Chapter 15
I made it. After a temporary breakdown in the backroom, I sucked it all up and marched back out to do my job. I needed the tips now more than ever and because of it, I touched up my makeup and made sure my breasts looked good.
I'm sitting on a bench in front of my locker at the end of the night. I'm left unashamed of the flirting with older men I've committed during my bartending. Now that I no longer have a boyfriend, I don't feel bad one bit. I tuck my bills into the side pocket of my travel bag. I stand and lift my bag to hang it onto my shoulder. I start to head out to leave this place, but I stop when my phone vibrates in the front pocket of my hoodie. I dig my hand into it and fish it out momentarily.
I frown when Matthew's sister is the one calling me. I blocked his number soon after composing myself from his visit so if this is him calling from his teenage sister's phone, I might just lose it.
"Hello," I answer after a second of hesitation.
"JoJo," his sister says through the line. "I-It's me, Rosie."
"Rosie, hi," I say softly, a little confused as to why she's calling me. This late, especially. "Is something wrong? What's up?"
"Matty, he-" She lets out a shaky breath. "He was found beaten b-badly. My mom and I just got to LA Medical Center. JoJo, it's bad."
Fuck. I feel my chest tighten and my body begins to shake over the sense of worry he doesn't deserve but is fully receiving. "I-How bad? What happened?" I ask as I remain in place.
"We don't know! We think he got mugged or something. The doctor was telling us over the phone that he's unconscious, but they're monitoring him. Again, I don't know. Please come, JoJo."
The ache in Rosie's voice does it for me. I nod, agreeing to go, even though she can't see me. Despite my developing hatred for the man, I'm not cruel enough to laugh over his concerning condition. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going. I'll call you when I'm there, okay?"
I hang up after she verbally agrees. I then proceed to walk out of the bar in a rush all while tapping at my screen to order another Uber.
I stand in the cold for a long and anxious-filled fifteen minutes until an Uber pulls in front. I double-check the license plate number, making sure it matches the one on my phone, before getting into the backseat. I'm thankful the driver drives in silence, not attempting to engage in a conversation with me because it's not what I need right now.
What the hell happened? I'm left wondering through the drive to the hospital.
"Thank you," I tell the driver while being sure to tip him with some of my earnings. I then get out of the car as he's parked in front of the large hospital entrance.
I'm walking towards it all while calling Rosie like I said I would. "Hey, I'm here. Where do I go?" I ask a little out of breath with the fast-walking I'm doing.
"Wait for me at the main entrance, I'll meet you there," Rosie says. I can then hear her tell her mother about my arrival. I pull my phone back when I've noticed she ended our call.
Walking through the clear sliding doors, I'm met with security guards and metal detectors.
"Ma'am, can you please open that bag?" The tall guard closest to me points his small flashlight at my travel bag.
I unzip my bag without sighing. I then set it on the table by my side for his inspection.
"Clothes? What, are you moving in here?" He feels the need to joke while digging his hands into my hectic packing. He also feels my laptop that sits at the bottom.
"Yeah, why? Is that not allowed?"
The guard only looks at me with a frown when he catches onto my sarcasm. He shakes his head before saying, "Clear your pockets of keys or devices and walk through the metal detector."
I do as I'm told, placing my keys and my phone on top of my bag. I then walk through the machinery only for it to remain silent. "Thanks," I then tell the guard as he hands me my stuff and gives me the green light to step further inside. I zip my bag back up after tucking my phone into my pocket. I then look around for Rosie.
"JoJo!"
I turn to see Matthew's younger sister hold open the right side of a double door. I jog towards her past the front desk. "Hey," I say. "Don't I need a visitor's pass or something?"
"No, just come in." She waves me in and I step into the hallway.
The short, dark-haired, beauty steps in behind me, letting the loud door shut behind her. She then touches my arm. When I turn to face her, she goes in for a hug.
I hug her back tightly, resting my cheek against the top of her head. I've always had a soft spot for Matthew's sister. I met Rosie when she was thirteen and now she's fifteen and in high school. I've supported her obsession with popular boy bands, listening to their music when she begs me to, and I've even surprised her with concert tickets in the past. I love her, so it hurts that it means I have to lose her, too.
"I missed you," she tells me through her squeeze then loosens her arms after her hold. She steps back to look up at me.
"I missed you, too, Rosie," I tell her. That's when I realize, she doesn't know. She doesn't need to know her brother is a disgusting cheater. Not right now, at least. Not when he is laying in a hospital bed. "Matt. How's Matt?"
She starts to walk, leading the way to his room. She sighs and hugs herself tightly. "He looks horrible. He has so many injuries. I mean, how can somebody do that to him?"
I swallow, unsure if I was prepared to see him. I begin to feel guilty knowing he probably wouldn't have been mugged or attacked if I had just heard him out.
I didn't want to hear him out, though.
We get to his room and I step in right behind Rosie. I have my arms crossed when I see Matthew and Rosie's mom praying to her God near his bed. I keep myself from gasping at the sight of Matthew. He's bandaged up, bruised, and with an inflamed face.
When his mom finishes her prayer, she looks over at me. "Joelle, hi," she greets me and slowly approaches me.
"Hi, Claudia." I greet her with a hug as I always do, despite her lack of fondness for me. "Are you alright?"
She pulls from my arms with a sniffle. "No. Not when my baby boy is like this."
I watch a worried mother take her son's hand into hers as she stands near him again. It looks like she had just gotten out of bed because she wears her pajama pants and so does Rosie.
I don't know what to do but continue to stand there. It's horrible to see Matthew in the way I'm seeing him right now. I'm not even sure if I can say he deserved it. His exterior matches how I feel on the inside. I'm conflicted at this moment.
"Mom, maybe let JoJo have a few minutes with him?" Rosie suggests, but I don't think I want that.
When Claudia seems hesitant to leave Matthew's side, I take the opportunity to shake my head at Rosie's suggestion. "It's alright," I say. "Why don't I get you guys some coffee? I'll be back."
I set my travel bag down in the corner of the room when I figure we'll be here all night. I make sure to grab my cash from the pocket of my bag as both Claudia and Rosie had nodded at my offer of coffee. I then excuse myself, looking at an unresponsive Matthew, before leaving the room.
I heave a sigh from exhaustion from the long day I've suffered. I walk down the hallway of a hospital that reminds me a little too much of the one I grew up around in. My nanny would walk me through never-ending hallways like this one almost every day. I remember holding her hand as a kid, walking past my parents' patient rooms, and hearing loud beeping machines. I didn't understand the chaos behind every loud beep and every shout in the rooms I've passed by at the time.
On my way to the cafeteria, while following the directed signs, I reach into my pocket as I'm getting another call. I look down at my horrendous cracked screen a see a number I don't recognize. Maybe it's my mom finally returning my call from her one too many cellphones.
"Hello," I answer, slowing down my pace in the hall when I'm not in such a rush to get back to Matthew and his family.
"D'Amore, where the hell are you?"
I stop in my tracks, stifling a scoff when I know the voice a little too well. "I'm sorry. Who's this?" I ask anyway.
"Your fucking nightmare," he answers with a laugh.
I let myself scoff this time. I then lean back against the white wall of the hallway. "What do you want, Harry?" I ask but quickly frown. "Wait, how'd you get my number?"
"Answer my damn question first."
"Why do you want to know? Thanks for ditching me, by the way."
"For fucks sake, D'Amore, if you don't answer my fucking question-"
"Has anyone ever told you to chill the fuck out before?" I interrupt him, not wanting to suffer his rudeness any longer. Though, I get stared down by a passing nurse over my choice of words in the hallway.
"You're really asking for it, aren't you?" He chuckles again through the line. "Now, seriously, where the fuck are you?"
I press my lips together and try to remain calm and collected. His comment and laughter make me want to hit my head against the wall I'm leaned against. "At the hospital," I finally tell him.
There's a silence that falls between us. I open my mouth, about to speak up and ask if he's still there, but then asks, "Why?"
Does he really care to know why? "Harry, what do you want and why the hell are you calling me?"
He sighs heavily. "You weren't at the bar and I figured you wouldn't be home so..." He doesn't finish his sentence. I can hear him gulp something through the line.
"That doesn't answer my questions. Why are you looking for me? And again, what do you want?" I ask, gripping onto my phone tightly.
"I talked to the guy with the apartment. You can move in as soon as possible."
"What?" I lean off the wall, looking both ways down the hall before I continue my trip to the cafeteria again. "Harry, I said I would think about it. I-I didn't say I wanted it."
"Why the fuck not? I'm trying to help you out here."
"I don't know, maybe because I don't trust you!" I raise my voice, a little too loudly for a hospital hall. "Harry, you ditched me today and I'm pretty sure you were fucking with me earlier about Dante. That scary man probably doesn't give two shits about me and yet you made me think I was in danger. You're a mean person, Harry. I mean, why?! You're threatening to kill me one minute and now you're handing me an apartment I haven't even seen for myself?!"
"That's fair," he tells me and I can picture his sadistic grin. "What can I say? I guess I feel bad."
Is he capable of feeling remorse? I swallow. "You feel bad? About what exactly?"
"About... Is this fucking necessary? Look, the apartment is a two-bedroom. I suggest getting a roommate if you can't afford almost two grand a month."
I think I've turned several corners in these lengthy hallways searching for the cafeteria. I bring my attention back to my phone call with Harry. "You know, I'd rather take an apology than an apartment I can't afford," I tell him truthfully. It wouldn't hurt to hear him apologize.
"I have nothing to apologize for."
"No? Let's see, you traumatize me every waking second you get, your side comments are so fucking rude, and you could learn to consider other people's feelings for once," I say and for a moment I think he's listening. Though, I hear my phone beep, signaling that the call has ended.
When I pull my phone back to view my screen, I find out that I no longer have service. I scoff because the lost reception in these damn hospital walls has saved his ass from apologizing to me.
Whatever.
I tuck my phone back into the front pocket of my hoodie. I then see the cafeteria.
I end up buying three cups of coffee, leaving the cafeteria with a tray and loads of cream and sugar on the side. I'm walking down the hall as I realized I had forgotten to question Harry on how he has my number again. Either he's good at manipulating people or he's really good at manipulating me.
I still don't trust him. For all I know, moving into the specific apartment is a way for him to keep a tab on me for knowing too much.
I make it back to the right room. I wasn't aware of how long I took because a doctor is examining a now responsive Matthew.
Rosie turns to me as the doctor talks to Claudia. "I was about to go find you. Matty woke up," she whispers, inviting herself to take a coffee from the tray I hold.
I nod and step aside from the door as the doctor leaves the room in a rush.
"Jo!" Matt then says the moment he spots me. He tries to sit up, but he grunts from the thriving pain he must feel. He has a brace around his neck.
"Son, stop! Don't move. You're hurt," his mother tries to help him relax.
"Mom, Rosie... I need a minute with Jo, please."
Fuck. It's not like I can throw a drink in his face now. I take in a deep breath when his mom nods. Before she leaves, I offer her a cup of coffee. I smile, only lightly, as she takes it with a baggy of cream and sugar. Then, I'm left alone with Matt.
"Jo," he says my name again.
I swallow thickly and rest the tray with my coffee cup down on the table beside his bed.
"You're here," he then speaks again, turning his hand with an open palm. Does he think I'm going to hold his hand?
"What the hell happened, Matthew?" I ask softly, reaching for the chair Claudia had been sitting on. I bring it closer to his bed and take a seat. I don't reach for his hand at all.
"I-I was attacked. It doesn't matter. You're here, Jo. Listen, I'm sorry-"
"Save it," I say after rolling my eyes from his apology. "I don't want to talk about it. I mean it. I'm only here because Rosie called me. As far as your family knows, you didn't cheat on me with my best friend."
"Jo, please... You have to know I didn't want to cheat on you."
"But you did," I quickly respond.
"She seduced me."
"Matthew, don't. Don't put all the blame on her."
"Baby, listen-"
"No," I cut him off and stand from the chair. "Don't call me that or I'm leaving."
"Please, don't leave!" The monitor he's hooked onto picks up his rapid heartbeat. He grunts again from trying to sit.
"Alright, relax!" I mildly yell, looking over my shoulder in case his mom had been walking in to see what was going on. I let out a breath and sit back down when she doesn't come in as I thought she would. I turn back to Matthew. "Why my bed?" I then ask, even though I said I didn't want to talk about it.
He relaxes the moment I sit back down. He groans again, closing his swollen eyes as he readjusts his position. "I thought you lied about being on campus because you didn't want to see me, so I went to your place. August was there and she led me to your room. Then one thing led to another," he explained.
I feel my hands begin to shake from the information I'm being fed. I don't think I was ready to hear all that, but I keep asking questions. "Have you and her... slept together before?" My gut tells me they have.
Matthew turns quiet. He opens his eyes but not as much because his eyes are too swollen. He looks at me with his brown eyes. "Before you and I started going out," he then says.
"What?" I sit up, frowning as I try to think back to the beginning stages of our relationship when I was obsessed with this man.
"We just- We never told you. When you introduced us, we pretended like we didn't already know each other, Jo. We hooked up at a frat party a few weeks before I had met you."
I think back harder, all the way to the moment when I first introduced him to August. I remember her telling me I could do so much better that same night. When I asked her opinion of him, she scrunched her nose, and ever since then, I knew I wouldn't be able to get her to like him. To think she already knew him well and lied to me makes me feel sick. They both lied to me. "So you guys thought honesty wasn't an option?"
"It was just a hook-up, Jo. A one-night stand, more like. I didn't want to lose you because of it."
That doesn't make it any better. "Alright," I whisper. "There's no point in lying now... Have you been sleeping with her for a while?" I ask when I remember Harry's comment of Matthew probably 'getting it somewhere else'.
He's hesitant to answer, I can tell from his parted lips. "Jo, I don't want to lose you," he repeats and it's enough to tell me that he has been sleeping with August for much longer than I had known. I feel the pain all over again.
Before I can tell him that he has lost me, there's a light knock on the door. I look over my shoulder to find Claudia.
"Are you guys done now? Matt, baby boy, how are you feeling?"
I stand up. "We are done," I say and step aside to let her take the chair by his bed.
"I'm okay, Mom."
I watch as Claudia holds his hand and reaches out to run her fingers through his dark hair. I finally take my cup of coffee, preparing it to my liking as I realize I might have to stay. I wouldn't want his family to suspect anything off between Matthew and I. This hospital, albeit, is much better than having to spend my night at a sketchy motel.
With my internship in the morning, I only hope I don't feel completely drained.
_
happy international women's day!
WOMEN, am i right?
love you,
mila!