New Girl in Town Pt. 20

"Yep," Jessica sighed. "This is going to be one long flight."

****

Dr. Yang had Jessica sit on her bed as he prepped her for his test.

"If at anytime you feel anxious or nervous just let us know," He said as he pulled a stool over to her bedside. "We can take as many breaks as you need. Okay, Jessica?"

"Yes, Doctor," Jessica nodded.

"We're right here, baby," Dr. Golden said as she stood with her husband on the other side of Jessica's bed. "If you need anything, dad and I are right here."

Jessica reached out and took her mother's hand and held it as Dr. Yang pulled out his penlight. He positioned himself in front of Jessica and clicked the light on but didn't raise it.

"We'll do this just like we did yesterday," he told Jessica. "As soon as you're ready, Jessica."

Jessica nodded so Dr. Yang raised his light and instructed her to follow it with her eyes. She managed to follow it the same as she did the day before then she took a deep breath as he lowered it.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"I'm okay," she said. "Kind of nervous honestly."

"Do you need a minute, Jess?" her dad asked.

"I'm good," Jessica said after a moment.

Her mother squeezed her hand reassuringly and nodded at Dr. Yang who nodded back.

"Okay, Jessica," he said.

He flicked the light up and a gasp escaped Jessica's mouth when it hit her eyes. A memory flashed to life. A bright light filled Jake's car then she felt the sensation of being tossed over and over until the memory crawled back into the darkness. Her hand squeezed her mother's tightly and held it as she steadied her breathing.

"What is it, Jess?" She asked. "Try and talk it through if you can."

"The light," Jessica said. "It's... I... I saw a bright light. It filled Jake's car then we were flipping through the air and... and that's all I remember.

"A bright light?"Mr. Golden asked. "The headlights of another car maybe?"

"I think so... maybe," she answered then groaned in frustration at her inability to recall anything more. "I can't remember."

"Give it time, Jessica," Dr. Yang said. "The important thing is that you are starting to remember. That's a good sign but I don't want you to try and force yourself. That would make you frustrated which won't help you with your pain."

"More headaches?" she asked.

"Possibly," he answered. "We don't want you to have to be brought back in and go through another round of testing if we can help it."

"Does that mean I'm going home?" Jessica asked.

"I see no reason to keep you," Dr. Yang answered. "Your mother is quite adept at helping you work through your injuries and being at home will help you relax."

"I am not a fan of this bed," she stated.

"Most people aren't," Dr. Yang chuckled. "I'll get started on getting you discharged then I'll walk you down once you're ready."

"Thank you, Dr. Yang," Jessica thanked him first followed by her parents.

"I had better go collect Sarah and let Jake's parents know that you're heading home," Mr. Golden told her. "And yes, I will tell them that we will swing by on the way out, Jessica."

"Thanks, daddy," Jessica said.

Once he left Dr. Golden sat on the edge of her daughter's bed. She took her hand in hers and started to speak.

"I know that you will want to stay with Jake, baby," She said. "You need to work on getting yourself well too and Jake would be the first person to tell you that and you know it."

Jessica wanted to argue. To tell her mother that she would get better quicker if she were near Jake but she stopped herself because she knew her mother was right. She wanted to sleep in her own bed and the rest of the comforts of home and she couldn't deny that's what Jake would want for her too.

"I know that he would, mom," she nodded. "I just... I just want him to be all right like me. It's not fair."

"No, baby, it's not fair," she agreed as she hugged her daughter. "He will get better though. We just have to be there to support him, his parents and all of your friends just like they've supported us. We have to get you strong so when Jake wakes up you'll be strong enough to help him get back to being himself."

"We can do it," Jessica nodded. "I'll do all that I can to get him back to his old self once he's back with me."

****

Patrick's mom returned home and found him in their garage. He stared at the slight dent in his front fender as if in a daze until she got out of her car.

"How was the hospital?" He asked as she approached him.

"It was fine," she answered him. "A lot of your classmates, coaches and even some teachers were there as well."

"Jake and Jessica are pretty popular," Patrick said nonchalantly.

"They seemed to be," she said as she looked at her son. "I doubt a pair of druggies, as your father put it, would garner such attention."

"They don't do drugs, mom," he said. "I doubt Jake has taken anything harder than aspirin in his life."

"I felt the same," she said. "They were discharging Jessica while I was there. She seems very sweet."

"Discharging her? So she's all right?" Patrick asked hurriedly.

"She has a broken wrist, several bumps and bruises and a concussion but she's doing as well as can be expected," his mother answered.

"Damn," he muttered. "And Jake?"

"They have him in a medical coma," she said as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"He's in a coma? I... I didn't think he would be in that bad of shape," Patrick commented.

"His parents said that it was to give his body and mind a chance to heal," she told him. "They said that he nearly died at the scene of the accident but he's stable now."

"That's... he really almost died?" Patrick asked as he looked down at the dent again.

"It was a pretty terrible accident as I understand it," she said. "They say that it's a miracle that Jessica made it out as relatively well as she did."

"I though they just, like, hit a tree or something," he stated.

"I don't know the specifics but it sounds like it was a very bad accident," she said. "Would you like me to take you back over there to see them?"

"No," He answered a bit too vehemently. "I mean, nah, I'll see them when I see them."

"If you say so, dear," she said then headed into the house.

Patrick took another glance at his car. The minor indentation that barely stood out on the otherwise perfect body. He wondered at how something so small looking had caused so much damage. His mind conjured up Jessica, her arm in a cast, her face bruised and battered. As soon as he shook that image off, one of Jake appeared. He lay pale in a hospital bed with a bunch of machines that beeped around him.

"What did I do?" Patrick asked no one as he stepped back from his car and the accusatory dent.

He knew what he had done. His mother had painted him a vivid enough picture to know exactly what he had done. He turned and nearly sprinted from the garage and the dent that had changed at least a couple of lives perhaps irrecoverably.

****

Shelly made her way to Jake's room and wasn't surprised when she found Jessica seated beside his bed. She was surprised that Jessica was still in her pajamas, however. Shelly greeted her with a hug then sat on the edge of Jake's bed.

"I thought they were letting you out of here, Jess," Shelly said. "Not that I expected you to leave Jake's side anytime soon but I did think that you would want to get out of your pajamas."

"They're comfy," Jessica pointed out. "I'm just waiting on mom to get back with some clothes I can change into."

"Jess, one of us could have gone and got them for you," She told her. "Jody and Javier are out in the waiting area right now and Staci is due back any minute."

"They needed to get Sarah home for a nap," Jessica told her. "She hasn't been sleeping well since the crash."

"I don't think any of us has except maybe Jake here," Shelly pointed out then looked at her cousin. "You had better be prepared for me and the rest of the misfits to give you endless shit over this, Jake."

As they looked on at his monitor Jake's heart rate increased slightly which made Shelly smirk.

"That's right," she said. "You had better be nervous, Jake."

Jessica smiled, reached out and patted his hand which made his heart rate lower again.

"I've got your back, baby," she told him.

"Speaking of having his back," Shelly said. "I wanted to run something by you and get your okay on it."

"My okay?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah," she nodded and pulled out her phone. "You know, of course, that there's been a lot of people coming in to see you both. Like a lot, a lot which is to be expected but I know that it can get exhausting for you and maybe Jake too though we can't really tell that."

"The doctors and nurses are probably way more exhausted from it than us but I get your point," Jessica said. "Maybe that will ease up some since I'm heading home in a little while?"

"Maybe," Shelly said. "We didn't want to cut anyone off entirely but we needed to work out some kind of schedule because Jake needs his rest. That said, none of us want to leave him alone here either."

"Going home is going to be tough for me," Jessica said.

"You know that Jake would tell you to go home, Jess," Shelly said. "Hell, he would make Staci and the rest of us force you to go because that's what's best for you right now."

"Mom made the same argument," she conceded. "I just don't like the idea of leaving him alone."

"Which brings us back to the schedule that we worked out and how Jake won't be alone here," Shelly said as she handed Jessica her phone.

Jessica took the phone and looked at the schedule that Shelly had pulled up. She read the names of all of the misfits, some of Jake's football teammates and even some of her volleyball teammates as well as the times listed by each name.

"That's some list," she noted. "I'm not seeing my name listed here though."

"That's because we expect you to be here as much as you're allowed to be, Jess," she told her. "This is just so when you need a break, or Jake's parents need a break, you will all know that we have him covered."

"I, and I'm sure, they, appreciate it, Shelly," Jessica said and read through the list again. "How is this going to work when we go back to school on Tuesday though?"

"Everyone that signed up for day shifts are using their study periods for this," Shelly explained then hesitated. "There is one person that offered but I told them that I would have to check with you first."

"Tonya is fine as long as she's supervised," Jessica stated.

"It wasn't about Tonya, Jessica," Shelly giggled. "Tabitha already told me that she would watch out for you when Tonya took her turn."

Jake's heartbeat increased and Jessica shook her head.

"No twins for you, Jake," she told him. "Get that thought right out of that naughty head of yours."

Shelly laughed and shook her head at Jessica.

"I'm sure that you are more than enough for Jake to handle," she assured her. "It was Jenny that I wanted to ask you about. When I was getting her set up in the group chat about keeping everyone up to date on you two, she mentioned that she could make some time to sit with Jake but I can tell her that we're full up if you want."

Jessica thought for a moment then shook her head.

"No, you can give her a space," she told her. "I trust her with Jake now that she's with Tommy. Keep Somer away from him though. It was sweet of her to come by and she did appear to care about us but I'm not ready to put that much trust out there."

"I can understand that, Jess," Shelly smiled. "I'm just getting over Jamie myself, so I wasn't about to offer much less accept any offers from Somer. I've got your back on that."

"And I appreciate it, Shelly," Jessica said as she hugged her. "More than any of you may ever know."

Somewhere over Nevada

Ken moved up the aisle of the plane, dodged a person who was headed for the lavatory then leaned in once he reached Jessica and Ashley's seats.

"Hey," Jessica greeted him with a smile. "Enjoying the flight?"

"I think the guy seated next to me drooled on me when he fell asleep," Ken stated as he glanced at his shoulder.

"I'll bet that you have at least one extra shirt in your carry on since you are such a seasoned traveler, Ken," Ashley grinned. "Tell me that you don't."

"I wouldn't call myself a seasoned traveler, Ashley, but I do have a couple of shirts in my carry on," He admitted.

"Ooo, Jess has you trained well," she grinned. "You know I'll bet that Jess here would be glad to help you..."

"Be less bored on this flight by... by...," Jessica scrambled for something so Ashley couldn't complete her sentence and embarrass her.

"By checking the route from the airport to the hospital where Miss Golden is?" Ken suggested then handed her his phone. "I did that once we got up to cruising altitude. As you can see, it should take us about two hours to get there depending on traffic."

"Which on a Sunday evening shouldn't be too bad," Jessica said.

"Got us a hotel in town, boy scout?" Ashley teased him.

"There isn't one in town but I've got us booked in one just a town over and, yes, it's close to the hospital," he told her. "Yes, it's two rooms before you ask, Ashley."

"Of course," she smiled wickedly. "You and Jess will want some privacy. I understand that."

Jessica's eyes widened but Ken grinned back at Ashley.

"I didn't think that we were telling people about us, sweetie," he remarked then leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I should get back to my seat now. See you two when we land in Dallas."

He turned and walked back to his seat while Ashley stared open mouthed at her friend. Jessica recovered from her shock quickly and smiled at Ashley.

"You and he... him and you... what?" Ashley stammered as she looked from Jessica to Ken then back.

"He was just messing with you, Ashley," Jessica told her. "You are too fun to mess with and Ken knows it."

Ashley looked back at Ken again. He looked up and gave her a wink. She then looked at Jess who had a devilish grin on hers. Ashley sat back and shook her head.

"Oh, you had better wipe that grin off that pretty face of yours, Jessica," Ashley said. "You and your hot assistant may have got me good but you know all about my paybacks from our sorority days."

"I do and some of them are still whispered about at our old sorority house," Jessica said then frowned. "Be kind to me, Ash. I am your bestest friend after all."

"Look who tossed her new boy toy to the wolves at the first opportunity," she teased her.

"Don't call him that," Jessica said then grinned as she looked back at Ken. "He is one hundred percent a man toy."

"You dirty slut," Ashley giggled then looked back at Ken herself. "Your man toy is safe for now but once we get to North Carolina he's going to get it."

"Yes, he just might," Jessica thought to herself and grinned.

****

North Carolina

Deputy Mason parked his cruiser at the gate of Mr. Fishel's junkyard then called in his location.

"Dispatch, show me ten twenty at Fishel's Junkyard," he said and got an affirmative in response.

He got out of his car, walked up to the gate and found it locked.

"Gonna need the key if you want in, Deputy," Mr. Fishel called out as he walked toward him from his house. "I saw you pull up. Figured I'd see what's going on."

"I wanted another look at Jake's car," Deputy Mason said.

"Another look, huh?" Mr. Fishel asked. "Has the sheriff decided that he wants this investigated as maybe more than a simple accident now for some reason?"

"He's waiting for Jake's blood test to come back," he stated. "I want another look at that rear bumper on the Mustang."

Mr. Fishel pulled his keys from his pocket and unlocked the gate. Deputy Mason opened the gate then followed him inside.

"Another look huh," Mr. Fishel asked as they walked along the gravel path. "Are you believing what I told you about that dent and red paint not being there before now?"

"I just want another look while we wait for the test to come back," he answered. "After speaking with some of his classmates and teachers I'm feeling positive that it's going to come back negative so I want to get ahead of the investigation."

They walked to the garage where the remains of Jake's car were stored. Mr. Fishel switched on the overhead lights and revealed the tarp covered Mustang. Deputy Mason did the honors and pulled the tarp off. The smell of burnt metal and wiring was stirred up as the tarp was laid to the side.

"Still hard to believe those kids survived a crash like this," he said as he looked at burnt front end of the Mustang. "The flip alone would be bad enough but then smashing into the trees and catching fire. I'm amazed that Golden girl was able to pull Jake out before the fire got to him."

"Jake might have had a chance to walk away just like Jessica if they had been in her Mustang," Mr. Fishel noted. "All those safety features might have even prevented the wreck."

"Well if someone hit them they might not have had a chance to make any difference," Deputy Mason stated as he examined the bumper. "I'm thankful that the fire was contained to front end otherwise there might not have been any evidence left to collect."

He ran his fingers over a small streak of red paint then collected a sample into a evidence baggie. He pocketed it then stood back up and nodded at Mr. Fishel.

"That do it?" Mr. Fishel asked.

"That takes care of the evidence part," he said. "Now I need to head back out to the scene of the crash and make sure there isn't anything out there that this paint could have come from."

The pair started back toward the gate and spotted a pair of figures there. Mr. Fishel gave them a wave as they closed the distance.

"Shouldn't you two be at the hospital?" Mr. Fishel said as they reached the gate.

"Jessica's back home now," Mr. Golden said. "Val is with her and Sarah. I called Wes to check on Jake and he said that he was coming to see the car and I wanted to see it for myself."

"He didn't want me to come alone is what he means," Wes told them then nodded at Deputy Mason. "Vance, was this a social visit or were you here about our kids?"

"I was here to check on something and yes, it did have to do with the accident," Deputy Mason said.

"We were about to head out to scene," Mr. Fishel shared. "I suppose that you two want to tag along?"

Deputy Mason looked like he wanted to argue but he didn't. He figured that four pair of eyes were better than two.

"Can we get a look at the car first?" Mr. Golden asked.

"I can spare a few minutes," Deputy Mason said. "Then we'll all head out and see if we can find anything at the site of the crash."

****

Sarah fidgeted in front of Jessica's doorway but hadn't walked in. Jessica, who was propped up with pillows on her bed, had her attention on Staci who fussed over her.

"Staci, it's fine," Jessica assured her as Staci tried to put another pillow behind her. "Anymore pillows and I really will be uncomfortable."

"I just want you to be better, Jess," Staci said as she put the pillow away. "I'm not really sure that you should be home already."

"Honestly, I kind of don't want to be but there's not much I can do about it," she said. "I feel like I'm too far away from Jake."

"He's well taken care of and you know it," Staci said as she pulled out her phone. "My Foxy Roxie updated the group just a few minutes ago on Jake and he's doing fine. Well you know what I mean."

"I do but it's not the same as me being there you know?" Jessica asked. "At least when I was in the hospital, I felt like I was close by but now... I don't know. I feel so far away from him and I don't like it."

"I don't like that they think that someone hit you guys," Staci stated as she shifted another of Jessica's pillows.