New Girl in Town Pt. 19

Jessica thought for a moment then shook her head.

"It was just so bright and... and I'm not sure why, but it scared me so bad," She answered. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing, baby," Grammy assured her.

"They ran some more tests on you after the episode," Dr. Golden told her. "Everything came back clear, okay? Don't worry about any of that right now. Just try and get some rest."

"How is Jake?" Jessica asked.

"He's the same, Jess," Roxie answered. "C.C. and I just came from his room a little while ago. The guys are with him now. He's trying to heal, Jess. He really is."

"He wouldn't let you down," C.C. added then nudged Staci. "He's too scared of Staci for one thing."

Staci smiled and nodded.

"You know that's right, Jess," Staci said. "He knows that he had better get better or I'll kick his butt."

"No kicking, Jake," Sarah murmured from the bed. "He's sick."

Sarah sat up on the bed and Jessica hugged her with her good arm.

"He's sick now but he's getting better, Sar-bear," Jessica told her.

"I'm just saying that he needs to hurry up, Sar-bear," Staci said.

"If that helps then I'll kick his butt too," Sarah declared.

Everyone in the room laughed for the first time since before the accident.

"Jess, they gave us your phone a little while ago but the battery is gone," Dr. Golden told her as she handed her the phone. "If you want someone to head to the house and get your charger, I'm sure one of your friends could..."

"You should go home, mom," She told them. "You, dad and Sarah too. None of you have had any rest at all since this wreck."

"I've rested," Sarah stated.

"I know that you have my little cuddle bear," Jessica smiled at her little sister. "Mom and dad however haven't and mom has been here since, like, two o'clock yesterday afternoon."

"You let me worry about when I need rest, Jessica," Dr. Golden told her. "Your dad and I are planning to stay here in shifts with you tonight then you'll be reevaluated in the morning by Dr. Yang. Then you might be able to go home."

"We can take the shifts with Jessica, Dr. Golden," Staci jumped into the conversation. "She is right about y'all needing to rest and Shelly is working on a schedule for all of us so that we aren't all here trying to see both her and Jake at once."

"We appreciate that," Dr. Golden said. "From the both of you but one of us will need to stay in case Jessica's doctors need something from us. They have cots that they will bring in for us to sleep on."

"And I'm taking the first shift," Mr. Golden stated. "Jess is right. You've been up, working, walking back and forth between here and Jake's room most of the night and today as well. I'm afraid that you're going to burn out. Don't make me bring up that you have two daughters that need you on your A game."

"No fair using us against mom, dad," Jessica said. "He is right though, mom. Both Sarah and I need you. Jake will too so you need to rest."

Dr. Golden reluctantly nodded her head.

"I will take Sarah and go home after I get your charger so you can..." She started but Staci interrupted her.

"She can use mine, Dr. Golden," Staci said as she pointed to her purse that sat on the window sill. "Same phones and all that."

Jessica handed Staci her phone for her to plug in so it could charge. It powered on then chirped to let them know that she had a message. Staci handed it back to her, Jessica unlocked it then looked at her texts.

"A few from some of the people that weren't at the party wishing me a Happy New Year," She said as she flicked through them. "One... no a few from Ms. Langston from UCLA. Oh, she called me too. Mom, what am I supposed to tell her about this? Can I even play volleyball anymore?"

"I'm sure that you can, Jess," Dr. Golden said. "Let me call her back for you and tell her what's happened. I'll need your phone. Mine is still in my locker downstairs."

Jessica handed her the cell phone and her mom pulled up the call list and hit redial.

****

Southern California

"You're staring again, Ken," Jessica said as she slid into her pool.

"I'm wearing sunglasses, Jess," He called back. "You can't prove if I'm staring or not so I'm calling that bluff."

Jessica considered wiggling her butt to test him but decided against it. They had flirted playfully but innocently since lunch and she didn't want to push the boundaries too far. Yet.

"You should know by now that I do not bluff, Ken," She said instead. "I..."

She started to say more but her cell phone buzzed to life next to Ken. He picked it up from the table and tried not to smile too much or stare at her chest as she hurried toward him in her black bikini top.

"So busted," She winked as she took her phone from his hand.

"Jessica? Hi, I was beginning to worry... Oh, I'm sorry Dr. Golden," She corrected herself. "I thought I saw your daughter's name on my caller ID."

"I'm using her phone to call you, Ms. Langston," Dr. Golden said. "We saw that you had called several times and first of all, I need to tell you that Jessica is okay."

"Okay," Jess answered suspiciously. "It sounds like there's a huge but coming. One that I may need to sit down for."

"That may be for the best I'm afraid," Dr. Golden agreed.

She slowly brought Jessica up to speed on the accident and everything that led up to her call. Once she finished Jessica had sat on the lounger opposite of Ken and asked if it was all right if she speak to Jessica for a moment.

"Of course," Dr. Golden said and handed the phone to her daughter.

"Ms. Langston?" Jessica said as she was handed the phone.

"Hey, Jessica," She said. "Oh my god, sweetie, I am so sorry to hear about what happened to you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Jessica answered. "I'm more worried and scared now than anything. Worried about Jake. Worried about my future with this broken wrist and that black out or panic attack or whatever I had earlier. I heard mom telling you about it but... I just don't know what it means for my future."

Ken, who had heard much of the conversation, then got up and went into Jessica's home. He reappeared a few moments later with his laptop. He set it up and typed away while Jessica answered her recruit.

"I can't tell you not to worry, Jessica, but I can tell you that we're here for you, okay?" She told her. "Anything that you need, you can call me or have your mom call me and I'll see that it gets done. Okay?"

"I appreciate that," Jessica said. "I should go now. I'm kind of tired and I need to make my family go home and sleep. They haven't left since this happened."

"I understand, sweetie," Jessica assured her. "I'll be in touch soon for updates. I hope both you and Jake get better really soon."

Jessica thanked her then they hung up. She let out a breath that she had held then looked over at Ken who was typing away.

"My phone call didn't disturb you did it?" She asked angrily.

"No," He answered, tapped a few more keys then looked up at her scowling face. "The soonest I can get you there is tomorrow afternoon... well evening considering the time zone difference."

"Get me there?" She asked.

"Call Ashley and see if she's available to go with you," He said. "You trust her judgment over everyone else on our medical staff. Kristin could be used as a back up for Ashley but we both know that she isn't able to tell you no no better than I can."

Jessica stared at him with her mouth opened. He glanced up at her then nodded toward her phone.

"You aren't dialing, Jess," He pointed out. "If Ashley makes plans then you'll have to sit in a plane with Kristin for several hours and hear about how awesome her boyfriend is over and over and over. We both know you don't want that."

"I don't even know where I'm going," Jessica told him.

"Come on, Jess," He said. "The minute that you heard that your recruit was in an accident we both knew that brain of yours started to figure out how quickly you could get out there to her. And because I'm an amazing assistant I picked up on that and started to look up flights to North Carolina. You'll have to fly into Charlotte. Greensboro is closer but there isn't a direct flight in the same time frame. I'm checking into rental cars while you call Ashley."

Jessica gave him a confused yet amazed look for a moment then she leaned in and pulled his face up to look at her.

"Jess, call Ashl..." He started to repeat until her lips stopped him when she pressed them to his.

She held the kiss longer than she felt she should have but it didn't stop her nor did it feel wrong that she kissed him. She pulled back with a smile on her face and saw one as it tugged at the corners of his mouth as well.

"Did that just happen?" Ken asked as he looked deep into her eyes.

"I'm calling Ash now, Ken," She told him. "Book us three tickets and pick a nice car that you'd like to drive because you, my amazing assistant, are coming with us."

She pulled up her contacts, found Ashley and pressed the call button then she smiled at Ken.

"Yes, Ken, that did happen," She told him. "It's definitely possible that it's going to happen again once I get off the phone with... Ash, hey, it's Jess, Happy New Year and yeah, I need a favor. Like, a big favor."