the amnesiac

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I hear a knock on the door and my breath hitches. I stay completely still as the door opens slowly.

"Hannah?" I recognize that voice.

"Jack," I sob.

"Hannah," he says again as he frantically rushes towards the bed.

"What happened? Oh, God, are you okay?" He lifts my head off the pillow and holds me. I feel the blood in my body rush to my head. "Jack," I say into his shirt. He grabs my dress and pulls it on me quickly, zipping it up. "C'mon,I'm taking you home."

Jack lifts me off the bed and holds me against him. I grip his muscle tee and hide my face into his chest.

"We can't go out the front door. I know another way out."

I try to steady my breath as he rushes out of the room and away from the staircase. He opens a wooden door and I see another set of steps- a dark and dusty emergency staircase.

He runs down the steps and finds another door at the bottom that opens up to the side of the house. The gate is opened; Jack moves towards the car at the end of the street. "It's okay, Han, I've got you."

After what seems like hours, we finally reach the car. He opens up the back door while I'm still in his arms and lays me down on the back seat. He holds my cheek and sighs. I could see the fear in his eyes sis he pulls back and tasks out his phone.

"Troy, I need you to come to the car," he says quickly, out of breath. "Get Kate and come to the car. Now." He hangs up, closes the door, and steps into the driver's side of the car. The car speeds up and Jack turns the wheel quickly, resulting in a tire-squealing u-turn.

He pulls up in front of the house just as Kate and Troy are exiting the house. Jack rolls down the window and honks impatiently- and loudly, I might add.

"C'mon, c'mon," I hear him say under his breath.

Troy and Kate reach the car and Jack tells them to get in.

Kate looks behind him and spots me laying in the back seat. "What happened?" she asks. "Is she drunk?"

"Just get in!" Jack yells. Her eyes widen, taking in the situation, and quickly opens the door to the backseat and slides in next to me.

Troy steps into the passenger seat and Jack speeds off, just as everything goes black.

The next morning

I wake up on Jack's couch, still in my dress. A blanket is wrapped around me, and my head is aching. I look around, searching for someone-anyone, hoping for an explanation as to what is going on.

I hear a noise in the kitchen. "Jack?" I ask, my mouth dry. I see him walk out of the kitchen and stop as he sees me.

I look up at him and coughs. "Can I have some water, please?"

He blinks, then snaps out of it. "Yeah," he says as he turns around quickly. Within seconds, he is back with a glass of water and sitting down on the couch beside me.

"Are you alright?" he asks me, watching as I take a sip of the water. I shrug, not knowing what to say. "What happened?"

He sighs and looks at his hands. "No-nothing." He shakes his head. "It was nothing; you just fainted." He chuckles too nervously, and I wonder what he is thinking. "Are you alright?" I ask him. He looks at me, almost startled. He nods. "I'm fine."

"Where's Kate?" I ask.

"She went home with Troy to get some clothes for you." Jack motions to a pile of clothing on the coffee table across the room. "She went back home after she dropped them off though."

"Why didn't she just stay?" I ask.

He shrugs. "She was tired, I guess." I can't help but wonder what he isn't telling me, but I keep my mouth shut.

"Well, we hound get you home. Kate called your mom to ask if it was okay if you stayed at her house over the weekend. Of course, that's not where you really were." I nod and stand up, my knees feeling wobbly, but they don't fail on me.

I grab the clothes and head off towards the bathroom to change. Just before I get in, though, I turn towards Jack.

"Um, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, Kate kind of helped me into this dress, and, um," I sigh. "I can't reach the zipper." I look at Jack, who is staring at me with his mouth open. "Jack?"

He shakes his head and closes his mouth. "Yeah, I'll get it for you." He moves towards me and I turn around, holding my hair in front of me.

I feel Jack's hand grip the zipper and pull it down slowly as he stares at my bare back. My heart stops, and Jack keeps his hand on the zipper, speechless. I close my eyes and grip my hair, wondering which one of us will finally pull away.

I feel him let go of my dress and hear him turn. "Thanks," I mutter, then rush into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

I keep my hand on the doorknob and stare at the door in front of me, replaying the scene in my head. I'm out of breath, wondering what the hell just happened.

I sigh and let go of the knob, placing the clothes on the counter and pulling my dress off, trying not to think about Jack, or anything else for that matter.