There were three men, and nurses were rushing over to help them. One of them was on the ground, his body placed on the tile floor, his clothes stained with blood. The nurse who was attending to him turned him on his side, and he threw up almost as if on cue, getting his cheek and the floor under him with his vomit.
The other two men were intertwined with one another. One of them was supporting himself on the other’s shoulder. I didn’t recognize the one who was unconscious, but the other one, I recognized him like the back of my hand. It was Jody.
Jody was back.
He was back, and he had someone else with him, and they were both seriously hurt.
I didn’t think about it. I practically ran out of the back towards the waiting room, to help. To help either one of them.
As I run, Jody’s gaze locked with mine.
“What happened?” I asked him as I motioned for a gurney to come towards us. Not that I had to, the rest of the medical staff had things well in hand. They took him away from Jody’s shoulders and Jody stared at me, his eyes swimming with tears.
He sniffed. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be,” he said, his voice breaking. “I—I didn’t know where to go.”
They took the other man away, too, the one who was on the floor, and Jody’s gaze darted between the both of them as they took him away, rushing him through the double doors.
“Jody,” I said. “What happened?”
“We were in a car,” he said. “It rained and I—I don’t know. We were in an argument, Luke tried to take over the wheel, and I had to yank it away from him, and before I knew it, we were careening off the freeway and the car was against the barrier, and the road was slippery, so when I tried to get back on the road, the car hydroplaned and we ran head first into a tree. Everyone was hurt, but we were near the exit closest to the hospital, and I knew I had to get them here.”
“The car—it was working?”
He nodded.
“Okay,” I said. “Come with me. We’re checking you in.”
“I’m fine,” he replied, a little offended.
“The longer I stand here arguing, the more likely it will be that I’m not going to attend to your friends, and I would like to help with their care,” I said. “But you might have gotten hurt too. You might have a concussion or whiplash. I’m going to have to insist.”
“You’re not going to let this go?”
“I can keep you up to date more if you’re also admitted,” I replied. “Does that do something to persuade you?”
He looked down at his feet, then nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, that does do something to persuade me.”
“Good,” I said. “Walk with me, I’ll find someone to check you in.”
He nodded, and I thought I could see a smile playing on his lips. “Whatever you say, Dr. Meyer.”
CHAPTER TEN
2019
I looked at Jody, who looked a little different under the dim electric light of the hospital room, and in the little blue gown, which seemed to show off his arms even more.
I was supposed to be his doctor, but this was distracting. I wanted to tell him to cover up those carved arms, because it was as if I couldn’t look right at his face.
I looked at his chart before I set my gaze on him again and smiled. “You got out of it pretty much unscathed,” I said. “I was concerned about something like a concussion, but you seem to have a pretty hard head.”
He smiled. “I’ve been known to be stubborn. By some people.”
“Great. There is a gash on your shoulder, it looks pretty nasty, but it doesn’t need any stitches. Once the adrenaline starts to go down, you’re going to feel the pain. Don’t worry about it too much. It’s clean, it’s not going to get infected, you’re good.”
“How do you know it’s not going to get infected?”
“Because you’re already on antibiotics, so there’s no way for that to happen. Plus, you’re looking after yourself, right?”
He glared at me. My smile turned into a grin.
“I didn’t mean to get in an accident. You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be.”
“I get the feeling you don’t like the hospital.”
He looked right into my eyes. “There’s only one thing about the hospital that I like.”
“The food?”
He grimaced. “Sure,” he said. “Though I’ve never eaten here before.”
“You should. It’s surprisingly good for a hospital cafeteria.”
“I will, when I’m here for a visit,” he replied. “I don’t foresee that being any time soon.”
“You’d be surprised, Jody,” I said. “You’re probably going to be here a little more than you foresee and in the near future.”
“Yeah? Why is that?”
I looked into his eyes. “Your friends didn’t fare as well as you did,” I said. “They’re out of the woods now, but the one who had fainted, he was seriously hurt. He had a collapsed lung from the impact.”
Jody paled.
“I… I didn’t
