Take me Home

Chapter 40

Chapter 40 

Jade was awake before Marcus. It was dark outside and inside the room. She was still lying on his chest listening to the sound of his heart. She tried to imagine this every day waking up beside Marcus, but when she tried all she got was a pounding at the front of her head. She laid there and tried to match her breathing with Marcus but found it impossible to keep up with his low deep breathing.

She felt him stir underneath her a few minutes later and heard him sigh as he wrapped his arms around her tighter. They both lied there, neither of them saying anything as darkness surrounded them.

"How long have you been up?" He asked in a husky voice as sleep was still with him. Jade went back to playing the chest again drawing random circles.

"A few minutes I think. I'm not sure." She felt like that was her answer to a lot of things lately. She used to be very positive about not only about herself, but her place in the world and now she felt that that person was so distant she would never get back to the strong woman she knew she used to be.

Marcus hummed and reached over to grab his phone to see what time it was. The bright screen illumined the room and he had to squint and turn down the brightness until his eyes adjusted. He saw a message from his brother saying he was going to start cooking dinner at 7 pm and it was now 7:30 pm so he knew it would be ready any minute.

"Marco is cooking dinner. Would you like to join us?" Jade stopped drawing circles and took a deep breath.

"I guess so." Marcus hummed and gentle moved Jade out of his arms and sat up. Jade followed as pushed herself up despite the ache in her arms. She looked down at her hands and Marcus couldn't stand the sad expression that was permanently etched into her face.

"You can stay here if you want and I can bring you something?" He offered, but she just shook her head.

"No, it's fine." Marcus knew Jade wheelchair was in the lounge room so he got up stretching his back out before grabbing a shirt that was thrown over his bed.

"I'll go get your chair."

"Wait. Can you carry me, please? I don't want to sit in it." Marcus looked at Jade through the darkness and saw her wringing her hands together like she was nervous he would say no.

"Of course." He watched Jade for a few more moments before he walked over and pick her up. And walked out of his room.

Marco was surprised when he came home to see Jade's wheelchair sitting in the lounge room. He was more surprised at how quiet it was in the house. He went to his brother's room and poked his head in and saw both Jade and Marcus asleep. Not wanting to disturb them he left them alone and started to cook dinner making sure to cook extra for Jade. He texted his brother once dinner was ready and smiled when he saw Marcus come out holding Jade.

"Hey, Jade." He wasn't sure what was going on with her, but the dark circles under her eyes and the lifeless look they held told him that she wasn't doing very well. He knew she was struggling, but they all were.

The tour was tough on everyone. It wasn't as clean cut as they hoped it would be and while everyone was trying to move on and forget about the traumatic events that occurred, it seemed like Jade was still stuck living those last few moments over and over again.

Marco wanted to feel for Jade he really did, but she didn't realise how selfish she was being. Yes, she was struggling to come to terms with what happened, but he almost lost her, his brother almost lost the woman he loved and she was putting him through hell for loving her. Jade wasn't the fiery woman he met all those months ago. It was almost like that woman who was ready to fight and take on the world was gone, and Marco wondered if maybe all that bravery was a facade and this was the real Jade Jennings who had been hiding this whole time.