by Moody, Diane
She blinked her eyes, wiping them with her hands. She tried to speak and couldn’t. She tried again. “Jason, I—”
“JASON!”
They jumped at the intrusion of George’s urgent beckoning. They both looked across the grounds at him standing outside the car, then back at each other. “What is it, George?” Jason shouted.
“Your dad just called. He said to get back to the hospital as fast as you can.”
In less than thirty seconds, they slammed the door to the limo as George floored the gas. Gravel spattered against the underside of the long vehicle as it turned a hundred and eighty degree circle and tore out of the city park.
Ten minutes later, as the limousine flew into the hospital complex, they were shocked by the size of the crowds huddled everywhere. “George, what are we gonna do?” Jason asked, their secret entrance blocked by too many people.
“I can try to find another alley but we’ll lose time. I think your best shot is to bust through at the main entrance. Looks like plenty of cops—they’ll get you through. Your dad said they’re expecting you.”
“Let’s do it,” he yelled, throwing open the door as the limo slowed under the porte-cochere at the main entrance. He grabbed her hand and looked her straight in the eye. “Stay right with me, Hannah. No matter what happens, don’t leave my side. I won’t let go of your hand but the crowds can get pretty rough. Hold on tight, okay? Are you ready?”
The roar of the screaming crowd obliterated her answer as he pulled her swiftly from the car. Hundreds of voices screamed his name until she thought her eardrums would burst. True to his word, his hand gripped hers like a vise. Thankfully, the police formed a barricade that allowed them to slip through the mass without bodily harm. An occasional hand reached for them but the police did their job well.
They ran into the building, an entourage of policemen surrounding them. Still, they were surprised to find themselves blinded by the flashing cameras of the press who had somehow eluded security and snuck into the building.
“Jason! I can’t see!”
She heard his voice answer her. “Don’t look up! Keep your face down and hold onto my hand!”
As the press yelled one question after another and pressed in closer and closer, the policemen fought back. Hannah wondered how in the world Jason and the other guys survived living with this day in and day out. Finally, they were out of the fray as the elevator doors shut, wiping out the voices and the flashing lights.
“Are you okay?” Jason asked, pulling her against him. She looked up at him, his face wild with fear at what they might be about to discover.
“Yeah, I’m all right.”
The doors opened to another pandemonium, this time with more familiar faces. Their agents, their families, their close friends, members of the band—they were all there at once. Laura appeared out of nowhere. The expression on her face frightened both of them.
“Mom! What is it? What’s happened?”
She pulled them away from the elevator, hoping for some privacy. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, trying to get close to them. “Mom! Answer me! Is Jackson okay? Is he . . .?”
She drew them into a huddle, shutting out the others surrounding them. “He’s okay, Jason. He’s okay. He’s still in a coma, but he’s still alive. But we almost lost him, honey. He stopped breathing—it was horrible. Just horrible,” Laura continued, her eyes filling. “Poor Alli was there all alone with him when it happened. The trauma team practically trampled her trying to save him—”
“Is Alli all right?” Hannah interrupted.
“Yes, honey, she’s fine. She fainted in the middle of it all. Who wouldn’t, for heaven’s sake? But she came around and she’s resting now. She insisted on seeing for herself that he was all right, then they sedated her a little bit. The poor thing hasn’t slept since all this started.”
Laura turned abruptly to look Jason straight in the eye. “But son, there’s something else. I need to tell you—both of you. Hannah, this is going to be a little awkward for you, but—”
“JASON! Oh Jason!”
And just like one of those strange movie scenes, Hannah’s world slipped into slow motion. She turned her head toward the urgent voice calling out to Jason. She was tall and blonde and beyond description. The perfect cover girl.
“Jennifer! What are you—”
And then she was there, her arms around his neck, hugging him and crying out his name. Hannah felt Laura’s arm on her shoulder. Hannah could see Laura’s lips moving, speaking to her, but her voice sounded far away, tunneled somehow.
Hannah looked back toward Jason and Jennifer. Pieces of their conversation drifted in and out of her hearing. “I came as soon as I heard . . . I tried to reach you . . . oh, Jason, I’ve missed you so much . . .”
Hannah tasted the bile in her throat. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not after everything else. Not Jennifer. Hannah tried to tear her eyes away, to avoid the pain. But she couldn’t help it. Jennifer was stunning. Flawless. And far more gorgeous than any of the pictures Hannah had seen in the magazines years ago. As she clung to Jason, they looked so natural, so perfect together.
The cobwebs . . . circling around and around her, obstructing her view. Choking her just like in the horrible nightmare.
Hannah couldn’t breathe.
Jennifer’s voice drifted toward her again. “I knew I had to come. I had to be with you right now. I couldn’t bear watching the reports on television and not being here for you.”
People pressed all around them. Everyone knew Jennifer. Of course they would want to speak to her—Gevin, Marissa, JT, Tracey, Sergio. Others wanted to tell Jason what had happened to Jackson. The bodies pressed in on them, separating Hannah from Jason, inadvertently pushing her farther and farther away. Even Laura had been pulled away from her.
She looked up trying to see his face, hoping to find him looking for her. She stood on her toes. She could just make out the back of his head. And then he turned around. He was looking for her!
Jason?” she called out. Her voice was useless. She cried out again. “Jason . . .”
He heard her voice, so frightened. So far from him. He craned his neck looking for her. How had they gotten separated? He couldn’t imagine what she must be feeling. Not after the park. Not after the words they’d shared. The words he’d tried to share.
And then their eyes met. She looked at him with so much pain and confusion, he couldn’t bear it. She mouthed his name and he could almost feel the ache of her heart.
A tall and bulky bodyguard stepped in front of him, breaking their view of each other. Jason looked around him, straining to see her. Suddenly the man moved out of the way.
She was gone.
Chapter 17
“That’ll be $64.93, ma’am. You can run your card through the slot there when you’re ready.”
Hannah went through the motions. Customers in. Customers out. She couldn’t remember a single face of any of them after working for three straight hours. She finished bagging the groceries and turned off the light over her register, already twenty minutes late for her break.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in!”
Kylie.
“Although I’m too mad to even speak to you, let alone care where you’ve been for the last week.”
As Hannah walked into the tiny break room, the sound of her best friend’s voice chilled her. She didn’t blame her for being mad. Hannah had never returned any of her calls or text messages. It wasn’t intentional. It was all just too complicated.
“Kylie, I’m so sorry. I meant to call—”
“Yeah, like I said. Save it for someone who cares.” Still, despite the sarcasm, Kylie quirked one of her forgiving smiles and gave her a long, hard hug. She pulled back to look into Hannah’s face. “What’s going on? Why the mysterious disappearing act, huh?”
Hannah avoided her friend’s intense stare. She could never hide anything from Kylie. Ever. But right now, she couldn’t bear to
talk about the last ten days.
Since slipping out of the hospital after the spectacle with Jennifer’s sudden arrival, Hannah had begged George to take her home. She felt like a robot going through the motions, nothing more. She took a long hot shower, letting the scalding water wash over her for almost thirty minutes until it began to run cold. Hoping the water had rinsed away her tears at last, she crawled into bed only to be overwhelmed by a new, fresh wave of emotion.
She cried and cried, then cried some more. She fought every tender feeling she felt for Jason, knowing it was all a terrible mistake. What a fool she had been to let her feelings run away with him, regardless of who he was or what they had experienced.
She tried to sleep, but found herself restless, tossing and turning, and thoroughly frustrated. Finally, around 4:00 in the afternoon, she gave up. She got dressed, deciding work would be the distraction she needed to survive. It was time to step back into reality.
“Hannah, seriously, what’s the matter?”
Kylie’s words startled Hannah out of her thoughts. She turned away, dialing the combination on her locker.
“Hannah, talk to me! It couldn’t have been that bad having to work during the holidays. Did something else happen? Is your family okay? Are you sick? Are you—”
Hannah abruptly opened her locker, making it bang loudly. “Kylie—enough! What is this? The third degree? Whatever happened to ‘hi-how-are-you-good-to-see-you, Hannah?’ You’re wearing me out.” She faked a sarcastic laugh and knew it didn’t fool either of them.
Kylie plopped down in the orange plastic chair. She ripped open a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos with an exaggerated flair then popped the lid on her Diet Coke and took a long sip. “Okaaaay . . . So, Hannah, how are you? Good to see you. I’d say you look great, but that would be a bald faced lie.” She took a bite of a chip and tried to act nonchalant.
Hannah closed her locker and sat down at the table across from her. The redhead’s long wild curls never failed to brighten her spirits. She offered the trace of a smile as she watched the freckles across Kylie’s cheeks dance with each deliberate chew.
“I’m fine, Kylie. It’s good to see you too. How was your vacation?”
Kylie leveled an impatient glare at her. “I see. So we’re going to play a game, are we? Fine. My vacation was fine. Christmas was fine. Jason is fine. The snow is—”
Hannah choked on her orange juice. “What did you say?”
“I said my vacation was fine. Christmas was fine. My brother is fine. The snow—”
“Oh. Yeah, Jason. Your brother.” She cleared her throat, forcing her eyes to study her bag of pretzels.
The silence hung between them. “Hannah, I don’t know what this is all about but wouldn’t it—”
“It’s no big deal, Kylie. I just forgot that Jason was going to be home from the Navy for Christmas. That’s all. Really.”
“Uh huh . . . and of course that explains why your face looks like bruised melons and your eyes look like the Atlanta interstate system. Because of course, we both know how much you love Jason.”
Hannah froze. She held her drink in mid-air. Her eyes stung then began to fill. Oh no. Not again.
“Hannah, what is it?”
She quietly closed the bag of pretzels, grabbed her drink and gathered her things. “Look, Kylie. I’m not feeling well. Must be a bug or something. I think I better go home.” Her voice cracked. “Just tell . . . tell Jim I’m sorry and that I’ll try to be in first thing in the morning.”
Kylie stood up, her chair scuffing across the linoleum. “Hannah, why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?!”
Hannah reopened her locker and grabbed her purse. “Kylie, I just—”
I have to get out of here. Now.
She slammed the locker and ran out the back door.
“Alli, don’t you want to go lie down for a while? You’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t get some rest, and that won’t do you or Jackson any good at all. Please?” Tracey pleaded with her friend as they sat beside Jackson’s still form.
“No, I can’t go. I know that if I leave him for even a second that something terrible will happen again. I can’t. As long as the nurses don’t chase me out of here, I’m staying.”
“I understand.” Tracey draped her arm across Alli’s shoulders. “I’d do the same thing if it were JT. I don’t know how you’ve done it, Alli. I don’t know how you keep your eyes open, much less put a sentence together. But just promise me you’ll try to go get some sleep the next time they make you leave. Okay?”
Alli leaned her head on Tracey’s shoulder. “I will. I promise. And thanks for looking out for me. Everybody has been so incredible. I felt like such a wimp passing out when Jackson—” She turned to look at him again, then looked into Tracey’s face. “Oh Trace, what would I have done if—”
“Don’t even think like that, Alli. It doesn’t help—” She stopped mid-sentence. “Alli? What is it? What’s the matter?”
Alli watched the surprise registering in her friend’s eyes. But it was no match for the shock she felt rushing through her.
“Alli, what’s wrong?”
Alli slowly lowered her head, looking at Jackson’s hand wrapped in her own. “Trace,” she whispered. “Look.”
“Look at what?”
“Did you see that?”
“See what? What are you talking about?” Tracey’s voiced bordered on impatience.
“Look.” She motioned with her chin toward her fingers laced through Jackson’s.
They both stared at Jackson’s hand and then it happened. The tiniest, most imperceptible movement of Jackson’s thumb.
Tracey gasped. “Oh my gosh!”
Their eyes were glued to Jackson’s hand. Neither of them risked so much as a blink. They watched for any sign of movement. Nothing. Had they imagined it?
“Jackson! Jackson, squeeze my hand. I know you can hear me, baby. Just please . . . please squeeze my hand!” Nothing. Alli looked at Tracey for reinforcement, refusing to believe she had imagined what she felt. Tracey nodded her head, signaling she’d seen it too. Alli looked at Jackson’s face. He was so still. Not a single sign of life anywhere. Then—
A tear rolled out of his closed eyes and down the side of his face. Alli held her breath. “Jackson?” she whispered. “Jackson, can you hear me?”
Nothing.
The door quietly whooshed open and JT stepped silently behind them. He rested his hands, one on each of their shoulders. “Hey. How’s he doin’?”
Neither Tracey nor Alli answered, nor did they look at him.
“Gee, nice to see you too, JT,” he mocked, greeting himself.
“Shhh! JT, be quiet!” Tracey still didn’t turn to acknowledge his presence.
“Why? What’s going on?”
Tracey grabbed JT’s hand and pulled him to the other side of Jackson’s bed. “Alli felt some movement in Jackson’s hand. And then—well, check this out.” She took JT’s forefinger and moved it gently to the edge of Jackson’s eye.
JT took in a sudden breath. He looked at Tracey then straight across the bed to Alli. She felt her entire face light up as the first glimmer of hope filled her soul.
“But if he’s crying, that means . . . that means he must be hearing something, or . . . at least trying to pull out of it, right?” JT took hold of Jackson’s hand and started patting it. “JAX! Now you listen to me, Jackson Greer—you break through that fog and come back to us, buddy! You can do it, Jackson. I know you can. C’mon, big guy! Please?”
They waited, looking back and forth at each other. Then all of a sudden, Jackson’s lifeless hand turned in JT’s hand until he gripped it with unbelievable strength.
“Alli! Look at this! He’s got me in a vise here!” JT laughed out loud, throwing his head back. “Oh God! Thank You!” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Thank You,” he whispered hoarsely.
Alli laughed and cried all at once as she watched her nightmare slowly start to dissipate. She pul
led Jackson’s hand up to her lips and kissed it. “Oh Jackson, please . . . wake up, baby! I know you can hear me!”
Alli leaned her head over until her forehead was resting on Jackson’s. “Please, Jackson?” Her voice husky with emotion, she begged him. “Please? Oh please come back to me, Jax?”
This time it was Alli who felt the strength of Jackson’s hand gripping her own. A low guttural sound escaped from somewhere deep inside him, never fully arriving in his throat. His breath sounded strained, as if he was trying so hard . . . Alli pulled her head back, concerned that his breathing had changed. She looked at the monitor. Perfect.
“Jackson?” she whispered once more.
The same guttural sound seemed to push itself until it finally emerged as a bona fide groan. Another tear fell from each eye.
JT cried out with impatient anger. “Come on buddy! Dig out of that hole! DO IT!”
Slowly, Jackson tried to lick his lips. “Where . . . ” His eyes fluttered as if glued shut until he finally broke them open. They snapped back shut, his face grimacing.
JT, Tracey, and Alli cheered in unison, beckoning him and begging him to snap out of it once and for all.
“It’s too bright in here!” JT yelled, whipping around to close the mini-blinds on the window. The room plunged into a welcomed darkness.
Jackson’s eyes opened again, mere slits as he squinted. Alli climbed up on his bed beside him, his face cupped in her hands. “Oh Jackson! You’re back! You’re finally back,” she cried, snuggling into the crook of his neck. He turned his face toward her as she lifted her head back up. Jackson’s face contorted with sadness. “Oh Jackson,” she wept, resting her forehead against his.
His lips trembled as he attempted to speak. “Alli . . .” he whispered. “Alli.”
She buried her face in his chest sobbing and laughing all at the same time. She could hear JT and Tracey doing the same. When she looked back up, she watched Jackson slowly turn his head toward JT as he beheld the tear-stained face of his buddy. The slightest hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. His head dropped back toward her as she continued crying, the waves of relief washing over her.