Hi y'all. Nothing big to note for this one, just want to send a quick thanks to everybody for still reviewing. These stories of mine seem to go on forever (I'm way too wordy and way too into the fluff) and I still have a bunch of ideas brewing for this one, so I hope no one is bored! But anyway, thanks so much for all of your feedback and reviews--you guys are the best!
So here's another chapter--half with fluff and half getting into what's next after the hospital. Keep letting me know what you think, I love to hear from you! And as always, hope you enjoy!
"All of her tests came back negative," Dr. Brown confirmed, closing his clipboard. "That's the good news."
"So there's bad news?" Jude asked, as he listened to her breathing through his stethoscope.
"Not necessarily," he said, removing the stethoscope from his ears. "Psych wrote up a full evaluation after your meeting this morning. They'd like you to come back to follow up."
"Come back?" Jude asked nervously.
"Does that mean she can go home?" Victoria asked, standing on the opposite side of the bed.
"We need to fill out some paperwork and monitor her vitals for the rest of the day, but assuming everything is normal, I think she can go home tonight. And yes," he said, turning towards Jude, "you will need to come back. But just as an outpatient. No need to stay overnight."
"Great, I'm officially looney," Jude mumbled.
"Doctor Brown, does she need any medication or special instructions once we take her home?" Victoria asked.
"I'm going to give her some iron supplements that she needs to take daily, but perhaps my strongest prescription will be rest. And nutrition. You need to maintain a proper diet and make sure to take it easy for awhile, Jude."
"Take it easy? My album is overdue! I still have to record the last two songs!" she exclaimed.
"Jude! The studio will have to understand," her mom said. "I'm going to want you to come straight home after school. No studio."
"Mrs. Harrison," the doctor interjected, "I'm afraid she's going to need some time off from school as well."
"Really?" both Victoria and Jude asked simultaneously, Victoria with concern in her voice while Jude's echoed enthusiasm.
"Doctor," Victoria said, stepping around to his side of the bed and speaking quietly, "Jude is already failing a number of her classes. I don't think it's wise to pull her out of school at this point."
"Mrs. Harrison, if you care about your daughter's well-being, then I suggest you figure out another way to get her up to speed," Doctor Brown advised, nodding at Jude who was listening to their conversation. "There are tutors for this sort of thing. I can only say that for now, she needs a stress-free environment to ensure she can fully regain her energy."
Victoria nodded skeptically, considering the idea of a tutor, while Jude remained particularly quiet. Doctor Brown turned towards her and said, "You can set up another few appointments with psych before you leave."
"Few? Am I really that screwed up?" Jude asked in a panic.
"Jude, over the last month, you have been starving yourself and denying yourself of much needed rest. You should consider yourself lucky for not causing more harm. Meeting with psych is for your own good," the doctor advised, turning to walk towards the door. "And I'll want to schedule a follow-up appointment myself to monitor your physical state. I'll be back in a little while with the paperwork," he said, exiting the room.
Breaking the few moments of silence, her mom said, "I'm going to schedule the follow up appointments for you with the receptionist. I'll be back."
Her mom quickly exited the room too, leaving Jude alone. She thought about her conversation with the therapist earlier in the day. She had attempted to make everything in her life sound peachy—maybe too peachy. She thought that she had been convincing, but clearly, the therapist didn't buy the happy-go-lucky act that she was portraying. Maybe she could've been more honest about the past month, but she just wanted to solve her issues on her own. Besides, she and Tommy were back on track and the world seemed right again. He was going to be there for her, so wasn't that enough? Or was there more to it? Could she really have been depressed? Was she still depressed? She found herself dozing off, feeling the stress of another meeting with the therapist sink in.
She slowly opened her eyes, having no clue as to how long she had slept. She took a deep breath and gazed around the room, her eyes stopping on the figure seated in the chair next to her. She grinned at Tommy hunched over in the chair, eyes closed, breathing deeply. She watched him for a few moments until she heard the loud growl of her stomach echo throughout the room. Her hands immediately went to her stomach, wanting to silence it and not wake him up, but his eyes started fluttering as he shifted in the chair.
"Hungry?" he asked drowsily, his eyes not fully open.
"Maybe," she admitted quietly. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, holding her stomach and grinning. He couldn't help but smile at her, stretching out his arms and legs.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," she said.
"It's okay," he replied, moving his chair closer to the bed.
"How long have you been in here?" Jude asked.
He looked at his watch and thought for a moment. "About an hour and a half."
"I've been asleep for an hour and a half?" she questioned.
"More than that. When I came in, you were totally out. But you needed the rest, Jude. And apparently, some food."
She smiled and looked down at her stomch. "Did Josh leave that bag of bagels?"
"Why yes, I believe he did," Tommy said, standing up and grabbing a paper bag from the corner of the room. He opened it up and handed her a sesame bagel, her favorite.
"Thanks," she said, tearing off a small piece of it and putting it in her mouth. "Did you hear I'm going AWOL?"
"I did," he said, grabbing a plain bagel and chewing on it. "Are you happy to get out of here?"
"I guess," she said hesitantly. He looked at her questioningly as she sighed. "I don't know. The doctor told me I need to rest. No school and no studio."
He nodded, listening to her. "Is that a bad thing?"
"I wanted to finish the album," she said unhappily.
He put the bagel down and leaned on the edge of her bed. "The album can wait, Jude. And just because you'll be resting doesn't mean you can't keep writing."
"True," she said, thinking it over. She put another piece of the bagel in her mouth thoughtfully. "I hope Darius and Georgia aren't going to be mad."
"They won't," he reassured her. "And if they are, they can take it out on me. I'm not letting you back in that studio until you're better."
"Oh really?" she said with a smile.
"Yes, really," he said, smiling back, but his words sounding firm. "I don't want to ever wind up back in this hospital room or on the dressing room floor again. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," she replied mockingly.
They sat in silence eating their bagels. Tommy looked thoughtful and then put the bagel down on the table next to them.
"So there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh, right. What we were going to talk about before," she recalled, putting her own bagel down.
"Jude, you know I would never intentionally do anything to make things worse for us. And this whole situation has really got me thinking, not just about the next month until you turn 18, but about how we're going to handle everything after that."
"Okay…" she said, awaiting more explanation.
"I don't want things to get harder then, so I think we need to do something sort of drastic now."
"Drastic? What kind of drastic?" she questioned, her voice indicating panic.
He took a deep breath and held her hands tightly, looking into her eyes. "I think we should tell Georgia."