Saved By A Bad Boy

[20]. Sorry...

I'd like to claim that the first things I saw upon waking up were the sun rays streaming through the window, making slits of light on the linoleum floor. Or perhaps I could tell you that I saw my mother sleeping peacefully on her bed. But of course, the first thing I saw was not sunshine or my mom. It was a rock-hard chest. Specifically, Jax's rock-hard chest. And I knew it was Jax, because that soapy aftershave scent has never smelled better on anyone else.

It was hard to remember what happened last night. All I know is that the fear and the hurt finally got me. It broke that one string that linked my heart and body, and now I was just floating in some mental abyss. But something brought me back in, kept me from drifting off into the endless tumult of emotion. And that was Jax. The fear fled from me when he came, because no one would ever, ever hurt me as long as Jax was there. And I was sure of it.

Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I sat up gradually, rubbing my aching shoulders. Somehow, I had ended up on a cot in the middle of the floor instead of the floor itself. Jax was beside me, already sitting up and leaning against the wall. His eyes were closed, but somehow, I knew he wasn't sleeping. I blinked at him for a while, still unsure of everything that had happened. What was he doing here? Jax opened one of his eyes, and when he saw that I was awake, he opened the other one, too.

"Hey," he whispered quietly.

"Hey."

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know." I looked down, staring at my fidgeting fingers and not daring to meet his crystal blue eyes. Unfortunately, Jax intended to force me to look at them, because he took my chin between his thumb and forefinger and then tilted it upwards so that my gaze landed on his. We were quiet for a long while as he studied my face, from my eyes to my forehead to my chin and then to my lips. "Jax?" His eyes returned to mine.

"Yeah?" He breathed.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"Maya told me," he responded hesitantly.

"Maya? Why?" I asked, incredulous. There was no reason for Maya to have spoken to him on my behalf, especially considering the fact that Jax had hardly talked to any of them since his mother died. He smiled softly.

"She's not good at hiding her concern. The moment I asked her what was wrong, she freaked out and told me everything," he explained. I laughed a little. Maya was never the type of person to contain her emotions.

"So then..." I trailed off and took a deep breath. "Why did you come?" He just looked at me for a long, silent moment, and I could tell that he was trying to figure out what to say.

"Because I was worried."

"About my mom?"

"About you." My stomach flipped when he said that. He was worried about me? Even when we were sitting here in my mom's hospital room, something about Jax admitting that he cared about me just a little bit gave me a funny feeling in my chest. I found myself grinning stupidly and I had no idea why.

"Thanks," I whispered. Jax smiled.

"No problem." But then his eyes traveled to my mom's bed and settled there. "So what happened?" He spoke quietly and carefully, obviously trying not to upset me. But bringing back anything from last night was bound to hurt. Everything was so abrupt. My life really was a roller coaster, going from great heights to a pit at the lowest descent possible. I just wish, for once, I could just live without being sidetracked by horrible events. All of these deaths and depressions and fears were becoming too much.

"She just...she just passed out. The doctors think it's the...the...the depression again," I said, trying not to disclose any information that might lead to the subject of Troy. Jax looked confused.