Discovering April (17 page)

“Let’s go, slowpoke!” I holler before taking off down the next pair of steps.

My blood is rushing until I reach the platform. My head grows lightheaded once I reach the top. My head is beginning to throb as I lean against the post, trying to catch my breath. I don’t have long to think about it because as I take in the height of the next line, my heart is racing with a new feeling. Anticipation. The boys catch up to me in a few seconds and we all lean over the edge and smirk at each other.

“You guys go first,” I tell them, leaning against the tree, still trying to catch my breath. Seems like my heart is beating out of my chest. Geez, get it together body. It’s not like I’m jumping off trees, for goodness sake!

“Oh, finally giving into defeat!” Eric calls from the edge. “Fine, I’ll go first!” he announces to everyone.

I roll my eyes. Of course he will.

“Are you okay?” Jared leans his palm against the tree next to my head.

“Yea, just trying to savor the last one and all,” I smile through the lie. My leg really hurts but I’m too stubborn to admit defeat, especially not around Eric.

“Okay, I’ll go second then!” he calls to the guys behind him.

Eric goes first and he just so happens to scream, “APRIL’S A PRISSY WHIMP!”

The boys snicker as Jared turns to me. “You started it!”

I just shake my head and hide a smile as I finally come away from the tree.

It feels like forever, but it’s finally my turn. It’s quiet as the guy straps me in. Finding the energy to finish this, I hop off the platform and again I’m freefalling. Basking in the last adrenaline rush of the day, I savor it, letting the line take me down to the final level. I allow my body to fall into the position I replicated last time. My feet hook into each other above my head. Leaning back, I hold onto the harness as my head comes under my legs. The platform comes into view below me and the faces of the boys waiting for me are completely worth the sore muscles tomorrow. Mouth gaping open shock greets me as they take in my upside down position. I underestimate the speed as I see that I’m coming in faster than usual. At this pace, my head is going to smack straight into the platform and that’s not going to be pretty. I quickly fumble to right myself. I let my feet fall maybe a little too fast and I wobble a little as I grip the harness between both hands again before I come into a sitting position again.
Smooth, real smooth April
.

The workers catch me this time before my shins hit once again. Before they can get me unharnessed, I’m surrounded by all three guys.

“Whoa!”

“Dude! She did the Spiderman!”

“It was alright.”

“Alright? Eric, she totally made you look like a pussy!” Mack punches him in the arm.

“Whatever!” he mutters, turning to head back down towards the parking lot.

“I thought it was awesome!” Jared whispers to me, picking me up to help me slip out of the harness. Placing me on my feet in front of him, he motions for me to guide the way this time.

“When did you come up with the idea to do that?” Mack asks me.

“I don’t know. I just kind of let go and gravity did it for me.”

“So awesome! You know this is going down in zip-lining history right?”

Eric honks at Mack from his car to hurry it along.

Reluctantly, he pats me on the back and adds, “Looks like someone is in a rush to go home and sulk. Jared, she’s invited to every zip-lining trip ever! She’s awesome!” he hollers as he runs off towards Eric’s car after the third, very persistent honk.

“I don’t know whether to be happy or concerned that my friends like you so much,” Jared tells me as we come around his Jeep. I slide into the passenger seat as he practically jumps into the driver’s seat.

“Your friends are smart. They recognize awesome when they see it – everyone but Eric, that is!” I tell him, clicking into my seat belt.

“Eric is a hard nut to crack, I don’t even think he likes me very much, but I sign his paychecks so he better deal!” He smirks at me, indicating he’s joking.

Starting off towards home, I feel the wind whipping around my face and the steady thrum of the engine begins to lull me to sleep.

I AWAKEN ONLY WHEN the car screeches to a stop in the driveway. I have a headache, but I try to ignore it, shaking my head as I climb out of the car. My foot gets stuck and I almost fall flat on my face onto the concrete driveway. The only thing keeping me from kissing the pavement is the seatbelt I forgot to take off. Jared loops around the Jeep in record speed to help me out of my seatbelt. Only then do I feel the throbbing pain as I put weight on my foot.

“Ahhh,” I mutter, practically falling into Jared’s arms.

“What is it?” he asks and I try to hide the tears welling in my eyes as I look up.

“My leg!” It’s all I can get out, muffling another scream. Pulling out his phone he turns the flashlight on to illuminate the bottom half of my right leg. I’m covered in dried blood. Maybe I can blame the blood loss, but my first reaction is:

“AW! These are my favorite jeans!”

“We have to get you to a hospital!” he states, picking me up under my shoulders and placing me back onto the seat.

“NO! I can’t!” I scream, struggling against him as he tried to put my seat belt back on.

“You‘re bleeding like crazy. We have to get you help!” His anxiety is rising; I can tell from the way his voice goes a little high-pitched.

I grab his tee shirt before he can move. “No, you don’t understand, I don’t have insurance… I can’t afford to go to the hospital.”

He looks me in the eye, like he finally understands.

“I can’t afford another bill right now, Jared,” I admit, not able to look him in the eye.

He pauses for a second, biting his bottom lip as he’s debating his options. Without warning, he hooks my arm over his shoulders and picks me back up. He then heads in the house. He practically kicks the door down before placing me on the couch just inside the first room and he disappears. I lean back against the light color couch, running my fingers along the fine cloth. Maybe this is the wrong place for a bleeding mess like me to be right now. But before I can move, Jared is back with a large first aid kit in his hands. Without a word, he rips open the leg of my jeans up to my knee.

“Now look what you did! I’ll never be able to wear these again!” I mutter, throwing my arm over my face.

“I’m pretty sure those are the least of your worries.” He tries to hide his sarcasm in my vulnerable state. Before I can retort, he continues. “It’s deep. I think you need stiches… are you sure…”

“Jared, please,” I can’t hold back the tears any longer; one has already escaped and ventured down my cheek. He pauses again, looking me in the eyes before nodding and getting to his feet.

“This isn’t going to be pretty…” he warns me, opening a cabinet in the corner, under a drooping plant. I have to blink twice before my eyes register the bottle of Jack Daniels in his hands. “You’re going to need this.”

“Oh, Jack! My old friend!” I pull the bottle to my chest in a hug.

“Believe me, you don’t want to be sober for this!” He takes the bottle back and pours me a glass. I begin to sip it quietly as I watch him readying what looks like a needle and floss. He grabs a disinfectant wipe out of the kit and rips it open with his teeth before he pauses to look at me. I take another swig of Jack and nod. The wipe feels like sandpaper against my wound. I scream in agony and push Jared away by the shoulder.

“I have to clean it. Relax and take another sip,” he tells me, ready to sandpaper me again.

“Do you have any anesthesia in that kit of yours?”

“Nope, that must be in another kit.” I see his eyes roll slightly, but worry seems to overpower his sense of humor. “Are you sure you want to do this? I can take you…”

“I’m sure. Nevermind,” I put my cup down on the table and grab the bottle. Leaning my head back, I let the alcohol drip down my throat. Thank God it’s the honey flavor so it’s easier to get down. I swallow a few times before I feel it humming through my veins. My vision gets a little hazy, and the room is slightly slanted. “Okie dokey, I’m ready!”

He takes a deep breath. “Are you sure you wanna do this?” he repeats. “I will pay for your hospital bill…”

“It’s okay. You look like you’re good with your hands.”

He looks at me oddly and I burst out laughing when I realize what I just said. A sly smile creeps over his face at my change in disposition.

“I mean, I trust you.”

“Okay.” He sighs before rubbing once again at the open gash on my leg. I don’t even feel it this time. He readies the floss through the needle and is about to puncture me when he looks at me. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I say, nodding my head once before staring up at the ceiling, hoping I don’t feel a thing.

My hopes are shattered as I feel the tip penetrate my skin and slide through it to the other side. It glides along in painful precision until I feel it stop at the knot. I don’t realize I’m screaming until Jared is grabbing my face.

“April! April!” His eyes are wild with terror.

“I’m okay, I’m okay!” I grab his wrist and look deep into his eyes, trying to calm him down, “I’m okay. I can do this.”

He kneels back on his knees, reaches for his belt, and swings it out through the loops. I reach over and take another long swig of Good Ol’ Jacky D and take the belt from him.

“Bite down hard every time you want to scream.”

I nod, showing I heard him.

He picks up the needle where he dropped it on the couch. My blood is already making its mark on his furniture. This time, I don’t look up at the ceiling; there’s no point. If I’m going to feel it, I want to watch every second. I place the belt between my teeth, take a deep breath, and nod once again. Jared doesn’t hesitate this time. He begins right away, knowing the faster he begins, the faster this is over with.

I never scream once. My teeth have a death grip on his belt and I’m pretty sure I’ll taste leather for the rest of my life, but I never scream. I watch as Jared weaves the needle in and out of my skin like an expert. Even though my vision is blurred and it’s hard to keep my head straight I realize I was right – Jared is good with his hands. By the time he slides the last loop in and cuts off the string with his teeth, I let my head fall back against the pillows. He looks over at me and pries the belt from my mouth.

“It’s okay, it’s over,” he says. “I think it’s time you get some rest.” He picks up the bottle of Jack from the table and pours the rest over my leg. I must be numb or exhausted because I don’t seem to feel it.

He comes to kneel beside me. “I’m just going to …” he struggles to inform me as his arms circle around me. I drowsily lean into him and let him pick me up off the couch. I vaguely feel when he kicks the front door closed. My blurry vision is captured by the damaged lock dangling down from its loose screws. I close one eye and look up at Jared’s face, hard, serious, concentrated.

“Thanks, Jare,” I tell him as we ascend the steps. “Turns out I was right … you are good with your hands.”

He smirks at my attempt at a joke. “Considering I just performed minor surgery, I’d say so!”

“Where’d you learn to do that?” I whisper, my cheek on his shoulder.

“Well, you snowboard and cliff dive enough, you learn how to fix things,”

“So you’ve done that before?”

“I’ve popped in a nose and a shoulder or two, but no, I’ve never had to stitch someone up before.” He jostles me around a bit as we reach the second floor. He walks me into the room all the way down the hall to the left. My body slides closer to him as his elbow flicks the light on. My nose touches the edge of his neck before he maneuvers himself over to the bed and places me down on a white metal bed. He carefully sets me down so that I’m sitting up on top of the lavender covers. As I look around, I notice everything is lavender; it’s like purple threw up in here. My head is spinning and I have to lean back against the cool metal post to center myself again. Jared pulls up a white wicker chair from the corner, and what do you know, it has purple pillows.

My eyes gravitate down to my leg and I gasp. “I look like Frankenstein!” I shriek before meeting Jared’s eyes. “Will I have a scar?”

“I hope not. I’d hate to be the one responsible for ruining your perfect legs!”

“You know what?” I come to an epiphany as I pull myself up from the bed. “It would be an honor to be scarred by you, Jare Bear! The scar can remind me of when I got my fight back. It’ll serve as a reminder never to get back to the point where I was. This scar marks the
new
April. I will take it as an honor.”

He makes a funny look at me that my blurry vision just slightly catches. I ignore it and throw the covers over my leg, mainly because I can’t stand him staring at them any longer. Scooting down further into the bed, I lay my head gently against the pillows.

“Jare, do you remember the time when we found that old stick of dynamite in that barn by the lake and lit it by accident?”

I see the memory dance behind his eyes as his grin widens. “Yea, that was quite a fun night.”

“Well, I have to say... I think today was better that!” I swing my arm for emphasis. “I mean besides the whole Bride of Frankenstein scar and everything.” I hiccup.