Page 49 of Bully's Second Chance
“Mr. Jackson!” Adelaide called out.
I looked up into his face and watched it fall. “What is it?”
And when Adelaide didn’t yell back at us, we scrambled out of the hot tub.
We dropped our glasses onto the concrete, shattering them as we rushed for our clothes. We hopped across the backyard, trying to get into our pants and shirts before we rushed our way through the mansion. We raced up the steps while the sounds of his machines beeped faster and faster. Tones I’d never heard started popping up, signaling everything from low oxygen intake to a raging fever he spiked out of nowhere, and because of his DNR, there was nothing any of us could do.
“Dad,” Jax said breathlessly as he took his father’s hand, “it’s okay to let go. You won’t fail me, and you sure as hell won’t fail Adelaide.”
She whimpered at my side, and I took her into my arms, trying to comfort her the best that I could.
“I promise, Dad,” Jax said as he sat on his father’s bedside, “I’ll take good care of Lily and Adelaide after you’re gone. You have my word.”
I sniffled. “I’m right here, Mr. Levy. I’m not going anywhere.”
Adelaide swallowed down her tears. “I love you, Mr. Levy, and I’m so proud of how hard you fought for all of us these past few years.”
The nurses clasped their hands behind their backs and bowed their heads. Adelaide sobbed against my shoulder while Jax kissed his father’s forehead and kept chanting how much he loved him. How it was okay if he was ready to cross over to the other side. He kept reiterating that Adelaide and I would be taken care of, and I wondered if he meant that.
I saw a stark change in Jax while he reconciled his father’s death in his mind.
And as the machines started droning with their monotone sound, Adelaide collapsed to the floor. “No! Please!” she wailed.
The nurses came to scoop her up as I dashed to Jax’s side. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close while his tears dripped onto my exposed forearms.
“Just find peace, Dad. Promise me,” he whispered.
I kissed the back of his head. “He will. I promise you, he will.”
As Adelaide’s sobs filled the room, I looked over at one of the nurses. We locked eyes before he nodded, and I nodded back to give him the a-okay to do his job. He started unhooking Mr. Levy from the machines so they’d stop making so much noise. He removed the oxygen mask from his face as his chest stopped rising and falling. And as he removed the IVs from Mr. Levy’s hands, a couple of the nurses walked Adelaide out of the room so Jax could have a few moments with his father.
But, when I went to leave him be, he gripped my hand quickly. “Please, don’t go,” he said, his voice raspy with emotion.
I took his hand and squeezed before I stood behind him, trying my best to comfort him during his time of grief.
Then, the nurse called it. “Time of death, 9:34 pm.”
And when Jax drew in a deep breath, he let out the biggest, most-bombastic, blood-curdling scream I’d ever heard in my life. It rattled the windows and caused tears to rush to my eyes as I jumped back from the fear of the ferocity of it all. He kept screaming at the top of his lungs as if years of hurt and pain and anger were finally allowed to pour forth.
Then, he bent forward and placed his head on his father’s shoulder as he wept.
Tears dripped silently down my face as I listened to the meanest, strongest man I’d ever known break down like a toddler who had just skinned his knee in the middle of the road. I watched as his body trembled with the sobs that fell from his lips, and I felt guilty that I didn’t know how to help him. All I knew to do was rush up to him, wrap my arms around him, and cling tightly until he told me to let go.
So, that’s exactly what I did.
And as I sat there, holding a crumbling Jax in my arms, I knew I couldn’t leave him. Even though I had occupied one of his guest rooms for damn near six weeks, there was no way in hell I was leaving anytime soon. There was too much that he’d need in the coming days to cope with what had just happened. He’d need support, someone to help out with things, and possibly even someone to take over work completely depending on how long he wanted to spend in bed every morning.
“I’m not leaving,” I whispered against the nape of his neck.
And I could’ve sworn that made him cry harder as he pressed against me, seeking out my warmth as I snaked my hands around his waist and clung to him while praying that I could take this pain away from his heart and shoulder it myself.
19
Jackson
“Today, we are gathered to celebrate the beautiful life of Mr. Michael Johnson Levy…”
Everything felt like a blur. As if the world were moving past me at a thousand miles a second while I stood still, wallowing in my grief. I didn’t expect to feel this way, especially after watching my father suffer for so long.
