Chapter 7

Killing Me Softly

Jade stood in the hallway, looking into the room where Tori lay, surrounded by her parents and sister. Vega girl #3 status or not, she was not family, and this was a personal time. Tori's doctor, recognizing her in the hall, stopped to pat her arm and squeeze a little as he brushed past her into the room to talk with the family. Jade strained her ears, but heard just the voice tones, not the words.

Tori's mom sounded shaky and about to crack under her grief. Tori's dad was a mix of bewildered and furious. Trina was shrill with worry. The doctor was…Jade screwed her eyes shut, listening to the droning rise and fall of the doctor's voice. She finally decided that he seemed resigned to give neutral news, tinged with bad.

Feeling drained, she shuffled over to the waiting room, and got a Wahoo Punch out of the machine. She remembered the time Tori hid in a fake drink machine to spy on their "Ping Pong" practice. "I was so mad at you for figuring out our little secret then."

She flopped down on the couch, her face buried in one of the throw pillows. It smelled of faded farts and faint smoke. Her eyes burned, and she felt the mascara rub onto the pillow. Here was another reminder. Back when she and Beck had broken up the first time, she had gone to Tori's in tears and bled mascara on Tori's pillow. "I didn't say so, Tori, but I was sorry I ruined the pillow your grandma made for you."

Flipping the pillow, she laid down, staring up at the ceiling.. She shot her eyes to the door, wondering what was taking so long. She was sure that Mrs. Vega or Trina would tell her what was going on by now. It was tough to wait. She grumbled and scooped her phone out of her pocket. She shot Cat a text, asking how she was, and telling her that Tori had flat lined and been revived.

Cat did not respond. Looking at the clock, Jade realized that it was almost one in the morning. She must have fallen asleep and not even noticed, shifting from thinking to dreaming and back again without missing a beat. She rolled off the couch, pulling herself to a standing position. She took her now warm punch and hurried back to Tori's room.

Tori lay in bed, still and pale. Mrs. Vega sat in the visitor chair, snoring lightly with her chin on her chest. Jade watched both women sleep for a moment, then walked back out into the hall. Her lips pursed into a frown, and reached for her phone again. She checked her incoming texts, and saw she had missed a text from Trina. She read it and said, "Shit." She turned back into Tori's room, and checked Mrs. Vega's coat pocket. Sure enough, there was a house key wrapped in a pair of twenty dollar bills. She walked back down toward the hospital lobby, calling for a cab as she walked.

Until this moment, she had not spared a thought for her car. She missed it a lot. With a smirk, she remembered freaking Tori out when she stopped riding with Trina due to a movie shoot. "That was really fun, Tori, watching you climb the walls of my car thinking I'd kill you." Her smirk soured, and she sighed. "I couldn't do that. You mean too much to me."

After a seemingly endless cold wait, the taxi arrived. Jade rattled off Tori's address and slumped into the back seat. She deflected the cabbie's attempts to talk, and after a few tries, he stopped trying to make conversation. She looked at the driver's photo in a laminate sleeve on the back of the seat in front of her. He obviously had been driving for a while, for he was much younger in the picture.

With a relieved sigh, the cab ride ended a short time later. She passed over one twenty, keeping the other one folded in her pocket. She watched the cab pull away before going up to the door. She slotted the key, and slipped inside. The home was not messy, but a person could tell that they had left in a hurry. Dishes still sat on the table, and jackets were tossed over the back of the couches. Trina was asleep on the couch in the living room, and Mr. Vega was nowhere to be seen, yet rumbling snores came from the direction of the bedrooms.

Jade actually shifted from foot to foot as she made up her mind. She walked over to Trina and gave her a not too gentle shake. Trina bolted up, crying out softly as she swatted at Jade. Jade, long accustomed to people waking violently, since both her brother and mother woke up that way, blocked the strike and told Trina quickly, "It's me, Trina. Jade. Calm down!"

Trina slumped back on the couch with a groan. "What time is it?" she croaked. Jade pulled out her pearphone, activated the clock, and turned it towards Trina. "3:15 in the morning? Is something wrong?"

Jade shook her head, then cocked her head slightly. "Nothing that wasn't wrong when I fell asleep. I don't even know Tori's condition. What did the doctor say to you?" At Trina's dumbstruck look, she added, "Your mom was asleep, and I didn't try to find the nurse. I'm tired and sick with worry and just wanted to…" Jade swallowed hard, her eyes tearing up again. "To come home," she finished with a whimper.

The next thing Jade knew, she was sobbing on Trina's shoulder and getting a warm hug from Trina. Jade felt everything breaking loose inside, and she sobbed all the harder. Trina made comforting noises and patted her back. Eventually, Jade's sobs tapered off until she, with a savage grumble, killed her tears. She apologized to Trina with a weak smile. Trina looked shocked.

"I've never seen you cry when you're sad," Trina said quietly. "Pain, yes, but not sadness." Her lips twisted into an almost smile. "It is a new side of you Jade. Anyways, Tori flat lined last night because the blood clot in her brain broke free, and moved to a more dangerous position. The doctor got her breathing again, and, because the clot moved, he was able to go in this time and remove the clot, through her nasal passage. She'll have a hell of a headache and a nose whistle when she wakes up, but she will wake up now. The meds they were giving her to keep her in a coma have been stopped, so sometime tomorrow, she should wake up."

Jade let out a shuddering sigh of relief. "Trina, thank you. You have no idea how scared I was. Especially since I wasn't able to hear what happened." Jade paused. After a moment of silence, she continued. "I don't know how to say this, but I've spent a lot of time tonight, and hell, ever since the accident, thinking about Tori and Cat. Cat is fine, but with Tori still sick, I naturally had her on my mind a lot more. Turns out, I think I fell in love with Tori a while ago, and it took this tragedy to make me realize it."

She looked over at Trina, whose mouth was hanging open in shock. Trina blinked rapidly several times, then snapped her mouth closed. A moment passed as Trina tried and failed to say something, opening and closing her mouth each time. Finally, she said, "Well, if there was anyone else who could love my sister more than you, I don't know them. I think that it is great."

A few days later, a pale and weak Tori came walking through the front door, her arm held tightly by Mr. Vega. Jade leapt from the couch where she had been sitting, waiting on pins and needles. Jade rushed over, and gently wrapped her arms around Tori. Mr. Vega let her go, and walked into the house.

"I got you, Tori."

"Don't let me go."

"I will never let you go…never."