Suddenly Booked

For once, I wish I would have listened to my mother’s unsolicited and insignificant advice. “Always wear clean underwear.” While it should have been always wear underwear, in this case, still, I should have listened. I mean, it’s not that she’s only ever given me that one piece of good information, but right now, I wish I would have listened to that tiny morsel of advice. Who knew that a simple night out could turn into one of the craziest nights of my life? It’s not like I had planned for this to happen. Not in my wildest, well no, maybe in my wildest, but definitely not in my real life dreams, had I thought this would happen. I was lying in a hospital bed that, believe it or not, was smaller than the bed in my dorm room with nothing on but a worn green and blue gown that was barely big enough to tie in the back, my black strapless bra, and a temporary cast on my left leg. My dress had been ruined in the accident and my shoes were in a white plastic bag with a big red cross on the front and had strings that tied it shut at the top. My phone was beside me on a small tray table, and it had a massive crack at the top of the screen. “F*ck,” I groaned out loud. I had just paid off this phone. There was no way that I could buy a new one anytime soon. The bed was propped up at a forty-five-degree angle and my leg had two pillows underneath it to keep it elevated. Being in the emergency room wasn’t anything new. I had been a clumsy child and had hurt myself quite a lot when growing up, but it had been quite some time since I had been in one, and I had never been in one without any panties. The little old nurse who was in here when I woke up had said that she had informed my guardian when they had first brought me in. Apparently, my mom had called my phone sometime in the process of me being brought in and first being examined, and she told the nurse that she was going to be coming to pick me up and not to let me be discharged. The little grey-haired nurse, who looked about four foot nothing and two hundred years old, couldn’t remember how long ago that had taken place, so I had no idea how much longer I had to live. My head ached just as much as my leg did, and I couldn’t remember much of what happened after I got to Scott’s with Jess, but for some reason, I vaguely remembered seeing Bastian’s annoying face right before passing out. Gods, I only remember having two shots, but I couldn’t even remember how I got in the car, nonetheless, who the hell was driving and how we ended up crashing into the bridge by the old library. While I wasn’t in an official room up on one of the higher floors of the hospital, I wasn’t just in the triage area either. I was in a small makeshift room that gave me some privacy, but I could still hear everything that was going on around me. The last time I glanced at my phone, it showed that it was already almost six in the morning. It had been an entire year since I last saw my mom and this was not how I had wanted our reunion to go. Giving up on sitting up, I threw my head back against the sole pillow that they had given me to use for my head. “Ugh,” I groaned as I did just that, and I threw my right arm over my eyes. Everything hurt, but just thinking about how mom was going to react was much, much worse. Since I had little time left to myself, I tried to focus my mind on remembering what had happened and how I had gotten here, but my temples ached and the pressure around my eyes was even worse when I scrunched my eyes closed. Giving up, I was about to reach out to grab my phone to see if I could reach Jessica, but just as my fingers were about to close around it, the floor to ceiling curtain swung open so fast I thought it was about to be ripped off its little rings. To my surprise, my mom stood there grasping the plastic material in one hand while the other was placed on her chest with her fingers spread so wide, I thought she was trying to keep her lungs inside her body. She was panting so hard, it looked as if she might have possibly run all the way here. Her dark brown hair, which she usually kept tied up neatly in a bun, was loose and fell down past her shoulders and quite a few strands were blown over her face. Neither of us spoke for what seemed like eternity. I was waiting for her to either catch her breath or leap at me and start screaming. I had no idea what she was waiting for, but it made me that much more anxious. Dark brown eyes met mine and while I wished I could look away, I was ensnared by her. My mom had always been like that. She demanded to be given the respect she gave others, and she had taught me to always look someone in the eye when you talk to them. Right now, I didn’t want to look her in the eye, hell, I didn’t want to look at her at all, but it was too late to try to escape now. I was in enough sh*t, and I didn’t need to make it worse by showing her any disrespect. Just when I was about to say something to break the weird silence,“Mom, I,” I was about to say something. Apologize or beg for forgiveness, I hadn’t fully decided yet, a tall man came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. My mom was not a short woman, she was only a few inches shorter than I was, so she was at least five foot six, but the man behind her was well over six feet tall. At first, I thought he was someone with the hospital, and he was here to give her an update on me, but then she lifted her hand and placed it on top of his where it was still resting on her shoulder. A small silver band glinted in the bright ceiling lights and I couldn’t take my gaze away from it. For a moment, I thought that maybe I had hit my head harder than what I thought, and I was just seeing things. But as her hand fell down to her side and the man’s moved down her arm as he pulled her close to him, I glanced up just in time to see her lean into him as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “I’m sorry it took so long, love. I had a hard time finding a place to park since the lots were busy with the shift change about to happen soon.” Love? What the hell was going on? Who the hell is this guy? If I thought that I was confused earlier, I was now completely and utterly lost. Things were happening that I was neither ready or prepared for. My mouth must have been hanging open because I watched as the two of them finally looked over to me, and they had the same shy and bashful look on their faces. “Blayke, oh gosh honey, how are you?” Mom asked as she tenderly removed the man’s hand from her and came quickly over towards me. I was in such shock I couldn’t figure out who to look at. “I’m sorry it took us so long to get here. Something made me call to check on you and when the nurse answered, we jumped out of bed and headed straight over here.” Mom was sitting on the edge of the tiny a** bed I was lying on, and I felt her shift to make sure that she didn’t hit my leg, but I still couldn’t say anything to her even as she reached out and caressed my cheek with her hand. I felt her looking me over from head to toe as she moved her hand from my cheek to my forehead and then over my nose as she squeezed softly. It was something she used to do when I was little, and it felt oddly comforting. My eyes were focused on her, but I couldn’t stop the strange urge to pull the blanket up and over my chest. Even though she had moved her full attention to me, there was still the strange man standing by the now closed curtain wall. Glancing towards him, I saw that he was standing as far from the bed as he could, and he was rubbing his arm up and down with the other hand. It looked like a nervous habit or something and his shoulders were hunched in as if he was trying to make himself look small and stay out of the way. Not like someone as big as him could make himself look invisible. My eyes kept going back and forth from him to my mother and, sometime in between the time she finished her inspection of me, she must have realized what I was looking at. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t want to introduce you like this, but this is Mik, I mean Mikael. My husband.” Mikael seemed to stand up a bit straighter as my mom stood and walked over to him. He had already taken a step towards her and grabbed her outstretched hand. That was when I saw the thick black band on the same finger I had seen the ring on her own. I had no choice but to sit there and watch their disgustingly sweet display of affection, but I was just so confused. How the hell had my mom gotten married, and I had no idea about it, or him. Dating yes, mom dated a bit, but I had never heard anything about her having a serious partner, nonetheless a f*cking husband. As if he was summoned by my last thought, Mikael walked over to the side of the bed where mom had just been sitting and reached out his hand to shake mine, I assumed. “Hello Blayke, my name is Mikael, and I’m so happy to finally meet you. I just wish it would have been under better circumstances.” Mikael had a nice voice, it was rich and deep, and it sounded like he had a bit of an accent to the end of some of his words, but I couldn’t place it. Instinctively I stuck my hand out to shake his outstretched one, but I couldn’t help but blush at the thought of the fact that I was almost naked meeting my, what new dad, step-dad, for the first time. Mom was watching us and I saw the sparkle in her eye that let me know she was probably on the verge of crying soon, so I said, “it’s nice to meet you to, sorry you had to see me like this. I swear I usually look much better than this.” His large, warm hand shook mine softly, and I was at a complete loss for words. This was not how I had expected this night to end, or was it the next day already? Yeah, so I guess this wasn’t how I thought this day would start. Hell, I don’t even know anymore. My head was just pounding so hard and this all seemed a little too much to take. Blinking a few times, I felt my lids get heavier and heavier. Mom and Mikael were both talking and while I was still holding his hand, I felt my mom's hands on me to, but it was getting harder and harder to open my eyes. Beeping and bustling were some of the sounds I could still pick up, but I couldn’t focus on any of it. I just remember thinking how I ended up like this and how much I wished I would have worn panties under that f*cking dress. - It all started when Jessica had come storming into my dorm room with the look of someone who had already been drinking and was beginning to feel really good. Somehow, I had lucked out by getting a private dorm room and, apparently, Jess thought that it gave her free run of my room. She would come and go as she pleased and practically lived here since her and her roommate hated each other. We had originally tried to get her transferred to my room, but the RA said that this room was only designed for one occupant and for safety reasons the university wouldn’t allow it. Not like that kept her from staying over at least three nights a week, but essentially the room was all mine. It sounded like bullsh*t if you ask me, but a part of me was actually glad. I really loved having my own room. I didn’t have one for most of my life and I savored every square inch of it. We moved around a lot when I was young and, with my mom being the only one working, we usually shared a room in the different places we ended up living. My mom and dad got divorced before I was born, and she moved clear across the country alone, so with no family or help, she did the best that she could to make sure I had everything I needed, but that never included my own room. Today was my last final before we got to go home for summer break, so when Jessica came in looking like a hot mess already, I knew that she was about to drag me to one party or another. “Girl! What are you doing just sitting around your room? We have parties to go to. I’ve been waiting for you to take your last final, and now it’s final-e here! Ah, get it, final-e. Gods, I’m f*cking hilarious!” I had just taken my last final for my psychology class and I had only walked in five minutes before she did so I was sitting on my little love seat, and I was unlacing my shoes. Jess threw herself on my twin-sized bed in a huff as she stared at me waiting for my response to her joke and probably wanting me to hurry up and ask her where she was going to be taking me. Jessica had been my first real friend when I came here three years ago, and I was used to her tiny little tantrums by now, so I forced a little laugh before playing along. “Ha ha. You’re just a regular comedian you are.” Jessica gave me a look of doubt for only a second before her giant smile spread wide across her face. “I know right. Scott is always telling me how funny I am.” She probably would have started off on a tangent about how amazing Scott was and the most recent time he had told her she was funny, but I cut her off before she could begin. “So what party were you at, and which one are you going to try to drag me to next?” Even if she hadn’t come to find me, I already had plans go go to the party at one of the fat houses near campus tonight. I had put off drinking and dancing to get through my finals, but I definitely deserved to have a good time tonight. This semester I had taken four classes and was volunteering at our school’s business office to get a discount on my housing and tuition, but that didn’t mean a girl couldn’t have fun. I’ve always loved to dance. Was I any good? No, not at all, but after a few drinks, I didn’t care what anyone thought of my moves. In fact, I had constantly been approached by men when we were out, so it must mean that some of them liked them. Jessica had started bouncing a bit on the edge of the bed as she waited for me to finish with my shoes and walk to the small little closet to get my fuzzy black slippers. “So, Scott and his friends are all going to this party at The Landing. Apparently, one of the fraternities from U of A is planning a huge event, and they invited everyone to join, but were gonna meet at his place for a little pre-game warm up,” she giggled. Rolling my eyes, I couldn’t help but cringe at the idea of going to a party with people from one of the other universities around here. It sounded like an invitation to a wrestling match instead of a party. But if Jessica was going, I wouldn’t let her go alone, especially since Scott was nowhere near reliable enough to take care of her. Plus, if they were having a party at a club, we could go off on our own and dance. I would finish off my junior year with a bang. So as I stuffed my feet into my comfy slippers, I glanced around my closet to find the hottest dress I had. If this was my last party for a while, I might as well make it worth my time.