Tame Me If You Can

Chapter 34

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Chapter 34

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"Y-you d-don't understand A-Anna..." I sob into my hands.

"What? What don't I understand?"

I called her the moment the paramedics carried Jake into the ambulance. I don't even remember what I said, I don't know how I got to the hospital, I don't know when I sat down on the bench outside of his room.

All that replays over and over in my head is Jake's croaking voice and his body shielding mine.

All I hear is his quiet 'are you ok?' and my answer dying at his gut-wrenching groan.

I didn't breathe until the car door opened and Jake got pulled out, that's when I lost it.

When I saw his face.

His hooded and absent eyes, on the brink of consciousness. Neck limp, head hanging down.

Strangers blocked my vision, asked questions, but I couldn't answer. I kept looking at him, screaming, crying, begging him to wake up.

It's been...I don't know how long, in the hospital. His parents, Naomi, John are here, a couple of benches away. His mom's crying, Greg's eyes are brimming with tears, Naomi's in John's arms, talking to the nurses.

A fractured scapula with a dislocated shoulder.

Surgery.

Car totaled.

And I'm fine.

I'm fucking fine.

"Is she ok?" I hear Naomi.

"She won't stop crying," Anna says. "I think she's just really shaken up."

"I'll go get her something to drink..." Her heels tap on the ground, echoing across the cold, white walls.

Anna rubs my back, keeps soothing me, and it makes my skin crawl. "Anna, you don't get it. I was horrible to him...I was so cruel..."

"Were you guys fighting? Is that why you didn't see the car? Babe...all couples fight. Ramon and I do it all the time, especially on the road..."

My nails pierce into my palms. "I should've stopped driving, I should've listened to him..."

"It already happened, beating yourself up won't change anything. Come on...Naomi's bringing you some tea."

My body curls even more, "Anna h-he told me he loves me and I called him...I c-called him s-spineless...I was breaking u-up with him..."

"Mia..."

"Get out."

Naomi's cutting voice jerks my head up. She's in front of me with a livid expression and a cup of chamomile in her hand.

"Naomi, I'm sorry—"

"They were having an argument, she didn't mean it—" Anna argues.

"I'm not talking to you." Naomi retorts.

"Naomi, I can't...I want to be there for him."

"You're not needed," she says, shaking her head. "The only people that matter here are those who actually care for him."

"You don't know what Jake means to Mia," Anna defends. "He's lucky to have her in his life!"

"Lucky?" Naomi's eyes bulge, her mouth pulls without humor. "Did you just call him lucky?" She takes out her phone. "If you're not leaving on your own, you will with security."