Breathe-Chapter 9
By: Panda Angel
Jillian slept peacefully for maybe all of three or four hours, but tossed and turned throughout most of the night. She decided to just get up and go to the hospital to see how AJ was doing. She opened the door to find Denise trying to feed AJ breakfast.
“Mom, I don’t want that…uh, whatever it’s supposed to be,” his deep voice requested, as he made a face and turned his cheek in the other direction.
“Now come on honey, you need your strength,” she persisted. Jillian gently knocked on the door so that they would acknowledge her presence. “Hey sweetheart! Just in time for breakfast,” Denise greeted her smiling.
“Oh no, I uh, already ate,” she politely declined. “I just thought maybe you’d want a break to go home and get some sleep or eat or something.” Jillian waited for Denise’s answer.
“Yeah, if you’re sure,” she glanced at her son and then back to his ex-girlfriend.
“It’s fine, Mom. You should get something to eat. Jillian’ll take care of me,” he smiled and winked at Jillian. Their eyes met for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
Denise reluctantly agreed, gave AJ a quick kiss and left the room.
“So, uh…” Jillian moved closer to AJ’s side. “How ya feelin’?” She had no idea that she could ever be nervous in his presence again, after the last incident.
~*Flashback*~
“C’mon Jillie, sing for us!” Nick insisted. The Backstreet Boys were all just hanging around during a sound check in the present concert venue and wanted to kill some time…by picking on AJ’s new girlfriend.
She blushed and gently shook her head no, tucking a piece of her long silky hair behind her ear.
“Please baby,” AJ whined, taking her hands into his.
“No!” she cried, in a rare outburst. “You guys don’t understand…I can’t carry a tune to save my life!”
“So we’ve heard!” Nick laughed. “Oh sorry, I mean…that’s what AJ told us.” Nick grinned playfully at her, while AJ shot Nick a quick ‘I’ll get you later’ look.
“Okay, here’s the mic…after all we are doing a sound check,” Brian handed her a microphone.
“Oh no…” she tried to pull away from AJ, and began walking backwards.
“Jillie, watch-“ AJ yelled out, but it was too late. Her shoe had already been intertwined around the cord and she had already went crashing to the ground, knocking down a few microphone stands along the way. “Out…” AJ finished, slightly frowning for Jillian’s embarrassment, yet about to burst out laughing at the sight of his girlfriend tumbling down like that.
“Aw, man, where is my camera when I need it?!” Kevin whined.
AJ walked over and helped Jillian up. As soon as she made it up on her two feet, she buried her crimson colored face into AJ’s chest, knowing that none of the guys would ever let her live that one down.
~*End Flashback*~
“Hello?? Jillian?” AJ called her attention back to him by waving his hands in front of her.
“Oh, sorry. What?”
“I asked if you could hand me a pain pill and a glass of water.”
Jillian nervously struggled to open the bottle of pills. AJ smiled at how cute she looked when she was nervous. Shorter strands of her hair had fallen down, framing her face while she was battling to get his pills open.
“Ah…finally!” she exclaimed triumphantly.
“Thanks,” he smiled at her as she leaned over to help him drink his water.
For a moment, there was an uncomfortable silence. “Thanks for saving me from my mom! That food was disgusting!” AJ broke the silence, beginning to chuckle, but winced at the pain in his chest.
“Oh, no problem at all. I definitely know how icky hospital food is!”
Then, there was another brief strained silence. “So, uh, you’re a doctor now, huh?” AJ broke the silence.
Jillian lightly laughed and smiled at him. “Dr. Jillian Rene Craig,” AJ grinned, then as suddenly as it appeared, it faded. “Well at least something good came out of our break up.”
Jillian stared at him. His truthful words stunned her. What did he mean? Then, it hit her, like a lightning bolt…the reason why they had broken up became perfectly clear to her.
Email: panda_angelaj@hotmail.com
