Carefree || JJ Maybank

Chapter One Hundred Thirteen

Everleigh saw John B run over, but she couldn't bare to leave Sarah standing alone like she did the day Ward blew up his ship while they stood from afar and watched. Everleigh wrapped her arms around Sarah and let her bury her head into her neck, the sobs being muffled.

"I've got you." Everleigh promised as she held the back of Sarah's head. She hugged Sarah back tightly as Pope and John B helped Big John to his feet. "We've gotta go, Sarah."

"Okay, Dad, we gotta get you out of here." John B says as they pass by Everleigh and Sarah.

JJ looks at Everleigh, but she just nods to him, telling him that she'd catch up. As much as he hated it, he knew that Everleigh wasn't going to leave Sarah's side until she knew it was really okay. Her and Sarah walked the whole way back with their arms linked, not saying much to one another except for a few thank you's.

Pope, JJ, and John B took turns carrying Big John back down to their boat, the trip back being much longer than they wanted it to be. But, eventually Pope's lack of athleticism caught up to him, making him unable to help carry Big John. So instead, he led the way carrying JJ and John B's bags.

"We just gotta get him downriver. You're gonna be okay." John B reassures him and Everleigh's father.

Everleigh turned around to look at her father for the first time since they left the site of Ward's death. What she didn't expect was for the visual she saw to be so hard on her heart. It looked like a crime scene from a cop show. Her brother and her boyfriend carrying her father who was fighting for his life.

The father that she only saved for John B.

Everleigh realized it wasn't true. She didn't just save her father for John B, that's just what she was telling herself. She saved her dad because deep down inside, even after he'd left them to go on a stupid treasure hunt, she did love him.

But seeing him like this, she knew what John B was going to deny. The things she worried about most when she thought he was dead in the first place were still going to happen.

Her father wasn't going to be there to walk Everleigh down the aisle at her wedding. He wasn't going to be there for the birth of her first baby or to watch his own grandkid grow up. And while he was still alive, she knew they wouldn't make it back to safety in time for him to be saved. It made her cry.

She was crying over the man she swore she never would. Sarah immediately stepped up and held Everleigh as JJ just stood and watched his girlfriend cry helplessly.

They rushed down to the boat and laid Big John down. He was falling in and out of consciousness as John B held his head on his legs. Everleigh sat next to John B with her legs bouncing uncontrollably.

Big John groans, making John B and Everleigh look down at him. He was laughing, as if he knew just as well as Everleigh that things weren't looking too positive for him. "Well we did it together, my boy."
Everleigh chewed at the inside of her cheek. Even when her father was dying, she thought he wasn't going to recognize her just as he did her whole life. "Ev, too. Where's my girl?"

Everleigh fought back tears. It didn't work well, so she put her hand on his chest to let him know that she was listening.

"Just like we drew it up." Big John continues, making John B cry as well. "Bird, Bird, Bird." Big John tries to comfort John B, not wanting his final moments to be sad. "Sarah."

"I'm here, Big John." Sarah responds, holding is hand.

"Bird, you gotta hang on to this one." Big John tells John B, making John B and Sarah smile at one another. "JJ." He whispers, making JJ's head shoot up from out of his hands. "She's all yours now, keep her safe." Big John says, referring to Everleigh who was now a mess and had tears running down her cheeks. It made JJ more upset than he already was. Big John was his second father, always took him in when he needed it. Everleigh looked over to her boyfriend and lost it again, trying not to sob too loudly. But Big John spoke again. "I know... that I wasn't any great shakes, as a father."