Will You Save Me? (Jasico Fanfiction)

Chapter 12

JASON

"NICO? NICO ANSWER ME! NICO WHAT'S GOING ON? NICO!" There was a horrible screeching noise and a yell before the line went dead. I hit the phone a couple times but I knew it was no use.

I sat down on my couch with my head in my hands, every possible horrible situation running through my head.

Oh gods. My head was spinning like a top and I couldn't compose myself to think clearly. Nico was going to be okay. He was always okay. He always pulled through no matter what, right?

I quickly called into NYU and was excused from classes for my "family emergency". Then I calmly (and I mean calmly as in my-heart-is-beating-in-my-throat kind of calm) sat down on the couch and googled plane tickets to Seattle.

My phone started ringing and the ringing went straight to my pounding head. I wiped away tears I didn't realize were falling down my cheeks and picked it up angrily.

"Hello?" I demanded.

A female voice was on the other side. "Hello? Am I speaking to Jason Grace?"

"Yes, that's me," I croaked out.

"I am calling to inform you that Nico di Angelo has been in a bad car accident. It was a head-on collision and his car flipped and rolled down a hill into a ditch. The paramedics got to him in time and have him in stable conditions, but he will be needing surgery to repair his left lung along with other minor injuries. The University of Washington Medical Center will be performing a CT scan on him when he arrives at the hospital."

It was too much. Too much was happening. This was happening too fast for me to keep up.

"Yeah," I managed out, taking a deep breath. "Yeah okay thanks for telling me. I'll be there as soon as possible."

I hung up the phone quickly and began to throw clothes and other items into a suitcase. I grabbed the key Nico had given me to his house and printed out my ticket to Seattle, scheduled for 4 a.m. tomorrow morning.

There were a few rings and then Hazel's phone was being picked up.

"Yeah?" Frank answered.

"Frank! Frank it's Jason."

"Yeah, I know, Jason. Hazel has caller ID."

"Frank, no time to be funny." I paused, a little confused at what I had just said because Frank obviously wasn't meaning to be funny. "Nico was in a car crash just a few minutes ago and I'm flying out tomorrow morning. I've already called the airport and all that, but just tell Hazel that her brother's in trouble, okay?"

"Ja-" Before he could start I hung up the phone and ran out the door with my suitcase. 

I hailed a cab in front of my apartment buildings and threw my stuff in.

"JFK airport." As we drove through the still-crowded streets of New York I realized what Nico meant by filthy and overcrowded. I realized that I hated it here just as much as he.

A song came on the radio that I recognized as Forever and Always by Parachute. My eyes stung something fierce and I rest my face in the palms of my hands. The song was not helping, and if anything, was making it worse. (hey look up this song...wow this is quite an awkward author's note, huh?)

I finally arrived at the airport and ran inside. I was quite a few hours early, but not too many as it had taken a few to get ready.

I sat down at gate H2 and pulled out my phone.

I read through all of our text conversations and finally came to a voice mail he had left for me about three hours after he had shadow-traveled back to his house.

Hey Jason, I was just calling to say that I miss you...already. I am thoroughly tempted to pay NYU to change it's location from New York to Seattle, just letting you know. Gracie misses you too. I haven't seen her this upset since, well, since Evalynn. Well, I should probably go. I have classes, but call me back later, okay? Alright, I love you Jay, see ya.

My superman sweatshirt was much too large and pooled around my waist as I leaned forwards and shamelessly and publicly cried.

I was interrupted by a light hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" I looked up and saw a girl who couldn't have been much older than me. Maybe twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

I wiped away the tears. "No, actually." She sat down.

"Wanna talk about it? I'm on the same flight."

I crinkled my eyebrows, deciding whether to trust this girl or not.

"I'm Else, by the way." I shook her hand,

"I'm Jason."

"Alright, so what's going on?"

"Well," I sighed and stared down at my knees. "My boyfriend Nico was in a car accident earlier this evening and he lives on the other side of the country. I was just over there visiting, and now-" I choked up and wiped my eyes on the insides of my sleeves.

"You feel responsible for the accident because if you were there you think that maybe you could have prevented it?" Else continued on for me. All I could do was nod.

"I'm really sorry about your boyfriend, Jason. I'm going to Seattle to visit my sister. I haven't seen her in years. We didn't get on very well as kids, always fighting and squabbling over something or another, but I'm hoping that we can both put our differences aside and be friends again."

"Good luck with that," I whispered, unable to make my voice go any louder. Before I knew it I was being pulled into a very warm hug. I let my arms go around her and my head on her shoulder. (okay so in real life don't trust strangers.)

"It's all going to be okay Jason. Nick-"

I corrected her. "Nico."

"Well, Nico is going to be alright, you hear me? Everything works itself out in the end, and if it doesn't, then it's not the end. If you love him then he has a reason to live and that's all it takes sometimes to save someone. Even if he's unconscious when you get there give his hand a squeeze and talk to him because goddamn, he can probably hear you, and with you there then he doesn't have to be scared to wake up, or alone anymore. Hell, even call him and leave him a voice mail. Maybe he won't get it, but it's all you can do for now."

And Nico wasn't alone. Because in the little yellow house inside his heart, I was always going to be there with him.

I nodded and broke apart from the hug.

We sat and talked for a while, discussing everything from socks to politics. Else helped me take my mind off everything that was happening, and helped me when I couldn't.

***

I found Else when the plane landed in Seattle.

"Thank you, for everything."

She smiled. "It was nothing. The best feeling is making someone else smile, and that was thanks enough. Now go find Nico and be with him."

"Good luck with your sister," I said, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"Goodbye, Jason. It was nice meeting you. Maybe one day we'll run into each other again, but it was nice to have someone to spend a few hours with."

"Goodbye, Else..." I said, waving as she turned and made her way through the crowd.

I turned, a weight lifting off my shoulders and heart. A cab was already waiting to take me to Nico's house to drop off my stuff and check on Gracie, and then take me to the hospital where Nico was.

I plugged in my headphones and let the music drown out reality. The song Bite My Tongue by You Me At Six blared through the headphones and I smiled. This was Nico's favorite You Me At Six song, only partly because it featured Oliver Sykes. According to Nico, Oliver Sykes was a beautiful, beautiful music god.

I smiled and let my shoulders and head thud back onto the car seat. I internally prayed that everything worked out with Else, and that everything worked out with Nico.