The School of Lost Causes

Chapter 12

We caught up to Noah, his pokerface in place no signs of the weird interaction with the doctor. "Why didn't you tell us about your ribs Roxy?" Shaking my head I avoided Jax accusing gaze " I didn't think it was that bad... and I didn't want to..." "You didn't want to accept that you need help. You wanted to deal with it on your own." It wasn't a question it was a statement. Just like he noticed that I was in pain, Noah had seen right through everything and even figured out why I wouldn't talk about it. "I didn't want you guys to worry..." They looked at eachother for a while, neither of them saying a word and I considered asking Jax to put me down so i could walk away and escape this ongoing assessment of my words. And then like nothing happened they started walking again.

The rest of the walk to the room was silent and I couldn't decide if I liked that or not. It wasn't necessarily awkward but it was... heavy. Like someone had put a weight on our conversation to heavy for any of us to move. Noah opened the door to our room putting the cream and everything on the nightstand. Jax gently placed me down on the bed before walking to the closet and grabbing a t-shirt. He handed it to Noah, grabbed the medical supplies and left for the bathroom. Noah then moved closer to me but stopped suddenly, and I could see the gears I his mind turning as he assessed me. Why did I feel so bad for not telling him? It wasn't like kept it to myself to hurt him. I just didn't want them to worry, Right? I averted my eyes not being able to stand his heated gaze. Staring at my lap playing with the hem of his jacked I spoke my voice quiet and small. "I'm sorry.. I really thought it wasn't bad..." He crouched down so I had no choice but to look into his chocolate colored eyes. All the scrutiny had left them leaving only genuine worry and concern. "So you'll let us help you? Without any protest?" I nodded and his gentle smile replaced the frown his face had been stuck in since we left the doctors. He reached for the zipper of his jacked pausing only for a moment before pulling it down. "Let's get you into a new t-shirt before our next lesson"

He worked slowly, being careful not to be to rough. I knew he only wanted to make sure he wasn't hurting me, but it made me feel like I was made of glass. Like I was fragile and easy to break and somehow that was worse than any pain. Noah dropped the jacked on the bed and cold air hit my exposed back. Without the pain to distract me, I was suddenly all to aware of my lack of clothes, my self-consciousness growing rapidly. The logical part of my brain knew that he had already seen me without a shirt and that me sitting here in a bra was no different from me being in a bathing suit but I still crossed my arms over my stomach hoping to cover a bit more skin.

Jax came out of the bathroom  just as Noah was unfolding the new Shirt and only then did I realize that it wasn't one of my own. It was bigger and boxy meaning it wouldn't cling to my skin. Both of them helped me get it over my head and I tucked it into my pants since it was so long it reached mid thigh and I doubted they "teachers" would let that slide.

Noah left next for the bathroom. Jax stood there for a while seeming as if he wanted to bombard me with either questions or accusations and I could feel my anxiety start to build again. I knew that if he started he wouldn't be able to stay calm and cool headed like Noah did. He would let his emotions take over and maybe even start to yell. And if there's one thing in this world that could immediately bring me to tears it was people I cared about yelling at me. Steeling myself for the incoming confrontation my muscles instinctively tensed and I bit back a whimper as a new wave of pain shot through my body.

He must have sensed something since his face immediately softened and a exasperated sigh left his lips. As Noah did before he too crouched down in front of me. Is ocean blue eyes filled my vision trapping me in the currents of deep blue surrounding his iris and i could only gasp as I saw honest concern and worry. "You're not alone anymore."  He stood up straight again walking back to the closet. A single sentence. Four words. That was it. I refused to think abut the hidden meaning behind them, the promise that hid beneath the surface ready to jump out at me. I wouldn't think about it. Couldn't think about it. Promises were a dangerous game that always left me broken hearted. So I ignored it grabbing the jacked he handed me.

After Noah came out of the bathroom the two of them helped me get into the jacked. Just as they pulled it up on my shoulders the door flew open. Both Jax and Noah rushed in front of me immediately ready to defend me from who or what ever came through the door. As if they weren't even there Ashley pushed passed them looking as if she had just run a marathon and stopped maybe a foot in front of me.

"Oh my God Roxanne I was SO worried when I came to pick you three up and you weren't there. After Liam told me what happened I rushed to the nurses office only to be told you were already back in your room. So I ran back over here thinking you must be knocked out cold from the medication an I would have to drag you to your next class but no here you are not only standing but fully dressed and with both of your boys showered as well. I must say I'm impressed. My first injury I was out for the rest of the day." 

Turning she studied first Jax then Noah before walking back to the door. "Well since I couldn't find you guys were already late so we'll have to hurry to your next class. Don't worry you don't need a book or anything like that in your classes here. Everything is in your lockers in each classroom your in."  And with that she was already back out the door. I was picked up before I could even attempt to walk.

Jax's strong arms carrying me like it was nothing once again made me wonder how I missed him being this strong when we were messing around on the bus. He hastened after Ashley, Noah following close behind. "You're next class is Strategy and Planing. You'll be dealing with different attack and defend strategies as well as resource management. Escape tactics and what to do if a plan fails. If you're lucky you'll get to play through different scenarios on this really awesome machine. It's basically VR but better since it literally puts you in that scenario or what ever as if it were actually happening. Then you can go back and rewatch it like a movie it's soooo cool and...." Closing my eyes I tuned out Ashley's voice. It wasn't like I didn't care about what she was saying, quite the opposite actually. But listening to her when I was already really drowsy and it was hard to keep listening to her. So I just let the boys listen to her. I'd just ask them about the short version later. She rambled on and on and soon I was fast asleep in Jax's arms knowing I would have to wake up soon for class.