Payback

“Jett? There’s something I need to tell you,” she whispers, trying to fight against the pain meds in her system.

“You can tell me anything,” I tell her and I mean it.

“I love Ella more than anything.”

“She’s beautiful, Cami.”

“She is. Just like you,” she says just as sleep claims her once again. I lay next to her, pondering her words for a moment. Why would Cami be worried about telling me about her?

I just watch her as she sleeps, memorizing every curve of her face. Thick, dark lashes frame beautiful dark, brown eyes against the light pallor of her skin. Even with the gash running down her face and deep purple bruising, she is beautiful. Closing my eyes, I sync my breathing with hers and drift off to sleep, never wanting to leave this peaceful moment again.

Soft whispers wake me and I see Dr. Bennett and Beth in the doorway. “Jett,” Beth says, motioning me to come to them. I carefully move my arm, making sure not to disturb Cami, and kiss her forehead.

“What's up?” I ask, closing the door behind me.

“She is doing well, and we are probably going to release her tomorrow,” Beth says.

“That's great news,” I reply, “I'm sure some fresh air will do her good.”

“Here's the catch, she's been in that bed a week, so I need your help to get her up and moving around. When she’s home, she needs to regularly walk around, just a few minutes at a time is all and then we’ll get it her started on physical therapy too,,” Dr. Bennett says.

“I can do that, I’ll do anything you need, doc.” He nods and pats my shoulder.

I smile back and shake his hand before opening the door.

Cami is still sleeping, so I sit on the stool beside the bed and just hold her hand. After a few minutes, I feel her squeezing my hand. “Hi,” she says with a yawn.

“I have some good news for you. As it stands now, you will be discharged tomorrow.” The look on her face goes through a variety of emotions, from joy to dread.

“Better yet, I’m off tomorrow, so it looks like you'll be stuck with me,” I say, waiting for her to speak.

“Thank you,” she says after a moments pause, “I have the worst luck. If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any.” Standing up, I lean over to hug her. She wraps her arms tightly around me as she kisses my cheek.

“Now you know what you just said, that's not true. You got me and I'm not from bad luck,” I whisper. She smiles at me and hugs me again.

“Here's the deal, you want to break out of here, right?”

“Yeah,” she says with a sigh.

“Well… we've got to get you up and moving around.” In that moment a fire unlike anything I've ever seen fills her eyes. She reaches out for me to pull her up. A painful grimace crosses her face as she stands up. After a few deep steady breaths, she begins taking steps. Her balance is wobbly, but she doesn't let that interfere. She walks confidently towards the door, me by her side in case she stumbles.

With each step, she becomes sturdier. “You know what I want?” she asks.

“I have no idea,” I reply.

“I want to take a shower. You think you could get that Ok'd for me?” she asks, batting her eyelashes.

“Yeah, I think I can do that for you.” She walks back to the bed and sits while I run out to the nurse’s station. After finding Beth, I go back in the room, only to find her undressing. “Oh. I'm sorry,” I say, turning around to face the door.

“It's ok, no need for modesty at this point,” she says with a shiver. “Could you do something for me?” she adds.

“Sure, what do you need?” I ask.

“Could you get me some clothes? I want to feel somewhat normal and these gowns just don't do it.” She pulls on the bulky hospital gown.

“Sure will. Beth will be here momentarily and I'll be back soon. We’re gonna get you home soon, ok?”

I leave her in Beth’s capable hands and head back to my small cottage on the east side of the city. Wilson is sitting on my front porch, drinking a beer.