Page 126 of Finding Fate

29

Breaking

Jet leaned against the wide, faux wood print door, slipped inside, and gave it a gentle push to close. The room was dim. A small lamp beside the bed was the only illumination other than the red and green lights coming from the machines hooked up to Izzy. He let his eyes adjust to the semi-darkness for a second and looked over at his girlfriend, who was sitting beside her sister’s bed. She turned her head when she heard the faint thud of the shutting door.

“Hey, babe,” Annie whispered.

“Hey,” he whispered back and went to stand behind her. “No change?”

“No, but the doctors lessoned her drugs earlier. She should wake up this evening.”

“Really? Where’s your mom? Doesn’t she want to be here?”

“Yeah, but she’s taking Tyler over to your house for the night. We didn’t think he should be here for when…you know. They just left a few minutes ago.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t run into them. She should have called me. I would have come to pick him up so she could have stayed.”

Annie smiled up at him. “That’s sweet, babe, but she’s coming back. Besides, Tyler needed some mom time. He’s worried.”

“I don’t blame him. It must be scary for him to see one of his sisters like this,” he replied, beginning to knead at his girlfriend’s shoulders. She dropped her head, groaning in appreciation as Jet looked down at his bandaged friend.

She looked the same as she had for the past several days since the accident. Tubes across her face and hand, her left leg and right arm in casts, her head wrapped heavily in gauze, and bruises splotched across her body. Her color was sallow, still too pale, even for Izzy.

“Thanks,” Annie sighed, rolling her shoulders as Jet moved his ministrations to her neck. “But Tyler’s reaction isn’t what worries me the most.”

He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze in comfort, his fingers still working at the muscles in her neck. He knew what she was talking about. Izzy looked like she was sleeping, but her expression wasn’t peaceful. It was almost like her unconscious self already knew to expect the worst.

“I don’t know if she can handle it, Jet,” Annie whispered sadly. “You saw how Tucker took it. Izzy will be worse.”

Jet grimaced at the memory of his friend collapsing to his hands and knees at his feet, tears flowing violently, his pained gasps for air spread too far out for anyone’s comfort. It had taken a long time for Tucker to reach a state of control, something Jet expected he was still only barely holding onto.

He glanced at the other side of the bed where Tucker sat holding Izzy’s limp, white hand. His head lay on the bed by her side. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and steady.

“How long has he been asleep?”

“A couple of hours now. He should wake up soon. He never makes it past three at a time.”

“Has he left this room at all?”

There wasn’t a single time Jet had been in this room that Tucker hadn’t been by Izzy’s side. He wondered when the last time his friend had gone home for some real rest was, or when he last ate for that matter.

“No,” Annie replied, looking over at their friend. “Chuck and Jenna have both tried to get him to come home, but he won’t leave. He pulls out the eighteen card every time one of them tries to put their foot down, and he knows my mom has pull here. He’s driving her crazy.”

“Sounds like Tucker,” Jet couldn’t help but grin.

Tucker stirred a little in his chair, moving his head to rest on one of his hands. They stopped talking to watch if he was waking up, but he didn’t move again.

Annie lowered her voice, not wanting to wake him. “Unfortunately. I mean, I’m glad he’s here for Izzy, but I wish he’d take care of himself. You know he’s miserable, in more ways than one, and he’s not going to get any better if he doesn’t get some proper food and sleep.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s not hurt that bad.”

“Jet,” she said in aggravation, “he has hairline fractures in two of his ribs and a bruised spine. Not to mention the giant purple bruise that goes across his entire back. I’d say he’s hurt pretty badly. He should be resting in an actual bed, not slumped over my sister’s.”

Jet shook his head. He understood where Tucker was coming from. “He’ll take care of himself later, sweetheart. Right now, Izzy comes first. I’d be doing the same thing if it were you in that bed, and I was hurt.”

Annie rolled her eyes, not because she didn’t believe him, but because she found it irritating when Jet made things that annoyed her make sense.

“You don’t believe me?”

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