DEAN:
Hushed voices infiltrate my brain. I'd be annoyed, but with the non-stop nightmares, they're a welcome distraction.
"We shouldn't wake them, Trav. You heard Jamie. She slept through the night once he got to her. Please just leave it be for now."
"Pidge, I'm not convinced."
The anger seeping out of those four words causes me to tense and I feel Jessie begin to stir beneath my arm. I open my eyes to look her over and she moans lightly when she accidentally jostles her bad arm. I push the button on the bed so that she can sit upright without causing more stress to her battered body. Looking down, I can see that a night of sleep has done nothing to improve the results of last night's events. The bruising along her cheek and jaw is much worse. Her lip isn't nearly as swollen, but the skin around the stitched gash above her eye is a nasty shade of red.
I glance at the foot of bed and see a rumpled and distraught Abby next to a fuming Travis. Jessie's parents must've taken the first flight out when they heard about Jessie's injuries.
"Mom? Dad? You—" Jessie starts but her dry throat keeps her from finishing her thought. I hand her the plastic cup from her rolling table next to the bed and she smiles up at me in thanks. Clearing her throat, she continues but I don't miss the way her father's hands grip the bar at the foot of the bed until his knuckles turn white. "You guys didn't have to fly all the way out here. I promise, it looks much worse than it is."
"Oh, my baby," Abby scoots around the side of the bed and throws her arms around Jessie, careful not to lean on her bad arm.
"Mom, I'm fine," Jessie mutters into the crook of her mother's neck. I decide it's probably a good idea for me to get up and let them have a few moments. When I untangle myself from Jessie she looks at me with pleading eyes but I just give her a small smile and nod towards the door.
"I'm gonna go get some air. I'll let you talk with your parents for a bit." Raking my hand through my hair, I'm through the doorway before I hear the heavy footfalls behind me.
"I'll come with you," Travis says. When I turn, I see that angry scowl still hasn't left his face. Curious as to why he wants to come outside with me rather than visit with his injured daughter, I keep my eyes averted as we ride the elevator down to the main floor.
Once outside, I take a deep breath of fresh air. It has been such a long night and I'm just now getting my bearings. That's when the freight train plows into me. At least that's what it feels like when Travis shoves me back against the wall of the building, gripping my shirt in his fist as he raises his hand to shove a finger in my face. "You tell me, right now, the whole story. And if you even fucking think about lying to me, trust me I'll know it."
"I don't kn—" The breath leaves my lungs as I'm yanked forward and slammed back into the bricks.
"I told you not to lie to me, boy! That's my little girl lying in that fucking bed and if you think I don't know a beating from a fall you clearly don't know shit about me or this family, kid. Now I'm gonna ask you one last time. What. Happened. To my daughter?" His eyes are alight with fury, penetrating mine with such intensity that I flinch. Still, there is no way that I'll betray Jessie's trust. Even if it means meeting Travis Maddox's anger head-on.
"With all due respect, sir, I think you should be upstairs talking to your daughter about this."
"Wrong answer." His fist is slamming into my jaw before I can anticipate the danger. This is my girlfriend's father. His daughter was just involved in a massive trauma. For these reasons, I refuse to fight back. But, holy shit, does it suck to stand there and take a beating from Travis Maddox. When he connects with my stomach I feel something snap, likely a rib. Doubled over, I take another blow to the face. Just as my vision starts to swim, he is wrenched away from me and my body sags to the ground.
"Dad, what the hell?!" Jamie bellows as he pulls his father further away from me.
Coughing, I spit out a mouthful of blood and saliva, wiping my lip with the back of my hand. Clutching at the wall to pull myself up from the ground, I turn to face them both. "I hope that at least made you feel better about the situation. Because it would fucking suck to have taken that for nothing."
"Dad, he didn't hurt Jessie. He'd never touch her like that. Trust me. You don't know what's been going on here," Jamie utters as the fight leaves his father.
"Jamie, leave it alone man," I warn.
"No, screw that. She wants to keep her secrets and this is what we get for playing along. Well that's bullshit and I'm done." He turns back to his father and I can see the confusion taking over the anger. "Jessie didn't get hurt falling down the stairs. She got hurt when some chick hit her with a few cheap shots and knocked her out of the ring right before the earthquake."
Travis' eyes narrow and flit from Jamie to me and back again. "She's not training right now, Jamie. There aren't any matches. If you're defending him for some reason you need to let it go. Now."
"She got kicked off the team a year ago, Dad. She lost her scholarship and she was terrified to tell you and Mom, so she's been fighting for money. Underground. Just like you. Proud?" Jamie looks disgusted. Travis is stunned to shocked silence. I just feel conflicted. In one sense there's a huge weight lifted from no longer keeping this secret. On the other hand, I know this is not going to go over well when Jessie finds out.
Considering the fact that my body feels, and probably looks, like it was run over by a MACK truck, I limp forward and attempt to soften the blow Jessie is about to be given. "Look, I'll lay low. Jessie doesn't need to know what happened. Tell her I had to go home and get some rest. I'll get patched up and just tell her I got into it with one of the guys." I turn my attention from Jamie to Travis. "Just let her explain herself. Please. You don't understand the whole story." I look Travis in the eye when I deliver my parting words, hoping to impart the seriousness of them.
A firm grip on my arm stops me from turning away completely. "It takes a lot to stand there and take a beating like that without fighting back. Especially knowing you don't deserve it. Believe me, I've been there. I apologize for thinking you hurt my daughter. When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I'm the asshole here. No need for you to leave." He holds a bloody hand out to me and I cringe, knowing that I likely look much worse than I originally thought.
I shake his hand as an acknowledgement of his apology and step back. "Nah, I'm pretty sure she'd freak if she saw me right now and I don't want her upsetting herself any more than she already will be." I glance at Jamie knowingly and he shrugs in resignation, clearly unapologetic that his father now knows his sister's secret.
With a quick nod in their direction, I begin the short walk back to campus so I can crawl into bed and die.
JESSIE:
"Alright Ms. Maddox. Just be sure to get back here in two weeks for your follow-up with Dr. Gupta and then we can get you set up for some physical therapy for that arm if everything looks good. Other than that, here are a couple of prescriptions. One is for pain, the other will help with the inflammation. Take both as directed, and give us a call if you're experiencing any new symptoms. You're free to go whenever you're ready." The nurse hands me two prescription bags and some paperwork. I take it all in my free hand and thank her. Mom and I shuffle slowly out the door and over to the elevators.
"I have no idea where your father has disappeared to, but I'll pull the car up, then we can get you back to your apartment." She puts her arm around me and kisses my cheek. I stifle the wince because I don't want her to feel bad. My whole body is throbbing like a decayed tooth. I make a mental note to pop one of each of those pills once we get home before I pass out for a week. All I need to do is find Dean so he can keep me company. Then everything will be perfect. Well, as perfect as things can be after an earthquake and an ass-kicking from some sore losing bitch who can't get over the fact that she's no longer undefeated. I'm still so mad that I turned my back on her and let her get those cheap shots in. I shake my head to clear the thoughts but that only serves to exacerbate the pain and Mom notices.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" she asks from my side.
"Yeah, fine, just had a twinge. That's all," I lie.
When we exit the sliding glass doors of the hospital, I see Jamie and Dad coming towards us. I smile but the grim look on their faces causes me to pause. I look around for Dean but don't see any sign of him.
"Hey, where's Dean?" I ask.
"He had to go home. Said he needed some rest. Let's go." Dad nods to the parking lot without meeting my eyes.
"Wait, he just left? That doesn't make any sense." Confused, I drop my mother's arm and turn to take in my father's expression. I don't think I've ever seen this look on his face before. It's a mixture of anger, shame and…I can't quite put my finger on it. Disappointment maybe? "What's going on?"
Jamie refuses to answer and looks to Dad. Dad glances briefly at Mom and then finally faces me. "Look Jessie, we should talk about this after you've had some time to rest."
Annoyed, I fire back, "I don't want to rest. I want to know what the hell is going on."
Dad meets my eyes and folds his arms. "Fine. You know, I'd like to know the same thing. Were you ever planning to tell your mother and I that you lost your scholarship? And how about the rest? The fighting? The money?"
My sore jaw drops and I try to recover quickly, but the shock of the moment has taken me completely off guard. I look to Jamie for answers but all I get is a stone wall. Mom looks completely baffled and everyone looks to me for an answer. "How…" I trail off when I see the streak of blood on Dad's knuckles. I narrow my eyes at him as things become clear. Dad has blood on his hands. Dean is nowhere to be seen. And my secret is out.
Before I can react, a bubbly voice breaks the tension of our group. "Hey! Jessie! Oh, I'm so happy you're coming home! We were all so worried about you. I just went home real quick to grab a shower and I was going to see if you wanted some froyo." Kelsey rambles while holding up a bag. Thinking quickly, I wrap my arm around hers and pull her back in the direction from which she came.
"I need you to take me to Dean's frat house," I tell her.
"Jessica Maddox!" Dad shouts after me, but I ignore him and tug Kelsey along faster.
"Okay, no problem. But what the heck is going on? What's the rush? Why isn't Dean here with you in the first place?" She opens the door of her car for me and I slide in without answering her questions. Mom, Dad and Jamie are quickly following so I slam my hand over the lock on the door and when Kelsey slips into the driver's seat I yell, "Go, please, just go!"
Startled, she fumbles a moment with the keys and, as my family closes in, The Bug takes off out of the parking lot. In the side mirror I see my dad's hands flailing, mom gripping his shoulder, and Jamie's head hung low. But all I can think about is Dean's betrayal. Dad must not have taken the news lightly and that's obviously why there was blood on his hand, and why Dean made a quick escape. I know he doesn't approve of my fighting. The last words we spoke to each other before the earthquake were in anger about that very topic. I still don't understand how he could claim to love me, to trust me, and ask me to trust him, when he's capable of selling me out just to get his way. I don't care if Dad did knock him on his ass, he's still going to have me to deal with.
"Hello? Earth to Jessie?" Kelsey is looking pointedly at me while we're paused at a red light. "I said, can you tell me what the hell is going on now?"
"I'm sorry. My head is so screwed up right now." I move my left arm to tug at my hair, force of habit, and wince from the pain in my elbow. "Shit. God, that hurts…"
"Jess, please tell me what happened with your folks. Your dad looked pretty bent out of shape back there. And why isn't Dean at the hospital with you anyway?" She begs for answers as traffic begins to move again.
"He told him, Kelsey. He ratted me out to my dad. He knows about the scholarship, the fights, everything. He just outed me. All because he thinks he knows what's best for me. And he couldn't even be man enough to face me afterwards. That's probably why he left. Well that, and I think Dad might've punched him or something. Probably didn't believe him at first. Or he was pissed that he helped keep it a secret." I lean my head against the window because it's starting to throb. I ignore the stinging behind my eyelids and swallow the lump rising in my throat.
"You're kidding…" She says it more in disbelief than a question. "Wow. That's so not like Dean. I mean, I know he doesn't love the fact that you're fighting for money. I don't see how any guy would. But to rat you out to your parents then disappear? I just didn't think he was that type of person."
"Yeah. Neither did I."
A/N: I promise, it will not be another two weeks before the next update! Sorry for leaving our guy hanging for so long. Jessie and Dean are up against some serious competition with my new original fiction story characters, and my own house hunting activities! But rest assured, there will be another update next weekend. Cross my heart. 3 3 3