Chapter 7 Sore Jaws and Determination

It was chilling, the familiar sting of ice wrapped in a towel against naked flesh. It was something he had gotten use to over the years. After fires, or long days swinging a hammer, the joints and the body would be sore and swollen. The ice would comfort them quite readily. The body hadn't aged as well as he would have expected, nor was his body in shape or as resistant to a beating as when he was a sixteen year old basketball player.

Jake Jagielski sat at his kitchen table and let the ice sting his skin until it was numb. He never expected Lucas to have a vicious right hook. Now he knew that Lucas was willing to defend his wife. Lucas stole Peyton from him, she was meant to be his, and he had to pursue her.

He winced again. It wasn't his jaw this time. The pain was splitting between his temples. With his free hand he grabbed his forehead, hopefully the pain would die as quickly as when it came. It had been months since that pain started, late August he remembered. It was nothing, just stress, he assured himself.

The pain went away and Jake walked over to the refrigerator and took out a beer. That was when he heard foot steps. Turning, he saw his twenty year old daughter standing in the kitchen doorway staring at him. He smiled at her and she just smirked back.

"What?" he asked.

"Dad, sometimes you're the densest person I know, but how in the hell did you get into a fight with Lucas Scott at an exclusive event at TRIC?" Jenny Jagielski asked her dad.

"I guess he didn't like me talking to Peyton," Jake replied.

Jenny nodded, "Right, Lucas Scott the hot head," she said and went to refrigerator to get some juice, "What's been going on? The past couple of months you've been on the outs with Lucas and Peyton."

Jake shrugged and lied, "I don't know, Jenny."

She nodded, not totally believing him. "Yeah, well it seems according to Bobbi-Lee Burke you were quite forward with Peyton Scott. Were you drunk again?"

Jake shook his head, "No, I wasn't drunk. What does Bobbi-Lee Burke know anyways? Wasn't this the girl who not only got you to defy me by getting your belly button pierced, but she also taught you how to do shooters? Wasn't she also the one at Wake to get you hammered the first four weekends you were there?"

Jenny sighed, "She was also one of my closest friends in high school and in college. She was the one that helped me fit in, and just for your information, works for the company that was throwing the party you and Lucas busted up."

Jake nodded, "So what are you saying?"

Jenny shook her head, "Dad, you and Leanne broke up, you're fighting with Lucas, Peyton seems not to want to have anything to do with you, and the guys at the firehouse are hiding not talking to you, what is happening?"

Jake shook his head, "I don't know."

"Dad, I'm worried, you've been short tempered, and your disposition has just been nasty. Where is the old Dad of mine?"

Jake shook his head, "I don't know, Jenny. I just seem so weird, like I've not been myself for months now."

Jenny nodded, "I can delay heading back to Winston-Salem."

Jake shook his head, "Jenny, go back to college, I'm fine. Just a few headaches, you need to finish your education, like I didn't."

Jenny nodded, "I'm just worried about you."

Jake walked over and hugged his daughter. "I know you are, Jenny."

Jenny hugged him back, and then broke contact. She walked out of the room with Jake right behind her. She grabbed her purse and coat and looked over her shoulder.

"Well, I'm off to the hospital," she said.

Jake looked at her weird, "Why are you going to the hospital?"

Jenny stopped and stared at her Dad, "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Right after you were escorted out of the club, both Peyton and Lucas collapsed and were rushed to the hospital. They're holding them over night for observations, and it appears that Lucas had a heart attack. It was pretty bad."

Jake nodded. Jenny smiled guardedly, trying to read her dad's reaction. Finally, she shrugged and started to leave. She opened the door and found Larry Sawyer standing at the door.

"Hello Mister Sawyer," Jenny said.

"Hi Jenny," Larry said.

"Well, I'm off, nice seeing you Mister Sawyer," Jenny said and took off.

Larry walked in and found Jake standing there. Larry smiled at the bruise his son-in-law left on this man's face. Deep in his soul he wanted to give Jake a matching one on the other side of his face.

"Mister Sawyer," Jake said.

Larry nodded, "So…explain yourself."

Jake sighed, "I love your daughter."

Shaking his head, Larry looked at Jake with a dad's protective eye. "It's nice to know that my daughter has people that care about her, but Jake she is married and deeply in love with Lucas. They are having their fourth child together. What ever romantic thing that happened between you in Peyton in the past is just that the past."

Jake looked at Larry and got mad. "She said someday we'll be together."

Larry shook her head, "That boat sailed when I took you to Savannah the first time."

"You Sawyers are just alike," Jake yelled.

Larry shook his head, "Just stay away from my daughter! If I find out that you come near her; then you won't be dealing with Lucas, you'll be dealing with me."

Jake shook his head, "Then so be it Mister Sawyer and I'll be asking you to leave."

Larry nodded, "Heed my warning, Jake," Larry said and walked out of the house. This left Jake standing there looking at the door. Suddenly, he grabbed his forehead, the headache returned, he then felt sick to his stomach, and stumbled to the bathroom and threw up, and passed out on the bathroom floor.