The Boy Who Saved Me From Me

Chapter 16

~~ Chapter 16 ~~

Elizabeth's POV

The next day I didn't see anyone except Chris. I don't know if he was keeping Jackson away or if Jackson was staying away. It's currently 1:37pm and I'm bored out of my mind. I've spent most of the morning trying to keep myself busy so I wouldn't think about what had happened. After completing my laundry, cleaning the house, finishing my homework, making lunch, and checking all of my social media I have officially ran out of things to do. I stare at my phone and have an internal debate of who I should call. I know they say every story has two sides, but how do I determine which side is right when they are so different? In a moment of confidence, I scroll to his name and press call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Lizzy, I'm so glad you called!"

"Uhm, I uh was actually wondering if you wanted to hang out? I need to talk to you about what happened."

"Of course! Do you want me to come to pick -?

"No! Uhm I mean, no you don't need to. I'll just meet you at the cave."

"Oh, okay sure. I can be there in 20 minutes."

"Okay, see you soon. Bye."

After taking a moment to collect myself and wondering what I just got myself into, I finally grab my stuff and head towards the park.

~~~~~~~

20 minutes later I was sitting next to Tanner. I still can't believe he could find this place based on something I told him a lifetime ago. Neither one of us had uttered a word and it was started to get awkward. Finally I found the courage to say something.

"Uhm, so what happened yesterday?"

After a moment he responded, "I'm really not sure. One second Jackson said he wanted to talk to me and the next thing I know he attacked me. He didn't even say anything, just slammed me up against the door as soon as we stepped outside."

I couldn't imagine Jackson every doing something like that. I mean up until the other day I hated him, but he's never been a violent person. Normally something tips him off.

After a little while Tanner gets up to leave, but I decide to stay for a little bit to help get my thoughts together. I started to feel guilty for not listening to Jackson earlier, especially after talking to Tanner. A few minutes later, the guilt really started to eat at me. I couldn't help but wonder what had set Jackson off. With a new plan I get up and set off to find someone. I want to find Jackson, but I should also probably talk to Sarah and Theresa, too. While walking back to my house I send a group text asking if they were free. Both girls were busy until later tonight so I decided to try and find Jackson. The thought made my heart race. I wasn't sure what I was feeling, but it felt like it would lead to a lot of complications and questions. Lost in thought, I didn't notice it until I almost stepped on it. Jumping back, I let out a small scream before realizing what it was. A small tan and black puppy lay on the sidewalk. He raised his head slightly, but then whimpered and lay back down.

"Hey little guy, what're you doing out here?"

I stoop down and reach out to run my hand down his back. As I got closer I noticed that one of his front legs looked broken. After petting him for a few moments and gaining his trust, I carefully pick him up making sure to not jostle him too much. The local vet is only a couple blocks away so I change my route and head toward the vet.

A bell rings as I walk through the door. The poor puppy has barely stirred since I picked him up.

"Hi there, how can I help you?" The man at the front desk asked.

"Hi, I found this puppy on the way home and I think his front leg is broken." I say as I continue to soothe the soft, lovable lump in my arms.

The man paged someone and a moment later a vet tech came through a back door.

"Hi sweetie, I hear you found an injured pup? I assume that's who you're holding?"

"Yeah this is him."

"Okay, if you want to follow me we'll get him checked out and see if we can figure out who he belongs too."

Walking back to the exam room I realized I hadn't even thought about who he belonged too. It's like my brain just decided that he was now mine. Hmmm what should I name him? Just as I was about to compose a mental list of names the vet tech started talking.

"Alright, well first let's see if he's got a microchip or any sort of identification. Then we'll see what's going on with this guy."

An hour later we determined that he had no owner and he had injuries that suggested he'd been hit by a car. With a slightly drugged puppy with a bright green cast around his leg, along with a list of care instructions, I left the vet and began my journey home. Since the puppy didn't have any sort of identification, the vet allowed me to take him home and I could keep him as long as I tried to find his owner first.

No one was home when I got there so I went ahead and got the puppy all settled in. Grabbing an old blanket I made a makeshift bed on the couch. He wasn't supposed to move a lot until his little body could heal, so I made a wall of pillows around the blanket. Once I was sure he was comfy and safe I went about fixing him the food the vet gave me. I needed to make sure I buy him some more, along with some toys. He'd also need a collar and leash. So wrapped up in my tasks I didn't hear the door open or close.

'WOAH! Hey there little guy. Where did you come from?" I hear from the living room. Oh no, if Chris was home I'd have some begging to do so I could keep the puppy. Walking into the living room with a whole speech ready, I stop in my tracks when I see who it really is,

"Jackson?"

~~~~~~~~~

Hi there ladies and gents! You can thank Lisajokester for this chapter! If she hadn't of commented on the last chapter I probably wouldn't have given this story another thought. I'll try my best to start updating again, but no promises on it being frequently. College takes up 99.9% of my life now. 

Also, sorry if this chapter is a mess. I haven't worked on it in about a year so I don't remember where I was going with it! <3