“What?! Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. I saw a woman drive off the road into a light pole. I called 911, I’m wanting to make sure she’s ok.”
“You don’t think…”
“I don’t know. I mean, maybe. It crossed my mind. I guess that’s why I need to make sure she’s ok. That I might have seen her last moments before…”
“Yeah. You’re a good man. I love you.”
“Love you too, babe. I’ll be home once they let me see her, make sure she’s ok.”
He hung up the phone, sipping his iced coffee as he waited. He picked up a magazine on the table next to him, flipping blankly through the pages in an attempt to kill time. He grabbed his phone, scrolling through emails and social media.
He heard footsteps approach, seeing a doctor in a white coat. “You’re here for Jenna Pollard?” the doctor asked.
At least I know her name, he thought before nodding to the doctor.
“Come with me.”
The doctor led him down the hall to the ER rooms. “She had a seizure while at the wheel. From what she told me, I’d guess it was stress related. Try and help keep her stress down for a while. She’s still a little out of it, which is normal for this type of seizure. Right now she’s mostly sleepy, again, fully normal. You’re aware she has epilepsy?”
“No,” he said,” “I had no idea.” He was being honest. “So this wasn’t some type of suicide attempt?”
“Do you have reason to believe she would do that?”
“No, I just had never seen anything like this, maybe thought she was trying to end things.”
“I won’t deny that the stress that brought this on might have been strong enough to tie to that possibility, but she never gave any indication of that being the case to us. Maybe she’d tell you. I just wanted to give you as much as we know so far before you went in to see her.”
The doctor walked him to a curtain, one he assumed had the woman on the other side. He was alone, his hand on the curtain, somehow nervous about who was on the other side.
He opened the curtain slowly, her red hair the first thing he saw. Her car window had made it look more brown, but the lighting in the hospital showed just how red her hair was. Her eyes were closed, but her frame was petite. She was breathtaking, he noticed her features despite the exhaustion her body was in. A small nose, soft chin, full lips. Despite her hair color, she didn’t have many freckles, but did have a fairer skin tone. There were the beginnings of bruises from where she hit the steering wheel, but she was still a beautiful woman. She moved, her eyes slowly opening. Without directly looking at her, her eyes were the brightest blue he had ever seen in real life. He was sure the blue eyes he’d seen in photographs were touched up to look that way, but hers were all natural.
He was nervous as she turned to face him. Her eyes fixed in him, her face curious before widening, her mouth gaping open.
Yup, this is happening… he thought.
…
She felt groggy, everything was a blur. She knew she was in a hospital, but not sure how she ended up there. She saw a body in front of her that wasn’t wearing a white lab coat, turning to get a better look.
He was in dark wash jeans and a black t-shirt, so effortlessly put together. She saw his face, trying to figure out why she knew him. Then it clicked. His face has been plastered all over her walls as a late teen. Since the pandemic, she’d bought more merchandise to please her inner teen. The blue eyes were unmistakable.
“You’re…” she gasped. He nodded silently. “But why are you here? Why am I here?”
“You had an accident. Totaled your car…”
“I didn’t hit you, did I?”
“No. I was a couple car lengths behind you. I saw you lose control and pulled over to make sure you were ok. I made the 911 call.”
“You saved my life…” she sighed.
“I doubt I did THAT much…”
“Was I conscious when you pulled over?”
“No, you were slumped over the steering wheel. I tried opening your door, but it was locked. I banged on the window and you did nothing. That’s when I made the call.”
“Thank you for the call, but why are you here? How did they let you see me, a complete stranger?”
“The nurse told them I’m your boyfriend. I went along with it. I needed to know you were ok, that I hadn’t just seen the last moments of your life.”
“Well, 16 year old me would never believe this, coming full circle…”
“Full circle?”
“It’s how I became a fan. Well, a diehard fan. I was ready to kill myself, knife in my hand. I asked God for one reason not to go through with it. I got this feeling to turn on my stereo, and God Must Have Spent was playing. You’ve saved my life twice, only this time you know about it.”
“They said you’re epileptic…”
“I have epilepsy, it doesn’t have me. Well, not most days.”
“They said to reduce your stress, that brought this on…”
“I’m super great about taking my meds, so it makes sense that with everything I’m going through…”
He sat down in the chair next to her bed, looking intently at her. “Tell me about it.”
“You don’t need to hear about my problems…”
“Maybe not, but I want to.”
Jenna sighed. “I’m a teacher. At least I was. I got laid off at the end of the school year. I’ve slowly gone through my savings, unemployment payments only cover so much… I was on my way home from another failed job interview when it all happened. I can’t afford to stay living with my roommate, I’ll have to move back in with my parents. I’m an over 35 year old college graduate and can’t keep a job; not one using my degree and will pay the bills. Sorry, this must sound so foreign to you…”
“I still understand the struggle, the way you’re feeling. I was feeling the same way, in a way. Any project I’m on lately goes nowhere. The fans find out, but nothing on a bigger scale. Not that I NEED it to, but I’m starting to feel like I’m just another has been.”
“Not to the fans, not the ones that really care. But I guess that’s like me. The kids and parents love me, but the school can’t keep me on because of budget cuts and stuff… It doesn’t matter how much people like you if you aren’t working.”
“Something like that. So you have no job, now you have no car…”
“I can’t drive for the next 3 months, as long as I don’t have another seizure. I get to take the bus to interviews, assuming I can even GET interviews…”
“Could you borrow your roommate’s car?”
“She’s a nurse, long hours, wouldn’t work… Shit, what am I gonna do?” She felt overwhelmed, starting to cry. “Great, now I’m crying in front of you, just when I thought there wasn’t a rock bottom…”
He saw her phone sitting on the table, grabbing it. He turned it to face her to unlock it. “What are you doing?” she sniffled.
His fingers started flying. “I’m in your phone now. Call me when you need a ride to an interview or anything.”
“That’s too much, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“I insist. My other option is to buy you a car…”
“Ok, I must still be dreaming. Why do you care so much?”
“I don’t know, but it’s clear the universe had us cross paths for a reason,” he said, taking her hand in his.
She looked down at her hand, her body starting to shake.
“Another seizure?” he asked, worried.
“No, just nerves and freaking out that a famous pop star is touching my hand…”
“Well, that’s a start. I’m just a regular person underneath it all.”
His phone began to buzz. “I’m sure you need to get that, I’m sure you have somewhere to be. I should call Kelly, my roommate, I’m surprised she hasn’t freaked out that I’m not home yet…”
He looked at her. “Seriously, call me if you need ANYTHING. They said you need to keep your stress down. I wanna help do my part. I’ve saved your life twice now, I can’t just let you down.”
She watched him walk past the curtain pulling it mostly closed. He looked at her one last time, a soft smile on his face.
“Thanks, JC. I’ll call if I need anything,” she said, pressing his contact in her phone. “Now you have my number, should I need to call you…”
“I hope you do.”
“What kind of boyfriend would you be if you didn’t?” she smiled. He laughed quietly at her reply before closing the curtain.
She hadn’t even looked at the phone contact until just then. She wasn’t sure whether to smile or cry again. He’d saved himself in her phone as “Josh- Guardian Angel”.
