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Jenna's POV
Time went by quickly and so, two weeks have passed without even realizing. Henry's cold vanished completely after one week and he was now able to go back to work. Since our last discussion, he didn't talk to me anything other than chores I had to do and made me a special schedule that wouldn't allow me to have time for myself anymore. I had to clean, wash, cook, do groceries and mown the lawn. Although, he forbidden me to take showers, I did it anyway as my body felt sweaty after a hard day of work and I couldn't care less about his idiotic outbursts. I could barely walk...my body felt week from the lack of food since most of the time I forgot to eat properly and just took a fruit from now and then only to have something in my stomach.
One day, after I woke up to do my morning routine, I surprised Henry coming to the table with an angry expression on his face which made me think something was wrong. I was hoping I wasn't the cause of his bitterness. I felt my head pulsing and a strong migraine setting in at the same time.
"Today I want you to prepare dinner for four. Christine and her parents will come over tonight. I want everything to be spotless." he said icy while reading something on his iPad.
"Sure..." I mumbled trying to focus my attention on the task at hand. I was finishing cleaning the last plate when I felt my legs getting numb so I tried to hold on to the kitchen sink, focusing my energy on standing up.
"Can you bring me the coffee or should I get it myself?". His ironical question didn't have any impact on me as I tried to focus my entire attention on standing up. Ultimately, my body failed me and my vision got blurry which made me stumble as I was making my way to one of the chairs at the table.
"I'm not feeling too well..." I could barely say before I fell on the floor, unconscious and the last thing I heard was Henry's voice coming closer to me.
"Jenna, what's wrong? Please answer me..." he said and, as I was laying on the floor, I could still distinguish the panic in his voice. It was the first time when saw Henry frightened.
Henry's POV
I rushed to her, seeing her small body falling on the floor while she was trying to grab the backrest of the chair beside me. She looked pale and skinny so I tried to shook her gently to see if she responds.
"Jenna, what's wrong? Please answer me..." I pleaded, but instead she moaned after which she lost consciousness. My first instinct was to call 911, but I couldn't wait any longer seeing her in that state. I grabbed her into my arms and carried her to the car, placing her on the back seat. She was lighter than I remembered and I felt like an idiot for treating her badly the past week. I was driving like a crazy man, quickly passing by the cars in front of me like I a NASCAR pilot. After 10 minutes, I got to the emergencies building of the hospital and carried her all the way inside shouting at the two nurses coming towards me with a stack of papers in their hands.
"I need help! She just passed out...I have no idea what happened!" I said desperate, trying to grab their attention. One of them stormed to another room and came back quickly with a gurney. The other one took her pulse and shock her head worried.
"When did she pass out? Did anything happen to her?" I heard the nurse checking her out asking.
"No, she just collapsed." I answered briefly keeping my eyes on Jenna. After the other nurse came and moved her on the stretcher, I heard the first one saying:
"She has a week pulse. I think she has a vitamin deficiency." The other woman nodded and I follow them as they were taking her to a ward. When they got to the door, one of them stopped in front of me.
"Sir, please wait outside. We're going to call you when she will be conscious." I frowned, irritated that I have to comply, but I had no choice. I took a last glance at her before they closed the doors in my face. I took a sit in the waiting room, forgetting about everything else as a burst of anxiety coursed through my head. I felt guilty for her current state because deep inside I knew I was the one who hurt her. She was sitting on a hospital bed like a vegetable and it was all because of my irrational thinking.
Two hours passed as I waited patiently for someone to come and give me news about her status. Finally, I see a doctor in his 30's moving into my direction with a big smile on his face. I let out a sigh of relieve thinking that she might be better now.
"Good afternoon! My name is Dr. Fred Winchester. Are you her husband?"
"No."
"Her boyfriend?" he followed quickly.
"No, I'm her friend." I lied, trying to go past the formalities and find out if she's ok.
"Well, she is stabilized. As far as I could see from her blood tests, she didn't eat properly. She suffered from what we call anemia. You are familiar with the term?"
"Of course I know what anemia is, I'm not an idiot, at least not that type of idiot..." I thought to myself, instead I just nodded to him.
"Good, then she'll be under supervision for a couple of days, see how she responds to the treatment and then we will prescribe her some vitamin supplements she has to take twice a day. Do you know if she followed a diet by any chance?"
"No..." I answered bowing my head, unable to look in the man's eyes and tell him exactly what happened. It was enough I felt like a monster, I didn't need others to confirm it.
"Ok then..." he said writing something on a paper which I immediately realized was Jenna's medical paper file. "Does she have any family members we can contact to let them know about her health state?"
"No, it's just me." He pursed his lips and nodded slowly. "Well, we'll get back to you when she will make a full recovery. Just leave your details at the information desk before you leave." he said throwing me an assuring smile before storming off to another patient.
Jenna's POV
When I woke up, I realized that I was on a hospital bed with two needles, each one in a different arm. The room was empty, but I could hear people talking on the hallway, until few minutes later a man dressed in a white robe wearing glasses came in. You could instantly tell he was a doctor. He was tall and well built in his early 30's with black hair and little dimples forming in his cheeks as he smiled at me. He approached me and glanced at the machines behind me as if looking for something.
"Hello Jenna! My name is Dr. Fred Winchester, but you call me Fred for short."
"Hi! Is something wrong with me?" I asked afraid that I might be ill. He chuckled and grabbed a small object form his pocket. The object had some sort of light which he quickly turned on.
"No, there's no need to be worried. You only have a lack of vitamins and your body is weak. That's why you fainted. We are working to get you back on your feet in no time, don't worry." he answered while checking my eyes with the device. "Tomorrow I think you'll be good to go." he followed. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better...."
"Your friend is here by the way. Should I let him in?"
"Which friend?" I asked puzzled.
"I think his name is Henry. He was the one who brought you here. He is waiting for about 2 hours now and he's worried sick about you."
"I've been passed out for two hours?" I asked making a grimace as the migraine was kicking in again.
"Yes..." he answered and added quickly" ...but don't worry, you are fine! You're not the first to come here with this problem." he said, trying to reassure me as I guess he saw the fear written on my face.
"Oh..."
"So, should I let him come in or tell him to go home?"
"Tell him to go home, please." I answered trying to force a smile.
"Ok, you just rest now and if you need anything, just press this button and a nurse will come shortly to assist you." he said holding a device with only one button in his hand which he placed on one of the nightstands beside my bed.
"Ok, thank you."
I see him going out the door and I felt relieved that I didn't have to put up with Henry, even if it was for just one day. I leaned back on the bed, closing my eyes as I could finally get some sleep when I heard the door opening slowly and the idiot coming in like he was an undercover agent, looking left and right to see if someone will notice him.
"What the fuck?" I said, trying to yell the words but being to weakened to do so. He brought his index finger to his mouth, making me a sign to be silent. He came closer to me and in a matter of seconds, he was beside my bed, looking worried as he analyzed me.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"I'm fine." I answered briefly.
"I'm so glad to hear that, Jenna!" he said and sighed. "I was worried sick about you!" he added, taking my hand into his.
"There's no need to be worried. I'll be fine and ready to get back to work in no time." I said sharply without looking at him. He had his head down and his face was pale while he took a sit on the chair next to the bed.
"I don't want you to work anymore!" I heard him saying and I turned my head to face him, taken aback by his words. He couldn't find the bravery to look me in the eyes because he knew he had no right after all the things he put me through. Instead, he was holding my hand tightly, and for a second I felt pity for the man.
"Why? You're feeling bad for what just happened? Don't worry, it's not your fault, it's mine. I didn't eat well the last couple of days so there's that."
"No, Jenna, you're wrong. It is my fault. I never should have treated you like that. I am an asshole, but I'm not a monster and what I did with you..." he made a pause and shocked his head while closing his eyes as if he wanted to banish the thoughts storming now in his head "...what I did to you was unforgivable."
I was prepared to say something, but the moment was interrupted by someone else rushing in and I remained perplexed when I realized that person was in fact Phill. He was breathing heavily, his hair was ravished and, as soon as he got into the room, his eyes locked on me and he seemed at ease that I was ok, but when he spotted Henry, his eyes narrowed and his bared teeth made me realize he was about to have a fight with him.
"Strauss, you fucking piece of shit." he spit out the words, menacingly coming towards him, prepared to attack. Henry was already up, clenching his fists while his remorse expression was now replaced by a sadistic look, wrinkles forming between his eyebrows. Eh well, at least we were in a hospital. What could go wrong?
