Chapter 21
Later That Night
They had finished eating and put the basket back in the car. Jackson and Maddie were lying on the blanket looking up at the stars. Maddie had pillowed her head on Jackson shoulder with one arm going over his chest. Jackson had his arm wrapped around Maddie. With his other arm, he was holding Maddie's hand. The sound of nature was their music. The stars were their movie. It was peaceful, quiet and relaxing. In a word, perfect.
"Maddie."
"Jackson."
"I'm glad you came to Malibu."
"Me too."
(silence)
"Maddie."
"Jackson."
"Thanks for staying in touch with me. Your letters made each day worth getting up for."
"Awww……that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."
"Your welcome."
(silence)
"Jackson."
"Maddie."
"………I never felt this way about anyone before."
"………me too. I feel extremely lucky you have found someone like you."
(silence)
"I think there is a word for the way I feel about you."
"I was thinking the same thing."
"You were?"
"Yeah, but I was just a little afraid I might scare you away if I told you."
"I was afraid too. You're just that special to me."
"You want to say it together on the count of three?"
"Okay. 1"
"…2…"
"…3…" they said together.
"I Love You."
They kissed.
If possible, Maddie snuggled herself closer to Jackson, laid her head down on him and burned this night into her memory.
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Mr. Truscott had wanted to see the movie and stayed to watch also. When the movie was over, the guys came out talking about the movie. It was agreed that when the giant wave hit the chopper was one of the most exciting scenes. Lilly on the other hand wished Miley was here so they could talk about the guys in the movie. That was one thing you could count on in a guy movie, hot guys in the movie. Mr. Truscott surprised everyone with stopping for ice cream.
"Hey, Jake, have you ever met Kevin or Ashton?" Lilly asked.
"Not really. I was introduced to Kevin at a movie premiere once. You know it was one of those 'Jake this is Kevin Costner' type of deals. All we really did was shake hands. It was about a year ago."
"Wow!"
After that, Zack, Cody, and Oliver started in on drilling Jake on who he had met. Mr. Truscott and Lilly talked about the parts of the movie that they liked the most. After the treats were finished, Mr. Truscott dropped everyone off at their own places.
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Miley had a lot to think about as she walked home from talking with Mrs. Truscott. She was in love with Cody. But she wondered if it was the life long type of love. She liked Jake but not the same way she felt about Cody. What really bothered her about Jake was the fact he acted like a jerk in public. But if you could get him alone, then he was basically nice and normal. Right now he was just too much of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If Jake could settle down, then they could be good friends. And then, maybe, just maybe, I'll tell him about me being Hannah.
As Miley got closer to her front door, she heard music and singing coming from the house. But was that a girl's voice? She knew that her dad was going to be working on Maggie's song tonight but who was helping him.
Duh! Must be Carey. Which means Cody was here! Miley hurried up to the house and opened the door. Sure enough, there was Carey and her dad at the piano.
"Where's Cody?"
"Hi Miley. How are we doing? Just fine. How was our night? Working hard on the song."
"Sorry. How are you doing? How was your night? Now, is Cody here?"
"No. Cody, Zack, Jake, Oliver and Lilly went to go see The Guardian."
"Oh man! I wanted to see that too. It has Ashton Kutchner in it."
"Don't forget Kevin Costner." Carey said with dreamy eyes.
"Yeah, him too."
"Love is wasted on the youth," Carey told Robbie.
"So, how is Maggie's song coming?"
"Come over here and have a seat, bud."
Miley went over and sat on the bench by her dad.
"Ready, Carey?"
"Go ahead."
Robbie started with a six measure introduction to the song that was slow. Then at the start of the song, Carey added her voice to the music. She was able to put a certain sad sound in her voice that mixed well with the music. Right away Miley was lost in memories of her mom. Soon those memories changed to those of Maggie. By the time Carey was done, Miley had to wipe away at the tears on her face.
"That was GREAT!"
"Well thanks, Miley. But your dad is very good with this music stuff." Carey smiled at Robbie.
"Oh, I just kind of fiddle around with it. More of a hobby."
Miley rolled her eyes.
"Okay you two, try not to knock each other down patting each other on the back." Miley turned to Carey, "Uh, Carey, how did you make your voice sound so sad?"
"I just thought of something sad."
"Oh." Miley said looking a little worried.
"You okay sweetie?"
"Yeah. Just a little scared is all."
"You want me to sing with you?"
"No. Let me try it by myself first."
Miley closed her eyes and thought about Maggie. After a few seconds she nodded to her dad to start. She didn't start singing when the pick-up line came, but she just listen to the music. When her dad got to the end, he started the song again. This time when the pick-up line came, Miley added her voice to the music. She was able to project the sadness and sorrow in her life into her voice giving it a sad and haunted sound that was filled with pain and loss. As the song moved along her voice grew stronger and louder. As the song neared the end, her voice grew softer and more quiet and faded to nothing on her last note. Her dad played the last measures of the song as her feeling coursed through her. Miley took a deep breath and turned to her dad and Carey.
"Well?" She asked nervously.
"Miley, I wish I had your voice. That was just…well it was…perfect." Carey told her at a loss for words to describe how well Miley had sung the song.
"She's right, bud. I wouldn't change a thing. This might just give I Miss You a run for its money."
"Oh, I just love that song, Miley! This could be up there with it, but not at the same level."
"Really? Your not just saying that?"
Carey stepped around the piano and hugged Miley.
"Yes, dear, I really mean it."
Miley smiled and leaned on her dad. The phone rang. Miley got up to answer it.
"Hello…Hi Cody………sure thing, hold on. Carey, it's Cody." Miley handed the phone to Carey.
"Hi dear, how was the movie?………I'm glad you guys had a good time………No, it fine if you go back to the hotel. We're done here. I'll have Robbie drive me back………Okay, see you soon. Love ya. Bye"
"I'd be more than happy to take you back to the hotel, Carey." Robbie told her after she hung up the phone. Then he turned to Miley.
"If you haven't eaten yet, there are leftovers in the refrig. I'll be right back."
"Take your time Daddy." Miley smiled at him as he left with Carey.
Miley turned and headed for the kitchen.
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It was getting late and they needed to get going. Neither wanted to leave, but it was time. Jackson helped Maddie up and then they folded the blanket together. They walked hand in hand back to the car. Once again, Jackson opened the door for Maddie. After closing the door, he put the blanket back in the trunk. After getting himself into the car, he called home.
"Hi Miley, who's at home?………Okay. I'll take Maddie back to the hotel and come home. Bye." Then he turned to Maddie.
"It seems everyone has gone home. So I'll drop you off at the hotel."
Maddie smiled.
Jackson started the car and drove off.
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The nurse came out of Maggie's room to the nurse's station. The night doctor was there, reading all the vitals. He took Maggie's chart with interest. She just had radiation treatment to kill off her bone marrow. The next week was going to be a very important one for her. The first hurdle was to make sure she didn't get an infection. That meant her temperature was the most important indicator.
"She has a low graded temperature, doctor."
This could be from the treatment that she just had today. But better safe than sorry.
"Take her temperature every two hours. Let on-call know if it changes."
He signed the order and gave the chart back to the nurse.