Chapter 201: Chapter Thirty-Nine

Priscilla

It was real.

My parents were gone.

And my sister might not make it.

So many emotions and thoughts were racing through my head that it started to pound.

We had no grandparents, only cousins. Alyssa's family. But that was it. I had no idea what to do. I wanted Dani to make it. She had to make it because she was all I had.

I had no job. My parents had no money. And I had to take care of my sister without a college education. I had to provide for her — for us.

My heart clenched in my chest.

How could my parents leave me? How could God take them? They were good people, undeserving of the ugly in the world. Guilt slammed me so hard I couldn't breathe.

Jaymeson was immediately by my side, rubbing my back, whispering in my ear. My breath kept catching in my throat. Eventually, I calmed down enough to speak.

“I slept through his calls,” I whispered. “If I would have answered my dad's calls…”

“No.” Jaymeson gripped my chin between his fingers. “Listen, Pris, I'm not going to let you go down that road. The one where you blame yourself for an accident. It was an accident.

“You can't live your life that way. I know you think that if you can just explain how or why that you'll feel better. But if you go down that road, you'll have more questions than answers.

“Acceptance, it's the only way. Believe me, I know.”

“How!” I snapped. “How would you know?”

“I do.” His face contorted in pain. “Because for fifteen years I blamed myself for my Nanna's death. Granted, my mom fed that line to me whenever she was drunk.

“I knew she was hurting — I see that now. But then? I told myself if I would have been a better boy, if I would have gone to bed that night on time, rather than asked her to read me more books.”

“You were a child.” My lips trembled.

“In a way—” He smiled sadly. ”—we all are, especially when tragedy strikes.

We revert back to total lack of faith in the world around us, we stop trusting, relying on those around us to be our pillars of strength. Pris, it wasn't your fault. It was an accident.”

I sniffled and looked down at the phone clenched in my hand. “Will you listen to the messages with me?”

He nodded.

“My dad.” I wiped my eyes. “He left me two messages.”

Grabbing his hand, we walked silently to an empty waiting room and sat down. He pulled me onto his lap and waited as I put the phone on speakerphone and pressed the first message.

“Hey, sweetie!” My face fell, as fresh tears streamed down my cheeks. My throat ached. “We're going to be coming home tomorrow and I just wanted to tell you!

“We got our miracle!” I could hear Mom cheering in the background. “That young man, Jaymeson, I think. I don't know how he did it, but he did!

“He got the community together and the house is being fixed! Isn't that great?

“I couldn't grab his number, but Stella said he'd been with you helping at the church and I just, I wanted to say I'm thankful, so thankful to him.

“You know I don't watch movies much, but Stella seems to be quite taken. I imagine you must be as well.

“I only met the young man briefly during the wedding, but for him to do something for people he doesn't even know? Well, to me, that's character. That's purity of heart.

“That's someone I want my daughter around.” He laughed. “Anyway, I'll give you a call later when we get on the road.

“We decided to drive at night since there's less traffic, that way your mom can sleep! See you soon!”

My hand hovered over the message as I silently cried. Jaymeson held me so tight I almost couldn't breathe, but I needed him, needed his warmth, needed to know he was there for me.

With a sniff I pressed the next message. It had been left really early in the morning.

“Hey, sweetie,” Dad's voice sounded exhausted. “I'm still driving. We're a few miles outside of Seattle, so we only have about four hours until we see your smiling face.

“I don't really know why I'm calling. I tried calling earlier then forgot to leave a message.

“I just… you know how you have a bad feeling? Or just a feeling that you need to talk to someone? Well, it's possible your old man's losing it because I can't get you out of my head, little girl.

“You know I love you. I love you with my entire heart.

“I keep replaying my last message, I was so distracted by the house and calling it a miracle that I forgot to tell you — you, little girl, you and your sister were my miracle. You are my miracle.

“Seeing your smiling face every day. I can't imagine life gets any better than that. I know you're growing up into a young woman. You'll be going to college soon, and dating more.

“I guess I just want you to know how proud I am of you. You're a special girl, Priscilla.” He chuckled. “Alright, I'll stop boring you. See you soon!”

The message ended.

I stared at the phone in my hand.

“Jaymeson—” My voice caught. “It was you? You're the one fixing the house?”

His body tensed around mine. “You hate charity,” he whispered. “So I thought I'd do it without you knowing.”

“But…” I turned to face him, still sitting on his lap. “Why? Why would you do that for me?”

“Because…” His voice caught. “I love you.”

I sucked in a breath, my lungs suddenly burning with too much oxygen. He wasn't smiling. He was serious.

“Are you sure?” I whispered.

His entire face broke out into a goofy grin. “Oh, I'm sure, love. I'm sure.”

“But I'm—”

“Mine,” he said simply. “Oh, and I know there's no good time to say this, but we're kind of married.”

“You're trying to distract me, right? That's it. By playing a joke on me?” My voice was high-pitched, confused.

“No.” He winced. “Afraid not. They wouldn't give me any information as your boyfriend.”

My stomach fluttered.

“And a fiancé wouldn't get any information either because technically Dani isn't family. So, I improvised.”

“But—”

“Love…” He pressed his fingers to my lips. “You're exhausted, you need a warm meal, and by the looks of it, we're going to stay up all night. Let's check into a hotel.”

I nodded, getting off of his lap, and then wanted to cry, “Jaymeson, I can't.” I felt like crumpling into a heap and rocking back and forth.

I was still talking as he picked me up into his arms and carried me out of the waiting room and onto the elevator.

People walked in, lifting eyebrows in surprise, but said nothing. Jaymeson held me like I was a small child. His arms weren't even shaking.

The elevator doors opened.

Jaymeson set me gently on my feet.

I didn't expect people — nurses especially — to talk. But they had. Camera crews were waiting outside the hospital, all their eyes trained on the doors, waiting.

“We don't have to do this now,” Jaymeson said in a low voice. “We can go out back. I'll have the limo meet us there.”

“They're at every exit,” one of the security guards by the doors answered. “I'm sorry, sir. The best we could do was keep them outside.”

I put my hand in his and lifted my chin. “I can do this.”

“Her parents just died!” Jaymeson yelled at the security officer.

He lifted his hands in the air. “I've done the best I can.”

“Jaymeson,” I whispered, clenching his hand. “I'm strong. My dad said so.” My throat caught. “I can do this.”

His eyes bore into mine. “Yes. Yes, you can, love.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and led me out into the waiting crowd.

People shouted. Jaymeson nodded politely — but didn't smile. I imagined the media was seeing an entirely different side of him.

He usually craved the camera. He was a regular on ET every week.

But now? Now his mood was dark — sad.

Tenderly, he lifted me into his arms and elbowed his way through the crowd. I clung to his neck for dear life.

And then a man that looked a heck of a lot like a giant pushed his way toward us, followed by a guy who looked like he should be guarding prisoners on death row.

They pushed the media back as well as the crowds. A limo was waiting. Alec, Demetri, Alyssa, and Nat spilled out of it to surround us with their bodies as we made our way into the waiting car.

They piled in after us.

“I forgot how much I liked Bob,” Jaymeson muttered once he set me down onto the seat and everyone else was safely inside.

“He may look scary as hell, but he loves the attention,” Demetri said, his smile not reaching his eyes.

“So?” Alyssa grabbed my hand. “How is she?”

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked weakly. “You only have a short time off, you should be—”

“We're exactly where we need to be,” Alec answered in a commanding voice. “We already booked out the Waldorf Astoria.

“Thanks.” Jaymeson exhaled in relief. “Thanks, man. I hadn't thought that part through yet.”

“Well…” Demetri popped open a bottle of water. “It doesn't help that Erickson just announced hours ago that after seeing your audition he wants you playing the lead in that new movie series.”

“What?” Jaymeson shook his head.

“It's everywhere.”

I shuddered. That meant only one thing. Jaymeson was leaving me. He had a life to return to.

While I had my sister.

If she made it through the night.

And if she didn't?

I had no one.