Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 46

Darlene's mouth dropped open. For a few seconds she couldn't catch her breath, setting her alarm off and bringing the evening nurse in the room. "What's going on?" the nurse demanded.

"It's okay, Genie," Darlene said. "They were just catching me up on the news with my ex. What they told me just caught me off guard and I couldn't catch my breath."

The nurse, a heavy set white woman with greying dark brown hair turned her intense blue eyes on everyone in the room. "Her buzzer goes off again and visiting hours will be over, got it?"

"Yes," everyone mumbled and dropped their heads.

"Sorry guys," Darlene said after the nurse left. "I've known Genie for years. She was a drill sergeant in the Army. Still acts like one most of the time." She shook her head. "Ten years, so eight years with us, that means he started when Jenna was around ten years old. That son-of-a-bitch!"

"Don't beat yourself up, Darlene," Terry said. "I've known Michael for a lot of years and had no idea that he was involved with the trafficking. I'm a cop trained to watch for criminal behavior in everyone I meet. Michael deceived everyone, including me. He didn't leave any clues about his behavior. If Jenna hadn't found that body, he might still be getting by with it." Then he turned to Elliot," Sorry, I meant Elliot."

"It's okay. Jenna was the one who found that body. Elliot didn't exist until later," Elliot said.

Caroline looked toward the door. "I wonder what's taking Cara so long."

"I'll go look for her. She might have gotten lost. This is a big hospital," Elliot said, although he was thinking she was probably trying to avoid him.

Elliot found Cara in the mostly empty cafeteria. She was nursing a cup of coffee. "May I sit here?" Elliot asked.

Cara sighed heavily. "If you must."

"I understand that you are trying to avoid me," Elliot said. "I'm sorry things have turned out the way they have."

"Yeah, me too," Cara said and looked directly into Elliot's eyes. "Have you thought about going back to being a girl?"

Elliot shook his head. "I can't, Cara. This is who I am. I never realized how uncomfortable I was in my own body until I started making these changes. Everything started making sense and I started really feeling good about myself."

"I knew you were always worried about gaining weight and ran every morning like demons were chasing you," Cara said. "But you never said you didn't want to be a girl. I know you hated having to wear girlie things because of your dad, but to become a guy?"

Sighing, Elliot said, "It's more complicated than that."

A tear escaped Cara's eye. "I thought we told each other everything. I thought I knew who you were."

"Well, it's very complicated. All of my documents show that I am now legally Elliot Judson Cross, but my father's attorney is protesting my testimony saying I'm not the same person who saw the body. He's trying to make it so that I can't testify unless I do it as Jenna Marie Matthews, but legally that person doesn't exist," Elliot said. "Dana said I should show up at the trial in a dress just to mess with my father."

Cara burst out laughing and then couldn't stop. Elliot smiled as he watched Cara try to get control of herself. It was good to see her laugh. Finally, she wiped her eyes. "Wow, that is hysterical. You never wore dresses before, and to show up in one now, after you exposed yourself to him as a man." She started laughing again. "Oh my God! That would be priceless."

"I know, right?" Elliot said laughing along with her.

Cara wiped her eyes again and then looked at Elliot soberly. "Elliot Judson Cross? Those are our street names."

Elliot beamed. "I knew you'd figure it out! That was why I chose that name, hoping that one day you would see it and make the connection. So you would know I was alive."

Digging in her purse, Cara got out a tissue to wipe her face. "I want you to know I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Thank you for that."

"I'm glad I could make you laugh," Elliot said. "I was pretty good at it before. Watching you laugh has always been one of my favorite things to do."

Cara couldn't help but smile. "We did do a lot of laughing." She studied Elliot's beautiful eyes and realized that Jenna was not completely gone. The twinkling in Elliot's eyes were the same as Jenna's, as was his infectious smile. Sighing and letting her smile waver, Cara said, "I miss Jenna."