Chapter 5: A Turning Point

They ended up in the hospital. That punch to Sophia's mouth was accompanied by another to Sophia's already broken ribs, before the cops got in and grabbed Scott. Sophia and Warren had gone down to the police station to give their statements, but the cops did it quickly because it was clear that Sophia was in agony, and Warren wanted to make sure his jaw wasn't broken. The cops took them to the hospital.

They could come in later in the week and finish up their statements-the cops had gotten the basics.

Scott was behind bars, at least for now. They went to the emergency room, where the nurses called their parents. Sophia was badly hurt and extremely shook up, but felt strangely liberated. Even so, she refused to leave Warren's side. She even made the nurses put them in the same examining room. The nurses told her that she would have to take her shirt off in front of him, and she said, "I don't care. He stays." So he stayed.

It would make it easier on the doctors, anyhow-they could check them both out at once.

Sophia's mother was the first to show up. She was alternately hysterical and scolding. Warren was dumbfounded. Yeah, she was shook up at seeing her oldest daughter in the condition she was in, but a little support might have been nice. She screamed, and then cried, and then screamed, completely ignored Warren, and had Sophia on the verge of tears herself. They closed the curtain so the doctors could check Sophia out, and she shot Warren a look of utter despair. She would have insisted the curtain stay open if her mother hadn't been there, but she didn't need to give her mother another excuse to go off.

Warren was very glad to see his own parents. They were, of course, concerned-his mother Peg was, after all, a mother, and his father Jim was concerned in his own way-but they didn't get hysterical.

"Oh God, Warren. That doesn't look too good," Peg said.

"Mom, I'm fine. They don't even think it's broken. I'm just going to be talking a little softer for a few days.

That should be a welcome relief. You can just make me coffee milkshakes." They all laughed.

"What did the police say?" Jim asked.

"Oh, they think the asshole's going to be out of commission for a while."

"How do you get yourself involved in these messes?" Peg asked.

"Come on, Mom. How many messes, exactly, do I get myself involved in?"

"OK. Not many", Peg smiled. "But this one appears to be a doozy."

"No argument there."

Jim looked at his son and said, "I hope this girl is worth it."

Warren put his finger over his lips and pointed towards the curtain.

"Yes she is. You'll see," he whispered.

"She's in here?" Peg whispered.

"Yeah."

"Why'd they do that"?

"Soph insisted. She didn't want to leave me."

"What's all that yelling"? Jim whispered.

"Her mother. Wonderful, isn't it? Thank you guys for not doing that."

Sophia's mother emerged from behind the curtain and walked out of the room, not saying a word to anyone. Then the curtain opened.

"How you doing, Soph?"

"She'll be fine," the Doctor interjected. "Now, let's check you out."

Sophia elaborated while the Doctor checked out Warren's jaw. "My ribs are definitely broken.

I have to stay out of school and work for the rest of the week and pretty much stay in bed, and I'm going to be taped up for a while-but they think that's the extent of it. My shoulder is slightly separated, but will be OK, and my back is bruised-and they think that my left breast is just bruised and not permanently damaged, like they thought before."

"Oh, good, that's a relief. That's an important part of the body not to be damaged."

"Pig." Sophia said, grinning.

"You know it."

"Will you shut up so I can finish this?" the Doctor interjected.

"Sorry."

"Besides, Warren," Jim said dryly, "You shouldn't talk that way in front of your mother."

Even Peg laughed at that. She wasn't a prude by any means.

"These are your parents, War?" Sophia asked. Warren gave her a thumbs-up. "Hi. I'm Sophia."

She shook hands with both of them.

Jim looked at the girl sitting in front of him-the young lady that had completely complicated his oldest son's well-ordered life-and said, "You're right, Warren. She's definitely worth it." And winked at her.

Warren burst out laughing-much to the consternation of the doctor-and Peg rolled her eyes at her husband. Sophia just stared, dumbfounded.

"That's my Dad." Warren said, dryly. "Translated, Soph, he thinks you're a babe. Of course, I already knew that." Sophia just sputtered. Warren's parents certainly were... different.

"Honey, you've embarrassed her," Peg said.

"I was just pleased that Warren has inherited his old man's good taste in women, that's all."

"Nice save, Dad."

"Thanks, Warren."

"Yeah, thanks Warren," Peg said sarcastically. "C'mon, Jim. Let's let the doctor finish up. We'll see you in the waiting room."

"OK." They left, with Sophia staring blankly at the door. "Those were your parents?"

"Uh-huh. Never a dull moment with those two."

Warren did not have a broken jaw. Sophia got some painkillers and a week of bedrest, and got to go home with her mother still carping in her ear. Warren went home and did some studying.

Sophia spent the rest of the week in bed; half the time hopped up on painkillers, and the other half of the time thinking. She had quite a bit to think about.

Friday afternoon, her phone rang. "Soph, it's Warren. You up to some company tonight?"

"I'd love it."

"Well, then, you have a choice. It can just be lil' ol' me, or, my buddy Crash was supposed to come down tonight with his girlfriend Alison, so we could make it a party. We'll even teach you how to play poker."

Soph giggled. "Actually that sounds like fun."

"Great. Let me call the Crashmeister, and we'll be there."

They got dropped off by Warren's mother at about 7:00, and greeted Sophia laden with sodas, Warren's "world famous chip dip" and other goodies, and a couple decks of cards. "We even brought some videos, if we get tired of poker." Warren said.

"Yeah," said Alison, bemused, "but Crash picked them out, so we got Caddyshack, or Animal House."

"Classic American filmmaking, I tell you, " replied Crash.

It got to be about 10:00, and Sophia realized something amazing. She was at home, not drinking, not on drugs-she hadn't even taken a painkiller-not having sex, with two preppies and one of the preppy's equally preppy girlfriend-and she was having a blast. Alison was sweet, and Crash was an experience.

She had always seen Warren's keen wit and humor, but Crash magnified it tenfold. Between Warren's superbly timed sarcasm and Crash's constant stream of one-liners, she laughed so much it made her ribs hurt more. She didn't mind. After Alison whipped them all at poker-"Cause she cheats", kidded Crash-they moved to the TV room and popped in Caddyshack. Sophia had never seen the film, and had to admit that it was funny-the humor being enhanced by Warren and Crash, who apparently knew every word and recited such right along with the movie.