A TWIST OF FATE
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Susie woke feeling very stiff and
uncomfortable. She opened her eyes and was startled for a moment not knowing
where she was. Bright sunlight shone into the room giving it a golden glow.
There was a noise from the corner of the room. Then she remembered the events
of the night before. She was in Jack's apartment. She got off the sofa and
stretched, looking over to the bed where Jack was still sleeping. The noise was
coming from him.
She walked over to him and knelt beside the bed. He was moaning and muttering
in his sleep. In the morning light she could see his bruises were darkening and
the swelling on his face quite bad. It made her feel ill to see it. In the cold
light of day, she was surprised at how practical she had been the night before.
She listened to him murmuring and she could about make something out. It
sounded like 'Rose'.
Susie remembered the look on Jack's face that he sometimes had, far away in
thought. She had suspected he had another lady friend. Maybe she was the Rose
he was talking to.
The cupboards were virtually bare of food. Susie decided she had to go and get
some groceries and something for Jack's cuts and bruises. Fortunately she had
some money in her purse. She checked Jack again before picking up the key and
slipping out of the apartment.
It never occurred to her how strange she looked in her crumpled clothes. A few
people gave her odd looks, but they went unnoticed. She went about her tasks as
quickly as possible and hurried back to the apartment.
Jack was still asleep. She was tempted to leave him longer, but she wanted to
speak to him, to make sure he was still conscious.
"Jack" she whispered. "Jack, wake up"
"Rose," he muttered. "Rose. God I ache. Where am I?"
"Jack, it's Susie from the bar. You're at home. You got jumped last night.
Do you remember?"
Susie?" he turned to look at her through his right eye. His left one was
closed up.
"Do you remember Jack?"
"Yeah, I remember. Jeez, I hurt all over."
"You got a good hiding, no mistake. You don't look very pretty this morning."
"I don't feel very pretty this morning. Thanks for coming back to check on
me."
"I haven't been anywhere yet, only to the shops. I slept on the sofa. I
hope you don't mind, I didn't want to go home alone"
Jack squeezed her hand.
Susie smiled
.
"Are you hungry, I got some eggs, bread and bacon?"
"Just a little, I'm still feeling a little sick."
"Well, you stay here and I'll fix up some food." Susie pulled up his
pillows so he was more comfortable.
Jack lay on the bed. He fought through the fog in his head, to try and piece
together all the things he could remember. He could remember leaving the bar
and walking down the road. He could remember a blow to his head, then being on
the floor. He could remember a voice, a glimpse of a smart suit, then Susie
being with him. There were snatches of a walk back to the apartment, not much
else. He checked over himself, trying to guess the extent of his injuries. He
made a good guess that he had a black eye and some swelling to his face. His
breathing hurt and his chest hurt which probably meant his ribs. His arms
ached, but he could move them and more importantly, his fingers were OK. There
was movement in his legs, so nothing damaged there. He'd been in fights before,
but nothing this bad.
The bathroom was shared and down the hall. Jack knew he had to get up and
started slowly. Susie came to see if he was OK. She offered to help but Jack
refused.
"I gotta be able to this on my own."
Using the bed, cupboard and wall, he slowly made his way. Next time, I gotta go
before I want to go he muttered to himself through gritted teeth.
There was a mirror in the bathroom. Jack looked into it, slightly shocked at
what he saw. There was blood still in his hair and his face was certainly
bruised. He decided to have a hot bath later.
As he made his way back up the hallway, his neighbor was coming down. She was a
short, plump woman, gray hair pulled up into a bun.
"My God Jack! What on earth have you been doing?"
"Hello Mrs. O'Sullivan. I got jumped."
"Jumped? Well lad, you look like you've been bare knuckle fighting."
Jack tried to laugh.
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah, a little sore. It only happened last night."
"Well, you take care lad. I'll pop in later, see how you are."
"Thanks Mrs. O'Sullivan." Jack inched his way back to the apartment.
Susie had breakfast all ready.
"Back in bed Jack, you can eat this there."
"You're an angel, Suze. Boy this looks good."
"Well, eat it up then. Lord knows when you ate last if these cupboards are
anything to go by."
Jack settled back into bed, got as comfortable as he could and started to eat.
Susie watched him.
"Right, when you're finished, I got something to clean you up properly and
ointment for the cuts."
Jack tried to grin.
"Sounds like I'm gonna get hurt again."
He looked at Susie. "I am really grateful, I owe you one."