Pinkie Promise

by Sarah Clay

  But, I look past Jackson's face and over to Tony, who is standing at the end of my bed.

  “Liv, I knew you’d pull through. Just playing up the dramatics a little bit right?” he jokes with me.

  I feel myself smile at the familiarness of our interactions.

  Jackson just shakes his head at the two of us.

  “How long?” I ask the room.

  But before Jackson can answer me I see a pretty young nurse walk in, my brother trailing close behind her.

  Hmm, his eyes not so concerned with me anymore, instead he’s more interested in watching the sway of the nurse's hips.

  “Ahhh there she is” the nurse smiles down at me before playing around with a few machines I seem to be hooked up to.

  “Jackson over here mentioned you had beautiful eyes, he wasn’t kidding” I look back to Jackson and he’s grinning down at me.

  “Charmer” I mumble when I look back to the nurse.

  She laughs a little, “your throat might feel a bit sore, not to worry though. You’ve been out for a couple of days so it’s to be expected.”

  I nod, immediately cringing at the pain in my shoulder.

  “Don’t move baby” Jackson condemns as he takes my hand in his.

  “Alright, now the Doctors will be in to check on you shortly, it’s all routine.” I just smile at her, not attempting a nod again.

  “You’ll be in discomfort for some time, we’ve had you on pain meds and have been administering them every 4 hours. But now that you’re awake, if you need something sooner or your pain is escalating, just hit the call button right here” she gestures to a little remote she places next to me on the bed.

  “Visiting hours are nearly up, but I’ll try and buy you four a little more time.” She says looking around the room. That’s when I notice another hulking body sitting off to the side of the room, practically in the shadows.

  “Dad?” I barely get the word out, just breathing is hurting enough. The last time I had seen him hadn’t gone well. I’d ignored hundreds of his calls, and now he was sitting in a hospital room with me.

  ∞

  “Princess” he summons as he stands and moves closer to me, taking up Nurse Megan's now-vacant spot.

  If the death grip Jackson is currently sporting is of any indication, he’s not happy he’s here.

  “Cooper filled me in.” I look over to Coop and see he’s glaring at the side of Dads head.

  “I am sorry that you took off the way you did princess, but if what’s happened here is what it’s going to be like then I think we should look at getting you moved to a hospital closer to home.” I ignore his words, instead of replying, I look him over.

  He is a handsome man, although he looks older than I remembered. He definitely looks tired now, but a little less scary than I’d always thought he had.

  “Olivia?” I hear Jacksons pleading voice and look back over to him, confused by his tone.

  “Is that what you want? Do you want to go back to your hometown? Because if it is, then we can make that work, you just have to give me some time to move clients around. Move project dates, move…” I cut him off mid-sentence.

  “What are you talking about?” I force out, ignoring the pain in my ribs and shoulder.

  His eyes are tight when he rubs his free hand over my cheek.

  “Baby, wherever you are… that’s where I want to be.” I feel the tears building in my eyes, this sweet, sweet man would alter his business, his life; just for me. It’s an overwhelming feeling.

  “My daughter may not want you around, is it not your fault this all happened to begin with?” My dad’s angry voice interrupts us.

  “Dad!” Coop growls in his direction. Dad just holds his hand up, effectively dismissing him.

  “Sir, I am well aware that this is all my fault…” I attempt to interrupt but he shakes his head a little in my direction “that is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life. But not being with her, it’s simply not an option.” My dad lets out a disgruntled sigh before looking back at me.

  Biting down on my lip trying to come up with something to say, I’m not used to telling my dad no and the times I have, well… yeah, the odds aren’t good.

  “Dad, thank you for coming. But I’m not going anywhere.”

  My dad raises his brows in surprise, but his face grows tight, and I know his anger is edging forward.

  I swiftly cut him off “If you want to play the blame game, then ask yourself why I ended up in Hayward to begin with. None of this was Jackson's fault, it wasn’t anyone's fault other than Victoria’s.”

  I look between everyone in the room. Dad still looks angry, Cooper looks shocked, Tony is grinning and Jackson, Jackson is looking at me with so much adoration I feel the tears welling in my eyes again.

  ∞

  “Thank god their gone” Jackson mumbles on his way back from closing the door.

  I don’t say anything; I just watch him moving around. When he comes closer to me, he looks from the chair to me and I smile. Carefully shuffling over a fraction on the bed.

  “Liv don’t move, you’ll hurt yourself” Jackson scolds, quickly coming over to me. It hurt like a bitch to move, but I wanted to make room for him.

  “Lay with me?” I plead I can see him wavering between not wanting to crush me or cause me any more pain and wanting to be as close to me as possible.

  “Please?” He shakes his head before adjusting his big build beside me as softly as possible.

  “The doctor will be here soon, so just for a minute.”

  I smile over to him, feeling my eyes growing heavy as soon as his comforting body is next to me.

  “Why was Dean here?” I whisper against him; I feel him stiffen instantly.

  “Don’t worry about him, he won’t be coming anywhere near you.” His harsh tone leaves no room for dispute and to be honest, I don’t have the energy necessary for it.

  “I love you to Jacks,” I mumble out. He doesn’t say anything else and neither do I. But I feel him loop his pinkie with mine, and squeeze, just as I drift off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Two Months Later…

  Jackson

  Rolling over I hit my alarm, not wanting it to wake Liv up. It had been two months since Victoria's attack on her. We’d ended up staying another week in the hospital. With Liv’s doctors running multiple scans and tests, they also wanted to make sure they had her pain manageable.

  Liv and Megan had gotten on really well, the fact that she was able to hold up her end of the conversation definitely helped. It hadn’t surprised me at all, but when she’d discharged Liv and explained the different medications she would need to be on, id thought they were going to get into it then and there.

  Liv adamant she could handle it without all of the meds, Megan adamant she would shoot her in the other shoulder if she didn’t obey her orders.

  Looking down at Liv now, curled up beside me and resting her head on my chest I smile to myself. She was beautiful always, but never more than when she was peacefully resting in one of my shirts, in my arms, in our bed.

  Okay, so she hadn’t officially moved in, but she’d slept here every night for the past two months so I was calling it. It was fast, hell we both knew it. But nothing about our relationship had been slow, and after sitting beside her for the few days, not knowing if she would wake up, I’d promised myself that if she did I would never waste another second with her.

  I may have taken that to literally, to begin with, I don’t think she really minded though. I hadn’t thought through the effects coming back to the house would have on her though. She tried to handle it the best she could, but she had horrible nightmares, she still did. But, when I’d realized how she flinched every time she passed the spot she’d been shot.

  Or froze in her place when someone knocked at the door. I thought it’d be best to find a new place, so I’d sat her down and told her I was going to start looking. Of course, Olivia adamantly refused
me giving up my dream home, and started seeing someone to talk with about her anxiety stemming from the attack instead.

  Cooper had been a regular visitor, although I’m sure he and Megan timed their visits perfectly just to run into each other.

  Megan and Olivia had become quite close and they were always talking on the phone or hanging out.

  Tony had visited more in the last two months than ever before. But even when the three of them weren’t around, we were rarely ever alone.

  Turns out, when you take a bullet meant for my dog, he pays back his gratitude by never leaving your side.

  Olivia didn’t mind at all; I think it reassured her to have him close by.

  I gently shift out from underneath Liv, considering she’d had a pretty rough night, I wanted her to get as much sleep as possible.

  A week or so ago, she’d noticed I’d stopped going for my runs and threatened to move back in with Cooper. I knew she was bluffing, but I took it as a sign that she was okay with not having me here and instead of fighting against leaving her, I decided to let her call the shots.

  Admittedly the first couple of times I’d ‘gone for a run’ had me sitting out the backyard, not moving just so that I would be close by if she needed me.

  But today as per her therapist's instructions, I was getting back into it.

  Standing from the side of the bed, I look over to Charlie who was watching my every move. Laughing a little as I shake my head at what I was about to do, I pat the bed as I motion for him “Come on Charlie, come take care of our girl while I’m gone.”

  Charlie instantly jumps up on to the bed, gently moving over towards Liv and nestling in beside her. He closes his eyes straight after, but his ears are still perked up, so I know he’s on guard and she’s safe.

  ∞

  “How was your run?” Liv’s voice peeks out from over on the sofa.

  She was nestled there under a blanket, coffee in hand and Charlie curled up on the couch beside her. I laugh a little as I walk over to sit beside her.

  “It was good baby, how did you sleep?” when she shrugs her shoulder I know she doesn’t want to talk about it just yet, but she will; she always comes and talks to me when she’s ready.

  “I’m going to go grab a quick shower” her cheeks rise behind her coffee mug and I can tell that she’s smiling with the movement.

  “You want to join me?” I quirk a brow, she pretends to think it over, tapping her finger against her chin, “but then who would feed you?” she quips.

  She really enjoyed being in the kitchen and I really enjoyed the foods she was sending out from it.

  “I think there’s something else I’d prefer for breakfast this morning” I growl before taking her mug and pulling the blanket away from her, resting them both on the coffee table. I can tell the second she realizes my intended menu because her mouth forms a perfect little ‘O’ shape.

  “Oh yeah” I smirk as I kneel down and pick her up, carrying her along with me up to the bathroom.

  “It’s been two months Jackson” I hear Liv’s soft voice carry out from the bathroom.

  We’d just finished showering and getting each other dressed before she’d walked back in there. When I peek around the doorway, I see her applying her make up. She hadn’t worn any since she’d returned from the hospital.

  “It has…” she jumps a little when she realises I’m so close.

  Meeting my eyes in the mirror, I see her body relax when she takes in her surroundings.

  “You need to go back to the office, go back to your life.”

  Pushing away from the door to walk up behind her, I wrap my arms around her waist.

  “I don’t need to do anything when the time is right I will start working from the office again, but for now I’m capable of achieving my work from right here babe.”

  She smiles a sad smile up at me, clearly not happy with my answer.

  “I need to you to go back to work…” I tighten my grip around her slightly, confused by her request.

  “My checkup yesterday was all clear. My body is capable; I will keep doing the therapy for my shoulder. It’s just my head that’s messed up now Jacks. And if I keep living in this safe little bubble you’re offering, then I’ll never move past it.”

  Her check-up had ended with excellent results, she wasn’t on any regular pain medications now, only if she overdid it and felt it was necessary. I knew she was right, that her biggest roadblock right now was all in her head. But I wasn’t so sure jumping into the deep end was the best idea either.

  I watch as she puts her things away into her little bag, zipping it up and sitting it off to the side of the counter.

  “Why don’t you store your things in the drawer?” I ask curiously, I hadn’t exactly paid much attention to the fact. But now that I thought about it, she was practically still living out of her bags.

  I’d assumed that since she was here every day, and in my bed; It was exactly where she wanted to be.

  She turns around in my arms, looking up at me. I can see she’s about to talk but I cut her off, feeling annoyed that I’d only just realised what she’d been doing.

  I reach around her and grab the makeup in one hand, while pulling the drawer open with the other, throwing it in and pushing it shut.

  Just as soon as I’d finished that, I walk out into the main bedroom and straight into the closet, walking over to where her bags were deposited in the corner and pick them up.

  Carrying them over to my dresser, I pull open the bottom drawers and start shaking the contents into them, filling them all up before throwing the bags to the ground and slamming the draws shut. I huff out a breath as I throw my hands into my hair.

  What kind of arsehole was I, to not even notice that she was still living from her bags? Given, she was mainly wearing my shirts and she’d just pick clean underwear out of the laundry basket.

  “Feel better?” She taunts from the entryway of the closet. I spin around and glare at her.

  “Why haven’t you unpacked? You’ve been here every night for the last two months Olivia, were you going to leave?” I huff out, not sure where this irrational side of me was coming from.

  She shakes her head in my direction, stepping closer to me ever so slightly “…you never asked me to Jackson.”

  It was that simple, I’d never asked her to and she didn’t want to just assume.

  I hurry forward, not stopping when I reach her. Instead wrapping her in my arms and picking her up so her feet left the ground. Her legs wrapped around me and her hands finding my face.

  “I’m sorry baby, I thought you realised that’s what I wanted. But I should have asked.”

  She smiles a soft gentle smile before sealing her lips to mine. But all too quickly she pulls away,

  “You still haven’t asked Jacks”

  I grin at her as I walk her back out of the closet and over to our bed.

  “And I’m not going to either, this is our place Liv. You put your shit where ever you want, so long as it’s not back in the bags.”

  Her lips are back on mine in an instant.

  ∞

  “I think it’s a good idea” Megan agrees along with Liv, both of them were currently sat together on the sofa, watching some old re-run of ‘FRIENDS.’

  I’d been in my office most of the morning trying to finish off some work, just ducking out now to check up on them. Olivia had brought up the idea of me going back to work two days ago and hadn’t really let it drop since.

  “You do, do you, Megan?”

  I smirk coming to sit beside my girl, wrapping my arm around her.

  She shifts into me a little, getting comfortable.

  “Yep,” she nods while popping her p. I feel Olivia shaking beside me, when I look down she’s trying to contain her laughter.

  “Think this is funny pretty girl?” She quickly stops, looking up at me while trying to gauge my reaction.

  “I think I’m going to look for a job, at least then it won’t re
ally matter if you’re at home or at the office.”

  I notice she’s chewing on her lip, I cut a glance over to Megan. Liv’s admission obviously taking her by surprise too.

  “Baby you don’t need to work, just give yourself time to heal properly after everything that’s happened” She doesn’t stop gnawing on that damn lip, so I pluck it out of her mouth.

  “Didn’t realise you wanted to get rid of me so badly” I half-joke with her, she quickly spins around on me, shaking her head while reaching up to stroke my jaw.

  “Not at all Jackson, you have been amazing. Completely and utterly amazing. I just think…” She sighs, seemingly trying to come up with the right words. “I’m still giving Victoria too much power in this situation. I’m still hiding away because of her.”

  Victoria hadn’t gone to court yet. She was no longer being held in prison either, instead, she was being held in a psychiatric facility, her lawyers trying to prove that she was unable to competently stand fit in a court of law.

  I for one thought that was a load of fucking shit.

  But so long as she was never able to get near Olivia again, I would continue paying for my lawyers to make sure she would never leave a locked facility regardless of which it was. I wanted her to see her day in the courts for everything she had put Liv through, but apparently, that wasn’t up to me.