"I know what you"re dealing with Harp," he says quietly.
"No, you don"t." I snap back at him.
He closes his eyes and sighs before opening them again. "I do, Harp. I know the guy from The Sommers" party was him ... um, your dad."
I am shocked.
"I understand that you are upset. You have every right to be. What you found out was a total shock, and then when you saw him ..." He trails. "I can only imagine what that did to you. I know why you pulled away from everyone. But, Harp, you have to see how bad Vincent is for you. He"s pulling you down further ... please don"t go back to JJ"s with him. Please."
I absorb the sincerity in his voice and see it in his eyes. But when I hear his phone ding I remember his betrayal. The memory of him and Taylor kissing comes flooding back.
I stand and look at him, "Get out of my house ... now!"
Connor looks startled but I stand my ground and eventually he gets up and leaves with Catherine. I look at my mom who is silently crying in her chair. I want to scream at her, but instead I turn to go to my room.
"Harp," My mom"s voice stops me on my tracks. She sounds pained, so I turn around to look into her eyes. She looks down and takes a deep breath. "Harp, I"m sick."
I spent the last few days in a numb daze ignoring everyone, which was hard since I was surrounded by crazed seniors. Today was the last day of school and now I"m in Vincent"s car while I half listen to him tell me how tonight should go down. Mom tried to convince me not to go with him but it didn"t work. I left my house, slamming the door in her face, my signature move these days.
All I can hear are her words in my head on repeat, "I"m sick."
Sick. What an ordinary word. I"ve been sick dozens of times. Colds, the flu, sore throat, etc. But when she said sick, I knew deep in my aching heart, that she didn"t mean any of those.
Breast cancer. That"s what she"s got. There is a tumor inside her that is poisoning her from the inside out. And what am I doing? I"m replaying all our conversations and all her apologies. They make more sense now, obviously. But instead of going to her and making things right, I"m back in Vincent"s car going to JJ"s. Call it denial or just plain selfishness, but I can"t deal with this on top of everything else.
When we get to the parking lot at JJ"s, Vincent throws his arm around my waist and we walk into the bar together. I notice that there are a lot more people here tonight, I guess to watch this showdown. We walk to the pool table usually reserved for the really good players where we greet our opponents, Bob and Chuck. Both are burly men. Bob is the guy we played last week, and I don"t recognize Chuck, but he must be good in order to be here.
It doesn"t take a genius to know Bob is out for blood tonight, and he wouldn"t have a partner that couldn"t kick a.s.s.
When I shake Bob"s hand, he lingers and his eyes peruse my body. He leans in to me, "I don"t think he"s man enough for ya, darlin". Let me know when you"re ready for a real man."
Vincent pulls me away from him and I ignore them to take a few practice shots before Bob racks the b.a.l.l.s. The guys have laid down their money and settled on the rules. Bob and Chuck go first.
While I watch, I scan the crowd around us. My heart startles when I skim over a pair of simmering green eyes.
Connor.
I can"t believe he"s here. It shouldn"t surprise me-I knew on some level he would be worried about me.
Chuck goes next and I pull my gaze from Connor to watch the game. Chuck is good, but not better than me. Or maybe he"s just holding back.
I go next and hit the easiest shots before we go around again. While I"m busy studying Bob I can"t help but keep tabs on Connor. He"s not in the front part of the group watching us, but he"s still here watching me. Suddenly Vincent is pulling me into him.
"I think they are hustling us so we win this round and then they challenge us to another one." he tells me.
"But, the plan is to win right? We don"t need a second game to prove anything. Let"s just win and get out of here." I respond.
"I think we can do better than that, don"t you?" he sneers and quirks an eyebrow at me.
"What do you want to do?"
"Let"s turn the tables on them. Let"s lose this one then I"ll challenge him to another one and double up our money."
"Fine. Whatever. You"re up."
We lose the first game like Vincent wanted and while he sets up the second game I turn to see Connor still standing off to the side watching me. When the second game starts, the feel in the air shifts and becomes suffocating. This is now a serious game with high stakes. I play my part and do well. With each round, it becomes apparent to me that I am much better than Chuck, even though he"s magically gotten better. We easily win.
"You little s.h.i.t. You hustled us again," Bob says shoving Vincent so hard he falls back into the crowd.
"A deal is a deal. You brought your ace and I brought mine. I don"t see what the problem is old man." Vincent sneers at him after he"s recovered from the push. He"s facing Bob, arms at his sides and chest puffed up. I"m standing on Vincent"s right when I see Bob"s fist coming around. Vincent ducks, but it"s too late for me to avoid the blow.
The force of the impact sends me straight to the ground. I feel my head bounce off the hard concrete floor as I hear screaming, and see a blur of shuffling feet.
I blink my eyes open, "Harp, stay with us. You are going to be ok. You ..." My eyes snap shut and darkness encases me.
I hear noise and voices but I can"t move my head. I"m feeling tired again and I"m drifting.
When I try to open my eyes again, the ceiling is blurry, so I blink them in succession to help them fully adjust. I hear beeping and turn my neck toward where it"s coming from, but instead I see my mom sleeping in a chair next to my bed, her arm stretched out and I follow it to see that she"s holding my hand. I try to say her name but my mouth is so dry I can"t squeak anything out. So instead, I try moving my fingers.
"Oh, honey, you"re awake." Mom startles and instantly has tears streaming down her face. The sight of her makes me start crying too. She looks like h.e.l.l. Her hair is a mess and the dark, hollow circles under her eyes tell me she"s been awake and worrying for a while.
"Shhh ... sweetie, it"s ok," she soothes while pressing a b.u.t.ton on the side of my bed. "You"re ok now."
"Ah, I see you"re awake," a cheery, round, middle-aged nurse says a few minutes later as she walks toward me and raises my bed. "I"m Helen and I"ll be your nurse today. I need to take your vitals, and then I"ll let Dr. Stewart know you"re awake. He"ll want to see you himself, ok honey."
My mom sits back down in her chair while we wait for the doctor.
"Once Dr. Stewart gives me the ok, I"ll bring you something to eat." Nurse Helen says as she places a can of 7up and a cup filled with ice, on the tray next to my bed.
My mouth is so dry I can"t talk. Mom pours the pop in the cup and helps me with it by bringing the straw to my lips. It"s not quite cold yet, but the relief is immediate as it slides down my throat.
"What hap ... "
"h.e.l.lo, Nurse Helen tells me you"re awake," a man says entering my room. "I"m Dr. Stewart. I"ve been treating you."
"Hi," I whisper. My mom holds the straw back up for me to take another sip.
Dr. Stewart gives me some instructions and I do as he says. "Good, now I want you to follow my finger."
He moves his finger side to side and up and down.
"Great, you"re doing really well. Now I"m going to check your injuries. Let me know if you feel any pain or discomfort."
I"m not sure where his hands are going but suddenly, the last thing I remember is Bob missing Vincent and his fist coming right at me. The memory makes me flinch and Dr. Stewart stops what he"s doing.
"Did that hurt?" he asks.
"No, sorry, keep going." I tell him.
He continues pushing around on my face and I wince a few times before he presses around my eye and I gasp.
"Sorry about that," he says, "You have a mild concussion. You are going to be sore around your eye and head for a few weeks. The bruising will also take a little while to heal."
I visibly relax when he"s done checking my head, exhaustion setting in.
"Ok, let"s check your ribs," he announces while pulling down the blanket and untying the sides of my gown.
My eyes fly open and I look at my mom panicked and confused. She gives my hand a rea.s.suring squeeze, while Dr. Stewart unwraps my taped ribs and presses around. Pain suddenly explodes through my body and I involuntarily scream.
"Sorry, but you"ve got two bruised ribs. There"s not much we can do but wrap them up until they heal. You"ll notice shortness of breath and you"ll need to take it easy for about six weeks." He says after fixing the wrap and pulling the blanket back up. "Do you have any questions?"
"No, thank you."
"I"ll have Nurse Helen get you some food. Eat what you can and then we"ll give you some pain medicine so you can get a little relief and sleep. I"ll be back to check on you later today and we"ll see if you"re ready to go home."
"Thank you Dr. Stewart," my mom says shaking his hand. He smiles warmly at her.
After he leaves, I close my eyes. I feel my mom stroke my hand and the gentle rhythm soothes me as I try to remember everything that happened Friday.
"Here you go honey," Nurse Helen says leaving a tray of food and medicine for me.
"Thank you," my mom tells her. She uncovers the dish on the tray to find chicken broth, salad, a roll and chocolate pudding.
"So, what looks good?" my mom asks me.
"I think I need some more to drink first. My throat is so dry," I say hoa.r.s.ely.
"Sure, here you go," she says scooting the tray closer.
"Do you think you can try and eat a little something?" My mom prods.
Just looking at the food makes my stomach roil.
"No," I tell her. She nods not fighting me on the fact that I can"t handle the thought of food.
"Mom?"
"Yeah sweetie"
"What happened? All I remember is getting punched and falling to the floor," I say wincing.
"Are you sure you feel up for this right now? I think you should get some rest, it"s still early in the morning. We can talk about it later." she says.
"I need to know ... I don"t understand how I got so hurt."
She sighs, "I thought that would be hopeless, you are so stubborn."
She smiles at me and brushes a small piece of hair away from my face.
"From what I was told, that guy punched you and when you fell to the ground a bigger fight broke out while you were on the ground. Connor pushed his way through the crowd to find you, but you wouldn"t open your eyes ...," she pauses to wipe away the tears that have escaped. With a shaky voice she continues, "When you wouldn"t open your eyes, he flipped out and started yelling for help. Someone heard him and called 911. When the paramedics and police got there the fight had wound down and everyone was gone except for you and Connor. They brought you to the hospital and here you are."
I had forgotten that Connor was there. I close my eyes and remember seeing him watching me.
"What about my ribs? I don"t understand how that happened."
She sits in the chair not looking me in the eyes. I think she"s trying to decide whether to tell me this or not.
"Here, eat a bite of this roll and then take your pills," she says.
"Mom, please tell me ... I need to know."
She turns to me with more tears in her eyes, "After you fell and the fight broke out, you were underneath everyone and it was hard for Connor to get to you. He thinks that when you were on the ground you got kicked while everyone else was fighting around you. He said he didn"t see who did it, and he didn"t even know about your ribs until Dr. Stewart talked to us."
I shake my head because that does make sense. I remember scuffling and screaming before I blacked out.
"Why don"t you get some sleep," she consoles, "You need to rest."
I nod my head in agreement and fall asleep immediately.
When I wake up, the sun is streaming through the window in my hospital room. After my eyes have adjusted, I turn to find my mom but she isn"t in her chair. Instead, I see stunning jade eyes smiling at me. I start to sit up, but as soon as I do, pain shoots through me.
"Hey now, you"ve got to take it easy there tiger." Connor shoots out of the chair and helps me sit up.
"Thanks."
"My pleasure," he smiles, "You slept through breakfast and they just brought lunch. Let"s see what"s creating this mouth-watering aroma."
Seeing him like this makes me happy and makes me realize just how much I"ve missed my best friend. And that"s what he is after all, before we were a couple, he was the most important person in my life and I miss him.
"Ah, looks like a turkey sandwich, a salad with ranch dressing, and chocolate pudding," he says like he"s announcing a prize on the Price Is Right. "Tough decision-what"s it going to be?"
I clear my throat, "Um ... " that"s all I get out before coughing. Connor pours a gla.s.s of water and helps me drink.
"Feel better?" he asks and I nod.
"So, what"s your final answer? Will it be the salad or perhaps you want to skip the main course and go straight for dessert?" he says and looks at me expectantly.
I giggle at him, "Pudding, definitely pudding."
"Good choice," he says as he opens the container.
"I miss that sound." He says suddenly serious.
"What sound?"
"The sound of you laughing."
I stare at him and see the pain I"ve caused him these last couple of months etched on his face. I can"t help but burst into tears. I hear him move the food tray and then feel my bed shift.