30 | Cole
~*~ House of Gold ~*~
It was late by the time we finished eating and arrived back at her house. Jess was still wide-awake when we arrived home, and I knew that she was waiting for word on her father, so she insisted that we relaxed in the living room until we heard further notice. She was growing tired but she wouldn’t go up to bed, and I knew that she wouldn’t sleep properly until she received a phone call about her father’s injuries. I tried convincing her that if we had our phones turned up all the way, there was no way we could miss the phone call.
“Jess, come on, let’s go to bed.” I yawned. I flipped off the big TV and read the clock on the cable box, glowing in red that it was past midnight. Usually I could be up much later than this but given current events, I was shot.
“Cole, I don’t want to miss a phone call.” She whined, yawning as she tried to finish her sentence.
“I have them turned up all the way, plus, my father will keep calling me until I answer, so there’s no way we can miss it.” I assured her. Instead of listening to me, she frowned and stared up at the ceiling.
“But what if-“
“Jess, it’s time for bed.” I said, cutting her off. She groaned, got up and turned off the kitchen light. Making sure that the front door and her kitchen door was locked; I flipped off the lights and turned on her light above her stairs. Jess came up the stairs with two water bottles in her hands, yawning as she made her way to her bedroom. I stripped of my clothes and crawled into her bed, surprised that it was comfortable.
“Just because I haven’t been here in a while doesn’t mean everything is ancient.” She said, stripping of her jeans and pulling a baggy sweatshirt over her head. She crawled in next to me, snuggling up against me.
“I promise, if they call, we’ll know.” I said, playing with her fingers.
“I won’t be able to sleep fully until I know.”
“I know.” I sighed. “Try to though, okay?” She nodded her head and moved so her head could lie on my chest.
“I love you.” She mumbled into my chest.
“I love you too.” I blushed as the words tumbled from my mouth. My heart was beating faster and I was happy she was falling asleep so she didn’t notice what she was doing to me.
In the middle of the night, I was woken up by Jess crying. At first, I thought she woke up and panicked about her father, but she was crying in her sleep. Her shaking form was curled into a ball and my heart was breaking in a million pieces just hearing the pain in her sobs. I rubbed her back and kissed her head until she calmed down in her sleep again; but by then I was awake. I thought Jess was getting better but I knew with the current events it was going to take a toll on her, but I didn’t realize how much pain she felt being back in her own house. I wasn’t sure how to begin to take her pain away, but I knew it needed to happen; she deserved to enjoy life again.
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“Cole, I really hate grocery shopping.” She groaned, rolling over in bed. I had just gotten out of the shower and Jess was finally waking up. The blankets were to her chin and she squinted at me as I pulled on some pants.
“You don’t have to go with; you can stay here and relax.” I shrugged. “But all the shades need to be opened and you cannot stay in bed all day.” I warned.
“Are you serious?” She whined.
“Jess, come on, we’ve got a big day.”
“We don’t even know what today is going to entail.” She pointed out.
“Exactly; so we can try enjoying the most of it and when we get the call; we’ll figure it out. Sitting here and waiting for something bad to happen is not going to make the day go by easier.” I argued.
“Why are you such a big pain in the ass?” She groaned.
“It’s my job.” I shrugged, kissing her forehead. “I’ll be back in about an hour.”
“Go get my coupons out of my purse; don’t even think about buying expensive food.”
“Don’t I just buy generic?”
“Yes, but there’s coupons for certain items.”
“Don’t they have those at the register?”
“Give me twenty minutes, I’m coming with you.” She groaned. “Stupid boy doesn’t know how to shop.” She muttered under her breath. I rolled my eyes, annoyed that she assumed I couldn’t shop, but it was probably true; I would buy junk food.
She got out of the shower, thirty minutes later, and when I pointed it out, I was told to fuck off. After twenty minutes on deciding what to wear deciding on sweats-, we were finally ready. If I had it my way, I would have already finished the shopping and could have gotten us lunch by now. Of course, women are always right.
“Let’s make quesadillas for dinner.” I suggested as I pushed the cart and she held her little coupon binder- yes, Jess was that organized that she had one, skimming through things we needed.
“That sounds fine; do you know what we’ll need?”
“Yeah.” I answered, licking my lips in excitement of making something for dinner for once. As I picked out the items, she pulled out a coupon for it, happy that her tactics were working. When she wasn’t looking, I slipped in some of her favorite junk food knowing that she’ll want to munch on something while she’s worried about her father. Sure, I shouldn’t be condoning unhealthy eating, but Jess was my soft spot. When it came time to checking out, I pushed her out of the way and paid for the groceries. There was no way in hell I was going to make her pay for anything; she couldn’t even afford it. Sure, the bill only came out to be a little over fifty dollars, but I also had my parent’s money, she only had whatever she saved up. I wouldn’t take it from her.
As we were loading the bags into the car, I got a call from my father. Jess was pushing the cart back into the cart rack and I quickly spoke to him.
“What’s the word?” I whispered. I needed to be prepared in case something bad happened; I needed to comfort Jess and not let her be surprised.
“He’s in rough shape; but he’s stable.”
“How bad is he?” I asked quietly as my nerves settled in.
“I don’t know what was damaged or what he will suffer from later, but I just know that he’s being transferred to his local hospital.”
“How do I prepare her?” I asked seriously.
“Tell her that no matter what happens, he’s still alive and he’s stable, I’m sure that’s all she can ask for.” I hung up as Jess got into the car and sighed.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, searching my eyes for an answer.
“We need to get the groceries home.” I said, putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking space.
“Obviously.”
“I have some news.” I continued.
“Oh?”
“About your father.”
“Oh, fuck.” She groaned.
“He’s being transferred to your hospital. So we’re going to unload the groceries, pick something up to eat, and we’ll head to the hospital.”
“You’d go there with me?” She seemed surprised that I would even after all that we’ve been through.
“Are you fucking nuts? I wouldn’t let you go through this alone.” I said, grabbing her hand and kissing it. “My father didn’t know anything more than he’s being transferred and he’s stable.”
“That could mean anything.” She panicked.
“I know, but he’s alive, Jess. That says something.” I pointed out. She sighed and squeezed my hand in comfort.
“I’m scared, I don’t know what to expect and I don’t like surprises.” She uttered.
“We’ll tackle this, okay? Right now, we need to be there for your father. Let us get this stuff loaded in your house and we’ll pick something up on the way to the hospital. We’ll bring some books or something to do in case he’s sleeping.” I suggested.
“How do you know what to do?” She asked in disbelief as I pulled into her driveway.
“I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.” That much was true; I was hoping that the gods would grant me the ability to handle this mess because I was walking into this as if my head was cut off. It wasn’t until we loaded our groceries in the house and started packing a small bag that Jess had spoken again.
“Cole?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we go to KFC? I have coupons and I really want potato wedges and mashed potatoes.”