Apocalyptic Romance

Chapter 7: Confessions

 "SAVE HIM NOW!!" I screamed again. I couldn't stop crying and wouldn't stop trying to get out of Jason's grip. Lizzie grabbed a stick and placed it in Jack's mouth. "Get her out of here Jason! She doesn't need to see this" Jason then gained a tighter grip on me and took me outside of the tent. I screamed and struggled, but my attempts were futile against his strength. From inside the tent I could hear Lizzie talking softly to my baby brother. "On the count of three, I'm having at it ok Jack?" Jack muffled in response, "One....Two....-" I didn't hear the count of three, but instead the whoosh of a blade and Jack's agonizing and pain filled screams. I buried my face into Jason's chest as I felt the familiar hot tears stream down my face my cries muffled by his shirt. I felt Jason plant a soft kiss on my temple and rub my back as he said soft and soothing words"Shh, it'll be okay, Baby. I promise you. Jack is in good hands with Lizzie" he cooed."If anything happens to him I'll, I'll-"Jason cut me off mid-sentence "Do absolutely nothing and let ME handle it. Got it?" he said sternlyI looked up at him through my tear-soaked eyelashes and nodded weakly. Seconds after my agreeing to let Jason handle it, I whipped my head around as I heard Lizzie start to panic from inside of the tent"No. No. No. NO! Get that arm wrapped up NOW! He's losing too much blood!" Lizzie screamed.

 I wriggled myself from Jason's embrace and bursted through the tent opening and gazed in absolute horror at the figure lying on the table. It didn't look like Jack at all; his deep blue eyes were glazed and a pale blue color, his sleek brown hair was dry and ratty, and his skin was so pale it was almost transparent. I looked at him then glanced over to him left arm, or what is left of it. It was nothing more than a stump that cut off at the elbow with a bloody rag attached to the end of it. I felt tears trickle down my cheek as I looked at the figure I called my brother; seeing him like this killed me.

 I was so lost in my emotions that I didn't realize I had been taken out of the tent until I felt someone shaking my shoulders lightly."Eliza? Baby, come on talk to me. Snap out of it" I shook my head as I came back into reality to find Jason sitting in front of me. I looked around and noticed that we were in our tent

"How did we get in here?" I asked

"I carried you back" Jason answered

"But we were at Lizzie's tent just a few seconds ago"

"No. We got back about five minutes ago. You bursted into Lizzie's tent when she was with Jack and you just froze like that for a while. Lizzie yelled for me to take you out of there and to take you back here. You didn't even notice when we left?"

I was absolutely shocked "No I didn't. I was just lost in everything that was happening. I'm just so afraid of losing him, Jason! He's the only family I have left and if I lose him then I... I don't even know what I'll do! Die maybe? Yeah that's it. If I lose the only family I have left then I'll just DIE! Not just emotionally."

He looked like I had hit him in the heart with a bullet. Without a word he stood up and went to one corner of the tent, interlocking his fingers around the back of his head.

He whispered quietly, "The way that you feel right now..... If you lost him...." He paused a moment to walk back over to me. He knelt in front of me and looked at me with red rimmed eyes and a tear stained face.

He placed his hands on my shoulders, "That's how I feel right now. I can't listen to you talking about taking your own life if you lost your brother. Living a life without you is one that I don't want to live. Please don't ever leave me, Eliza. I am nothing without you; you give me a purpose that I have been searching for my whole life and I never want to let you go or to lose you. When I saw you on that first day, I was afraid to talk to you because I was so taken by your beauty. But when I actually did talk to you something sparked in me. I had to think hard before I spoke in fear of messing up. I tried being funny in order to make you laugh," He paused for a moment, as if reliving the day we met," God your laugh is beautiful. And I almost died when I saw your smile. I wasn't sure why I was trying so hard to impress you or make you happy, but I have no regrets because my idiotic jokes and stupid comments and everything else I did got you to be mine. I am so in love with you that it physically hurts me when I'm away from you. Please don't ever talk about yourself badly or ever imply suicide because it makes me feel helpless because I either don't know how to fix what's hurting you or physically can't make it stop. I was never good with words, and when I met you I got worse because every time I looked at you my mind went blank. I've been trying to find the right words to describe how I feel about you, and failed at it until now. In case you didn't know, I speak French, and Eliza?" He looked at me with more tears falling from his eyes as he spoke these beautiful words to me. Words I never thought would be uttered from him. I felt tears on my face so I rubbed my eyes, wiped my cheeks, and tried to control my breathing.

"Yes, Jason?" I barely said

"Je ne laisserai jamais votre côté aussi longtemps que je suis vivant , et je vais vous aimer encore plus" He said without batting an eye. 

I looked at him puzzled as I cocked my head to one side

"It means, 'I will never leave your side as long as I'm alive, and I will love you even longer' I need you to know that all that I've said comes from my heart and is true. Even Romeo did not love Juliet as much as I love you."

I was absolutely speechless. My mind was blank, my heart fluttered, and my cheeks were tear-stained once again. All I could do was wrap my arms around his neck and hold him close. Now I was terrified of losing him. I never wanted to let him go or to be stupid enough to leave. I wanted to stay in this moment forever; just him and I holding each other. I lifted my head and kissed him as passionately as I physically and emotionally could. I only stopped when I needed to breathe, and I looked at him and his swollen lips and dried eyes.

I held his face in both of my hands and whispered, "Jason Booker, I am madly in love with you. I don't have an entire speech prepared to declare my love like you did, but just know that as long as we are alive I will love you"