Keep Your Enemies Closer

Part Seven: Hey, chill!

Jade had been dreaming about her past. Memories from her past with Adrian and when she first met Miles were flashing by. And as quickly as they came, those memories left. Her senses slowly came back as she gained consciousness. Jade opened her eyes. She looked around, wondering where she was. Nothing was familiar. Not the smell, not how the room looked, and not the natural sounds like the humming of the air conditioner. Nothing was familiar except Adrian. He was sitting next to Jade, head resting next to her on the couch she was laying on. He was snoozing off, probably waiting for her to wake. She watched him sleep, for once, he looks peaceful. Her mind was blank, she couldn't remember quite anything, and she felt fuzzy. But as Adrian woke up, and this fuzzy feeling wore off, all the memories of the last few days came back. Well, everything she had been conscious of anyway. That meant, in her eyes, Adrian had still been the guy who kidnapped and hurt both her and Miles. As well as Brooke of course. The realization snapped her brain into focus.

Jade's eyes widened in horror... They must have done something with her after she wrecked their car and 'escaped' even though Brooke had let her be. Adrian was quick to raise his hands up in surrender as he stood up slowly. A: "Hey. Don't freak out. It's okay. I-I'm not gonna hurt you." Jade struggled as she tried to get off the couch. But as she tried to move one bit, her whole body ached in pain. She was terrified. She did not know what had happened while she'd been dreaming, or how long she had been dreaming for. J: "Lies! What did you do with Miles?! Where am I, huh?"

A: "Hey, chill! You don't have to worry, for fuck's sake! I got you from the ditch and took you here. Miles is safe. He actually wants me to call you when you wake up, so if you could stay on the couch... Goddammit." Jade rolled her eyes, but she stopped trying to escape. She was still cautious. J: "What did you expect? That I would believe anything you say? How do I know this isn't a trick?" A: "Because, I have proof." Adrian told Jade as he showed her the phone that belonged to her. Jade tried reaching for it, but was unable to move enough. J: "Hey! Give me that, it's mine!" Adrian chuckled as she struggled to reach for it. She gave up and Adrian tapped on Miles' contact to call him.

M: "H-Hello? Adrian? Is she awake yet? Oh, god... Please don't tell me she's-" J: "-Miles?! Miles, are you okay?" A: "I told you, it's not a trick." M: "W-Was that Jade?! She's up already?" A: "I promised you I'd call as soon as she woke up so..." Jade gave Adrian a confused look as he handed her the phone. A: "Here, you can talk to him for a few minutes." M: "Jade? Oh my god, I'm so glad you're awake, and you're okay!" J: "Yeah, I am. Miles, what's going on? Why aren't you with me?" Adrian explained everything and said that Jade would need to explain the blank spots that she knew about later. A: "I didn't know where to bring you since you were so injured. So I brought you here." Jade looked around. She was in a heated garage, and definitely not back at the house. J: "Um, where is here, exactly?" A: "Okay, and you're done."

Adrian hung up the phone before either Miles nor Jade had the chance to say goodbye. J: "Hey! You need to explain what I'm doing here, where I am, and why I'm here with you." Adrian shook his head. A: "Damn, Miles can be real annoying sometimes..." Adrian set the phone on a table and looked at Jade. A: "Don't worry about those things right now. We can deal with them later. You're safe, I promise. How are you feeling? I can bring some medical supplies if you need me to." Jade shook her head. J: "No, we aren't doing anything until you answer my questions. You can't expect me to just go with whatever you have planned without even knowing where I am, or what is going on." Adrian sighed. A: "Fine. But you can't tell anyone, not even Miles. It's for you own safety." J: "Just tell me."

A: "We're at an old, abandoned stash house. Brooke thought he got rid of it a long time ago, but he never cared to check or find out. I've been staying here when I need time to myself." J: "Why am I here? With you." A: "Because you're going to stay here until you get better. I'm here because I found you, can't you be thankful? I saved your life." J: "You haven't saved it, since I'm still extremely injured because of you. Why is Miles not here?" A: "Don't worry, Miles is safe. Right now, I'm just focused on your safety." J: "Fuck my safety! I wanna see Miles. And give me my phone back!" A: "Yeah right, so you can call Miles and tell him where you're at. Then he'll be here too. You know how dangerous that is?" J: "Right... And why can't Miles be here, huh?" Adrian snickered.

A: "What, you think I just don't want him to be here? That I want you here, all for myself? That's bullshit." Jade raised her eyebrows. J: "Is it, though? I mean, isn't that why you kidnapped me in the first place. I'm not dumb." A: "Maybe you're suffering from some kind of head trauma. I don't know how to make this clear... This is for your safety, fuck!" J: "Since when have you cared about my safety? Never. And you know I would never lie, so I know you believe me when I tell you I won't tell him where I am. So let me call Miles, you know, my best friend!" A: "Fine, go ahead. Goddammit!"

Even though Jade had every right to be angry with Adrian, she still felt bad for yelling at him like this. J: "Thank you. I'm sorry for yelling." Adrian turned to face Jade and looked her in the eyes. A: "Don't. Don't try to do that. It won't work on me." Jade looked at him confused. Had he really never been told sorry? J: "I'm not trying to trick you, if that's what you think. I'm genuinely sorry." A: "Right, of course you are. You're a good person. And here I am, so don't fucking apologize to me. I should be apologizing to you."

Jade put the phone down. J: "You know it wouldn't hurt to say sorry too. But hey, I won't yell at you and get angry because you have the freedom of speech like me." Adrian chuckled. A: "I'm not apologizing. But if you really wanna know, I do feel bad for... Well, for everything." J: "Thanks." A: "That wasn't an apology." J: "Right. Definitely not." Jade dialed Miles' number. Adrian rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. A: "That's my cue to leave, that guy really gets on my nerves."

**********

Jade and Miles stayed up pretty late on FaceTime. M: "Hey, it's been nice talking to you, but... Shouldn't you be treating your injuries? I mean, you got flown out of a windshield in a car crash, and then that same car hit you. Now, I'm not quite sure what happened to you after you flew through the windshield, but I know it was something Adrian's brother did for sure." J: "He stomped on my left ankle. It's completely damaged, it's swollen and purple and bones are certainly not in the right places." Miles flinched. M: "Jade... You need to get your injuries taken care of." J: "Oh, they aren't that bad." M: "Yes, yes they are. Please? Can you please do it? For me?" Jade sighed. J: "Okay, fine. But only because you asked me to. I guess I'll get to it, so goodnight." M: "Goodnight, Jade." They both hung up at the same time. Adrian came in with medical supplies seconds later. A: "God, that was torture listening to that. You two sound like a fucking couple. Gross." Jade chuckled.

J: "Well, I guess it's on you for eavesdropping. And we're not a couple, you know that." Adrian mumbled something that Jade couldn't hear, as he set the basket of medical supplies and first aid kits down. J: "What was that?" A: "Nothing. It's not my secret to share, I guess." J: "Oh yeah, and what secret is that?" A: "Ask Miles, he'll tell you. But there's no way in hell that I'm gonna tell you." Jade was frustrated that Adrian wouldn't share what he had to say. The fact that it was about Miles really made her want to know. But she let it be. If he was right, Miles would tell her. She just had to take care of her injuries first, before calling him again. A: "So, what's wrong with you? What do you need?" Jade felt around her body for her injuries. She didn't flinch once as she felt her broken ribs or poked around at her deformed ankle. Adrian was amazed how her face stayed neutral.

J: "Right. I probably have a few broken ribs... that will fix itself if I rest for a short time. Probably a few days is all that I need. Um, my ankle... That's going to take a while, and after I rest, I will need to somehow fix the bones back to place and start using the muscles so it begins healing. I've gotten some of the glass off when I crawled into the ditch but passed out before I could do more. I'll need tweezers, Hydrogen Peroxide, and a few band aids. I'll probably need a needle and string to stitch the big cuts up. That should take a few hours at most." Adrian opened the first aid kits and set out the supplies she had asked for without question. He was thinking of how crazy this was. She was her own doctor, and the fact that she thinks her ribs will be healed in a few days. It's all crazy. J: "Um, thanks."