An Unfortunate Mix-Up ✔️

Chapter 32: Flashback

Jay felt pain rip through him as he laid there, glancing around at the rubble that surrounded him. There were broken rocks to the left, broken concrete to the right, and dust on everything. 

He knew the mission. Making their way inside, find their target, eliminate their target, and get out of there. However, they never reached their destination before the loud crash went off, sending everyone flying in every direction imaginable from the Hummer.

The pain coursed through his back and legs from the landing, as well as his arms from the rocks they landed on. But nothing could compare to the searing pain in his chest as he felt his world being ripped apart in seeing the sight before him. 

Against all better judgement, to some miracle if you will, he crawled his way forward, reaching the young girl - blond hair, blue eyes, no way older than 10 wearing a pink t-shirt and what was probably blue jeans, backpack still over her shoulders. The tears she wailed out of her eyes did not compare anything to what he was feeling, each drop feeling his heartbreak that much more. 

He knew he had to do something. He couldn't leave her there. She was not part of this. It wasn't her fault that the men in her country were raging war. It wasn't her fault that her trip to school was ended by a flipped over Hummer. There had to be some way to get her out from underneath the vehicle, and help. There was no way she could slip away there...

"Jay...." Wil says as he grabs his brother's hand, hearing him whimper in his sleep, obviously starting to come too slightly. He could only imagine what was behind those closed eyes.

"Need to help her..." Jay lets out as he scurries in the bed, fighting against the grasp on his hand as if to free himself and do what he needed to do. He had to save this girl. He had to make sure she was okay.

"Jay, wake up, please..." Will tightens his grip on his brother's hand that much more, as if to will those eyes open and snap him out of whatever was filling his thoughts. Based on the simple comment, though, he already knew what the images pertained. He remembered the pain he felt when he forced Mouse to recount what happened one night when Jay refused to even think about what happened. It was the reason he was discharged from the army originally. "Open your eyes, Jay. You're not there. It's over. You're home."

"Help me..." Jay's eyes remained shut as he went to shift against the hold, the movement shifting the wires and IV in him a little. It almost resulted in Connor stepping forward, feeling nerves in everything moving, but Daniel placed his arm out front of the doctor to stop him. He wasn't about to kill Will's idea just yet.

"I want to help you, I will always help you. I will do whatever it takes for you. But you got to open your eyes, Jay.." Will takes a deep breath, remembering the long nights at the apartment in the weeks he stayed with him. He remembered the crying filled sleeps. He remembered a couple nights with screams. There were also the nights he knew Jay couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried. It was with every bit of him that he tried to rely back on that experience to help him now. "You're not there, Jay. You're home, with me, with Hailey. We've got you. You're safe." 

"She's not..." Jay's words start off loud before trailing off, his eyes opening as he does so, focused on his brother. The tears were there almost immediately, as they began to slip down his cheek, the reality of being awake causing him to remember the result. He was unable to save her that day. He watched her scream to her death, trapped. "I tried what I could, I swear..."

"I know you did." Will reaches out, wrapping both arms around his brother, allowing him to bury his head in his shoulder, secretly smiling to himself despite all the pain he was seeing in knowing he was awake, and would be okay. He could fight through these battles with him, would do it in heartbeat if needed, as long as he got to spend more time with him. "It's okay...."

"I did what I had to do..." Jay pulls back slightly, the reality of the moment coming to him as he saw Daniel and Connor standing in the doorway together, as well as Hailey standing off in the corner. It was in that moment the flashback of his dreams disappeared, but rather the past 48 hours came flying through in a flash. The airport. The kidnapping. The electrocution. The baseball bat. The belt. The chains around his wrist. The collapse of the building. "Alex!"

"He's going to be okay, Jay." Jay looks into Will's eyes, almost not believing him, thinking he was saying that to offer comfort in having probably heard everything that happened. "You followed every single instruction I gave you to the letter - even Connor said you did a good job. They were able to get him into surgery, and he's in a room recovering from the wound and everything. He's going to be okay." 

"That's all that matters..." Jay finally takes a deep breath, allowing himself to glance down his body. He didn't need to look to his side to know the monitors that were there, having heard the beeping they delivered. The cords by his chest, followed by the IV in his arm, and the various bandages caught every bit of his attention. "Fuck.."

"That's what we said when we saw everything, but you're going to be okay. I swear to you that you are going to be okay." Jay looks at his brother with a sly smile, both of them knowing the next question that threatened to slip through his mouth. "And no, you're not escaping the hospital just yet. They need to monitor everything longer, and make sure that you are going to be okay. Besides, they have good dru-"

"No, you know I can't do that." Will takes a deep breath, remembering that from Jay's initial return home and his simple fear at seeing any pills at all. He never got the full reason why from either Jay or Mouse, but could only wonder what happened overseas or when they got back to cause that. "Please..."

"The pain is too much without it, Jay. Trust me when I say that you are in a lot of pain without it, pretty much unbearable. It's either you accept the pain killers or Connor will want to keep you sedat-"

"No, please..." Will glances back at Connor, knowing that was a nod back to his request before in making sure the process stopped. If anybody knew Jay well, it was Will. 

"No oxycodone, or anything like that - I promise. There's a nerve block due to the shooting pains from the elecution affecting your heart, nerves, and muscles. There's also morphine. That's it. Nothing else, Jay." Jay takes a deep breath, nodding his head, knowing he couldn't just ignore the request because that'd probably create issues. Besides, perhaps Will was right that they were necessary as it was a nice relief to not feel the pain he had endured the past day.