JACK AND ROSE: PRESENT TIME
Chapter
Forty-Eight
Jack watched
closely as the flood of nurses and doctors flew passed his room. He hated
hospitals. So many bad things have happened to him in hospitals. Rose was going
to be there in a few minutes. Jack could hardley wait to see her.
Just as Jack felt
he would fall back to sleep, Rose came in. "Hey honey," she said.
"Hey
Rosey," Jack replied. Rose came over and kissed him slightly before
sitting down on a near by chair.
"You feeling
okay?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, much
better."
Rose looked at him.
"Well, they said they might let you come home today."
"Yep,"
Jack replied. "That's what they told me, too."
Rose smiled at him.
He was looking much better than he was a week ago. He had gotten his color back
and he was no longer so weak.
"Did you hear
about Dominique?" Rose asked.
Jack shook his
head.
"Well,"
Rose started. "The other day at gymnastics she hurt her ankle really bad
when she did a flip on the beam, and the doctor said that he would recommend if
she quit gymnastics."
"That's
terrible! Is she okay?"
"She's fine,
just she gets injured way too much and her ankles are just too weak. That's
what the doctor said. She was doing so great too!"
Jack nodded sadly.
"It must feel awful to give up your dream."
"Yeah, but I
cheered her up when I talked about all of the extra shopping we'll get."
Jack laughed. You
could always count on Rose to cheer you up. He smiled and just looked into her
eyes. She had never looked so beautiful.
Just then Tommy and
Fabrizio walked in. "Hey, Jack. Hey Rose."
"Hey,"
Jack said. "I might be getting out today."
"That's
great," Fabrizio said.
They all head a
beeping sound. Rose reached into her purse and pulled out her pager. Rose
looked clueless at the pager. "I've never heard of this number..."
"What number
is it?" Jack asked.
Rose started to
think. It sounded familiar. Then she realized!
"Uh-Oh..."
She mumbled. Jack looked at her straight in the eyes.
"Who is it
Rose?" he asked.
"Ummm my
mom," Rose lied. "I'm gonna go call her."
Rose pulled out her
cell phone and walked out into the hallway. Why was he calling her? She was
gonna find out.
"Hello? Is
Justin Calvert there please?" Rose said angerly. First kissing her at the
pool and now this.
"You paged
me?" she said with annoyance. They talked for a while. He wanted to make
sure she was okay - he had heard what happened. She got angry when he didn't
even ask about Jack! But, she knew he didn't mean anything by it.
When she was
finished talking to him, she went back into Jack's room.
"What did your
mother have to say?" Jack asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Umm she just
wanted to check in."
Jack just looked at
her. "Rose, I knew that wasn't your mother. Come on, who was it?"
Rose sighed. There
was no point in trying to lie to him. He could read her like a book. "It
was Justin."
"That guy we
met at the pool?" Fabrizio asked. Rose nodded and looked at Jack for a
reaction.
"He wanted to
see if we were okay," Rose said.
"That was nice
of him to call," Jack said, not a bit jealous. Rose couldn't believe him.
If Jack's ex-girlfriend was calling him she'd be terribly worried. It just goes
to show you that Jack really trusted her.
"So,"
Rose said, wanting to change the subject. "Fabrizio, what do you think
about Dominique?"
"I don't think
she can live without gymnastics," Fabrizio replied. "That's all she
ever does, well, besides shopping."
Rose just nodded
her head in agreement. She hoped Dominique would have enough strength to move
on. Gymnastics was the first thing Dominique thought about when she got up, and
the first thing she thought about before she fell asleep. It was going to be
hard.
"I bet you'll
help her through this, Fabri," Rose said.
Fabrizio just shrugged
his shoulders. "I sure wanna try."
Just then they
heard a knock on the door. "Come in," Jack said. It was Mr. Andrews.
"Hello
Jack," he said in a friendly tone.
"Mr. Andrews,
hi," Jack said, sitting up a bit more. Mr. Andrews was his History teacher,
as well as Rose's.
"Hello
Rose," he said. "Taking care of Jack I see."
Rose smiled and
nodded.
"I wanted to
come by to make sure you're doing okay," he said. "When are you
coming back to school?"
"Probably on
Monday," Jack said. Mr. Andrews nodded. Jack and Rose both really liked
him as a teacher. He really cared about his students. He was the only teacher
who came by to see Jack.
"Thanks for
stopping by, Mr. Andrews," Jack said. "It's really nice of you."
"My pleasure
Jack," he said. "I'm late for a meeting, but I just wanted to see how
you were doing." Then, he handed Jack a get well soon card. "I'll see
you Monday."
After he left, Rose
said, "That was nice of him."
"Yeah, I
really like him," Jack said.
"Do you really
think you'll be at school on Monday?" Fabrizio asked.
"Yeah,"
Jack said. "I mean we only have 10 days left of tenth grade. I can get
through it." Jack looked over at Rose. "Especially if I have Rose by
my side."
"I just can't
wait until summer!" Rose exclaimed.
"I know, it
will be our first summer together," Jack said as he gave her a kiss.
"Rose,"
Fabrizio said. "Let me warn you, Jack gets wild in the summer!"
"I don
not," Jack said.
Fabrizio nodded.
"Yes, you do. Last summer,on a dare, he ran down 12th street naked."
Rose started
laughing. "I can just imagine."
"Oh
yeah," Fabrizio said. "I almost forgot, this summer my dad's gonna
let my borrow the boat for a week. I was thinking the whole gang should
come."
"That would be
awesome Fabri!" Rose said. "Do you know how to operate it?"
"Yep. I have a
boating license and everything."
"The boat is
awesome," Jack said. "You'll love it."