Page 87 of Under the Waves
Peter Pan gave Wendy an escape from that house, just as Jakson offered his own home as a solitude for Lia and her siblings. He was her Peter Pan, her Jedi protector, and he would always be there to try and take away her pain, even if it meant losing himself in the process.
“The Jedi and his little blue moon,” Kai finished for him, almost like it was the title of a fairy tale. And in someways, it truly was.
The medics eventually pushed past them, trying to persuade Jakson to let them help him, but he pushed them away.
Something changed in his gaze as it met mine from across the beach.
His golden smile cracked in half.
He wasn’t dead. Hewasn’t.
Jakson Calloway was standing right before me smiling like he hadn’t just scarred me for life, worrying my ass off about him.
With trembling fingers, I grasped at my chest.
It was beating too fast.
It wouldn’t slow down.
It wouldn’tstop.
My breaths rushed out of my lungs, tearing and clawing theirway out of my throat so violently I almost doubled over.
Lia slipped out of his embrace as he walked up the beach towards me, flipping off the medics on the way. As soon as I saw those familiar eyes through the blur, my legs gave out from beneath me.
“I’m okay,” he whispered, arms wrapped tightly around me, stopping me from hitting the sand as he collapsed alongside me. “You’re okay.”
“Why did you have to be so fucking r-reckless,” I cursed through rushed breaths. My throat felt like it was too small, and each breath became a struggle to gulp down.
Xander, Lachlan, and Kai were my teammates, my friends, and I’d walk through the deepest pits of hell for each of them, but Jakson was the only one I knew would walk through hell and back forme.
I needed Jakson in my life; he wasn’t just like family,he was family.
“I’ll let you give me a matching black eye after, ‘kay?” he jested. “I’ve got you, Jas. I’ve got you.”
He repeated the words over and over until he blacked out against my chest. The guys rushed over to stabilize his head and spine as the medics loaded his limp body onto a stretcher. His fingers, a pale blue in color, draped idly by his side, almost dragging against the sand. Lifeless and limp.
As they walked up towards the ambulance parked on the road, Lia didn’t even waste a second before following them closely behind, keeping her fingers interlocked with his.
I stared at the scene unfolding before me. I hadn’t even known Poppy was the one holding me upright until her voice registered in my mind.
She’d been humming the lyrics toIrisby the Goo Goo Dolls.
And I’d give up forever to touch you because I know that you feel me somehow.
You’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be and I don’t want to go home right now.
Just the sound of her voice was enough to calm the frantic beats of my heart.
“Poppy, I—”
When everything’s made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.
Her hand ran down my shoulder, tracing patterns across my skin.
“Just focus on my voice and breathe. I’ve got you.”
How could I focus on anything else?