Chapter Twenty-Two
“Tell Charlie that I’d find a time for us to seat out and talk about what we’ve got going on, but for now, he can’t keep calling me. Please.” She had this puzzled look on her face when I was done explaining.
“So you’re in a situation where you can’t talk to your boyfriend. Is that it?” She asked.
“Yeah. For the main time. I have to go now Debby, I’d see you in school tomorrow.” I hugged her hurriedly.
“Can i say hi to your bodyguard?” She pouted.
“Trust me Debby, it’s not wise. I would see you tomorrow. Don’t be late,” I turned away, not waiting for a response.
“Glad you’re beginning to stick to instructions,” Jacob said, as I stepped into the car.
“I’m glad you’re becoming more nice than you first were,” I smiled at him.
“You’re feisty, and I like people that are challenging.” He was looking at me as he ignited the car.
“So I challenge you then,” I asked.
“In a way. Although…” there was a crash from outside the car.
It was Debby. Everything had happened so quickly. One minute I thought I had seen a figure in front of the car and the next second the figure was down in a crash.
“What the hell was that?” For the first time, I could see raw fear in the eyes of my bodyguard.
“You just… did you just hit my friend?” My voice was terribling.
In one swift move, we were both down from the car, rushing to the front. Debby was struggling to make her way from the ground.
“Oh goodness! Debby are you alright?” I bent beside her.
“How the fuck did you get in front of a moving car ma’am? Are you blind?” Jacob was bent over her as well.
“Jacob for Christ sake, can you be more humane here? You just knocked someone down and you think putting the blame on her is the best thing to do?”
“I’m fine,” Debby interrupted.
“No you’re not, we would take you to the hospital, cause you definitely need to be checked. And I mean mentally too,”
“Excuse me?”
“Jacob!” I and Debby screamed at the same time.
“You know what,” he bent, scooping Debby into his arms like she was weightless child. “Open the door Eve,” he instructed.
I did as he said, opening the door to the back seat. He laid Debby gently on the seat. I joined her, cradling her head on my shoulder.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
“Are you hurt? Do you feel any pain?” Jacob finally asked from the driver’s seat where he was turning the steering wheel.
“No,” Debby mumbled.
“Can you speak louder?” He called.
“Jacob she said she’s fine!” I yelled back getting pissed at his attitude.
“Eve you would be stressing her if you keep yelling,”
“No, it’s you who has to stop being a jerk.”
“Jerk? Seriously now? Why don’t you ask your friend what she was doing back there In front of a moving car,” he was looking at us from the review mirror.
“I wanted to give her this,” Debby held out a small, green, fancy note.
“My diary, how did you get this?” I collected the note.
“I saw it on your couch at your apartment. I figured you had forgotten it. You left in a hurry into the car and didn’t hear me calling you.” She explained weakly.
“I’m so sorry Debbie. Thank you. But did you say you found this on my couch?”
“Yeah, it was lying on your couch when I went in,”
“That should be Charlie. I kept this in my bag. Why is he going around checking my bag?” I asked no one in particular.
“Who’s Charlie?” Jacob asked.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t find anything interesting in it, I’m sure he didn’t either,” Debbie said. I was glad she’d ignored Jacob’s question.
“You read it too? What’s wrong with you all?”
“Evelyn I was bored waiting for you, i needed something to keep me busy and like I said, there was nothing of much interest in it. I’m sorry but you’re leading a very boring life and it clearly reflected in that book you holding,” Debbie mocked.
“I think you have a good sense of humor. Hi, my name is Jacob,” he glanced from the driver seat, stretching a hand towards Debbie.
“Can you focus on driving before we add one more person to the list of accident patients we have here already?” Debbie answered him.
“Yeah, sure.” He turned back, focusing on the road.
The rest of the drive to the hospital was without any conversation and almost in silence, except for the voice that sang from the car radio and the random backup from Debby and Jacob at intervals. It was almost as though they both knew every song by heart.
At the hospital, the doctor did a general check on Debbie and assured us that she was okay. In his word “she only needs some bed rest.”
“Can she go home tonight?” I asked the doctor.
“Yes, actually. You would just need to sign some papers and she’d be free to go.”
“What if I want to spend the night here doc?” Debbie asked, surprising me.
I had really thought she’d be worried about going home. I stared at her, searching for an explanation in her eyes. When her eyes met with mine, she shrugged.
“I would get the rest I need more if I stay here.” She explained, once the doctor was out.
“Debbie you know I can’t stay the night with you, do you really prefer staying here alone rather than going back home?”
“You can convince your bodyguard to stay with me, can’t you?” Her lips were pouted. I was only beginning to understand what was playing.
“You like him, don’t you?”
“The hell yes! Evelyn have you seen that man?” She was pointing at Jacob, who stood outside the ward’s corridor, with his back to the mirrored door. He seemed to be on a call.
“Yes, I have seen him Debbie.”
“Evelyn that man is as hot as pancakes just brought out of the oven, and girl, I wouldn’t mind being knocked down ten more times if it means being around him.” She rolled her eyes, wetting her lips.
“Tell me the truth Debbie, did he really knock you down? Or was this all part of your getting him plans?” I lowered my voice, looking straight at her. She was quiet for a minute, staring back at me with an innocent look on her face.
“Spill it Debbie.”
“Fine, it wasn’t really a hard knock, if I’m being honest, it wasn’t even serious enough to bring me here.” She confessed. “But please, can we keep that part between us?” She pleaded.
I took a quick glance at the man in question. I didn’t know what to think. Was he going to love her right? Maybe that wasn’t for me to decide. They’re grown ups and should know what they want. So I nodded, promising to keep whatever had gone down today a secret.
“Eve, we have to go,” Jacob called, with his head peeping from the door.
There was a sudden sad look on Debbie’s face. “I’m going to talk to him.” I excused myself.
“We can’t both leave her here, Jay,” I called him with the new name I had derived for him, hoping to soften his heart.
“What does that mean? I need to take you back to the castle. Moreover, the doctor said she was okay, no injuries, no internal whatever, just stress right?”
I could see that he was stressed himself. What was supposed to be a thirty minutes visit had turned into hours at the hospital. It was past dinner time and I could tell he was under pressure to take me back home.
“She has decided to rest here, and I think it’s the best, being under the watch of the doctors and nurses. Please Jay, can you come spend the night with her? It would only be tonight, by tomorrow, we could get the discharge papers signed and she’d be gone, away from your life,” I coaxed.
He hesitated, his looks said he was considering it and I hoped fervently for a positive response.
“We need to leave Eve,” he turned his back, walking down the corridor towards the exist.
“What about her?” I yelled after him, but there was no respond.
It was sad, but I knew I couldn’t dare to spend the night without Antonio’s permission. I turned the door knob weakly, finding it hard to pass the news. I was on time to see Debbie wipe a line of tears from her eyes.
“It’s fine. You can go,” she said, before I could bring myself to speak.
She had seen all that transpired from the mirrored door and I knew she was hurt.
“I’m sorry Debbie, I tried talking to him.”
“It’s fine Evelyn. Just go, please” there was a new line of tears crawling on her cheeks.