When you were mine

Chapter 17

When you're on an aeroplane, the flight attendants tell you that if you're in an emergency worry about yourself first. But you don't, call it caveman instinct but the first thing you do is protect the ones you love. Because in the end you'd rather disappear from them than them disappear from you.
Damon's POV
I woke up outside, my skin was on fire and my whole body ached. I moved about a little to check and see if anything was broken. Nope I'm all good. I started to sit up when a bunch of hands pushed me back down and I had one of those stupid breathing masks on.
"Paisley, where's Paisley?" I asked and my voice was raspy.
"Just try to stay still and stay calm. We're taking you to the hospital so you can get checked out." Someone told me. I began writhing on the spot. I couldn't go back there, not again.
"Sir, sir, calm down please." My bed was wheeled into an ambulance and then the doors shut. I was trapped.
"Where's Paisley. She's pregnant." I managed to get those words out before the mask could be placed over my face again.
"Is she a teenager?" The nurse asked. I nodded my head, she had to be okay.
"She's already on her way to the hospital." He explained and I calmed down a little. She was going to be alright.

I had fallen asleep at some point but was woken up to the sound of beeping. I groaned and my head felt thick and foggy.
"Good. You're awake." I recognised the voice as the nurse who escorted me here.
"Paisley?" My throat aches and my voice was husky.
"How do you feel?" That worried me. Doctors being evasive always worried me and I opened my eyes.
"Is Paisley alright? Please she's pregnant with my kid and-" he interrupted me.
"It's okay. Your child is fine, she's healthy." But no word on Paisley.
"Just tell me what happened. Please." I begged and he sighed.
"There was a bomb inside the restaurant. It went off and exploded, some people have been lucky and got off with a couple bruises and scratches. Others weren't so lucky. There have been three deaths and one comatose patient." The doctor explained.
"Who?" The fear had gripped me so tightly I felt like I was going to throw up.
"A Richard Spiegleman, Andrea Tomps and Jake Novier are the deceased." Jake. A million memories crashed into my brain.

"Come on Jakey! Join the football team! That way when we get to high school we can be the best! And then we can all go to college together!" My kid voice rang out with excitement
.
"Jacob do you care to explain as to why you're late?"
"Because my aunt died." Jakey told the principal.
"Why wasn't the school notified?" Jakey was close with his aunt, she was-in his eyes- his only family. His parents didn't give a rats ass about him.
"It's true miss. I went to the funeral. And the school wasn't notified because it wasn't a top priority. But now you're notified." I stepped in and Jakey smiled gratefully at me.

"I think I'm in love with her."
"Who? Alex?" I asked.
"Yeah, she's smart and funny and kind and beautiful and-" I interrupted.
"Alright lover boy but, are you sure?"
"I think she's the one." Jake admitted and that was that.

"Damon?" The nurse asked. I looked at him and it was almost as if I couldn't see him at all.
"And the comatose patient?" I asked.
"Paisley Michaelis. We had to do a cesarean. Her baby would have died if we hadn't." My heart ripped in two. Sam was dead and Paisley was in a coma. And I was left alone to raise a baby.
"What about the other teenagers in there? Sam Sanderson, Diana Singer, Piper Montgomery, Alex Jackson, and Aiden Smith?" I recited the names of my friends.
"I'll look into it right away." I nodded and then he left. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks as the full force of everything smashed into me. Paisley was in a coma, Jake was dead. Dead. The word echoed on in my head. Jake was dead, I wouldn't see him again. He'd never eat another cheeseburger or make another crappy joke. He would never get to argue alongside is about which Disney movie we should watch next, he wouldn't get to go to prom or graduate. He'd never get married or have kids. His life just...stopped.
"Damon?" My head lifted at the sound of Sam's voice. Next to him was Aiden, both had eyes that were red rimmed, puffy.
"You know?" Aiden's voice cracked over those two words.
"Yeah." I wiped the tears away. "Do the girls know?" I asked quietly.
"No, they're in the waiting room." Sam told me and I nodded.
"Where's Paisley?" Aiden asked.
"In a coma. They did a cesarean, the baby would have died otherwise." I couldn't meet their gazes. I was happy about the baby being alive but... how was I supposed to do this without her?
"When will she wake up?" Aiden asked.
"I don't know. That's if she wakes up." Once again this amazing thing was ripped away from me. This beautiful and wonderful thing that has walked in and out of my life only to walk back in and out again. Gone.
"What's going on?" Diana's voice fluttered through from the hallway.
"What are you guys talking about?" Piper added.
"Where's Paisley and Sam?" Alex. How were we supposed to tell her?
"You girls might wanna come in." So one by one they all walked in. They sat down in the visitors chairs and Alex raised a brow.
"Paisley fell into a coma. They had to do a cesarean or the baby would have died, so that's that." I said, I stared down at the floor, I couldn't watch their expressions.
"And Jake?" Alex asked, but I knew that even as she asked that she knew. She was just clinging to the idea that perhaps he wouldn't be dead.
"When the explosion went off, Jake was one of the closest people to it." Aiden began but he couldn't say it.
"What are you saying?" Alex's voice wavered as she realised we weren't going to deny the truth she already knew. The knowledge of it made my heart shatter more than anyone could imagine.
"Jake wouldn't have felt anything, and he was happy when it happened." Sam tried. The room grew silent and after a while I looked up at Alex. She stared at the far wall of the room, her face was emotionless. A wall of stone.
"Al?" Piper asked gently but she didn't respond. When piper placed a gentle hand on her shoulder she flinched.
"He's dead." She whispered.
"Alex we're so sorry-" Diana began but Alex shook her head, her eyes were already filling with tears.
"There's nothing you could have done. Nothing any of you could have done. Since Paisley told us the truth we all knew what we were signing up for. Jake just payed the price," Alex turned to me and looked me in the eye. "I hope your dad's a good cop, and I hope he catches that bastard before anyone else suffers the same fate as Jake did." With that she left the room and everyone watched me carefully. Inhale. Exhale. The doctor came back and raised a brow at me.
"You shouldn't have visitors Damon." He warned.
"These were my friends that I was asking about. Can I see my daughter?" I asked not wanting to waste a moment.
"Of course, I'll arrange for a wheelchair so you can go meet her." With that he left again.
"You guys should go check on Alex, I'll be fine." I promised.
"We're not just going to leave you alone Damon." Sam told me.
"In fine, honestly. We should be worried about Alex, I'll see you later." One by one they filed out and then I was in a wheelchair and being wheeled towards the children's section.

She was in a box that had hand sized holes in it. She was gorgeous, my baby girl. She had a mix of my brown eyes and Paisley's brown ones. She had tufts of blonde hair atop her head and she smiled up at me. Slowly I stuck a hand inside and stroked the palm of her hand.
"Hey, I'm your daddy." I whispered. "Mommy is asleep though, I'm sure you'll meet her soon. I'm sorry I wasn't there for when you came here but I was being observed by doctors. But I'm gonna take care of you alright?" I'll protect you. Because suddenly I had a daughter. This wasn't just about me or Paisley or Robert or any of us anymore. Suddenly my whole entire world reshaped itself around her. My baby girl and Paisley. I was going to visit her once I was done here, but that son of a bitch had to be put away. Things had gone too far. I've been shot, broken hearted, shocked, been in an explosion, had a baby, fallen in love and beaten the shit out of and I was done with this cat and mouse game. When Robert returned I would put him down because he had gone too far.
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I'm sorry if Jake was your favourite but he needed to die. It was needed for the story. And we're getting closer to the conclusion of this book yet still a million miles away from that ending. I'm sorry but again a character needed to die and Jake drew the short straw. Poor Alex right? Anyway I'll try and update soon and I only promised one spoiler last chapter, I know a lot happened this chapter. A death, a birth and a comatose patient. Plus a pissed off Damon, I hope you're enjoying the story! Thanks for reading!
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