With You

"Go talk to him."

I looked over at Rob who was picking lazily at the unidentifable food on our trays.

"Go talk to who?" I asked, playing dumb.

He looked up at me with a blunt expression. "Who do you think?"

"I don't know," I said, quickly looking down at my food.

"Jen..."

"I'm not going to go talk to him, okay?" I snapped, before putting my head in my hand and turning my face away from him.

"Why? You guys have Art together everyday. Just staring at him across the room does not provide a healthy relationship. It shows him how insecure you are and that you may be a threat to his saftey."

I slowly looked at him and narrowed my eyes. "Who are you? Oprah?"

He shrugged. "I'm just saying. Sooner or later Mike's gonna see you staring at him and he's gonna think you're a creeper."

"You're a creeper."

"You have terrible comebacks."

"You're a terrible comeback."

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Shut up, Rob!" I said, going back to resting my head in my hand.

"Go...talk...to..."

"I'm not going to!"

"Hey, Robby!"

I gagged on that overly sweet voice of Rob's girlfriend, Lindsey. To put it nicely, I wish she'd get ran over by a bus and then the bus would stop and back over her. And then drive over again. And then back over her again and...you get the point.

"Oh, look, here comes your personal prostitute," I said quietly, earning a glare from Rob.

"Hey, sweety," she said, strutting over and practically sticking her tongue down his throat. Of course, Rob didn't exactly object. He was a horny Sophomore looking for some chick who would do him whenever he pleased. I shuddere.

I cleared my throat. Nothing. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat louder. When they looked at me, I smiled, thinking: "Yeah, I'm still here."

"Oh, hi...uh...I'm sorry. What's your name again?" Lindsey asked, throwing me a fake ass smile.

"Very funny," I said, throwing her the same look back.

"Oh, that's right. Jenni-loser."

"Wow, you have really stupid ways to hurt somebody's ego. That proves that your own has been hurt by all the guys you must sleep with. I'm surprised its not already gone by now with how many of them you've f--"

"Jen!" Rob barked.

I looked at him innocently. "What?"

He looked right back at me, his eyes saying, "What the hell? Leave!"

"Well, I know when I'm not wanted," I said getting up.

"Apparently not fast enough," Lindsey muttered, setting herself in Rob's lap.

I gave her a tight smile before I quickly walked away, throwing my untouched food in the garbage.

"Lindsey's so awesome, isn't she?"

I turned to see Brad with a facial expression that probably mirrored mine.

"Oh, yeah. She's a keeper."

Brad smirked. "I thought Rob was smarter than that."

"So did I..." I mumbled as we walked out of the lunch room.

"She's trying to get him to join her brother's band."

"What?" I looked at Brad, my eyes wide.

He nodded and then looked at me. "You wouldn't be interested in a drumming career would you?"

"I'm not as good as Rob," I said.

"You've been to all our practices. You probably know all the songs."

I shrugged and didn't admit that, yeah, I kinda did.

"Either that or you go talk to him."

"Why would I go talk to him?" I asked.

"Because you're his best friend and he'll listen to you."

I snorted. "Do you know how long I've been trying to get them broken up? He thinks she's 'the one'."

"You're kidding me."

"No," I grumbled. "Its disgusting, really."

"Yeah, it is. My bet was always on you two getting together."

I stopped and stared at Brad in silence for about two minutes. "Are you crazy?"

"Rob!" I gasped as my eyes suddenly snapped open. I looked around the room, completely lost on where I was, searching for his face.

The first face I saw was Adam's. Then I saw Teal's.

"Hey, welcome back," she said with a smile.

"Where's Rob?" I asked without thinking.

Adam and Teal shared a look and I as my brain cleared, I knew what I said wasn't right.

"Uh...he went back to rehab the other morning when they moved you here," Teal answered, looking at me.

I saw Dustin leave the room, probably to get a nurse.

"Do you remember anything?" Adam asked, his face still worried from my question.

"Yeah," I answered slowly. "A little. Not exactly why I'm lying here, but I know you're the
marvelous boyfriend that I love."

Wow, that sounded lame even to my own ears, but it worked for Adam because his face visibly relaxed and his smile returned.

"Someone hit you guys, well...mostly you. You got pretty banged up," Teal said.

The first thing I did was wiggle my toes so I knew I'd be able to walk out of here. They worked. "Damage?" I asked, biting my lip nervously.

Teal filled me on everything. The shoulder, the ribs, the lung. Because of the lung damage, I was on oxygen for the time being.

"You got away pretty lucky. A little physical therapy and you'll be hauling ass just like you used to."

"Oh, yay," I said unenthusiastically.

"What do you need?" Adam asked.

I needed Rob. Wait! No, I didn't! I quickly threw that thought from my head. What the hell am I thinking? Rob's gone. Never to return. No, no, no, no, no, no! Don't go down that path, Jen! You have this smexy guy sitting next to you! Pay attention to him.

I smiled at Adam. "All I need is you," I said.

"Aw, you two are too cute!" Teal said with a grin.

"Shut up."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the hospital bed."

"Shut up, Teal."

</3

Did I mention how much a hate hospitals? Everyone's all up in your business, wanting to know how you feel, what you see, what you hear, blah, blah, blah! Being taken care of because you're temporarily crippled isn't as bad as when people stare at you like a suicidal lunatic, but its still annoying. I guess I've always hated having attention drawn to me. That's why I'm a photographer. Duh. I'm behind the camera instead of in front of it...

Anyways, I was in the hospital for about five days. Five days of pure agonizing torturous attention from nurses and doctors and respiratory and bone dudes and oh my God, make it stop! The only upside was that the guys came a visited me as much as they could.

"Bed rest for the next three days to see how you get along and--"

"Haven't I already been on bed rest?" I asked drily.

Doctor Still chuckled at me. "Jen, I know how you feel, but if you think your side hurts now...wait until one of those ribs slips from its placement again." I grimaced. "Exactly. So bed rest, medication. If you have any problems, let me know right away."

"Okay!" I said, trying to rush things along. "Thank you very much, Doctor Still."

He smiled, said good-bye, and Teal was wheeling me out.

"I feel old," I said as we got outside.

Teal giggled. "I have a sudden urge to push this thing out into traffic."

"If you do, I'll haunt you for the rest of your miserable life."

"I can see the hospital didn't bring down your perky attitude," Dustin said, leaning against his car as Adam opened the passanger door for me. His poor car had gotten totalled.

"Shut up, Boxon," I muttered as I slowly got up from my wheel chair and into the passanger seat. Adam closed the door and got into the back behind me. Teal got in on the other side.

We drove to the apartment complex. Then I really felt old. It took me forever to get up the freaking stairs! When I finally got into bed, I was out of breath.

"Stupid lung," I growled, situating myself on the mattress.

"I'll go make you something. What do you want?" Teal offered, making sure I was comfortable.

"I don't care," I sighed. "You don't have to get me anything."

"I will."

"Toast."

"Okay, toast it is."

When she was gone, Adam sat on the edge of my bed and sighed. "I wish I could trade spots with you."

I shook my head. "Don't say that," I said, before I yawned. "Man, these pain killers are..." I trailed off, not really caring to finish.

Adam smiled. "Get some sleep."

He didn't have to tell me twice.