Page 31 of Isabelle & Jason
“Isn’t it, though?”
Jason scowled but didn’t bother looking in Mark’s direction. “It isn’t.”
“Then what’s the problem? Because I’ve seen the way you look at her. There’s no hiding that kind of interest. And that night at the bar?—”
Darting up in his bed, Jason raked two hands through his hair. “She was drugged that night, Mark.”
His friend slowly sat up and faced him. “What?” he whispered.
Jason attempted to swallow the knot in his throat and nodded. “That guy she was with…” He didn’t have to finish his statement. Mark could fill in the blanks. “Anyway, I stopped anything from going too far and took her to the hospital.”
“Your brother?”
Nodding, Jason climbed off the edge of the bed and paced. “Yeah. He helped her. They did some tests to confirm my suspicions, and they kept her overnight.”
“But… why hasn’t she said anything?”
“She can’t remember. I don’t know, Mark. I think she blocked it out. She blocked a lot of that night out.”
His friend cursed under his breath. Those were Jason’s sentiments exactly. “Did the guy get charged? Please tell me he?—”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. My brother couldn’t tell me much because of patient confidentiality. Anyway, at this point it doesn’t matter. What matters is that she’s struggling. She’s not…happy.”
“And you know this because?”
Jason shot his friend a sharp look, to which Mark lifted placating hands. “She’s not sleeping. She’s having panic attacks.” Before Mark could ask him how he knew that little bit of information, Jason went on. “I’ve witnessed two of them. It’s like she’s drowning, and I don’t know what to do.”
Mark was quiet for a long moment. Then he sighed. “You’re not going to like this, but honestly? It’s not your job to—” Hiswords were cut off when Jason glowered at him again. Blowing out a breath, Mark shook his head. “Okay, let me ask you something. When you guys… hang out… does she seem to be doing okay?”
Jason’s brows furrowed. “Compared to what?”
“I dunno,” Mark said with a shrug. “Does she seem to be coming out of her shell? Is she opening up with you even a little?”
“I guess so.”
“Then maybe all you can do is keep it up.”
Jason growled with frustration. “She’s avoiding me, Mark!”
“Why?”
He turned his face to the ceiling and closed his eyes briefly. “I told her.”
“You told her…” Mark drawled.
“I told her I was the one who took her to the hospital.” He didn’t dare look in Mark’s direction. He could already feel the shock coming off his friend in waves. “And before you ask, no, I hadn’t told her that information until about a week ago.”
His friend muttered under his breath, then he laughed quietly.
“It’s not funny.”
“No, you’re right. It’s definitely not funny. But man, way to bury the lead. You kept a secret like that from her since the first day we started working here?”
Jason grimaced, collapsing onto the bed at his side. “Yeah, I did.”
“No wonder she’s keeping her distance. She probably thinks you’re some kind of stalker.”
“Shut up,” Jason muttered. In truth, he hadn’t considered that, but it would make sense. He’d been there at that bar that night. He’d helped her. But then he’d shown up at her family’s business and gotten a job. And now he was inserting himself intoher life by going on runs with her in the mornings. The evidence was everywhere that something was off.
