I called the hospital every day to see how Jenna was, but she never accepted my calls. After spending a week under observation, I learned she was released. My emotions were still raw from the funeral, so I should have stopped to collect myself before going over to her condo and pounding on the door. But that would require rational thought; something I didn’t have, something I hadn’t had since Jenna collapsed into my arms, dying.
When she didn’t answer, I kept on knocking. “Come on, Jenna. I know you’re in there.”
“Actually, she’s not,” Trista said as she approached from the stairs. “It seems some nutcase busted down her door.”
I turned to face her. “You and I both know why I did that.”
“Yeah. We both know you were just doing your job. The whole time. Why don’t you go back to your life and leave Jenna to pick up the pieces of hers?”
I sighed. “I need to talk to her before I can go. When will she be back?”
She regarded me with ice in her turquoise eyes. “She has no intention of coming back until I’ve confirmed you’ve moved out.”
“Fine. I’ll go and bang on her sister’s door until she comes out.”
Trista shook her head. “She’s not there either. We knew you would think of that, what with all of your FBI training.”
“Trista,” I pleaded, “I have to talk to her before I go. Just tell me where she is. Hell, come with me and supervise if that’s what it will take for you to tell me.”
“I think you’ve hurt her enough for one lifetime, don’t you, Jackson? Wait. Is that even your real name?”
“It’s my name. You have to believe I never meant to hurt her. I swear to you, Trista. I tried not to get involved with her, but how could I not fall in love with her? She’s everything to me. I can’t control what she feels, or if she hates me, but I can let her know it was real – all of it. I have to let her know how much I love her before I can walk away and pretend she didn’t change my whole world.”
Trista’s expression softened. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes.”
“Every word of it?”
“Yes. Please help me, Trista,” I begged.
She bit her lip to buy time. “She’s at her sister’s house.”
“I thought you said she wasn’t there?”
“I lied. We thought hiding her in plain sight while Blaine used her credit cards on the other side of the metroplex would be the easiest thing to do.”
I hugged her. “Thank you. Thank you, Trista.”
I took off down the stairs.
“I can’t guarantee she’ll see you,” she called after me.
I knew that, but I had to try.
© 2010, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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Well, Blaine wasn’t actually there…I’ll never tell what Blaine’s said to anyone though…
You know, telling this story from Jackson’s point of view, I think it’s easy to lose sight of how insane he must look at this point. He hasn’t slept much since he first started investigating Jenna, probably not at all since she almost died, he just got back from a funeral, is wearing his emotions on his sleeve and is practically beating down Jenna’s door while screaming that he knows she’s in there. To Jackson, he thinks he’s very normal and maybe slightly emotional.
But how must this look from Trista’s point of view? (Sadly, I can only imagine because when I write scenes from inside his head, I ONLY see them the way he would. Sorta wish I’d written it from her perspective…I’ve gotten to write scenes from other perspectives when he’s being a total lunatic and those are really fun.)
J. Nicole Whitten´s last blog ..Valentine’s Day for Empaths
Go Jackson!!! Thank God Trista finally let Jackson make her aware of his feelings for Jenna.
I was kinda expecting Trista to keep cutting him off trying to explain, and Blain would have to step in, but now I’m wondering if Blain had already had a word in Trista’s ear……..
See ya tomorrow hun…….Can’t wait!!! xxxx