by R. M. Garcia
CHAPTER 9
Head or Heart
KELLY DROVE AS fast as she could to the hospital. Trista and Abbie had to continually order her to slow down. Eventually, after what seemed an eternity to Kelly, they arrived at the hospital. Kelly parked the car, and the three girls ran inside.
“Rebecca Monroe?” Kelly asked the desk nurse frantically. A few moments later, and the confirmation of relationship, they were given Rebecca’s room. The girls headed for room H132 on the eighth floor. As they got close to the room, Abbie noticed an old woman reading out loud from a Bible.
“Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” The old woman looked up at Abbie and smiled as she ran past. When they got to the room, Kelly almost burst into tears. Rebecca looked ghastly; her entire lower jaw was swollen and was black and blue. Rebecca smiled despite the pain when her sister arrived. You could see now that she was missing several of her front teeth. Their mother was already in the room.
“Oh, baby girl, what happened?” Kelly sat on the bed and hugged her little sister.
“She can’t talk dear,” Ms. Monroe informed Kelly. “Her jaw is glued closed.”
“How long before she can talk again?” Trista asked.
“Fortunately, it was only a fracture and not a complete break,” she replied. “Her jaw would normally be wired for at least six weeks.”
Yes! Trista screamed on the inside while she shook her head. “Oh . . . That is such a shame.” Then she heard the saddest news yet.
“But she is getting a surgical fix tonight. She should be able to talk in just a few days,” Ms. Monroe continued. Trista screamed inside once again. This time, her word of choice was quite a bit more colorful.
“I don’t understand, Mom.” Kelly looked at her mother for an answer.
“When I arrived at the hospital, all I needed to do was sign the admission forms. The school nurse had brought our insurance information with her. The admissions’ nurse asked me what I wanted to do as we went over the costs covered by our healthcare insurance,” she explained.
“So how much money are we talking about, Mom?” Kelly was getting worried. She knew that even the smallest hospital time would cost thousands, and their health insurance was laughable, but it was better than nothing.
“Well, if I let her stay in the wire, I would only need to pay our deductible of $1,500. Then her teeth would need to be covered by our dental insurance and that carries another $1,500 deductible.”
“So you are looking at three thousand dollars?” Abbie asked.
“Yes, but if I opted for the surgery she’s getting tonight, it would cost us another six thousand dollars on top of the three thousand deductibles, because it’s not a covered surgery unless her injuries were life threatening, which they weren’t,” Ms. Monroe continued calmly.
“Nine thousand dollars, Mom, can we afford that!?” Kelly was alarmed at the costs.
“Not in a million years,” she replied calmly. “Don’t get me started on the cost to fix her teeth. That’s another two thousand dollars on top of all the other expenses like the room and drugs.”
“Oh, Mom, what are we going to do?” Kelly was on the verge of tears. She knew that amount of money would wipe out her mother’s savings.
“Nothing . . .” Ms. Monroe answered.
“Nothing?” Kelly, Abbie, and Trista asked all at once.
“It’s all paid for. Apparently a young man rode in the ambulance with Rebecca along with the school nurse, a student at your school, and after overhearing my discussion with the nurse, he offered to pay all the expenses if I refused to press charges against the girl who hit Rebecca.”
“Mom, you didn’t?” Kelly asked.
“Oh yes, I did. From the account I got from the nurse, it seems Rebecca provoked the young lady.” Ms. Monroe looked at her younger daughter scornfully. Everyone looked at Rebecca who shrugged and nodded in agreement.
“When the police arrived, I told them that I would not be pressing charges as long as all her medical expenses were covered. The young man pulled out some type of Platinum credit card and told the nurse to charge twenty-five thousand dollars on it.”
“Wow! That was very generous,” Trista said, trying to figure out who the student was.
“We’re waiting for the swelling to go down a bit before they take her into surgery,” Ms. Monroe informed.
“So who was the mysterious benefactor?” Abbie asked Ms. Monroe.
“I honestly forgot to get his name or thank him,” she replied. “I was just glad the medical bills were covered that I didn’t think to get his name. I believe Rebecca knows him.” Everyone looked at Rebecca who was smiling ear to ear as best as she could. Rebecca motioned for the pad and pen that laid next to her bed. Kelly brought it over to her sister, and she began to write on the pad. She turned it around, and everyone except Ms. Monroe let out a gasp.
“Donnie? It was Donnie, are you sure, Rebecca?” Abbie asked. Rebecca nodded yes enthusiastically. Abbie let that sink in a moment before speaking again.
“What was he doing with you?” Abbie asked. Rebecca’s face turned from a happy one to a guilty one.
“Come on, spill it, Becca!” Kelly ordered.
“Is this Donnie a bad person?” Ms. Monroe asked. “Should Rebecca not be associating with him?”
“No, Ms. Monroe. He’s actually a very nice guy, even before doing this for you,” Trista informed. She surprised herself that she would actually stick up for any man.
“Well, that’s good then,” she said as she began to walk out of the room. “I am going to check on the doctor. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“I spotted him in the gym with the new girl.” Rebecca wrote on the notepad.
“And what did you do?” Abbie asked.
“I went up to him and accused him of two-timing you with the girl.” Rebecca wrote.
“Was he?” Trista asked, instantly regretting her kind words about Donnie.
“No, they are just old childhood friends. He explained it to me on the way over in the ambulance.” She jotted down.
“Is she the girl that hit you?” Kelly asked, and Rebecca nodded yes.
“I am going to have a talk with her soon!” Kelly said, cracking her knuckles. Rebecca shook her head no, then wrote. “It was my fault. I called her all sorts of nasty things because I was angry.”
“Is Donnie still here in the hospital?” Abbie asked, and Rebecca shrugged.
“I tried to tell him I was the one that sent the text, but I was so angry I couldn’t think straight.” Rebecca wrote and ripped off the page and handed to Abbie and then continued to write more as Abbie read it. “He seemed so sad, and he looked like he was sick to him stomach. The nursed asked him if he was feeling OK.”
“I will go see him tomorrow then.” Abbie suspected that being in the same hospital where his mother had died had torn him apart. Rebecca shook her head no at Abbie. “He never wants to talk to you again.” Rebecca wrote on the pad. “I’m sorry!”
“It’s OK. He doesn’t get to tell me what to do,” Abbie replied. “He needs to know the whole story. I’ll go over after Becca is safely out of surgery.”
“I appreciate you staying, Abbs,” Kelly said.
“I’m not going anywhere either,” Trista added. The four girls embraced together in a group hug. Rebecca started crying and looked at Abbie. She pointed at the last words she wrote on the note over and over again. “I’m sorry.”
“What, Becca?” Abbie was apprehensive. There was more, and Rebecca was afraid to reveal it. Abbie urged her to write, and Rebecca started writing on the notepad, and when she was done, she held it tightly to her chest and looked nervously at Abbie.
“Honey, whatever it is, I forgive you,” Abbie promised. Rebecca turned the notepad over so that only Abbie could read the message.
“Oh, Becca.” Abbie closed her eyes for a moment, letting the words seep in, “Why in the world would you have done that?”
Rebecca began crying in silence, and Abbie hugged her. “Honey, it’s OK. I’ll fix it with him, I promise, don’t you worry. You just concentrate on getting better. He can’t be too mad if he paid for your bills, right?” Abbie cleared away Rebecca’s hair from her face and wiped away her tears. Trista took the opportunity to grab the pad and read it along with Kelly. It simply read: “I told Donnie we had all read his note.”
Donnie got back to the game by the time the forth quarter had started. He found Cecilia still sitting in the same spot.
“Well, you’re off the hook with the law at least,” Donnie informed Cecilia.
“How did you manage that, Dodo?” she asked.
“I got the hook ups,” he replied nonchalantly and fixed his gaze on the game. “How are we doing?”
“Not so good, they’re down twelve points.”
“Darn, we need to win three games to have a chance at the play-offs. Looks like this game is going into the loss column,” and Donnie had been correct. The home team finished losing by fifteen points. After the game, Donnie went into the locker room and said, “Tough loss guys.”
“Where were you, Donnie?” Misha asked. “We needed you tonight.”
“I am out for at least two more games.” Donnie raised his shirt. “I have a bruised rib, doctor’s order.” There was a cumulative sigh of frustration from the rest of the team.
“Well, we just have to win three out of four more games. We can do it!” Misha said, trying to pump up the team.
“I have a surprise for you,” Donnie told Misha. Who looked at Donnie, suspiciously trying to read him.
“Give it up, just give . . . it . . . up. You are never gonna guess.” He smiled evilly at Misha.
“OK, I’ll take your word for it,” Misha said as he changed out of his uniform and entered the shower.
“Meet me out by my car,” Donnie advised.
“Yeah, OK, I’ll be out in a few,” Misha cried from the showers. Cecilia and Donnie headed out to the parking lot and found where his cherry-red convertible was parked.
“Hot ride, Dodo,” Cecilia announced, “props to you.”
“Yeah, Dad and me restored her from nothing but a frame.”
“That’s really cool. How long did it take?”
“About two years. Finding the parts was what took the longest,” Donnie said, and then he noticed Misha jogging out to the car. “Here he comes, quick, hide!” Misha ran up to the car within a few moments.
“So surprise me . . .” Misha was expecting something boring.
Cecilia stepped out from behind an SUV and said, “Surprise!”
“Holy crap, CeeCee, is that you?” Misha said as he ran over to Cecilia and hugged her tightly. He picked her up and spun her around several times. Donnie could only laugh; it was exactly the reaction he expected.
“So let’s head over to my house. We can hang out for a while,” Donnie suggested.
“Hell, yeah, you drive,” Misha said as he tossed the keys back to Donnie.
“Want to ride with me or Donnie?” Cecilia asked Misha.
“I’m with you,” Misha said smiling.
“OK, I’ll meet you there,” Donnie said as he hopped into his car.
“See you in a few,” Misha said and started walking toward Cecilia’s car with her.
The operation went especially well, and Rebecca was resting comfortably by 6:00 a.m. Everyone was exhausted at this point, but the worst seemed over. Abbie borrowed Kelly’s car to go home and dropped off Trista on the way. Kelly had no objections as she was going to ride home with her mom to get some rest as well. Rebecca was going to be sleeping for hours. Everyone said their good-byes and went their separate ways. After dropping off Trista, she decided to head over to Donnie’s house. She was sleepy, but she was sure she would catch him home at this time of day. She arrived at the house at a quarter to seven in the morning. She pulled into the driveway and was surprised to see a little compact car parked in the driveway behind Donnie’s car. She walked up to the door once again. The blood from yesterday had been cleaned up; that was a good sign that he was OK. After a few minutes, she knocked on the door and waited. She could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. At last she would have a chance to explain herself. A full-figured girl opened the door. Her hair was in disarray, and she was wearing nothing but a T-shirt. Abbie recognized her, but she looked very different from yesterday. She actually had a nice figure, and now that she could see her face-to-face, Abbie could see she was very pretty.
“Can I help you?” Cecilia said, still a bit groggy.
“I’m looking for Donnie,” Abbie said.
“He’s still asleep. I kept him up kind of late,” Cecilia said not really realizing at first how that must have sounded.
“Oh, you spent the night?” Abbie was momentarily stunned.
“Yeah, who are you?” she asked as she pulled her hair back and to one side of her shoulder.
“My name is Abbie.”
“You should leave. He doesn’t need you to hurt him anymore,” Cecilia said and began to close the door.
“Please let me talk to him,” Abbie pleaded.
“I’m not stopping you. I’m just letting you know that he doesn’t want to talk to you anymore. You should just let it go.”
“I need to explain a big misunderstanding to him.” Abbie placed her hand on the door to stop Cecelia from fully closing it.
“Do you want to be with him?” Cecilia asked flat out.
“I . . . I . . . can’t right now.”
“If you can’t, won’t or don’t, want to be with him, then explaining anything won’t really make a difference, will it?” Cecilia asked.
“I . . . am just so mixed up right now,” Abbie admitted. “I don’t know what to feel.”
“Want my advice? Well, you’re getting it anyway. Don’t fight for what you don’t want,” Cecilia said. “If you want him, you’ll need to fight for him. Fight until you can’t fight anymore. It’s the only way you will get him back.”
“How can I do that if he won’t talk to me?”
“You make him listen, anyway you can. You take action that makes him talk to you, because he’s as stubborn as they come,” Cecilia said. “But he’s dead tired right now and sleeping like a log.”
“How do you . . . I mean are you two . . . ?” Abbie was uncertain how to ask, and Cecilia picked up on her meaning and decided to play with Abbie.
“If a guy is not getting what he needs from the girl he wants, he will get from a girl he doesn’t,” Cecilia said. “Take that as you will.” She then closed the door on Abbie and went back upstairs. Abbie turned completely perplexed and walked to the car. She sat in it for about ten minutes before she turned the key. She was bothered by thoughts of Cecelia in Donnie’s arms. She just didn’t want to think about it, but it continued to plague her all the way home.
“Who was it?” Misha asked as Cecelia walked back into Donnie’s room. Misha was lying on the floor in a sleeping bag. Donnie was still asleep next to him in a similar bag. Cecilia jumped back into Donnie’s bed. This type of sleep over was something the trio had done many times before.
“It was Abbie,” Cecilia answered.
“What did she want?” Misha was instantly annoyed that she had come here but was also curious.
“She was going on about explaining a misunderstanding to Dodo,” she replied. “I made her think we were sleeping together.”
“Why would you that?”
“Look, she hurt my friend, so I get to mess with her.”
Misha laughed. “I love your dark side.”
“She told me she doesn’t want to be with him, so I told her to go away, and I also her that if she decided she wanted him, to fight for him.’”
“Fight how?” Misha asked. “I’m interested to know.”
“Donnie put himself out there. He risked it, and she swatted him down,” Cecilia replied. “If she wants a second chance, she will have to do the same, or Dodo won’t listen to her. You know
how stubborn he can be.”
“What do you think she will do, if anything?” Misha wondered how far Abbie would go.
“Hell, if I know. I don’t know the girl,” she replied. “Now I need at least another hour of beauty sleep.”
“No, you don’t,” Misha said earnestly. “I don’t think I have ever seen you look more beautiful.”
“Easy tiger, you don’t want none of this,” she said. “I’d break you like a twig.”
“At least I’d die happy.” Misha tried to look seductively at her.
“Be careful what you wish for?” she warned. “It might come true someday. Now go back to bed.” Cecelia smiled at her friend’s advances. He was simply playing, as he had always done. As children, he had always complimented her. Cecilia knew that he was simply trying to make her feel better about herself. As kids, she had always been heavy set and was often teased. Misha never let her feel inferior to anyone, ever.
Donnie had slept through the entire conversation. He normally wasn’t that deep of a sleeper, but the pain prescriptions he had taken just a few hours ago had knocked him completely out. After a few more hours of sleep, Misha and Cecilia left for school. They left Donnie still asleep. Cecilia picked him up and placed him on his bed and tucked him in before leaving. Misha marveled at her strength. Donnie was almost six feet tall and a muscular one hundred and seventy-five pounds. She lifted him up as if he been an infant. Donnie slept most of the day and woke up around 4:00 p.m. He was surprised that he had slept so long. His rib had felt better but still hurt to move around too much, so he spent most of the day watching TV and playing video games. Misha called him around 6:00 p.m. to check on him and make arrangements to meet up Friday night. He ate dinner, took his pills, and once again zonked out.
Abbie had spent most of the morning in a haze, replaying Cecilia’s words over and over in her mind. She was wondering if Cecilia was right, if leaving Donnie alone was the better choice. Don’t fight for what you don’t want. Did she want Donnie? Could she have him and get everything ready for school? If you want him, you’ll need to fight for him. Fight until you can’t fight anymore. She arrived at her house and went to bed. She was in no shape to go to school today and decided to sleep on it. She was certain her thoughts would be clearer after some sleep, but she was wrong. She dreamed of Donnie. She dreamed of being in his arms and kissing his soft lips once again. She dreamed of going to the prom. When she awoke, she wished she had never gone to sleep at all. She was worse off now. Abbie sobbed; her head and her heart were tearing her apart. She kept thinking to herself. It’s the only way you will get him back. You take action that makes him talk to you. Damn, that witch! How could she know him so well? Was she telling me to try to take him from her or that I had no chance? Abbie thought long and hard into the night, talking herself into and out the situation. In the end, in the battle between her head and her heart, there was a winner. She had decided what she was going to do.
