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…One Teardrop at a Time…
…Chapter Four…
Previously on One Teardrop at a Time: Kim notices there is something strange with him, since he doesn't seem to remember her. Lindsey has some troubles on her first day at work. Teardrops are falling.
Lindsey smirked when she noticed Kim's jealousy of her getting way too much attention from Jack. Then, the evil brunette formed a great idea, or so she thought.
"I want to report a nurse for being abusively aggressive toward me." Lindsey said. Jack raised his eyebrows at her accusations.
What the heck?! I didn't mean to snap on her in the locker room. This day just got real bad.
"Okay, do you know who it was? What did he/she do to you?" Jack asked concerned, after taking a sip of his Pepsi Cola.
"It was an accident!" Kim blurted. He turned his hazel eyes toward the nervous blonde.
"Kim, it was you? What happened?" Jack replied in shock.
I can't believe that Kim would hurt anyone. From what I've seen, she's the sweetest- kindest girl I've met in a while. I guess you really don't know a person until you really spend some time with them. I can't allow of my nurses to be violent.
"She tried to choke me and he slapped me. Look at my shoulder!" Lindsey exclaimed, exaggerating the truth. Kim's brown eyes went wide, as Jack lifted Lindsey's yellow shirt to expose an ugly purple bruise.
"Now wait a minute, Jack. She's lying! I never choked her and I never slapped her." Kim growled.
"Why does she have a bruise on her shoulder?" He asked with anger evident in his tone of voice. He pulled her shirt back down.
"You don't understand. She provoked me and I pushed her against the locker. I didn't know the pad lock would hurt her." Kim answered. Suddenly, she lost her appetite and her stomach was a ball of nerves.
"Your break is over. Get back to work." Jack replied, avoiding eye-contact with Kim.
"Lindsey, I'm sorry." Kim said, genuinely as she stood up to throw her food away. She honestly didn't want to hurt her, but right now, she wished that she could punch the girl for lying.
"Your apology isn't going to heal my bruise." Lindsey spat, wiping away a fake tear.
It will heal eventually. You brat. Now Jack hates me! He doesn't remember me and now he hates me.
"Jack, what are you going to do? Please don't fire me. I love my job." Kim pleaded.
"I'm not the person in charge of that, but I am going to report you to Rudy after lunch." He noted.
"It won't happen again. And if it's the patients you're worried about, I would never harm them. You can be mad at me, but please don't tell Rudy." Kim promised.
"I told you to get back to work, Miss Crawford." Jack simply stated, watching the TV. His words stung her like a bee.
Kim seriously felt like crying. She decided that she was just making matters worse, and she needed to get out of there before the tears spilled from her sad eyes. She threw the remaining mushroom pizza into the trash bin—rather angrily—and hurried out of the break room.
Then, she realized that she forgot to look at her patient schedule plastered beside the TV. She really didn't want to go back in there, but she had too. Luckily, Jack and Lindsey ignored her. Kim had had enough embarrassment for one day.
She was assigned to the patient in room 202. The clipboard read in bold print: RICKY WEAVER, 20 YEARS-OLD, CHEST PAIN.
Kim couldn't believe that pop sensation Ricky Weaver had signed into the hospital. Out of all the hospitals in the world, he had to choose this one. And out of all the nurses he was assigned to, it had to be Kim.
She entered room 202.
"Kim Crawford, is that you?!" Ricky asked in shock.
"No, I just look like her." Kim replied, sarcastically.
"Oh, that's good. If she were my nurse I would be terrified." Ricky admitted.
Is he that dumb? I'm clearly the same girl that had her heart broken by him in the middle school.
"Why would you be scared?" Kim smirked, placing sticky tabs on his chest.
"Let's just say I played a lot of girls when I first got famous. They were all pretty, fangirls. But I loved playing with their emotions. I broke girls' hearts in every country that I visited." Ricky smiled, looking up at the ceiling.
Kim attached wires to the tabs on his chest to a monitor. "How's your career going for you?"
"Not good. I was arrested for vandalizing my neighbor's mansion, I've been in serious fights with paparazzi, I've dabbled with drugs, and drove recklessly through residential areas in my sports car. Did you know that I used to own the world's most expensive sports car?" Ricky explained with a hint of arrogance.
"What happened to it?" Kim asked, intrigued. Back when she had a crush on Ricky, she never dreamed that this would be his future. He seemed so loved and cherished when he was a kid.
"Nobody likes me anymore. My album sales have dropped quickly. I couldn't afford to keep my car."
"That's shame, but you live and learn." Kim replied, "Can you describe your chest pain to me?"
"You know, you're a pretty girl. What's your name?" Ricky winked, ignoring her question.
"Kim Crawford." She said, impatiently.
"Wow, you've got the same name of this one girl I played years ago. She was a hot blonde."
"I am that girl." Kim hissed. She didn't mean to sound irritable, but it just came out that way. Ricky's eyes went wide and his smile disappeared from his handsome, flawless face.
"That's the past. This is the present. I'm not upset anymore. My job is to help you. Now can you please describe your chest pain to me?" Kim said, picking up a clipboard from the counter.
"Yeah, can I get a different nurse?" Ricky asked, timidly. His heartbeat increased on the monitor.
"Ricky, you're making things hard for me. My boss already hates me for something stupid, and now he's going to be furious with me if I don't get my job done." Kim exhaled a deep breath. Ricky didn't respond. He just laid there with a terrified expression etched on his face. Kim face-palmed.
He's not listening to me…Jack's going to be here any minute now. I have to get something done.
Kim put some gloves on and opened a drawer, looking for a needle. She attached it to a tube on a machine and grabbed some alcohol. As soon as the wet alcohol touched Ricky's wrist, he snapped out of his trance and looked at Kim.
"What are you doing?" Ricky demanded.
"I'm inserting an IV into your wrist." Kim replied, nonchalantly. He jerked his hand always from her.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I don't like needles. Can you just do something about my chest pain?"
"I can't really do anything to help you because you won't let me." Kim answered. The door opened and she flinched.
"How is he doing?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. He won't let me do anything." Kim bit her lip with anxiety. She just knows Jack is going to be reporting that to Rudy, too.
"Mr. Weaver, you must cooperate with us." Jack informed Ricky.
"It's you!" Ricky panicked, pointing to Jack.
"I remember you, too. But that was the past. We're older now and I have nothing against you." Jack replied, calmly, "How often have you been feeling pain?"
"It's happened twice this year recently." Ricky responded, "It feels like I'm being stabbed in the chest."
What?! How in the world does Jack remember Ricky, but he can't remember me?! And now, Ricky listens to Jack, but he won't listen to me! Ugh. My head hurts. I just wish this day were over already.
"Okay, Kim, I need you to give him a blood test. I will contact Dr. Krupnick and have him bring over the portable X-ray machine." Jack ordered.
"But he won't allow me to come anywhere near him with needles." Kim said.
"Mr. Weaver, if you don't want your chest pains to escalate into a fatal heart attack, you're going to let her do her job." Jack explained.
"I don't want to die!" Ricky yelled, "I could have a heart attack?!"
"Yes, it could happen. I need to study your test results so we can go from there to prevent it." Jack continued speaking. Then he turned his attention to Kim, "If you need help just press this button."
Kim looked at Jack, speechless. He didn't sound or look angry at her. He walked away, but she grabbed his bicep. Jack stopped and turned around to face her again.
"I'm really sorry, but I can't do this. My head really hurts and I'm having a horrible day…Well, that's no excuse. But, I…I don't think I can do this. I'm really sorry…" Kim babbled on, feeling worse with each sentence she uttered.
His large, warm hand touched Kim's forehead and she jumped a little, feeling startled.
"You do feel like you have a fever." Jack replied, softly. He removed his hand from her forehead. "Okay, you can go sit in the break room. I'll assign someone else to Ricky."
"Are you sure, Sir?" Kim asked, uncertain.
"Yes, go ahead." Jack smiled, patting her on the back.
Why is he being so nice to me? I don't deserve his kindness. I hurt Lindsey and now I'm not doing my job. He's probably going to yell at me in the break room.
Jack pressed the button under the bed. "Send Jerry Martinez to room 202."
Kim wandered down the hallway. She saw Lindsey in room 248, checking an elderly man's blood pressure. Then, she walked into the break room and plopped down in a chair at the table. There was a little fan in the corner of the room, so she decided to turn it on and aim it at herself.
Not too long after that, Jack entered the break room. She felt like she was going to vomit because she was so nervous about what he was going to say to her.
"Do you need an Aspirin?" He asked.
"Yes, please." Kim replied, watching his movements carefully. Jack pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and opened a drawer. Inside the drawer were pain killers and napkins. He handed her the bottle of Aspirin and a bottle of cold water.
"Where did you get the water?" Kim asked, taking the bottles from him, graciously.
"I bought it at the cafeteria for you." Jack replied, pulling a chair up next to her, and setting down.
OK. He doesn't seem angry…
"I'm sorry that you don't feel good." He said.
Just get on with it. I know you're going to yell at me…
"Rudy wants to talk to you." He finally said it, the sentence that Kim was dreading to hear.
"Why did you report me, Jack?" Kim snarled…"I'm sorry. I don't want to sound rude." She added, quietly, looking down at her lap. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. And she could feel his eyes burning into her.
"I didn't want to do it, but any violent act is considered a behavioral problem. I had to do it because I don't know you well enough. I don't know what you are capable of. It's for the safety of the hospital."
Suddenly, there was fire boiling up in Kim's veins from intense anger. She bawled her fists up tight and shouted at him, "You must be crazy! How could you possibly NOT know me?! You are the reason my head hurts, Jack! How could you treat me like this?! You don't know my side of the story!"
Jack's eyes quickly went from shock and disbelief to anger and irritation. He clutched her wrist hard in his hand and yanked her close to his face. Before Kim could think what was happening, she shut her mouth.
"You will never speak to me like that again." He snarled.
"J—Jack, I'm sorry." Kim stuttered, "M—Maybe I'm just crazy." She could feel tears filling up in her eyes.
NO. Don't cry. Not here. Not now. Not in front of him. Rudy should fire me. First, I hurt Lindsey and now I lost my temper with Jack. I'm a horrible person. I don't deserve to be a nurse.
"Don't say that about yourself." Jack replied, softer, "Why do you think that you know me?" He loosened his grip on Kim's wrist, but he didn't let go.
"It's obvious, Jack. We have been friends for a long time. We went to the same school and we practiced karate together at the same dojo. We fell in love with each other in high school and we started dating. I moved to Japan for a little while to study at the Otai Academy." Kim explained, "I've missed you so much that it hurts."
"I wish that I knew what you were talking about." Jack answered.
"Are you sure that you didn't hit your head or something? That happened once before when we were in school, but you didn't remember anyone." Kim asked.
"I don't know. If what you are saying is true, does that mean your friends are my friends?"
"Yes. Jerry, Milton, Rudy, Eddie. We all know each other. We all went to school together." Kim stared deep into his hazel eyes, hoping that he'd have a memory of her.
"I'm sorry, but I can't remember you…" Jack replied, somberly. His eyes traveled from Kim's intense stare to her wrist in his hand. He slightly uncurled his fingers from her, and gently touched her wrist with his other hand. The sensation of his fingertips sliding over her skin sent a wave of relaxation over her body. Then, the room went silent. She could stay like this forever.
"Wow! I had the toughest time getting blood out of that Ricky patient." Jerry broke the silence, coming inside the break room. "Yo, Jack, Milton got a late start on the X-Ray so he'll be sending the pictures over in a few minutes."
"Okay, thanks, Jer." Jack said, releasing Kim's wrist. She kind of wished that Jerry hadn't interrupted her and Jack. She enjoyed being that close to him. Then, Kim got a great idea.
"Jerry! Tell Jack that I'm your friend."
"Duh, you've been our friend for a long time." Jerry laughed, "Yo, Jack, are you still kidding with her?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Jerry." Jack said, dumbfounded.
Why is everything so confusing? I don't remember this girl, but I get a good feeling when I am around her. If Jerry knows her and he claims I know her, then maybe something did happen to me.
"Dude, you should probably get an MRI." Jerry noted, concerned.
"Yeah, I'll look into that." Jack said, his eyebrows were furrowed and he held to his forehead, worried.
The loudspeakers out in the hallway turned on: *KIM CRAWFORD REPORT TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF OFFICE* Her brown eyes went wide in terror. That's the last place she wanted to be. She remembered when she and Lindsey were in that room this morning. Rudy had stated that he'd terminate anyone with a behavioral issue.
Jack noticed the look in Kim's eyes. "It's okay. I'll go with you." He promised.
To be continued...
AN: OK, Jack will get his memory back soon :) But not quite just yet. We have to find out why his memory has slipped again.
I want to thank all of you whom left me reviews! I am completely surprised at how much you guys like my story! I hope that I did a good job on this chapter. I kind of don't feel satisfied with the way I wrote it. I hope that it wasn't boring. Also, thank you for the follows and favorites! I will try to update soon :D
READ/REVIEW/FAVORITE/FOLLOW :)
-Emily Jane