Frustration was building up; JC was getting ready to explode.  How could something as simple as lifting a fork to his mouth be so tiring?  Lisa sat in the chair next to him reading a book, but he could tell she was watching him out of the corner of her eye, just waiting to jump in when he couldn’t do it.  He had now been conscious for three days and could do little to take care of himself.    

Letting the anger take over, he swept his good arm across the table in front of him, not caring where anything landed.  He threw his arm over his eyes not knowing that Lisa sat unbelievingly next to him – covered in the grape juice from his nearly full cup. 

 She sat for a moment since she couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.  JC heard her get up, but he didn’t want to see the pity in her eyes.  He heard her remark, “I’m going for a walk.”  He didn’t look up until he was sure she was gone. 

Finally some peace and quiet, but that thought had no more than entered his head when his mom poked her head into the room.  “Is everything all right?”  Karen asked timidly, stepping into the room. 

“Yeah, why?”  JC responded shortly. 

“Well, I just ran into Lisa in the hall…”

“So?”  JC didn’t care. 

“She didn’t say anything, is she okay?”

“Why wouldn’t she be, she can use both hands and legs.”  He said sarcastically. 

“So you don’t know why she was dripping wet with…”  Karen picked up the fallen glass from the floor and looked inside at the purple remains.  “Grape juice?”

JC sighed deeply and leaned his head back, “I didn’t know…I didn’t mean to.”

“Why do you treat her so horribly?  She hasn’t left the hospital since you were admitted.  She’s barely left this room.  When she has left the room, she just goes to grab something to eat or stretch her legs.  No one could get her to leave, she said she needed to be here.”

JC interrupted, “She should be here, she’s the one that quit and left.”

“And I don’t blame her, if this is how she was treated.”  JC scoffed and rolled his eyes, already dismissing her words. 

Karen finished picking up the results of his temper tantrum before deciding to leave for the night.  “I hope you don’t live to regret how you have been and are treating Lisa.  Good night, JC.”

“Night, mom.”  He accepted her kiss on the cheek and watched as she closed the door behind her. 

He reached over to turn off the overhead lights, leaving just a dim glow from the nightlights outside.  I shouldn’t have thrown the juice, but Lisa should be used to dealing with me by now.  She’s the one that left me.  How could I ever regret how I’ve treated her?  I’ve paid her an enormous salary, given her free room and board, gotten her tickets to the best concerts and on and on.  She should be at my beck and call.  He pushed aside the twinge of guilt he felt and tried to fall asleep. 

But before he could, the door cracked open to admit Lisa.  She tiptoed inside while JC slid his eyes open a crack to watch her.  Lisa walked to the bathroom and flipped the light on, but shut the door until just a sliver of light shone so she could gather her toiletries for a shower. 

JC could see in the light that her entire front was stained with the grape juice.  Her hair had clumped together in thick strands from where the juice had hit her hair.  He thought he caught a brief glimpse of red-rimmed eyes. 

“I’m sorry about the juice.”  Lisa jumped at his words; apparently, she thought he was asleep. 

“It’s alright,” she said still gathering her supplies, not looking at him.

“No, really, I didn’t mean it.” 

“I said, it’s fine.”  She headed into the bathroom and JC was sure he wasn’t meant to hear her next words.  “It’s what I’ve come to expect from you.”

What?  What did she mean by that?  JC took a good hard look at himself for the first time in a long, long while.  Maybe his mom had been right.  He hadn’t meant to treat Lisa the way he had, it was just that she was always around and wanted something to do.  So he began to give her more and more errands to run that he normally would have performed himself.  When he had a bad day, Lisa was always there with a sympathetic listening ear.  In time, he had begun to abuse that power of being her employer.  When had he stopped being her friend?

When had he turned into such a jerk and hurt the people that were around him?  And it was really just one person – Lisa.  He ached at the thought but wasn’t sure how to fix it. 

The door cracked open again and steam rolled out.  Instead of shutting the light off and going to bed like she had the other days since he had woken up, she quietly started to gather up her belongings.  He watched her for a moment until she stepped lightly next to his bed to grab something on the floor.  Before she could move away, he grasped her arm with his good hand.      

She gasped at the movement.  “What are you doing?”  JC asked, holding as tightly to her wrist as he could so she couldn’t move away.

“I’m gathering my stuff.” 

“I see that, why?”

She pulled away, his strength gone.  “I’m going to Kelly’s house for the night.”

“I’ll ask again, why?”

“You don’t need me here anymore, heck you don’t even want me here.”

Speechless for a moment, he realized he had gone too far earlier.  “But – I – I do need you here.”

“JC –” She said as she shook her head. 

“No listen, just stay tonight, it’s late enough and you don’t want to wake up the girls, do you?”

“Then I’ll stay in a hotel.”

“You shouldn’t be out this late by yourself.”

Her eyes flashed furiously at him through the dim light.  “That never bothered you before.”

This woman was impossible.  “Well, it matters now.”  Suddenly, he yelled in pain. 

“What’s the matter?”  The concern in her voice calmed him somewhat. 

“Cramp in my leg,” he tried to reach his calf, but couldn’t find the energy. 

“Let me call the nurse,” Lisa reached for the call button, but was stopped. 

“No, just rub it, see if that helps.”  He groaned at the pain until she found the muscle that was quivering.

He rested his head back against his pillow and closed his eyes as she carefully massaged his calf.  “You’re really good at that.”

“Who do you think helped with your therapy while you were asleep?”  Their eyes met briefly, before Lisa looked back at his leg.

JC cleared his throat in the awkward silence.  “So will you please stay?  You know in case this happens again.”

“I don’t know, JC.”  She moved down to his foot and he gave a moan of pleasure. 

“Is it true that you’ve been here since I was admitted?”

She paused in her ministrations.  “Where did you hear that?”

“My mom…is it true?”  He tried to read her face in the darkness.

“Yeah,” she admitted reluctantly.  

“Thank you,” JC remarked softly.

Lisa froze and turned a stunned gaze toward him, “That’s the first time you’ve said that in a long time.”  Her expression was unreadable in the darkness. 

“I’m sorry, I’m going to change, I promise.”  He stretched his leg out and Lisa stopped massaging.  “Will you please stay tonight, we can talk about it more in the morning.”

With narrowed eyes, she considered his request for a moment before she nodded slightly.  “Alright, just for tonight.”

She snapped the light off in the bathroom and lay down on her cot.  JC rolled carefully onto his side so he was facing her.  “Good night, Lisa.”

“Good night, JC.”  She rolled so her back was to him, but little did JC know that she was awake a long time, listening to his breathing, thankful he was alive and doing well, but not sure what to do now.