Chapter 6

I woke up Saturday morning and stared at the ceiling. I was still thinking about Jenny. I had just gotten her back and it was starting to look like I was going to lose her again.

I got out of bed and took a shower before heading down for breakfast. I found Mom eating when I entered the kitchen.

"You're up early. I bet you can't wait to see Jenny."

"That's a mild understatement."

I sat down and started fixing a bowl of cereal. I finished eating and sat back thinking again.

"Mom, what time do we have to be there?"

"I have to be at work by 2. We have to be back with enough time for me to get to work."

"Then what time are we going?"

"I think 10 should be a good time."

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was only 7:30, so I still had a few hours. I went outside to sit on the lounge chair. It was turning out to be a beautiful day. Early July is always beautiful and warm.

At 9:30, Mom came out to let me know that we would be leaving soon. I went inside and got dressed finally. I didn't think Jenny would want to see me in my pajamas and I knew Mom wouldn't let me out of the house dressed that way.

We arrived and checked in at the desk. The girl immediately took us in back to the visitation room.

"Dr. Campbell will be right with you."

She turned and left.

I decided to sit down and wait. We were only waiting for 5 minutes when someone came in the room. Mom was in the way so I could not see but I knew immediately it was Jenny.

"Hi Mrs. Andrews."

I saw Jenny as she gave Mom a hug.

"How are you doing today Jenny?"

"Much better."

She walked over and sat down beside me. She lifted my arm over her head so that it was around her shoulders. I gave her a good squeeze and a little peck on the cheek.

"Now I'm perfect."

Jenny and I started talking and cuddling. I was just happy to be able to give her a good hug.

"Jenny, how are your wrists doing?"

"They still hurt. Now I wish I had never done that to myself. I have to work with a physical therapist to get the use of my hands back to full. When I am done with that, they really hurt."

"I wish I could do something to help. Unfortunately, all I can do is watch."

"Thanks."

I looked up and noticed that today we were alone. I also noticed that there was a mirror on the other side of the room that seemed to be placed a bit too well. I stared right at it and smiled.

"Did you notice that we are alone?"

Jenny stopped and looked around.

"No, I didn't. This is the first time that they have left me alone during a visit."

"Before you get too comfortable with that, we are still being watched."

"How do you know?"

"That mirror on the wall is a 2 way mirror. They can see us but we can't see them. If you look real close, you might see some movement."

"I guess that means we have to behave ourselves."

"For now. We may use that to an advantage later."

We just sat and cuddled for a while. I was just happy to be able to hold her. Jenny finally broke our silence.

"Mark, how do you really feel about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You told me that you finally figured out how you felt. How is that?"

"Jenny, when I am with you, I am always happy. We could be in big trouble or just goofing off or even bored stiff. But I felt happy. When we were apart, nothing seemed to be fun. Even Christmas was, well rather a waste of time. I started to realize how I felt before the dance but after a few months of not seeing you, I knew that I needed to be with you."

"Why didn't you come around sooner?"

"You seemed happy with Ryan. I didn't want to cause you any grief with him."

"I wished you had. All he wanted was to paw me or separate me from my clothes."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I'll be honest. I'm not fully sure how I feel about you. I know that I missed you and I enjoy being with you. I'm not sure if I'm ready to call you my 'boyfriend' yet. I'm not sure that I'm ready to call anybody that. After what happened with Ryan, I want to take that very slowly."

"I'll wait. As long as we are talking and being friends again, I can wait forever."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm very sure. We've been friends for ever, that should never change."

"Thanks Mark. You're very special."

"You've always been special to me too."

Jenny crawled up onto my lap like we had yesterday. She wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my chest. I could tell that she was crying. I just held her tightly. We stayed that way until Dr. Campbell and Mom reappeared.

Mom motioned to let me know that it was time to leave.

"Jenny, I have to get going."

She tightened her grip.

"No, don't go."

"Don't worry honey, I'll be back."

"I know. This just feels too good to stop."

Begrudgingly she got up. She turned to Mom and gave her a big hug. Dr. Campbell thanked Mom again and we left.

On the way home, I realized that Mom knew more than she was telling me.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mom, I know that there is quite a bit more to this story. Why else would you and Dr. Campbell be leaving?"

"Mark, I can't tell you right now. Can you trust me on this?"

"I guess. Something is happening that I don't know about and it's frustrating..."

"I know. We have to let this one play itself out though."

I let the subject drop at that.

The rest of the weekend was just normal and quiet. Mom was working in the afternoons, so I had to deal with dinner. Erin and I had done quite well for dinner.

Monday was going along as normal. I had gotten up and completed my chores early. I was hoping for a letter from Jenny but none came. I figured that because we were able to visit, she didn't have the time nor need to write. After lunch it was time for my weekly appointment again. I was not fully paying attention to where we were going. I was shocked when I got out of the car.

"Why are we here Mom?"

"Dr. Campbell wants to meet here instead. I'm not sure why."

I figured that I would get to see Jenny. That's all I needed to know or care about.

I was right. Jenny and I got a longer visit today. We talked about what was going on and how her therapy was going. We even had a chance to play some board games as well. I was elated. This was much better than the normal sessions. Dr. Campbell and Mom stayed in the room for this and even took time to talk to Jenny and me.

When it was time to go, Dr. Campbell wanted us to come back at 10 on Wednesday as well. I knew something was up by the way they talked. Jenny seemed to know as well. She squeezed my hand tighter when he asked. I was going to get to see Jenny more, so I really didn't care too much.

Tuesday couldn't go fast enough for me. I just wanted it to end. I got my chores done early. I took Erin with me to the beach. I figured we both could use some time away from everything. The water felt great. Both of us needed a little time to cool off. We returned home and helped each other with dinner.

I was surprised when Erin made the comment "I like the new Mark better.""What are you talking about, 'The new Mark?'"

"Since you found Jenny, you don't fight with me anymore. You actually seem happy to have me around. You didn't even yell at Jan or me for picking you."

"I have been pretty happy lately."

"Yes and I like it that way. Don't stop."

"I'll try."

We cleaned up our mess and went back outside to enjoy what was left of the day. I was anxious for tomorrow, which only seemed to make the day go slower.

We arrived at the hospital about 10 minutes early. We were led to a different room. This room had a large table in the center. There were also 2 sofas as well. I noticed that there was also the standard 2-way mirror as well.

I chose to sit on one of the sofas as we waited. Mom sat in a chair at the table. I knew that she was aware of what was going on. For a change, she seemed a bit nervous.

Jenny was brought in a few minutes later. As she had the last few visits, she was in my arms in only a moment. When Jenny's mom and Dr. Campbell came in, I realized that something was going on. Jenny was still holding my hand and started to squeeze it tightly.

When Mrs. Parks saw us holding hands, she came over to Jenny and started yelling.

"So, is this the boy that knocked you up?"

Something told me to move slightly. I was on Jenny's left. I pulled her behind me slightly and stepped just a bit in front of her. It happened so fast that nobody saw Mrs. Parks' hand coming as it landed on my shoulder. If I hadn't moved as I did, I would have landed on Jenny's face.

I answered her question, "I wish I were Mrs. Parks."

Within a moment, the attendants had grabbed onto her and dragged her away. While they were doing that, she started to yell at me.

"If you want that tramp so bad, you can have her!"

I glanced at Mom quick to see her reaction. I saw a strange look on her face. I didn't take time to try to translate it.