Rookie Playing For Keeps #Wattys2015 #NewAdult

Chapter 4 Part 1

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Chapter 4

Present

            A loud voice just outside the room causes my eyes to open again. It takes me a moment to focus on the clock on the wall. It's now 3:34. I turn to look at Jackson and the glow from the monitors illuminates his smile. He reaches his hand out to take mine and holds it tight. He leans forward, lifts it to his mouth and kisses it softly. His lips curl up in that familiar smile that always tugs at my heart.

"I was just thinking about our wedding." His voice is thick with both sleep and exhaustion. 

            "What were you thinking?" I prompt. His finger trails around the bed of my nail.

            "I was thinking that it was the best day of my life." He swallows slowly and takes a deep breath. "And it was, at the time. But I can see now that there are so many more big days I want to have with you."

            "You're right. It was an amazing day. But now that it's behind us, I want the forever you promised me." I put my hand over his. The white sheet feels stiff beneath our skin and I want so badly to be home. 

            "I really thought I wouldn't be nervous," he muses. "I thought that once you said you'd marry me the wedding day would just be fun and exciting, but I was so anxious. I wanted everything to be perfect for you. Having the team there made me think something was bound to go wrong. You can't put a bunch of those guys together and expect them all to act their ages." 

            "They behaved well enough." I try to keep a straight face, but he cocks an eyebrow at me and I have to laugh. "Okay, okay, maybe we shouldn't have had an open bar." 

            "I warned you about that." He's smiling, not even aware that he is running a finger over the scar on his arm. I know one day we will get past all of that, but for now watching him rub the marred skin still cuts me deep. 

            He gives my hand another squeeze when he sees my eyes on his scar. "It doesn't even hurt, baby. This is how it was always supposed to be. It helped me make a decision I should have made earlier." His words make tears sting the backs of my eyes. When one escapes and runs down my cheek, he wipes it away tenderly.

            "Do you miss playing?" I ask, my voice a little shakier than I want it to be.

            "Not as much as I missed you." Some strands of hair have escaped my braid and he brushes them behind my ear. "I would have figured it out, Rookie. I made you a promise on our wedding day and I would never break it."

            I nod my head. "I wanted to be strong for both of us, but I never imagined how hard it was going to be with you away so much of the time."

            His fingers move to my face and he leans in to press a soft kiss to my lips. "It was never a difficult decision. I knew what I wanted; I just needed to figure out how to balance it all. You don't realize that since we've been together I've never questioned what would come first in my life. You come first. Nothing is as important to me as you are. That doesn't cause me stress or make things hard. It makes them easy."

            "It can't always be like that, Jackson." I look down at the bed linens shielding the one thing that will be a game changer for us. He follows my eyes and runs his hand over the covers.

            "We are going to get through this. This is the best hospital with the best doctors. Our story isn't over, Rookie, it's just getting to the best part." 

            The beeping in the room grows louder and faster and we both turn our attention to the monitor beside the bed. A nurse dashes in and turns on the lights before starting to press buttons. She waits a minute, watching the numbers and then turns to us and scolds, "You need to keep that blood pressure down. You need to rest." A few more clicks on the evil machine causes it to print a readout and she holds the paper closer to her face. "I'll be back in a little bit. Please try to relax."

            "Jackson, I just want..." he shakes his head and puts a finger over his mouth.

            "You heard the lady," he whispers, "no more overthinking everything." He leans his head back and closes his eyes, but then peeks to make sure I am doing the same. When he finds I'm still watching him he smiles. "Rest. Here, let me tell you a story."

            I lay my head against the scratchy white fabric. His hand is still on mine and I squeeze him, needing to feel connected. He clears his throat and begins to speak in a calm, low voice. The beeping of the monitor slows and I focus on his words.

            "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess named Madeline. She lived in a tall tower, locked away by her family." I can't help the little giggle that bubbles out of me. "Shhh, Rookie, this is serious." I bite my lips, trying hard not to smile. "Anyway, this princess liked to live dangerously, and one night she snuck out of her cell." I know this story very well, and I think back contentedly to the night we first met. 

            "There was no way she could have known, but as she was returning from her night of revelry, a prince was watching her because he thought she was the most gorgeous lady he'd ever seen. She might not have been graceful, but..."

            "Jackson!" I reprimand.

            "Let me finish. So this hot as hell princess..."

            "I thought she was gorgeous?" I tease.

            "You are terrible at listening to stories."

            "Sorry, go on." I laugh and then close my eyes again, waiting for him to continue.

            "So she climbed up to the top of her tower and almost out of his life. The prince couldn't stand to think she was gone. What if he never saw her again? He decided he would follow her, because he knew in that moment that his entire world had changed. A few minutes before he had been content to sit by himself outside a frat—a knight party, but once he laid eyes on her, he didn't want to be anywhere she wasn't.

            "To his surprise, she had a special place up there on the roof, and they spent the night watching the stars dance across the sky. He thought she was magical, the way she appeared out of nowhere and stole his heart. It was as if she took all that fire he was feeling inside and spread it across the night sky."

            "Jackson," I whisper, feeling my heart swell so large with love for him that it actually hurts inside my ribs.

            "Quiet, Rookie, I'm not even to the best part." His thumb brushes over the back of my hand. "Where was I? So at the end of the night he kissed her goodbye and began secretly to plan how he was going to marry this princess. He soon found out that he'd be given three enchanted weeks to convince her that they were meant to be. He spent those weeks working very hard to make her fall in love with him, and finding to his great surprise that with every minute that went by, he fell more deeply in love with her, too." Jackson pauses.

            "Because that's exactly what happened, Maddy. I fell for you so hard and so fast, I had no other choice but to make you mine forever." He closes his eyes and finishes his story. "And then that prince made the beautiful princess his wife."

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