Discovering April (28 page)

MY FINGERS ARE tapping against the cold, hard table I’m sitting on. Jared – having insisted that he come with me – is sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. I’m taking deep breaths when I hear a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I croak.

“Ms. Landau, we have the results of the X-rays.” Jared leans forwards, slightly anticipating his next words. “There wasn’t a break and the impromptu stiches healed up the wound just fine. The skin is healing nicely, but I want to take blood tests just to make sure you didn’t get an infection.”

“Okay,” I was really hoping that I wouldn’t need to give blood; I hate needles. Jared sighs in relief, sitting back in his chair.

“I just need to get this string out and the nurse will come in to draw blood.”

“Wait. You need to take the string out?” My hands brace themselves against the sides of the table.

“Yes, it’s fishing line. We need to get it out of your leg before the skin heals over it.”

“I think it’s fine. So I have some string in my leg!” I reason, remembering the pain of the stiches when they went through my skin. I don’t even want to think about how it will feel being pulled back out.

“April—” Jared starts, but Dr. Goldfarb interrupts him.

“Ms. Landau, the wound has healed. It won’t hurt like I’m sure it did when the wound was open. Once we get the string out, the scar has a chance of healing over less noticeably.”

“I don’t care about the sight. I don’t want that needle thing going anywhere near my leg!” I point towards the tray of metal instruments on the counter behind him.

“Just give us a minute, Doc.” Jared finally climbs to his feet. Dr. Goldfarb leaves the room and Jared is pulling my hands into his. “Apes, remember what I said about those perfect legs?”

“That you didn’t want to ruin them?”

“Exactly.” He smiles. “I’ll be right here. Just let him take it out. He said it won’t hurt.”

I glare at his brown eyes, looking for any weakness, pleading with him to not let me do this. But I’m only met with hard, determined ones. He’s not going to let me leave without doing this. “Ugh! Fine, but you’re
never
going to hear the end of this.”

“I’ll be right here.” He kisses the top of my hand and leans across me to knock on the door.

Dr. Goldfarb comes back in with a nurse. This time, I lean back, staring up at the ceiling. I can’t watch this again. Jared keeps his word, and his hand never leaves mine. He clenches it a few times in response to my moans and groans.

The doctor was only half right. I don’t feel pain like I had the first night, but I still felt the string sliding through my skin, pulling and tugging at it in the strangest feeling I’ve ever experienced before. Jared even holds my hand while the nurse draws my blood. I almost pass out when I see the needle, but Jared pulls my face into his neck when I felt the prick and I just try to focus on the smell of his soap.

I can’t wait to be out of this place and never return. I get dressed again and meet Jared in the hallway. Kicking off the wall, he comes over to my side to head out of the office and back home.

“You did great.”

“You owe me one.”

“Fine,” he concedes. We are rounding another, corner trying to remember the way we came in when Dr. Goldfarb comes out of the room right in front of us.

“Have a good day, Mrs. Landau,” he cheerfully calls, placing a chart into the bin next to the room. “Oh, and Mr. Landau, that was a great job with the stiches. Better than some doctors I’ve seen! You’re definitely good with your hands, young man!” he tells our surprised faces before disappearing down the hallway we had just come.

I look over at Jared. “Mr. Landau? I like the sound of that!” I smirk.

“Why do I keep hearing that I’m good with my hands?”

At that, we both break into hysterical giggles as we walk back to his car.

“APRIL?” I HEAR
Jared’s voice over the television in my room. He’s been tapping away on that computer over on my desk for hours now.

“Yes, Mr. Landau?”

He turns and gives me a funny look. Jinx meows annoyingly from Jared’s lap at the disappointment of being interrupted from his slumber.

“Where’s your printer?”

“Downstairs. Why?”

“No reason.” He picks Jinx up and tosses him onto the bed beside me before leaving my room. I hear his footsteps trace their way downstairs, then back up again. I’m sitting up in bed now by the time he comes traipsing back in.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nope. I owe you one, remember?”

“I didn’t say it had to be a surprise!”

“Well, I’m an overachiever!” He plops down on the bed beside me and pets an angry Jinx. Surprisingly, he lets him. Jinx would never let me come close to him if he was mad at me. Jared, on the other hand? It’s like they are long lost friends. “We are going to be late. You should get dressed.”

“Get dressed for what?”

“I just told you it was a surprise. Jeez, woman!”

“How do I know what to wear if you won’t tell me where we are going?”

“It’s not a ball, Cinderella, just get dressed! Here, let me help you out of those clothes!” He smirks, reaching for the hem of my tee shirt. I allow him to pull it off over my head, shaking my hair free.

“Mr. Full-of-Surprises… how long do we have before we have to get going?” I give him a mischievous smile.

“Long enough.” His eyes meet mine with a smile of his own before his lips trace their way up the side of my thigh peeking out from the covers.

I HOP ON THE BACK of Jared’s motorcycle before he blindfolds me. He actually blindfolds me! I’m not going to lie, it’s a better rush riding a motorcycle blind. Every bump and groove surprises me, and every turn I’m not expecting makes me grip him tighter. It’s also a deeper sense of trust forming between us. I can’t see; I have to trust he won’t kill me. After what feels like an exhilarating and quite frankly arousing ride, I feel him slow and cut the engine off. He places a piece of paper in my hands before I feel his fingers untie the knot behind my head. My eyes immediately glance down at my hands. Between them sits two tickets to see Blue Lagoon, my favorite band. My eyes flick over to Jared for explanation or reassurance that this is real.

He shrugs. “I owed you one.”

“How much were these?”

“Not that expensive. They are has-beens, after all.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about my future husband like that!” I pull the tickets close to my chest.

“Lucky man,” he whispers, helping me off the bike.

I finally notice we are outside a small town theater. Once I pick my jaw up from the floor, I follow him inside the tiny theater.

The rest of the night is a blur of music and screaming (mostly from me). Jared jumps up and down with me, although he probably thinks the songs are super lame. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in my life. It isn’t until we are walking out the front doors that I see the trailer pull up. I guess small theaters like this don’t exactly have secret back entrances. He’s in there! The very first love of my life is sitting in that bus right now. I’m staring at the bus with Jared’s arm around my shoulders when I feel him tap me on the shoulder. As I turn to see what he’s showing me, I see him, Travis Lagoon.
The
Travis Lagoon is walking out the front doors behind us, heading towards the bus.

“Mr. Lagoon!” Jared shouts and I freeze, wide-eyed, like a deer caught in headlights.

Travis Lagoon turns to us. Actually, he turns and looks at me. Now, this is definitely what a heart attack feels like. My legs immediately go numb.

“Hey guys, like the show?” Travis nods in greeting before jogging over to us.

“My girlfriend here is a huge fan!”

“Oh, really? Are you sure you want me to be meeting her then?”

“Probably not, but I’ll be the bigger man.” Jared is actually joking with him.

“In that case, hi there!” He waves his hand in front of my still open-mouthed face.

“Hi.”

“April here is in love with you; has been since 6
th
grade.” Jared pats me on the back for emphasis.

“Jared!” I sneer through my teeth as I punch him in the side.

“What? It’s true!”

“Well, then, Miss April, I hope I’ve lived up to your expectations! Do you have anything for me to sign?”

“Uh… no.” I look reluctantly to Jared.

“We didn’t think that far…”

“How about that white tee shirt?”

“Are you trying to get to second with my girlfriend?” Jared’s mock sarcasm is making me blush.

“I’m a rock star – did you really expect anything else?”

“Good point, sir. Sign away!”

I glance between the both of them, unbelieving as Travis Lagoon pulls a marker out of his leather jacket. He pops the cap between his teeth before wrapping an arm around my stomach. Pulling me close, he leans down. I feel his breath on my chest as he signs my shirt by my left breast before releasing me.

“Okay, you guys have a nice night.” Travis Lagoon waves goodbye as he jogs over to the trailer with his face on it.

I stare down at the black scribble on my shirt, then at the back of my future-wannabe-husband’s back as he hops onto the trailer and they start off down the road.

“Now, I think it’s fair to say you owe me!”

“Oh. My. God.” I finally get my voice back.

“I just let you get to second with another man!”

“He’s my first love, remember? Maybe he’s letting you get to second with me.”

“True, I did feel the love.” He winks at me.

“That was awesome.” I jump up and down, trying to get feeling back in my legs.

“I know, right? I think we had something special, Travis and I. He gave me the eyes!” He pretends to swoon, batting his eyelashes at the sky.

“Jared!”

“Okay, I’ll stop, but you can’t deny you felt it too!”

I roll my eyes, pulling him down to my lips. “Thank you, Bear.”

“Anytime, babe.”

I’M DIGGING AROUND Jared’s fridge later that night. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to a full fridge. Sometimes I think Jared keeps it that way just for me; we are almost never home to eat anymore. A scratching sound makes me lift my head over the door. When it doesn’t come again, I duck back inside looking for another can of soda. That’s when the scratching comes again.

“What is that?” I finally back away from the refrigerator to walk around to the other side of the living room. My eyes gravitate to the stain as I pass the white couch with my bloody mark on it and through a doorway. Coming into view is a picture I wish could be framed and hung on my wall. Jared’s wearing a red flannel shirt and is currently teasing a fire in the stone fireplace before him.

“My house doesn’t have a fireplace like this!” I climb onto the couch across from the roaring fire. The warmth feels so good against my cold, pale skin. I don’t think I’ve ever had a crazy fantasy before, but the image of Jared working that fireplace has got me picturing him with an ax in his hand, cutting down timber like a lumberjack.

“Yea, I made a few upgrades when I re-did the place last year.” Jared’s smooth voice returns me to the present. He slowly rises to his feet and sneaks into the space behind me on the couch.