Unexpected Events - 4. Chapter 4: Hospital Stay

I felt like I was coming out of a fog. Everything in my mind was jumbled and I was slowly putting everything back together. The more I pieced it together, I started to feel pain throughout my body. With a terrible throbbing pain in my head I remembered what happened before I passed out. Realizing I was in a bed I took a deep breath to try to get back into the waking world. With a pain in my chest from the breath, a sterilized smell hit me. I was in a hospital which gave me a queasy feeling all through me.

I slowly opened my eyes to the bright fluorescent lights above me, another throb of pain in my head makes itself known. Looking around the room I saw that it was late afternoon with the size of the shadows out of my window. From what I see of the city out of the window, I could tell I was at CAMC General. It was a typical hospital room with two beds, nightstands, a TV and little else in decor. The other bed in the room was vacant and untouched meaning I didn't have a roommate. Thank god for that, I was not in the mood for strangers for company.

There was flowers and a few boxes of chocolates on my nightstand. Knowing more than anything they was from Katie and Vince. Knowing my friends came to see me brought a small smile to my face. Feeling a little pain from my smile I reached up with my free hand that wasn't covered in tubes and crap I felt stitches on my cheek and above my right eye. I dreaded looking in a mirror at the scars that was going to be there. My nose was secured in place, which no doubt meant it was broken.

"Ah I see you are awake." a woman's voice announced.

I jerked my head to the door in surprise to see a nurse heading towards me. The sudden movement gives me another jolt of pain in my head

"How are you feeling?" she asked me quietly as she handled a chart to write down my vitals.

After a rough clearing of my throat I croaked, "I've felt better. I feel like I was on an all night bender."

She laughed and told me, "Well, Its good to see you have a sense of humor. I just have a few more questions while you are awake. Is that ok?"

After nodding my head she asked if I wanted the bed raised for me to sit up, I agreed. With a styrofoam cup of ice water she poured me I quickly answered her questions between sips. After she was finished, she told me the attending doctor would see me soon and should give me something for the headache.

Knowing that a hospital's definition of soon is nowhere near what it is supposed to be, I decided to try to rest and keep my mind off of me being here. I was already irritated at the idea of being stuck in this bed. Until the doctor came in and knew I had to clear my mind before I started clawing at the walls. Without realizing it, I fell asleep with a very funny dream of me fighting back hospital staff on my escape out of here.

I was woken by a middle aged doctor a while later. Looking outside, I saw it was night. My suspicions about when the doctor would show up was right.

"Hello Mr. McArthur. I'm Dr. Paulson and I'm glad you are awake. A nurse will be giving you something for your headache shortly. I'm just going to go over a few things with you."

With a sigh I muttered, "Alright then."

As he started flipping through my chart he told me, "You have been unconscious for just under 2 days. You came in with several cuts to your face, hairline fractures to 3 of your ribs, and a broken nose. We had to stitch 2 of the deeper cuts but the rest on your face should heal with minimum scaring. Your ribs will heal on their own as long as you take it easy and rest as much as you can. The broken nose will take the longest to heal but I don't believe it will cause any lasting issues. You also came clear for any brain damage. As with a sexual assault, we took blood for testing and you came clear of any STD's. As an extra precaution I would advise you to follow up with new testing in two months to be sure. Is there any other issue that I need to know?"

Shaking my head no, he continued, "As far as I'm concerned you will be released tomorrow afternoon once you answer questions to the police officer assigned to your case. Now that your awake he should be here tomorrow morning. You should also enjoy having all your friends visiting you. I think there was always at least one person here at all times possible. The TV remote is on your nightstand if you would like but I would prefer you to get a good night's rest." He walked out of the room after that to see to his other patients.

Several minutes later a nurse came in to give me my medication and asked if I needed to use the restroom. With the need to pee, I waved away her help and used the restroom. As I settled back into bed wide awake I decided to see what I could find on the television. With a surprise I found some reruns of the Golden Girls to pass the night away. Who knew a hospital would have a decent channel selection? With laughter at the antics of those four Miami ladies, it kept my mind clear of the dark thoughts of what happened to me.

I dozed off sometime in the middle of Frazier and woke up sometime before the hospital's morning rounds. After the usual rigmarole from the nurse, I got freshened up with a shower. As I let the water beat down upon my head I thought about the night in the alley. I was no stranger to idiot men but the idea that I could of been nothing other than another statistic freaked me out to no end. I decided I wasn't going to let this be something else on the list of things to make me depressed. This was going to be a learning experience which wasn't going have me being weak anymore.

At around ten the police officer came in with a briefcase. He looked to be around my age but with the demeanor of someone years his senior. He had short dark brown hair and mossy green eyes. His suit fit him just right, showing that there was plenty of slim toned muscles underneath. At around six feet tall, he looked like he could take on about anyone if he needed to. If I wasn't feeling so much like shit, he would definitely be the type of guy that I would stare at with lust.

"Mr. McArthur, I'm Detective Roger Hoffman of the Charleston Police Criminal Investigations Division. I'm here to ask you a few questions about what happened three nights ago at Club Moon. Are you ok for me to start?"

"I'm ready when you are, Detective Hoffman. Please take a seat." I replied, gesturing to the chair beside me next to the window.

With a small smile and a nod he said, "Thank you."

As he took a seat in the chair, he opened the briefcase and pulled out a pen and notebook.

"Please tell me what happened the evening of February 7th. Was there other people with you?"

I nodded my head, "Yes, there was my friends Vince Fratello, Katie Morris, and Jonathan and Anne Camilletti. Katie and Vince had dates. Vince invited a guy he knew, named Harold Hayes, to be my date."

While continuing to write he asked, "How did the evening go while in the club?"

"It went really great, aside from Harold being rude and drunk. I was getting tired of his unwanted touching so I decided to head home."

The detective sighed, "Alden, I know this is hard for you. I unfortunately have seen many cases not unlike yours. Can you please tell me what happened after you left the club?"

I didn't like what happened to me but I knew it wasn't worth it to wallow in what happened and get depressed like I had before. I never had the best of luck but I was still alive and kicking. It was a sign for me to keep trucking along and don't let stuff get me down.

Keeping my eyes focused on my hands fiddling with the hospital bedsheets I said, "I was almost to my car when I heard footsteps and saw that it was Howard. I told him that I was tired and didn't get the rest of my sentence out. He grabbed me by the throat and said "I am going to get what I want." I kneed him and ran to my car. He caught me. I tried to fight him off. He put my head through the window of the car. He had me bent over the hood. He penetrated me. I tried to fight once more. He hit my head on the hood and I blacked out. That's all I can say."

I looked the detective in the eyes to show him I meant it when I wasn't going to talk anymore about what happened.

As he finished what he was writing he told me, "That is all I need right now. Harold Hayes is currently in custody. You are lucky that someone came across the both of you and stopped him. He could have done much more to you than you think. He has a prior history an arm long. With this witness, the case is going to be quick and easy. It would have been much harder to prosecute. Thank you for your patience. Do try to keep it easy while you are here in the hospital. My boyfriend says "Rest is always the best."

With a smirk and a wink at my shocked face he walks out of the room.

A while later Jon and Anne came by to see me. Anne rushed to me to give me a hug.

"I'm so glad your alright. You scared us half to death." she cried out.

Jon patted me on the shoulder and said, "I agree. I hear that you're getting out of here later today."

"Yea, I am going to be glad to get out of here. The idea of being in this room any longer boggles my mind." I replied with a smile.

"I agree with you on that. Hospitals always gave me goosebumps. I think most people feel like that though. Although our main reason we are here is to make sure you are alright, the other smaller reason is..." Jon was telling me when we was interrupted.

"Alden! We are so happy you are alright!" Katie screamed as she bolted from the door to my bed in barely a few seconds.

Vince slowly followed behind with a smile that was mixed with sadness. It was a stark contrast to his constant upbeat attitude. I definitely wouldn't be upbeat if roles was reversed and I was visiting him in the hospital.

"I'm really not that hurt guys. I been through worse than a few cuts and a broken nose. I'm made of stronger stuff than you all think. We just need to forget about this and have a couple drinks at my place when I get out of here today." I told them with determination and arms open for a group hug.

As I was hugging them, I remembered what Jon was starting to tell me before they got here.

"What was you about to say Jon?" I asked him.

"Oh! It can wait until later." he said nervously. He looked like he wanted it swept under the rug until later. I wasn't going to have any of that.

"Jon, cut the bull. I don't know how your a lawyer with being that transparent. Vince and Katie would find out from me later anyway. Tell me now!" I told him with a little bit of

Anne giggled, as Jon groaned at my determination.

"Its nothing really important. I just have a weird feeling about what happened. It may be nothing to worry about. I just wanted to put it out there that maybe you should have a bodyguard or something." he told me.

I was pissed at the thought of needing a bodyguard. It didn't make sense. It wasn't like I was in some stupid Hollywood drama. I was about to tell him he was crazy when put his hands up to stop me.

"I know you think its crazy. Calm down and let me explain." he said.

With a quick hand through his hair and a sigh, he continued. "Its because of Christopher, Ida's son. I don't want to scare you but he is a real piece of work. He's a big mover and shaker in this city. He is not taking you getting everything in the will very well. It's known he does some underhanded and shady dealings to get what he wants in certain circles. I don't know anything really, just the whispers from the business folk in the city and from my personal dealings with him. I just want to tell you that if things start feeling off, I would really like you to let me hire a bodyguard for you. Nothing like the crap in the movies or on TV. Just someone that keeps a eye on you from a distance. Promise me that you will think about it."

Looking at the shocked faces of Vince and Katie, my brain was going a billion miles an hour. I wanted to tell Jon that he was a raving lunatic if he thought I would go along with something like this easily. Yet, I know that shady stuff goes on here. Its like that anywhere you live, unless you are all alone in the Canadian wilderness. The chances of me actually needing a bodyguard is pretty slim. Even if shit did hit the fan, a little security never hurt anyone."

After a little more thinking I nodded my head and told Jon, "Ok Jon. If things go downhill I'll agree to a bodyguard. Happy?"

"Happy at the thought that my friend may need a bodyguard? Hell no. I just like to keep my ducks in a row." he replied.

We spent the next couple hours telling each other stories about one another. I was picking around at my questionable hospital lunch when there was a knock on my door.

There was a man in his thirties standing at the doorway with a very large bag in one hand and small basket in the other.

"Hello. I hope I'm not interrupting." He said in his velvety baritone voice.

Jon got up and led the man inside telling him, "You are not in the least, my friend. Its great that you came by."

"Alden, this is Jacob Heatherington. He is the one that saw what happened, stopped Harold, and called the ambulance for you." Jon announced to me with pride. It definitely seems like Jacob made a friend out of Jon easily.

I took a good look at the man that saved me. He was over six feet tall and built like he could be in the NFL. With shiny jet black hair, steely grey eyes, and a handsome rugged, face with a five o'clock shadow, he could easily pass as some kind of movie star. He was my wet dream that came to life. I definitely wasn't going to tell him that.

I got out of bed, hugged him, and told him, "I can't thank you enough for what you did."

I could smell a pine and citrus cologne on him that made me go a little lusty for him. I beat those thoughts down with a quickness. With a smile and a twinkle in his eyes, he replied, "I could say it was nothing but that would be a lie. I am just so glad I got there when I did."

Looking like he remembered what he hand in his hands he handed me the basket and said, "I made you this little basket for things to eat when your out of here. Its not much, just a few chocolates, some jars of preserves, and a good book I came across. I just thought you would like something better than the typical card, flowers, or balloon."

With a giant smile on my face from his kindness I asked, "What is in the bag?"

Setting the bag down on the table that my forgotten lunch was, he answered, "I saw that it was around lunchtime and I stopped by Main Kwong on my way here. It seems like nasty food is hospital policy and I hope you like Chinese. I ordered a lot in case you had visitors. I guessed right."

"My god, he is so sweet." Katie gushed.

Surprised again by his kindness, I said, "I wholeheartedly agree. Let's all dig in!"

We was almost through with our food when Jon got a call on his phone.

"Hello Maggie. What's up?" he asked.

Jon went pale. No sooner than that, he turned slightly green.

With a urgent authority in his voice he told into the phone, "Alright. Get what we talked about set up. I will get back to the office as soon as I can."

After ending the call he turned and looked at me and announced to everyone, "That was my secretary Maggie. I just found out that Harold was murdered an hour ago at South Central Regional Jail."