More than just a pretty face

4. Back Home

Christina's POV

It’s Thursday and I just have one more class before I can go to the hospital. Today is the day my aunt Carmen is being discharged, and she can finally go back home. In the beginning I was completely against the idea of her living alone and offers to move in, but everyone was against the idea. Carmen is determined to do this alone and after constant begging and pushing she finally agreed to at least hire help to get her through the days. I wasn't happy about it, but it's at least something. 

I watch the clock as the seconds tick away. Mr Paxton is going on and on about the anatomy of a goldfish for some reason, so I tune him out. I was so exciting about my aunt going home today that I couldn't sleep last night. I ended up reading ahead on my school work and already finished the chapter they were discussing in class, so I’m not too worried about falling behind. 

My mind drifts off to Jordan, since school started again, things have been off between us. I blame myself for being closed off to him, but after a long talk with my mom last night I decided to tell him everything. We have a date tomorrow night and I decided to lay it out on the table. My Aunt's accident has been affecting me much more than I ever expected, and I want to let him in. Hopefully he can forgive me for shutting him out, and we could move forward. 

As the bell rings I find myself genuinely smiling for the first time all day. With a spring in my step I begin walking to my locker to retrieve my books. 

From behind Jordan places his hands on my hips making me jump in surprise. His smile is genuine as he leans in and kisses my lips. Well not kisses, he tried to almost eat my face. It's been so weird this last week, emotionally he has been more distant, but he still has been much more touchy than before. 

Not that I completely mind, we’ve been together several months but so far I’ve stopped things whenever they would get too heated. We agreed to take things slow, but now it seems like Jordan might have other ideas. "Ready to go home babe?" He whispers after he breaks the kiss. I open my eyes wide and tilt my head up to look him in the eye while his grasp on my waist tightens. "Oh Jordan, did you forget? My mom is picking me up today, I told you this morn-" "Yeah I forgot, okay I'll just have to get my fill of you now before you go." He leans in kissing me again, and I wrap my arms around his neck. At 6 foot 3 he's super tall, and I need to stand on my tiptoe to reach him properly.

I’ve always liked how tall he is, that, and his dark curly hair. When I finally break the kiss he let's go of my waist and I stand back on my own. He doesn't seem to happy with it, and he was reluctant to let me go, but he had no choice. Holding my hand he begins walking to the exit. "So what are you doing with your mom?" I look at him wondering if I should just tell him now but then decided to wait till tomorrow. "We can talk about it tomorrow, it’s important, and it will change things between us for the better." A big grin appears on his face "Yes, our date tomorrow, I'm so excited." I can tell that he is by how his eyes glimmer. This makes me so happy, he probably missed me as much as I missed him. My nerves about the talk I need to have with him settles a bit. It brings relief to know that he also wants to fix things between us.

By the time they have all the paperwork filled out and everything is arranged for her to leave, it's almost five. The drive from the hospital wasn't filled with joy and laughter like I had hoped. Carmen is one of my favorite people in the world. But ever since the accident she's been so different. She's been quiet, and closed off. A hint of a smile can be seen here and there, but a lot needs to happen before she is her old self again. 

After pulling into her driveway we take our time helping her into the house. One other reason that I accepted her living alone, is by the fact that she lives only a fifteen-minute walk from us. This way I can easily spend all my free time here. 

I help her get settled and do a bit of tidying up. As it begins getting later my mom decided to take Timmy home to start dinner. I decided to stay behind for a bit longer. The nursing service she hired won’t be starting till morning and I know my aunt is going to need a bit more help today, I just don’t want her to be alone yet. I make us some tea and sit across from her in silence. She still hasn’t said much, and I had hope that it would change once my mom left, but I have no such luck. "Do you want to talk?" I ask carefully. She shakes her head, already fighting back tears, before focusing her gaze on her cup.

The once strong vibrant woman who is one of my biggest role model, is nowhere to be found. All that is left is this broken shell of a person. I look away and fight back my own tears, I need to be strong for her now. 

We spend the rest of the evening in silence. Eventually I helped her take a bath and then tucked her into bed. I can see the hatred of being so helpless play across her face but right now she just needs to swallow her pride. 

I silently wait for her to fall asleep, and plan on sneaking out soon. But unfortunately my own exhaustion catches up to me, and before I know it, I doze off myself.

"NOOO!" I jumped up when I see the sun shine through the window. "I'm late for school!" I sprinted home full speed knowing that I was already late.