Seeking Relief

How Are You Feeling Now?

Jake watched Jade like a hawk. He was the one who sat furthest on her left, so as she glanced among their group, she didn’t look directly at him as often. He wanted to gaze into her eyes more, but this also meant he could watch her without her realizing. He caught the flashes of pain across her face when Mitch and Emmett were looking at Adam. He also caught that her hardened expression softened as the medicine that the nurse gave her worked through her system. He glanced over at his best friends to see if they noticed the change in her expression, also. Emmett’s face was as stoic as ever, but one glance from his friend/lover he could tell that Emmett caught the shift also.

“How are you feeling now, Jade?” Mitch asked. Jade’s eyes flicked up to him.

“Were you one of the paramedics that helped me?” She asked.

“No. I’m a police officer. I was the one the answered the dispatch and broke through your door.”

“Oh.” Then her eyes widened, “My f*****g front door isn’t standing wide open is it?”

“No.” He answered and chuckled. “I did damage the jamb as I broke it open, but it’s already fixed. However, you’ll need to get with your landlord to get the key for your new lock.”

“Oh. Okay.” She said subdued. Her eyes flicked to Emmett then Jake. Jake felt his heart skip a beat when she locked eyes with him again.

“So you two are the paramedics then?”

“Yes.” Answered Emmett. Jake just nodded.

“Why are you all here?” Jade asked, but her tone wasn’t as stony as it was when she asked it before.

“We want to help you.” Mitch said.

“Why?”

“Our system failed you before, we owe it to you,” Adam said.

“So? The system fails thousands, if not millions, repeatedly.”

“Jade,” Jake said, reaching for her other hand that doesn’t seem to pain her as much. She didn’t pull it out of his grasp, “We all knew something wasn’t right last night. We all knew that you didn’t try to commit suicide. We knew there was something else going on. We spent all night trying to figure it out. Mitch here, spent being middleman for us all night.”

“You guys…talked about me? You cared?”

Jake nodded.

“Why?” She asked stonily.

“Well, like I said, we uh- we cared, we knew that, uh--,” Jake stammered. Mitch interrupted.

“Like Jake said. We knew something was off. We knew it wasn’t a suicide. But I think it’s more than that, now. We’re drawn to you.” He looked at the others to see them nodding their heads in agreement.

He continued, “I can’t say this exactly for the others, but I can speak for myself in saying that I want to see this to the end. I want to see that you get the help you need, you get the treatment you need, and that you get the retribution you need. We know about your ex, what you went through, that you have a restraining order against him, and that your current doctor is failing you. I have a gut feeling to see this out, and I never ignore my instinct. And it seems it’s the same for the rest of the group. I know that you’re leery of us right now, but I hope you’ll learn to trust our sincerity.” Mitch took a deep breath as he finished his small speech.

Jade gaped at him, then looked at every single man as they nodded in agreement. After she spent a long beat looking at Ponytail, or Jake, the one who sat furthest on her left, she decided to push this conversation forward. Her thought was maybe that she could shock them into confession.

“Okay. But why me?”

Emmett spoke. Finally. “Like Mitch said, we feel drawn to you, to help you. We’re not entirely sure, either.”

“What’s your ulterior motive?” She demanded.

All the men sat back in their chairs and gaped at her. Adam was the one who collected himself first. He stood up, walked over to her bedside, then crouched down beside her on her right side.

“Jade. We have no ulterior motive. Not all men are like your ex. We will work to win your trust. But we just want to help you. We want you to heal, we want you to recover. I know we won’t earn your trust overnight and that’s quite fine. You’ve been through quite the ordeal, but it doesn’t change that you have several injuries that need addressed.” He paused, took a breath, “Will you please at least just let us help you, and work on getting better? ”

She was taken aback by his proclamation. She was used to subtlety, not something this direct. But she also wasn’t sure if this wasn’t another form of manipulation. But they weren’t wrong in that something was definitely wrong with her pain and that she needed their help. She’d go along with everything.

For now.

Jade answered Dr. Kincaid with a small nod.

He breathed out a small breath of relief. He patted her hand very gently and stood up then went back to his chair.

“We have a small plan of action in place already for you.” Mitch said. Jade just looked at him.

He continued, “We already know that your primary doctor failed, er, is failing you. I’ve put out feelers for a malpractice lawyer. I’ve also put out feelers for a lawyer to charge assault charges against your ex.” Jade started to open her mouth in protest.

Adam intervened, “The payment responsibility to the lawyers will be either your ex, once he’s convicted, pro-bono, or through the Crisis Center, which the lawyers will write off as donation when they do taxes. None of this you will be responsible for.” The rest of the group didn’t even think about that aspect. They didn’t even realize that Jade might have been concerned about financials.

Jade turned and looked at Dr. Kincaid and just nodded.

Jake studied Jade’s softened expression that he suspected was from the medicine. And a thought occurred to him.

“Jade, how’s your pain level now?” Jake asked.

“Uhm.” She paused thoughtfully. “Much better. The worst is down to a 5. My head still hurts like a mo-fo, but my hand isn’t screaming at me as much. The foot always aches.”

Emmett and Mitch looked at Jake with slightly widened eyes, then the three of them looked at Adam. He didn’t seem surprised by her reveal. Made sense since he was the one who figured out that she had past injuries. Adam didn’t change his position in his chair, at first glance he looked at ease, but Jake caught how his body tensed. It seems that they all caught on to his notion that Jade may be more talkative now that the medicine is in her system.

Adam asked Jade another question, “Jade, how’s your abdominal pain?”

Jake shared a quick glance with Emmett. There were a lot more areas that were causing her pain than they initially had grasped.

“Uhmmm. Like my head, it’s a 5. My v****a still hurts, but that’s a 2- no a 4. My urethra feels weird though.” She pauses, lifts up her sheets, then lowers them.

“That explains it, I have a catheter.”

Jake tried really hard not to break down in laughter. This forthcoming Jade is a breath of fresh air. He could tell the other guys were holding chuckles in, too. Adam just smiled.

“Why do you all keep exchanging looks like you’re talking about me in your heads?” Jade asked Jake suddenly as she swung her eyes to him. He felt the whoosh of the air leaving his lungs again.

“Maybe, because we are.” Emmett said.

“Why?”

“Maybe, because we’re interested in you.” Emmett said bluntly, then leaning forward putting his elbows on his knees.

“Pfft.” Jade snorted, then said, “Guys as good looking as you have a reason for being interested in someone like me. I already learned that lesson the hard way.”

“You’ll see that not all men are like your ex, Jade.” Emmett said quietly. Emmett held her gaze as she just stared at him.