A second chance at love: Chapter Two💗💗
Tune in as the story of love and deceit begins to unfold. One chapter at a time.
Two
I t had been a couple of days since they had brought Jillian in. During that time, she had only seen Nash once. When she had asked the nurses where he was, their only response was that he was making his rounds and that he would be in soon to check on her. Jillian clearly knew that his so-called ‘rounds’ were done while she was sleeping; another way of avoiding her. Eventually he would have to face her. He couldn’t avoid her forever, especially since she knew where he worked.
Tucking her hand under the pillow, she rolled over to her side, which was something she hadn’t been able to do two days ago. Laying on her side, she had a perfect view of the door. No matter how long it took, she wouldn’t fall asleep until he came so see her. If by one o’clock he didn’t show, she would attempt to find him.
As the minutes ticked by, she finally heard his voice as he spoke to a nurse that was on duty. Jillian had become so tired trying to stay awake, but the minute she heard his voice she got her second wind. Rolling onto her back, she lifted her body up from the bed so that she was in a sitting position. She was about to turn on the overhead light but decided not to, knowing that if he knew she was awake, he might not come to her room to check on her. Closing her eyes, she pretended she was asleep.
Her little bout of deceit ended when he said, “I know you are awake, Jillian.”
“Yeah, well, I know that you purposely waited until I was asleep to make your rounds.” Her assumption was correct, and Nash knew that he could no longer avoid her.
Keeping his eyes off her and on her chart, he pretended not to hear her comment. “It looks like you are doing quite well after the surgery. Let me take a look at your incision to make sure it is healing properly.”
Keeping a close watch on him. Jillian never took her eyes off him as he made his way to her bed. Pulling back the thin blanket, he lifted one side of her gown so that he could look at her wound. There was something about the warmth of his hand against her skin that made the anger she harbored for so long turn into sadness.
Vowing to seek the truth, she asked, “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”
It was a simple question and she deserved the truth, only Nash didn’t know how to tell her that he left to protect his own heart. To this day he had never stopped thinking about her. Even though they were both young, he knew that she was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It didn’t matter that they lived on two different ends of the street, his being the upper end and hers the lower. Nash thought that if he left without telling her the real reason for leaving, he could save them both from a broken heart. He would rather Jillian be angry with him than to have the courage to tell her that his parents forbade him to see her. He didn’t dare defy them and risk his dream of going to college to become a doctor being stripped from him. So he left without a word. It was the only thing he could do. To please his parents, he met the girl of their dreams, and it didn’t matter to them that he was unhappy. As they kept up with their continued threats, he married the girl they loved. He never could bring himself to have children with her, and after he graduated from college, he divorced her. His dream of becoming a doctor came true, but the one person he wanted to share it with was gone.
“Leaving you was the worst mistake I ever made. My selfishness impeded my happiness. There wasn’t one day that I didn’t think about you after I left,” Nash confessed, hoping that Jillian still felt the same way after all this time.
“I’m listening,” Jillian replied.
Moving from her side, Nash couldn’t bear Jillian looking at him as he explained. “My parents said if I continued to see you, my dreams of becoming a doctor would be without their help. I felt like I had no other choice but to do as they wanted. They even picked a college that was across the country to make sure we couldn’t be together.”
“So you left to please your parents?” she asked.
“I guess you could say that. I had a choice though, and I made the wrong one. Instead of working hard and putting myself through college, I took the easy way out.” Something came over Nash. He realized if he wanted to come clean about how things ended with them, he needed to be completely honest with her. “While in college, I met a girl. My parents loved her, so we got married. The week after I graduated, I filed for a divorce. I never loved her, but to make my parents happy, I married her anyway. She knew I didn’t love her and she gave me the divorce.”
“Did you ever think about finding me?” Justifying her question, she felt she needed to know if he not only thought of her every day, but also thought about finding her.
“I couldn’t. As much as it pained me, I knew I didn’t deserve you after what I had done. I’m sorry, Jillian. I am truly sorry and hope that you will let me make it up to you,” Nash pleaded, hoping that somehow Jillian would find it in her heart to give him another chance.
Leaving her to her thoughts, Nash left her room to prepare for her discharge. Her wound was healing nicely and, other than giving her a few instructions for her aftercare, there was no reason to keep her in the hospital.
After completing the necessary paperwork, he went back to Jillian’s room to let her know that she would be discharged and she would be free to go home tomorrow. When he got to her room, it didn’t surprise him that she was fast asleep, given the time. After sharing with her why he left so many years ago, the last thing he wanted was to give the discharge instructions to the nurse to go over with Jillian when she woke up. Returning to the nurses’ station, Nash held on to the paperwork as he requested that the nurse contact him the minute Jillian woke up. He needed to know if she would let him back in her life or if it would be goodbye.
Jillian hadn’t been able to sleep like she wanted to since her thoughts had been filled with Nash and what he admitted to her. She knew his parents very well and never thought that they would be the first to judge her because of what her parents didn’t have. Even though her parents didn’t own a fancy car, or have a big house, she had been happy with what she had. Her parents did the best they could and she had a wonderful childhood without all the fancy things that Nash had. What had bothered her the most was, Nash didn’t care enough for her to stay with her instead of going to college. The longer she thought about it, she felt bad that she was so selfish. Had it been her, she would have given anything to go to a university instead of a community college.
Turning on the TV, Jillian tried to get her mind off of Nash. Unfortunately, it didn’t help. All she ended up doing was surfing the channels, not paying any attention to what was on. She was so concerned about Nash that it had completely slipped her mind that she hadn’t heard from her boss. It made little sense that he wouldn’t have noticed that she hadn’t shown up for work the past few days, more so since the meeting that was so important to him
She wasn’t sure where her cell phone was, but knew she needed to get in touch with him. Picking up the receiver to the hospital room phone, she dialed nine and waited for the dial tone. Knowing the office number, she dialed it. It was eight o’clock and she knew that Mr. Nelson would already be in the office.
“Nelson Investments, Trish speaking.”
Jillian didn’t recognize the name and assumed that she was a temporary employee. One thing that she prided herself on was getting to know all the employees at Nelson Investments. Even though it wasn’t a small firm and had 250 employees, Jillian got to know everyone in the five years that she had worked there.
“Hello, Trish, this is Jillian Steel. Is Mr. Nelson in yet?” Jillian asked, trying her best to be as friendly as possible.
“Yes, Ms. Steel, he is. I will put you through. He will be glad to hear from you.”
Before Jillian could thank her, music sounded on the other end, letting her know that Trish had placed her on hold. It wasn’t long until she heard Mr. Nelson on the other end.
“Jillian, I am surprised to hear from you so soon. How are you feeling?” The concern couldn’t be mistaken in his tone.
“I’m doing well, sir,” she paused for a moment. “I’m assuming that you know what happened?”
“Everyone here knows about the accident. They all pitched in and sent over a bouquet along with their ‘Get Well Soon’ message.”
Jillian looked around the room and saw that a beautiful bouquet was sitting on the window ledge behind her. She didn’t know how she could have missed them. Thanking Mr. Nelson, she continued her conversation with him. As they talked more, Jillian found out that the meeting scheduled to take place before the accident ended up being postponed until the next week. Everyone agreed that under the circumstances, it was best.
Once Mr. Nelson learned more about her accident and injuries, he gave her three weeks paid leave so that she could have time off to heal properly. Even though she thought it wasn’t necessary since she was already feeling better, Mr. Nelson had insisted she take the time off.
Just as she had hung up the phone with her boss, Nash had entered her room. He had a smile on his face that told her he was in a good mood or had some good news for her. Walking over to the side of her bed, he gazed down at her and asked, “How are you feeling today?”
“Good,” she stated confidently.
“That’s good to hear. All the more reason to allow you to go home today. I have finished your discharge paperwork, so you can leave anytime you are ready.” The regret in his voice matched his expression. It might be the last time he would see her, and he couldn’t let that happen without trying to work things out. “I would like to see you again.”
“Let me know when. My boss has given me the next three weeks off so setting up a follow-up appointment won’t be a problem,” Jillian confessed.
“I meant in a different capacity. Not as your doctor, but personally. I would love to have another chance, Jillian. Please let me prove to you that I am not the same guy I was ten years ago.”
His words came across sincerely and Jillian knew in her heart that there was still something between them after all these years. She would never know for sure unless she agreed to give him another chance. Looking deeper into his eyes, she saw something in them that she had missed for a long time. Nodding her head, she said, “Okay.”
Jillian and Nash’s story continues. Click below for Chapter Three
https://medium.com/@a.l.long/because-of-you-3d162fa48814
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