The Devil is Marvelous

Chapter 65 - Finale

That horrible night ended a lot more peaceful than I had anticipated. When Gray dropped Melissa and I off, Steve was already at the house, and the man practically fell to his knees when he saw Melissa. If you think you've ever seen a grown man hopelessly in love, I'm telling you, you haven't until you've seen Steve hugging Melissa's waist, balling his eyes out.

Melissa let Gray, Daphne, and Kim crash at our house that night because we were all traumatized, and that's an understatement. None of us slept well, hell every time I closed my eyes I saw the lifeless bodies of Rocco, Bruce, and the worst, the boss's head being blown to smithereens. At one point I had slightly drifted off, but the image of Jaxon bleeding out on the floor had me crying in Daphne's arms for the rest of the night.

I was also still scared of losing Jaxon. I knew rationally that he was in a hospital getting the treatment he needed, but I could not move past seeing him on the ground as the blood drained from his torso. That gang medic was a miracle worker and my new hero.

All I wanted was for morning to come so I could so I could visit Jaxon. I needed to hug him, to see his eyes open and to feel his heart beating. It was the only way I thought I would be able to settle down.

The one nagging thought I couldn't shake was who the hell killed the boss? If it wasn't for them who knows what would have happened to any of us. That medic had really come in clutch too, for not only saving Jaxon's life, but taking out the bodyguard as well. The man had my respect, and I wished I had thanked him.

No one heard from Frank since that night. I had seen his devastation from losing his uncle, and I can't say I didn't understand. My brother died the same way, by being shot in the head, and the memory would haunt me forever. I knew the boss was a horrible, psychotic man, but he was still Frank's only family as far as I knew, and for that my heart went out to him.

Sure there were months on end where I felt incredibly paranoid, glancing over my shoulder every time I went someplace, always on the lookout for Frank or men with crimson bandana's. Melissa bought extra security for our house, and Steve was over most of the time, which I didn't mind. I felt good knowing my sister had someone to lean on.

Jaxon's wound recovered well, thankfully. I had no idea what kind of story he told the doctors at the hospital. He still had to rest, so I found myself over at his house everyday after school. I wasn't alone though, Gray, Daphne, and Kim always came along. I knew they were just as relived that he was okay as I was.

Gray was incredibly quiet for months, and I didn't want to pry, but I was worried about him. He didn't seem like the type to talk about his feelings, but I could tell he wasn't okay.

Esther was the definition of a "helicopter parent" for a while. Unfortunately Jaxon's parents didn't feel the need to travel home to visit their son, but Syler and Isla came most weekends, and I could tell Jaxon was happy to see them more often. Esther was the only one unconvinced from whatever story Jaxon told her, and she had even tried questioning me a few times but I played dumb. I felt bad lying to her, but it wasn't my business to tell.

As for school, it was difficult to concentrate on my work and it was hard to maintain my friendship with Rylee and Lucas because they were so out of the loop. I felt really guilty for always excusing my bad days as being "tired" but I had no choice. There was no way I was going to tell them about everything that went down.

Jet and Jaxon both missed a lot of school, but for good reason. They were both still dealing with the lingering effects from the night. Jaxon always told me how horrible he felt, having nightmares every night where he had to relive killing Rocco. I didn't know how to help him. I couldn't. I had never killed anyone, and there was nothing I could say to calm Jaxon down. He was a wreck, and the only thing I could offer was my company and support.