Chapter 200: Chapter Thirty-Eight

Jaymeson

I'd witnessed people lose their shit. Hell, I lived in Hollywood, where nervous breakdowns were a regular occurrence, especially in the industry.

But to personally lose it? To say things I wasn't ready to say?

To be pushed that far.

To be okay with it.

Was utterly abhorrent, yet totally necessary, because in that moment, I realized two things about myself.

One, my heart still worked.

Two, she had it in the palm of her hands.

I gripped her fingers tightly as we rode the elevator up to the fifth floor.

“Room Eleven,” I said out loud, squeezing Pris's shoulder. We walked by a row of rooms, until we finally came to Dani's.

A nurse stood outside. “Visiting hours are—”

I held up my hand. “Jamie Jaymeson, and you are?”

Her mouth dropped open. With a sigh, I nodded to Pris and opened the door for her while she slipped inside. The nurse looked from me to the door, then back to me.

“I could get fired, you know.”

“You won't get fired,” I said in a low voice. “It would be all over the news.

“Her parents.” The nurse cleared her throat. “She's been asking about them.”

“Shit.” I wiped my face with my hands. “What did you tell her?”

“Nothing.” The nurse held the clipboard close to her chest. “Every time she asks, she drifts off to sleep again.”

“Her injuries?”

The nurse's eyes darted around for a brief moment before she took a step forward and placed her hand on my arm. “We've done all we can.”

“Which means?” I felt like I was going to puke.

“It means we've done all we can. Now, we wait.”

“Wait.” Exhaling, I mumbled a thanks and walked into the room.

She was smaller than Pris, like a little mouse. A mop of brown hair fell past her shoulders. Her face was so bruised it was hard to make out her features.

Pris reached for Dani's hand and clenched it in hers. “Hey, baby girl.”

The humming of the machines was enough to drive me insane.

“You need to wake up.” Pris sniffled. “Because I have a surprise for you.” She wiped a stray tear.

“Your favorite movie star is standing only a few feet away from you — and he's totally seen you without makeup. So if you don't want to wake up for me, wake up for Jaymeson.”

I smiled at that, my throat clogging with emotion.

“Just open your eyes,” Pris whispered. “I need to know you're okay.”

A nurse walked in. I turned and glared. She walked right back out.

The heart monitor was consistent in its beeping. Dani's left arm was in a cast as well as her left leg.

I could only assume they'd taken a hit to the left side of the car, meaning Pris and Dani's dad had most likely been killed on impact. A shudder rippled through me.

How was it fair?

Me being alive? Living the life that I did? When a pastor and his wife had died. A man of God — someone who dedicated his life to serving a higher purpose—

Where my life had been dedicated to serving me.

I believed in nothing.

I fought for nothing.

It was me and acting.

Two weeks ago I would have left Pris — I would have still thought about her, I would have wanted her, but I would have left her — I would have left her for me.

Now? It felt so wrong to be breathing the same air that had been taken from her parents' lives. To be breathing the same air as her little sister who was fighting for her life.

Pris turned to me, her eyes blurry. “Thank you, Jaymeson. Thank you so much, I'm—” She burst into tears.

With a sob she threw herself at me and I took her, I took all of her. It shouldn't be her little sister in that hospital bed. A seventeen-year-old girl?

I would take it away if I could.

I would make it better, but I didn't know how.

So I held her and let her cry. With each sob, I released another part of my old self. With each tear that Pris left on my shoulder, I washed away my past.

She was it.

My present.

My future.

“Let's go,” I whispered. “Let the nurses and doctors do their jobs, okay?”

Pris nodded. “I love you, Dani.”

We walked out arm in arm. I nodded at the nurse once we were free of the room, and led Pris to a chair, leaving her there while I approached the nurses' station.

I cleared my throat. “Hi.”

The nurse's eyes narrowed and then her mouth dropped open.

“My, um…” I had to keep lying, otherwise they wouldn't give me the time of day, no matter who I was. “My wife's sister was hurt in an accident, Dani Garcia?

“Would it be possible to move her into a better room? I guess what I'm asking is, is she stable enough to be moved into a suite, so Pris — my wife and I — can stay with her?”

The nurse pressed her lips into a firm line. “I'll tell you what.” She leaned forward. “If she makes it through the night, we'll move her.

I nodded. “Thank you. Are you the nurse in charge?”

“Yes.”

“Her injuries — what are they?”

“Brother-in-law you say?”

“Yes.”

I could tell she wanted to challenge me; I hid my left hand, and leveled her with the same cold stare I'd given the nurse downstairs.

“Three broken ribs, bruising to the liver, brain hemorrhaging, broken arm, and broken femur.”

I chewed my lower lip. “I imagine the hemorrhaging is—”

“It's what worries us,” the nurse interrupted. “The swelling is a lot for her brain to handle. We've done all we can do.

“Thank you.” I held out my hand.

She took it and looked back down at her papers as if it was just another day in the office, which to her it was, but to me?

It was like I was dying, because Pris was hurting and there was nothing I could do to make it better. Except be present, available, be the hero I always swore I'd never be.

I was the bad guy.

I was the distraction. The devil you slept with at night and left in the morning.

I'd never wanted to be more. To want more meant you would be let down, wanting a relationship meant eventually you'd end up heartbroken — destroyed.

With a heavy sigh I watched Pris as she leaned her elbows against her knees, tears dripping off her face.

I would catch every last tear.

I would let her break me over and over again.

If only it would take away the pain.

Rip me to shreds, stomp on my heart until I feel no pain, reject me over and over again.

My answer, my vow would still be the same.

She was my everything. And in that moment, I finally understood what had made Alec and Demetri lose their minds.

Love.

She was mine.

And I'd take her — if she'd have me.