WILD RIDE (Rafe Cameron x OC) *COMPLETE*

Chapter Eighty-Nine (Alana)

CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

Alana

JJ stands by my bedroom door as a blinding light fills it. I sit up in the bed and suddenly realize I'm healed. I'm not bleeding anymore. My hip isn't bruised and feeling like it's going to fall off and.. Something feels so different about me.

"Don't go." I hold my hand out and JJ closes the door slowly. "Please.. Don't go."

"You need to go to Rafe." He repeats again and his eyes flutter to the TV for a moment before landing back on me. "Isn't this episode ironic? Even in your subconscious you had this episode going?"

My eyes glance to the TV and realize what episode of Grey's Anatomy it is. It's when Meredith was sick and in the hospital. Practically in a coma and not waking up for days. In her own daydream she was on the beach and being visited by those she loved the most who left too soon.

Derek, George, Lexie, Mark, and lastly was Andrew. This episode is the one with Derek. She keeps trying to get closer to him but he says the sand isn't real. And drifts further away. His smile is haunting yet beautiful. She just wants to touch him again. To hold him. To hug him.

I reach my hand to JJ and he reaches to me. Only for the door to open widely on it's own. I blink long and hard when I see Big John walking into my room.

"Why are you here?" I ask him. JJ sits on the bed next to me again and Big John huffs and crosses his arms. "You're not supposed to be here."

"In your mind I'm burning for all eternity. Yeah, I saw you daydream about that once. Helped you ease yourself into a midday nap." He musses up my hair and then pulls up the chair from my desk. "I'm here to tell you exactly what JJ did. You have to go to Rafe."

"Rafe isn't here."

A long silent pause. Even the TV goes silent. Meredith's voice is gone and all that keeps flashing is the same scene over and over. The sand isn't real. Derek goes further away. Meredith is confused. Derek is still smiling hauntingly. The sand isn't real. The sand isn't real.

This isn't real.

"Rafe isn't here." I say again or at least I thought I said it. But no sound came from me. "Rafe isn't-"

"Alana!" I hear his voice.. I hear Rafe's voice. "Alana, please! Please wake up!"

I look around and then my eyes land on my window. He's outside behind a small fence. Cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouts toward my bedroom window. I look down at him and I smile. That's when I see everyone else gathering behind him. Everyone but JJ because he's in this room with me and my dad

John B places his hand on Rafe's shoulders and Rafe turns and sobs into my brother's chest. Sarah comforting him when I realize..

Sarah's showing now. Not a lot, but a little. Enough to see the bump.

"How long have I been here?"

Silence. But at least this time I could hear my voice. "How long have I been here?" I ask again and Big John looks at me sadly.

"Few days. They had you airlifted to Lisbon. You're in a really good hospital there but you just need to wake up."

"But I want JJ to come with me." I argue with my dad softly. Confusion ringing in my voice. "Why can't he come with me?"

"Because they already sent me back to OBX. Shoupe paid for it, I guess that's the least he could do for all the shit he's given all of us over the years, huh? Hey, remember that time we were like sixteen and Shoupe told you to stop running in the marketplace and you uh.."

"Egged his car and blamed you?" I laugh. "Yeah, sorry your dad had to pay a fine for that."

Rafe calls my name again. His voice hoarse and filled with tears. I look back out the window and he's down on his knees. Wearing just some plain sweatpants and a Lisbon t-shirt that looks like he just tossed it on. His face is growing scruffy with facial hair and his eyes..

My poor husband's eyes are so dark and sad.

"Go to Rafe." Dad says. "He needs you; your little girl needs you- Sarah and John B? Their little fella needs you too."

"How did I end up here?" I ask. "I remember JJ.. I remember JJ being... Being... Gone.. and I... I know I was bleeding. An infection from my hip-"

"That wasn't from your hip." JJ tells me. "Not entirely. The hip was kind of the final straw."

My eyes flicker to Big John and the door opens again. Ward Cameron walks in and has something in his arms. He smirks at me but doesn't say a word. He just stands there and hands what's in his arms to my dad.

"Your IUD failed, Flower. You got pregnant off it and then you started to miscarry which pushed the IUD out too. Your hip got infected from that glass and the fracture which made everything happen faster than it should have. This right here that Old Ward brought in? It's your baby- well... What would have been. But don't you worry, JJ said he owes you one. So he's going to watch over this little one."

"What-"

"I don't have to go alone, Alana. I won't be alone... I've got Big John and this little one here.. And if I don't know what I'm doing then- then I have my mom. She's really pretty, Alana.. Do you want to meet her?"

"Jayj," I pause but the door opens again and Ward walks out. Dad walks out after handing the bundle of blanket to JJ. In walks the most beautiful blonde woman I had ever seen in my life. My mouth goes dry. "You're-"

She smiles. "No wonder my Jackson loved you..."

"I'm so sorry about what Groff did to you." I don't know why that's the first thing I decided to say. Everything goes quiet again and Rafe's voice echoes again.

"Alana, please! Please wake up! Please! Leah needs you! I need you! Alana, I can't live without you."

Larissa Genrette, JJ's mother- takes the bundle from his arms and smiles. "You know, I used to know Rafe's parents way back when... I remember when Rafe Cameron was born. Everyone on Kildare couldn't stop talking about Melanie and Ward's beautiful little boy. And this little guy... Looks just like the baby that used to come into the restaurant I was working at. I never had to work; Daddy made plenty of money but.. I loved people. That's how I met Chandler."

"Maybe you should have stayed home." I say softly.

Larissa shakes her head with a smile and then runs a hand through JJ's hair. The same thing I used to do to him all the time. "Then I wouldn't have this guy right here and you, Miss Alana... You wouldn't have had your daughter. You wouldn't have even been with Rafe Cameron. In fact, your life? Your life would have gone completely differently."

"How so?"

"John B would have only had Pope as his friend meaning John B would have been good all the time. Only focusing on school and doing right by the family. Staying out of trouble and being afraid to live on the wild side. Like you had been for the longest time. But if that was John B? You would have searched for trouble. You... You would have been living in that trailer with that dealer and not living a pretty life. When you die you can see everyone's 'what if's' and yours, my darling, your what if's aren't good at all.. Everything happens for a reason."

"I need to go home..." I say to her. "I have a little girl. You know what it's like being away from your kid... I have the option to go to her. You didn't have that. Can I.. Can I go?"

"You have to be ready to say goodbye."

"Goodbye Larissa-"

"No." She cuts me off with laughter and a bright smile. "No, you have to be ready to say goodbye to Jackson."

I shake my head. "I'll never be ready to say goodbye to him..." But I see Rafe out the window. Calling my name again, sobbing with John B. I turn to JJ. "Jayj... I'll always love you."