Chapter Sixty-Six
The two of us sped to the ER of Tree Hill General Hospital, tires screeching. We checked in and headed immediately to the room Jenny had been unconscious in for days.
I squealed when I saw her and bent down enthusiastically to hug her as gently as I was able. She smiled at me, and I pushed a strand of hair away from her forehead and kissed her cheek before settling down onto the chair beside her.
I looked from Sawyer to Jenny as they nodded and smiled at each other, so aware of my presence that they could not bear to even hug.
"How are you feeling?" I asked anxiously.
"I'm fine. Just a bit broken," she said.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Me too," she responded empathetically. We hugged again, and Sawyer mumbled something about coffee before leaving-obviously to give us sister bonding time.
"I gave you blood, did they tell you?" I asked.
"Yeah. I broke my arm, a couple ribs, there was a problem with my heart-in that it wasn't beating-for a while but that's all better. Lots of bruises. Speaking of which, what's this?" she asked sternly, gently touching my slightly puffy cheek. I gently pushed her hand away.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter," I said, as calmly as I could.
"Did Sawyer hit you?" she asked, looking very sad for me.
"God no, of course not," I said, not lying for once.
"Then who did?" she insisted.
"Promise you won't tell?" I said at last, looking away and sighing.
"No."
"Jenny! You're my sister! And you owe me! And we're supposed to keep each other's secrets," I begged.
"Fine. What happened?" she asked.
"Mark Delaurier," I whispered.
"Who?"
"Mark Delaurier. He used to be a friend of mine," I said. My mind drifted back to an hour previously… He slapped me hard across the face when I yelled my husband's name…
"What did he do to you?" she demanded.
"He… he…" I broke off, sobbing wildly. In the midst of my sobs, I caught sight of her face and saw her easily decipher what had happened, and gasped. She put my head on her stomach and stroked my hair while I continued to cry.
"What did Sawyer say?" she asked.
"I didn't tell him," I said flatly.
"How? How could you not tell him? You could get this kid locked up!" she exclaimed.
"I can't. I tried. I'm too afraid of what he'd say," I sobbed.
"He won't be mad! How could he possibly be? He loves you, remember? He'd kick his ass for you," she said.
"They couldn't convict Mark. There's no evidence anymore," I admitted.
"You showered, didn't you? You idiot, you're supposed to come here to get checked up so they can get samples and shit," she said.
"He wasn't even protected," I said, crying again.
"I guess they generally aren't. Are you on the pill?" she asked.
"No. And I think I just… you know," I explained awkwardly.
"Because that just makes it so much easier. Are you going to do that morning after thing?" she said.
"I can't stand the thought. It sounds so wrong, you know?" I said.
"Yeah, it kind of does. Makes you hurl like crazy, too," she said.
"I can't believe you just woke up and we're talking about me. This should be all about you," I said.
"I don't want to talk about me. I'm sickened with me," she said.
"It's okay. We were broken up. And I got you run over by a car," I reminded her.
"What else are sisters for?" she wondered.
"Beats me. We might have a problem with Lauren, too," I realized.
"What, she likes the psycho freak? Do you ever notice that this year makes last year look mundane?" she said.
"Yeah. Remember how I just used to hook up all the time and our parents had this perfect, fairytale marriage, and my world didn't extend beyond us and the Scotts?" I said reminiscently.
We both looked up as our families began to flow in and descend upon us. I smiled at Mom, Daddy, Aunt Haley, Uncle Nathan, Tess and Lauren as they all gathered excitedly by her bed and began to buzz happily with talk. In the midst of this, I exchanged a secretive glance with Jenny and she hesitated before nodding slightly in acknowledgement. She wouldn't tell.
But would it make me better off?
