I N S T I N C T | Jackson Whittemore

53: butterflies

Butterflies
Chapter 53

Melissa stared down at Jackson's body bag, the black fabric slouched and clumped in places where his limbs were rigid from the promise of death. Keeping her eyes on the boy, she watched as the paramedic loaded his body onto a metal stretcher and into the flashing ambulance. The driver exited the vehicle once the doors had shut and Melissa still stood behind it, blocking her reversal process.

Smiling, the driver approached Melissa, "Thanks for your help, but we can take it from here," she assured.

Melissa returned the friendly smile as she shrugged lightly, "You know, I'm gonna have to give a statement. Why don't I ride with you?"

The paramedic, obviously not okay with the idea but trying to give Melissa a kind rejection, gritted her teeth and shook her head, "Um, I think that would be a little–"

"Perfect!" Melissa cut her off, clapping her hands as she slowly backed away from the paramedic and to the passenger side of the ambulance. "Great," she chimed again, disappearing behind the vehicle.

The EMT watched as Melissa opened the ambulance door and jumped in, sighing to herself, "Great..."

* * *

Compartmentalize.

Compartmentalize.

Compartmentalize.

Annie's thoughts were whirlwinds in a mess of ocean, drown out by her thoughts of Jackson. Was he alive? He had to be. He couldn't just be... dead.

Compartmentalize, she scolded herself as tears had begun to form. You don't need anyone seeing you cry.

Taking a deep breath, Annie somehow found the unyielding strength that always seemed to amaze. She evened her breathing and slowly brought back control of her own mind. Nothing made sense. He couldn't be dead. There's still hope, there's still hope, there's still hope.

Isaac and Scott watched as Annie sat on the cold, taped off metal bleachers out on the sidelines. They had changed from their uniforms and headed back to the field for questioning, meeting up with Stiles's dad.

Scott searched the perimeter once more, looking for his best friend. Something had to of happened, Stiles wouldn't just wander off like this and not let anyone know... and Gerard's promise was still fresh in Scott's mind.

Sheriff Stilinski approached the two boys once they had been cleared, and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I have to go meet with the medical examiner and try to figure out what happened with Jackson," he informed the teenagers. "I've got an APB out on Stiles. His jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means... the hell," he cursed, letting out a deep breath. "I don't know what that means," he said hopelessly. He looked up at Scott, shaking his head, "Uh... look, if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if either one of you see him..."

"We'll call you," Scott assured him, nodding his head. Ignoring the aching feeling in his gut, Scott lied his ass off. "Look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something. We'll find him."

"Yeah..." Sheriff Stilinski nodded and patted Scott's shoulder. "I'll see you, okay?"

Scott nodded goodbye and watched as his best friend's father walked off the field to meet with another person, about another situation. His eyes drifted from the fatherly figure to his other best friend, still sitting hopelessly on the bleachers. Annie's eyes were fixated into space as she chewed her nails to their beds.

Looking over at Isaac, Scott sighed and asked his newfound friend, "Will you go wait for me in the locker rooms? There's something I need to do," he announced, looking back at Annie.