Seize the Day

“Theft?”

Cadey furrowed her brows, putting the pieces together. It all made sense. Ben did have a history of stealing stuff…among other things…

“So you mean to tell me,” Jimmy said, sitting back down on the bed by Cadey, “that your ex boyfriend is a klepto?”

“And a nymphomaniac,” Lacey nodded.

Jimmy and the other four guys looked to her for conformation. Even the nurse seemed to be finding interest in the group’s situation.

“Yeah?”

“That sounds like more of a question than a statement,” Brian noted.

Cadey put her head back on the pillows, “I can’t think straight. My head is pounding like a motherfucker.”

Matt chuckled, “Well I’m sure the lovely nurse here would be more than happy to give you some pain killers.”

The nurse, a young blond dressed in blue scrubs, gave a small smile to Matt and approached Cadey’s bed. Jimmy didn’t move a muscle.

“We’ve got you on vicodin, so it should help a bit. It might take a while to kick in, though.”

Cadey sighed, “It’s fine. I’m used to headaches, but not quite this bad.”

The nurse smiled and gave Cadey a pat on the leg, “No worries. You’ll be better in no time.”

She started to walk out of the room, but she was stopped by Matt.

Cadey smiled to herself. He was probably hitting on her.

Jimmy leaned over, careful of Cadey’s sore body parts and wires, and whispered in her ear, “I think Matt found a new friend.”

Cadey giggled quietly and turned to face Jimmy, their faces close together. She whispered back, “I think Brian and Zacky did too.”

Indeed, the three guys were all chatting with the nurse, much to her amusement, it seemed. Lacey and Johnny were obviously gossiping about it, and it made Cadey laugh a bit.

She cringed at the pain from laughing. Her body must’ve really taken a hit. It felt like that one time after summer camp in high school, when she fell off the top bunk…

Mental images of a ripped shirt around her neck and Ben in his dorm, smirking evilly at her from atop his bed gushed into Cadey’s mind. She clutched her head with her hands, wanting the images to go away. It was like a bad nightmare. That’s it; she was just remembering a nightmare.

Jimmy put a hand over hers, gently pulling one hand off of her head. He intertwined their fingers and looked at her, worry written all over his face.

“You okay, Cade?”

Cadey remembered when Ben would do was Jimmy was doing now. He would hold her hands, ask her if she was okay, and he would call her Cade.

Cadey couldn’t help her instincts as she cowered away from Jimmy, fear passing through her eyes. Jimmy didn’t understand.

“Cadey, what’s wro-”

“She thinks you’re Ben,” Lacey finished, one hand holding onto Johnny’s tightly. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Jimmy turned to Lacey, “Huh? Why would she think that?”

Cadey was shaking, but she didn’t understand why. She knew Jimmy wasn’t Ben. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He would never hurt her. He would never force her to do things she didn’t want to do.

Her mind was swirling with possible scenarios. She never should’ve gotten into a relationship so quickly. Sure she knew Jimmy, but did she really know him that well? What if he ended up just like Ben? What if he was an obsessive nymphomaniac who wanted nothing but to have sex with her all the time, everywhere? What if he stole things from her and her friends, and turned almost everyone against her? What if she became dependent on him and dependent on the sex? Would he turn her away? Would he threaten her if she didn’t give him what he wanted?

“Cadey? Cadey!”

She gasped and jumped, scooting as far away from Jimmy as she possibly could. Part of her was saying she should be running to him for comfort, not running away because she was afraid. She didn’t listen.

Jimmy’s face held a pained expression and Cadey felt her heart ache. She had hurt him, and they hadn’t even been dating for an hour.

Lacey crossed her arms, pulling them tightly around herself. Johnny stood behind her, almost protectively.

“She’s afraid,” Lacey said quietly, “she’s afraid that you’re like Ben. That you’ll treat her like he did.”

Jimmy shifted his gaze from Lacey back to Cadey. Her face, indeed still showing fear, told him that what Lacey said was true.

Cadey opened her mouth to defend herself, but there was nothing she could say. What Lacey said was true. She was afraid.

Jimmy ran his thumb along the backside of Cadey’s hand that she was still holding. She relaxed a bit at his touch, but her eyes were still conflicted.

“You know I’m not like that, don’t you?”

Cadey looked up at him helplessly. She did know that, yes, but there was that nagging fear in the back of her head. A fear she knew she would always be stuck with.

“I would never do anything like that to you. I don’t know everything that Ben,” Jimmy spat his name out like a disease, allowing his voice to return to calm afterwards, “may have done, but I would never do any of it. Trust me.”

Cadey wanted to trust him, she really did. He sounded so sincere, and she knew he meant every word he said. Still, she couldn’t help but be weary.

“I’m scared to trust you,” she said softly, not looking at him.

“Do you feel like we’re in the middle of a private moment?” Cadey heard Johnny ask Lacey. She smacked him on the arm.

“Shut up.”

Jimmy smiled slightly at Johnny and Lacey before giving his attention back to Cadey.

“I’ll just have to earn your trust then, huh?”

Cadey lifted her head slowly, so as to not hurt herself, and forced herself to look Jimmy in the eyes. She didn’t need to say anything. Her eyes said it all.

He would have to earn it, but it wouldn’t be hard.

Not at all.