Jacob Have I Loved
Chapter 15
"Fuckity, fuck, FUCK!" A shrieking male voice disrupts Jake and me from our journey to the cave.
Still hand in hand, Jake and I spin around only to observe Quil jumping up and down in front of the bonfire and holding his right hand in obvious pain. Jake peers over at me, a worried expression on his face. He immediately breaks free from my grasp and speeds over to meet his best friend off in the distance. Rolling my eyes, I take off after Jake and begin to feel extreme disappointment that my moment with him has to be cut so short.
"What happened?" Jake isn't even winded when he reaches the bonfire, placing a hand on Quil's back. Quil is now on his knees, still gripping his wrist and yelling obscenities into the night air. His right hand is a deep shade of red, and I understand why he is in so much pain.
"He burned himself in the fire!" The new girl, Lindz, crouches down beside Quil. "We need to get him to a hospital!"
"That was a brilliant maneuver!" Jake laughs off his friend's idiocy and winks at me. He then helps Quil off the sand to a standing position. "Let's get him to your car, Jared."
"Ok, come on, Quil." Jared assists Jake in carrying our injured friend to his blue Oldsmobile up on the landing. Steph, Lindz, Julie, Embry, and I follow behind them.
When we arrive at our vehicles, Embry opens the passenger side door of Jared's car. Jake and Jared carefully place Quil into the seat and fasten his seatbelt.
"Ow, shit! It hurts like a mother, guys." Poor Quil. He has always acted so tough and strong. Now, he is crying like a baby. It almost makes me chuckle to see him like this. I feel so horrible though for laughing when my dear friend is hurt.
"The closest hospital is in Forks." Julie reminds all of us as Jake closes the door to the car.
"Right." Steph agrees, nodding her head. "Hey, why don't you and Lindz ride with Jared and Quil? Jake, Embry, and Jess can ride with me."
"Sounds good." Jake drapes his arms about my shoulders, giving them a light squeeze. Then, he knocks on the passenger side window of Jared's car. "We'll get you fixed up in no time, Quil."
Our little gang then splits up into separate vehicles, and we begin to hurriedly pound the pavement to the hospital in Forks. Jake and I are seated in the rear of Steph's Toyota, while Embry takes shotgun beside Steph in the front seat.
Suddenly, Jake leans over and whispers in my right ear, "Sorry about this. I know you're disappointed."
"No, it's okay. This is more important anyway. I hope Quil is going to be all right." Yes, I am disappointed—majorly disappointed. I was about to make love to Jake again, and Quil had to go and ruin in by sticking his hand too close to the damn fire. He can be such an idiot sometimes. I sure hope Lindz knows what she's in for.
Jake only smiles at me, taking my right hand into his left, and looks ahead through the windshield at Jared's Oldsmobile in front of us.
Within fifteen minutes, we pull into the small Forks hospital's parking lot. This time, Embry helps Jared with hoisting Quil out the car and down the sidewalk to the emergency room. Once inside the double doors, I notice that there are only two other people in the waiting room. My mouth instantly forms a smile. I secretly hope that we can get in and get out if you know what I mean.
Embry and Jared rest Quil in one of the waiting room chairs, and Lindz follows suit and takes the seat beside him. I now look over at Jake, who is responsibly informing the attending nurse about Quil and his burn. She hands him a clipboard, and I hear her say something about a five to ten minute wait. Excellent, I exclaim quietly to myself. At least, the night isn't going to be totally ruined.
"I have to fill these out for you, Quil." Jake announces as he takes a seat on the opposite side of our friend. "How do you spell your last name again?"
"Um, ow! A-T-E--" Quil begins, not even opening his eyes, and I know he is in so much pain right now. It really does make me sad to see him like this.
"I'll fill it out if you don't mind, Jacob." Lindz reaches across Quil's seat, graciously taking the clipboard from Jake's hands. "It might help me get to know him better." She laughs. I like this girl so much already.
"Don't mind at all, Lindz." Jake smirks at me, standing up and making his way over to me.
Just as I am about to embrace my beloved Jacob, a tall, blond doctor enters from the double doors to our left. The sight of him is almost breathtaking. He is extremely gorgeous with a pale complexion and deep circles under his eyes. From where I am positioned, he looks almost like a blond Tom Cruise—you know, like in Interview with the Vampire. I then realize that this must be the infamous Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Damn! Those Cullen men sure have got it going on.
"Dr. Fang." Embry speaks, coughing to muffle his voice. Vampires—how ridiculous is that? It is just one of the many rumors about the Cullen family circulating on the reservation. Of course, it is only a rumor; there are no vampires in Forks or the world for that matter. Better yet, why would a vampire become a doctor with all that blood around anyway? It is just some scary story Jake told me once. Jake even said that our tribe descended from wolves, like we're supposed to be werewolves or something like that. Absolutely absurd.
As if he overhears Embry's little joke, Dr. Cullen peers fleetingly in our direction and then turns to his nurse. Our entire group's attention is now fixated on the doctor across the room in utter fascination—possibly, even hatred for all I know. He is extremely fascinating to me at least.
"Mr. Ateara." Dr. Cullen startles us collectively from our trance. "I'm Dr. Cullen. It's nice to meet you. I knew your family." He then glances over at Jake, who is staring intently at the linoleum floor. Jake seems a little restless, almost shivering. What's up with him? He can't possibly believe all those stupid vampire rumors. Or even if he does, maybe he's secretly hoping they aren't true.
"Is there another doctor, sir?" Embry butts into the conversation. Since when did he grow a pair? Embry has always been so shy. Steph must be rubbing off on him just a bit.
"I'm sorry. It's just me tonight. You'll have to excuse me though. I'm a little jet-lagged." Dr. Cullen attempts to help Quil up from his seat, but Quil immediately winces. Damn those stinking prejudices! "Well, follow me, Mr. Ateara. We need to have a look at that nasty burn of yours." The blond doctor turns, and Quil stands up, reluctantly following him into the emergency room.
When Dr. Cullen and Quil are out of sight, I hear the faint sound of exhaling from the male members of our group. It is as if the tension has been cut with a knife and then dissipated into thin air.
"What was all that about?" Steph looks around the room, questionably. She is just as confused as I am about what just took place.
"It's nothing." Jake runs his hands through his black hair, turning to face me once again. "Jess, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, Jake." My mood does a complete one-eighty, and my broad smile returns to my face. "Do you mind if I get a drink from the machine first?"
"I'll get it for you." Jake digs into his jeans pocket and retrieves a dollar bill, then taking my hand to lead me over to the drink machine. "What do you want?"
"Mountain Dew, of course." I reply.
"Of course." He smiles, attempting to get the machine to take his worn bill. "Darn this thing!" After about three tries, the machine finally accepts his dollar and dispenses a cold Mountain Dew below. Jake claims it from the machine and hands it to me.
"Thanks, Jake." I smile at him, popping open the soda and taking a large gulp.
"Sure, sure." Jake takes my free hand. "Now, can we go somewhere and talk?"
"Ok." My heart immediately plummets to my feet. Something's up. I can tell by the expression on his face. And it doesn't appear to be good. DAMN IT!
Jake pulls me outside the entrance way to the emergency room. The crisp air has now turned to almost frigid. I cross my arms over my chest to invite the comfort of warmth.
"Jess, do you love me?" Jake inquires, looking off at the parking lot.
"Yes, Jake, why do you even have to ask? You know I do." I embrace him from behind and kiss him on the shoulder. The feel of him in my arms instantaneously warms me, and I no longer feel the cold. It doesn't last long though; he pulls my arms from around his waist and turns around to face me.
"Jess, I feel like all we do now is---IT." His comment makes my heart beat wildly in my chest. "Not that I don't like it. I love making love to you. It's just—we never really talk any more. I miss it."
He's right. Damn! Why does he always have to be right? "I miss it, too, Jake."
"And I'm worried that you'll get pregnant—not that I don't want kids. I just don't want them right now." Jake's eyes tell me without speaking a word that his words are genuine. How lucky am I to have him as a boyfriend?
"I understand, Jake. Believe me. I don't want it either." I twirl the can of soda around in my palm with the opposite hand, pondering the notion of becoming a mother at sixteen. No, I definitely do not want that. Jake doesn't know that I'm on the pill, but still I understand where he is coming from.
"Why don't we just, you know, go out to the movies or something? Like a real date?" Jake offers, taking me into his arms. I look up at him and notice that it is now raining.
"Sure, sure." My use of his familiar reply makes him laugh, and he leans down, kissing me softly on the lips. It is so romantic to kiss him in the rain; I almost swoon from the exhilaration surging throughout my body.
"Jacob!" We both embarrassingly pull away from each other, drenched in raindrops, only to observe Mr. and Mrs. Ateara, Quil's parents, coming toward us. As they near us, Quil's dad continues, "Oh, hi, Jessica. Where's Quil? Is he okay?"
"He's fine. Dr. Cullen is checking him out right now." Jake answers, and the look on Mr. Ateara's face tells it all; he is just as superstitious as the rest of these lunatics. Mrs. Ateara offers me her umbrella as we follow our men into the warmth of the waiting room.
"Quil!" Mrs. Ateara calls as she closes her umbrella, running over to meet Quil, who is now reentering the waiting area. Dr. Cullen is rightfully in tow.
"Um, Dr. Cullen, thanks. Um, nice to see you again." Quil's dad nervously greets the doctor as Quil embraces his mother.
"Yes, it's been awhile, Mr. Ateara." Dr. Cullen kindly offers his hand to Mr. Ateara, but he doesn't take it. Shaking the rude rejection off, the doctor offers his diagnosis, "Well, your son is going to be just fine. His burns are only first degree. I find it kind of strange though."
Jake and I share an awkward glance at the last comment.
"What do you mean?" Quil's mom asks, appearing just as baffled as we are.
"Well, it looks like the burn is a day old, not just under an hour old. It's healing quite well already. Usually, burns of this type are more severe."
"Hmph." Mr. Ateara doesn't seem amused by the doctor's assumptions.
Dr. Cullen huffs and looks over at Jake and me. "Well, he should be fine. I've bandaged him up quite well, and he can take aspirin for the pain if necessary. I would like to see him again in a couple of days."
"That won't be necessary, Dr. Cullen, but thank you." Quil's dad is obviously annoyed and even a little intimidated. He turns without even giving Dr. Cullen a second glance. Prejudices are so lame. He then grabs his son by the good arm and tugs him toward the exit. "Let's get on home now, Quil."
"Goodnight, guys! Call you tomorrow, Lindz!" Quil exasperatedly calls as his parents practically tote him through the double doors. Within seconds, our friend is gone.
"That was interesting to say the least." Julie tells her friend, Lindz. "I guess you didn't expect a trip to the emergency room on your first date."
Lindz doesn't answer verbally; instead, she just slaps Julie roughly on her back to silence her. The remaining seven of us venture out through the exit and toward our waiting vehicles, trudging through the downpour and dodging the puddles now forming on the pavement.
Once inside the shelter of Steph's car, Jake says in jest, "Quil, must have superpowers to heal so fast like that."
"Either that or he's turning into the wolf man." I retort, and Jake winks at me.
As she cranks the car to carry Embry, Jake, and I off toward La Push, Steph adds to our little exchange, "In that case, I hope Lindz carries silver bullets."
Attn: Please review! Thanks for reading.
