Chapter 13

Jude woke up in a hospital bed. Tommy was asleep in a chair to her right with his head resting on the bed and his hand holding hers. Sadie was asleep curled up in a chair to her left. Jude was about to speak when a pain came rushing into her head and left arm which she was now realizing was in a cast. In reaction to her pain she brought her right hand out of Tommy's hold and to her head. At this action Tommy woke up.

"Jude? Jude can you talk to me?" Tommy asked as Jude cradled her head in her hands. The pounding in her head was so much that she didn't even hear Tommy or notice him run out of the room to get a doctor. Sadie woke up among the commotion and as Tommy returned with the first doctor he found, a nurse came in and ushered him and Sadie out of the room.

The doctors gave Jude some pain medication and then did some tests to assess her condition. About a half hour later the doctors walked out to a waiting Tommy and Sadie.

"Which one of you is related to Jude?" The doctor asked.

"I'm her sister." Sadie replied.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Upon hearing this Tommy looked at Sadie with pleading eye.

"Um, anything you need to say you can say in front of Tommy. How's my sister?"

"Ok, well, she has a broken left wrist probably from trying to stop her fall. Besides that she has some minor cuts and bruises. The one thing we're worried about though is her head injury. She has a severe concussion. We'd like to keep her here for another night and then we can release her but she's going to need someone to stay with her and keep a close eye on her for the next week or so. She hit her head pretty hard and the concussion can have many side effects. She'll need someone to manage the meds we'll be putting her on." With that the doctor looked up at Sadie and Tommy to see if they had any questions.

"Can we go back in to see her now?" Sadie asked.

"Yes, just take it slow with her. She doesn't remember what happened and she might ask the same question multiple times. Also, you can stay here with her but she has to get her rest. I'm going to send a psych consult down here to talk with her later in the day. Many people who have been through what Jude has will have sleeping trouble and confusion so that doctor will decide what else to add to her meds."

Tommy and Sadie thanked the doctor and went back to Jude. She was curled on her side looking towards the window in her room. When the door opened she turned onto her back to greet her visitors.

She smiled weakly at them.

"How are you feeling Jude?" Sadie asked.

"My heads pounding and my arm hurts, but, I guess I'm ok otherwise." She smiled to Sadie who was now sitting next to Jude and running her hand up and down Jude's upper arm in a very mother-like fashion. "Guys, um, what happened? The doctors weren't telling me anything." Jude looked to Sadie, then Tommy who was sitting where he had been before Jude woke up.

"You were at the library last night and you left around 12. You were on your way to stay at my place. You called me sounding different and asked me to meet you in my lobby. After like 10 minutes you still hadn't showed up so I went to look for you. I found you on the side walk a couple blocks away unconscious. I called an ambulance and the cops. They took you here and I talked to the police. They figured that it was just a mugging gone wrong seeing as only your wallet was missing. The cops came by a couple hours ago and said they caught the guy using your credit card."

Jude listened to Tommy's story and then stayed in silence. A couple minutes later Jude said she was tired and was going to get some sleep. Sadie and Tommy left to get some lunch and call to update Jude's mom who was out of town on business.

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Jude was released the next day. In total, Jude was prescribed a pain killer for her arm and another medication to help with the swelling in her head. Sadie and Tommy decided that Jude and Sadie would stay at Tommy and Kwest's apartment for awhile so everyone could keep an eye on Jude.

When they got back to the apartment, Tommy helped Jude up while Sadie took the car to pick up some of Jude's things from the dorm and some necessities from her apartment. Tommy led Jude to his bed and helped her lay down.

"Can I get you anything? Do you want something to drink? Are you in pain?"

"Wow, Tommy slow down. I just think I'm gonna get some sleep."

"Oh, ok." Tommy said starting to get up from where he sat on the side of the bed.

He felt Jude's hand on his as he started to stand. He turned back down to her. "Will you stay with me?"

"Of course." Tommy said smiling. He laid down next to Jude and enveloped her in his arms.