I wake up the next day so sick I can’t move. I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t even feel a twinge but now I’m sweating even though I feel freezing and my head is spinning. I know I’m running a massive fever, and I know I haven’t felt this sick for a long, long time; if ever. I get out of bed and stumble to the floor, my head spins and I grip anything I can find for balance.
The door opens and Jagger walks in, then stops dead when he sees me lying pitifully on the floor. I haven’t seen him since last night; he didn’t even come in to make sure I didn’t bleed to death. Ok, I didn’t cut myself that badly and a bandaid did the job…but still. After that kiss, I thought….Well it doesn’t matter what I thought. I was wrong.
“Are you sick?”
I open my mouth to answer him, but everything hurts so badly. My mouth is dry, my head is literally pounding and my stomach is turning horribly. I grip my head and groan, and he drops down in front of me and puts his hand on my forehead.
“Holy shit,” he mutters.
I groan again, and my world begins to swim. Jagger lifts me off the floor and places me down on the bed, and I groan in protest. He puts his hand on my head again and then turns and rushes out. He’s back a moment later with a cool cloth and some pain killers. I swallow them greedily, only to wince in pain when they slide down my raw throat.
“They will help your fever…”
“Something’s wrong Jagger, I need a doctor.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
I roll and begin shivering again. This continues on all day, and I only get worse. I begin hallucinating and talking to myself. My body goes from hot to cold and back again, and I tremble constantly. In the evening the other group members come over and I hear them arguing about what to do.
“If she dies, we could be in more trouble than it’s worth,” Ace says.
“We can’t take her to a hospital.” Snake snaps.
“We can’t let her fucking die either,” Jagger snarls.
“Call your Sister.”
Jagger has a Sister?
“She’ll flip if she knows we’ve been keeping a girl prisoner.”
“It’s the only option, Jagger, the call is yours.” Angel says, and all goes quiet.
~*~*~*~*~
Two hours later, Jagger is kneeling on the bed beside me. He takes my face in his hands and forces me to look at him.
“I’m callin’ a doctor, but you have to promise not to tell her why you’re here. I will keep my end of the deal; I’ll let you go as promised. Tell her you’re my girlfriend, can you do that for me?”
I nod weakly, and he surprises me by leaning down and grazing his lips across my head. Maybe I’m still hallucinating. It wouldn’t surprise me. He changes my clothes, making me look a little more decent before the doctor arrives. A woman enters the room ten minutes later, and walks over to the bed. She stares around the room, and frowns.
“Why are the windows barred up?”
Jagger shrugs, “I have things I don’t want stolen from me.”
Yeah like me.
“She should be in a room with fresh air Jagger, some boyfriend you are.”
“Back off Maggie, I didn’t think of that.”
The woman named Maggie, who I’m fairly sure is Jagger’s Sister, kneels by the bed. She’s very beautiful, with dark black hair and light green eyes.
“Hi Willow, my name’s Maggie and I’m a doctor.”
I nod, it’s the best I can do.
“Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“She’s got fevers, shaking, her throat hurts and she’s been sick about four times.” Jagger says, kneeling beside me too.
Maggie takes my temperature and her face falls. “She’s burning up badly, Johnny, go and get my script book. I’ll write a script. Why didn’t you take her to the doctor sooner?”
“It’s a long way to drive, over two hours. I thought it was just a cold.”
“Well, you’re lucky she didn’t die.”
“You can’t let her die,” Jagger says suddenly. Part of me wonders if it’s because he won’t get his information, or if he actually cares about me.
She spins on him. “Next time your girl gets sick Johnny, take her to a doctor. She needs some fresh air and a shower, she looks awful. I don’t want to know why she looks so bad, but if I find out you’re hurting her, I’ll make you pay.”
Jagger grips her arm, but I open my mouth and croak out, “Jagger is helping me, I was in trouble and only showed up yesterday. We have been seeing each other for a while, but I walked most of the way out here. I had no other way, and my phone was gone. I never got a chance to shower, because I got so sick.”
Maggie looks at me, and Jagger gives me a pained look. I know what he’s thinking. I’m thinking the same thing. Why did I defend him?
“Well, it’s not a wonder you’re sick. Walking that far,” Maggie says, handing Jagger her script book.
He has nothing for that one. He just walks out of the room. A moment later he returns. “Here’s the script pad,” he says thrusting a pad at her.
She fills it out quickly, and then stands. “I’ll go and get this and a drip. You stay here.
She turns and walks towards the door, but stops when she gets to it. She turns and gives Jagger a hard stare. “Get her in the shower, and open the damn window. I know we were raised without parents to teach us these things, but by God Johnny, you treat women better than this!”
He nods and she stares at me once more, then turns and walks out without another word. Jagger sits beside me, and then after a moment he pulls me out of the bed and into the bathroom.
“What’re you doing?” I whisper hoarsely.
“She’s right; you deserve a real shower. Sit here, I’ll be back.”
He leaves the room after putting me on the floor beside the tub. He comes back a moment later with an arm full of soaps, shampoos, conditioners and a new toothbrush and toothpaste. He also gives me a brush and a razor, as well as some fresh clothes. I stare at the items, and it feels like Christmas to me. I force a weak smile and try to get to my feet, but my head swims again and I come crashing back down.
“Can I put you in? Or would you rather wait until Maggie comes back?”
I stare up at him, and close my eyes. It’s a shower where he sees me naked…or nothing. I smell the soap wafting towards me and I nod weakly. I don’t care. What’s the point in caring? I have nothing left to care about. He kneels in front of me and slowly raises the shirt over my head. Then he slides my shorts off. I’m not wearing any panties, but he quickly puts a towel over me. I’m shocked and humbled by his kindness.
He helps me with my bra, and also covers my front with a towel. Most men would try and cop a look or a feel, not him. He stole me and put me in this crazy situation but he’s never been anything but respectful with my body. He helps me to my feet and as I’m lowering into the warm bubble bath, he pulls the towel back and closes his eyes. When I’m in the water and covered, he opens them and stares down at me.
“For what it’s worth,” he says, filling his palm with shampoo. “I’m sorry.”
“Is she your Sister?”
He nods, “Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
I stare at him, but he moves his gaze away and focuses on my hair. I groan as he rubs the shampoo in and washes it. I haven’t washed my hair for weeks. Dirt fills the bath rather quickly and he winces. He does it another two times, then smothers it in conditioner and sits back. My head already feels a touch clearer. When Maggie returns, she spots me in the bath and a weak smile covers her face but quickly vanishes when she notices the gashes on my back.
“Oh my God!”
Jagger looks up at her, then down at my back and winces. “I didn’t do that.”
“What the hell happened?” Maggie cries, dropping to her knees and running her hands over the painful marks.
“My…ex-boyfriend did that.” I lie.
Why am I lying to protect Jagger? I should be babbling everything and telling Maggie that he took me but I can’t bring myself to do it. Jagger is the better out of two situations and right now, I’m safer here then I would be anywhere else.
“Did you report him?”
“Yes.” I lie again.
“Those marks need cream, God, you poor thing.”
“I’m ok,” I whisper.
“How are you feeling now?”
“Ok.”
“You don’t look so flash.”
I smile weakly and Jagger stands, stepping back.
“I thought a bath would help, she’s all yours.”
“Jagger…” I call.
He stops and turns, meeting my gaze. I want to say don’t go, I want to tell him I know he’s not a bad person, but instead I just say, “Thanks.”
He nods and leaves. Maggie sits beside me, and hands me a bunch of pills. I swallow them and wince.
“I’ve divided these into containers. Take them three times a day until they’re all gone.”
“Thank you, I appreciate this.”
“I’m going to put a drip in now, ok? I would usually recommend a hospital, but you’re about two hours away from the nearest hospital. Luckily for us, the town five minutes up the road had a chemist and a small surgery that happened to have a drip.”
Maggie takes my hand and begins prodding my veins. I stare at her, so desperate to ask questions. She prods my hand again and finally she finds a vein. She slides the needle in effortlessly and I don’t whimper. When the drip is connected, she helps me out of the bath and into some fresh clothes.
“Do you know what Jagg…err…Johnny does?”
She nods, frowning. “I know he runs some sort of gang, I’ve known for a long time. I choose to stay out of it as much as possible.”
“Why’d he do it?”
She sighs and sits on the bath ledge. “Johnny and I didn’t have a good child hood. He got abused by our Father and our Mother killed herself when he was only four. I guess the gang thing is his way of having control. He was always running off the rails, and causing problems. Johnny isn’t a bad person at heart, he can be gentle and kind, he’s just got his priorities all wrong.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I know he’s not a bad person.”
“What are you two doing in there?” Jagger calls out.
I turn and Maggie meets my gaze. She stands and opens the door, and Jagger steps in. He looks me over and tilts his head to the side just a touch.
“Wow, you look different.”
“I had a lot of dirt on me from walking here,” I lie.
“Your hair is beautiful.”
I’m surprised, so surprised my mouth drops open. Did he just say that? Maggie smiles and nods in agreement. “She does have beautiful hair.”
“I hate it,” I complain, ruffling it with my fingers.
“Don’t,” Jagger says. “It’s the prettiest color I’ve ever seen.”
“Most people prefer blondes.”
“I don’t.”
Our eyes meet and our gazes lock for long, long moments. My blood begins pumping rapidly through my veins and I swallow anxiously. I feel hot all over and my skin tingles. Why does Jagger make me feel this way?
He smiles a little, giving me that lopsided smirk that has my heart hammering. He steps forward and takes my arm gently, and helps me out of the room. Maggie follows. I notice he’s changed the sheets and removed the bars from the windows. A fresh breeze fills the room and I breathe it in.
“Ah good, he’s stopped worrying about his possessions and started worrying about his girlfriend,” Maggie smirks.
Oh if only she knew the truth. I slide into the crisp, fresh sheets and I feel exhausted. Maggie wheels the drip beside me and explains to Jagger how to turn it off and pull it out once the bag is empty.
“I’ll come back in the morning to check on her.”
“Thanks Mags,” Jagger says, patting her shoulder.
“Do as I said Johnny and start doing the right thing by her, she’s a nice girl and nice girls won’t stand to be treated like this for long,”
He nods and she smiles at me before leaving. When she’s gone, I close my eyes. Jagger sits on the bed beside me and I know he wants to say something. I just keep my eyes closed.
“Thank you, for what you did.”
“I want to get out of here Jagger; I won’t do anything to jeopardize that. If it meant letting her think we were together, then so be it.”
“About last night…”
“Don’t worry about it,” I croak. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
He stays silent for long, long moments. “No, I guess not.”
“Thanks for today, I’m tired now.”
He shifts and then stands, leaving the room without another word. I cry myself to sleep that night, but I know tomorrow I will wake with a new determination. I refuse to be this pitiful little basket case anymore. Tomorrow; I will find myself again and survive the rest of this so I can go home to my family and friends.