Thank you readers for all the reviews! Here is the next and final chapter. Please R&R.
Jerome P.o.v.
My eyelids felt like they a weighed a ton, but I eventually opened my eyes. My vision was blurry as I looked around. I blinked a few times until it cleared. I was… in my room, but how? I remember, I was in the school with Mara, and then Mick came. We fought, and he collapsed, then it went black. So… how did I get here? I heard a small sigh and looked down. Mara was kneeling on the floor with her head rested on my bed near my arm. I wonder how long she has been here. I started to sit up, when I felt a sharp pain pull through my chest and stomach. I glanced down. My shirt was off, and my chest down to just below my stomach was wrapped in bandages. I checked my wrist. The bandages were still there, so I'm guessing they didn't see the cuts. My entire body hurt. I never knew Mick could do so much damage. That bastard. I was taken out of my thoughts by a small moan. I turned to look at her. Her eyes slowly opened. She yawned quietly and stretched.
"Oh, Jerome. You're awake," she said with a smile. "Are you o.k.? Do you feel any pain? Do you want anything," she asked rambling question after question.
"Mara, relax, calm down. I'm fine, really," I said assuring her.
"Good, now you can explain to me why when we bandaged you up we could see your ribs practically protruding through your skin," she said fairly harshly. "Why are you starving yourself? Why? Are you trying to kill yourself? Tell me."
"Fine," I replied. "You want to know, then I'll tell you. I never even tried to starve myself, but after you and Mick started to date food lost its taste, so I never bothered to eat it. And I got so used to not eating I guess I never really wanted to after awhile. I'm sorry." I told her now avoiding her steady gaze.
"Jerome," she said softly. I looked up. Instead of an angry look, her eyes showed kindness and….love. "Come here," she said spreading her arms out. I pulled her onto the bed and into my arms. I hugged her tightly, and ignored the stinging pain in my chest. "Don't do this to yourself any more. Please, for me," she said against my chest.
"Mara, I'll do anything for you. I love you," I said enjoying every minute I could have her close to me.
"I love you, too, Jerome," she replied still pressed against me.
I lay back down, and Mara lay down next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. I buried my face into her hair, and sighed. I could feel her heart beating with my own. I ended up falling asleep with the girl of my dreams snuggled in my grasp.
I woke up with Mara still pressed up against me. The sunlight from the curtains made her literally glow. She is so beautiful. I slipped out of bed leaving her still asleep on the sheets. I stifled a groan as I slowly walked to my dresser. I took out a clean blue t-shirt and slowly put it on. I looked in the mirror and was shocked. I had a large purple bruise forming on my cheek and slight black eye. My skin was so pale I looked like a ghost. I heard a small shuffle from behind me. I saw Mara sit up and look around.
"Jerome, what time is it?" she asked stretching.
"I'm guessing breakfast time by the smell of pancakes," I said smiling.
"Great, I'm starving," she said walking over to me and grabbing my hand.
"Oh, I've been wondering, what happened to Mick," I asked pulling her close.
"I think he is still unconscious. You really did a number on him. He's in his room," she replied with a small smile.
"Good, he deserves it, after how he treated you. Now let's go down to breakfast, and maybe start a food fight," I said with an evil smirk. She gave me a look and I backed off. "Alright, alright. No food fight then. Come on," I grabbed her hand and pulled her down stairs.
Everyone was at the table except for Mick. When they heard us come down they looked up.
"Hey, Jerome. Are you feeling alright?" Nina asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied.
"I can't believe how much damage you did to Mick. Nice job, bro," Alfie said high fiving me.
"Thanks dude."
A little later Nina, Fabian, Patricia, Amber, and Alfie left mumbling something about ankh pieces or something, whatever they are, leaving me and Mara alone. We joined hands under the table and leaned over to each other. I pressed my lips against hers and my tongue brushed against her lips. She opened her mouth and our tongues explored. I placed my arm around her waist and pulled her closer. A loud "ehem" broke us out of our trance. We turned around to see Trudy looking at us with a smile on her face. We blushed slightly.
"I was going to ask if you felt alright, but I take it you are better, so if you are not too busy could you help me with the dishes?" Trudy asked.
"Uh, yeah. Sure," I replied. We got up and followed her into the kitchen.
"I have to go and do some laundry and check up on Mick, so I am going to trust that you two can take care of the dishes am I right?" she asked.
"Yeah, we can handle it," Mara said.
"Good. Oh by the way, I was wondering, how did the fight start?" she asked.
"It's not really that important," I replied looking down. "But, I promise it will never happen again."
"O.k. then I will see you two later," she said as she walked out.
I filled the sink up with water, and then poured in some soap. Mara started to wash the dishes, and when she turned her back towards me I flicked some soap at her. She turned towards me with a smirk and splashed some water at me. Soon we were in an all out water fight. We were laughing and dripping wet when Trudy walked back in. The pile of dirty dishes were still sitting on the counter untouched. She looked at us then the dishes and shook her head.
"You two can go clean up and I will take care of the dishes," she said smiling. I opened my mouth to argue, but she just shook her head. "Go on. Both of you," she said.
On our way up we heard someone following us. We turned to see Mick holding something behind him. He walked closer and closer to us. As he came closer I noticed he had a black eye and a split lip. He also had a bandage wrapped around his head. He pulled the object from behind his back and pointed it at us. He was holding a knife.
"Mick, what are you doing?" I asked backing away slowly.
"I am going to cut out Mara's heart like she cut out mine," he said grinning sadistically.
"Mara go get Trudy, and then stay back, I don't want you to get hurt, o.k.?" I asked her quickly. She nodded her head and I kissed her cheek before she took off to the laundry room.
"Mick you don't want to do this; put the knife down," I said trying to calm him down.
"Yes, I do. And if I can't get to her, I will just kill you then," he said swiping the knife near my face.
I was pressed against the wall before I knew what hit me. He was practically holding me up by my throat. He was teasing me with the knife. The blade slid down the side of my face, and I could feel the small trickle of blood drip down my cheek. I could barely breathe between, Mick trying to choke me and the fear that he could hurt Mara. I couldn't take it. With all my strength I kicked him in the stomach and he let go of me as he fell back. I heard a small groan as he stood up, but none the less he still came at me once more. This time though, I wasn't quick enough. I felt the blade go straight through my shoulder then get harshly pulled out. I gasped. I placed my hand over the open wound and felt the blood leak through my fingers. Mick pointed the now blood covered blade at me. I can't believe I did this but, I kicked the blade from his hand, then pushed him against the wall. I punched him pretty hard and he passed out. I retrieved the knife just as Mara and Trudy walked in. They saw the blood covered knife and their eyes widened.
Mara ran over to me. "Oh my god, you got stabbed! Are you hurt anywhere else," she asked frantically.
"Mara, relax, save for this," I said pointing to the stab wound, "I'm fine."
"Hey, Jerome, what happened with Mick?" Trudy asked shocked by what happened.
"Well he came at us with a knife, and I told Mara to get you. As you can see he got me once, but I ended up knocking him out. Not really much to tell," I said.
"Well we need to get you and Mick to the hospital, so I am going to call an ambulance, considering we can't carry him ourselves," she said walking out of the room.
The ambulance came a few minutes later and Mick was loaded up fairly quick. We ended up riding in the back with him. It only took about ten minutes to reach the hospital. Mick was taken into the ER almost immediately for a brain scan. I on the other hand had to wait a little bit to get my wound stitched up. Let's just say three hours and twenty-three stitches later, we finally were about to find out what was wrong with Mick.
The doctor, what was him name. Oh right, Dr. Maslow explained the situation.
"You see," he started, "he has had some pretty severe head trauma, which would usually cause temporary confusion but I guess in this case insanity. It should clear up in a few days, maybe a week. Make sure he takes his medicine," he said handing Trudy a small bottle," and try not to anger him, it will only make things worse."
We thanked him and left. Unfortunately, we didn't take the car so we had to ride in a taxi. We were lucky he woke up shortly after arriving or we would have had to try to carry him. I shook my head at the thought. When we got in the house we were bombarded with questions. After, an hour we finally finished explaining what had happened. Mara followed me to my room and sat down next to me on the bed. We talked for awhile, telling random stories, laughing constantly, stuff like that. Soon we heard Victor's speech, but she was too tired to move so she stayed in my bed. It's not like Alfie minded she stayed in here, him and Amber are getting pretty cozy. I won't be surprised if she stays in here one night.
Mara pressed herself against me and sighed contently. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. In those fleeting moments of time you know what truly matters.