Home Is Where Your Bark Is

Chapter 3

Somehow, a night that had promised to go in one direction now stretched out entirely in another. Jenna experienced a whole-body urge to drift into undisturbed sleep. She wanted darkness or, at the very least, considerably dimmer lighting than these overhead fluorescents, and she craved a second warm blanket now that the one draped over her had gone cold. Chills raked her body, and the shivering aggravated her pounding head.

One member or another of the hospital staff kept walking in, rousing her when she drifted off, shining lights in her pupils, checking her hand and foot strength, spouting off one question after another on a checklist everyone seemed to know by heart. What was her name, the date, did she remember what happened? Did she know where she was? Could she repeat the days of the week backward? Could she repeat the three words she’d been told earlier? How had she gotten here? Had she been alone in the car?

These last two questions made her look down at her hand and wonder if the stranger in the rain whose grip had been both gentle and immeasurably reassuring was real or a dream. Who did that for someone they didn’t know? Held their hand and waited in the cold rain? At one point, she’d had a name to go with the dark hair, finely hewn features, five-o’clock shadow, and kind eyes that had been at her side until the ambulance arrived. One of the times she’d woken from a doze, the name had faded. Try as she might, she couldn’t recall it. Perhaps his features would soon disappear along with it.

“There was a dog with me,” she said to the med tech who was the latest to question her upon popping into the room. Jenna’s own voice, heavy and thick, surprised her, and she cleared her throat. “My sister’s. Do you know what happened to him? Everything’s patchy, but I remember buckling him in. After the crash, I heard him back there—he sounded terrified—but I couldn’t turn around to check on him. I hope he’s okay.”

The tech’s eyebrows lifted. “A dog, huh? I’ll see if your charge nurse knows anything about that. I think she talked to the police officer who dropped off your bag and a copy of the accident report earlier.”

Across the room on a built-in padded bench, Jenna’s clothes and bag were tucked against the corner wall. She had the faintest memory of being changed into a gown earlier. Everything from the moment she’d left her sister’s was patchy at best. A collection of photos in someone else’s album. Except for the pain—there was no doubt about it being hers. When she got through this, she’d never complain about an ordinary headache again.

One thing she remembered vividly was vomiting while still strapped to a gurney as the EMTs were unloading her. Being suspended upside down like that with her neck confined in a thick brace wasn’t something she’d likely be able to forget. Ever. She’d been able to shed the heavy brace after the first round of X-rays, and that had made things a bit more comfortable.

“There was a guy too,” she added. “Could you find out his name? Everything’s a bit hazy, but I think maybe I asked him to take the dog.”

“He was in the car with you?”

“No, he was there afterward.”

The tech nodded as he headed for the door. “Yeah, I’ll see what I can find out. Your nurse should be in soon.”

“Thanks. And can you tell me what time it is?” There was a clock on the wall, but it would require too much straining to make out where the hands were. In fact, looking at much of anything hurt enough that she’d spent most of the last few hours dozing or with her eyes closed. The cymbals inside her head clanked less that way.

“Yeah, sure. It’s closing in on eleven. ’Bout five till.”

“That late, huh?” As easy as it would be to drift off again after the tech walked out, Jenna needed to call her sister. She inched upward in the hospital bed and felt around for the corded phone with oversize buttons attached to the bed.

Given the big day ahead of her tomorrow, Monica should’ve been asleep, but she answered on the second ring, tension lining her tone.

“Hey, it’s me,” Jenna said.

“I’ve been so worried! Where are you? Do not tell me that was a hospital number on the screen just now!”

Jenna lifted the phone from her ear. Did her sister always talk this loudly, or was the concussion exaggerating it? “I’m okay, but if you want to know where I am, that’s exactly what I need to tell you.”

“You’re seriously at Rush? What happened?”

“I was in a car accident, and before you ask, it wasn’t my fault.” Jenna hadn’t been in an accident or gotten anything worse than a parking violation since she was seventeen, but the two fender benders she’d caused that first year of driving had resulted in her dad and sister labeling her as an accident magnet, which had never sat well with her.

“I wasn’t going to ask that. But you’re okay?”

“Yeah. They did some CT scans. I’ve got whiplash and a sprained wrist, but nothing’s broken.”

“Wow. That was no fender bender then. Thank God you’re okay. You are really okay, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Your phone’s here, which I take it is why you didn’t call sooner. Sam swiped it again, I guess. I caught him playing with it after I came back in.”

“Yeah, I realized that after I left.” Knowing she needed to say it, she added, “I guess I have a concussion too.” Honestly, there was zero guessing about it. The issue was that Monica’s husband had specialized in head injuries and concussions, and every time the boys so much as bumped their heads, Monica was right there at Stuart’s office door. When it came to head injuries, she was determined to err on the side of caution, no doubt having heard one too many of Stuart’s cases over the years.

Monica’s several-second pause said everything. “I hope you’ve asked them to send the scans to Stuart.”

“No, given how the company he works for is two thousand miles away in Seattle and has no connection to this place. But I’ll get a copy of them. He can look at them later if he wants.”

Monica’s voice muted as she filled Stuart in. Jenna hated that she pictured them snuggled shoulder to shoulder in their king-size bed as much as she hated the fact that she could envision the way Stuart’s lips would undoubtedly curl into a frown on the tails of his faint sigh before he responded, mumbling words Jenna couldn’t hear through Monica’s covered receiver.

Monica came back on, asking if Jenna knew the grade of the concussion.

“No, they didn’t tell me.” At least, she didn’t think so. She opted not to add how she’d been having a hard time staying awake.

“But they’re releasing you?”

“No, I’m here overnight. As a precaution only.”

Monica covered the receiver for another short exchange with Stuart. “Stuart’ll be on his way in a sec. I’ll stay with the boys.”

“No, Monica! Absolutely not.” Her own slightly raised voice had the cymbals resonating loudly inside her head. “I’m fine,” she added more quietly, “and there’s nothing he can do anyway. I’ll have a friend get me in the morning. Or I’ll call an Uber.” As her sister considered this, she added, “You two have an early start tomorrow. You should be asleep by now as it is.”

Jenna’s eyelids lowered from fatigue as she waited for her sister’s reply.

“Okay,” Monica said with an exhale. “But if you haven’t been released yet, I want to pick you up. We’ll come straight there after the appointment, and I want to see you regardless. When did it happen, by the way? After you dropped off the dog, I hope.” Reading into Jenna’s hesitation, Monica added, “Crap! Please tell me he’s okay.”

“I think he is. I think someone was going to drop him off for me.” For Monica and Stuart, actually. This was the way it always went when Monica talked Jenna into doing something she was hesitant to do. It had a way of becoming her problem.

“Poor dog.” Monica’s voice pitched. “It’s exactly like I told you earlier. Only now there’s a car accident I’m responsible for too.”

Jenna’s head hurt too badly to expend much energy consoling her sister right now, but she forced something out anyway. “It’s not your fault. It’s not my fault. Some guy ran a red light in the rain. That’s whose fault it is.”

“Yeah, but you never should’ve been the one to take him.”

“Can we just not do this? It happened. It’s over. You need to focus on tomorrow. I need to get quiet. Call back this number in the morning when you’re done, ’kay? And in case you’re the one picking me up, bring my phone, please.”

Monica was still teary-sounding when they hung up, but Jenna settled back against the stiff linen pillowcase. Last month, a coworker had politely pointed out Jenna had a boundary problem when it came to her sister. Probably the way the simple assertion had raised Jenna’s hackles proved it was truth enough. God help her when it came to figuring out a better way to help Monica survive being Monica.

But right now wasn’t the time for giving anything serious thought. Jenna caught herself drifting off, lulled by the dull but constant pounding inside her head. They’d given her something for the pain earlier, and it seemed to be kicking in. Now, when her eyes were closed, it felt more like the party was in the next room, not bumping up against her.

She hoped her Tacoma was okay. Hoped the other driver had good insurance. She hoped the dog had calmed down and that this catastrophe would somehow lead to the fresh start he deserved.

As a dream began to take hold, Jenna found herself thinking about a pair of warm hazel eyes and the soft, caring tone of a man whose name she couldn’t remember. Please don’t let him have been a dream.