Satisfaction

Chapter 6

A few hours later, when I was feeling better, Dad explained what happened:

Jaz wasn't paying attention and missed a stop sign. She wasn't wearing a seat belt, so when the truck flipped over, she lid down to where the pedals were. She banged her head on the drivers wheel, and she was instantly unconscious.

People thought that I was crazy for trying to save Jaz after the accident, but they didn't understand. I promised my brother that I wouldn't die. If I did, I needed Jaz to be there for him. Now, all he had was our parents, Sam, and Jackson.

That reminded me; I need to confront Jackson on why he wasn't eating. He barley looked human anymore, and I was starting to get worried.

I crawled out of the hospital bed and Mom helped me into my wheelchair.

I had seriously injured my leg in the accident, which is probably why I was limping.

They were still trying to figure out what to do with it. They couldn't just sew it back together, the way they did with my neck. One thing was for sure. It was going to be only impossible to even ATTEMPT gymnastics again.

Welp. There goes that.

Mom pushed me down the hallway into the cafetira, and Jackson followed close behind.

When we arrived, I told Mom what I wanted and she went to get our food.

Jackson helped me find a seat. We picked a little booth in the corner.

"Jackson." I asked. "Why have you REALLY not been eating?"

He sighed and looked in the other direction to avoid eye contact. I turned his face in my direction with my hand.

He looked right into my eyes, and I did the same. Either the space between us was getting smaller, or he was trying to kiss me. I didn't stop him. We sat there for a few minutes, lips locked. I felt like I was floating in midair. He pulled away, smiling.

"Do you REALLY wanna know why I wasn't eating?"

I nodded.

"I thought that you were going to die. If you died, I wanted to be with you, so I......ya know."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Jackson, you would really do that for ME?"

"I always do anything I can to be with the people I love."

I giggled and kissed him again.

We were interrupted by someone clearing their voice.

"I see you two have been getting along well." Mom said with a tray full of Burger King in her hands. "Should I come back later?"

"No no no, you're fine Mrs. Lockwood." Jackson said, blushing.

We chatted about Halloween and who was going to roll me around for three hours. Of course, Jackson volunteered right away, but Mom objected. It wasn't that she didn't want me to go with him. It was that she was scared what Dad would say.

After we were done, Jackson pushed me out of the cafeteria. We beat Mom to my room, so we swapped numbers. He left fifteen minutes later for football practice.

Mom stared at me.

"What?"

"He's a keeper. You better be good to him."