Perfect Imperfections

Eight

"Open all of these lockers now!" The principal yelled as the police scoured the halls, everyone opening all of the lockers in the school. Students were ripping open lockers, teachers, even the janitor was helping.

"JAKE!" I heard and ran down the hall, seeing Adalyn on the floor as Mr. Davis kneeled over her performing CPR.

"AJ!" I ran over and dropped next to her, taking in the obvious beating marks all over her.

"Come on, breathe dammit!" Mr. Davis growled as he leaned down, holding her nose and blowing into her mouth.

"We need help over here!" I yelled and pushed Mr. Davis back, taking over since I was stronger than him. As the paramedics dropped around us, I moved back then stared as they tried to save AJ.

"Come on, Adalyn!" I breathed, everyone silently staring in hopes this girl survived.

"Clear!" An EMT warned and everyone let go as the paddles were used.

"Again, come on!" The sheriff growled and the paramedic charged the paddles again, shocking AJ, who was still unresponsive.

"How long was she in there?!" Sheriff Valente asked, though no one had an answer.

"Who's locker is this?!" She growled and I looked at it, trying to see if there was anything inside that would point to a student. The locker was empty, it was a spare.

"There you are!" I looked at AJ and saw her blinking as she looked around.

"AJ!" I grabbed her hand then she looked at me and smiled weakly.

"Hey, dungeon boy." I laughed and brushed her curls back, shaking my head.

"Scared me, Smarty." I whispered and she gave me a bloody grin.

"Gotta keep you on your toes." She mumbled as the paramedics moved her to the gurney.

"Jake-"

"I'm going with her-"

"Family only." The EMT said, but Sheriff Valente came over.

"He is her damn family as far as I'm concerned. Let him go." She said and the paramedic nodded letting me go with AJ.

~*-*~

"Jake!" I turned and smiled as my parents came running in.

"Is she okay?!" Dad asked and I nodded, sighing as I hugged myself.

"She's in surgery now, she has to get a metal implant in her leg from being stuffed into the locker. There's an investigation going on, but she's going to be staying with me until it clears up." I said and mom nodded.

"Thank god!" Dad whispered and I smiled sadly.

"She-she was dead for three minutes." I said and my parents gave me worried looks.

"Is there any brain damage-"

"They're going to do a thorough scan after they've stitched her up and everything. She had internal bleeding and a concussion." I said and mom pulled me into a hug.

"I was so worried!" She whispered, hugging me tighter as the tears I'd been fighting finally fell.

"I was so scared, mom! I-I thought I lost her!" I cried, gripping her tightly, then I felt dad's hand rubbing my back.

"She's going to be just fine, Jake! Adalyn is so strong!" Mom soothed as she softly rocked us back and forth.

"Mr. Kyle?" I cleared my throat and wiped my face as I turned to the doctor, forcing a smile.

"Hey, you don't have to be strong for me. That was a scary thing to see." He said and I nodded, my smile dropping some to show my real one.

"I do have good news though." He said and I nodded.

"Adalyn Jade is out of surgery, it was successful so she won't be losing her ability to walk. We also did a scan of her brain, there was no brain damage due to her temporary death. Other than that, she is on her way to a full recovery." He said and I smiled as I nodded.

"Thank you, Dr. Harris." I said and he nodded.

"Go on, go see your friend." He said and we went to her room. When I walked in, I saw her still asleep from the surgery, so I silently sat in the chair next to her bed.

"She looks so beat up." Mom whispered and I nodded, grabbing AJ's hand and running my thumb back and forth over the back of the bandages.

"I think her brother did this. He had fresh cuts on his knuckles, he kept dodging the question when I tried to find her, and he seemed... happy to know she was in danger." I whispered and lifted AJ's hand to my mouth, softly kissing her knuckles.

"Jake, baby, she's okay!" Mom said and I nodded.

"Did you call Jessie?" I asked and looked at them.

"She's getting a flight home today, she'll be here tomorrow." Dad said and I nodded, looking at AJ.

"I want Jess to meet Adalyn. The world deserves to see AJ." I whispered and set her hand down on the bed, but I didn't let it go.

"Do you have work, Jake?" I looked at mom and sighed.

"He's getting time off for this, Katie." Dad said and I smiled gratefully at my father and boss.

"Good, I'd beat you otherwise, Johnathan!" Mom smirked, which made me smile.

"Don't worry, there's perks to your father being your boss." Dad said and I nodded as I looked at AJ.

"Knock, knock." I looked at the door then smiled as I saw Sheriff Valente.

"Sheriff." I smiled and sat up as she shut the door behind her.

"We dusted the locker for fingerprints. We're looking at her family first, since you mentioned before-"

"You haven't seen her, Sheriff. She's terrified of her parents." I whispered and looked at AJ.

"She went to so much trouble to avoid being with her family, she even walked an hour and a half to my house because she didn't want to trouble me with driving. Whenever I saw her mom near her, AJ looked so terrified of the woman, she was so scared that her mom was going to really hurt her-"

"Jake, there's something you need to know." I looked at the Sheriff then she sighed.

"Adalyn Jade was a frequent flyer of the Ramirez Memorial Hospital in El Paso." She said and handed me the file. As I sat up and opened it, I put a hand over my mouth when I read the long list of injuries AJ had a history of.

"Right before CPS intervened, the family moved here. We think it was to get away from CPS." Sheriff Valente said and I looked at AJ.

"Jake, this isn't the first time her family has tried to kill her." Sheriff said and I closed my eyes, thanking the God I didn't believe in that AJ lived long enough for me to meet her.