Lover of Mine ~Chase Elliott

save us | 19

J A D E W R I G H T

All good things must come to an end and sadly the weekend did just that. I woke up, back in reality Monday morning. I naturally woke up at six o'clock in the morning, without a morning alarm. I had to stop myself from rolling out of bed and getting ready, I was jobless and it was unbearably hard to wrap my mind around that.

I was at my kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee, feeling empty as I searched for a new teaching gig. Job searching became unsuccessful quickly, seeing that there was no job openings anywhere in the area. I kept scrolling through trying to find alternatives jobs, maybe a job not too far out of town was there?

Clyde ❤️: Breakfast?

Jade: I'd like that 😊

Clyde ❤️: Pick you up in thirty minutes

I forced myself off the computer, putting my job situation far back into my mind. I went upstairs to got myself ready for the day.

Chase pulled up with his truck outside my house with a few minutes to spare.

"Good morning darling." Chase smiled as I swung myself into the passenger's seat.

"Morning handsome." I chuckled, leaning over the middle console, pecking his cheek. "What's for breakfast?"

"Anywhere you'd like." He commented, pulling his truck out of the driveway, after much debate we settled on our regular coffee and pastries shop downtown. "You ready for tonight?" He asked, taking a quick glancing at me.

"Yeah, I think I am." I forced a nervous smile. I did a lot of reflecting last night about the roles I was about to play in Mackenzie's life, and how crucial it was more than ever for me to be that good role model for her. I can't imagine the roller coaster of experiences she got with Lauren as her mother and how destructive they were to Mackenzie's childhood.

"Like I said before Mackenzie will be just fine." Chase placed his hand on my knee, giving me comfort.

After the accident, losing the baby, I never thought I'd step into a motherly role ever again. I had constructed up so much expectation, happiness, it was all built up but my world came crashing down. I lost everything in a matter of seconds and I was convinced I'd never have those things ever again. Apart of me was scared, scared that maybe I wasn't everything Mackenzie needed, afraid that I would fail her in some way or another.

| f l a s h b a c k |

Numbness struck my body, the world spun around. I was dazed and confused, uncertain of my surroundings. In a snap of a finger it seemed like I was back into reality, completely and utterly aware of my surroundings and the event that had just taken place.

"Thomas." I whispered, frantically jumping up to my feet. "Tho- Ah, shit." I groaned placing a hand on my stomach which was piercing with pain. "Thomas!" I yelled again as another wave of pain washed over me.

I came up to a clearing, finally finding the road we were on. Glass crunched beneath my feet as I followed the tire tracks down the road.

"Thomas!" I yelled again. Another pain shot through my stomach, making me hunch over in pain. I didn't know what this all meant, but I could imagine that what I was feeling wasn't something good. "Hang in there baby."

"Jade!" I heard a voice scream out. I followed the clanking sound, down into a ditch, there laid Thomas, slightly leaned up against the tree, putting a huge amount of pressure on his leg to contain bleeding.

"Thomas!" I yelled, descending into the ditch. "I'm here Thomas, stay with me." I pleaded. "HELP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. My head started spinning as I screamed  louder and louder, hearing a faint ambulance sirens in the distance.

"Jade, what's wrong?" Thomas questioned, gingerly scooting towards me.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not Jade." Thomas groaned in pain. I'd never experience what it was like being so near to death, but in that moment, I'm pretty sure that's what I was feeling. As the adrenaline started fading from my body, the more I felt like my body was shutting itself down. "Jade, hey, holy fuck you're bleeding-"

I looked down seeing my jeans stained with blood. I already knew what was happening and every pain that I felt in my stomach as me having a miscarriage, but I didn't want to believe it.

"I love you Thomas." I mumbled as my vision started blacking out...

"Jade, hey! Stay with me! Jade, don't leave! I love you!"

| h o s p i t a l |

My eyes fluttered open, hearing a constant beeping sound. Confused and dazed, I looked around and spotted someone standing in the corner with a clipboard.

"H-"

"Don't speak honey." The person rushed closer. "I'm nurse Lena, you have a breathing tube down your throat, so try not to speak." She calmly instructed, pushing a call button on the wall. Another nurse and a doctor rushed in, checking my vitals without saying anything.

"Jade, I'm Dr. Pierce. You were in an accident a couple hours ago. You took quite a hit and we had to get you into surgery."

I tried to speak but nothing came out. It was hard being silent when I had so many unanswered questions.

"Here sweetie." A nurse said handing me a pen and paper. I shakily grabbed the pen and wrote down two simple words.

Thomas? Baby?

The nurses and doctor all looked at each other blankly, nobody knew what to say. Their actions and body language said it all.

"Thomas went into surgery, his injuries were extensive. He had internal bleeding and crush injuries that were beyond repair. Dr. Thompson did everything he could. And as for your baby, our best fetal surgeon did everything he could. We had to do an emergency c-section, so we took the baby out. He wasn't breathing and we did everything, but we couldn't get his heart beating again, the trauma and impact of the accident was just too much."

He. It was a boy?

I laid there for hours, processing everything. Coming to terms that I'd lost everything. I felt alone. Natalie came rushing in, not too long after I revived the devastating news, pulling me into the biggest hug, crying.

Natalie was just about all I had left...

| e n d   o f   f l a s h b a c k |

After breakfast, Chase and I hung out at his house until Mackenzie was brought back from school by Kayleigh and Ryan.

"Yeah-"

"I'm home dad!" Mackenzie's voice echoed, followed by the footing slamming shut. Chase glanced over, putting an arm around me, seeing I was tensing up.

"In the living room!" Chase called back.

"School isn't the same-" Mackenzie begins to comment but stops seeing me on the couch. "Ms. Wright? What are you doing here?"

"Hi sweetie." I smiled as she came up to hug me.

"There's something we want to talk about with you."