Twelve weeks.
That’s how long the hospital told Jed it would take for his fingers to heal. But, 12 weeks equaled to three months and, in four, he was supposed to fight Julius, the retired grizzly bear boxer.
Subsequently, that left him with only one month of actual boxing training, giving him and Amon a less than ideal amount of time to develop a routine that focused around his ailments.
To backtrack: during the car ride to the hospital, Jed shared his secret with Vanessa.
“My bones are hollow.”
Upon hearing that, she jumped into action, wanting to protect her client. First order of business to ensure Jed survived the rest of his training arc mostly unharmed was to postpone the fight. Unluckily for her, the media made that an impossible task. The second they had gotten into the ER and Jed was given splints, the press somehow caught wind of his unfortunate accident. Without a care for how he was doing, they asked him if the fight was still on. To which Jed, stupidly, said yes.
It’s not my fault!! I had to!
They kept hinting at the fact that this injury was possibly staged in order to get the match canceled altogether, and Jed really, really wanted to prove them wrong. Especially after what that annoying guy reporter, Richard, said. Ugh. Jed couldn’t wait to meet him in the next two years face-to-face and show him how big and buff he’d’ve gotten. Maybe Jed would challenge him to a fight.
After Jed was adequately scolded for hiding such a severe disadvantage from his employers—no, Jed, from your friends—Vanessa and Amon got to work while he was stuck on cautionary bedrest, creating a new pair of padded gloves that would bend around his fragile bones. They were thicker, with extra cushioning that made sure his fingers were held separate from one another in order to avoid any breaks, fractures, or tears. The pressure would still be there, but, again, Jed had an abnormally high pain tolerance, so that wouldn’t be an issue. What would be an issue, though, was getting hit anywhere else—but, weirdly, Jed was feeling hopeful that stuff would work out—he had gotten pretty skillful at dodging, and the wing barricade worked well while sparring with Amon.
Speaking of Amon…
Jed hadn’t heard from him in the past week. Harvey had been chauffeuring him around, and Jed assumed the two of them were spending time together. The only sort of contact Amon gave Jed during bed rest was to remind him he still had to do his cardio and strength training, and to let him know the new gloves were done. It was very… tense. Jed assumed Amon was feeling guilty over forcing him to punch him (and was more than a little annoyed Jed slammed him right in the face and broke his nose), but Jed also assumed he was enjoying his time off. Amon did make a stink about wanting to retire during their first meeting and always ran out of there when he was off the clock.
That was fine.
What was really bothering Jed, though, was the fact Vanessa was also avoiding him. The talk he had with her after he got his splints to explain how his bones were hollow went better than expected, so nothing should be the matter, but… something certainly was. Perhaps it was what he said when she asked him about why he didn't tell her sooner. He thought back to the day at the hospital and their conversation right before he got rolled away to a private room.
“Jed! Why didn’t you let me know about this day one?!?!? This… this is so dangerous! I mean, what if you got hit in the chest??”
“I’m sorry, I was scared of you voiding the contract. This is the only good thing I’ve ever had in my life. I can't lose it.”
The face she made after was totally haunting. It was a look of sheer hurt. Guilt. Distraught.
Was that a bad thing to say? Did I word it wrong?
Or, maybe she wasn’t deliberately abstaining from him. Maybe, since he was on bedrest, the meetings were canceled and Vanessa was simply respecting Jed’s downtime like the good employer she was.
A soft knock on his door saved Jed from his inner turmoil, and, as he stood up, he wondered who on earth would take the thirty minute trek all the way up here.
Feeding into his curiosity, Jed opened the door slightly, just enough to peer through a crack and into the outside. It was Vanessa! And she wasn’t in her usual business attire, for once--today she adorned a big, gray t-shirt with a pink graphic on the center, and a little bit of lace near the neckline. For bottoms, she wore a plaid skirt and, under that, sheer tights with leg warmers (also plaid) that sat just above her chunky sneakers. Her hair was down, her clipboard was missing, and she wasn’t wearing her usual maroon eyeshadow and eyeliner combo. You could really see her whole face today with no obstructions, and Jed realized how nicely her features sat together. It made him think back to her story--the one about needing genetic modifications to stand out. That didn’t make sense--she was so beautiful on her own. Almost as beautiful as his middle school girlfriend. Maybe… maybe even more!
“Jed?” Vanessa’s voice snapped him out of his weird trance. He swung the door open, gesturing for her to come in. She was shaking hard from the cold -- the tower crane apartment was so high up, it really got the worst of the winter.
“Oh! Um, come in!” Jed followed her close behind as Vanessa made her way throughout the apartment. Inside was warm and cozy, thanks to Jed’s incessant need to nest. That was one thing he was gifted enough to receive from his bird DNA.
Vanessa gazed at Harvey and Jed’s shared bed and the cacophony of linens that filled it, reminiscent of a pillow fort. Draped all along his bed posts were different colored, thinner blankets, making a sort of sheet-roof. Hanging on the sides, there were heavier blankets, currently tied to the posts, creating a makeshift “doorway.” Inside of the fort, Vanessa could see a myriad of pillows of all different shapes and sizes. Some were plaid, some were checkered, and some were fuzzy, as if they were faux fur. Miscellaneous books were in there as well, and, for some reason, cameras and bubble solution? All over the mattress, he had quilts and knit covers, plus more thin sheets to cover the base. It was all very… warm. A stark contrast to Jed’s frosty ambiance-- these must be Harvey’s things, Vanessa thought. That was cute.
“How are you?” Jed asked as he watched her look over his apartment, worrying if it was too messy. In an attempt to tidy up, he hurriedly surpassed Vanessa, kicking some of the random underwear and tissues that littered the floor out of view. Ew.
“I want to talk, Jed.”
That made him suddenly very nervous. Oh no. What did he do? Was she… was she going to void the contract? No, there was no way. Amon just told him about the new gloves. Jed pointed to the fort’s entrance and said: “That's fine. We can, um. Talk in there.”
Awkwardly, Vanessa kicked her shoes off and climbed inside, sitting down hesitantly on one of the striped blankets near the far corner. Jed followed suit, and untied the blanket door, letting it close for maximum privacy. For a moment, it was entirely dark as Jed scoured the nest of pillows to find the fairy lights switch.
Click!
Suddenly, the inside of the fort lit up in a soft, muted yellow light. Vanessa looked up and gazed at the string of small lights that lined the linen roof. Absentmindedly, she smiled, thinking about how long this must’ve taken him and his roommate.
“Sorry if this is weird. It’s a tradition Harvey and I do every year.” He let out a nervous laugh. “It works out because, um. I like to nest, and he likes to take warm naps. The one time our DNA syncs up.”
“I like it,” Vanessa responded, the appreciation in her voice easing Jed’s nerves. “It reminds me of what I used to do when I was a kid!”
Momentarily, there was a brief silence as Vanessa fought with her ego in order to get her next words out.
“Jed.” She finally managed, avoiding eye contact. “I’m sorry.” She took a deep breath, and strained the last bulk of her apology out. “I’m sorry for forcing you to push yourself so hard. First… I made you tell me your whole life story which I know was hard for you. And then…”
Deep breath.
“And then I totally used it to market you! Then…” Vanessa’s expression pinched with the brunt of self-inflicted shame. “Then, when you got wired up about it, I just… I just convinced you that it was fine. And, oh my gosh, Jed. When I saw those reporters making fun of you because of my choice. Because of the thing I forced you to do… I couldn’t even look you in the eyes.”
Vanessa grabbed one of the circular pillows and smushed it against her face, flopping backward. Muffled, she continued, “And what do I do to counter it?? I make your new outfit even skimpier!! ARGHHH!! What’s wrong with me?!?” She rolled over, hiding in one of the blanket masses.
Jed flopped down as well, inching closer to Vanessa until they were laying together, close. He fidgeted with one of the blankets, betraying his newfound confidence, and thought of what to say--this was new. People didn’t usually apologize to him; People didn’t usually acknowledge they hurt his feelings. Jed wanted Vanessa to know how much he appreciated this--how much it meant.
“I understand.” As Jed voiced his forgiveness, Vanessa popped out of her blindfold of blankets, coming face-to-face with her client. Their noses were inches away and she could smell his breath--blueberries?
“I…” The closeness of them suddenly dawned on Vanessa, and she began to feel flustered -- why? “No, Jed! You can’t just say, ‘I understand.’ What I did was awful. It crossed a line, and look!” She grabbed his hand, surveying the damage to his fingers. They were healing well, but still swollen and bruised, tinged a shade of purple. “Look at your poor fingers!! They’re all big and gross now.”
“I know. But… you didn’t know my bones were hollow. And, for the other things,” A hesitant smile tugged at Jed’s lips, showing the vulnerability behind his seemingly composed lines. “I get it. You just wanted to brand me. And, um. I did agree to it when I made that contract with you. I…”
“Don’t make excuses for me!!” Vanessa squinted her eyes closed out of frustration--why couldn’t Jed just yell at her!! Tell her she sucks!! Why was he being so nice?!? It made everything way more difficult than it needed to be. She squeezed his fingers, annoyed, and Jed flinched.
“Vanessa,” Her eyes opened at Jed’s use of her name. He had never called her by that before -- actually, now that Vanessa thought about it, had he even called her anything before? Just ‘you.’ “I want to tell you something.”
That made her heart momentarily stop. Their proximity, the empty house, laying together in bed, holding his hand… Vanessa realized what this all looked like. She held her breath, bracing herself for whatever would come out of Jed’s mouth next.
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