Chapter Fourteen
Jasper had never known a happier Holidays. He spent a lot of it working, but there was plenty of cheer in the hospital, between the decorations, the staff, and the patients. There were chocolates everywhere, and he’d started rationing himself to a few a day, instead of the handfuls the nurses kept foisting on him every time he arrived on a ward.
Matt was going to visit his sister and his Mom on Christmas Eve. It was a small family gathering and Jasper was grateful Matt hadn’t tried to include him. He’d overheard a few conversations between Matt and his mother, enough to know she had been asking questions about him. He wasn’t keen on facing that in person.
Sam and Drew had invited him to spend Christmas Eve with them. It was kind of them, but he felt awkward accepting given he’d only met them twice. Christmas was a time for families, not strangers. So he was almost relieved when he got asked to work a short shift that evening and was quick to agree. Both he and Drew were working Christmas Day, but they had the day after off together.
Jasper was on duty in the Emergency Department Christmas Day, which meant he saw a lot of Matt as he ferried patients back and forth. It was busier than he’d expected even though Matt had warned him it would be.
About midmorning, Jesse directed him into the staff room where some of the others were gathered having coffee. There was a small pile of Christmas crackers on the table.
“Everyone grab a cracker,” Jesse demanded. “Let’s get festive.”
Jasper slipped onto the couch next to Matt, watching bewilderedly as the crackers were passed out.
“Old tradition,” Matt murmured to him. One of the nurses engaged in a brief tug of war with him until his shiny green and red cracker popped apart. Then he and Matt wrestled with Matt’s. Following everyone else’s lead, Jasper pulled out the contents of his cracker, finding a bright blue paper hat, a little packet with a fortune telling fish, and a card with a joke on it.
Jesse started reading her joke as Matt took Jasper’s hat and set it on his head. “There, perfect,” he said.
“Isn’t it against uniform policy?”
“Not today,” Jesse said, interrupting her joke. “I want to see hats all around. Except in the isolation and infection control zones.”
“Yeah,” someone said, “nothing says happy holidays like MRSA.”
An assortment of objects were launched at the Grinch while Jesse tried to regain control of the room by telling another joke.
“Okay, okay,” she said finally, giving up. “Christmas lunch in the canteen at one p.m. I expect to see you all there. You too, Jasper.”
There was a rush of new arrivals before lunch and Jasper could tell by the look on Matt’s face that they were going to be flat out for a few hours. His work, on the other hand, had plateaued briefly. He found himself given random tasks by whoever passed by, sending things through the chute to the labs, getting cups of water for patients and visitors alike. One of the requests sent him into the back of the department, to one of the storerooms, searching for replacement paper towels for the dispensers. He came away empty-handed and stepped out of the storeroom, locking the door behind him.
When he turned around, there was a man standing not four steps from him. He swayed a little on his feet.
“Well, look what I found under the Christmas tree.”
“Um, this area is off limits to patients. You need to head back towards the main area and take a seat.”
The man gave him a lazy smile, ignoring Jasper’s words. “I’ve been watching you, dashing back and forth. You can’t keep still can you?”
He moved closer, and Jasper wasn’t sure if it was alcohol or drugs, he just knew the man wasn’t right.
“Sir, you need to turn around and head to the end of the corridor. I’ll find someone to assist you.”
“Oh, I have all the ‘assistance’ I need, right here. Though I guess maybe some mistletoe would help things along.”
Jasper stopped trying to reason with him and darted around him instead. The man’s hands snaked out, grabbing Jasper’s arms and slamming him back against the door. “Not so fast.”
“Let go of me.” The man’s grip was stronger than Jasper expected from someone so clearly intoxicated.
“I just want a kiss, that’s all. Just one… little… kiss.”
He moved closer, close enough that Jasper could feel the man’s breath on his skin, the sour smell reaching his nose. Struggling and pushing away from the wall, he tried to break the man’s grip, but he was easily twice his weight.
“Ah, ah. I want to open my present.”
“Stop it, let go.”
The man’s head dipped, pushing closer, and Jasper took a breath to shout for help when his attacker was yanked away from him and shoved down the corridor.
“Get away from him.”
Matt’s tone was steely. He stood between Jasper and the man, drawn up to his full height, his hands curled into fists. For the first time, Jasper really saw the soldier in him.
“We were just getting to know one another,” the man said, slurring the end of his sentence.
“I’m sure the CCTV will show you exactly what you were doing,” a third voice said. Jasper looked beyond the man to see Jesse and two security guards standing at the end of the corridor. “These nice gentleman are going to escort you over to the security office, sir.”
“Me? What about him?” The man gestured back to Jasper. “He led me on, told me to follow him down here. Said he’d give me a good time.”
Jasper felt the blood drain from his face, looking from Matt to Jesse. They wouldn’t believe that, would they?
“Sir, I’m not entertaining you any longer. Either you walk out of here on your own two feet or we’ll assist your departure.”
The man glared at Jasper then stalked off down the corridor, the security guards falling into step either side of him. Jesse walked toward them as Matt turned around.
“Jas, are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
He didn’t feel fine. He felt numb, a whooshing sound in his ears, a churning in his stomach, pins and needles in his fingers. There were people talking, but he stopped listening, struggling to just pull in a deep enough breath. There were arms around him and he was moving, walking down the corridor, through the noise of the department and then a door closed, throwing them into quiet again.
“Here, sit down.”
He sat, Matt crouching down in front of him. “Just take some slow breaths now, okay. In for three, out for six.”
Gradually, his heart stopped its racing, the sound in his ears faded, and Matt’s warm hands holding his eased the numbness.
The door opened, Jesse returning.
“Here, drink this.”
Matt pressed the cup into his hands and Jasper took a sip. He’d expected water or tea but got a mouthful of hot chocolate. Good hot chocolate, the kind Matt called sinful. As Matt took a seat beside him, Jesse sat across from them.
“Can you tell us what happened?”
He did, his words halting as he described the man accosting him outside the storeroom. It had all happened so fast.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”
“No, Jasper-” Matt started to say but Jesse interrupted.
“Jasper, honey, you didn’t let anything happen. I know it seems like you were there for ages, had plenty of time to react, but it was only a matter of seconds. You did exactly what you should have done. Tried to verbally redirect him, tried to extricate yourself from the situation. You did nothing wrong.”
“How did you know to come look for me?” He couldn’t figure that part out. He hadn’t been gone for that long and everyone was busy.
“I saw that man watching you,” Jesse said. “He had brought a friend of his in. Then you were gone, he had disappeared, and Angie told me you were hunting in the storerooms. I got a bad feeling, so I sent Matt to find you while I got security.”
“Thank you. If you hadn’t, I don’t know what he would have done.”
“Doubled over in pain after you kneed him in the groin,” Matt said, with no trace of humor in his voice.
“But… but he could have been a patient.” He didn’t want to lose his job over a handsy and intoxicated idiot.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t defend yourself,” Jesse added. “As long as it’s proportional.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Well,” Matt said, “let’s say he tried to kiss you and you broke his arm. Not proportional. But pinning you to the wall and trying to kiss you, a knee to the groin would be self-defense and in proportion to what he was trying to do to you.”
“Oh. I didn’t know. I thought if he was a patient…”
“It doesn’t give him the right to assault you,” Jesse said. “Look, I’m sorry to derail your day any more than it already had been, but the police will be here to take a statement from you soon and review the CCTV footage.”
“The cops?” Jasper seemed to be the only one surprised by that.
“We take assaults on staff very seriously. If we don’t follow through, then there’s no deterrent. I’ll let you know when they’re here.”
“It’ll be fine,” Matt reassured him as Jesse stepped outside. “Just tell them what happened exactly like you told us.”
When one p.m. rolled around, Jasper was more than ready to bury his head in the sand and forget the day ever happened. How could a perfect day go so wrong? Everyone had been really nice to him afterward, even the cops, but he still felt embarrassed and sick to his stomach.
Matt stopped him when they got to the canteen, gently turning him so they were face to face. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know that, but-”
“No buts. It wasn’t your fault.” Matt had an expectant look in his eye.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Jasper agreed.
“Say it like you mean it,” Matt urged.
“It wasn’t my fault.”
“Better. You know, we do have tomorrow off.”
“Uh-huh.” He’d been looking forward to it, but now…
“So I could show you some self-defense moves. Just the basics. You shouldn’t feel like you can’t defend yourself, Jasper.”
“I don’t want to lose my job.”
“You’re not going to, not because of some jerk like that.”
They pushed open the doors to the canteen and were met with a burst of heat and sound. Grabbing trays, they followed the line snaking around the room, winding up with plates piled high with food.
“Over here, guys,” Jesse called, waving them to a table. They carried their bounty over and sat down, Jasper sandwiched between Jesse and Matt. Within minutes, he’d forgotten about the events of the morning, too wrapped up in the delicious food and the laughter and joking at their table.
Matt’s hand found his under the table, squeezing it gently. He leaned closer, whispering in Jasper’s ear. “When you remember today, remember this.”
Jasper had never thought about it like that before. That he could choose the memories he was going to take from a day. And maybe it wasn’t that easy, but he resolved to do his best. He’d rather remember a table of a dozen happy people than one drunk idiot.
“Jasper, your hat,” Jesse said suddenly with a gasp. Jasper reached a hand to his head only to find it missing. “Quick,” she demanded, “pull a cracker.”
Laughing, he did, Taylor sitting across from him grabbing the other end. The cracker wouldn’t break, so Matt and Jesse grabbed onto it too, almost pulling Taylor across the table.
“Three against one, no fair!” she complained with a laugh. It popped, at last, throwing its contents into the air. Matt caught the hat, bright orange, and presented it to him with a flourish.
“Happy Christmas!”