Idioms...sayings understood by native speakers part sixty three
Jenny got into Rick's car.
"Drop me off to the hospital." was all she said.
Rick wondered what happened but did not pry.
The rest of the ride was in silence.
As she got out of the car, Rick asked, "Are you going to be okay?"
"I will be. I just need to see Carl. Tell the twins thank you. Please take care of my brother and his friend... they are good people. Tell Lynn and Charlie to take care."
"Jenny? Why do I think you are telling me good bye? Lynn will be devastated... "
"Don't worry. Okay?"
She headed into the hospital.
Rick pulled out his cell phone.
"Carl?"
"Yeah."
"Jenny is coming up."
"So is Uncle John finished with her?"
"I am not sure what you mean but nothing happened. He threatened to burn down my friends' house. So Jenny agreed to meet with him. That is all."
"Really?"
"Yeah. She is in a strange mood though. I thought I should let you know."
"Thanks for the heads up. Any time with Uncle John can put you in a strange mood."
"You got that right. Get some rest."
Jenny walked into the hospital room. Carl took one look at her and held his arms open. She crawled into them and cried like a baby. When her tears ended in sobs and sniffles, he pulled her away to look at her face.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes... I guess so."
"Want to tell me what happened?"
"No."
He sighed. "I love you. But you have to go."
"I know."
"Just promise me that you will be happy."
"How can I promise that? I love you too much."
"Jenny, I will make this right. I know I told you that before, but I will make it right."
"Shut up. I just want to stay here with you for now. In the morning, I will leave. Tell Lynn I love her and that I will see her again someday...Her and Charlie."
---
Rick got back to the house.
Lynn and Charlie were sitting on the rocking chairs waiting for him.
"Hey, why aren't you two in bed?"
"Like we could sleep. How is Jenny?"
"She met up with him and then... when I saw her come back, I lost it."
"How so?"
"I hit John."
"Rick, that is like a declaration of war."
"Yes. I know. Jenny went to see Carl. I think she is going to leave."
"No, she can't."
"Lynn, I cannot argue with her. She would be safer if she was some where else." He looked at Lynn and Charlie who was yawning. "I think maybe it would be best if you two went with her."
"No." She paused, "You just declared war on one of the most devious men I have ever seen. And you want me to leave? I think not." She got up. "Come on, Charlie. Let's get you ready for bed."
Rick watched the girl march into the little house. He sighed and looked up at the sky. If ever I needed help, please... I beg you keep them safe. Please keep everyone safe.
He walked into the house and shut the door.
---
Deshaun and Dejuan now had three house guests. Scott had returned and decided to sleep in the computer room. Larry got the couch and Joey got the floor.
"Sorry for such cramped corners, guys."
"We are fine. As long as we are not in that place any more, we will make due." Larry stated.
Joey smiled. "Believe me, I have been in worse straights. I do wanna thank you two for making room for us. We will help you in anyway we can."
Dejuan laughed. "No worries. Really. I want you to be at home here...Okay?"
"I am going to need you two to update me on things. Meet me in the computer room in fifteen, all right?" Scott stated abruptly.
"Fine." He paused, "Get some rest guys."
---
Rick sat on the steps sipping a beer. It had been a long hard day. Tomorrow would bring more trouble. Lynn came out and sat down beside him.
"Penny.."
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Try to make me feel better. Right now, I think I need some space."
"Oh." She got quiet.
He waited....she didn't say anything... He waited some more and the phrase that the silence was deafening became real. Still she just sat there and looked at the stars.
"Say something."
"What should I say?"
"Anything... It is getting on my nerves. Tell me you blame me for using Jenny. "
"Rick, why would I blame you?"
"Because the only plan I could come up with was to put your friend on the line."
"And?"
"And she is leaving."
"And?"
"And I feel like I cannot find my way out of this hell."
"Oh."
"Say something."
"I love looking at stars. I am too close to the towns street lights to see them very well at my house. But here, I feel like I could almost touch them."
"Huh?"
"They are so beautiful, so surreal...to think that we are just a spec in this universe... actually probably a micro spec, if there is such a word. So in the scheme of life, this whole thing is meaningless... unless you care about something."
"Lynn...you are not making sense."
" Rick, you care so much that you put forth everything you have... the problem is, you won't let others take care of you. And that makes you have to run on empty."
She got up and went inside.
Rick started to stare at the stars with a new appreciation. When he felt a nudge, he turned and she was holding a plate.
"I sent most of the food over to the twins, but, here. You need to eat something and then go to bed. Okay?"
She got up to leave and he grabbed her hand. "Please, sit down. I want to talk more about stars."
---
Jenny quietly got up. Carl was sound asleep. She stretched and yawned. Looking at her watch she saw it was four am. She pulled out her cell phone to call for a taxi when the night shift nurse walked in.
"Great, you're up."
"Ah, er, yes."
"Um, Mr. Matthews' mother is awake and she wants to see you. You are Jenny, right?"
"Yes."
"She is really upset and a little disoriented. The ICU nurse called me to see if you still were here. Would you mind going to see Mrs. Matthews?"
"Sure. No problem." Jenny closed her phone and went downstairs.
Sara was flailing in the bed, Her male nurse was trying to hold her down and Jenny already knew what the problem was.
"Stop." She stated.
The man let go of Sara. Jenny went to her and said. "Sara, it is me, Jenny."
The woman focused and grabbed Jenny's hands for dear life.
"I know this may sound strange to you, but could you arrange a female nurse to take care of Sara. It is not you. It is because of her assault and coming off the drugs. I think she might be having flash backs. Can you arrange that?"
The male nurse took a deep breath. "The request is unusual. But I can see your point. I will see what I can do. Can you keep her from pulling out the tube. Somehow she managed to untie her restraints."
"I won't leave her."
Jenny held onto Sara's hands and maintained eye contact.
"Sara, I know this is confusing. But we got you away from A.J. No one is going to hurt you here. You had severe damge to your internal organs. Sara, we almost lost you." Jenny's voice broke. "I am so sorry. When I said those things to you to goad you into leaving A.J. I did not realize he would go so far." Tears started to stream.
Sara pulled her hand away and wiped Jenny's tears away.
She shook her head no.
"No? What do you mean?"
Sara tried to talk, then realized she could not. She gently pulled Jenny's hand to her face and smiled. As if to say it is gong to be all right.
A nurse entered into the room. "Hi, my name is Janet. I will resume care for Mrs. Matthews."
"Thank you. Is it okay if I stay a little while longer?"
"Sure. I may have to ask you to move every now and then, but otherwise you can stay."
---
John lay in his bed. Thinking over the whole incident with Jenny, he came to a conclusion.
"If one dominates, the other is subdued. I really am better than that. She just caught me off guard, that's all." Was she really like that or just a very good actress. It would be interesting to find out....
He had not had this kind of sleepless night since he drowned Allan, he looked over at the clock. It was five am.
---
Lynn rolled over and hit the alarm. Charlie was asleep on the roll away and Rick was snoring lightly beside her. She stretched and yawned getting up to get ready, for today was the day they would go to the deaf and blind schools.
---
Scott had finished downloading the deleted files from Rehab. Now he was going for analysis of the data. What he was finding was very interesting in a NAZI kind of thinking.... Everyone was assigned numbers as to blood type, tissue type and age. O1AA meant O positive blood, at least 18-25 years old and healthy, and African American. A2CEER meant that that persom was Type A blood, 26-35 years of age and Eastern European and Russian... the list went on 3 indicated 36 to 45, 4 indicated 45-52, and 5 was for the 53 and older group.
He noticed an ICON of an old fashioned book keeper and hit it. There were invoice orders... Those pending and those that had already recieved the merchandise. He yawened again and rubbed his eyes. He jumped when he heard the door open.
"Um, here. I thought you might need this." Joey entered into the room quietly and placed his crooked arm for the man to take the coffee. "I don't know if you drink it black or not."
"Thanks. I needed this."
"Any time. How goes it?"
"It tells everything but who is behind it. You would not believe how meticulous they kept these records. What is your name?"
"Um, Joseph Bonner. Why?"
"Well, Joseph, you are O positive, class 5, American Irish. I wonder why you are a class 5?"
Joey looked over the man's shoulder, "What does an asterick mean?"
"Ah, I must be getting tired, I did not even see it." He looked down.
"Oh. IVDA."
"Wow, they even found that out?"
"So you do drugs?" Scott turned and looked at him.
"Not anymore. I have been clean for five years."
"Five years? When did you start as an infant?"
"Sort of. Just born in a family that thought more of getting a fix than taking care of the kids."
"Oh."
"I cleaned up when I was placed in foster care with Larry and Jenny."
"I bet that was tough."
"But worth it. I would have probably been dead by now."
"How did they change you?"
"Oh, Jenny beat me up when I tried to run away to get a fix. As she was hitting me, she told me she was doing it out of love."
"Really?"
"She did not hurt anything vital, she just made sure that I wasn't going any where. Besides, I hit her first."
"Ah... I see. And Larry?"
"He held the bucket as I threw my guts up. He washed me down as I sweat like a pig. He held me as I cried like a baby. I barely remember it though. Jenny taped the whole thing so I would not forget it."
"Wow."
"Mama Kay was there too. She and Jenny and Larry took care of me. I was luckier than most of my family."
Scott took another drink of his coffee. "So what were you doing before you guys got hurt?"
"This and that. Jenny took the money she saved and opened a bar. Larry went to bar tending school and I became the server."
"Sounds nice."
"it was. And I want it back, so, Scott, if there is anything I can do to help, anythng, just ask me."
"Er, could I trouble you for another cup?"
"No problem." The boy crooked his arm and Scott placed the cup there.
---
Carl felt his bed. Jenny was gone. He made himself get up and sit on the side of the bed. It was for the best. John would never give up on her and he was in no condition to protect her. The nurse came in.
"My you are up early. We have some good news. Your mother woke up last nght and they are extubating her this morning. Er, I mean they are taking the breathing tube out this morning.
Carl rubbed his eyes and smiled. "When can I see her?"
to be continued.
