A dancing monkey, p.8
A Dancing Monkey, page 8
“Jon’s such a sweetheart, even as he goes through all the crap life wants to throw at him.” I smile as I stretch out onto the couch.
“September 1st:
Dear Diary,
I decided to leave the job at the shoe store when I got a better job offer at the auto detailing place closer to campus. The work is nice, I get to take care of everyone else’s pride and joy. One day maybe I could get a car like one of these for myself. I’ve always wanted a huge muscle car with an impressive stereo system. But for now, I could pretend like these projects were my very own.”
“Yeah, Jon. Just don’t run into douche-bags like Hunter.”
Before I could turn the page, my phone hails another call. This time, it’s from Ethan. “Hey, Ethan.” I answer.
“Melissa, it’s an emergency!” Ethan says with disdain
“What? Ethan, what’s going on?!” I shout.
“There’s been an accident. You need to get over to the hospital now.” Ethan explains with a harsher tone.
“Oh my god! What happened?!” I panic while I immediately jump up from the couch.
“I’ll explain when you get here. Something to do with this Hunter guy Elizabeth has been seeing. Please, hurry.” Ethan replies and hangs up.
-Chapter 13-
“This can’t be right. This can’t be right. This can’t be right…” I keep murmuring to myself as I rush out of the house. Why is there an accident? There’s not supposed to be an accident! I prevented the accident from happening to Demi, didn’t I? This can’t be right…
“I did what you warned me about, Jon!” I say flinging my purse into the car before jumping in.
I take care not to drive so aggressively on the way to the hospital, afraid not to let the same thing happen to me. “I’m so confused. The entry for Liz was to keep from being involved with a cheating bastard, the one for an accident was for someone different.” I complain to myself, trying to sort out everything in my head.
The sun has already gone down for the day. Street lights streak by contrasting against the dark sky. Everything is hazy except for the road before me. I’m focused only on getting to my friend that I was determined to keep safe. And now, she could be seriously injured, or worse.
The exit is coming up just ahead. The towering hospital building slowly comes into view.
I turn the car off the freeway and make it into the parking lot of the Manderville Medical Center. The whole building was painted white. It has to be at least 12 stories high. Each corner of the roof had an illuminating red beacon. Windows are speckled with lights that are on and off. The front has a line of ambulances sitting under a large “Emergency” sign. To the side of the main building, I notice a landing pad complete with a blue and white helicopter.
“Helicopter.” I whisper as I turn into the parking spot closest to the entrance.
After swinging my car door open, I jump out slinging my purse over my left shoulder as I run into the building. Passing through the automatic sliding door, my nose is met with a strong smell of medical supplies. The whole ward was alive with activity. I hurry to the huge reception counter where a group of nurses dressed in light blue smocks were busy on their computers and tablets.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for my friend Elizabeth Blackwell. She was just administered.” I explain to the first nurse who notices my presence as I approach.
“Yes, ma’am. Let’s see here.” The nurse types in Liz’s name into his computer and waits a second for the room location.
“Ms. Blackwell is in room B-288, she just came out of intensive care. Just take this elevator on the right up to the next floor and go left down the hall. Her room will be the 6th door on the right.” He says while still looking at his monitor.
“Thank you so much.” I say as I rush towards the elevator. I follow the instructions and get to the cluster of rooms. I quickly glance around at each door plaque and see Liz’s marked room. I head to the door and peek into the little window to see Liz unconscious and Ethan sitting down at the foot of the bed.
Slowly opening the door, I poke my head in trying to be as quiet as I can. Ethan looks up at me and motions me to enter the room. “She’s in stable condition.” Ethan says as I walk in.
The hospital room is small. The bed Liz is laying on took up most of it as it is covered with bed sheets. A large whiteboard affixed is on one of the beige painted walls. Names of doctors and nurses who are assigned to Liz’s care are written on it. Tiny noises can be heard from behind Liz’s pillow from a plethora of blinking monitoring machines. . Small cords and tubes lined her arms connecting in various ways I can’t really comprehend.
“Ethan, what’s going on?” I say as I stand over Liz. Her face was slightly pointed away, covered in bruises and bandages. Her blonde streaked hair is a jumbled mess. All the layers of makeup were cleaned from her face. I can’t remember the last time I saw her without any makeup on, but she is still beautiful. Tears start streaming down my face.
I turn towards Ethan for an explanation as I notice his own set of injuries. Cuts run along his forehead and a black eye covering almost the entire left side of his face. It looks as if both of them just came back from a combat zone. His hands are cupped together while his elbows rest on his knees. Through all his facial injuries, I can see the worry in his eyes for Liz as well.
After a moment of silence in the room between us, he begins to speak quietly. “Before I explain, I want to thank you for talking with me the other day. You know, the conversation about my feelings and stuff?”
“Oh, uh. Yeah, I remember.” I say stammering in place in a slight awkwardness.
Just before Ethan can say anything else, a person pushes through the door slowly. I turn around to see: he’s a young doctor dressed in long white smocks with pockets full of medical instruments. He has noticeable bags under his brown eyes. He looked at both of us with a smile and then at Liz. Under his right arm, he held a clipboard. As he entered the room, he took it into his left hand and held up to review Liz’s treatment. “Hello” He says to me with his right hand extended at me.
I shake his hand replying, “I’m Mel, hi.”
“We called both of her close friends. Gabi should be here soon.” Ethan explains.
“Oh yes, hello Mel. I’m Dr. Vu, I’ve been in charge of Liz. She’s been beaten up pretty bad, but she’s lucky. It could have been a lot worse if she wasn’t brought in so soon.”
I glance back at Liz still anxious to know how she and Ethan ended up in such bad shape.
Dr. Vu has me sit down in the chair next to Ethan. “Liz was in a critical state but I’m happy to say she will be just fine. She’s suffered a tremendous blow to the side of her upper body. She has two cracked ribs, a broken arm, and some muscle tearing on her shoulder. We’ve managed to stop the internal bleeding and the bruising along her hands and hip will clear up. Luckily there was no spinal injury, or serious head trauma. She’s been under light sedation. It won’t be long until she comes to, but she’ll definitely need her rest.” Explains the doctor standing at the foot of the bed.
“Oh my god…” I whisper to myself with my hand up to my mouth, trying hard to process what Liz has been going through.
Ethan stands up and asks, “Dr. Vu, would you excuse us for a little while, I want to take some time to explain the situation to Melissa.”
“Of course.” he responds, scribbling notes onto his clipboard, “Ring for the nurse if you folks need anything.” Ethan and I both smile and thank him. The doctor disappears into the hallway and the door closes softly behind him.
My hands are clamoring with anticipation. “Alright, Ethan.” I look over to him as he sits down next to me.
Ethan’s gaze is set on Liz, wearing a look of adoration and pride for her. After settling into his seat, he turns towards me and begins: “I’ve been working up the nerve to call Elizabeth the whole day. But, the second I reached for my phone, I got a call from her instead.”
-Chapter 14-
Looking down to see that Elizabeth is calling me, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some twist of fate. Perhaps I’m just being paranoid. Even though she’s a very close friend, I can barely ever remember a time she chose to call me. I answer the call. “Hello?”
“Hey. Ethan, it’s me.” Elizabeth says. Her voice was low toned and quieter than usual.
“Is everything alright? It’s a bit strange to receive an actual phone call from you.” I reply with curiosity.
“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” She says. The air is dead between us for a moment and then she starts up again, “So, Ethan. Are you busy today?”
My eyes become wide as my pulse begins to race, “No, no. I’m free today. What did you have in mind?” I reply awkwardly.
“Good, let’s meet up somewhere. How about some crepes at that new food stand, it’s on me?” Elizabeth says with a bit of spirit back in her tone of speaking.
“When would be a good time for you...?” I ask.
She cuts me off before I could even finish my question, “How about now? Right now, Ethan.”
A certain urgency is now coming from her, but I sense it’s an excitement mixed with nervousness.
“Uh, yeah. Let’s go.” I say trying to bring my level of excitement up to her’s.
We end the call.
I quickly throw off my lounge attire. As I dress into my collared tee and designer jeans, I go over what and how Elizabeth was saying. It all seemed strange. Did Melissa have a talk with her as well? Perhaps she convinced Elizabeth to somehow ask me out for the first time. I wonder if this is a date. Elizabeth doesn’t normally text me to meet up and hang out unless it’s with her and her friends at a bar or club. A meeting at a crepe stand seems casual and innocent compared to her usual ideas.
I slip on my tennis shoes and stop. I’m over-thinking it with her again, aren’t I? I must approach her as I always have, as a friend that she’s used to. If I try to force anything, it would only scare her away. I chuckle a little to myself as I grab my keys and head out the door of my tiny apartment.
Elizabeth, scared? Never. She’s such a strong and confident woman. She’d never be afraid of any person or anything. I just wish I could convey that type of personality in front of her.
I take the elevator down to the street level and head outside. The 136-bus line should be here in about 4 minutes heading downtown.
To my surprise, Elizabeth is in her car right here waiting for me next to the curb. She drives an orange two person sports car, last year’s model. As clean as ever, she always wants to project that professional upscale image. Her eyes are shielded by large designer sunglasses, while her hands motion for me to get into the passenger seat. I hurry over to the door and let myself in.
“Took you long enough. What’s up, man?” Elizabeth teases as she shifts gears and turns into the flowing traffic. “What’s up, man?”
“Uh, not much. I was just about to continue the Dragonborne TV series. I’m on Season 4.” I say putting on my seat belt.
“Oh yeah, I’ve got to make some time to watch that.” She replies.
We head to the downtown market square, Elizabeth chats lightly about how her newest clients are a pain in the ass. I say a few things about what I saw at the international conference.
As we pull into the parking lot behind the coffee shop, I notice Elizabeth glancing around a few times as we park. She’s probably looking for any other friends that might be out today. After getting out of her car, we take a stroll down the window shopping area.
It’s a familiar type of outing for me: we would walk around, and she would pull me into every store to get my opinion on how the outfits would look on her. My answer was always the same, beautiful. It doesn’t matter what she wore to me.
Today, however, she doesn’t pull on me or try to shop. She doesn’t seem to care about the stores at all this time. She’s just walking slowly next to me, barely saying anything at all. Every so often she takes out her phone to check text messages that she doesn’t bother replying to. I want to ask her if she’s okay, but I’ll just let her say what she feels when she’s ready to.
We eventually make small talk about the weather or other small details of the surroundings. I’d mention something about the sidewalk or trees, and she'd make a joke or laugh at what I would say. This time, I feel confident, like I never was before around her.
We make our way out to the park where parents are taking their kids to go fishing in the urban ponds. Slowly, people begin to leave as day crept into evening. We take our time wandering around the park for at least an hour with smoothies in hand from the juice bar.
“Let’s sit down over here.” Elizabeth motions towards the blue park bench near the sidewalk. I oblige and follow. “The sunset’s beautiful from here.” She says as we sit down next to each other. The clouds hovering in the distance are glowing with warm colors from the setting sun.
Elizabeth takes her time and inches over to me. I continue my gaze straight ahead, but I can feel goosebumps forming on the back of my neck. “What’re you thinking about, Ethan?” Liz asks softly.
At this point, I’m just not sure if Elizabeth is displaying red flags or green lights. Was this what Melissa was going on about? Is this finally my chance with Elizabeth?
“Nothing much, just taking it all in right now. I’m having a great time… with you, Elizabeth.” I mutter awkwardly.
The next thing I know, her head was applying weight on my left shoulder. She’s leaning on me?! This is unreal… this has to be what Melissa was getting at.
The silence is broken in a flash as loud footsteps pound the ground accompanied by a loud voice. “So, this is what you meant by being busy with clients?!”
I haven’t heard this voice before, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was another boyfriend of hers.
Elizabeth jumps up from the bench with a surprised reaction, “Hunter!”
“It’s a nice little date you have going on here!” The man named Hunter taunts us with his arms out.
“Hunter, what are you doing following me around like this?!”
“So how many more are there, Liz?” Hunter points at Elizabeth.
“What the fuck are you talking about? You’ve been drinking!?” She says pointing at Hunter.
“So, you’re going to play dumb then?” he asks as he’s reaching into his leather jacket, retrieving a flask.
“I’m not playing anything, Hunter!” she says flipping her hair turning around.
“Oh really? Because it looks like you’re playing me right now!” Hunter says gurgling a shot from the flask in his hand.
“I’m not arguing with you in public like this.” Liz grumbles as she storms off towards the marketplace. Random people around stop and watch, expecting a longer shouting match or even a fist fight.
I try my best to keep up with Elizabeth but at the same time try not to look back at this Hunter guy who keeps yelling profanity at us. After the most uncomfortable hike back, we finally make it to Elizabeth’s car.
“Hey Liz! I’m not done with you yet! Come back here!” Hunter bellows as he tries to catch up behind me. I can smell the liquor on his clothes a bit more now.
Elizabeth rushes around her tiny two-door roadster and pulls her door open screaming at me to get it.
But at that second, I remember what Melissa said about always holding back and not taking the chance. I stopped in the middle of the parking lot. Slowly, I turn around to see Hunter covered in sweat come stomping up to me.
“Get out of my way, bitch!” He grumbles at me.
I stiffen my stance as I stare right back at him saying, “Leave her alone. She clearly doesn’t want to speak with you.” The words pour right from my lips. What am I doing?! What am I even thinking? He’s twice my size! But, I can’t back down now. I’m committed to standing my ground for Elizabeth. And for myself! I’m not going to let this brute hurt or abuse her. “Hey! I said back off, Hunter.” I say firmly to him.
“Ethan!” Elizabeth shouts to me. I look back at her to see her eyes as round as can be.
In a flash, Hunter’s fist cuts right across my right cheek and over my eye. He takes advantage of my instance of distraction to punch me. But I’m not just going to crumble for him. I manage to keep my balance and catch myself before tumbling over. With all my might, I stick both arms out and shove Hunter as hard as I can to make him lose his balance. The fact that he’s intoxicated helps me knock him over like a clumsy stack of dishes.
“Ethan let’s get out of here, now!” Elizabeth shouts and I quickly dart over to the passenger door.
For a brief minute, the world was tilted and blurry from my sudden impact with Hunter’s fist. All I wanted to do was escape this scene and get Elizabeth away from him. I hurry over to the passenger side and pull the door open. I almost fall into the seat as I swing the door shut. The car is immediately put into reverse and launches backwards almost hitting Hunter as he’s trying to get back up. Hunter’s profanity can be heard outside just before we take off from the parking lot, “Hey what the fuck, crazy whore! You almost hit me! This isn’t over!”
I scramble to get my seat belt on as Elizabeth tries to push the car through the small streets to get to main Street. “What in the hell just happened, seriously!” Elizabeth yells.
I don’t bother responding since I’m checking the rear-view mirror on my side of the car.
“Hey Ethan, are you alright?” she asks me quickly.
I look over at her, “I’m fine. It’s just I’ve never been in a real fight before, hehe…”
Just as we began to talk, some huge light is illuminating behind us. The loud roar of a large muscle car comes right up behind us, no doubt it’s Hunter!
Elizabeth’s eyes widen and then sneer as she looks back, “Oh my God, this asshole! Really, Hunter?!”
The raging muscle car pulls up quickly to the side of Elizabeth’s little car. I look over and see Hunter’s bright red face screaming, “Stop the car, Liz! You and I aren’t done yet! You hear me?!”
