FB: The past is gone but something might be found

The rest of our visit went pretty smoothly. I had gotten a splint, and was told to keep off it as much as possible, to ice it, and keep it elevated. In a few days I was instructed to go back to the hospital in order to get a cast. There was too much swelling right now, and they wanted it to go down a little before they put a cast on it. I was also given crutches to help me walk, but it was so late and I was so tired, I didn’t feel like using them. Both Drew and Jacob had managed to nap at the hospital, but I had been in too much pain the whole time (the best painkiller they would offer me before they confirmed a break was a Tylenol. Which didn’t cut it.) By the end of the night I was so exhausted I couldn’t fathom trying to climb the stairs in crutches. Fortunately, without even having to ask, Jacob scooped me up into his arms and carried me into the house. We busted in, startling Jason and Kayla who were on the couch making out. Jason looked sheepish, but Kayla smirked, and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at her. Screw my paranoia, part of her was definitely trying to make me jealous.

I didn’t really drink so much, the doctor had finally given me a mild pain killer, and at the dose he prescribed it didn’t do much, but when I doubled it up, it worked well. It also knocked me for a loop. I didn’t really need to add alcohol to the mix. The whole group was pretty sympathetic to my injury, even Kayla. She was quick to bring me anything I might need, and didn’t protest at all when any of the guys, even Jason, offered to carry me somewhere. For a brief moment I did wonder if she had pushed Jason, and if she felt guilty for it. However, I knew most likely it was just that Kayla was a nice person, wanting to help out anyone she could.


We were flying back to Indiana, where I would stay for a few days, and then Drew was going to drive me back home. I had vacation time to stored up, working all summer pretty much non-stop meant that I got a lot of hours to use at other times, but we were beginning our camp season, and even worse it was an accreditation year, so I was needed back home to pour over the new policies and procedures to make sure we were up to date on everything. I technically shouldn’t have taken the weekdays off, but Mama Rivers understood how important this all was to me, and had assured me that they would manage without me.

To be honest, I was a little excited to go back home. I loved hanging with the guys, and I would have wanted to stay longer, but this year I was asked to sit on the interview team for hiring new camp counselors. I wasn’t a huge fan of camping, but I was very proud of what we did there, and I loved talking about it, and trying to read how people played off my excitement. If they got excited as well, I knew we would probably be in for a good summer.

We had pretty much a whole new staff to hire as well, as a lot of people who had come the year before couldn’t come back for various issues. The guys had yelled at me already a couple of times for busting out some paperwork. I was actually looking forward to them leaving me alone for a little bit while they swam, but Jacob wouldn’t hear of me sitting alone in the cottage, so he stayed behind with me.
“Really, Jake, you didn’t have to stay. I’ll be fine, I have stuff I can do.”
“Yeah, but what if you needed something?”

I laughed. “I’m perfectly capable of getting whatever I need hon. It’s just a broken ankle, I’m not paralyzed.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but why not make things a little easier when I can?”


It was nice to have everyone fawning over me. If I coughed, someone got me a glass of water before I could even ask or make a move to get it myself. If I sneezed, I had three people handing me a tissue all at once. I got served food before everyone else, was allowed to take up the whole couch while people sat on the floor, and was pretty much carried around. By the time we were boarding the plane for Indiana though, I was sick of it. It had only been a day, but I wasn’t in the mood to be babied.

I finally snapped on Jason, when he tried to pick me up without even asking to carry me onto the plane.

“I have crutches, let me use them!”

He dropped his arms and looked sheepish.

“I was just trying to help.”

I instantly felt bad for yelling at him. “I know, but just let me help myself a little, OK?”

We settled in to our seats, I had the window seat, Jacob was next to me, and Drew was on the outside. Jason and Kayla were behind us. The boys pretty much fell asleep the second we took off, and Kayla opened a book she had brought. I was finally able to dive into the paperwork I had brought.


When we landed, we were surprised when we walked off the plane and were greeted with a loud round of cheering and applause. Jason’s family was there, along with Sean, Toni, Nick, and various other friends and families. Some of Jacob’s family had also driven up to welcome him home. His mother was there too.

“Mom!” He yelled, running to her, looking and sounding like a six year old boy.

“Hey baby!” She called, wrapping her arms around him. She started to cry, and I felt my own throat tighten in response.

I stood back, wanting them to have their moment, feeling almost like an intruder or a peeping Tom.

She pushed him away slightly, taking a good, long, hard look at him, trying to take in any changes that occurred over the last few months. She clucked her tongue at him.

“Still ugly, I see.” She said, smiling. He laughed.

“Yeah well, they do say I take after you.” He joked back.

Although, it wasn’t really a joke. While he wasn’t ugly, he was the mirror image of his Mother. Her smile was his, her eyes his, her skin tone his. I even spotted some of his facial expressions in her. And while Jacob certainly wasn’t ugly, his Mother wasn’t exactly beautiful. She had a certain mannish look about her, her big features looked perfect of Jacob, but crowded and weighed down her face. She did have a gorgeous smile though, which seemed to counter the whole thing.

“Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the hospital? Did you escape the men in white coats again, Ma?” He tried to keep his tone light and joking, but I could hear the worry underneath.

She waved him off. “No biggie hon. I was in and out really, I wanted to stay longer, it’s a nice change to be the one getting waited on, but they kicked me out!”

He looked at her seriously. “So you’re feeling OK?”

“Fine, I’m feeling fine.” She smiled at him, and he seemed to accept this answer.
She looked over at me.

“Oooh, Jacob, this can’t be the famous Ella, can it?” She exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

“Yeah.” He said sheepishly. “This is Ella. Ella, this is my Mom, Sandy.”

“Oh, screw the Sandy, just call me Mom. Everyone does. Come over here honey and let me look at you!”

I watched her eyes widen as I hobbled over to her. She hadn’t noticed the crutches before.

“Jacob are you beating up girls again!” She yelled, smacking Jason on his chest.

Jacob laughed. “Nope, Jason did it.”

“Blanco!” She barked. Jason looked up from where he was talking with his own Mother.

“Yes Mom?” He called back.

“What did I tell you about beating up girls?”

“Well, m’am, you taught me everything I know about it! That’s how I did such a good job on Ella!” Jason called back.

Sandy laughed, and turned her attention back to me.

“Well, Jacob. You did OK. She sure is pretty, but she is broken. No good for manual labor, you’ll have to send her back.” She said, winking at me.

“No Ma, I want to keep this one!” He teased back, gently pulling me to his side and wrapping an arm around me.


I noticed a few other people hanging around the outskirts of our group. Jacob finally noticed them too.

“Ma, you didn’t tell me you brought them!” Jacob yelled, walking over to them. Sandy winked at me again, and walked to join the group which I assumed were either family members or friends. I left him alone to catch up, I had two days with him already, I needed to share.

I hobbled over to some chairs and sat down. I was suddenly very tired, and desperately wanted a nap. But, I had already ruined a night of fun by having to go to the hospital, I wasn’t going to whine about a nap and cut their homecoming short as well. I tipped my head back and rested it against the wall, closing my eyes. I was almost asleep when I heard a loud squeal followed by a loud whoop. I looked up just in time to see a girl running towards Jacob, jumping up on him, only to be caught in his arms.

I felt my stomach drop a little. The girl was pretty. I tried to convince myself that it was one of his cousins, who also happened to be friends with Jacob, but it unnerved me a little that this girl was so excited to see Jacob, and that he was equally excited to see her.

“Sorry I’m late! I wanted to be here to see you walk off the plane!” I heard her exclaim.

“No biggie,” he replied. “Mom was here, I didn’t even notice anyone else.”

“Well, Mom can be your number one girl. Just remember who your number two is.” She said, playfully poking him in the chest.

She and Jacob talked for a few moments before he looked around and realized I wasn’t near him. He spotted me, grabbed the girls hand, and pulled her over to me.

“Ella, this is one of my best friends, Michelle.”

“Nice to meet you.” She said, holding out her hand to me. I shook it gently.


I stayed on the chairs, watching Jacob mingle with his other friends and some of Jason’s friends. Wherever he went, Michelle was always a few steps behind him, and I noticed they were constantly touching. She would be holding his hand, or have her hand on his shoulder. With some relief I noticed it was mainly her who was initiating these touches, but still, Jacob didn’t seem annoyed, and he never waved her off.

It was then that I realized with a panic that Jacob was Michelle's Jason, and I was her Kayla.