A/N: Yeah, I know. I haven’t updated this one in a while. I’ve been kinda busy and hit a minor writer’s block. I had some trouble…actually…a lot of trouble, getting this chapter on paper. I know lots of people are wondering how he blacked out, so I hope this chapter explains it, even though I thought it was clear in the previous chapter. Anywho, oh yeah, about the Fuze thing. I know they probably didn’t have the drink back then, like eight years ago, but whatever. I guess Snapple would have worked, but….yeah. Lol. Enjoy this chapter…I hope.

Chapter 13

Jarrod opened his navy blue eyes and stared at the unfamiliar white ceiling. He blinked several times, yet every time he opened his eyes, the same strange ceiling appeared before him. He pushed himself up, only to flop back down like a limp fish when a wave of nausea rolled over him as he came up too quickly. Slowly, grabbing onto the metal railing, he eased himself up against the backboard of the bed. He took in his surroundings. There was a stark white wall that matched the plain ceiling, and shutters which were drawn on the windows, closed off the rest of the world to him. A machine beeped peacefully at intervals, lulling him and reducing the sense of panic that had overwhelmed him. A dirty brown curtain isolated his bed, cutting him off, leaving him only to guess where he was by the sounds going on, on the other side of his curtain.

“I wanna go home,” a raspy female voice cried out. “I have lot of stuff at home. I don’t want to be here.” The voice seemed to be very close to me, and I wondered how many beds away was the poor old woman.

“I know you have a lot of stuff at home. This is the hospital, not your house,” a curt deep voice responded. “Give me your arm, I need to give you some antibiotics.” A loud clang resounded in the room as something fell onto a metal plate. The male doctor let out a loud curse. “Dammit lady! Let me do my job, and you can go home!”

He chuckled at his frustration. Being an ER doctor was not fun, and attending to ornery little old people who frequently graced this place. Suckers. I don’t envy them in the least. They don’t get to have any fun. Stuck with pathetic geezers all day. He shook his head and lifted hand, intending to rake it through his hair. Midway to his head, his arm was stopped short, held by a tightly stretched tube with a needle embedded deep in his arm. Jarrod narrowed his eyes when he saw the IV packet hanging from the rack. He began tugging at the needle taped to his forearm when the curtain was pulled back with a loud swish.

A doctor stepped into his space. “Hello Dr. Blake. How are you feeling?” She gave him an encouraging smile that infuriated him.

“I’m fine! Can anyone please tell me why on earth I’m in bed? I’m a doctor, not a patient!” he returned to tearing frantically at the IV line hooked to the pouch hanging above his bed.

“Stop that. Keep the IV line in. You’ve lost a lot of blood due to the abrasion to your temple. That was some nasty fall you had back there in the cafeteria.” The doctor gave him a pitiful look as she checked his bandaged head.

Jarrod felt and blood drain from his face and gasped at the sudden lack of air as he recalled what had happened earlier. “That was no freaking accident! That bitch really deserves to die. I’ve known her since forever, and all she gave me was trouble. I hope she burns in hell for all eternity. I can’t believe she did this to me on my first day here. How long have I been here?” he glanced at his left wrist, looking for the watch that was absent from his wrist.

“It’s over there on the table.” The doctor said, “and you’ve been here for three hours. We had to get you to stop bleeding. You lost a shitload of blood. It was all over the cafeteria floor. Oh, and by the way, you don’t have to worry about meeting with Dr. Murphy. He dropped by earlier when he got back, and told me to tell you that you’re done for today. Don’t worry, you won’t get the boot. At least not this soon.” She offered him a reassuring smile that helped calm him. Jarrod shook his head as he thought of the nerve of Kaitlin. What a bitch!

“Thanks. I’m fine now, so I’m gonna go. I have stuff to do, and I gotta get clean clothes.” he looked away from her to gaze at the wall, averting his gaze from the fake smile she offered him. He couldn’t take the plastic smile any longer; it wasn’t helping his mood. He reached over to take the Rolex on the table and pulled open the drawer, finding his clothes neatly folded. The shirt had blood stains over the front and on the shoulders. Jarrod shook his head and donned his clothes.

“Actually, you’re not supposed to go anywhere anytime soon. The other doctors have to do some preliminary tests just in case, and Dr. Saben is still prowling around the hospital. It’s better that you stay right here where we can keep tabs on you.”

“Uh…hell no! If I can’t go anywhere Kaitlin’s gonna find me some time or another. If you come back later and I’ve died of a mysterious cause, we’ll all know who to blame. There is no way in freaking hell I’m gonna stay in the stupid little bed. I like being the doctor, not the sickly little patient. It’s only a little blood loss. Not biggie. I’m outa here, and you can’t stop me.” Jarrod buckled his belt and pulled on his shoes, pushing past the doctor on his way out of the makeshift room.

His dismal shirt attracted the attentions of both staff and patients. I guess there is a shitload of blood on me. Damn. That was a new shirt too. I hate you Kaitlin! He reached his office and pushed opened the unlocked door. In the closet behind the desk Jarrod retrieved a clean white shirt and stripped out of the soiled one. The first fourty-eight jour shift had been hell for him, and it wasn’t even half over yet. God help me, please. Just let me make it out of the first day on the job alive. A knock on his door signaled the entrance of Dr. Murphy.

“Hey Jarrod, you okay? I heard that you got into a nasty incident back at the cafeteria. I dropped by earlier and you looked…ghastly, to say the least. There was blood all over your face, and you got somewhere around twenty stitches. There musta been some slick floors downstairs.”

“Nope. The floors were great, nice and polished but not slick. I didn’t just happen to fall. Kait…I mean, Dr. Saben tripped me as I passed her, on my way out of there.” I rubbed my head where I had landed.

“Yeah, I guess I heard it was Dr. Saben’s fault, but you sure? She’s a good person. She’s one of the best ER doctors we have. She’s quite the instant thinker, and she gets along with everybody.” He gave Jarrod a quizzical look.

“Oh I’m sure as hell Kait…Dr. Saben tripped me intentionally. I’ve known her since the days of middle school, and all she’s ever given me was trouble.”

“Oh well. In that case, you’d better watch your back. Keep one eye open kiddo. She’s everywhere, and that’s probably bad for you. I’ll see you around, you’ll be just as busy as I am. Here’s your pager.” He handed Jarrod a small black pager and walked out of the room.

Of all people, it really just had to be me who wound up with Kaitlin again. Today is obviously not my day. I fingered the stitches on my temple, tracing the tiny stitches that had stopped the severe bleeding cause by the glass. That would be quite an interesting scar. I thought back to high school at St. Lawrence, back to the day I first realized the Queen-Bitch existed.

(Start flashback)

“Hey you! Yeah, you kid! Get out of my way!”

I turned my head back over my shoulders to look at the girl behind me.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware that I was in your way.” I made to move to my left to let her pass, only to be shoved by one of the jocks on the football team.

“Watch where you’re going punk! Don’t touch me, got that?” the behemoth demanded of me.

I stuttered and stammered, fearful that he would crush my spine with his colossal hands which he rubbed in glee. “I…I’m sorry. I didn’t see you. I…I’ll move.” I ran to the right, hoping to distance myself from both the jock and the girl. I looked back to see if they had passed so I could go back to my drawing, only to see the jock gripping my sketchpad in one hand and my guitar in the other, grinning at me. At his back, stood several more prozac-packed giants. “Hey! Get off my stuff! I moved to let you pass, but I didn’t say you could touch my stuff!” I lunged at him, trying to save my two most precious items.

“Oops, sorry. I didn’t know you didn’t want me to take your stuff. Here, why don’t I just get off.” With that, he threw my guitar on the floor as hard as he could. A crash echoed in the empty hall as I stared in shock at my destroyed instrument. My entire year’s earnings had just been reduced to a shamble of wood splinters with frayed strings.

“What the fuck! That was my guitar you bastard! You owe me a new guitar now. And give me my sketchpad you jackass!”

His eyes widened in shock as one of his chums taunted me, “Whooh Jack. What did that punk call you? A jackass and a bastard. You gonna let ’im get away with that?”

“Fuck no. You just officially lost your precious sketchpad now, punk.” He ripped the cover off along with a chunk of my drawings, and tore them into pieces, tossing them out the window. He was about to tear away the remaining pages when the girl spoke.

“No Jack. Give those to me.” She held out her hand and he meekly placed the book into her hands. I breathed a sigh of relief that this Jack shithead hadn’t been able to demolish everything I did. I started to take the five steps that separated the girl from me to get my pad back. “You think I’m gonna give this back to you? Think again kid.” She sneered at me, twisting her upper lip to a position I thought only dogs could achieve. “What’s your name?”

“Jarrod. Can I please have my sketchpad back now please? This isn’t funny.” I took another step towards her. We were only three steps away from each other. I could see her sparkling amber eyes that would have indeed made me weak in the knees if she wasn’t maliciously taunting me.

“Jarrod, I actually think this is really funny. No one messes with Kaitlin Saben and gets away with it. Got it? Since this thing,” she motioned to my pad, “I’ll just take it as a warning not to disrespect me again.”

Just like that, the girl walked away with the three boys in tow. Long after they had turned the corner, I still sat there, blinking in confusion. I was having a very hard time digesting things. “Kaitlin, Kaitlin! Come back please! Please give me back my…” I stopped yelling, admitting defeat. How was I supposed to reason with a person like that?

(End flashback)

Jarrod took a deep breath as his thoughts returned to the now. She still hasn’t change a single bit. She’s still that stuck-up snotty girl from all those years ago. This is gonna be hell on earth.

Yeah, I know, this chapter ended kinda abruptly, but I still’ve got a little bit of that writer’s block. I’m not exactly sure what I want to happen in the next couple of chapters, because those will be the ones deciding the pace of the story. Oh, go read my other story It’s a Small World. I’m also going to post a new one, I know, I know. I’m still working on these, but I have all these things in my head and I can’t get it out unless I write it. Well, until next time then, mis amigos! Review please!

-Gothicrlr