Deep Waters

Chapter Forty-Four

With my head resting on the glass window, I watched the world fly by. We had just left a thrift store where I was given a "new" outfit. My items of choice were a pair of grey sweatpants and a navy-blue T-shirt. I didn't look like a model, but I was comfortable and that's all that mattered to me. Earlier that morning we had gotten out of bed and eaten breakfast at the hotel before heading back on the road. After waking up late last night with those nightmares, I wasn't able to get a good night's sleep. Honestly, I was probably going to have to buy some sleeping medicine somewhere in order to keep myself rested. If Charles were to actually show up, I didn't need to already be tired.

The whole morning, my dreams had been stuck in my mind. I needed a plan for when I next came across Charles. As far as I understood, we would be reaching Jay's sister's house late this evening. Maybe I could spend the night there with them, pack a few days' worth of food and then head back out on my own. I hated the thought of having to ask them to help me that much. Jay already has. Once all this is over, I was going to need to pay these people back somehow.

"Are you listening to a word I am saying?" Jay's loud voice snapped me back to the present moment.

I lifted my head off the window and looked at him. For someone who had sounded annoyed at me, there was a horrifyingly bright smile on his face. "What?" I asked. Despite my question, he remained silent and held his cheeks high with his grin. For a long moment, his expression didn't change. "Why are you smiling like that?" It was creeping me out.

"Smiles are contagious," he stated as if it was a matter of fact.

Rolling my eyes, I looked out the windshield. "Scary. It's a good thing I'm vaccinated."

A deep chuckled erupted out of his throat. "Come on, Lydia, what's stuck on your mind?" he interrogated me.

"My next plan," I admitted honestly.

"Well," he said, taking a turn on the road. "The plan is getting to my sister's house and staying at least a few days.

I sighed. "I can't stay for a few days."

"Why not?"

"Because I need to keep moving while I'm still healing," I told him.

Jay just shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. "I'm sure you'd be okay for a few days."

My eyes remained on him. No. I was being smart with my decisions from here on out. "You don't understand, Jay...I'm alone now. I can't take that big of risks."

"Well, we will be there to help."

I let out a deep breath of air that was filling my lungs. "I don't think you understand the danger of my situation," I started back again. "You took a bullet out of my arm. That bullet was supposed to be in my chest."

"Yeah, well he missed." He shrugged. "Maybe he was aiming for your head and just has an even worse aim."

"That was the first out of three that he missed," I continued, ignoring his last sentence.

"What?"

The truck bumped and danced a little as Jay trailed through potholes in the road. "When Charles killed my mom, he killed me. I was dead. Gavin did CPR until the ambulance arrived and then they were able to bring me back." As I spoke, I stared at him, but he looked at the road in front of him. "Around eight or so months ago, he found me again and shot me in the chest again. He shot my friend Aria in the shoulder. He shot Kason and almost killed him, too." I shook my head. "I've been lucky every single time. I'm afraid my luck has run out." I waited a few minutes for Jayden to say something but his mouth remained closed, making me wonder what he was thinking about. "If I stay with you for too long, you get killed, too. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong first impression, but this isn't some game that I'm participating in. I'm in a real-life situation of hide and seek. The twist it, I get killed when I'm found," I huffed, realizing I ranted. "If I were you, I'd have kicked me to the curb hours ago."

My fingers reached up and subconsciously fiddled with the jewelry around my neck. The promise ring that Kason had given me remained on the chain. For better or worse. I was going to go back home to him. At that moment I realized I didn't get to talk to my brother. Daniel said to not contact him and to only wait for him to contact me. Talking to my brother right now would be amazing. No one understands my situation like he does. I wished I could ask him what he thought I should be doing right now. I wished he was here to help me make these decisions.

"Listen, I'm sorry that your life is the way it is," Jay spoke up after a while. "But I want to help. If I didn't, I would have left you at that dumb broken phone booth and let you bleed to death, or get kidnapped, or whatever could have happened. I understand the risk; but I don't want to just throw you out to fend for yourself, knowing I can help."

What was with me meeting amazing people who wanted to help me? If I learned anything from going through all of this, it's that there are still good people in this world. "Thank you."

Jay's eyes left the road and he slipped me a soft smile. His green eyes darted down to my neck where I was touching my gift. "Did he propose?"

Sighing softly, I smiled and shook my head. "No, but he promised."

"Dang. He must really love you if he's sticking around after almost dying," he commented.

He was right. But I had known that already. "I'm with him. For better or worse."

"Probably mostly for the worse."

I laughed. "Yeah, I think I knew that the day I met him."

By the time Jay needed to pull off the road to fill up his truck again, we were only an hour away from his sister's house. He started coughing uncontrollably making me stare at him with worry. His expression wasn't one of panic or distress, so I didn't do anything but sit there until his fit eased up some. "Are you sick?" I asked him. A person usually doesn't have a coughing fit for no reason. The man didn't hesitate to shake his head in response. "I'm sure they have some cough drops or something in there," I assumed, pointing at the gas station building.

With a wave of his hand, Jay brushed the whole thing off. "I've had a little cough for a while now. Nothing I take will help," he said.

I scrunched my brows at him. That wasn't a "little cough." "Have you talked to a doctor?"

"I'm fine, Lydia."

I watched him get out of the truck and slam the door shut. He jogged into the building to prepay with cash. When he jogged back out, I watched his chest rise and fall as he took really deep breaths. He did that the whole time he pumped gas into the tank. It's like he couldn't catch his breath. My eyes didn't leave him the whole time. There was a feeling deep in my gut that he knew more than what he was telling me. Why wouldn't he admit it if he was sick? Or even if he just had bad asthma? Was he embarrassed? Ashamed maybe?

Once the tank was full, he climbed back in the truck, started the engine, and took off again. I started watching him more closely than before. It was almost as if he put a lot of attention on his deep breathing to keep it steady. "Are you sure you are okay?" I questioned again.

With a small, comforting smile, he nodded twice. "Yeah. I guess my lungs just don't work like they used to." An uncertain glint passed through his eyes.

If there was one thing I got out of this life with Charles, I could definitely tell when someone was lying or keeping something from me. And I knew with full certainty that Jay wasn't telling me the complete truth. I nodded once and replied with a simple "okay." For now, I would have to let it slide. 

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Another chapter will be posted tomorrow:)