Present - Jack
1299 Words
PRESENT
Jack
Jack had been overly optimistic about the hospital cafeteria having cappuccino’s so he settled for a slightly better cup of coffee than the vending machine. He was acutely aware of his shaking hands as he set the cup back down on the table. Wrapping his fingers around the styrofoam seemed to ground him a little. At least he had something to hold on to. His body had been so tense and now that he had settled down, his muscles were protesting.
Erin sat across from him pretending to be pleased with the coffee. He smiled on the inside and thought how funny the places life takes you. Jumping into Erin’s car without thinking of the consequences or the implications was a stupid thing to do. She was a journalist after all but as far as he could tell, she had not called in the story to her editor nor through any other channel. He checked his phone regularly for alerts as did his publicist. Maybe his first impression of her was all wrong but he did understand the tactics of news outlets to get a story or an interview no matter what. He’d had bad experiences in the past with pretty young journalists tasked to get a story out of him. Erin was too familiar for his liking and knew that was not a coincidence. He did not like being manipulated.
With her dark hair and brown eyes, Erin seemed genuinely unaware of any similarities that would make Jack uncomfortable. He did notice when they were outside the hospital, the sun’s reflection made her eyes an almost golden color. Erin took a sip of coffee probably in hopes of hiding her reddening cheeks after noticing his scrutinization. He seemed to have that effect on her if he stared for too long.
Erin looked like she was about to say something when a hospital administrator came by the table and sequestered Jack. He got up and noticed a cop standing by the exit of the cafeteria. Erin looked more nervous for him than he felt but he was no stranger to cops.
“We’d like to ask you a few questions.” The policeman said.
Jack gave him his signature defiant smirk. “Am I under arrest?” He held his hands towards him to be cuffed, jokingly. The vein that popped out of the cops’ temple told Jack he had gotten under his skin.
“Not yet.” He huffed.
Jack had not expected Hayley to appear but she must have known the cops were looking for him. “What’s going on here?” Her demeanor reminded him of Amber, the same way her looks did. Blonde hair, high cheekbones but her eyes were all Jack.
“This doesn’t concern you.” The cop held his hand up to stop Hayley from coming closer and Jack’s protective instincts kicked in.
“Do not,” Jack stepped in front of Hayley, “touch her.” He gave the cop a menacing look.
“Oh, I see you bring dates to the hospital, huh?” Hayley ignored the cop and looked in Erin’s direction, who did her best not to crawl under the cafeteria table.
“She’s not,” Jack didn’t know what Erin was but he certainly was not going to say she was a journalist. He turned to the cop, “Look, I don’t know what you want, but now is not a good time.”
“I just need to get a statement.” The cop said.
“How insensitive are you?” Hayley said to the cop, tears in her eyes that hadn’t yet spilled over. “My mother is lying in a hospital bed right now, fighting for her life. We don’t have time for this.”
“I’m sorry Ma’am.” The cop looked embarrassed. He turned toward Jack and said, “If you could come to the station later today and give a statement, we would appreciate it.”
Jack nodded but had no intention of going to the station this afternoon or anytime. Not that he did anything wrong but he was smart enough to know how things could spin out of control. Once the cop left, Hayley wheeled around and the look on her face made Jack’s heart deflate like a balloon. “She’s fighting for her life?”
Hayley gave him an annoyed look. “I only said that to get the cop to leave.”
Jack nodded appreciatively and Hayley looked away.
“Is she ok?” Jack asked.
“No thanks to you.” Was her response. Hayley stood with her arms crossed over her chest looking so very much like Amber it was scary. “She doesn’t want this in the press,” Hayley said sternly. “You need to speak to your publicist.”
“Already done.” He knew Amber well enough to already take care of it. “Can I see her?” Jack suggested.
“Like I said before, now is not a good time. I think you should go.”
He scratched the back of his head, messing up his hair even more. Clearly, she was ok enough to worry about the press.
“Hayley.” He said as more of a plea than anything else.
“You’ve done enough already,” Hayley said, clearly assuming this was all Jack’s fault.
Jack admitted to causing Amber a lot of pain in the past and lord knows they had their moments but he didn’t force her to jam a bottle of sleeping pills down her throat. He watched as Hayley walked back down the hall without saying goodbye. When she was out of sight, he turned and kicked the nearest chair causing it to land on its side after skidding across the floor a few feet. The administrator looked at him alarmed. She eyed the emergency phone on the wall.
“Don’t bother, I’m leaving.” He said to her in a huff and headed down the long hallway towards the exit. There was a tightness in his chest like someone had reached in and grabbed hold of his airways. Once outside, the fresh air hit him like a brick and he breathed in deeply. He was ready to bolt when he realized that he didn’t have a car and he had completely forgotten about Erin. He started to call Paul when he heard a whistle. Pulling up to the curb of the entrance was Erin.
He peered in the car, looking quizzically. “What are you doing?”
“I thought you might need a getaway car.” The look on her face was part amusement and part serious.
Jack shook his head and laughed. It was a laugh that escaped when you had no other option. A laugh that was pure hysteria. “Alright, let’s get out of here.”
“Where to?” Erin asked.
“To get a decent f*****g cup of coffee.” He slid into the passenger seat.
Erin put the car in gear and pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “Are you alright?”
It took him about a block to answer because he didn’t know what to say. He definitely was not alright. “You want me to do the interview?” Jack turned and asked her. There was one thing he knew for sure, if he agreed to talk to her, then he didn’t have to be alone.
“Are you sure you wanna do that?” Erin asked, out of concern.
“Turn left at the light.” He said.
“You’re not going to regret this.” Erin smiled
“Darlin’, I already have.” Jack gave her a wicked smile. He was only half-joking.
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