Cracker Jack
Author's Note: Haha, your reviews make me laugh. I live for cliffhangers, and love to see you guys squirm. I wrote the ending of this in my history class. So, in the case that I may fail, you all owe me some reviews
Chapter Five
Evelyn leaned against the wall, her sweater pressing against the lumpy paint. She casually watched Bobby, pacing back and forth in front of the waiting room chairs. He had been following the same pattern for a few minutes, since they were pushed out of Jack's room. At least, it had to have been a few minutes, it defiantly felt longer, but that was only in their minds. Anything could be happening, it was a hospital, the options were endless, but they were clueless. Damn those waiting rooms.
The conversation about Jack's teenage years didn't continue. It could have, easily, they weren't saying anything else in that little room, but it didn't. The ball was in his court, he'd have to be the one to bring it up again, not her. Not like she had the desire to.
An older woman dressed in a white nurses uniform stood in the doorway, and Bobby immediately noticed her presence.
" What the hell is going on!" he snapped.
The woman used her hands for body language that he needed to calm down. " Bobby, getting wired up is not going to do anything right now". Evelyn didn't know at the time, but this woman had years of experience on how to handle the Mercer brothers.
" If I wanted a therapist, I'd go to her" he pointed to Evelyn, " but you're a nurse, and I want to know what's going on with my brother".
She paused, which was rather brave when dealing with Bobby Mercer of all people. " Jack slipped into a coma".
Those were the words to calm him down, he took a step back from her before responding. Evelyn herself had pulled herself into a standing position when the news was delivered. " What?" he had questioned it, though understood very clearly what he had been told, " he was awake, we both saw him, he woke up, how could he be in a coma?".
" He went into cardiac arrest, he almost died. The doctors were able to save him, he's stable now, but the shock left him in a coma".
Bobby shock his head, " how is that possible? There wasn't even anything wrong with him".
She had a rather sympathetic expression, but it seemed more forced than anything else, " some things in medicine cannot be explained".
He turned his back to the nurse, " people don't wake up from comas".
" I'm sorry Bobby". And without any constellation, she left them alone again in the room.
" What a bitch" Evelyn muttered, then walked over to stand in front of him, " Bobby, that's not true" he shrugged, " come on, you know Jack, he's young and he's healthy, he's going to be fine".
" Jack's not strong enough" he said very softly.
Evelyn couldn't respond. She could easily tell him the same story over and over, that Jack was going to make it. But she hardly knew Jack, and she knew less about Bobby. He was meant to be the tough one, but not in the sense that his youngest brother could be dying (whether or not he really was, that's how it was playing in his head). She slowly embraced Bobby into a gentle hug, her plan B for therapeutic relief. At first, his muscles tensed, and she thought he'd push her away. But soon enough, he returned the gesture, though she was still able to feel the doubts in him.
They stayed still for a few moments.
" It's getting late, come on, I'll walk you to your car".
She was too concentrated on Bobby to keep track of where she was watching, occasionally bumping into a wall or two. They finally reached the poorly lit parking lot, for Evelyn to find that the spot where she had parked her car, only contained pieces of broken glass.
" Fuck!" she yelled.
Bobby assumed her car had been stolen, " you can't leave anything alone in this city". She walked in circles around the area, cursing and pulling at her scalp. " Where do you live?".
" Far" she groaned, " far, far away".
He twitched his nose without her noticing, " well, since it's already two, why don't you just come to my house? I can drive you home in the morning…the later morning" she glared at him, as though being insulted by his offer, " other people live there, so it won't be weird or anything".
She closed her eyes, " I'm too tired to be modest". She followed him across the lot to where he had parked his moms mini-van.
The house Bobby called home had the perfect clash of a sweet elderly woman's home that had been occupied by two to three guys and a girl who refused to clean. Evelyn was barely in the doorway before that was noticeable. They hardly had the chance to get their shoes off before a well developed woman with long, black hair appeared right in their faces.
" You could have called", she had a very thick accent.
Bobby put up a chance to start a ' Mexican Mamba' with her, for once. " Like you give a shit".
She leaned against the doorway, snarling at Evelyn, " how's Jack?".
" Coma, thank you".
The woman was back at her stance, " fuck you, I saved his damn life. He would have died if I hadn't gone out there".
" He wouldn't have gone out there if you weren't harassing him".
She took offense and defeat from that comment, ceasing the argument, and returning her attention to Evelyn. " Who's the blonde?".
Bobby quickly glanced at her, " Evelyn, sorry to say, meet Sophie. We're not too sure who's girlfriend she is right now, but its in the works. Sophie, this is Evelyn, don't touch her, she's Jack's therapist".
" So this is her, huh?" Evelyn felt intimidated and frozen as she was eyed from feet to forehead, " he'd love to hear that you're banging his therapist".
He moaned, " for the love of God, I'm not…doing anything to her. And don't you get started on banging".
Maybe Jack wasn't the only one with problems.
Bobby and Sophie finally ceased with their arguing, realizing that Evelyn had been watching them the entire time.
He brought her upstairs, stopping at the first room on the second floor. " It's not too weird or anything sleeping in Jack's room is it? It's the only one vacant for tonight, and I don't recommend the basement".
Evelyn shook her head, " no, it's fine".
" If you want, you can track down some of his clothes, wear them for bed, it might be more comfortable".
" That wont be necessary".
Bobby stepped out of the room, prepared to leave her alone in the dark, " alright, I'll be sleeping in the room next door. Scream if you need anything, I seem to respond to that the best. Good night". He closed the door, and she could hear him walk into the other room.
Evelyn sat on the side of the mattress, the bed was somewhat made. The comforter and the sheets were a bit wrinkled, but she didn't know that it was from Jack earlier in the day. It could have been a sack of rocks, but she was so tired, she didn't care. Without even taking off her shoes, she fell into a deep sleep.