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When Jack finished ‘Til Kingdom Come, he moved on to sing other songs. Lyrics from The Rolling Stones, Journey, Otis Redding, Everclear, Train, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers were pulled out of the catalogue in his head and when he didn’t know the words he hummed. He’d stay on the floor singing and humming to Adrianna all night if he needed to.
Adrianna was carried back to Jack’s bed once her stomach wasn’t lurching every ten minutes. Her body still weak and sore, she curled up on her side and tried to think about anything but the misery. God, she wanted a pill. Just one wouldn’t hurt, right? Just one to take the worst of the pain away and she would be fine. Those white, miraculous tablets; oh, how she took them for granted.
Jack returned to the room and told Adrianna to open her mouth. For a glorifying second she thought he was giving her Vicodin but then she felt the sour, liquid melatonin on her tongue. Fuck melatonin, she thought. Fuck everyone and everything.
“Try to sleep,” Jack whispered as he crawled into bed to spoon Adrianna. He resumed his soft humming and comforted her as best he could with the caress of his hands. He’d let her try to rest as long as possible and then he’d get her into a hot bath.
Adrianna wanted to beg him for medicine. She wanted to plead, demand, threaten, or bribe but she was too ashamed to look so weak after only thirty hours. Jack was being so wonderful and so brave for her and she couldn’t let him down. She accepted his comfort and suffered in silence.
A shrill noise disrupted them just as Adrianna was drifting to sleep and Jack cursed as he dug his cell phone from the back pocket of his jeans and saw that it was the bar calling. He kissed the back of Adrianna’s head and slid away from her.
“What?” he barked when he was in the hall just outside of his bedroom.
“Hey man, it’s Joe. One of the liquor distributors is here and he needs either you or the assistant manager. Kenny isn’t here and I can’t get a hold of him.”
“God damn it,” Jack swore. He ran his hand through his hair while looking in at Adrianna. She looked so pitiful and he didn’t want to leave her now but he couldn’t neglect his livelihood. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
After throwing on a clean shirt and finding his shoes he leaned over his bed and placed a gentle hand on Adrianna’s shoulder.
“I have to go downstairs for a minute. Will you be okay?”
Adrianna didn’t have the strength to speak or open her eyes and so she just nodded slightly, wincing when the small movement still sent jolts of pain through her head.
“I’ll be right back, I promise,” he told her, placing another kiss on her head.
Adrianna wasn’t much of a churchgoer but she started to pray, hoping God could hear her. She begged for mercy, asking him to take the pain away or give her strength to deal with it. Then she started to apologize for every sin she could think of.
I’m sorry for taking drugs, please help me.
I’m sorry for lying to my parents and to Jack, please take the pain away.
I’m sorry for killing Rachel, please, please, please, help me to feel better.
She started to cry and the sob that came from her made her head split in two. A wave of nausea struck her again. Not wanting to vomit on Jack’s bed or floor, she used every ounce of energy she could muster and dragged herself back to his bathroom. She stumbled over her own feet, neglected to turn the light on and heaved over the toilet. Bending over helped the sick feeling pass but it also sent pain shooting through her head again. It felt as though steel blades were slicing right through her skull and into her brain while some evil entity pounded behind her eyes with a jackhammer.
Jack returned only ten minutes later and panicked when he didn’t find Adrianna where he left her.
“Ade?” he called out, receiving only a whimper from his bathroom in return.
He found her on the cold, tiled floor, curled up in the fetal position, her arms wound tightly around her head. When he flicked the light on she cried out in protest.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” he whispered, distinguishing the lights and dropping to her side. “What hurts, sweetheart?”
