Ali and Nick head off and Brian stares at me.
“Wow. That’s a change.”
“Yeah,” I move closer to him cautiously. “I told Ali.”
“You did?” The smile leaves his face. “But I asked you not to.”
“I know. But she’s my best friend and she was…”
“And I’m your boyfriend,” he cuts me off. “Or is that not as important to you? I asked you not to tell her! I really feel like I’m always just second-best to you Jade!”
He bounces the basketball hard on the ground in front of me and walks away angrily. I catch the ball’s rebound in my face and fall to the ground with a whimper. My nose and lip explodes in pain and I gingerly touch my face. There’s blood on my hand and I start to cry. I don’t know what I’m crying for most – the pain or Brian. As Brian reaches the door of the hotel, he looks back at me. He takes in my appearance and shock registers on his face. He runs back to me and kneels in front of me, pulling my hand away from my face.
“Fuck, what happened?”
“Der ball hid by dose,” I say.
“Oh God Jade, I’m sorry,” he stands up, pulling me with him and wrapping an arm firmly around my waist as I stumble slightly. We slowly walk into the hotel where we get some weird looks.
“Dey thig you hid by dose,” I say. Brian nods grimly and walks us up to the reception desk.
“My girlfriend got hit by a basketball. Do you have a doctor here or something?”
“Uh, no sir,” the clerk looks at me and winces at the blood. “But there’s a hospital a couple of blocks over. It’s called Mercy, so just grab a car out front.”
“Ok,” Brian walks us out to a car and ten minutes later we’re in the emergency room at Mercy. “Jeez, I hate hospitals,” he says.
Before I can tell him he doesn’t have to hang around we get called through to a cubicle where a nurse hands me a gown.
“Put that on.”
“It’s by dose that hurd nob by boby,” I refuse.
Brian sighs. “Jade, just do what they tell you.” I shake my head and then wince. I am getting a hell of a headache. “Ok, fine. Sit down before you fall over,” he orders as the nurse heads out to get the doctor.
I sit on the bed and close my eyes. I feel like shit. My nose is throbbing, my lip hurts like hell, I have the mother of all headaches coming on, and my boyfriend is pissed.
“Ok, hello. I’m Dr Humarra, and you are….?”
I open my eyes to look at the doctor. “Gage Geene.”
“Jade Greene,” Brian translates.
“What happened to you then Jade?”
“Gog hid by ball in der dose.”
“A basketball whacked her in the face,” says Brian. “Her nose and lip were bleeding earlier.”
“Ok, Jade. Lie back and lemme have a look,” the doctor gently pushes me down and feels my face and nose. I wince and squirm under his touch. Why do doctors have to be so damn hard with all their proddings? “Ok, no broken bones that I can feel. Did she get knocked out?”
“No, don’t think so.”
“Ok. How do you feel Jade?”
I stare up at him. That has to rank as one of the most dumbest things I’ve ever been asked. “I feeg lig shig. By heb hurtd, by dose hurtd, by lipd hurtd ab I wanna go hobe.”
“She doesn’t feel too great,” Brian translates.
“Ok, well Jade I’ll give you a couple of painkillers and some more for tomorrow morning. And you can go home and rest,” he smiles at me like I’m a child and turns to Brian. “She should be fine but if she starts to feel sick, gets dizzy or passes out, bring her straight back.”
“Ok, thanks.”
“No problem.” He fills in a prescription for the nurse to go fill and smiles at me. “Now you stay here Jade, and I’ll go get you a shot,” he heads off and I sit up fast.
“Shob?!”
“For the pain,” Brian explains.
“Dob feeg bad,” I try to climb off the bed but I feel dizzy and sit back down again quickly.
Brian folds his arms. “Yeah, you LOOK just fine.”
“Dob be mab,” I groan.
He looks at me for a while and then softens and sits next to me, reaching for my hand. “I guess you’ve suffered enough. Sorry for throwing that ball.”
“You dibn’d beab it,” I say.
“No but I shoulda thrown it the other way.”
“Theb you wouldn’d be dere wib be.”
“That nose is makin’ you sound real sexy,” he teases.
“Shub ud.”
“Ok, Jade. Just hop on your stomach for me,” the doctor returns brandishing a needle.
I think about making a run for it but I figure I’d probably end up passing out halfway so I obey the doctor and get my shot. It’s a pain in the ass. Literally. A few minutes later, all the paperwork is signed and Brian is clutching a tub of painkillers in one hand, and holding me up with the other. It only took about as long as it took me to stand up for the shot to work. I now feel decidedly drunk and giggly.
I sit in a chair, flipping through yet another magazine, waiting for Paul to meet me in the lobby. It’s closer to 4pm now, and I really don’t know why I’m still waiting. Nearby, I hear the elevator ding and I turn to look. Nick steps out of it and surveys the room until he spots me. I quickly hold the magazine in front of my face, pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in an article about breast implants.
“Ali,” Nick says, sitting down in the seat next to me. “What are you doing?”
Like any other girl, I am not ABOUT to tell my ex-boyfriend I just got stood up. “Reading a magazine, duh.”
He snatches it from me and scans the title. He looks up from it, and looks at my chest. He averts his eyes from my breasts to my face and raises his eyebrows.
“Why would you want those things? You look GOOD to me,” he says seriously, causing me to blush.
“Nick, I’m-”
“I mean come on. Your body is perfect, Ali. Besides, they’re way too expensive, and no guy wants to feel up silicone,” he says, scrunching up his nose, and making me want to lean over and kiss him right then and there.
“Thank god you talked me out of that, Nick, you just saved my life,” I reply sarcastically.
He smiles. “Anyway, you look like you are waiting for somebody, are you?”
I look up at the front door and see Paul come through.
“Paul!” I yell, standing up quickly.
Nick stands up just as quick, and slides an arm around me. Paul’s eyes widen and he runs out the door.
“What was that about?!” I yell, turning to Nick.
“What are you talking about? I was just standing up,” he says, innocently, but his guilty look gives him away.
“You tried to scare him away so he wouldn’t go out with me!”
“I… uh, well I…” he stutters, and I put my hands on my hips.
“You are trying to keep me ‘on reserve’ right? It’s like you won’t let me go out with any guy because I’m yours, but only when you FEEL like wanting me!”
“Alicia, that’s not how it is!” By now we’re getting lots of funny stares. Nick glares at everybody staring, and pulls me into the elevator. “Ali, I was jealous. You’re right, I don’t want any other guy to have you. It’s not fair that you can just get over me like that, when I need you as much as the air I breathe, Ali.”
“That’s not true! I’m nowhere near over you, and I don’t understand that if you aren’t either why we can’t be together! I’m not going to stand here and take being your rebound girl, and I’m not going to let you scare away all the guys I try to go out with. If you can’t take me right here right now-”
The elevator dings, and without finishing my sentence I storm off to my room.
“AJ!” I wobble towards him and collapse in his arms. He holds me up and looks past me at Brian.
“Ok, who beat her up and where do I go to get what she’s on?”
Brian catches me up with a short laugh. “B-ball and Mercy hospital.”
“A BASKETBALL did that?!” AJ gently touches my swollen lip and I nod.
“Oh yeah. Big BAD b-ball,” I start giggling. “BAD bad ball.”
“C’mon Jade. You need to rest,” Brian tries to prise me away from AJ but I cling on stubbornly.
“C’mon, I’ll take ya up,” AJ offers.
“You’re my friend AJ,” I look into his eyes. “Aren’t you?”
“Sure I am,” he says without conviction.
“AJ…” I hold onto him tighter.
“Jade,” he sighs and kisses the tip of my nose. “Of course I’m your friend.” This time I believe him and let go, almost falling into Brian’s arms. “Take care of her bro,” AJ says before walking away.
“What was that all about?” asks Brian as he walks us into an elevator.
“Friends,” I say happily. “Hey B, you ever wondered why oranges are called oranges but bananas don’t get called yellows?”
“ALL the time,” he grins.
“And pears don’t get called greens. And have you ever seen a sore thumb stick out? Like gone, whoa that baby sure looks sore and…and…sticky?”