Christmas Eve drew to an end to soon. I never wanted the night to end. I wanted to stay in my hotel room and dance with Jake until the world came to end, but sadly that wasn’t the case. We went back to his house and lay in his room talking for hours, when we both just suddenly crashed.
I lay there with my head on his chest, hand on his shoulder. His arm around me gently. Twice I stirred and the third I finally realized I hadn’t even changed out of the jeans and t-shirt I had put back on before leaving the hotel. I shrugged it off and closed my eyes again. Then a voice whispered from the dark. “I love you, Kels.” it said.
I didn’t notice the fact that Jake was asleep, but I thought it was him. “I love you, too, Jakey.” I whispered back.
“Jakey? I ain’t no Jake!” the voice said harshly.
I started waking up some, thinking I knew the voice. Quickly I got my phone out from under my side and speed dialed Kurt. “Get in here.” I whispered just loud enough he would have heard it.
I heard a click and feet on the phone and then I looked up. Right I had been to think I knew the voice. “What are you doing here, Dan?” I asked, yawning.
“Getting my girl. Now come on.” he whispered.
“I’m not your girl!” I said quietly. “I’m Jake’s girl.”
“No you ain’t! You’re my girl!” he said. “And I’m make it to where you haven’t any other choice but to come back with me!”
I saw a silvery flash and knew what he was going to. “Jake!” I screamed and pushed myself over him, my back to Daniel.
Daniel didn’t have time to stop himself, the knife sank into my back more than once, I lost count after the first, so I assumed it had been the end. I screamed out in pain. Jake woke up. “Kel!” he shouted. “KURT! CALL THE POLICE!”
Tears slide down my cheeks and Jake slid out from under me. “J-Jake.” I whispered. My head was facing his, he was crying to. I felt him take my hand in his. “I love you.”
His hand tightened around mine. “I love you, too.” he whispered back.
I smiled faintly before I blacked out. When I woke up, it was Christmas. It was 8:52 PM by the clock hanging on the wall in front of my bed. “Jake.” I whispered looking around.
Kurt stood and put his finger to his lips. He walked over to me and took my hand gently. “It’s the first time he’s slept since he heard you screaming.” he whispered.
I nodded understandingly. Suddenly a sharp pain ran through my spine, causing me to grip onto Kurt’s hand tightly. It let up after a minute and I let go off Kurt’s hand. I knew I had drawn blood by accident. “I’m so sorry, Kurt.” I whispered, looking at his hand.
I had pierced the skin in three places with my nails. “It’s fine. You didn’t mean to.” he whispered. “But you have a lot of explaining to do to Jake when he wakes up. You had him worried half to death.”
“That’s what I was protecting him from. Death. He’s not allowed to worry himself half way there.” I whispered, sternly.
He chuckled and shook his head as the doctor came in. “Miss Schott, it’s good to see you’ve woke.” she said and wrote something down on her clipboard. “I’m afraid everyone needs to leave the room, including the sleeping boy.”
Kurt nodded and walked over to Jake, who had his legs drawn up into the chair with him. It amazed me that Kurt could lift him and carry him out of the room without Jake even stirring, amazed but happy. Jake needed his sleep. The doctor helped me to sit up and unwrapped me gently.
The bandage was bloodier than I would have thought one of would been. I had only been stabbed once, hadn’t I? “Doctor, uh,” I paused and tried to focus on her name tag, “Jackie, how many times was I stabbed?”
She looked at me and tried to decide if she should tell me. “Three.” she said after a few minutes. “We still don’t know who the suspect is. No one saw him.”
“I did. I know him.” I whispered as she wrapped a clean bandage around me.
She looked at me. “Oh, honey, they always think they know the guy.” she said. “Lay back down.”
I did as I was told to do, and lay back down slowly. “Hey, doc, you got some Advil or something?” I asked.
“We might. Why?” she asked.
“You, know, the usual. Back pains and such.” I said and laughed quietly. “My stomach is killing me.”
“You’re probably just hungry. I’ll bring you something to munch on soon.” she said and left.
Not a minute later Jake ran in on his own power. “Kelsey Alyssa Schott!” he said taking my hand. “How dare you nearly get yourself killed for me!?”
“Pretty easy. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.” I whispered to him.
He had tears streaming down his cheeks. I reached up and gently wiped them away. “What if I had lost you?” he whispered.
“You would have found someone a thousand times better than me.” I told him.
“No, I wouldn’t have. I would have never left the burial site. Snow, rain, not even hurricane would move me.” he said.
I had tears streaming down my own cheeks now. “It doesn't matter. I’m here. You’re here. We’re alive. We’re together. That’s what matters, Jakey.” I smiled softly at him.
He nodded and kissed my hand gently. I used my other hand to put the head of the hospital bed up, to help me sit up. “Where are the others?” I asked.
“They wanted to give me a few minutes to talk to you. Do you want me to let them in?”
I nodded and then looked at the calendar on the wall. All the days of December were crossed out up until the 25th. “Oh, no.” I whispered and looked at the others as they came in. “I’m so sorry you guys have to spend your Christmas in the hospital.” I said as Kurt brought up the rear.
The door closed and Bekka took my empty hand. “A hospital is better than planning a funeral.” Iggy said, leaning against the now closed door.
“Yeah, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” Bekka said.
“You saved Jake’s life. We should be saying sorry to you.” Kurt said.
"No, you shouldn’t. It’s my fault that creep showed up.” I said.
“You know him?” Jake asked.
I nodded and closed my eyes. “I used to think he was my friend. When Jake and I first got together, I sent him a text and told him I had a great boyfriend. He sounded cool with it and like he had never liked me in the first place. I called him a few days later, three to exact, because it was his birthday. I wished him a happy birthday but he sounded bummed, so I asked what was wrong.
“Like any other guy would have said he told me he was just having a bad day. He never said that he still had feelings for me. Then I told him the other day I was flying to Florida to surprise you all. He followed me and somehow, broke into the house and found the phone he was tracking, mine. I was half asleep when he came in and Jake was out like a light.
“He knew I was half-awake so he whispered that he loved me. I thought that it was Jake and I whispered ‘I love you, too, Jakey.’ He freaked out, said a few other things and the next thing I know, I’m pushing myself over Jake protecting him from getting killed. I thought I’d only been stabbed once, but according to the doc it was three times.”
I concluded my story, my eyes still closed as if I was having trouble remembering. I wasn’t. Not even in the slightest. I remembered every detail vividly. The truth was… I didn’t want to have to look at their faces when I told them what had happened.
“You… you know his name though, right? What he looks like?” a voice came from the door.
I opened my eyes and saw a man I knew from Facebook, through Daniel. “Out. I want him out.” I said harshly.
“Hey, now, hear me out.” he said, looking at the bunch of people surrounding me.
“You know him?” Jake asked me.
“H-he’s Daniel’s twin brother. Daniel… the one who stabbed me.” I said.
Daniel’s twin shifted his weight from one foot to the next. “If you talked him about me then you know well I am nothing like him and he hates my guts.” he said.
“What’s your name?” Jake asked.
“Jake.” I said.
“What?” he asked, looking back at me.
“That’s his name. Jake.” I said.
“I just came to see she’s alright. Daniel used to speak highly of her when I visited him on his many trips to the hospital. I had a hard time believing when he called and told me what he’d done.” Jake said.
My Jake took my hand in his. “I think it best you leave.” I said.
He nodded and stepped out the door, turning his back and leaving. “The nerve of him coming in here unwelcomed.” Bekka said.
Half the room had shifted towards the door by then, Kurt and Iggy near the front. I closed my eyes again, tears slipping down my cheeks. Three times. He’s stabbed me three times, fled, then called his brother? How stupid was he? “Kel-Kel?” Jake said softly.
“Hm?” I asked.
“Do you need some time alone?” he asked.
I held his hand tighter. “Hell to the no.” I replied, opening my eyes and looking at him. “I need my Jakey and his family right here with me."
Bekka smiled and squeezed the hand she was still holding. “There’s one more thing…” she said quietly.
“You’re parents are on their way.” Kate said. She was holding Carol in her arms.
I smiled at Carol then looked at the others. “Mom’ll probably say I told you so, and my dad will probably be sizing you guys up, seeing how many he can take down.” I laughed lightly.
“Even though we didn’t do it?” Jake asked, confused.
“Daddy don’t care who did it. He found out the day I left I was with Jake for two years without telling any of them, not even my cousin.” I told him.
“What day did you leave?” Bekka asked.
I raised the corner of my mouth slightly in a grin. “Yesterday.”
That earned a laugh for a few minutes. They knew I hadn’t told, and they knew I had a reason. Until I had turned eighteen I was under my parents’ jurisdiction. Since Christmas wasn’t even two months later, I figured why not save the money I got for my eighteenth birthday and fly to Florida. If I had told sooner, there would have been no way I would have been able to talk to Jake again. All my privileges would have been taken away.
Jake only cared that I had told my parents I was coming to Florida to meet my boyfriend’s family, and I have even stepped it up one. I had told them, “I’m going to Florida to meet my boyfriend of two years and his family for the first time. I’ll come back when I’m ready so don’t bother stopping me, since I’m eighteen. I’ve been telling you for just less than two years that I wanted to fly to Florida to see Bekka, well Bekka is in some way related to Jake.”
It had been the moment my brother had waited for eighteen years to happen. He had been so excited when I told him I had finally stood up to mom and dad, telling them I had had a boyfriend for two years without them even knowing it. He hadn’t even known about Jake so when I told him he just sounded dumbfounded but happy for me.
It was hard to believe my brother had been happy for me for once in my life but it had actually happened. He was happy and I didn’t know why, but I was close to crying when he told me he was happy for me. I’d hugged him and then ran out the door to the car waiting. One of my friends had promised to drive me to the airport and she did. I was so happy and she knew it.
I opened my eyes again and looked around. My parents were there now. “Jakey?” I whispered.
The hand he had been holding was cold, but Bekka was still holding my hand. She was like a sister to me already; she had been two years before. “He’s talking to your daddy, sissy boo.” Bekka whispered.
I turned my head to face her. “How long was I asleep?” I asked.
“About two hours.” she told me.
“I didn’t even know I was asleep. I thought I was just thinking.” I told her.
My dad looked over at me and then Jake did. Within seconds Jake’s hand was in mine again. “How you feeling, baby girl?” he asked.
“You’re not dead.” I smiled.
“Didn’t you say she woke up and spoke to you earlier?” my father asked. “Wouldn’t she know you’re not dead?”
“Please, daddy, I’ve slept since then.” I laughed and winked.
He always forgot things and that was always his reason. He’d slept since then. I got a chuckle out of him and then he looked at Jake again, then back at me. “That’s the boy then?” he asked.
I squeezed Jake’s hand gently. “Yeah, this is the boy that stole my heart away two years ago.” I smiled at Jake brightly.
He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Is there something you were going to say to Kelsey, Mr. Schott?” Jake asked.
My father sighed and looked at him. "I told you that you could call me Matt, son" he told Jake.
It was just like my father to call someone son, but it wasn't like him to call someone son if he had just met him, let alone just found out he had been my boyfriend for two years and that I was going to visit him in Florida, then wind up in a hospital having nearly been stabbed to death. "I know, but Mr. Schott is more poliet when addressing my girlfriend's father." Jake smiled.
I looked at Jake and then my dad. It had to have been a good sign if my dad was letting Jake call him Matt. My dad looked back at me. “Sucks being in the hospital on Christmas without a little something to cheer ya up.” he said and handed me something in a box.
I took it out of the box and looked at it. “Daddy, why are you giving me my phone for Christmas?” I asked.
“Call speed dial one.” he told me.
I did what I was told and after a short ring there was an answer. “Officer Greg. What can I do you?” my cousin Greg said.
I looked at my dad and then answer. “Greg? It’s Kelsey.” I said quietly.
“Kelsey? You mean the one that got herself stabbed in the back five times?” he asked.
I shot a look at the doctor who had just come back in. “Hang on, Greg.” I said and put my hand over the phone. “Three times my aunt petunia.” I scowled at the doctor.
“Didn’t want to send you into shock.” she muttered.
I put the phone back to my ear. “My daddy wanted me to call you…” I said slowly.
“Oh, for good reason. There was a warrant out for an arrest, and I’ll be darned if I wasn’t the one who arrested the very man who stabbed you.” he told me.
I looked up at my dad. “Greg, did you really just say you get him? How’d he get back to Bethalto so fast?” I asked.
“Said he had a round trip ticket. Said he was gonna turn himself in, but I arrested him ‘fore he could.”
“Tell him I said to go rot in hell, would ya?” I asked.
“Sure thing, Kels. And tell your pops to give me a ring when you get outta there.”
“Will do, Greg.”
I hit the end call button and squeezed Jake’s hand. Bekka had let go of my hand so I could call Greg. “They got him.” I whispered. “They caught him. They arrested him. And Greg wants you to call him when I get out of here, Dad.”
Jake squeezed my hand gently and then looked at my father again. “Okay, so that wasn’t the real present. The real one is a new laptop. We knew you had to save all your stuff to flash drives because your laptop isn’t working right recently so we went and got you a new one.” my mom said.
“Jake, could you put my head up for me?” I asked softly.
He nodded and raised the head of the bed until I was sitting up as much as I could. “I love you guys. I know I don’t say it much, but I really do.” I told them.
“We love you too.” my mom said.
“So does your brother. He just doesn’t have the words to say it.” my dad said.
“I know, but I have the words.” I smiled.
“We have to go check into the hotel. We’ll be back soon.” dad said.
I nodded and smiled. “Drive safe.”
They nodded and left the hospital room. “Jakey, it’s got to be good he’s letting you call him by his first name.” I said as soon as the door closed.
He nodded and smiled. “He said if I hurt you there will be hell to pay, but as long as there isn’t hell to pay, he pretty much gave me permission to be yours.”
“Aww, was that what he was supposed to tell me?” I asked.
He nodded and smiled. “Why didn’t you tell us your laptop didn’t work? We would have tried getting you a new one. You worked so hard to get here for us it was the least that we could have done.” Bekka said.
I shook my head. “I was going to buy a new one next week, and I didn’t know my parents knew my old one wasn’t working.” I told her.
He squeezed my hand gently. I looked at Jake and smiled. “When I get out of here, we’ll go to the beach. Just us two.”
Suddenly everyone started leaving the room, everyone except Jake. “We’ll call you parents and ask them to come back in the morning.” Bekka said closing the door behind her.
I looked at Jake and smiled. Carefully I moved over for him to sit down on the bed next to me. He smiled and sat next to, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “You’re lucky to be alive.” he whispered. “You know that, right?”
“No, I’m not. I’m too stubborn to die. I am, however, lucky to have you here with me.”
I lay there with my head on his chest, hand on his shoulder. His arm around me gently. Twice I stirred and the third I finally realized I hadn’t even changed out of the jeans and t-shirt I had put back on before leaving the hotel. I shrugged it off and closed my eyes again. Then a voice whispered from the dark. “I love you, Kels.” it said.
I didn’t notice the fact that Jake was asleep, but I thought it was him. “I love you, too, Jakey.” I whispered back.
“Jakey? I ain’t no Jake!” the voice said harshly.
I started waking up some, thinking I knew the voice. Quickly I got my phone out from under my side and speed dialed Kurt. “Get in here.” I whispered just loud enough he would have heard it.
I heard a click and feet on the phone and then I looked up. Right I had been to think I knew the voice. “What are you doing here, Dan?” I asked, yawning.
“Getting my girl. Now come on.” he whispered.
“I’m not your girl!” I said quietly. “I’m Jake’s girl.”
“No you ain’t! You’re my girl!” he said. “And I’m make it to where you haven’t any other choice but to come back with me!”
I saw a silvery flash and knew what he was going to. “Jake!” I screamed and pushed myself over him, my back to Daniel.
Daniel didn’t have time to stop himself, the knife sank into my back more than once, I lost count after the first, so I assumed it had been the end. I screamed out in pain. Jake woke up. “Kel!” he shouted. “KURT! CALL THE POLICE!”
Tears slide down my cheeks and Jake slid out from under me. “J-Jake.” I whispered. My head was facing his, he was crying to. I felt him take my hand in his. “I love you.”
His hand tightened around mine. “I love you, too.” he whispered back.
I smiled faintly before I blacked out. When I woke up, it was Christmas. It was 8:52 PM by the clock hanging on the wall in front of my bed. “Jake.” I whispered looking around.
Kurt stood and put his finger to his lips. He walked over to me and took my hand gently. “It’s the first time he’s slept since he heard you screaming.” he whispered.
I nodded understandingly. Suddenly a sharp pain ran through my spine, causing me to grip onto Kurt’s hand tightly. It let up after a minute and I let go off Kurt’s hand. I knew I had drawn blood by accident. “I’m so sorry, Kurt.” I whispered, looking at his hand.
I had pierced the skin in three places with my nails. “It’s fine. You didn’t mean to.” he whispered. “But you have a lot of explaining to do to Jake when he wakes up. You had him worried half to death.”
“That’s what I was protecting him from. Death. He’s not allowed to worry himself half way there.” I whispered, sternly.
He chuckled and shook his head as the doctor came in. “Miss Schott, it’s good to see you’ve woke.” she said and wrote something down on her clipboard. “I’m afraid everyone needs to leave the room, including the sleeping boy.”
Kurt nodded and walked over to Jake, who had his legs drawn up into the chair with him. It amazed me that Kurt could lift him and carry him out of the room without Jake even stirring, amazed but happy. Jake needed his sleep. The doctor helped me to sit up and unwrapped me gently.
The bandage was bloodier than I would have thought one of would been. I had only been stabbed once, hadn’t I? “Doctor, uh,” I paused and tried to focus on her name tag, “Jackie, how many times was I stabbed?”
She looked at me and tried to decide if she should tell me. “Three.” she said after a few minutes. “We still don’t know who the suspect is. No one saw him.”
“I did. I know him.” I whispered as she wrapped a clean bandage around me.
She looked at me. “Oh, honey, they always think they know the guy.” she said. “Lay back down.”
I did as I was told to do, and lay back down slowly. “Hey, doc, you got some Advil or something?” I asked.
“We might. Why?” she asked.
“You, know, the usual. Back pains and such.” I said and laughed quietly. “My stomach is killing me.”
“You’re probably just hungry. I’ll bring you something to munch on soon.” she said and left.
Not a minute later Jake ran in on his own power. “Kelsey Alyssa Schott!” he said taking my hand. “How dare you nearly get yourself killed for me!?”
“Pretty easy. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.” I whispered to him.
He had tears streaming down his cheeks. I reached up and gently wiped them away. “What if I had lost you?” he whispered.
“You would have found someone a thousand times better than me.” I told him.
“No, I wouldn’t have. I would have never left the burial site. Snow, rain, not even hurricane would move me.” he said.
I had tears streaming down my own cheeks now. “It doesn't matter. I’m here. You’re here. We’re alive. We’re together. That’s what matters, Jakey.” I smiled softly at him.
He nodded and kissed my hand gently. I used my other hand to put the head of the hospital bed up, to help me sit up. “Where are the others?” I asked.
“They wanted to give me a few minutes to talk to you. Do you want me to let them in?”
I nodded and then looked at the calendar on the wall. All the days of December were crossed out up until the 25th. “Oh, no.” I whispered and looked at the others as they came in. “I’m so sorry you guys have to spend your Christmas in the hospital.” I said as Kurt brought up the rear.
The door closed and Bekka took my empty hand. “A hospital is better than planning a funeral.” Iggy said, leaning against the now closed door.
“Yeah, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” Bekka said.
“You saved Jake’s life. We should be saying sorry to you.” Kurt said.
"No, you shouldn’t. It’s my fault that creep showed up.” I said.
“You know him?” Jake asked.
I nodded and closed my eyes. “I used to think he was my friend. When Jake and I first got together, I sent him a text and told him I had a great boyfriend. He sounded cool with it and like he had never liked me in the first place. I called him a few days later, three to exact, because it was his birthday. I wished him a happy birthday but he sounded bummed, so I asked what was wrong.
“Like any other guy would have said he told me he was just having a bad day. He never said that he still had feelings for me. Then I told him the other day I was flying to Florida to surprise you all. He followed me and somehow, broke into the house and found the phone he was tracking, mine. I was half asleep when he came in and Jake was out like a light.
“He knew I was half-awake so he whispered that he loved me. I thought that it was Jake and I whispered ‘I love you, too, Jakey.’ He freaked out, said a few other things and the next thing I know, I’m pushing myself over Jake protecting him from getting killed. I thought I’d only been stabbed once, but according to the doc it was three times.”
I concluded my story, my eyes still closed as if I was having trouble remembering. I wasn’t. Not even in the slightest. I remembered every detail vividly. The truth was… I didn’t want to have to look at their faces when I told them what had happened.
“You… you know his name though, right? What he looks like?” a voice came from the door.
I opened my eyes and saw a man I knew from Facebook, through Daniel. “Out. I want him out.” I said harshly.
“Hey, now, hear me out.” he said, looking at the bunch of people surrounding me.
“You know him?” Jake asked me.
“H-he’s Daniel’s twin brother. Daniel… the one who stabbed me.” I said.
Daniel’s twin shifted his weight from one foot to the next. “If you talked him about me then you know well I am nothing like him and he hates my guts.” he said.
“What’s your name?” Jake asked.
“Jake.” I said.
“What?” he asked, looking back at me.
“That’s his name. Jake.” I said.
“I just came to see she’s alright. Daniel used to speak highly of her when I visited him on his many trips to the hospital. I had a hard time believing when he called and told me what he’d done.” Jake said.
My Jake took my hand in his. “I think it best you leave.” I said.
He nodded and stepped out the door, turning his back and leaving. “The nerve of him coming in here unwelcomed.” Bekka said.
Half the room had shifted towards the door by then, Kurt and Iggy near the front. I closed my eyes again, tears slipping down my cheeks. Three times. He’s stabbed me three times, fled, then called his brother? How stupid was he? “Kel-Kel?” Jake said softly.
“Hm?” I asked.
“Do you need some time alone?” he asked.
I held his hand tighter. “Hell to the no.” I replied, opening my eyes and looking at him. “I need my Jakey and his family right here with me."
Bekka smiled and squeezed the hand she was still holding. “There’s one more thing…” she said quietly.
“You’re parents are on their way.” Kate said. She was holding Carol in her arms.
I smiled at Carol then looked at the others. “Mom’ll probably say I told you so, and my dad will probably be sizing you guys up, seeing how many he can take down.” I laughed lightly.
“Even though we didn’t do it?” Jake asked, confused.
“Daddy don’t care who did it. He found out the day I left I was with Jake for two years without telling any of them, not even my cousin.” I told him.
“What day did you leave?” Bekka asked.
I raised the corner of my mouth slightly in a grin. “Yesterday.”
That earned a laugh for a few minutes. They knew I hadn’t told, and they knew I had a reason. Until I had turned eighteen I was under my parents’ jurisdiction. Since Christmas wasn’t even two months later, I figured why not save the money I got for my eighteenth birthday and fly to Florida. If I had told sooner, there would have been no way I would have been able to talk to Jake again. All my privileges would have been taken away.
Jake only cared that I had told my parents I was coming to Florida to meet my boyfriend’s family, and I have even stepped it up one. I had told them, “I’m going to Florida to meet my boyfriend of two years and his family for the first time. I’ll come back when I’m ready so don’t bother stopping me, since I’m eighteen. I’ve been telling you for just less than two years that I wanted to fly to Florida to see Bekka, well Bekka is in some way related to Jake.”
It had been the moment my brother had waited for eighteen years to happen. He had been so excited when I told him I had finally stood up to mom and dad, telling them I had had a boyfriend for two years without them even knowing it. He hadn’t even known about Jake so when I told him he just sounded dumbfounded but happy for me.
It was hard to believe my brother had been happy for me for once in my life but it had actually happened. He was happy and I didn’t know why, but I was close to crying when he told me he was happy for me. I’d hugged him and then ran out the door to the car waiting. One of my friends had promised to drive me to the airport and she did. I was so happy and she knew it.
I opened my eyes again and looked around. My parents were there now. “Jakey?” I whispered.
The hand he had been holding was cold, but Bekka was still holding my hand. She was like a sister to me already; she had been two years before. “He’s talking to your daddy, sissy boo.” Bekka whispered.
I turned my head to face her. “How long was I asleep?” I asked.
“About two hours.” she told me.
“I didn’t even know I was asleep. I thought I was just thinking.” I told her.
My dad looked over at me and then Jake did. Within seconds Jake’s hand was in mine again. “How you feeling, baby girl?” he asked.
“You’re not dead.” I smiled.
“Didn’t you say she woke up and spoke to you earlier?” my father asked. “Wouldn’t she know you’re not dead?”
“Please, daddy, I’ve slept since then.” I laughed and winked.
He always forgot things and that was always his reason. He’d slept since then. I got a chuckle out of him and then he looked at Jake again, then back at me. “That’s the boy then?” he asked.
I squeezed Jake’s hand gently. “Yeah, this is the boy that stole my heart away two years ago.” I smiled at Jake brightly.
He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Is there something you were going to say to Kelsey, Mr. Schott?” Jake asked.
My father sighed and looked at him. "I told you that you could call me Matt, son" he told Jake.
It was just like my father to call someone son, but it wasn't like him to call someone son if he had just met him, let alone just found out he had been my boyfriend for two years and that I was going to visit him in Florida, then wind up in a hospital having nearly been stabbed to death. "I know, but Mr. Schott is more poliet when addressing my girlfriend's father." Jake smiled.
I looked at Jake and then my dad. It had to have been a good sign if my dad was letting Jake call him Matt. My dad looked back at me. “Sucks being in the hospital on Christmas without a little something to cheer ya up.” he said and handed me something in a box.
I took it out of the box and looked at it. “Daddy, why are you giving me my phone for Christmas?” I asked.
“Call speed dial one.” he told me.
I did what I was told and after a short ring there was an answer. “Officer Greg. What can I do you?” my cousin Greg said.
I looked at my dad and then answer. “Greg? It’s Kelsey.” I said quietly.
“Kelsey? You mean the one that got herself stabbed in the back five times?” he asked.
I shot a look at the doctor who had just come back in. “Hang on, Greg.” I said and put my hand over the phone. “Three times my aunt petunia.” I scowled at the doctor.
“Didn’t want to send you into shock.” she muttered.
I put the phone back to my ear. “My daddy wanted me to call you…” I said slowly.
“Oh, for good reason. There was a warrant out for an arrest, and I’ll be darned if I wasn’t the one who arrested the very man who stabbed you.” he told me.
I looked up at my dad. “Greg, did you really just say you get him? How’d he get back to Bethalto so fast?” I asked.
“Said he had a round trip ticket. Said he was gonna turn himself in, but I arrested him ‘fore he could.”
“Tell him I said to go rot in hell, would ya?” I asked.
“Sure thing, Kels. And tell your pops to give me a ring when you get outta there.”
“Will do, Greg.”
I hit the end call button and squeezed Jake’s hand. Bekka had let go of my hand so I could call Greg. “They got him.” I whispered. “They caught him. They arrested him. And Greg wants you to call him when I get out of here, Dad.”
Jake squeezed my hand gently and then looked at my father again. “Okay, so that wasn’t the real present. The real one is a new laptop. We knew you had to save all your stuff to flash drives because your laptop isn’t working right recently so we went and got you a new one.” my mom said.
“Jake, could you put my head up for me?” I asked softly.
He nodded and raised the head of the bed until I was sitting up as much as I could. “I love you guys. I know I don’t say it much, but I really do.” I told them.
“We love you too.” my mom said.
“So does your brother. He just doesn’t have the words to say it.” my dad said.
“I know, but I have the words.” I smiled.
“We have to go check into the hotel. We’ll be back soon.” dad said.
I nodded and smiled. “Drive safe.”
They nodded and left the hospital room. “Jakey, it’s got to be good he’s letting you call him by his first name.” I said as soon as the door closed.
He nodded and smiled. “He said if I hurt you there will be hell to pay, but as long as there isn’t hell to pay, he pretty much gave me permission to be yours.”
“Aww, was that what he was supposed to tell me?” I asked.
He nodded and smiled. “Why didn’t you tell us your laptop didn’t work? We would have tried getting you a new one. You worked so hard to get here for us it was the least that we could have done.” Bekka said.
I shook my head. “I was going to buy a new one next week, and I didn’t know my parents knew my old one wasn’t working.” I told her.
He squeezed my hand gently. I looked at Jake and smiled. “When I get out of here, we’ll go to the beach. Just us two.”
Suddenly everyone started leaving the room, everyone except Jake. “We’ll call you parents and ask them to come back in the morning.” Bekka said closing the door behind her.
I looked at Jake and smiled. Carefully I moved over for him to sit down on the bed next to me. He smiled and sat next to, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “You’re lucky to be alive.” he whispered. “You know that, right?”
“No, I’m not. I’m too stubborn to die. I am, however, lucky to have you here with me.”