Under My Skin (on hold)

Chapter 14- Home

"Hey, babe, I'm in the hospital," said Jeremiah after he exchanged hellos with his fiancée. Bethany was very alarmed at first, because she had not expected this to come from Jeremiah's mouth. Everything had been so normal, as he had called her after every show.

Bethany put down the plate she was washing and walked to the couch so she could sit down. She had no idea how bad it would be, and she was running worst-case scenarios through her head as she was walking.

"Jeremiah, what happened?" She asked, trying to stay calm.

"Well, after the show, we were driving back to the hotel and there was this girl in the road ahead of us so Ben slammed on the brakes and I hit my head against the window because I was falling asleep against it-"

"I've heard enough, what hospital are you at? I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Hehe, well, about that," Jeremiah began nervously.

"What Jer? Spit it out!"

"I'm at the hospital we pass by every time we go to the studio."

"YOU'RE HOME?! YOU STILL HAVE TOUR DATES LEFT!"

"Well yeah. Our gig tonight was a little over an hour away and with our condition, Ben was told to drive like they do in the movies, we made it here, because our next gig is here, and yeah. I'm here."

"Wait, OUR?! Who else is hurt?!" Bethany interrogated, not even caring about the fact that the band could be playing at The Atomic Bomb without her knowledge, or Jeremiah trying to play with an injury.

"That chick in the road we found. She's not bleeding out or anything she just looks like she's a bit shaken up."

"Jeremiah, how badly did you hit your head?" Bethany asked, severely concerned. She didn't want anything bad to happen to Jeremy, who had always been there for her,
No matter what.

"They say I have a borderline severe concussion, but I feel fine, I swear."

"JEREMIAH," She yelled, not mad at his injury or at him, but because this was all happening so fast and her emotions were battling each other to take over.

She put the puppies in the car and jumped in next, hanging up the phone so she could drive. She drove frantically, the lights of the city appearing in a blur. The thought that passed through her mind was that of the visiting hours. Every hospital was strict about it, and she was planning on how to get in.

She thought of playing the weeping woman and any number of different characters, then she remembered she had a packet of ketchup in the glovebox. She opened the packet as she was parked in the hospital lot, drew a line of it on her forehead, and realized she had some scrapes and bruises from setting up equipment for one of the bands that played at the club two nights ago.

Doubting the credibility of her own disguise, she got out of the car but left a window ajar for the puppies. She pet them before walking into the hospital. Almost immediately, she was asked if she was alright by a concerned nurse.

"I was at home and I accidentally walked into the open freezer door because I didn't have my contacts in."

"Not a problem, you'll just have to fill out these forms." She said, handing Bethany a clipboard and a square of gauze for her apparently bleeding forehead.

When she handed them back, the nurse asked if there was anyone she could call for Bethany, and she responded with her fiancé's name, and the nurse recognized it immediately.

"Jeremiah Evans was just admitted into the hospital, after you get cleaned up I can take you to him, I see you are engaged."

Jumping for joy inside because her plan worked, she responded calmly to the nurse. She was escorted to a small examination room where another nurse would be in soon to clean her wound, where Bethany actually walked into an open cabinet door, giving her a bleeding gash, so she wiped off the ketchup from her face.