Chapter 5 Collision

I woke up and checked the time. It was a little after five am. I grabbed my phone to see if it had any new notifications. I had two messages, one from Alexi and one from Edythe.

"I had a tracker placed on Rictor's car and paid for one of his guys to be a mole for us." Alexi

"Little Talks, Of Monsters and Men and a custom playlist." Edythe

I thought that it was adorable that Edythe sent me a playlist. I figured she expressed herself through music

Rolled over onto my back and sent Edythe a message.

"Good morning. Thanks for the playlist, I'll give it a listen today."

I threw my phone on the bed and went to get some water. I made it to the steps when I heard my phone go off. Surly Edythe wasn't awake already.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Edythe

"Pretty good, what about you?" Jaxon

I couldn't believe she was awake this early. No normal teenager would be up this early.

"Fine I guess. Why are you awake so early?" Edythe

"I like to get up early. It sets a mood for the day I guess." Jaxon

I went downstairs to workout. I turned on Edythe's playlist. It was soothing and relaxing. She had different songs, mostly indie rock stuff. It gave me a little insight into her tastes. I would ask some questions about it at lunch. I wondered if she would want me to sit with her and her family or together alone. I didn't really want to sit with the crowd I had been sitting with lately. They are boring and they are fake. Edythe on the other hand seems to actually care.

"So why are you up early?" Jaxon

"I like to run before school." Edythe

I wondered if she did track or something

"Where do you like to run at?" Jaxon

"We have some trails around our house that I like to run on. The scenery is nice if you don't mind the rain lol." Edythe

I finished my workout and took a shower. I had the playlist playing on the speakers in the house. I was thinking about asking Edythe to dinner or something but I didn't know. I don't want her to get caught up in the drama that follows a guy with my reputation. Even here people still post about me just so they can. I decided against it for now.

"So how was your run?" Jaxon

I started to get dressed. I was gonna wear jeans and a long sleeve black shirt and a black hoodie. It was supposed to be chilly today.

I walked down stairs to get some breakfast. I checked my phone for the time. About 7:15, I knew Edythe and her family got to school early and I wanted to talk to her before class.

"It was okay, luckily it's not raining that much today." Edythe

"Yeah, I'm getting tired of the endless rain here lol." Jaxon

I decided I would leave in a bit

"Hey I'm going to drive to school. I'll text you back in a bit." Jaxon

I got into the AMG and started my drive to school. I was in a giddy mode and I caught myself speeding. Luckily in a town this small there were only a handful of police officers.

I got to school at 7:34 and checked my phone to respond to Edythe.

"Ok see you there." Edythe

"Drive safe." Edythe

I smiled. She was sweet and thoughtful.

"I tried, luckily this town doesn't have traffic cameras. You be careful driving, I don't want something to happen to make our lunch date not happen, lol" Jaxon

I was being cheeky and honestly I was excited. I didn't meet many people that I enjoyed talking with.

I didn't get a response so I imagined she was driving. I was resting outside against my car enjoying the brisk air.

About 12 minutes later Edythe's Volvo rolled into the parking lot. I saw her looking at me and she was smiling with her dimples. It made this electric feeling in my stomach start to storm.

Just as her Volvo parked I heard this terrible screeching sound from the entrance of the parking lot. A van had hit a puddle and was hydroplaning. I figured out the trajectory pretty quickly. It was going to miss me, but the van's only victim was going to be a small girl who looked like a freshman. She was frozen in fear. She was only 13 feet from me. I didn't have much time. She was going to die.y body moved on instinct. I made it to the girl in less than 4 seconds. The car was less than halfway to us. I shoved the girl as hard as I could. She was going to have some major whip lash and some scraps but it was better than being roadkill. She landed eight feet away, the van was going to miss her, I on the other hand was going to take the blunt of it. I knew that if I let my body stay loose I would be able to walk away from this with just a few injuries, this wasn't the first time I had been hit by a car, but it was still going to hurt a lot. At my size and build the van wasn't moving fast enough to kill me.

Boom. The van hit me on my right side. I felt my right shoulder buckle and then I was airborne. I was disoriented and then I felt my landing. I hit another car. Definitely putting a dent in it and my shoulder with and right arm was numb. It happened really fast, all in five seconds, from the time I saw the van till now was about 50 seconds. There would be screaming in a second or two. I was worried about the girl, but I was in a lot of pain and couldn't think clearly for a second.

I opened my eyes and tried to get up but someone was pushing me down and their arm wasn't budging. I then realized that they were screaming at me

"JAXON! JAXON CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" I realized it was Edythe screaming at me and holding me down. She was stronger than she looked.

"JAXON CA"

"I'm fine Edythe, you can stop yelling." I growled through my teeth. I didn't want to be rude but I was in a good bit of pain. I could hear everyone else yelling and rushing around us. Edythe somehow managed to get over to me faster than anyone else had.

"Jaxon just sit still, someone has called an ambulance." Edythe said. I could still hear the unease in her voice

"I'm fine, I don't need to go to a hospital. I said trying to stand up using my arm as a crutch. When my weight was on my arm it sent a jolt of pain down my arm to my shoulder. I grunted and fell back down. Edythe looked concerned.

"What's wrong?" She asked

"I I think my shoulder is dislocated." I muttered

I braced my back against the car and took my good arm and started to push the joint back into place. I made another painful noise out of my throat. I hated popping joints in and out.

Edythe grabbed my good wrist. "What do you think you are doing?" She was still panicking

"I said my shoulder is dislocated. I'm popping it back in."

"No you aren't" she said firmly

"Fine" I was in too much pain to argue with her.

A crowd gathered around from students to teachers. Principal Greene was almost as frantic as Edythe was. I wasn't in the mood to be nice. I was trying to be nice to Edythe at least but everyone else could go to hell. Three ambulances showed up, one for the girl I pushed. She had some bad scraps and whiplash but she seemed like she was ok. The second one was for the driver of the van, Taylor Crowley. She had a laceration on her cheek from the broken glass of her windshield when her car hit a Civic and stopped hydroplaning.

I was pissed that they had called an ambulance for me. I could just pop my shoulder in myself. The paramedics tried to get me onto a stretcher but they gave up after they met my glare. I finally stood up and got to my feet. Edythe stood right behind me. She must have thought I was going to fall or pass out

I walked to the ambulance and sat down on the bench in the patient compartment. Edythe went to the passenger door and got in the cab

I looked at her. "Are you going to the hospital too?" I asked a little baffled

"Yeah. I want my mom to check you out." She responded. She sounded like she was pissed.

The ambulance started it's drive to the hospital. The paramedic started doing diagnostics.

"Mr. Stone on a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in?"

I sighed. "Probably about a six." I was used to pain but this still hurt. It would be less if I could just pop my shoulder back into place but that would upset Edythe for some reason and the paramedic wouldn't like that either.

"Ok I'm going to give you some morphine for your pain."

He had the iv needle ready. I pulled my arm back.

"I'm fine," I said coldly. I didn't like pain killers.

"It will make you feel better kid" he said reaching for my good arm

I looked him in the eye, and made my voice even colder than before. I hoped Edythe wouldn't hear this.

"I said I didn't want it," he flinched back from me. I could hear Edythe rustling in the front seat. Was she laughing?

"Okay, okay have it your way." He sounded a little shocked.

I rested my head against the cold metal cabinet behind me. My body was burning. It was a burn I was used to. It was trying to heal itself but I just needed to pop the joint back into place and my body would do the rest.

The ambulance came to a stop. The doors opened and we were rushed by ER staff. They insisted that I lay on the stretcher. I was tired of arguing and I gave in. I saw Edythe walk quickly into the hospital. I guess she went to get her mom. She was acting really protective and it didn't make sense but that was something I could figure out later.

They wheeled me to a secluded section of the room. The nurses and doctor were working on Taylor who was bleeding badly but not enough to kill her. The freshman girl I pushed was crying and when she saw me she thanked me repeatedly. She was upset that I got hurt saving her. I told her I was okay and she shouldn't worry about it. I gave her a warm smile hoping it would make her feel better. I closed my eyes and laid my head back.

"Is he asleep?" A familiar musical voice whispered.

I opened my eyes and sat up a little bit. Edythe was sitting on a rolling stool and she seemed calmer. She had a hint of a smile on her face.

"Where did you disappear to?" I said

"I went to get my mom. She has a priority patient to check on." She said grinning at me with her dimples. I think she was trying to make me not be mad that I was getting special treatment. Luckily I could control my facial features well enough to make a fake smile.

I was about to say something sarcastic to her when her mom walked over to the bed I was on.

"Mr Stone I hope my daughter isn't annoying you." She made a warm smile towards Edythe who smiled right back.

"I'm Doctor Cullen, so I hear you were quite the hero today," she said looking impressed

"I didn't really do anything." I said truthfully.

"You pushed a girl out of the way of a van." Doctor Cullen said, "That sounds like something a hero would do." She added, smiling at me.

"What were you thinking?" Edythe asked, sounding a little ticked.

I looked over at her, "I don't really know, I just acted I guess."

Edythe and her mom just stared at me like I was glowing or something.

"What?" I was getting uneasy.

"So you just threw yourself between a car and a girl on instinct?" Edythe asked, sounding baffled.

"Yeah. I figured I had a better chance of making it out okay."

"Well you did a good job, now lets look at your shoulder. Do you mind removing your shirt?" Doctor Cullen asked.

I looked up at Edythe in concern. I didn't want Edythe to see my tattoos and especially not my scars. Doctor Cullen caught my distress and looked to Edythe.

"Edythe could you give us some privacy?" she asked politely

"Yes. I'll be right back." she said looking embarrassed.

Edythe left the stool and Doctor Cullen closed the privacy curtains. I took my hoodie and shirt off in one move. I knew once Doctor Cullen laid eyes on my scars she would have questions. But to my astonishment she wasn't even surprised by them.

"So your shoulder is definitely dislocated and there is a lot of bruising in the area and on your back. You are going to experience some swelling for the next couple of days. I'm going to reset your shoulder here in a second. Would you like a sedative for the pain?"

"No. I'll be fine." I muttered. The next part was going to be painful but my arm would start to feel better afterwards.

"Ok." She grabbed my arm very carefully and she popped my arm in. The way she did it actually didn't hurt as bad and she did it quickly.

"Good as new, do you mind moving it around so I can check your range of motion?"

I nodded and began to move my arm around. She tested my fine motor skills and my hand eye coordination. She also examined my neck and back, since Edythe must have told her I hit the other car when I got hit. She didn't make me get a scan.

"I'm going to write you a prescription for a muscle relaxer and I want you to get plenty of rest. I'll also write you a note for school."

"Okay, when will I be able to go back to school." I asked

"If you feel like it you can go tomorrow, but I want you to wear a sling for a couple of days."

I nodded at her.

"Can I come back in?" Edythe was outside the curtains. I had my shirt back on.

"Yes." Doctor Cullen replied.

Edythe opened the curtains and she was holding a bag of cookies. I smiled at her.

"I didn't know what you liked so I just got one of each." She was smiling with her dimples. She must do that when she's embarrassed.

"Thanks." I said smiling.

She handed me the bag. I took out a chocolate chip cookie and took a bite. I turned to offer her one but she shook her head.

"I already had some." she said smiling with a childish grin. Doctor Cullen shook her head slightly

"Jaxon, when will your parents be here to sign for your release?" Doctor Cullen asked.

"That might be a problem. My dad is in Tokyo right now and my mom." I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Okay no worries, I can email the documents to him and I can just sign your release. Just make sure your father is informed and if he has any questions have him call me, ok?

I smiled at her, she was really polite and nice. "Sure thing,"

"How are you planning on getting home?" Edythe asked

"I can just call an uber." I paused when I saw their faces, "There isn't an Uber up here is there?"

"No, Mom, can I borrow your car to take Jaxon home?" Edythe asked, turning to her mom.

"I don't see why not." Doctor Cullen handed Edythe my prescription slip, "Run by the pharmacy and pick this up, make sure he takes it too."

Edythe took the slip,"Not a problem, figures he wouldn't want the medicine" Edythe looked at me "Are you ready to go?"

I was stunned for a second. They were babying me, they both figured I wouldn't take the medicine. They were both good at reading people, Edythe especially.

"Yeah." I hopped off the table and started to walk, but something caught the back of my shirt. I turn to find Edythe holding my shirt in her fist and the sling in her other hand. I wasn't tripping earlier, this girl was strong.

"Put this on please." she said, smiling with her dimples.

I couldn't refuse her, it would make her worry less and I didn't want to make her any more upset today. I put the sling on. It did take some of the stress off my shoulder, but I wasn't going to let that show on my face. She looked smug enough.

"Happy?" I asked flatley.

"I'm not unhappy." She said sarcastically.

Doctor Cullen handed her daughter the keys to her car. "You two drive safely." She nodded to Edythe.

"It was nice to meet you Jaxon, if you have any problems please give me a call, or call Edythe and she will let me know."

I nodded at her and looked at Edythe who was smiling. "I will. It was nice meeting you as well, I wish it could have been under better circumstances." I laughed

The Doctor laughed and smiled, "Yes you are right, it could have been under better circumstances." she glanced at Edythe who was looking away in what looked like embarrassment.

"Come on." Edythe said, grabbing my good arm and the bag of cookies.