Promises (Jack Gilinsky)

Chapter 69

"Jack?" I say, slowly taking steps towards the hospital bed.

I hear no response at first, but as I get close, I see his eyes open. The second he sees me, a small smile crosses his face. He slightly opens his mouth in an attempt to speak, but no words come out. He just looks at me.

Immediately, I feel tears in my eyes. My hand covers my mouth as I kneel down beside the bed. Every word that I try to say gets lost on it's way out, so I don't say anything at all. I just take his hand in mine, trying to hold back tears.

I can't believe this. He's awake. He may not be talking or moving, but I know that that's normal. After all, the doctor said it could be a while before he's fully recovered.

The first thing I think to do is go get somebody. So I quickly get up and practically run to the waiting room where I know everybody is waiting. However, I'm stopped on my way down the hall when I almost run right into Jack's doctor. To the best of my ability, I try to put words together to tell the doctor that he's awake. He eventually understands and goes right to the room while I go get the others.

When I see them all sitting there, I can't manage to get full words out. But just like the doctor, they all seem to understand.

Soon enough, we are all dashing into the hospital room where a small team of nurses and doctors have gathered around the bed. I quickly push my way in between everyone and make my way to the foot of the bed. The sight in front of me is remarkable, and it brings tears to my eyes instantly. But for once, they're tears of joy.

He isn't moving or speaking, but that doesn't matter to me right now. That should all come back eventually. All that I care about now is the fact that I'm done waiting. I'm done sitting in my bed at night, too anxious to sleep, wondering what will happen next. Now I at least know that he's okay. I don't have to worry.

.........

The next few hours go by in a blur. I was rushed out of the room within minutes, and so now I must patiently wait with the rest of the guys to see Jack again. Nobody has made an attempt to really speak, other than a few short comments that have just been brushed aside.

I've been debating on whether or not to speak to Johnson privately to try and patch up whatever damage I've caused, but I haven't mustered up the courage to yet. Even if I do, what would I say? I'm already terrible with words, and I know that almost anything I say could come out wrong in this situation. So, I instead decide to stay silent and just wait.

After about three hours, Jack's doctor comes into the waiting room. Long story short, he explains to us that Jack is awake and well, but it will be a few weeks until things are back to normal. So, he won't be talking or moving much, and he most likely won't be going back to school before its over, considering that it's already almost June.

We aren't allowed to go back in and see him again today, which I'm not very upset about. I know he's okay. Even though I would love to see his face, it's not what's important right now.

Once the doctor leaves the room, Nash gets up. "Okay, it's getting late, and I told my parents that Hayes and I would be home by ten. So I think we're gonna get going."

We get up to say goodbye to Nash and Hayes, and I give them each a hug. After they leave, everybody else follows. One by one, everybody eventually decides that it's time to go. So within the next twenty minutes, the only people left are Johnson and I.

I know that the guys did that on purpose. They made sure that Johnston and I would be the last two there just so they could get us to talk. And to make it even better, he is now my ride home.

We sit in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before he speaks up.

"'You were right," he says softly, turning to look at me from a few seats away.

I feel my eyebrows furrow in confusion as I speak. "Right about what?"

"Jack," he says bluntly. When I don't respond, he continues. "That stupid fight earlier happened because I didn't want you to get your hopes up. You were so sure that he would be okay, but I refused to let you believe it. And now, he's okay, and you were right."

I still don't say anything, mainly because I'm trying to figure out who go approach this.

"We should get going," Johnson suggests. He gets up without really waiting for me to say something. When he gets to the doorway, he turns around and slightly smirks. "Are you coming or what?"

I can't help but let a small smile slip into my face as I get up and follow him to the elevator. When the door opens, we step in and Jack hits the button. This is when I finally decided to speak.

"That stupid fight was all my fault." I say. "You had every reason to say what you said. I just overreacted like I always do."

He shakes his head. "No. You can't blame yourself for that. I shouldn't have said those things. All it did was make the problem worse."

"You can't be serious," I say lightly. "Everything you said is one hundred percent true. I made this more difficult for everybody. You were just the only one who had the guts to say it."

I see him smirk and look down when he starts talking. "I would try to argue with that, but I know that trying to prove you wrong is too hard to do."

I laugh at his remark, because we both know it's true and I'm too stubborn to let him win. The doors to the elevator open and we step out. When we reach the exit and get outside, I continue the conversation.

"I just wanted to say sorry," I tell him as we walk side by side. "The last thing I would ever want is for you to be mad at me for something stupid that I did."

"I was never mad at you," he says. "It's just that... Sometimes, I just want to protect you, and I'm not very good at showing it. So, I'm sorry, too."

By this point, we reach the car. Johnson comes around and opens the door for me (like he always does). Before I get in, I wrap my arms around him and pull him in close for a hug. He does the same to me, and when he does, I can form just one clear thought.

This is the way it's supposed to be.