Body Guard

"My dad usually deals with the brunt of it. Part of his job. No matter if it's a security incident or just someone getting injured on grounds. Lots of paperwork to deal with and such." I raised an eyebrow at her reaction to mentioning Ben. I didn't expect it.

Julie:
I nodded. "Yeah, my dad is really lucky to him," I agreed. Just like I had been really lucky.

I knew I should probably call Ben, but I just didn't want to. I didn't blame him for what happened, but I couldn't deny that it changed things for me. I had missed a few calls from him over the last few days but I had no desire to answer them.

"I should probably try to contact Duncan though. He kinda took over when...when you got hurt." I told him. "I don't think anyone else would have let me sit in the waiting room for that long either," I said. "I was a mess and he took care of it. I should probably send him a fruit basket." I joked.

"I'm going to stop you right there. Fruitbaskets are lame thank you gifts. I can promise you that while we might say thank you and smile and ooo and aaah all over the gift. We are unimpressed. Even if you put in the really nice high quality fruit. That's not us." I took a breath after my little rant. "Sorry. I got a little into that. Um. I dunno get him something like good alcohol."

Julie:
I laughed. "Just because you dont like fruit, doesn't mean nobody likes fruit," I told him. But I thought someone like Duncan might actually prefer a bottle of something. I would think about it.

((Do you wanna keep playing out hospital stuff or should we skip to him getting out or somehow finding out about the contract?))

((You read my mind. Was just thinking about skipping ahead. Um...I’d say skip to closer to him getting out. Like within a few days or something. I also imagine it hasn’t been brought up quite yet as he doesn’t want this nice thing to end (which he is only aware of it stopping after he gets out). And she hasn’t said anything out of nervousness for how he’ll take it.))

“I like fruit plenty. But what person can go through a whole basket of fruit in a reasonable time? Especially someone like me who doesn’t have a fridge. I always ended up either throwing it out or giving it to a potluck.” As one of the few employees to work and sleep on the grounds my meals all came from the kitchens so my room didn’t come with a kitchen or fridge. If I wanted something special I had to buy it or convince one of the cooks to make it or to let me cook it.

((Okay, so I'll skip to a few days before he gets out. As of now, Julie has been visiting everyday, no one has mentioned the contract, and they are both as annoying about their feelings as ever))

Julie:
I took the now very familiar route up to Codys room, smiling at a few of the nurses I recognized and glancing back every once in a while to make sure Greg was behind me.

The last few days had been fine and the next few would be even better. Cody should be able to come home soon...I just hadn't worked up the courage to tell him where home was. I would get to it. Eventually.

I had a brown paper bag in my hand, some fresh cookies from the kitchen that I had gotten permission to bring Cody, as long as he only had a few and didn't overdo it.

I knocked just like I did everyday and stepped inside the room, quickly moving to open the curtains to let some light in. "How are we feeling today?" I asked, again, just like I always did. It had been two weeks of this. There was a routine.

“Painful.” I grimaces at the light and turned my head away. “Started my physical therapy today. It hurt. And they won’t give me any morphine again. I’m down to standard painkillers.”

It had been a long couple of days. More draining than I expected. If it wasn’t for her company I would have gone insane. And yet at the same time it made everything feel the slightest bit awkward. Something played just below the surface of us both but neither of us broached it.

I was sitting up staring forlornly into a bowl of oatmeal with accompanying banana and juice. They flavored it well but I was so tired of this kind of fare that I struggled to bring myself to even attempt a single bite.

Julie:
"Well if it hurts, that must mean its working," I said, taking my usual seat and putting the bag down on the table. It was a flawed logic, but I was sticking with it.

It was hard to see him in pain, even harder that I could do nothing about it. I reached into the bag and pulled out a cookie and held it up. "You can have this if you actually eat the oatmeal too," I told him, seeing the way he was looking at his food. Throughout the weeks, the food had gone from bad to worse. At least when he was on liquids, he was getting hot soup. Now...it was mush upon mush.

“I mean getting shot hurt too. But that didn’t exactly work for me.”  The sarcasm dripped from my tone only to be followed with a tired sigh. “I’m sorry. That was mean. I just don’t like the pain or feeling so helpless.”  Rubbing my face I looked at her fully.

“One cookie for my oatmeal...hell I’d do it for a bite.”  It was a strong  motivator that cookie and it managed to make the gruel look apatizing. I took a few bites before pointing my spoon at her. “Don’t forget to get your stuff done too Jules. You can’t burn all your time here with me. Go take some classes, work on a job, so on.”

Julie:
I frowned at his mean and bitter response and I knew it must hurt bad. He would have never lashed out if it didn't I softened my expression at his apology and set the cookie down on his tray so he could have it after he finished the rest of his food.

"I'm sorry that you're in pain. I hate it too." I told him. "And lets be honest here, if everything was fine and we were at the manor, all I'd be doing is online shopping or watching movies anyway. I'm not missing anything sitting with you." I told him.

My days were spent here. My nights were spent pouring over his contract with a fine tooth comb. I hadn't slept a full night since he was shot and the few times I managed to drift off for a few hours, I was always in the guest room.

I had put a few more touches on the room, starting by having all his things from the security dorms brought over. He couldn't stay there after he got out of the hospital. For one, my wing had an elevator for his wheelchair, and for another, he wasn't technically on as security anymore.

I had added a TV to his room and some wall paintings so spruce it up a little bit. He didn't HAVE to stay here if he didnt want to. I would find him somewhere else on the manor, but I figured I'd give him this option first. If he even speaking to me after he found out.

She was too kind, she was often much too kind to me. My little outburst would have given her every right to lash back. And yet she didn't. She stated she'd rather be here than at home, and yet I could see the bags growing under her eyes. At first it had been like a pet project, seeing if they'd disappear one morning. But now? Now I worried for her.

With her borrowed laptop I'd done some digging and found myself a few leads on work once I was out. Even managed to scrounge up a place to live with a man who used to work security with my Father and I before hitting it big in the lottery.

It was a temporary thing all around. I wasn't looking forward to any part of this. I owned nothing, had nothing going for me, and the future was uncertain and hazy. A few times I'd even just wished that the bullet had just been a little bit higher. Ripped a few more things. Enough that I wouldn't have survi-

I shook my head to clear those dark thoughts. I focused instead on my meal, going through it quickly until I could lean back and savor little nibbles of the cookie.

Julie:
Watching him savor the cookie at first put a smile on my face and then made me sad. A cookie was one of the better things he had going for him right now.

I kicked off my shoes and pulled my legs up onto the chair to get comfortable. After sitting on a hard seat for days, Codys nurse had found me a plushy lounge chair. I was more than thankful. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes as he finished eating, not wanting to disturb him with conversation.

I felt like telling him about the contract was on the tip of my tongue. Hey, i'm hoping you'll stay with me after you get out of the hospital because im trying to correct the mistakes my father made in your contract for years and years. And i'm only telling you about it now because I'm scared you'll be mad that I basically did all this without talking to you about it. And I'm scared you'll say no. That after you get out of here, you wont want to see me anymore.

Yeah, sounded like a great idea.

"I'm not going to complain if you decide to take a nap you know. Pretend all you want, someone has been having late nights." I sipped from my plastic cup of water before going back for more cookie. I glanced at her then stuffed the last remaining bit in my mouth.

Leaning towards the bedside table I picked up the little handheld console she'd brought for me. "I can entertain myself while you nap. This Pokemon thing is kind of fun." Setting it down beside me I hit the call button for the nurse to come pick up my tray of food then settled down admits the covers.

Julie:
I opened my eyes when he commented on my sleep schedule. "I havent..." i lied. I suppose it wouldnt have been difficult for him to notice my tired eyes and sliggish behavior. Couples with the fact that he could usually see right through me, I shouldn't have been as surpised as I was.

When the nurse came in to grab his tray, and he busied himself with his game, I decided that closing my eyes for a few moments wouldn't be the end of world. It was actually embarrassingly easy to fall asleep.

I had spent nights pouring over the contract and that had been my excuse for not sleeping, but even when I tried to sleep, I couldnt. Everytime I closed my eyes, I heard gunshots, saw blood...

But now, here, with the sound of him clicking buttons and his heart monitor, I fell asleep.

Loading up my save I started back on my adventures. I started to lean towards her to show off my Pokemon when I noticed she’d fallen asleep. Smiling softly I watched her for a few minutes. Shaking my head I focused on my games for another handful of minutes.

My gaze was drawn back to her sleeping form and I grunted as I pushed myself into a fully upright position. My back screamed at me but I persisted through the pain to grab the folded up blanket at the foot of my bed. Panting from just this simple effort I unfurled it and then tossed it over Jules. I nearly covered her face but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

Flopping backwards I took several deep breaths willing the pain to leave and for the heart monitor to calm down from all the beeping. I hated this weakness, I couldn’t even do something small for Jules without pain. With a sigh I picked up the console and went back to my game.

Julie:
I slept dreamlessly, which was great for my exhausted body, but when I woke up, I had no concept of how long I had been asleep. I blinked around the room and everything pretty much looked the same as when I fell asleep.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked, my voice sounding raspy as I looked at Cody, who was still playing the hang held game thing. I sat up and felt a blanket fall to my waist. I looked at it, confused for a moment because I know I hadn't had one when I fell asleep. "Your nurse came back?" I assumed. "What did she say?" I asked.

“Good morning. I had your guard grab you lunch. Well he ordered it but still. Eat, drink, you missed lunch.” It wasn’t really an answer to all her questions but I set aside my game pad to look at her.

The nurse and doctor had pulled me out for some tests already but I had a scan in an hour. So far they were giving me the okay to leave in a day or two. The scan would give them the last they needed. “You look better after that nap.”

Julie:
I smiled at him and rolled my eyes. "I look less tired. Probably not much better though." I touched my hair self consciously, knowing it probably looked like a mess.

I saw a bag of food on the table and grabbed it to look inside. It was a sandwich and a bag of chips. I set it down to save until I was hungry.

I did grab the water bottle and take a sip to get the dryness out of my throat.

"Hows your game?" I asked, nodding at the portable device.

"You look more alert, like you are actually here more than just physically." Noting her touching her hair I motioned towards the bathroom, "You can do up your hair you know. If you worry about it."

Her not eating had me frowning for a moment, but I brushed it aside. Maybe she was going for a diet, but I did wish she would eat. Still at least she was trying to stay hydrated, and watching her made me reach for my own water. I no longer was on an IV and had to take care of it myself now.

Taking up the console, I glanced at where I'd been then smiled at her. "Well, you just lost to me in a battle. I named the rival after you."

Julie:
I rolled my eyes and took another sip of my water. "Are you sure you didn't fall asleep with me?" I asked. "Cause it sounds like you're dreaming," I joked with a smirk as I got up.

I decided to take him up on the use of the bathroom and washed my face in the sink. I pulled my hair up and away from my face. It looked a little better without all the frizz going every which way. I felt a little more put together when I stepped out of the bathroom again.

“I’m stuck in this bed, believe me if I was dreaming I wouldn’t be here. Maybe I’d be on a beach...”. I trailed off as I gazed into the distance letting myself go off into the daydream while she took care of herself in the bathroom.

It had been years since I’d seen Jules in a swimsuit. The last time had been for a party for a friend back when she was still a preteen. And yet she was there, along with her friends, and I couldn’t help the smile on my face at the imaginary view. It was only when I heard the heart monitor change it’s rhyhm that I banished the thought. Last thing I needed was it betraying me again.

Julie:
I stepped out of the bathroom feeling a little better and I retook my seat next to his bed. He had the smallest hint of a smile on his face. "You look a little flushed. Are you feeling okay?" I asked, reaching over to feel his forehead for a sign of a fever.

I blinked then laughed, brushing her hand away. “I’m fine. Just dreaming.” Catching her hand before it got very far I gave it a squeeze. Releasing it after a moment I tried to ponder what had made me do such a gesture but nothing came to mind.

“So, what are your plans going to be. While we can finally talk without work being in the way. What is it you want to do in the future?” The question tumbled out unbidden as I searched her face.

Julie:
I let my hand fall to his blanket when he let it go and I paused for a moment before pulling it back and letting it rest in my lap.

"I dont have a lot of plans these days," I finally answered. Between my crippling anxiety that stopped me from going anywhere that wasn't the hospital, the insomnia that kept me awake all night, and the contract that I was in the finishing stages of writing, there was no room for me to plan for a future.

“And before these days? Come on. You had to want to do something. Once upon a time you wanted to be a princess. That ship has sailed perhaps with Ben going home, but I mean you were also what seven?” Again I saw that shadow on her face. Words that seemed to want to come out but never left the surface into the air.

Since she wasn’t going to be so forthcoming I figured I’d get things started. “You know I’ve never been to college? Hell I don’t even have a high school diploma. Back for that little bit of time you were going to college it seemed fun but god almighty does it also scare me a little.” Laughter bubbles out of me, wry but amused. “It’s funny. I think I’d rather stare down another gun than give a speech in class.”