Oh, no. Nick thought, running down the hallways of the hospital. Please don't let her be hurt. Please, please let her be okay.
He had gotten a phone call twenty minutes into his shift at the bar, which made him nervous when he found out it was the hospital calling. Could they have found out I took those non-prescribed menstrual cramps pills for my back? But he discovered it was much worse when he found that the hospital was calling Jess's emergency contact number because she had been in an accident. He was ashamed that while he was terrified of what state she might be in, he felt this warmth at knowing that he was her emergency contact number. Not Cece? Why me and not Cece?
But he couldn't think about that right now. Nick quick grabbed his things, told his coworker he was in charge of the bar for the rest of the night, and ran out the door. What kind of accident? Was she okay? Would she remember him? These questions swirled around his head on the way to the hospital. It was only when he was about five minutes away that he figured he should let the others know. After calling everyone he arrived at the hospital. Of course he couldn't drop his car off at the emergency room door, he was forced to find a parking space in the winding parking garage that was next to the hospital. That would have been too easy, wouldn't it? Allowing me to park close? Don't they know I need to see Jess? I need to know she's okay…
Finally he found a parking spot, after forcefully taking from an old married couple who were taking there sweet time getting out of the spot. Jess would have yelled at him for being insensitive.
"They're old! And so cute!" She would have said. But she wasn't with him. She was lying in the hospital with God only knows what kind of injuries. Nick was getting really anxious.
He entered the hospital at this point, asking the completely incompetent desk clerk where he could find Jess's room, and was off. Running as fast as his, "pouch of cookies" as Jess called it, would take him. He vowed to get into shape in case anything like this ever happened again; although he prayed, harder than he probably ever had before that he would never have to go through something like this again. He just wanted to make sure that he could be by her side as soon as possible.
Finally, he found the room. Room 216. He knocked on the door probably harder than he should have. But he need to be beside her right now. He couldn't stand being away from her for another second. The door opened and Nick almost jumped back for a moment. Cece was staring at him, with a slight smile on her face.
"How did you get here so fast? I called you guys!" He was angry, but at the same time happy that someone, although it wasn't him, was with Jess. She hadn't been alone for too long.
"Nick," Cece said with the thickest tone of mockery, "it's called valet parking…you can get it at the west side of the hospital. What did you do walk here?" Nick heard a laugh from within the room. Cece turned and opened the door further to reveal Winston and Schmidt both lounging around the hospital room. Schmidt was engrossed in a 1999 edition of People magazine while Winston was flipping through TV channels. Winston gave Nick a sly look when he walked in and Nick knew immediately the laugh had come from him.
Nick stepped further into the room, "Where's Jess?" he asked. The hospital bed looked layed in, but there was no cute little raven-haired weirdo in it. Like a beacon almost, Nick's turtle face seemed to have summoned Jess. She was making her way into the room, a cup of ice chips firmly in her hand.
"I had to sneak this from Mrs. Grendelman next door. The nurses are keeping a close watch on me though. It's not like I'm an escaped convict…yet…" Jess laughed at herself and then turned to see Nick.
She's okay. Relief washed over Nick. She's okay. If she's walking around and making bad jokes, she's fine. Despite his constitution of trying to never smile, he couldn't help himself and grinned probably too broadly. He could feel his own face flush.
"Well, there you are stranger! Thought we'd lost you on the battlefield - " Jess's next poorly accented joke was cut short by Nick's bone crushing hug.
"You're okay! Jess, I was so worried about you." Nick let this slip out before taking a look around the room at his now attentive audience. Schmidt and Cece were snickering at each other and Winston had a smug look of satisfaction on his face.
"I'm hungry. I could use bad cafeteria food. Couldn't you?" Winston stood up as he said this, with the others following suit. It's as if there was some sort of telepathic communication between the three of them.
"Oh yes," Schmidt retorted a little too jubilantly, "Maybe they have some Indian food down there, Cece. You could feed me a taste of your culture."
"Please don't ever say something like that to me again," Cece said with an eye roll. Although Nick though he saw a flash of a smile…
When the door closed behind them, Nick was finally able to focus on Jess's reaction for the first time. She looked at him with those big, pale, blue eyes of hers. It was hard to look directly at her sometimes. It was like looking into the sun.
There was an awkward silence. Nick stole glances at Jess, who he saw was smile knowingly at him. It made him feel uncomfortable. Like he knew what had been going on in his head all night. It was uncomfortable mostly because he didn't care. He wanted her to know.
Jess made a move to the bed, stealing glances over her shoulder at Nick; resulting in her almost tripping over the leg of a chair. Nick ran to help her, easing her into the bed. Even in a common hospital robe, Jess seemed to look radiant. He really didn't know how she did it. How does she make me feel this way when she's being just…silly? Once she was settled, he took at chance at talking again.
"So, what did happen, Jess?" He asked, looking at her with what he tried to pass off as indifference, but what came across more as worry.
"Well, I was working late at school – we are doing a "Life Under the Great Big Ocean" recital next week – and I was making paper machete fish. Nick, you should see the ones I've finished. They are so cute, they're blue with glitter and -"
"Jess," said Nick, smiling incredulously, "You wanna get to how you ended up here?" He couldn't help his heart swelling at how much he adored this woman. Even when she got off topic, she captivated him.
"Oh, yes, well, Jorge the janitor had just been in my classroom mopping the floors and I was finishing up that night's paper machete fish using a big bucket of glue. Well, I got up to clean up everything and I slipped on a spot where Jorge had just mopped, and fell backward into the bucket! It got stuck to my head and I couldn't see anything so Jorge called an ambulance and it took me here! It's really too bad because…what?" Jess was looking at Nick with humorous bewilderment. Nick was laughing. Hard.
"Let me get this straight. You're here because you slipped and landed in a bucket of glue?" Tears were forming in Nick's eyes. It was only now that he knew this that he noticed she had clumps of hardened glue in her hair. Even covered in self-induced glue, she looks so pretty. Nick was beyond denying he had feelings for this kook anymore.
"Yes, Nick "The Turtle Face" Miller! It could happen to the best of us!" She said defiantly. But even as she said this she began laughing as well.
"And that it did…it did happen…to the best…" Nick slowed down with each word, realizing what he was admitting. He hoped that she'd overlook it. No such luck. She looked at him with the same penetrating gaze she had given him when they were fighting in the hallway outside of their neighbor's apartment on Thanksgiving.
Clearing his throat, Nick attempted to redirect the focus to her, "So, the hospital called me at the bar. They said they were calling 'Ms. Day's emergency contact number'. I was surprised with being blessed with such an honor. I assumed that would be a title reserved for Cece." His face was hot. He avoided eye contact for a few seconds until he figured he couldn't delay it anymore. When he chanced a glance at her, she was giving him a crooked smile.
"Well, she was. But she's been really busy with modeling right now and I figured it would be best to have someone who would be free most of the day. Since I'm a school during the day and you work at the bar at night, I figured if anything were to happen, it would most likely be during the day and you could help me. You can see how that turned out…" she sighed and giggled to herself again. Nick felt a sinking feeling in his chest. So that's why she picked me. That's the only reason why…
"Of course," Jess's voice was slightly shaky this time, "I also hoped that if something did happen to me…that you'd come for me. At least, I hoped you would…" This time it was Jess avoided eye contact. A feeling of strength surged through Nick. He chanced a touch at her outstretched hand.
"Of course I would. I did." Nick figured he better plow on, "I was so worried about you, Jess. So many worst case scenarios ran through my head. I prayed that you would be okay; that you wouldn't be hurt." Jess looked up at him, looking him straight in the eye. Nick clearly saw tears sneaking into her eyes. "I am just sorry I wasn't able to be there with you right away. I'm sorry I wasn't there when they were tugging that bucket off you're head." He gave a small chuckle and looked at her. "I'll always be there for you though. I can't imagine a life without you, Jess." At this, a tear fell from Jess's eye.
"Nick…" she breathed.
"So is there anything I can get for you? I can get you some more ice - " But Nick's sentence was cut off by another bone crushing hug; this time from Jess. Nick just held her in his arms for a few seconds. To Nick, this was the only place he knew that she was safe. As they started to break apart, they both lingered with their heads close together. Nick thought he had never heard his heart beat so loud before. Her lips were so close to his and he could smell her vanilla-esque perfume. It felt like there was literal static electricity between the two of them. Nick could sense Jess drawing closer to him and he responded in kind. This is it. Nick thought. He was wondering if she could hear his heart too.
Just then the door opened revealing the poorly-timed trio entering the room. Nick and Jess jumped apart, both pointedly looking in opposite directions.
"I'm just saying that whenever I eat white bread I can literally see it on my hips the next day," Schmidt was complaining loudly to Winston when they walked in, "Is this a hospital or not? They should have healthier bread options!"
"So how's our Bucket Head doing?" asked Winston uncaring towards Schmidt, plopping down on the foot of the bed. For the first time, Nick wished he could have communicated telepathically himself to tell Winston to grab the rest of them and go. Jess shifted uncomfortably in her bed and gave a shifty grin to Nick. He responded with a faint smile. He felt like he had just missed his only chance.
"Well, I was informing Nick about my injuries and he was laughing at me." It was clear Jess was trying to sound as normal as possible. Schmidt and Winston laughed at her comment, but Cece was looking between the two of them knowingly.
"Was that all?" Cece asked suspiciously. Nick gave an exaggerated cough and Cece turned to look at him. This time he felt as though his and Jess's combined telepathic-like communication might have worked. Cece suppressed a smile with a sigh.
"Perhaps we should call it a night," she added pointedly at the other two. Nick thought he saw out of the corner of her eye Jess mouth "Thank You". Unfortunately for Nick (Again, he thought) the nurse came in announcing that the four of them were way passed visiting hours and that they needed to leave.
"We were going to anyway," Schmidt retorted loathingly. "I need to make sure I buy some new chutney on the way home though. I'm running mysteriously low…" he added this last part with a pointed look at Cece who blushed slightly. Nick was reluctant to leave so he lingered by the bed a bit longer as the other filed out.
"Nick, I'll be fine," said Jess taking his hand. "I'll be home tomorrow. They just want to keep me overnight to make sure I don't have any hidden brain bumps or anything." She smiled at him but Nick was concerned again. He hadn't thought that anything could be wrong at this point. Should I insist that I stay? As if hearing Nick's thoughts, Jess rubbed his hand.
"Really, I'll be fine," and she smiled at him again. Nick begrudgingly agreed and turned to leave. "Only," started Jess again, "could you maybe be here when I wake up tomorrow morning?" She was looking him in that way that Nick knew he could never deny her anything.
"Of course I will," Nick said and walked towards the door, "And I'll make sure I come alone tomorrow." Nick looked at Jess once more. She was smiling broadly.
"Good," she said, snuggling into her bed, "I'll have one more thing to look forward to in the morning…" And with that Nick left. He knew he wasn't going to sleep at all, but that was fine. Jess was fine. They were better than fine.
She's my Bucket Head. He said to himself as he walked out to the parking lot. I'm in love with a Bucket Head.
And he was perfectly okay with that.