Chapter 10: Panic

"You have no idea how fast my heart races when i see you."

"I can sign Jaimie-mae out," Madison argued.

"You aren't really her legal guardian though," Justin pointed out.

"Well, do you expect her to stay here for two more days until her mother gets back? There's no reason to stay for two more days. We can't leave her here by herself."

"Fine. Talk to the nurse and see if you can do that."

Jaimie-mae watched Fabian's mom as she walked up to the front desk. Her small wedged heels clicked against the ground and the sound was so very familiar. She shook her head to rid herself of the memories and she took a small shaky breath.

"Hey, are you alright?" Fabian asked quietly as he stooped down to be a little closer to her.

"Huh?" She turned her head to look at him. "Oh yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

She gave him a small hesitant smile. "Yeah, im good."

Jaimie-mae looked back towards the front desk and watched Madison and the lady in scrubs converse back and forth with each other. Soon Madison's face grew a small content smile and she turned around and came back towards them.

"I signed her out."

Justin shook his head with a smile. "What can't my wife do?"

She grinned at him and walked out the sliding doors of the hospital. Her family followed closely behind but Jaimie-mae kind of slipped back. She hiked her backpack further up on her shoulders and breathed in the fall air. It was much better than the hospital air.

Jaimie-mae fliched when she felt a hand grab her forearm gently. "Sorry, i didn't mean to scare you. You can come in the car with us. My parents can drop you off."

Jaimie-mae felt like they had already done too much for her. She didn't want to take up anymore of their time. "That's okay. I can walk. Its a nice day today."

Fabian's face fell a tiny bit. "It's no problem, really. We can drop you off."

Fabian could practically see the gears turning in Jaimie-mae's head. "Stop overthinking it."

Jaimie-mae looked at him strangely like he had just read her mind. She quickly tried to deny it.

"By the look on your face, i know i was right. Just get in the car. If you must, you can overthink in there."

Jaimie-mae rolled her eyes at him but followed his instructions. Mason climbed in and then she did. But when she noticed how much Fabian was struggling she got out, shoved his crutches into the back and held his arm gently to ease him down into the car.

"Thanks."

She nodded silently in reply and climbed in after him, closing the door behind her.

"Where am i taking you Jaimie-mae?" Justin asked as he pulled out of the hospitals parking lot.

"Spring boulevard please."

"Okay."

The car ride was silent except for the sound of Mason's game. As Mason played the game, Fabian noticed that at certain sounds Jaimie-mae would shift uncomfortably or she'd flinch. He watched nervously out of the corner of his eye as she closed her eyes and tried to relax.

A sudden pop sound from Mason's game made Jaimie-mae go rigid so Fabian immediately turned to Mason and put his hand over his arm.

"Mason, put the game away for a second," he whispered.

"What, why?" Mason whined as he tried to see his game past Fabian's arm.

"Come on little man. Put it away," he said sternly.

"Okay, one second. I'm almost past this level." He continued to tap the button and Fabian could hear Jaimie-mae take in a sudden breath.

"Seriously Mason. Put the game away. Or turn it down at least."

"Fine. Just let me beat this level," he said stubbornly. He continued to quickly tap away at the buttons by the screen and Jaimie-mae whimpered quietly beside Fabian.

Fabian watched with bated breath as Jaimie-mae began getting restless in her seat. She scratched at her skin a few times and pulled at the fabric of her shirt. Another distinct sound came from Mason's game and Jaimie-mae flung herself back into her seat so fast causing her to hit Fabian's casted leg.

"SH-" Fabian quickly snatched the game out of Mason's hand and turned it off.

"Heyyy," he whined.

"Stop. I'm being serious Mason," Fabian said seriously as he tried to look Mason in the eyes. Mason wasn't looking at him though, he was looking past him.

"What's wrong with your friend?" Mason asked softly.

Fabian quickly turned to Jaimie-mae who had small tears falling from her eyes. He could tell she was trying to stay quiet in front of his family. His heart suddenly ached for her. This must have been so hard for her.

"Jaimie-mae," Fabian called softly. He didn't want to touch her because he tried that yesterday and it did not work well. "Jaimie listen to me. Every things going to be okay. Listen to my voice okay."

She whimpered quietly and squeezed her eyes tighter when the car went over a small bump.

She was shaking and looked so genuinely scared and fragile that it pulled at Fabian's heart. He knew this trembling girl was not Jaimie-mae, this was just her fears and nightmares coming back to face her.

"Jaimie-mae listen to me. Your fine. You're here with me."

Madison turned around in her seat when she heard the whimpering. "Fabian what's w-" She finally noticed Jaimie-mae. "Oh my- What did you two do?"

"We didn't do anything mom," Mason said. "Fabian help her."

"I'm trying," he panicked slightly.

"What's going on back there?" Justin asked without taking his eyes off the road.

"Darling pull over for a second please," Madison said to Justin.

He immediately did as asked as soon as he found a safe spot to pull over.

"Can you guys get out for a second?" Fabian asked seriously.

All three of them hopped out of the car without hesitating. Mason made a huge mistake of slamming the door behind him causing Jaimie-mae to scream loudly.

Fabian jumped in his seat and his head hit the roof of the car. "Ow, Jeez," he said quietly to himself as he rubbed his head through his ruffled hair. He shifted himself so that he was facing Jaimie-mae but he was not touching her.

"Jaimie. Please. You're okay. You're safe here with me."

She must have heard him properly this time because she stopped moving around. She was still scared though.

"Can i touch your arm so you know that i am right here?" She didn't answer him, but he neared her slowly still. "I'm going to touch your arm now." He slowly and gently rested his hand on her arm. Her breathing slowed slightly but the tears still leaked from her eyes.

"Do you want to hold my hand? I'll let you hold my hand if you want," he said gently as he glided his hand very slowly down her soft arm. He watched as his large hand enclosed her small one gently in his. He could see the goosebumps rise on her arm. She hesitantly responded by wrapping her fingers around his subtly and his lips twitched upwards in a small smile.

"Is that better?" She didn't reply but he didn't need her to. He could practically feel her pulse slowing down through her hand.

The small bit of contact must have brought her from her horrible memories because she let out a small relieved breath. He looked down at her tear soaked face and she looked up at him through her wet, long eyelashes.

Fabian slowly slid Jaimie-mae closer to him on the seats and she let out a tiny, breathy laugh.

A small ghost of a smile rested on her face and her blue eyes twinkled. Fabian could have sworn his heart stopped for just a second. Like when he was laying in the road that one day he got hit by a car. He didn't remember much from that day, but he vaguely remembered when his heart stopped for a second. And when he made eye contact with those beautiful blue eyes.

Maybe his heart stopped twice that day.