Chapter 6
I wake up from my nap and I really need to pee. I don't want to get up in case I wake Derek up. I look up at him he is sleeping so peaceful. I take my arm off his chest and quietly get up. I make my way to the bathroom. I come back and Derek is laying flat on his back playing with his phone. Dang I didn't mean to wake him up.
" Hey" I say quietly
" Hey, how are you feeling?" he asks
" Better, my head isn't hurting as bad as it was." I walk back over to the bed and lay down. Derek rolls over on his side, I roll over on mine. We lay facing each other with his arm slung over my body.
" That is fantastic. Are you thirsty or do you want anything?"
" I am a little thirsty."
" I will go get you something. What do you want?"
" A water would be great."
" Okay, I will be right back."
Derek gets up and leaves the room. I need to call my mom. There really is no reason for her and dad to fly here when I am feeling better. It would be a waste of money I will see them in a few days anyways. They don't need to miss work either. I call her and she answers on the first ring.
" Hello." she says
" Hey mom."
" Honey how are you feeling."
" Better, my head was hurting earlier but the nurse gave me some medicine. I would have called you sooner but I was asleep."
" It's okay I figured you were napping."
" So mom, I don't think you and dad need to come down here."
" Why not?"
" Well I am feeling better. Derek is taking great care of me and I have Mark that was here earlier. I just have a little scrape on my head. It's not that big of deal." I say. Derek walks back in the room with my water in his hand.
" Shawn what happened was a big deal and is not okay. You could have been hurt really bad."
" I know mom, but I wasn't. I am fine and feeling better. I am most likely getting discharged from the hospital tonight. It will be a waste of money for you to come down here. You would be missing work too."
" Shawn work doesn't matter right now. All that matters is you and your safety. I guess I will wait a day or two, but I will be coming earlier."
" Okay, it would be better for you and dad. You would be in a hotel are in my apartment all week missing work. I appreciate you both for wanting to come down and being worried, but I am fine."
" I will let you go and you get some rest. I will talk to you later. Love you."
" Love you too mom."
As soon as I get off the phone I take the water sitting on the table and chug it. I am so thirsty. The water taste so good. Out of the corner of my eye I see Derek laughing at me.
" Are your mom and dad coming down?" he ask
" No I convinced her I was fine and that she didn't need to come. I am going to see them both in a couple of days anyways."
Before Derek can reply there is a knock on the door. The nurse walks in with a blood pressure cup and two needles.
" How are you feeling?" she asks very kindly
I have a feeling I'm going to get tired of being asked that.
" Better, my head quit hurting."
" That is fabulous. I am going to take your blood pressure and draw some blood. We will have the doctor come check on you later today. You might get to go home or you may have to stay a little while longer."
" Okay."
She puts the cuff around my arm and starts squeezing the ball. It gets huge and I feel like my arm is fixing to pop.
" Your blood pressure is fine. It was really high earlier, it's a great sign that it went down. Now I am going to take your blood."
Great. I have always been a queasy person when it comes to blood. I hope I don't throw up. She takes my arm and tightly wraps a rubber band around it. She ties it in a bow.
" I can't find a vein. I don't want to stick you unless I know for sure I can get blood."
" That would be greatly appreciated." I say laughing
" Okay, I found one in your left hand. Are you ready?"
" Yeah I guess." I turn my head away from the nurse. I look up at Derek and he is smiling. He sees my discomfort and takes my right hand in his big one. He has such big and muscular hands. He holds my little hand very tightly with his and I feel safe.
" Shawn, just don't look at it, or think about it." Derek says calmly
" Okay,"
" Alright to get you mind off of it we will talk. How do you think you've learned the dance so far."
" Pretty good. I wish we would have been able to practice today." " Yes, me too. But I am just glad your are okay and in one piece. We can practice longer hours this week."
" Me too."
" Alright your all done." the nurse says
Is she serious? Already? Man that was quick. I didn't even feel anything.
" The doctor will be in shortly."
The nurse gets up and leaves. Derek doesn't get up and I don't move. We just lay in bed talking for what seems like hours.
" Derek are you hungry?"
" Yes, I am actually."
" Do you want to go to the cafeteria and get something. I am really tired of just laying in bed."
" That is fine with me. I will go ask the nurse if you can walk."
" You don't have to get up. I will call her."
" Okay."
I pick up the phone and call the nurses desk. I tell them my nurses name and they hand her the phone. I ask her and she says yes but to be sure I don't move around too quickly. I hang the phone up.
" I need to go change out of this gown. I will be right back."
" Okay I will be right here if you need me."
I find my clothes I had on earlier. They are laying on the table. I pick them up and walk into the bathroom. I look at myself in the mirror, I look like a mess. I take off my gown and slip my clothes on. I redo my bun that was falling. I take a towel and wet it. I dab my eyes and cheeks from where my eyeliner has ran from crying earlier. This will have to do. I walk back out of the bathroom. All of a sudden the room starts spinning. Derek is sitting on the bed watching tv.
" Umm Derek?"
" Yeah?"
" Can you come here, the room is kind of going in circles."
He doesn't reply, he gets up and starts making his way over to me. The bathroom is on the other side of the room. I am starting to lean slightly to one side. Its like I have no control over my body. I am about to fall over when Derek comes up and grabs my arm. I get steadied.
" Thanks, it wouldn't have felt to great to fall on my face."
" Your welcome and no that would not have been good." he says smiling
" I guess I should have listened to the nurse when she said not to move around to fast." I say laughing
" Are you okay enough to walk down there? Or do I need to go get it and bring it back?" he asks
" I'm fine. Just a mini episode. We will just have to walk slow until I get something to eat."
He lets go of my arm and grabs my hand. We intertwine our fingers between each others. Our fingers fit perfectly despite the size difference. We walk the whole way and he doesn't let go of my hand. He leads us over the table in the back of the building.
" What do you want to eat? I wouldn't want you to get dizzy again. And before you protest I am buying your food." he says chuckling
" I appreciate it. I would love a hamburger and fries. Water to drink." I say grinning from ear to ear.
" Okay, I will be right back."
" Okay."
Its not long before I see him making his way to the line to check out. It didn't take him very long. I wonder if anybody has recognized him yet. He is wearing some tight black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, and sneakers. He has a white hat with black writing on backwards. It is holding his long blonde hair back. His hair has got so long. I love it long.
" Miss Johnson, your food." he says laughing
" Thank you. Mr. Hough" I say smiling
" Your welcome. While you were in the bathroom I got a phone call from the police. They caught the man that hurt you." he says with his face in disgust when he says hurt me.
" Well that is great. Does he have any relation to me? I got stalked back in season 8. In the back of my mind I was thinking it was him."
"They didn't give a name. They said they found lots of cash on him and weapons. He has a criminal record for stealing. They think you just were there at the wrong time. They don't think he knew you were going to be there and he was going to hurt you."
" Yeah, he told me that he didn't want to hurt me. That if I behaved he wouldn't do anything."
" Then why did he hit you with the gun?"
" Because he told me to stand up. I did, then he went to look at the door and see if anyone was coming. When he was looking I made a dash for the bathroom and I guess that's when he hit me. Then he tied me up."
" That little mmmm. I am not going to say what I really want to call him."
" Derek, its okay, I am fine and they caught him."
" I am really glad you are okay." He picks up my hand from across the table. He rubs his finger over my knuckles. I start blushing. We talk the whole time we eat. Derek gets up and goes to throw our plates away.
" We should probably get back in case the doctor was to come in." he says
" Yeah, lets go."
He grabs my hand and our fingers intertwine again. I love this feeling. I know I have told him thank you a million times, but I really need to let him know how I feel. But what if he don't feel the same way. He said he thought of me as a little sister, so maybe he is just being protective. I wouldn't want to ruin our blossoming friendship. We walk the whole way back to the room hand in hand. While we our walking back we see the doctor walking out of the room.
" Well hello Miss Johnson. I was just coming to check on you."
" I was starving, we went and got something to eat."
" Okay, I will check you now then." he says smiling
Derek leads me in the room and on to the bed. He goes and sits in the chair beside the bed. The doctor comes in with the nurse we have had all day.
" How are you feeling?"
" Better, now that I have ate."
" That is great. I am going to check your gash on your head. I need you to roll over on your stomach."
I do as I'm told. I feel him taking my bun down and examining the gash.
" You have a pretty big and deep cut. I am going to wrap it, then you can put your hair back up if you would like."
He puts a big bandage on my head then he wraps it in something white.
" You can turn over now."
I roll back over.
" Does this mean I can go back home now?" I ask smiling
" Yes, only on two conditions."
" Anything."
" First, I will be sending you home with some medication for you to take at night. You can take some Advil or Tylenol when your head starts hurting. Only take this at night. It will help you sleep. You have a busy week with the show and practicing, if you need to take some Advil or Tylenol during the day please do. Do not drive once you have taken the medication. I want to see you in one to two weeks to keep a eye on your cut. If it is better then I will take you off the medication. Second, be smart and don't over do it. I know you have missed one day of practice and this is not where you want to be. If you do tricks and flips just be safe and don't land on your head. It could have been worse then what it is now. When you get tired take a break. You don't want to have to quit the season due to a head injury because you didn't do what I said. I will go get you some paperwork and have you sign them. Do you have any questions?"
" So I am cleared to dance just no over doing it and take breaks. Take my meds at night and the others too if my head starts hurting during the day."
" Yes. I will be right back."
" Okay."
The doctor leaves the room. Derek gets up and comes to sit on my bed.
" This is great new. Your released and cleared to dance." he says smiling from ear to ear.
" Yes, and I can go home to my own bed and not be stuck laying down all day."
The doctor comes back in with the paper work. I sign all the papers I need to. I am so ready to get out of this room.
" Thank you and I hope you get better." the doctor says
" No, thank you for taking care of me. My nurse was super nice, caring, and helpful."
" I will see you in a couple of weeks." he says making his way to the door.
" Bye." I say and he is gone.
I get up form the bed and find my purse. I pull out my phone and send a quick text to Mark." Hey the doctor released me and I am cleared to dance. I have to take some medicine every night and I will come back and see him in a few weeks. Thanks for being so concerned and visiting me. I really appreciate it. Love you." I press send. It is so nice to have a good friend like Mark.
" Hey Shawn, your car is at the studio. I will take you home."
" Okay, are you ready." I ask him
" Yeah, you?"
" Never been more ready."
We walk out of our room and head to the elevator. The elevator take us to the ground floor. We walk out. Threw the glass walls I see paparazzi standing everywhere.
" Shawn, it will be fine. Here take my hat and pull it down over your eyes. It will keep your eyes from seeing all the flashes."
" Thank you." I take Derek's hat and pull it on my head. I am sure I look bad in this hat but anything to not see all those flashes.
" My car isn't parked far away. We can walk out together if you want to, or I can go get the car and bring it to you."
" Let's go together. We start walking to the door. Derek stops at the door fixing to open it and grabs my hand. Our fingers intertwine again. He opens the door for me I walk through the door way. He never lets go of my hand. As soon as we step outside the paps start going crazy. Asking questions taking tons of pictures. We head towards Derek's car hand in hand. We get there and he unlocks the door and opens it for me. He is such gentleman. He closes my door and gracefully walks around the car to get in. He slides in and starts the car up. I am starting to get really sleepy. The next thing I know we are pulling in my parking deck at the apartment. I guess I fell asleep. Derek turns the car off and before I can get my door open he is already there opening it for me. We walk into my building and go up the elevator. We reach my door.
" Do you want to come in?" I ask shyly
" No, I am going to head home it is really late. Your sleepy anyways. You feel asleep on me in the car." he says smiling
" I am sorry. Just a really long day I guess." Derek turns around to leave I guess now is my chance.
" Hey Derek." I say and he turns around
" Yeah?"
" Thank you for everything today. I don't know what I would have done without you there. I would've been all by myself starving and thirsty. It means so much to me that you stuck around. I am glad I got you as a partner this season. I feel like it was meant to be." I say blushing
" Shawn you are so welcome. I never thought about leaving you once. Seeing you unconscious laying on the floor changed my life." he bends down and gives me a hug. We stand there wrapped in each others arms. I finally let go.
" I will see you tomorrow." I say
" Okay, I look forward to it."
" Bye" I say blushing
" Bye"
I turn around a give him one last look before I walk into my apartment. I take my medicine and go to bed thinking about today's crazy activities.