21. Chapter 21

Okay, so this is shorter than my normal chapter, but this is also basically just the filler chapter explaining everything about how Jess is going to feel and everyone's reactions.

Chapter Twenty-One

Steve had been at Jessica's house for a little over an hour when Ms. Henderson got a call from Hopper saying that Jessica was on her way to the hospital and that they should get there as soon as they could. He wouldn't say anything other than he knew that she'd been with Nancy and Jonathan and she'd passed out. They were the ones taking her to the hospital.

Steve knew from what Ms. Henderson had told him that she had gone to the bowling alley with Nancy, and she'd been fine at school and after when he'd walked her to her car, so he wondered what had happened.

Once she hung up, she frantically began to gather her things together.

"Steve, will you go pick up Dustin? He's at the Wheeler's house. He'll want to come with us to the hospital. I'll call so he'll know to be ready when you get there."

"Sure thing, Ms. H."

He was glad she seemed to already know that he was going to the hospital with her. He had to know what was going on, that Jessica was okay.

He was already grabbing his keys and heading to the door when he heard Ms. Henderson start speaking to who he assumed was Mrs. Wheeler.

The drive to pick up Dustin took maybe all of five minutes, the house was so close to the Henderson's, and Dustin was waiting outside when Steve got there. He barely had the car fully stopped before Dustin was hopping into the front seat.

"What happened? Mom didn't say much over the phone."

"Well, we don't know much. Just that she passed out and that Nancy and Jonathan are taking her to the hospital."

"You don't know why she passed out?"

"No. Hopper didn't say."

"Wait, Hopper was the one who called Mom?"

"Yeah. That was all he said though; she passed out, she was with Nancy and Jonathan. We'll find out more when we get to the hospital."

Dustin was a little ball of anxious energy during the car ride to the hospital, and Steve couldn't blame him. If he hadn't been driving, he probably would've been bouncing his leg up and down.

He didn't know where to go exactly once he got to the hospital, so he decided to just park near the Emergency Room entrance and go in from there. That had been the right choice, because he immediately saw Hopper, Jonathan, and Nancy when he and Dustin walked in.

Hopper gestured him over and let him know that Ms. Henderson was back in the ER with Jessica.

"She's awake," Hopper said. "Disoriented but awake. Uh, listen, kid, I don't know how to say this other than bluntly, so I'm just gonna say it. Someone put something in her drink."

Steve noticed when Dustin stepped a little closer to him, so Steve put a hand on his shoulder. Even at Dustin's age, the kid would know what drugging someone meant – especially a guy drugging a girl.

"At the bowling alley? In the middle of the day?" Dustin asked. "I thought that only happened at parties."

"According to these two," Hopper nodded at Nancy and Jonathan, "it was Jason Donovan. Or at least he's who she ended up with."

"I noticed she was acting weird," Jonathan said. "We were about to leave – Nancy and I – and I saw him following her into the back. I think she was trying to use the phone. I, uh . . . thought we should check it out, she was having trouble walking on her own. When we got there, Jason was . . ."

Jonathan didn't seem able to finish, so Nancy took over. "Jonathan stopped him from –" She broke off when she looked at Dustin and she wasn't able to finish either.

"What'd he do to my sister?" Dustin said, his voice louder than it probably should've been considering they were in public.

"Nothing," Hopper said. "I mean, not what he could've done. From what these two say, he was on his way there, but they got there in time. They pulled him off before he could."

"Is she . . . You said she's awake?"

Steve couldn't believe that he'd been at baseball practice while all of this had gone down. Plus, Jessica didn't even really like going places like that and the one time she decided to go out and have fun something like this had happened.

"She woke up on her way here. She's thrown up already once and she's going to feel awful for a few days. It's gonna hit her like the flu. She'll be weak and she'll feel sick. She'll probably be a little achy. I've seen this before."

"What about the guy who did this?"

"Well, there's no proof that he put the drug in her drink, just that he noticed she wasn't feeling great and followed her because of that. Targeted her because of that. To be honest, this didn't happen in Hawkins so I really can't take legal action against anybody even if I wanted to."

"So he's just gonna get away with it?" Nancy asked. "This is gonna get swept under the rug?"

"Trust me, I don't want this guy doing this to anyone else either," Hopper said, "but the thing is . . . Jessica might not even remember anything that happened. That's what the drug is used for. Memory lapses. And even if she can place him there . . . society is not on the girl's side in these situations. Small town boy, small town athlete. The worst he'll probably get is a slap on the wrist with a request not to do it again. If Jess wants to fight this, I'll be with her every step of the way, but . . . her name might be dragged through the mud while she does it. I mean, I can keep an eye on him, throw everything at him that I can, fines, tickets, I can probably even get a warrant to go through his things. If he has anything on him, I can get him for possession, but . . . like I said, I don't have jurisdiction on this case."

Steve knew what Hopper was saying was true. True, he'd never done anything like what Jason had done, but he had done things that he knew he would've gotten in trouble for if he hadn't played basketball or if his last name hadn't been Harrington. His parents weren't around much, but their last name meant something in Hawkins. He'd never really thought of the unfairness of it all until just then.

It wasn't long before someone came out of the ER so Dustin and Steve could go back to see Jessica. Nancy followed them and grabbed Steve's hand as soon as they got through the doors.

"Nance?"

"Um, I have to tell you something. I don't, uh . . . we didn't tell Hopper, so no one else knows, but I think you should."

"Okay . . ."

"I don't know exactly how far Jason got with her. I know he didn't – he wasn't able to . . . He was forcing her jeans down her legs when we found her, so . . . I just thought you should know, so, I mean, in case –"

Steve got it. He needed to know so he would be careful with Jessica. Not that he wouldn't have been anyway, but now he knew that even though Nancy and Jonathan had gotten there on time, some other stuff had obviously gone down.

He squeezed her hand in thanks. He was so very grateful they had been looking out for Jessica.

"Are you guys sticking around, or . . ."

She shook her head. "They won't let everyone back there. Just call if anything changes."

Jessica was awake and had been for at least a good thirty minutes or so, if her sense of time was correct. It might have been off because she was still having trouble focusing; she had to concentrate just to see things clearly.

She'd been by herself for about the first ten minutes after arriving at the hospital. She knew Nancy and Jonathan had brought her there because she'd woken up while he was driving them there.

The woman at the front desk of the ER had immediately taken her back and a nurse was waiting and ready for her. She'd been put in a room, given a gown to put on, and was then hooked up to an IV and that had been that. Her mom had come in eventually, a doctor following behind her. They were both talking, but Jessica had a hard time following their conversation.

All she really wanted to do was go back to sleep. She would have if the doctor hadn't started talking to her and asking her questions even though she couldn't really take in the words being said.

The doctor helped her sit up, which caused her to become dizzy, which then caused her to become ill. She was glad there was a trash can nearby.

The doctor said something about giving her something for nausea and soon a nurse came in to do just that. She had a syringe full of a clear liquid that was shot into her through her IV line and she almost immediately stopped feeling sick to her stomach.

"Mom?"

Someone grabbed her hand, said, "I'm here, baby," and then squeezed gently.

"What . . . happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"I remember bowling. I know Nancy and J-Jonathan brought me here."

"Ms. Henderson, memory loss is normal. She may remember later, even as early as tomorrow." The doctor stepped into Jessica's line of sight. "Are you feeling any pain at all?"

"My body . . . hurts, like . . . I'm achy and weak."

"You don't appear to have any bruises," the doctor said. "They are side effects of the drug you were given."

"The drug. He put it in my drink."

Her hand was squeezed again, her mother still by her side.

"In normal cases we would perform a rape kit, but your friends say they got there in time. Judging by your appearance and by your lack of pain, I'm going to say they were telling the truth."

There was a pause, enough of one that Jessica could have told her something different had there been anything to tell. She didn't remember everything, but she knew she hadn't been violated – at least not in that way.

"Mom? I want . . . I want Steve. Is he here?"

"He wasn't here when I got here. He had to pick up Dustin."

The doctor kept talking about having to keep her for a few hours just to make sure the nausea medicine continued to work. They wanted her to try and eat something small and to also drink some water. If she couldn't keep fluids down, then she couldn't go home.

It was in the middle of the doctor explaining everything that both Dustin and Steve came in. Dustin was a lot more subdued than he normally was, which she was thankful for. She didn't know if she could handle his normal exuberance. Steve was quiet as well, but she could tell he was relieved to see that she was awake and sitting up.

Dustin ended up standing by his mom, and Steve ended up sitting beside her on the bed. When he didn't automatically touch her in some way, she reached out her free hand so he would know it was okay. She wasn't afraid at all, and she wanted him to touch her. She was still thankful that he had given her a choice.

Once his hand was in hers, she pushed her fingers in between his and squeezed. She didn't want him going anywhere.

The doctor soon left, letting them know that she would probably feel as if she had the flu for a few days. She would need to stay home from school for the rest of the week, but other than that she should be good to go once they were sure she wasn't going to throw up again.

Hopper came in a few minutes after the doctor left. His eyes and face were careful, even his movements were.

"How you doin', kid?" he asked, and Jessica shrugged.

"Okay."

"I, uh, hate to have to do this right now, but I have to ask you a few questions."

"I don't remember much," she said. "I know that – I know that it was Jason who put whatever in my drink. And I know that I tried to get away to . . . to call Steve to come get me because I wasn't feeling well enough to drive. He followed me into the hallway where the phone was."

Steve, who was still on the bed with her, still holding her hand because she hadn't let go, used his thumb to caress the back of her hand. He hoped it would bring her some level of comfort. She'd been going to call him; she'd known he would drop everything to come get her if she'd just been able to get in touch with him.

"When did you start feeling weird?"

"It was during one of the games. We played one game and then I went to check with Nancy about when she was leaving, and then we started playing another one."

"We?"

"Uh, four of the football players and three girls I know from school. I don't know them well, but, you know, enough to talk to. I couldn't tell you their names right now if I wanted to, but I remember Jason. I know I picked up the phone – or I think I did, I think I remember that, because I couldn't see the numbers well enough to dial, and that's – that's where everything gets a little hazy. I woke up in Jonathan's car."

So she didn't remember anything of what Jason had done. That was probably a blessing for now, especially when she just needed to rest.

"Is Jason the only one who . . . there were three other girls playing, and the other guys were friends of Jason."

"As far as we know, yes. Nothing else was reported, and I called in a few of the guys I know who work the force over there."

"Good."

"Yeah. If you remember anything else, you know where to find me. I'll probably stop by your house in a couple of days anyway, once you're feeling better."

"I'll need my car back," Jessica said. "It's still there at the bowling alley."

"I'll get someone on that if you give me the keys. You just get better."

"My jacket. They're in my jacket."

Ms. Henderson, who had put all of Jessica's things on one of the chairs in the room, went through everything to get to the jacket and then found the keys for Hopper.

Not long after Hopper left a nurse came in with a small paper cup and a pitcher of ice water.

"The doctor wants you to try to keep this down, okay? Drink slowly or you might get sick again. If you can keep this down, we will try you on some crackers."

The nurse placed the cup and pitcher on the bedside table and then left them to it. Jessica had pretty much everything she'd need, and all they could do now was wait to see if she'd be sick again or not.

Jessica slowly laid back on the bed and Steve watched as she let out a deep exhale.

"They didn't say I couldn't sleep, right?"

"No," her mother said. "But you should drink some of the water first. It's why they brought it."

Jessica did as Ms. Henderson asked, though she made it look like a chore. Her hand shook a little as she brought the cup to her lips. She had said she was feeling weak. She took sips until she had finished the whole thing, and then relaxed back against the pillow again.

It didn't take long for Jessica to go to sleep. They would have to wake her up again once the doctor decided to try her on food, but at the moment she seemed just fine not being awake.