Missing Wings (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 21 - Screamy, Shaky, Sad Goodbyes

Jaxon's POV

I'm still very pissed when I storm into my room and slam my door. I flinch and remind myself to apologize to M.J. later for slamming the door. I strip out of the sweats and search through the bags Damian brought. I still can't believe how idiotic I am for trusting that he wouldn't go there. I pull out a pair of pants and pull them on. I slip my boots on from the first day here and I leave the room again, hoping my face doesn't draw too much attention from people.

I walk into the kitchen and see Damian and MJ sitting across from each other at the table, having a heated conversation, both completely oblivious to my presence. Which I am grateful for. The twins are on the couch watching cartoons. I kiss both of their foreheads and walk out the front door as quietly as I can.

I walk down the street, unable to tell where I am going but I continue walking anyway.

I feel like I'm walking for hours when I come up to a park with some swing sets. I sit on one and lightly push my feet on the ground, making me swing slightly back and forth. I push my earbuds into my ears and hit shuffle on my phone.

About four songs in, my phone rings. Damian's name flashes on the screen and I hit decline. This happens three times before I pick up.

"What?" I bark into the receiver.

"You left." His voice sounds in a whisper.

"I did."

"Where are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Jaxon."

"Damian."

He sighs and I imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose like he does when he's frustrated. "Let me come to you, baby."

"Just let me be, Damian."

"Jaxon, look, I'm really sorry about what I said. I was wrong to say that," he says. I believe him.

"I'm sure you are, but I can't do this anymore. I can't keep fighting with you. It's not good for either of us. I don't want you to end up as collateral damage, in the end." I look at my lap and will the tears to stay away.

"Baby, we can do it. Please just come home." He begs.

I open my mouth to answer him, but a hand comes down over my mouth and nose. Cold, hard metal is pressed against my temple. "If you say anything, I'll kill you right here, bitch." A voice so sinister whispers in my ear.

My heart jumps to my throat. "Hang up the phone, bitch," Phillip commands.

"I have to go." I don't say Damian's name.

"Jaxon? What happened? Who's there?"

I tap the red button that ends the call. Phillip snatches my phone and shoves it in his coat pocket. "Get up." He demands. I oblige. He forcefully grabs my upper arm. "Get in the backseat of the car.  Make a move to get away and I'll shoot you before you even take half a step in the other direction. I rather not get your filthy blood all over the place. So behave, will you?"

He shoves me into the car. I hit my head hard on the opposite window. He gets in the front seat and drives off.

"Bet you're wondering how I found you. Thought you were so clever, huh?" he looks at me through the rear view mirror. "Well, you remember my old friend, John, right? The cop? Yeah, you remember." He chuckles. "Well, he's one of the guys that helps track people, and when you didn't come home from school I decided to tell him and he went to the school and got the video footage of you leaving on the back of that boy from the other night's bike."

I look at his eyes through the mirror. My horror bitten face contradicting with his amused, sinister one.

"Well, we blew up the image and I got a glimpse of the plate on the bike, John, pulled a few strings and was able to get his address. I was on my way there when – just my luck – I saw you sittin' there on that swing."

I have come to the conclusion that my stepdad was officially asylum crazy.

"Don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen to your pretty, little boyfriend, yet. Not unless you do something stupid." He says. "But you on the other hand... Well, you've just gotten too much to handle. So I'm just gonna have to dispose of you myself."

It doesn't take long for me to realize what he is talking about. "Y-you're going to kill me."

He knows it wasn't a question but he answers anyway. "Precisely. You've just become too much to handle."

Suddenly, I'm unable to breathe and the car doors seem to be coming closer and closer together. I look out the window and try to focus on my breathing so I can think of a way to get out of here. I take notice to the scenery and I think about how sick Phillip is.

"You're taking me to the cemetery?"

"Well, I decided to be generous and reunite you with your parents."

"Aren't you just the sweetest?" I sarcastically remark.

"Watch your tongue, whore."

A few minutes later we pull up to the cemetery and Phillip drags me out of the car and into the graveyard. My brain finally catches up with my body, hot tears fall down my cheeks.

"You should be thanking me for giving you such a considerate place to die, Jaxon." He says and throws me onto the ground in front of the headstones of my parents. I stare at the polished stone and think about the last memory I had of us together.

I'm sitting in the hospital waiting room waiting for the doctor to give my mom and I the okay to go back to see my dad. He's in surgery. I want to hope he is going to be okay, but I know I'm just kidding myself.

"Mrs. Forrest?" a nurse in mint green scrubs and a hospice mask resting on her chin calls. My mom and I both stand.

"Yes?" my mom says with worry.

"We've done all we can. He's stabilized for now, but I fear he isn't going to hold on much longer. He's asking for you and your daughter, now, though. You can go see him." She informs. My mom grabs my hand as we walk down to his room.

We walk into the room and the first thing I see is all the machines hooked up to my father. The steady beeping comes from the heart monitor. A drip puts IV fluid into my dad. He looks so pale and fragile. It is the first time I prayed to God.

My mom sits in the chair on the right side of the bed. I stand on the other and grab his hand. It's cold. His skin feels like paper and it almost looks transparent.

"Daddy?" he doesn't answer.

"Keep talking, sweetie." My mom says, "He can't talk but he can still hear you."

I nod. "Daddy, I don't know if you're in pain. But, I want you to know that, if you are, you can let go. Mommy and I will be okay... eventually. I'll get to see you again, right? At least that's what an old lady in the waiting room says." I lightly chuckle to keep the tears away. "Don't worry, Daddy, I'll take care of Momma now. I love you so much." I kiss his hand.

When I pull my lips away, the heart monitor sounds one long beep. I know what this means even before the doctors rush in and before I hear my mom screaming. Only it's not my mom, I realize it's me when a nurse drags me out of the room and injects a needle into my arm.

My vision blurs and it's lights out from there.

I open my eyes and I'm back in the cemetery with Phillip. I'm shaking and I can't breathe and it reminds me of the time in the hospital room when I heard the heart monitor.

"Crying isn't getting you anywhere, bitch," Phillip says and he cocks the gun.