Dance, Lust And Them

Chapter 8

 Janelle woke up in the hospital. She had been dreaming for quite a while, but had woken up when she heard a loud clanging noise from inside the hospital. Someone had dropped a large tray of medical gauze on the floor and was currently getting yelled at by her boss.

 Janelle rubbed her eyes and examined her surroundings. There was fresh sunlight spilling through the window. The rain had finally stopped and all the clouds had disappeared. It was oddly nice out and the sky was clear blue. She was thankful that there was a blue curtain shielding her from the rest of the hospital room, as she was pretty sure she could hear breathing from the opposite end of the room. Oh God, Janelle thought to herself. I hope the person across from me doesn’t pass out suddenly…

 She heard a loud noise as the nurse walked in.

 “How are you feeling?” she asked, peeking through the curtain.

 “I guess ok. What happened?”

 She couldn’t remember what happened. The last memory she had was of looking out the window at the thunderstorm, Curtis and Vance arguing in the background.

 “Well from what it says here, you have a minor concussion, but other than that you’re fine. Can you sit up?”

 “Yeah,” Janelle said.

 The nurse proceeded to wave a finger in front of her face in order to gauge her perception rate.

 “Good, everything seems fine. The doctor will be in to see you shortly and if he gives you the green light, you’ll be able to check out and head home. Okay?”

 Janelle nodded her head.

 “Do you want me to send your friends in?”

 “My friends?” she asked.

 The nurse smiled and told Janelle the doctor would be with her shortly. Seconds later, Vance and Curtis had appeared.

 “Oh God,” Janelle said, rolling her eyes. “Not you two again.”

 They laughed sheepishly at her and presented a bouquet of flowers and a balloon from the gift shop. “How are you feeling?” Vance asked.

 “I’m okay,” she said. “The doctor will be back in soon and then I’ll be able to check out, I hope. From what the nurse said, everything seems to be fine with me.”

 Curtis sat at the edge of the bed and Vance fiddled with the curtains on the side of Janelle’s bed. They each looked like they felt really bad about what had happened. They apologized to her, explaining that it was just too much alcohol and it would never happen again. Janelle told them it was fine, that she’d also had a lot to drink and it was her fault for letting things get out of hand.

 “We should have just gone to Curtis’s,” Vance said. “Maybe we would have had a better time in the pool.”

 “Good point,” Janelle said. “Though I still think we would have drank, maybe twice as much. Curtis has a bar built into his house for crying out loud.”

 “Are you serious?” Vance asked, glancing at Curtis. “That’s amazing. But really, I shouldn’t be drinking. It makes me crazy.”

 “Not as crazy as me. Janelle, I’m really sorry about what happened. How is your noggin?”

 She burst out laughing. “Curtis I swear you’re such a weirdo sometimes. It’s fine; I’m feeling a lot better thanks. I have a minor concussion, but other than that it’s not a big deal. And I think the doctor’s here…” she said, trailing off.

 There was a man in a lab coat adjusting his glasses and staring at Janelle impatiently. Vance and Curtis excused themselves, telling Janelle they’d be waiting outside for her.

 The doctor walked over and began to explain to her that everything checked out fine, he just needed to check some of her vitals. He placed a freezing stethoscope to her chest and back, checking her vitals for discrepancies. He also checked her pupils, which he told her were a bit dilated but that would subside.

 “If you have any lingering effects, just come right back here and we’ll do a scan on you. But from what I’ve seen so far today, everything checks out okay. Feel free to get dressed and head down to the receptionist’s desk.”

 Janelle thanked him and tugged her gown tighter around her body. She didn’t know where her clothes were, but thankfully Vance and Curtis were there to help. They came back in the room the moment the doctor left and asked Janelle how she was feeling.

 “I’m fine, they said I could check out. Um, but I don’t have any clothes.”

 “That’s where we come in,” Vance said, handing her a bag filled with clean shorts and a t-shirt.

 They turned around, as she got dressed.

 “Ready,” she said.

 Vance whistled and pinched her thigh. “No matter what you wear, you always look hot.”

 “Oh my God,” Janelle said. “Come on let’s just check out before anything bad happens, like Curtis starts stealing morphine or something.”

 She checked out at the front desk and they gave her an information packet in case she felt any lingering symptoms from her concussion. She felt fine for the most part, not even the slightest bit light-headed. The only part of her that felt strange was her mind, which wouldn’t stop thinking back on the dream she’d had. Her mother was in it, but she could barely see her. They were standing next to the statue of Aphrodite but she had somehow managed to relocate herself to Janelle’s backyard. Every time she tried to talk to her mother, no words came out of her mouth.

 She woke up feeling like she wanted to cry. Oddly enough, seeing Vance and Curtis made her feel much better. It helped her to realize that she wasn’t alone in the world, that it wasn’t just her and her father. She still had people that cared about her.

 “What do you want to do now?” Vance asked. “I was thinking we could go out and get some milkshakes or something.”

 “Man, I’m starving. This hospital food is nasty. Let’s go to McDonald’s,” Curtis said. “We can head back to my house afterwards, if you want.”

 “You mean your mansion?” Janelle joked. “But what if we sully your fine home with our cheap burger wrappers?”

 Curtis took her hand. “You’re ridiculous. And yes, that’s fine.”

In the parking lot, they hopped into Curtis’s car and headed towards the drive through. It was still nice out, and there was no sign of rain. Janelle knew she would develop a strange anxiety about thunderstorms because of her anxiety attack, but she hoped it would subside by the next rainstorm. In California, it was either dry as a desert or wet as the sea.

 They grabbed their bags of fast food and headed towards Curtis’s house. When they pulled into the driveway, Vance whistled again.

 “Wow,” he said. “This is a beautiful piece of property.”

 “Thank you man,” Curtis said. “So long as we’re dating the same honey, you can hang here whenever you want. I’ve got a large screen TV that’s just calling your name.”

 “You play Xbox?” Vance asked.

 “Are you serious?” Curtis asked, somewhat sarcastically.

 “Boys,” Janelle said. “You’re boring me.”

 “You heard the princess. Let’s change the subject and head inside. I’m starving.”

 Curtis’s house was just as hot as the outdoors, as he couldn’t afford to air condition most of it. Vance and Curtis headed towards the couch while Janelle hung around the kitchen. She was still feeling pretty tired and knew if she sat down on something soft that she would instantly fall asleep. She sat on the kitchen countertop, which was made of black marble, and proceeded to eat her burger and fries.