practically inviting it in. Just as the nurse says, "Ok sweety, up ya go", I walk around her, and offer Jolene my hand to help her out of the wheelchair. She looks down at my hand, and then directs her glare up at me. Of course, she is refusing my help. She begins to stand unassisted, so I place my hand on her back just in case she begins to sway again. She doesn't swat me away, so I keep my hand on her back until she is safely seated on the bed. She is glaring up at me again, so I take a big step backwards and sit in the chair against the wall. Glenda tells her that the doctor will be right in, and suggests that she pulls her hair back out of the way. Her hair is in what seems like hundreds of long, thin braids that she spins into a large bun atop her head. Her tan brown skin is unblemished apart from the nearly dry blood that runs from her forehead to below her jawline. I guess God thought he'd go ahead and show off because she has these blue jean blue eyes. "Ledger? Hello, earth to Ledger Clayton," I faintly hear Jolene calling me. Shit. I have absolutely zoned out while gawking at her. Trying to play it cool, I divert my attention to the television on the wall and casually reply, "What's up?" My voice much higher than natural. Giggling at my slip up, Jolene blurts out, "Enjoying the view?" I deserved that one.

Saving me from further embarrassment is a quick tapping on the door. A middle-aged man in light blue scrubs pops into the room with us. I am sure the lingering blush of my face makes him think he interrupted something much more exciting than he actually did. Stepping up to the bed, he introduces himself as Dr. James and shakes Jolene's hand. He turns towards where I am sat in the chair, and I quickly stand, shake his hand and say, "Ledger Clayton. Pleasure," and return to my seat. Dr. James begins assessing Jolene's wound and concludes she, in fact needs stitched up. I hate that I had anything to do with this, even if it wasn't my fault. My body continues to betray me, because I have a strong urge to go sit next to Jolene and comfort her. What. The. Hell. Rather than make a complete fool of myself, I stay put in my chair. The look of the wound as the doctor cleans it out makes my stomach tighten, but Jolene handles it like pro. Glenda comes in moments later with all the suture supplies. She says to Dr. James, "I figured you were gonna need these," handing him the tray with everything he needs to close Jolene's gash. "What would I do without you Glenda," the doctor beams, making Glenda chuckle a bit. "Honey, there is no you without me," she quips.

From the moment the doctor gives Jolene the numbing shot, to the moment he closes the tenth and final suture is about thirty minutes. I thought it would take much longer than it did, but he worked swiftly. Once it was cleaned up, it looked much better. Not great, but as good as a chainsaw wound to the forehead could look. Dr. James says he'll return with release papers, and we will be free to go. Nurse Glenda brings in the stack of papers for Jolene to sign, with instructions and extra materials to take care of her stitches. She signs her name, says thank you to Glenda, and pulls out her phone without looking at me. I promise if she is trying to order a ride again, I may lose my cool. I sneak a glance, and see her randomly scrolling through her phone. I am convinced she is waiting for my cue, so I take her arm and ask, "You ready?"

We make our way to the exit doors and to both of our surprise, my car is not towed. It is starting to rain, so I quickly walk her to the passenger door and hit the unlock button. I am conflicted on whether to assist her into the car, given her history of refusing my help. But I am not an asshole, so I put my hand under her elbow giving her just a bit of support. It works. She doesn't shoot daggers at me with her eyes, and she also doesn't fall over. Win/win. I get in the driver's seat and start the car, only then noticing it is after 2am. Shit. Shit. SHIT. I have a 6am flight to catch at the airport that is an hour away at best. "So where are we headed," I ask, hoping she lives relatively close. "Daryon," she states, and I grip the steering wheel. She notices, but I can't help it. Daryon is an hour from here. An hour in the opposite direction of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Fuck me, this is spinning out of control. Who am I kidding? This spun out the moment I insisted on driving a stranger to the hospital. But damn if she's not one beautiful stranger.

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