Chapter 6 Discussion

I walked automatically.

We walked in companionable silence to the parking deck. Edythe led me to her mom's car. My arm was hurting a little bit but it was tolerable. I still couldn't believe that Edythe was able to completely stop me from moving, she was incredibly strong for someone her size. Maybe she was a gym nut or something.

We walked up to a black Mercedes sedan. She walked over to the passenger door and opened it.

"I can get that." I said glaring at her.

She smiled at me,

"Don't get caught up in antiquated gender roles."

I rolled my eyes and sat down in the car. Edythe closed the door and turned the car on.

"So what's your address?" She said, looking at me.

"I'll tell you as you go." I said reaching for the seat belt.

"Ok, well I'm going to the pharmacy first so just relax." She said starting to pull out of the parking space.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I was in a lot of pain. I felt better than I had while in the ambulance. I was trying to keep my mind distracted, but I was having a tough time doing so. Edythe turned on the radio to a classical station. The car came to a stop. I opened my eyes to see what was happening.

We were at a stop light. I looked around for a second. I felt Edythe staring at me. I turned my head to look at her. My shoulder tweaked and it sent a surge of pain down my arm. It made me gasp and it made Edythe wince.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" She asked, looking concerned.

"It's tolerable, but it doesn't feel good." I tried to laugh it off to ease the tension in the car, but I don't think I succeeded. Edythe still looked worried.

"So I guess I ruined our lunch date today." I said, trying to make Edythe smile. I couldn't stand to see her upset.

She sighed. "Well you did throw yourself in front of a van."

She wasn't taking the bait. She was still upset. I guess it made since. She had probably never seen someone almost die like this.

I decided to be direct. Maybe she needed to talk about this. Seeing someone in an accident could be traumatic. She could be in shock.

"Edythe are you okay?" I was looking at her.

She glanced back at me."Yeah I'm fine, why do you ask?" She said looking a little puzzled.

"Well you seem a little pissed." I said flatly. "I'm just worried this might have been traumatic for you."

She looked at me for a second and laughed like really laughed. It was cute but weird at the same time.

"Jaxon, you were the one almost killed today, but you are worried if I'm traumatized," she said, starting to laugh again.

Her laugh was infectious. I tried very hard not to laugh, but it was hard. It helped that I was still in pain.

She signed as I winced in pain. "I wish I could've done something to help. I don't like that you are in so much pain. Jaxon you could have died. I don't understand why you put your life on the line like that."

"I don't have a good explanation. I saw the van coming and something clicked. People say we have fight or flight responses, but there is a third response. So some people freeze. That girl was frozen. I guess my response was to fight." I said looking out the window.

"Her name is Susan." She finally said.

"My first week here and I'm already getting into accidents." I chuckled to myself.

Edythe pulled into the drive through of the pharmacy and handed the clerk my prescription slip.

"Jaxon, do you want anything to eat before I take you home?" She asked, waiting for the technician.

"No, I'm not that hungry right now," I was in a lot of pain. My shoulder and back were in more pain than I had thought. I just needed to sleep so my body could work on the damage. I figured out long ago how to heal my body.

"Ok Miss Cullen that will be fifty dollars for the oxycodone." The pharmacy technician said.

I started to pull out my wallet but Edythe already put her credit card in the box.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Edythe stop. You don't need to buy that I got it." I pulled out a hundred dollar bill.

"Jaxon, it's fine, I don't mind." She said in her sweet, musical voice.

"Edythe, no I'm serious. I have more than enough to waste on this. It will make me feel bad if you pay." I said in a sorrowful tone. I tried my best to look sad.

She shook her head. "Now where would my manners be if I made an injured man pay for his medication." She was mocking me.

I grumbled. I would sneak the hundred dollar bill in her car to compensate her. She was being ridiculous. I was rich, well filthy rich. I couldn't blow through all my money in three lifetimes.

The electronic door opened revealing my pills and Edythe's card. She grabbed both in one move. We started to drive off but she stopped in a parking spot. She took out the pill bottle and read the instructions.

I grunted. I knew what was coming. I wondered if I could weasel my way out of taking these pain pills. They always made me feel weird and would knock me out. Edythe looked up at me holding a pill in her hand.

"You know you are taking this pill right?"she asked rhetorically.

I sighed and took the pill from her hand. I looked at the small pill. I hoped I would be home before it kicked in. I popped the pill in my mouth and swallowed it. It had this disgusting taste.

I could see Edythe smiling in my peripheral. "You're gonna wanna take a right at the next light by the way."

"Ok and then?" She asked.

I tried to adjust my arm in the sling but it hurt too much. "Stay straight for two miles then it will be on the left."

My body was starting to warm and I was becoming less aware of my pain.

"How are you feeling now?" Edythe asked.

"I feel better. It feels like my arm isn't even there." I said. I was slowly getting high off that pill.

Edythe giggled "Okay well that's good I guess." She shook her head again.

We pulled up to the security gate of the compound. Edythe looked puzzled. I kinda figured she would.

"Jaxon is this the right place." She asked, looking puzzled at the security fence and gate.

I laughed, "Yeah one sec, let me unlock the gate."

I pulled out my phone to open it. But when I pulled it out I found that my phone was shattered.

I sighed. "Never mind, my phone is busted. I guess I can trust you with the code to the gate." I said smiling.

She looked at me warmly.

"8,7,0,2,7,1,0" I recited.

She typed in the code and the ten foot high security gate began to slide open. Edythe was still looking puzzled. She probably thought I had a mansion somewhere hidden in the giant forest. I would try to get her to reveal some of her thoughts to me later, the painkillers were really starting to kick in. I would probably just lay in bed all day sleeping and stream some movies.

Edythe drove up the large garage door. "So do you actually live here in this warehouse?"

She was looking at me like I was short a screw or two.

I chuckled and twitched in pain. "Yeah I had the building renovated. I'm not a fan of normal houses."

"I can see that." She was looking around now at the other buildings.

"What about the other two buildings?"

I looked at one of them. "I have some plans for them but nothing is concrete yet."

I started to get out of the car but my shoulder was being a real burden.

I let out another groan. I looked up and Edythe wasn't in the car anymore, she was outside the car with my door open. She was fast or I was higher than I thought.

"Let me help you up, those pills should be kicking in."

She let me turn and she grabbed my left forearm and gently pulled me out of the car and up to my feet. She made sure I was steady before letting go.

I walked to the front door of the building and unlocked the door. I turned back to Edythe.

"Would you like to come inside?" I asked hopefully.

I swear I saw her face make a twitch. "Maybe another time, I need to get back to school."

"Yeah you're probably right." I turned my head an inch to gaze past her. I wasn't used to being denied like that, but she had a good reason and she probably was a responsible person.

She looked disappointed but I couldn't tell.

"Well thanks for the ride, I appreciate it."

"Jaxon, what are you going to do about your car?"

I wasn't that worried about it. I could always just send someone to pick it up, but knowing myself I would probably just run to school tomorrow it was only like five miles and that could count as my workout for tomorrow.

"I'll worry about it later, it's not a big deal at the moment." I said blankly.

She shrugged, "Okay, well you try and rest. If you need something, call me, okay?" She was smiling again.

"Okay, I will." I lied. I wouldn't need anything and if I did I would bother her with it. She needed to focus on the rest of her day.

"I guess I'll see you later." I said. I wish I could spend the rest of the day with her. There was something about her that made me want to know her. But she was just a normal girl who had normal things to do, like go back to school.

She walked back to the driver's side of the car. "Yeah I'll see you later. Oh Jaxon."

"Yeah?" I asked

"The whole school is probably going to treat you like they did the first day, since you decided to be a hero today. I thought you want to know." She said smiling with that half crooked grin.

I sighed. "Figures. Can you tell them not to?" I asked hopefully. Maybe she could do some gossiping or something.

Her smile got wider. "And ruin my fun, probably not. It's funny watching you deal with the masses." She laughed.

I laughed and then winced.

Edythe's face changed into a pained expression.

"Now go and get some rest." She said warmly.

"Ok, see ya." I said as I turned to walk inside.

I watched Edythe's Volvo drive off, back towards the town. I really didn't know what to do with the rest of my day. My arm was still healing and it would probably take a day or so to be back to normal.

I walked upstairs to take a shower. The warm water would help with the pain in my back. I looked at myself in the mirror. My clothes were dirty from the mud in the parking lot. I took my shirt off to examine my shoulder and back. The bruising was right on track. I tried to move my arm around to keep it from getting stiff but the pain was too much.

I took my shower and layed down in my bed. I had TAV send a message to Alexi so he could bring me a new phone. Then I took a nap.

I woke up a few hours later. I made the mistake of rolling onto my bad arm. The pain was intense. I set up and cussed.

I looked at the clock on the wall, it was a little after 4:15. I had slept for most of the day. I went downstairs to check if Alexi had dropped off my new phone.

I knew I would have a lot of messages to respond to. Trish and my siblings were probably informed by now of my accident. I sighed, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I had been through worse before.

I opened the front door and there was a new iPhone box with a note. I picked both up and went back inside.

"Jaxon,

I heard you got hit by a car. Fun stuff. Here's a new phone. I have someone tailing Rictor. If he does something we will know.

Alexi,"

It was good that Alexi had Rictor being watched. I didn't trust that maggot. I walked to the couch and set down to start setting up the phone. It took about ten minutes to get the phone properly set up, and I was right, Trish had blew up my phone and Dave had called. Edythe had also sent me a text. I was only interested in Edythe's message.

"Text me whenever you get your new phone lol." Edythe

I smiled. She had sent this four hours ago. I wondered if she was still in school.

"So how was the rest of your day?" Jaxon

I figured Edythe would be driving home. I looked at Trish's messages. She would be frantic.

"JAXON WHAT THE HELL YOU GOT HIT BY A CAR!" Trish

"ARE YOU OKAY?" Trish

"Do you need to be airlifted to a hospital in Seattle?" Trish

I sighed. Trish could worry for the both of us.

I'm okay. My phone was busted in the accident. I just have a few scrapes. No concussion, no need to worry. I'm going to email my dad the paperwork. Jaxon

I sent Dave a message I didn't feel like talking to anyone. I smiled for a second. There was one person I wouldn't mind talking with.

"I'm okay, no need to worry." Jaxon

I sat the phone down on the couch and pulled the sling off my arm. The healing process should have the arm almost healed and usable again. The pain would stay for a week as if it were still fucked up.

My phone buzzed it was Edythe.

"It was okay except for the fact that my lab partner got hit by a car and missed our lunch date :)." Edythe

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Edythe

She was really nice. I wouldn't want to worry her. I hated that she spent her money for the medicine and I hoped she wouldn't be mad that I slipped the hundred dollar bill into her jacket.

"That sucks about your date, seems like he's a douche." Jaxon

"I'm okay, thanks for asking though." Jaxon

I walked over to the kitchen stretching my arm out as I walked. I wanted to sleep some more and the oxycodone would knock me out. If I slept it would give my body enough time to heal and then I would be right as rain except for the pain. I could handle the pain. I took the disgusting pill and washed it down with water.

I walked upstairs and laid back down. I grabbed my phone, it had been buzzing.

"Well I wouldn't call him that, but he can be a little crazy. Seriously, if you need something, call me. I don't have any homework, all the teachers kinda forgot about most of their lesson plans thanks to you lol." Edythe

I thought about it. I did want to talk to her but I had just taken that pill and it was kicking in. I sighed again.

"Well I guess I did do some good today lol. I'm okay for real. I just took another pill and it's going to make me fall asleep. I'll see you later. Goodnight Edythe." Jaxon

I smiled and layed my phone down.