Jake

20. Waking Up

"So, when are you leaving?"

"The way you're treating me right now..."

"You know, I really like you..."

"You wanna come to a party with me tonight?"

"Get out of the way, you idiot."

"You loser! You thought that was real?!"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just...tired."

"Sophia, you've got to stop doing this."

"Promise me you won't do that again."

"He-He raped me..."

"You're nothing. Just go kill yourself, already."

"I can't wait till I hear someone found you hanging in your closet."

"W-What are you doing?"

"Stop it!"

"Get over here, Blackhart!"

"P-Please..."

"Don't hurt him."

"You're so strong..."

"Where are you going?"

"Help me..."

"It's nothing..."

"You spaz!"

"Sophia!!!"

Sophia's eyes shot open to see a woman standing next to her, adjusting the IV needle sticking out of her arm.

"Where am I? What are you doing to me?"

Jake's voice came from the other side of the room. "Calm down."

The woman left as Jake slowly got up and walked towards the hospital bed, sitting down next to her. "Soph, you broke your promise. You almost died. What were you thinking?"

"That was the point, Jake. I was supposed to die. I don't know why you brought me here. I don't want to live like this..."

He said, "You don't have to. But to change your life doesn't mean you have to end it. It just means you need to find a way to make it better."

"And how am I supposed to do that? My life is horrible. There's no way to make it better."

He grabbed her hand and said, "Yes there is! You can do anything. Anything you'd like to do to make it better. Anything. I just... I don't want you to be gone."

She sighed softly, thinking of anything she could do to make her life better. Anything. Until she realized that it's been right in front of her the entire time.

"I think I might know something."

He turned to her and said, "What is it?"

She bit her lip and got up the courage to do it. She sat up slowly and just stared at him for a few seconds before placing her hand on top of his. He looked up into her eyes as she slowly inched forward. Finally, she did it. She pressed her lips against his. He didn't seem surprised at all, even though he was. They ended up kissing like they did months ago. Her hand was on his shoulder, and his arms were on her back, holding her close.

Suddenly there was a flash, and they both jumped back, looking around for the source.

"What was that?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I think it came from over there." She pointed to the big window to her right. They both looked out and scanned everything they could see out there. There was nothing.

He shrugged and said, "It was probably just nothing. But...did it work?"

She turned to face him again and said, "Uh, yeah... It worked."

He smiled a little. "Well, that's uh, that's good."

She nodded a little, biting her lip slightly in the process.

It was pretty quiet for a minute or so, until she said, "Um, how long have I been here?"

He said, "Well, you lost a lot of blood. So, you were here sleeping and getting it all back for maybe two or three days. I kind of lost count."

"Wow. And what happened with um, the car? What did your mom do?"

He said, "Well, nothing, really. When she was yelling at me for it, I got your text. I'm not sure how I got what it meant, but I did. Anyway, I just ran out and she followed me. When I found you, she was right next to me. I guess she just...understood."

She said, "Wow. Wait. What about my mom? Did you tell her about what happened?"

He said, "Oh yeah. She's kind of been in shock for the past few days. She's comes here like, once a day, but she keeps saying that she doesn't know what to do. That this is too much."

"Too much? Imagine if she was in my place... Well, when can I get out of here?"

"Probably soon, since you're up. Maybe even today."

She nodded. "Uh, what's today?"

He said, "Thursday."

She whispered, "Crap."

He said, "I'm gonna go ask when you can get out of here."

He started getting up, but she stopped him. "Wait." He sat back down and she said, "Um..." She pulled him closer to her and put her arms around him. She whispered, "Thank you..."

His arms wrapped around her before he said, "You're welcome." She let go of him, but he just held on. She put her arms around him again and dug her head into his shoulder. He just held her there for a long time.