Chapter 10
"Um Chloe, there is actually another thing I wanted to ask you. It's kind of a favor."
"Oh?" Chloe rose her left eyebrow in confusion. "What is it?"
"Well, it's not so much a favor for me but for Beca."
"What is it? I'd do anything to help."
"Well..."
"Just tell me Jesse. I'd do anything to help."
"Well then. You are a teacher right?"
"Yes?"
"And you don't have any classes over the summer?"
"No, just some stuff that needs to be done. I'll have to go to the school a few times but I can do most of my work from home."
"Um, that's great. Listen, how much has Beca told you about her family?"
Chloe furrowed her brows. What was he getting at?
"Um, that her mother died six years ago and that she doesn't talk with her father. That's about it. She's really private about her family."
"Yes, I know. That's good, you know the gist of it. Well, she doesn't have any other family. At least none that she knows of. Both of her grandparents already passed away and there was an aunt on her dad's side but they haven't spoken in like 20 years. So the only person she really has left is her father. And she really doesn't like him. She would hate me if I asked him what I am about to ask you. So I'm just gonna blurt it out. Beca has to have surgery in Atlanta and after she is released from the hospital she needs some kind of supervision. It's not 24 hour care or something but the doctor said it would be best if someone stayed with her or at least checked up on her once a day. If there wasn't anyone who could check up on her she would have to remain in the hospital or move to one of those facilities where there would be people to help her. I know Beca and she hates hospitals. She would hate it even more if she had to move into one of those 'nursing homes' – her words, not mine – while she recovered. I would come home and help her myself but I'm not allowed to. We still have a mission to finish."
Chloe was silent for a moment, processing everything Jesse had just told her.
"So, you want me to move in with her? Did I get that right?"
"No! Sorry, that's not what I meant. I wouldn't ask you to do that. I think you are a nice person and Beca likes you but you two haven't even met yet, I wouldn't expect that of you."
"I would have done it, you know?"
"What I meant to say was... Wait, what? You would have moved in with a stranger for an undetermined amount of time because you've exchanged letters?"
Chloe chuckled, not really sure where that last sentence had come from. Jesse was right, Beca was a stranger but she still would have done it to help her. She was sure her parents and friends would have had something to say about that.
"I guess I would. I don't know, I don't really want to talk with you about my reasons but I would have helped her without thinking about it twice. So, do you want to tell me what you wanted to ask me now? I'm getting kind of curious over here."
"... You are a strange one, Chloe Beale. Anyway, as I said before, her father is out of the question, so I asked my mother to check in on Beca once a day as soon as she is released from the hospital. The problem is that she will go on vacation for two weeks in a few days so she probably won't be there once Beca will be released. She offered to cancel her vacation but I don't want her to. I tried to think of another way but I couldn't come up with anything. Could you maybe check in on Beca for the first few days until my mom comes back? You won't have to do much, just check if she's still there and takes her meds. Half an hour a day tops. I would really owe you one Chloe."
"I said I would do anything didn't I? It's really no problem. Your mom shouldn't have to cancel her vacation, I'll check in on Beca for as long as she needs me to."
"Really? I mean, you said you would but there are a lot of people who just say that but don't mean it. I'm glad you are willing to help, and I really feel bad about asking but I couldn't really think about another option. Thank you very much Chloe. I'm sorry to cut this conversation short, but I have to go. I'll call you with some details in a few days?"
"It's no problem, honestly. You can call me anytime."
"Thank you. Really."
"Sure. Now go and do your job, Swanson."
Chloe heard a small laugh over the line. "Yes, ma'am. Talk to you soon."
"Bye."
The call ended and Chloe just looked into space for a moment.
Well. That was not what she had expected. She got up and prepared a cup of coffee for herself, sat back down and took a sip. It was scalding hot but she didn't notice.
It wasn't Jesse's question that was bothering her but her unusual and completely honest answer that she would do anything for a girl she didn't really know. Maybe she was getting in too deep and should slow down a little. Going from exchanging letters to 'I would do anything for her' – and she really meant it – was a little extreme, even in her own opinion.
Chloe sighed and quickly typed two texts of 'She's awake and mostly fine.' to her two best friends before calling her mother.
"Chloe? Did something happen? You haven't even been gone for two hours."
"Hey mom."
"What's up? Is Beca alright?"
"Yeah. That's why I am calling. Jesse called me a few minutes ago and told me that she woke up. And that she is out of mortal danger. But she still needs to come home and have surgery here in Atlanta."
"That's great! I'm glad she woke up. I expected you to be screaming your joy and not sound like it has been raining for the past week. She was all you could talk about these last few days, what happened?"
Chloe picked up her cup of coffee and moved to her living room to sit down on the couch. She grabbed a pillow, pressed it to her chest and put her feet on the couch, bend at the knees so they would keep the pillow from falling down. She put one hand on her knees and continued holding the phone to her ear with the other.
"Nothing happened. Jesse just asked me a favor and I agreed."
"And you regret that now?"
"No! It's not that. I'm just a little worried about the way I responded."
"So?"
"So what?"
"Oh, come on Chloe, you called me. You obviously want to talk about it."
"Well... so here's the thing. Jesse told me that Beca needs to have surgery in Atlanta and that she needs someone to check in on her regularly after she has been released from the hospital. He asked his mother to help him since he can't come home soon enough but she has a vacation planned. So he asked me to check in on her for the first few days until his mom comes back from her vacation."
"And you don't want to do it anymore?"
"No, mom, please let me finish! That's not what I meant."
Claire chuckled a little at that. "Calm down sweetie. I promise I won't say anything until you are finished."
"Sorry. So, I don't have a problem with checking in on her. The problem is that before he even told me what he wanted I told him I would do anything for her. And I meant it. I don't even know her and I would drop anything to help her out. It's a little extreme, don't you think?"
"Am I allowed to talk now?"
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yes. So, am I weird?"
Claire started laughing loudly. "Oh honey, of course you are weird. Have been since the day I gave birth to you."
"Hey!"
"You know it's true, don't deny it."
"Okay okay, you win, but am I weird for attaching myself to a person I haven't even met face to face?"
"Let me ask you a few questions, sweetie. Do you know her name?"
"Um, yes? Obviously..."
"Know her age, occupation and interests?"
"Still a yes..."
"Do you talk to her regularly, about anything that comes to mind? Do you know stories about her childhood and know her friends? Not personally, but you know about them?"
"Yes..."
"You know what she looks like?"
"Yeah, from a picture, as you well know, since you practically ripped my phone out of my hand when I was about to show it to you."
"True, but not important right now. You've talked to her on the phone, you know more about her than about most of the friends you have. Except for Aubrey and Stacie but those two are special. If she was a different person than she made herself out to be in her letters you would have found out by now, either by her making a mistake or during your phone call or from Jesse or Luke. So I'm telling you that you two are friends and friends help each other. Even when they haven't seen each other face to face before. And I don't think there is anything wrong with it. You would do anything for Aubrey and Stacy as well. And you don't really have to worry because I'm coming with you when you first meet her so we can check if she's okay"
"Wait what? No no no no no. There is no way you are coming with me. I'm 26 years old! I don't need my mom to come and check out the people I want to spend time with."
"I like her too, so I'm coming. I want to meet her as well."
"But not on the first day! I'm planning on visiting her in the hospital before she gets released anyway, to make sure she is okay with me coming to her house. You can meet her when she has the means to run away from you."
"You are mean Chloe. But I will convince you otherwise, just you wait. Do you have anything to say about the other stuff I just said? Or did I just waste 10 minutes of my life?"
Chloe rolled her eyes – again. "No you didn't waste them. If you put it like that, you can say that we are good friends. And I would help good friends with anything. And that doesn't change because we haven't met face to face yet. Thanks mom, I got a little overwhelmed there."
"No problem sweetie. But are you sure you two are just 'good friends'?"
"Mom! She is in the hospital, recovering from life threatening injuries! This is not the time to suggest something like that!"
"I'm just calling it how I see it. But I can be patient. Things will happen and you two will fall in love and I think I need to go to the attic and air out my old wedding dress. I think it will be needed sometime in the not so far future."
"I don't even know what to say to that. I can't believe you right now. We haven't even met yet!"
"That's not a reason. You don't need to see each other to fall in love. You know as well as I do that you fall for personality not looks. Even though Beca is a cute one, so you don't have to worry about her not looking up to snuff."
"Mom! I'm 26 years old! I'm not having this conversation with you!"
"You're acting like you are 14. So deal with me treating you like a 14 year old. Anyway, what I was about to say is, do you know Barbara from my yoga class? She met someone on one of these online dating portals. They exchanged messages for a few months, finally got the guts to meet each other and now they are already living together. You don't need to see someone to get to know them or to like them."
Chloe put her left hand in front of her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose gently while releasing a not so silent sigh. "How do you even know about this? You are nearly 50 years old. You shouldn't know about this stuff."
"Chloe Beale, did you just call me old?!"
"Um, no? You know what? It's fine. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing before I called. Let's talk about this some other time. Or not at all."
"I was joking. But yes, let's talk some other time. Call me once you have more information on Beca. When she will get here, which hospital she will be at and where she lives."
"I will. Thanks again mom. I love you."
"Love you too sweetie. And don't think so much. Enjoy the free time you are getting, but don't let your work sit there until the end of summer. You know you will regret it if you do."
"Yes, I know. Talk to you soon, mom."
"Bye."
Chloe hung up the phone, decided to get another cup of coffee and started unpacking her work on the kitchen table. Better start early, who knows how much time I'll have once Beca is out of the hospital, she thought and got to work.
It had been one day since Beca had first woken up and she was still pretty tired. She talked to some doctors and she thought she saw Jesse, but she wasn't sure. The rest of the day had been spent sleeping until some annoying nurses came in and woke her up this morning. Being her usual sarcastic and rude self and not really knowing where she was, she snapped at them quite rudely. They were a little surprised but weren't bothered by it. Beca assumed they had dealt with their fair share of injured and rude soldiers.
She was just trying to get to her chart that has been clipped to the end of her bed, when the door to her room opened and her doctor came in.
"Good Morning Lieutenant Mitchell. How are you feeling this morning?"
"Morning. Um, I don't really know. Everything is numb but I guess you've hooked me up with some good pain killers since I'm pretty much covered in bandages. I know you've been here yesterday but I can't really remember what you said. Do you mind repeating it?"
"Of course not. It's good that you are not in pain, I can guarantee you that you will notice once the pain killers start wearing off. Please press the button for one of the nurses once that happens. Your injuries are not a joke, please don't try to tough the pain out. It won't work. You'll fall unconscious as soon as the pain killers are completely gone."
Beca looked at him with wide eyes. "That bad, huh?"
The doctor nodded gravely. "Yes, that bad. So to answer your question, first, my name is Dr. Hemidi. I was one of the doctor's operating on you as soon as you were brought in. You've got some scrapes and bruises but that is to be expected. You were shot twice, once in the leg and once in the chest."
Beca winced as a memory of the sharp pain that had immediately formed once the bullets had hit her came to the front of her mind. "Ugh. Yes, I remember. Not a pleasant experience."
"Indeed. So we extracted the rest of the bullet from your right thigh without much problems, the bullet didn't hit any major artery. The doctor on the scene did a good job removing most of it. It did hit you in the muscle though, so you can expect some serious physical therapy to get back to a hundred percent. What we were worried about was the bullet in your chest though. It nicked the heart and we only managed to patch the wound up. It was difficult to remove the bullet since it's location is right by your heart. We'll send you back to the States to have another operation to repair the damage since we don't have the right equipment here. We already talked to the hospital in Atlanta and they are expecting you. We are just waiting until your body's circulation system stabilizes itself a little more."
"You want to send me back to the States? But my mission isn't over yet."
"Let me be clear, Lieutenant Mitchell. You are lucky to be alive and you are in no condition to fight in the next several months. There is nothing you can do here. Do your team a favor and recover as fast as you can, but you can't do that here."
Beca was a little surprised by the stern voice the doctor suddenly used but she knew he was right. There was nothing left for her to do here.
"You're right, I'm sorry. Do you know if my team is alright?"
"They are mostly fine. Some minor injuries, nothing serious. One of your guys was here yesterday, I don't think he has left the hospital since you were brought in."
Beca exhaled loudly, relieved that her boys were fine. "Thank god. How long do you think it will be until I'll be going to Atlanta?"
"You are doing fine today, so probably tomorrow or the day after that. Depends on your condition and the available planes."
"Okay, thank you doctor. Was there something else?"
"No, I just wanted to see how you were doing. I'll come back in a few hours and check up on the wounds so that the bandages can be changed."
"Thank you. Would you happen to know if Jesse is still here? And would you maybe be able to send him in if he is?"
Dr. Hemidi smiled at Beca and nodded. "I can do that. I'm sure he is still around."
Beca gave him a grateful nod and then closed her eyes for a moment until the door to her room opened again.
"Beca? Are you awake?"
The brunette girl opened her eyes and smiled tiredly at her best friend. "Of course. Come on in Jesse."
Jesse did just that and closed the door behind him, choosing to sit in a chair that was sitting next to Beca's bed. "How are you doing? I'm so glad to see you awake."
"I'm fine. You know me, I'll be up and running before you know it."
"Becs, I'm serious."
Beca laughed a little. "Me too. I'm so high on pain killers I don't feel a thing. So I'm fine. For now. I'm a little tired but I guess that is to be expected."
"Yeah it is. Well, it's good that you're not in pain then."
"Yeah. So, how are you doing? What about the guys?"
"We're fine, don't worry about us. Did the doctor tell you about Atlanta?"
Beca nodded. "Yes. I'm not happy about it but I know that it is necessary. He says I'll go either tomorrow or the day after that."
Jesse nodded. "That's good. The sooner you get out of here the better. The doctor's seem competent but I just don't like it here. It's best if you recover far away from all the action."
"Hm. I would rather stay but I understand that I can't."
The two of them were silent for a few minutes, comfortable in the knowledge that the other one was alive and mostly okay.
"I talked to Chloe." Jesse suddenly blurted out.
"What? Why?" Beca asked confusedly.
"Um, I didn't know if you would wake up at all and if you were able to write a letter anytime soon, so I didn't want her to get worried."
"Wait, so you called her and told her I got shot and you weren't sure I would make it?"
"Well yes, but before you get mad, I already called her again and told her that you woke up and that you were out of mortal danger."
"So you talked to her twice?"
"Um, yes? I'm sorry if I have overstepped any boundaries here but I thought she deserved to know since you two are good friends and she would have found out from Stacie because of Luke. I wanted to inform her before she got some rumors."
"Relax dude, I'm not mad."
"I'm really sorr... Wait, you're not?"
Beca chuckled lightly but quickly stopped when she felt an uncomfortable tightness in her chest. "Of course not. I'm glad she knows that I'm okay, I wouldn't have wanted her to hear it through some rumors. So thank you."
Jesse rose his eyebrows in surprise. "I did not expect that. But I would keep your thanks until you hear what I asked her to do."
"Jesse. What did you do?"
"Well, the doctor told you about your surgery in Atlanta, right?"
Beca nodded, eyes slightly pushed together in suspicion.
"Well, they told me that your way to recovery would be a long one but that you didn't need to stay at the hospital the whole time. But you weren't allowed to be alone either so I asked my mom to check up on you once a day as soon as you are released."
"Go on." This wasn't so bad, Beca thought. She quite liked Mrs. Swanson.
"The problem is, she has a vacation coming up and she probably won't be there when you are released. And you hate your dad and all your friends are here in Syria. So I asked Chloe to cover the first few days until my mom comes back from her vacation. That way she can still go and you won't have to stay in the hospital for longer than necessary."
Beca closed her eyes in defeat. "Jesse. Do you really think I want to meet her looking like death warmed over? Or that I want her first memory of us meeting to be about her taking care of me? Seriously Jesse, what were you thinking?"
Jesse steeled himself, preparing for a long discussion. "I was thinking that you hate your father and hospitals and that it was the best option. I'm sorry if you don't like it but Chloe already agreed and I'm sure she won't be deterred easily. And weren't you the one who told me not to care so much about my looks?"
"Well, but I'll look terrible. And I don't want her to see me that weak. I'm supposed to be a Lieutenant."
"You still are, Beca. And I'm sure she won't judge you by your injuries. You're not giving her enough credit."
Beca sighed. "Yes, I know. Okay, let's do it your way. If I have the choice between Chloe and my father, you don't even have to ask."
"Wait, really? I thought you would be upset about this."
"I'm not. I'm just not happy with it but I'm tired and can't change it so why should I bother? I'm sure I'll have something more to say once I'm off these pain killers and have a clearer mind."
"Good for me then." Jesse smiled. "I'll let you rest then. You need your sleep to get better."
"Thanks Jesse. Say hi to the guys from me alright? And be careful with the rest of the mission."
"I will and of course we'll be careful. Good night, Becs."
"Night Jesse." Beca mumbled and was asleep as soon as the door closed after Jesse.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, some stuff came up. I won't promise to update at a specific time, but I'll write every chance I get. Just know that I won't abandon this story(some people already got worried). Yeah so, next chapter the two of them will finally meet face to face! I'm pretty excited about writing that scene, so I hope you guys will like it as well. Anyway, if you liked this chapter, please leave a little review to let me know :)