Dan waited by himself outside of Jack’s room as Darren wandered the hospital halls looking for something to do. He passed several doors until finally reaching the cafeteria. He sat down at one of the lonely tables and took a small pad of paper and a pencil out of his pocket. He stayed there, his eyes scanning sparsely populated room for inspiration on a new song he wanted to write. In the corner by the food counters he saw a couple snuggling together, their faces as stony as his had been the day Jack fell. But there was something about their embrace that intrigued him. The man was gently stroking the woman’s abdomen as she nuzzled his neck. Their touch was very gentle, like that he and Jack shared. He thought back to the night before the competition and smiled.
Inspiration came fast. Darren couldn’t stop his hand as it quickly wrote the first few lines of the song. He got stuck for a moment, but soon thought of something else to write. In no time, his song was done. Darren put it away in his pocket and smiled as he got up to go back to Jack’s room. He expected to see Dan sitting there waiting, but he was gone.
Darren walked into Jack’s room to see her in bed, her eyes open and a wide smile on her face. Dan sat at her side holding her hand. “What’s going on?” Darren asked, walking up to them.
“Look!” Jack exclaimed. She raised her trembling hand off the bed and let it fall back down. “I can move!” she added, her smile growing even wider.
“That’s wonderful!” Darren replied, leaning over and kissing her. “You know what? I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” He ran out of the room and went straight for the elevators. He wanted to buy Jack flowers and completely forgot when he was at the cafeteria. Darren quickly reached the gift shop to find that most of the flowers had been sold. After taking a longer look around, he found the perfect bouquet of red roses and white lilies. He returned to the room minutes later.
“Finally!” Jack said when he entered.
Darren pulled the flowers out from behind his back and gave them to her. “I should have done this a while ago,” he replied.
“Aw! Daz! You shouldn’t have,” she told him.
“I’m leaving,” Dan grumbled as he walked out of the room.
“Jeez, what’s up his ass?” Jack asked when he was out of earshot.
“You don’t know?” Darren questioned, surprised.
“Darren, what do you know?”
“Uh, I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you.”
“Darren, tell me,” Jack ordered.
“Okay, he slept with Nadia.”
“He did what?” There was an almost painful look in her eyes. “I knew she’d do something like this to me. The second she found out my cousin was rich and famous; I knew she’d pull this crap. That little whore.”
“I thought she was your best friend,” Darren replied.
“She was,” Jack answered. “But I’ve never been able to trust her. Ever since I moved here from Australia she’s always been trying to screw me out of something. It never worked though. I remember this one time clearly. I had just bought a new pair of Doc Martians, and she asked me if she could borrow them. I let her. It took her three months to give them back, and even then they weren’t in such good shape. I just can’t believe she did my cousin.”
“But Jack, look at us,” Darren said.
“I slept with you because I knew we’d still be together in the morning. Darren, I have more than just a physical attraction to you. I have a feeling about you that’s stronger than what I’ve shared with others. I think I’m…” Darren put his finger to her lips.
“You talk too much,” he laughed, then leaned over to kiss her.
“You don’t say enough,” she replied with a smile.
“Well, maybe this’ll say enough.” Darren pulled out his notebook and flipped to the page that the new song was on. He held it up for Jack to read. It took her a few minutes, but when she finished, she had a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
“Daz, you have to be the best writer in the entire universe. I’ve never felt so wonderful after just reading a song. Those lyrics are just so hot and such a turn on,” Jack commented.
“I’m glad you like it because I wrote it for you,” Darren replied. “Just one night with you justified my entire existence.” He took her hand and kissed it.
Jack sniffled, trying to hold back the emotions ready to pour out of her heart. She couldn’t believe that she had finally found someone who cared so much about her, but at the same time felt so distraught that she couldn’t give back what she had been given. With a shaky breath, Jack finally let the tears roll down her face. She threw her arms around his neck and asked, “Why do you have to be so wonderful?”
Darren stayed silent as he held her. He knew the answer to that question. Three little words summed it up quite nicely. ‘I love you,’ he thought.
~~~~~~~~~~
That night around eight, Dan returned in worse shape than that morning. Dark purple rings had appeared beneath his eyes and his skin was pale white. He collapsed into a chair beside Jack’s bed and laid his head on the mattress near her hip. She gently ran her hand through his hair trying to comfort him as best as she could.
“Danny, what’s wrong?” Jack cautiously asked.
“I hate my life,” he mumbled. Dan pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to her. It was a newspaper clipping for that day’s LA Times.
As Jack read it, her eyes almost popped out of her head. She handed the article to Darren, too shocked to say anything. Once he was done, he looked at Dan in amazement.
“Oh, God! Danny, I’m so sorry,” Jack said.
“Nadia is such a bitch,” Daren added. “I can’t believe she had the audacity to go to the papers and tell them about what happened last night. It’s so wrong.”
“Call Leonie and get her on damage control,” Dan pleaded as he sat up. “I think it’s about time that we got out of here.”
“What about me?” Jack retorted.
“You’re coming with us,” Darren answered.
“I can’t just pick up and leave!” she protested. “I still have one more surgery left tomorrow. And how am I supposed to get my stuff?”
“We have everything under control,” Dan replied.
“Yeah, like shit you do! What am I supposed to do about school?”
“Transfer,” Dan interrupted.
“How am I supposed to actually get to Australia? I can’t just get up and walked out of here with a broken neck and legs that don’t even work.”
“I’ll carry you,” Darren responded.
“Okay,” Jack calmed down.
“Sucker!” Dan laughed, seeing the goofy grin that appeared on her face.
“Dumb ass!” she mocked. He gave her the finger and she gasped, “Danny! You bad boy! Don’t you know you’re only supposed to use that if someone cuts you off in traffic?” The three of them laughed at her sarcasm.
“You guys are a riot,” Darren replied.