No Longer

Chapter 28

YAYY I got internet back! Here it is.......

This chapter is ALMOST the final chapter of “No Longer’! It is written in an omniscient point of view. Meaning, the narrator is not in the story, simply explaining everything, and the narrator knows everything about everyone in the story. The narrator for this part and part of the next is not Laken as it was for the rest of the story. It is just someone looking down upon everything and feeling their feelings and hearing their thoughts and conversations.

For the first time in Jaxon’s life he felt true, unmatched, unheard of anguish. The pain of losing someone cannot be explained in words, rather it is something that has to be experienced for one to truly understand the power and influence it has over a person. Jaxon may have played the role of the tough guy but he was far from it then. Tears were pouring out of his red, blood shot eyes and every time he thought he had control over them, they came flooding down his cheeks with such fury and force he swore he felt them burning through his skin. His heart, though still beating, felt as if it were going to give out at any moment. And everything that was going through his mind was enough to drive a sane man crazy. He loved Laken, more than he or she had ever known. Until that moment, when he realized he lost her forever, he thought that she was just a means to an end; disposable. Now he knew what the famous phrase “you never know what you have until it’s gone” really meant. He had taken his precious Laken for granite, along with the love that they had shared. But no longer would he do that. Not to any women, ever again. He would keep his distance. No longer would he be an investigator for his mother. If he were to stay here, he would simply be a caregiver. Check in on each of his girls, but never get attached. He would never let himself feel this kind of pain again, never. Then again, Jason was merely her caregiver and look at him weeping over her body. 

Jason couldn’t keep himself together. Not even for a split second. Every order Marshal was giving him in order to try to help Laken and her son was going in one ear and out that other. He wanted so badly for her to be alright, but he couldn’t do anything to help. He knew Marshal was deluding himself into thinking he could save her. Jason knew the only thing they could do, one final act in Laken’s name, was to name her son Lucas. But he didn’t even know if Marshal had successfully gotten the child out of Laken’s womb. In that moment, he heard nothing; though he tried desperately to hear the sound of Laken’s heartbeat. And even though he couldn’t hear a thing, he felt. He felt wracked with guilt over his feelings for her. He felt like he had let her down. As if he was the reason she was dead. And he was, wasn’t he? He was the one who had taken her to the men’s side of the institution. He was the one who had made her stay with Zane. And he was the one who had insisted on being there for her even though he knew he couldn’t be the man she really deserved. From Laken’s death Jason realized something, something that would forever change him. He realized that he could no longer do what his mother had tasked him to do. To stay detached from the assets that he was to care for. He knew that he could no longer work there and he knew what had to be done. That’s why he grabbed the scalpel from Marshal’s hand.

Marshal was beside himself. Looking upon what had just transpired and thinking to himself thoughts that no man should ever think. He felt weak and useless. He had tried so hard to save her, Laken. He wanted, more than anything, for her to be okay. Why he had ever grown so attached to her was beyond him. He had worked in that institution since the day he was conceived and not once had he ever felt this way when an asset died. He had a theory on why he had such a strong pull towards Laken. He loved her. Not in the way that Jason or Jaxon had, but in more of a paternal way. He felt as though she was his child and his only duty on Earth was to protect her; save her from all the hurt and violence in the world. Then his own guilt took over as he realized that the very place she was, was the cause off all the pain she had ever felt and he had kept her there. He could have easily let her escape or taken her somewhere where she could get help. But alas, he kept his unity with his sister, Brenda, and did not betray her. If he had, Laken would still be alive and well. She would be hurt and scarred, but, in time, those scars would fade and she would blossom into the beautiful young woman she was born to be. Marshal now had to acknowledge the fact that he had let Laken down. He was here to keep her well and he had failed. No longer would he be failure. No longer would he do wrong by her. No, instead he would man up and take action. He had to finish delivering the baby boy. He had to fulfill Laken’s dying wish. He grabbed a scalpel and asked for, the only seemingly sane man left in the room, Zane’s help and went to make an incision when the scalpel was suddenly ripped from his hand.