Page 19 of Free-Falling
Chapter 7
Jagger
Ainslee and I can’t seem to stop fucking. One full fucking week hiding from the world and just straight up sexing will do that to you. Once I stop touching her to give her a break, my hands touch her again. I think I’m a fucking maniac now because here I am, staring at Ainslee as she sleeps. That’s not what I do. That’s not me. I didn’t even stare at Layla when she slept, and I loved her. I sigh, hating the fact that she wouldn’t come to bed with me unless I gave her my shirt to cover her back. I don’t care if I see her back, none of that shit matters to me but to her, it’s a huge deal. I brush her hair away from her face and I shake my head at how pissed she’ll be because she didn’t “wrap” her hair or whatever the fuck that means.
Ainslee groans as she turns away from me. Maybe she doesn’t like that I’m touching her so I don’t do it but I pull her back to me cuddling her. As I shut my eyes, sleep doesn’t come as quick, it never does but just as I’m about to fall into the abyss of sleep, Ainslee groans again, this time in more pain. I open my eyes, turning her to face me. Is she having a nightmare? She’s clutching my dress shirt, the spot right over her heart. Then it’s like time takes its own course as Ainslee opens her eyes wide.
“I, I… ” She shuts her eyes again, this time groaning loudly. “It hurts, Jag. Help me.” She strains.
“Ains… Ains! What’s wrong?” I check her over but she isn’t in any kind of physical pain that I can see.
“My heart, Jag. It hur—, call, ambulance.” She says.
I scramble out of the bed naked as the day I was born and run towards where I last threw my phone. I find it and clutch it in my hold. The anxiety is back on full-blown before I can even control my actions. I’m trembling as I struggle to see through my blurry vision. My mind goes places it doesn’t need to go right now. “Focus, Jagger!” I yell at myself. I force myself to dial 9-1-4 the Island’s emergency number.
“9-1-4, what’s your emergency?” The operator answers.
This puts me in panic mode. I reach out putting my dress pants while I answer. “My wife, she’s,” I turn, running back to where Ainslee is in a fetal position crying. “Her heart. Something is wrong with her fucking heart!”
“Okay, sir, is she able to speak? Can you watch over her while we get an ambulance to where you are?”
“No, she can’t fucking speak. She’s crying. She’s in pain.” I look down at Ainslee, dropping my phone in my pocket and I scoop her up off the bed. “Fuck this, I’m taking her to the nearest hospital myself.”
I walk out, grabbing my keys but nothing else. Forget my shirt, my shoes and anything else. I’m fucking scared, but I can’t think about that right now.
* * *
I couldn’t think until we got to the hospital, and they intervened. Now, I’m sitting here while the doctor is checking her out. I run my fingers through my hair, it probably looks crazy right now but I don’t care. I sigh, rubbing my eyes hard, pressing my palms to stop the scene of Ainslee crying in pain with Jamie’s bloody scene.
We were outside playing basketball when he ran out to the street to grab the ball and a car was coming at full speed. That car knocked Jamie into the air and it didn’t even stop speeding to see what I saw. Jamie’s body hit the ground in such a disgusting way, I heard everything; The way his bones cracked, the groans coming from his mouth and the seven-year-old me ran towards him without thinking. I remember screaming out for my parents, forgetting that they weren’t home, and I screamed until someone came out. Our gardener, Patrick, came out and called for an ambulance. I don’t know what I felt then, I just knew that I watched as the mirror image of myself was broken yet still awake. Jamie held my hand through the whole ambulance ride, not once letting my hand go. His entire body was full of blood, there wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t dirtied by the blood. I sniffled trying not to cry. He can make it. Jamie, my little brother, was tough as hell. I just knew he would make it.Everything else was a blur. All I remember is my parents coming in, looking at me with horror in their eyes and telling me that Jamie was in a coma. He was in a coma for ten days until my parents pulled the plug on him. They didn’t realize I was in the room when they talked about giving Jamie’s heart to a baby with a heart defect and that baby is Ainslee. I’ve never told her or my parents I know. It was hard for me to see her but, because she has my brother’s heart, I wanted to protect her until she started fighting me.
“Jag?” I hear Oran’s voice. He clears the blurry mood that I’m in.
I look up at him, “what are you doing here?”
“You called me.” He lifts a bag. “I brought clothes. You want to go get changed?” He asks. He knows about Jamie and the heart transplant. He’s the only one I’ve ever told.
“I’ll wait.” I say.
“Jag. Come on man, just change. How long until we can see her?” Oran asks. His voice is gentle I know why he doesn’t want to be here. His mom.
I shrug. “The doctor said a fucking hour or two, I don’t know. It’s all a blur. I walked away before I punched him in the dick. Fuck!”
I feel as Oran pulls me up off the chair and I notice that Karessa isn’t with him. I want to ask, but maybe later. As we walk off, I spot someone from the corner of my eye. It’s Eli. He walks up to me with conviction. “What did you do to her?” He yells at me.
I glare at him and without thinking; I get out of Oran’s hold and I swing. Oran pulls me back away from Eli. “Hey! Hey! This isn’t the time or place, jack-ass!”
“Let me go.” I say.
“I’ll let you go if you don’t swing.” Oran says.
I stare at my best friend in the eye. “Get him the fuck out of here or else I’m going to fucking kill this dude.”
“Done.” He shoves the bag of clothes at me. “Go fucking change, Jagger.”
I throw a death glare at Eli and notice that Lina is with him. Why the fuck are they together? You know what, fuck it, I don’t care. “I told you that if I ever saw you again, I’d fuck you up. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Jag!” Oran gets in my line of sight until I’m able to concentrate. “Ainslee is all we’re worried about, okay? Go change.” He whispers.
