- Eighteen -
JACE -
After eight days, Em and I start to closely resemble the walking dead. At first we went home to shower and change, but now we just shower in the restroom here and have Quinn bring us fresh clothes when she visits. They had Jax in a unit where we were only allowed to visit for ten minutes every hour, but later they moved him to a Neuro-ICU. The nurses here have taken pity on us, allowing much longer visits, although we do still get kicked out a couple of hours each day during their “quiet times.”
There isn’t much activity with a coma patient so Em sneaks into Jax’s bed to catch some sleep while the nurses are out of the room. Only one nurse has caught her. She didn’t say anything though when she realized Em wasn’t disturbing his lines or tubes, but she still frowned about it. I, on the other hand, have been sleeping in a chair. I wake up multiple times a night with my head bobbing up and down and a strain in my neck. A few nights ago, I stumbled out of the hospital and before I knew where I was going, I had pulled into Audrey’s parking lot. I held her for as long as I could allow myself to stay and when it became too painful, I snuck back out to return to my chair.
Mom stays at the apartment so she can get a decent rest. There must be something to it because she has definitely been in a much better mood than the rest of us. Tonight, she finally kicked us out and demanded that we not return until we sleep in a real bed and shower for more than ten minutes. It’s a slow, sluggish walk out of the hospital for the two of us. We know we need to go, but wants and needs are two vastly different things.
Em keeps me awake on the drive home, talking about what I think Jaxon would like for her to read to him tomorrow. I want to shout, ‘He’s in a damn coma for God’s sake, he can’t hear you!’ But I’ve already been enough of an a*shole to one girl this week. So I just ignore her for the remainder of the drive.
My feet are heavy as I traipse through the apartment. The second I see my bed, my heart sinks at the thought of the last time I slept here. Audrey was snuggled up with me, and I remember the sound of her contagious laughter as she tried to “stealthily” sneak into my room that night. Jaxon and Em weren’t even home, but she didn’t have to know that. The second her head popped in through the door, she immediately dove under the covers with me. I also remember telling her how I’d never let her go, which is true, I haven’t let her go, but I did f*ck this whole situation up.
I should have let her comfort me. Hell, maybe I wouldn’t have made it through this week ten pounds lighter if I had. I definitely wouldn’t feel this homesick. I feel like I’ve lost my home without her and Jaxon. I know Jaxon will make it through this, but will I have Audrey when it’s all said and done?
I quickly realize that my body is only going to function for a couple more seconds. When I hit the pillow, I quickly succumb to my extreme exhaustion and fall into a deep sleep, without removing my shoes or jeans.
I dream about Audrey. I dream about her on the beach, in the back of my car, and at one point, I see her silhouette watching a train fly by. I also dream that she comes into my room in the middle of the night.
When I reach out for her, I magically feel her soft, smooth skin. I’ve missed her sweet face and her body touching mine. In my dream, I pull her on top of me and I don’t even hesitate to touch my lips to hers. She comes willingly and as always with trust. I love this girl with everything I have. I can’t believe she is letting me touch her after everything I’ve done. I’ll always need her touch.
Too soon, she shoves off of my chest and moves away from me. The room is dark but I feel her hesitate right before she scrambles out. The only sound I hear is the click of the door. Dreaming about her only makes me ache more for her.
I want to chase her. Keep her next to me forever. I never should have let my stupid mouth speak before my brain could filter out the foolishness. But my body feels heavy and I slowly sink further into my mattress. I beg and plead for my legs to move, for my body to allow me to chase after her. I want keep her in my dreams all night. Instead, my eyes listlessly close and I crash harder into sleep, leaving only the faint taste of her chapstick on my lips.
~~~~~~~~~~
A continuous buzzing rattles me out of the deepest sleep I think I’ve ever had. Apparently sleeping upright for days on end can take a harder toll on your body than I thought. I reach out and slap my alarm clock, begging it to leave me be. After all, if my brother can “sleep” for nine days, why can’t I?
I know Dr. Graham said we could easily be looking at a couple of weeks, but for some reason I really thought he would pull out faster than this. All of his scans continuously come back showing signs of improvement, so why isn’t he opening his eyes? I hope he doesn’t think he can just lie there forever, because I won’t have it. Not gonna happen. I need him to wake up.
When the buzzing doesn’t stop, I lift up my heavy head and glare at the device causing my disturbance. The alarm clock is not flashing like it typically would, and it’s then that I realize it’s my cell phone that’s actually going off. Shit, sleeping in the hospital is really messing me up. I reach and grab for the phone and without looking at my caller, I slide my finger across the screen and answer.
“Jace, it’s your brother.” My mom’s voice kick-starts my heart and I almost don’t want to hear what she’s going to say next. “He’s awake. I need to tell Em, but I had to tell you first.”
“Shit! For real?” I scramble up to my feet. “Shit, mom.”
“Yeah, he started fluttering his eyes all night, but the nurses told me that I shouldn’t get my hopes up. That sometimes this happens. But about an hour ago, he started trying to open his eyes. They rolled him off to do a CT scan and EEG, but he should be back real soon. He wasn’t fully awake or anything, and who knows what he’ll be like when he comes back.”
“What the f*ck? Why didn’t you call me AN HOUR AGO?” I yell.
“Excuse me, Jace...language,” she replies sternly. “I’ve been running around signing paperwork and talking to doctors. They needed to run some tests, so none of us would have been able to see him anyway. Now you can come up here and be in the room before he gets back. I also need you to grab some clothes for him when you come.”
“MOM, A F*ckING HOUR AGO. How could you do this?” I roar.
Click.
Okay, maybe I deserved that. Put another check mark in my a*shole box, but I still feel like she should have called a century ago. I knew coming back here to sleep was a bad idea.
I hurriedly change out of my dirty clothes. Rifling through my drawers, I grab articles of clothing that resemble a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, although I don’t stop to check. Then I run out into the hallway, sprint into Jax’s room, and throw items I think he will want into a bag. Em rushes into the apartment with wide, terrified eyes, wearing the same clothes she had on yesterday. She doesn’t have to speak. We don’t need words, instead we both run.
In true Southern California fashion, we get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an extra thirty minutes. I should have expected this. I don’t know why I took the freaking highway. Em clutches her seat tightly and sways impatiently back and forth, but she doesn’t say a word. She’s been weird this week, like off-her-rocker weird. She smiles way too much, and I still haven’t seen her get upset once about Jax’s situation. She just repeats the phrase, “He’ll be okay,” over and over again.
When I pull up to the hospital, thankfully there is one open parking spot in the front row. I would have probably ended up illegally parking again otherwise, because the parking garage is all the way behind the hospital. My tires squeal as I whip it in between the white lines and slam the gears into park. Em already had her door open before I was fully stopped, and I run to catch up with her on the sidewalk.
We quickly rush inside to the information desk so we can get our visitors’ badges. Sheryl, a kind, elderly lady, smiles to acknowledge us, but when she sees the looks on our faces, she quickly tosses the badges to us and we continue running. I’ll thank her later. I’d take the stairs, but it’s probably not the best idea to run up six flights when I can’t even remember the last time I ate.
Em’s twitchy finger presses the correct floor number and we wait an eternity for the elevator to crawl up to where Jaxon is. Awake, hopefully. Em stands in a locked and ridged position while I stand ready to peel the doors open, if need be. When it finally chimes to let us know we’ve reached our destination, we rush out. Passing by the vacant nurse’s station, we make our way to the correct room.
My heart is pounding erratically and I’m not sure what I’m expecting to see when I enter his room. Right as I reach the door, I halt, causing Em to slam into my backside. I turn and grab her by the shoulders and she looks up at me with confusion.
“Jace, let’s go in!” she says hurriedly.
“Hold up, let’s breathe for one second,” I reply.
Her terror is written all over her face. We were told he could have brain damage. While the scans coming back have looked good, they’ve repeatedly warned us that we wouldn’t know much until he woke up and showed us his abilities. I can tell she’s worried as much as I am about the possibilities.
“Whatever happens in there, I’m here for you and I’d do anything for you,” I tell her.
She takes a deep breath in and slowly releases it. “Thank you, Jace. I love you.”
“Love you too, munchkin,” I jest at her height. She let’s a sliver of a smile quirk up her lip and then it quickly disappears when she glances back at his door. “Okay, let’s do this.”
I step inside first and I’m quickly relieved to see the only pair of eyes that match mine staring up at me. I let out a deep sigh of relief at seeing him awake and propped up, which is much different from the prone position I’ve seen him in for the past nine days.
“You look like hell,” his raspy voice scratches out at me.
“Don’t talk, Jaxon. You need to let your throat heal,” Mom cautions, smiling brightly. I charge toward him and roughly wrap him up in a hug. My arms squeeze him tight while he pats my back lazily.
“Don’t ever do that again,” I whisper, while trying not to get choked up.
“I’ll do my best,” he chuckles.
If there is any way to describe his voice, I would call it ‘expired.’ I can tell he hasn’t used it in so long that it almost sounds painful for him to get the words out of his throat. When I pull back, I see that he’s trying to look over my shoulder. I turn and see Em’s small frame standing stock-still in the doorway. Her wide, frightened eyes are taking him in, almost as if she doesn’t believe he’s really conscious.
Jaxon stares at her adoringly for a long time, and then he finally opens his arms and whispers, “Beautiful.” She lunges, the tears already pouring down her face before she can reach his bedside. See, that’s a normal reaction. Not this weird smiley-robot thing she’s had going on. Although I can tell Jaxon is extremely weak, he manages to scoop her up into the bed with him and nuzzles into her neck.
“Thank you so much. Thank you so so much, beautiful,” he murmurs to her, over and over. I turn to give mom a confused look and she shrugs her shoulders, equally perplexed. After a few minutes more of Em’s sobbing, she finally composes herself enough to speak.
“Why are you thanking me?” she asks, while wiping her face.
“For always talking to me. For reading to me. For telling me so many times I lost count that you loved me and you would be here when I woke up.” There’s a collective gasp in the room as we all stare at him, shocked by his words.
“You...you heard me?” she stammers.
“For the most part, I could hear all of you. I was just at the end of a very long tunnel, but you stayed close. I just couldn’t get my eyelids to lift. It felt like I had weights sitting on my face. I tried for hours to get them open and they would for little spurts here and there, but y’all would be asleep or gone and I couldn’t get my mouth to work past that damn tube down my throat.”
“For days, I tried to will my hand to squeeze yours. It wouldn’t listen. I think I managed it once, but no one noticed.” He takes a deep breath after his little speech and his eyelids begin to droop in exhaustion. “It was so f*cking terrifying, but you kept me sane, Emerson. I knew as long as I had you talking to me, I’d be okay.”
His dialogue is muddled and he takes a great deal of pauses, but we understand every word he utters. Even this short amount of conversing seems to be taking a toll on him already. He lays his head back against the pillow, but doesn’t remove his eyes from his girlfriend. She runs her fingers through his hair slowly, and once again they disappear into their own little world. She whispers soft words into his ear, and as long as he’s awake, I can stare at their mushy adoration all day.
Dr. Graham strolls into the room and smiles widely at Jax. He shakes hands with all of us and says, “It’s nice to meet you with your eyes open, Mr. Riley.” Jax gives a lazy smirk and attempts to talk, but his body seems to be slowing back down so he closes his mouth. Dr. Graham nods his head and says, “It’s hard at first. I’m about to look over all of your scans, but I’m sure I’ll be pleased with how everything is looking.”
Mom clears her throat and asks, “How long do you think he’ll be here?”
“He’s still got a ways to go. He’s lost some muscle mass this past week and a half, so he’ll absolutely need rehabilitation. We’ll keep you up in this wing for a couple more days, just to make sure there is continual progress and no relapses.”
“A week and a half?” Jax whispers roughly. Em stares into his eyes and nods her head. “I’m so sorry, babe,” he apologizes.
“You’ve actually improved quicker than usual, so I feel good about your recovery.” The doctor walks over to check his vitals, while trying not to disturb Em’s intense grip on him.
Jaxon’s eyes continue to droop and then they begin fluttering closed. My mom leans closer to him and I quickly walk to his side.
Em sits up ramrod straight and clutches at his shoulders. “No, no, no. You just woke up, please don’t leave me again. Please!” she yells and pleads. A wave of pain crosses Jaxon’s face, and I can tell he’s trying his hardest to keep his eyes open. A battle he seems to be losing.
Dr. Graham gently pats her hand and in a soothing voice, he states, “It’s okay. It’s okay. Emerging from a comatose state is a slow process. He’ll only be awake for a few hours at a time, if that, at first. This is sleeping, not unconsciousness.”
Mom sits back in her chair and lets out a relieved sigh. My body deflates as the stress slowly dissipates. I sink to my knees on the cold, hard tile and lay my forehead on the edge of his bed. Em continues to watch his every inhale and exhale. I can tell she’s still hoping he’ll wake up and talk to us some more, as am I. It’s a tease to have him up and then shortly after I’m staring at the back of his eyelids again. Dr. Graham finishes up his exam and tells us he will come back as soon as he has looked over Jaxon’s scans.
Two intolerably long hours have gone by when Quinn and Cole burst through the door. I notice how let down they are when they see that Jaxon is still asleep. Quinn’s eyes well up with tears and Cole pulls her into his chest.
“Quinny, he’s awake. The doctor says he’s just sleeping now,” Em utters softly, while rubbing Jaxon’s chest.
“Oh, thank God,” Quinn sighs.
“Seriously?” Cole questions.
I stand up and point to my chair so Quinn can have it. She quickly claims it, pulls her knees up to her chest, and lays her head down. “Thank you,” she says.
“How was he?” Cole asks.
“He seemed normal. His voice is shot to shit, but it just seemed like he was waking up after a long nap. It was so weird. Definitely not what I was expecting,” I reply.
“He heard everything,” Em whispers, without taking her eyes off Jax.
Quinn lets out a deep yawn and asks, “What do you mean he heard everything?”
“Well, turns out Em wasn’t crazy after all. He thanked her for always talking and reading to him,” I explain.
Mom reaches out and rubs Em’s back and smiles. “She pulled him through. He worked hard to wake up because of her,” she says, and Em casually shrugs her shoulders. The room quiets down and another yawn rips through Quinn, which causes a tidal wave effect of yawns around the room.
“Shit, babe, stop,” Cole says through a yawn. “There is no way you can possibly be tired! You slept almost fourteen hours last night, and that was after you had a three-hour nap yesterday afternoon.”
Quinn hugs her legs tighter and softly says, “I guess all this stress just wears me out.”
“Well, he’s awake now, so maybe you will be too,” he grumbles.
“Damn, someone’s grumpy he hasn’t gotten laid,” I jest.
“More than you buddy,” he stabs back.
“Touché,” I whisper.
“I had a dream you and Audrey were together,” Jaxon’s raspy voice interrupts.
We all freeze and immediately turn toward him. There is a round of ‘Jaxon’s’ called out and everyone seems to move closer to his bed all at once.
Cole is the first to speak. “How are you feeling, man? Shit, I missed you.”
“Um, I’m not sure,” he croaks. “What day is it?”
“Monday,” I reply.
“How did this happen?” he gestures at himself.
“You don’t remember me telling you earlier?” Mom questions. When Jaxon shakes his head, she explains that he was hurt during practice.
“Well, at least it was practice and not a live game. I don’t want to wind up on the highlight reel like superstar over here did last year.” He tries to laugh while pointing at Cole.
Last year, Cole got the wind knocked out of him in one of the first games of the season. It freaked us all out to see him lying motionless on the ground but we can laugh about it now, and often do every time they replay the hit on ESPN.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Cole groans.
“So my dream...you and Audrey. It was pretty cool,” Jax says, looking directly at me.
“Nah, he f*cked that one up,” Cole’s annoying voice states.
“It’s real? I knew it! I totally knew you had a thing for her,” Jax says with a smile.
“You would be okay with it?” I ask, shocked. “What about that promise we made to never date the other’s girls? Past or present.”
“That shit goes away when you’ve met ‘the one.’ I have Em now. I could really care less about my ex-girlfriends. But that doesn’t mean I’d ever want anything to happen to Audrey, she’s been through enough. Why? What did you do?”
At the mention of her past, I want to dig a hole and throw myself inside. I was supposed to be the one person to treat her right, the one she could count on. “Shit man...I pussied out and should have told you all of this over a month ago.”
“I think I need to go get some coffee,” Mom mutters. She gives Jax a kiss on the forehead and scurries out, obviously uncomfortable with the idea of hearing about her sons’ sex lives.
“Over a month?” Jax raises his voice.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t beat around the bush, Jace,” Em says and then turns to Jax. “Audrey was the girl Jace was kissing up against his truck back in high school, the same day you met Audrey at Cole’s party. She was the girl Jace was gushing about meeting. She thought you were Jace, and then Jace didn’t want her after she had been with you.”
“Hey!” I quickly interrupt. “Don’t say I didn’t want her. I’ve always wanted that girl!” I pause and take a deep breath. “I just didn’t realize how much until it was too late.” Em shrugs her shoulders and snuggles in closer to Jax. He wraps her up in his arms and briefly kisses her lips.
“Wait...hold on, this is too much,” Jax rasps out. “First of all, what the f*ck, Jace? Why didn’t you say something that night at Cole’s party?”
“Because I thought she was mad at me about something. I thought she wanted you.”
“Cole said you messed it up. What does that mean? What did you do?” Jax questions harshly.
“I freaked out, okay? I hadn’t told anyone about us yet. You were in a damn coma! Mom was coming. I had so much to explain and I just needed to focus on you.”
“Why? I wasn’t going anywhere,” he smiles.
“Not funny, man,” I retort.
“So you chased her off?” he asks.
“Oh, more like threw a f*cking fit until she left,” Cole adds.
“Cut him some slack,” Quinn chimes in.
“I yelled at her to leave...” I finally admit.
“In front of all of her friends?” Jax asks, and I shamefully nod my head. “You didn’t learn from me?”
“Nope. I guess I needed to follow in your footsteps, big brother.” I try to give him a snarky smile.
“Jackass.” He lies back and seems to let me off the hook for a little while, but I have a feeling it won’t be for long. “Quinn, wake up! Geez, I thought you’d be more excited to see me,” he calls out.
She smiles lazily and gets up to hug him. “I did miss you. Don’t do that again. I don’t like the Em you leave behind,” she says to him.
“She was perfect. I wouldn’t have been able to pull through without her,” he says, smiling down at her. Slowly, he pushes her up so he can look in her eyes. “Babe, seriously. You were amazing. I can’t imagine going through this without you. Comas. Life. I want you to be mine.”
“I am yours,” she sniffles, showing him her palm.
Immediately, I can tell where this is going and I thank the stars that I thought ahead. As he starts to speak her name, I rush to interrupt, “Dude, I grabbed something from your room.”
“Freaky twin telepathy again,” Cole groans.
Jaxon holds out his hand as I dig around in his gym bag for what he wants. When he has a hold of it, I see him start to contemplate something and I jump to stop him.
“Don’t even think about getting up. Do it right there,” I assert, pointing at his bed and pushing him back by his shoulder. He groans, but then stops when he looks up into Em’s wide eyes. She cups his hand in between the two of hers and questions him with just a look.
“Beautiful, you charged into my life with barely any clothes on.” He stops to wink at her and she rolls her eyes in return. “I was hooked from day one. I couldn’t look at another girl from that point on. You ruined me, and I never want to be put back together. You molded yourself into my family so perfectly. I couldn’t have asked for it to have gone any better.” He stops and looks at the ground again, frustrated. “I wish I could do this on one knee, baby.”
She quickly swipes at her eyes and laughs through the tears. “It’s okay, it’s okay! Keep going.” She points to the box in his hand and he pops it open to show her the two-karat diamond I helped him pick out this past summer. Quinn and Em gasp at the same time when they see her ring.
“Emerson Moore, every day you find a new way to save me. Please, marry me. I love you and I promise to protect you for as long as I live.”
“Yes, yes! Of course, yes,” she cries. She grabs his face and plants her lips squarely on his. He sluggishly wraps one arm around her and straightens the other one out for me to bump knuckles with him.
When Em finally lets him breathe again, Jax turns to me and says, “Thanks for grabbing that for me, man.” I shrug my shoulders because that’s what we do. We all watch as Jaxon slides Em’s new ring onto her left ring finger.
“Dude, you totally pulled the ‘coma card’ to get her to marry you!” Cole bursts out laughing.
We all join in and Jax smiles widely, “Hey, I had to convince her somehow.”
Quinn bursts into sobs and runs to hug Em tightly. Girls are so damn weird. We all knew this was coming between Jax and Em, so why the tears?
“Jesus, the waterworks on this one lately...” Cole mutters, while pointing at Quinn with his thumb.
“You leave her alone,” Em snaps, wiping her own tears away.
“Well, aren’t pregnant girls supposed to be all emotional though? And tired. You said she’s been sleeping a lot,” Jax says. The room goes completely silent. Cole’s brow wrinkles, Em looks with confusion at Jaxon, and Quinn’s mouth drops open wide. I have no idea what the hell just happened.
“Pregnant girl? Who the hell is pregnant?” I question, since everyone else has obviously been struck dumb.
Jax looks at Quinn in bewilderment. “Didn’t you tell me...”
“You were in a coma! I didn’t think you could actually hear me,” she exclaims, trying to give him a dirty look.
“Oh shit, they don’t know?” Jax rushes to ask.
“WHAT?” Em yells. Quinn doesn’t answer Em. She doesn’t look at Jax or me. She just stares across the room at her white-as-a-ghost-boyfriend. Well damn.
“Quinny?” Cole whispers.
“I...I just haven’t found the time to talk to you yet...” she stutters. It takes Cole three long strides to cross the length of the room before he falls to his knees in front of Quinn. Immediately, he latches onto her hips and looks up at her from his position on the ground.
“Are you trying to tell me that my baby is in here?” he asks, his voice starting to sound as hoarse as Jaxon’s. Quinn looks around the room uncomfortably. All eyes are on her and I feel for her.
“Well...I wanted to tell you privately,” she stammers. “I found out the day Jaxon got hurt.” She starts to fidget nervously. “I’m so sorry, Cole.” He stares at Quinn’s stomach as if he can actually see the baby growing inside. He gazes in awe, and I never thought I would be jealous of some guy who just found out he knocked up his girl unexpectedly.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry you’ve been carrying this around all by yourself all week. I mean, a baby...” A quick look of terror crosses his face as he stands up. “Shit...I don’t know anything about babies. I mean, I literally know nothing. I’ll be a terrible father. Oh my God, I asked you to pick up that heavy box the other night. Pregnant women can’t pick up heavy stuff, right? Shit! No more getting your hair done, all those toxic chemicals and shit,” he rambles while pacing the room.
Abruptly, he walks over to a side table and grabs her coffee cup. She protests as he slams it into the trashcan. “Caffeine, Quinn? No. I need books. I need to know everything. We need to find a store that can teach me about babies. God, I’m going to be the worst father ever!”
I grab onto his shoulder with one hand to try and calm him. “Okay, first of all dude, breathe. You just learned some pretty major news. Chill the hell out,” I say. When Quinn walks his way, I pat him on the back and step aside. She stands on her tiptoes and wraps a hand behind his head, bringing his face toward hers and capturing his lips.
“Baby, I love you,” she says against his mouth.
“I love you too. I’ll try my best.” He rubs her flat stomach and kisses her again.
“You’ll be amazing,” she reassures him.
“I want one!” Em calls out.
I look just in time to see Jaxon’s face freeze with his own terror. “You want one what? You want a puppy? I can get one of those. You want a bigger ring, baby, I’ll do that too. How about a nice long vacation, anywhere you want to go,” he says, obviously trying to distract her.
“I want a baby,” she begs.
“Whoa. Let’s get married first, and then way off in the very faraway future, we can discuss the possibility,” he states, but I can see the panic in his face.
“Dude, you’ve been following this chick around like a puppy for over a year, and now it’s you that’s afraid of the next step?” I laugh.
“We haven’t graduated yet! We aren’t even married,” he squeaks. “I’m getting really tired,” the bastard says, feigning drowsiness. “I’m getting a headache. I was just in a coma, guys, and this is all too much.” I chuckle at his over-dramatic show of drowsiness.
“You’re not getting out this,” Em says sternly. Jax presses the button that calls the nurse to his room and she immediately pops her head in with a wide smile. She’s shown Jax a little too much helpfulness, if you ask me.
“I have a headache,” he whines to her.
“Of course you do, poor dear. I’ll administer some more pain meds,” Miss-over-attentive-nurse says, rushing to his side.
I laugh when I see Em rolling her eyes. Then she leans down close to Jax and purposely juts out her chest. I can’t help but stifle another laugh. This is classic Em. “Don’t you worry. Soon you’ll be home and naked in our bed again, giving your fiancé a baby,” she loudly whispers, while winking seductively at him. Jaxon’s mouth drops open in surprise and Em says, “Yeah, I still got it.”
“Okay, okay we’re bringing the vixen out in her again,” Quinn interrupts. “Oh Jace, by the way, since you were home last night, did Audrey go by and grab her textbook? I know she really needed it.”
“What?” I ask. “That was a...she was really there?”
She looks at me with a confused expression. “I guess so. She left it in your room. I didn’t know you’d be home though, so I told her she could just go right in.”
“Shit! I thought that was a dream!”
“Dude, what did you do to the poor girl now?” Jax asks sluggishly. The meds are really starting to hit him.
“Nothing. I need to find her though. I gotta go,” I say, reaching for the door.
“I’ll be here...” he trails off.
“Oh, by the way, been meaning to tell you,” I start and then, as quick as I can possibly get it out, I say, “Long story short, I dropped Pre-med. I’ve been double-majoring in Business. I’ll be taking over Dad and Uncle Logan’s company. Cole’s joining and you should be there too. I know you never really had any interest in it but it just wouldn’t be the same without you. Okay? Just think about it, buddy. Love you, bro.” With that last confession off my chest, I hurry out the door.
On the opposite side of the closed door, I hear Jax say, “Beautiful, you’ll explain all of that to me when I wake up, right?”
“Just as soon as I figure it out myself, babe,” she responds.