Jennifer spent the entire night at the hospital bench. She refused to eat or drink anything at all. "You have to eat. You'll fall sick." James tried to offer her a drink after explaining her a thousand disadvantages of not eating properly. "I can't. Not until I've seen Adrian is okay." Jennifer said the same sentence for the thousandth time that night.
Next morning when Jennifer opened her eyes, she saw James talking to a nurse. He looked so listless and tired. Jennifer was sure he hadn't slept all night. They both were talking about something, looking very serious when their moment was interrupted by at least 20 people storming into the hospital, screaming James' name. James was so taken aback that he couldn't even reply to them.
"What happened?"
"What did you do?"
"You were there with him. Right? How did this happen?"
"I'm going to strangle the person responsible for this, with my own hands."
Many boys and girls, yes! boys and girls not men and women, came at James all at once, asking questions to which he had no answer. They all looked too mature for their age. Jennifer recognized two of them. There was this girl she had seen and the boy next to him, they both were present the day Adrian burnt Kurt's casino. All other faces were also strangely familiar.
Jennifer got up rubbing her eyes. One of their girls turn to her, "What is she doing here?" she asked James. "Currently, she is the only one Adrian is going to respond to. So, I brought her here." James explained. Jennifer got up and greeted the crowd. She went near James and whispered in his ear, "How do they know me?"
"You are Jennifer Williams, daughter of famous businessman Michael Williams. Who doesn't know you?" James lied perfectly. Jennifer's expressions turned sour at the mention of her father. "Can I go and meet him?" Jennifer asked to the nurse who was standing nearby. She nodded, leading Jennifer into the ICU. When Jennifer saw Adrian on the hospital bed, she was so scared.
She ran up to Adrian and crouched near his bed. "Adrian? Can you hear me?" she asked. "He can but he is too week to reply to you." The nurse told her. Jennifer requested the nurse to go so she can get some alone time with him. When the nurse left, Jennifer turned to Adrian and said, "Adrian, Please get up. I don't know what happened. How this happened. I don't know anything. All I know that I really need you by my side. When I entered high school, I saw you in the cafeteria for the first time and I was so disgusted by you but now all I can feel is how desperate I am to see you getting up on your own and hug me as if the would is going to end tomorrow."
Jennifer broke down at the end of her tiny speech. She held Adrian's hand and cried, "Please get up. I don't know how I will actually get through the day without you. Let alone the entire life." Adrian was so moved by Jennifer that he mustered up all his strength and moved his fingers around Jennifer's hand slightly. Jennifer looked up to meet his eyes, she could see sorrow, worry, care, hurt, guilt but most importantly she saw love in his eyes. The will to get up and recover.
Jennifer was trembling when James entered the room with a cup of coffee, "Want some?" He asked. He was still too guilty to look at Adrian in his eyes. Jennifer turned to James and declined politely. "James, I want to go home. I'll come and visit him from time to time. Take care of him." Jennifer said as she got up from the floor and grabbed James' arm to lead him outside. "I told him I'm going home so that he doesn't get stressed out about me and my dad. I need some hours to set my life. Get some clothes for example. I'll return in a few hours. Take care of him and yourself as well. You don't seem so good."
Jennifer exited the hospital to enter the streets again. Lost and unsure of the future, she decided to see if her card was still working. Miraculously, it was still working. Jennifer knew that if she used her card, her father would track her location thorough it. So she decided to skip out of town, and shop for all necessities. Jennifer asked James to lend her money for the bus fare which he gladly did. She promised to return it and left town.
Jennifer wasn't really sure which town she should go. So, she decided to divide the money into two halves and use it entirely to get as far as possible. After the journey of 6 hours, Jennifer reached some unknown semi- urban civilization. She went into a shop and got herself some food. She shopped for about two hours. It was taking so long because she had decided to completely change her style. Instead of glamourous and elegant dresses, Jennifer decided to dress up in ripped jeans, crop tops, a leather jacket and combat boots.
When Jennifer returned to her town, it was night fall. The rain was pouring and Jennifer was still unsure of where to go. It had been more than 24 hours she had been out of house. She had nowhere to go. She decided against going to the hospital because the heavy rain had blocked the roads to the hospital. She spent the night roaming around Adrian's home, roaming around in the streets. The hospital sight was painful but his home was a reminder of happy memories. Jennifer was drenched in rainwater from head to toe.
Her hair were sticking to her face. Her clothes were full of water. Shoes were creating humid noises when she walked. Her fingertips were dripping and so were her eyes. Memories of her father, her mother flooded her brain. She was missing her parents so bad. She was missing Adrian so bad. She was missing everything and everybody. She wanted Adrian to wake up. She wanted him to return home. That night, Jennifer slept on the pavement in front of Adrian's mansion. At some time, this mansion was nothing compared to the riches she owned but now the tables had turned.