The Soldier's Begining

06 Fallout

Jessica POV

I felt like I was floating. Everything was peaceful and black, like floating down a river at night. It was a feeling I never wanted to lose. Suddenly a bright light blasted through my peaceful abyss. I felt my body first, it felt heavy so very heavy. My hearing was the next thing to come back to me. I could hear a whispered conversation, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

I tried to open my eyes but it was like they were glued shut. I tried once more but got the same result. So instead I focused on my hands, I tried to move a finger. It felt like I was trying to lift a ten pound weight with a single finger. After a few seconds of trying I relaxed my finger and then tried again. This time I moved it! I moved my finger!

“Did you see that? She moved her finger!” I felt a hand on my face. “Jessica… my sweet baby girl. If you can hear me, move your finger again.” Mom! I put all of my focus onto my finger. It took a lot of effort but I moved it again. “That’s it baby! Good job honey. Someone go get the doctor she’s waking up.” Doctor? Mom gently caressed my face. “Oh my sweet baby girl. I thought I lost you.”

Mom said doctor and she was talking about losing me. I didn’t know what was going on but I knew I had to open my eyes. I needed to see my mom show her that she didn’t need to worry. I put all of my energy into opening my eyes. I pushed myself harder than I should have needed to. After a solid 30 seconds of trying I felt my eyes start to c***k, I groaned as the light flooded my very sensitive eyes so I shut them again.

“Roberto, dim the lights she was starting to open her eyes.”

“The lights are dimmed mi amor.” It was so nice to hear my dad's voice, it felt like it had been so long since I heard it.

Knowing that the lights weren’t as bright I started to open my eyes again with much less effort this time. I opened them halfway before I blinked a few times. Everything was blurry and I needed to focus my vision again. Once I was only seeing one of everything I turned my head to the side and saw my mom looking at me. She gave me a tight smile as tears filled her eyes.

“M-mom?” My voice was hoarse and my throat was dry and sore.

"Yes baby. I'm here." She turned to my dad who had handed her a glass of water. "Thank you. Here baby take a drink."

I took a small drink and nearly choked. It was like I forgot how to swallow. I coughed for a minute then tried again. It went much better the second time. I had just finished my drink when the doctor walked in.

"Jessica, it's good to see you awake. How are you feeling today?"

"Um confused mostly."

"That's normal. Before we get into details I'd like to know how your body is feeling."

"I feel really stiff."

"Any pain?"

I sat and took inventory of my body, wiggling a little here and there trying to see if there was any pain.

"My sides hurt and I have a bit of a headache."

"Ok all of that sounds normal." He pulled a chair up to the side of my bed. "I know you're really confused and have a lot of questions." I nodded my head and winced. "You've been in a coma for the last two weeks. Not a normal coma, it was medically induced."

"Why?"

"What is the last thing you remember?"

"Going to my locker after my last class." I started to panic, I couldn't remember. "What's going on?"

"Calm down baby, let the doctor explain."

"You have temporary amnesia. You went through a very traumatic experience and your mind is blocking it out. You were brought to the hospital with very severe injuries and during the times you were conscious you were very upset. So to help you with your healing we put you in a coma."

"What was the traumatic experience?"

"I think it's best if you remember that on your own. Telling you could cause more damage, you will remember when your mind is well enough to."

"Ok."

"Alright we are going to start you on physical therapy in the morning to help loosen up tight muscles. Once you're able to walk on your own again we can release you."

"Ok."

"I'll have a nurse stop in to check on you in a few hours." He stood and made his way to the door. "If you need anything please feel free to let a nurse know."

"Thank you doctor." Mom had tears in her eyes.

Mom sat where the doctor had been sitting and took my hand. I turned my head to her and just stared at her face. I hated having a blank mind. I tried to focus on what happened after classes had finished but everything was blank. I was so lost in thought that I jumped when the door opened.

In walked Nico with Jace close behind him. Jace came and sat on the other side of my bed, while mom got up and offered Nico her seat. He kissed my forehead and sat down. I looked back at the doorway but it was empty.

"Where's Ryan?" Surely my mate would be here to visit me in the hospital. I know Christmas vacation was weird but that didn't mean he wouldn't worry about me.

"Uh…" Jace started and my mother gave the two of them a look.

"We're not sure, he went out of town with his family for a trip." Nico replied.

"You don't know where the destination was?"

"I have it written down somewhere but I don't remember. I've been thinking a lot about you."

I smiled at him, he was always so thoughtful. "I understand. So tell me what's been going on at school?"

We talked for several hours before I started to get sleepy. The guys left saying that rest was very important for my recovery. Dad had left shortly after I woke up to take care of the ranch. Mom on the other hand never left

Two weeks later

After some grueling physical therapy I was finally able to walk on my own. I was still a bit sore but that would go away after a couple of days. I still couldn’t remember why I was in the hospital and I decided that if my mind didn’t want me to remember then I should just let it go. Everything felt so good like I was experiencing it for the first time. The leather seats in my dad's car felt so good on my skin and just simply walking to the house felt amazing. Jamie came rushing out of the house and insisted on helping me up the three stairs to the front door and he practically carried me up to my room.

Now I was laying on my bed enjoying how comfy my mattress felt. The hospital bed wasn’t uncomfortable, it just wasn’t MY bed. I rolled over and opened my eyes. I sighed happily as I looked around my room. My gaze fell on a pile of crumpled sheets and blanket, I suddenly felt tears in my eyes but I wasn’t sure why. Before I could examine my feelings further someone knocked on my door and Jace popped his head in my room.

“Hey JJ, how ya feeling?”

“I feel good. I was just enjoying my bed.”

Jace chuckled, he walked over to me and kissed my forehead. “Well momma said dinner is ready.”

I jumped out of bed. “I feel like it’s been forever since I ate real food, and it’s momma’s cooking!”

I ran down the stairs and jumped the last five. Mom was standing near the stairs, I assumed she was heading up to let us know dinner was ready. I prepared myself for her to yell at me since I forgot that she hated when I jumped the stairs. Surprisingly she didn’t yell at me, instead she kissed my forehead and wrapped me in a hug.

“I’m glad to see you're feeling better, baby girl.”

“Well Jace said dinner was ready and I feel like it’s been forever since I had your cooking.”

Mom laughed. “Well you better get in there before it’s gone.”

Dinner was great, we talked and laughed. It felt like old times, but something felt off. I had this nagging feeling that something was very wrong but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I didn’t want to worry my family so I kept it to myself. There’s nothing a good night sleep can’t fix right?

Wrong. I felt like I didn’t sleep at all. I tossed and turned, the dreams I had were disturbing and frightful. When my alarm went off I groaned and not just because I had to go back to school. At least I wasn’t behind in my classes. Nico and Jace brought me all the homework I missed. The only thing that excited me about going back was seeing Ryan. Nico said that he recently returned from his trip and I couldn’t wait to be with him again.

After I showered and got dressed I did my usual routine of having breakfast with my brothers before heading to school. The closer we got the tighter my chest felt and my breathing started to become erratic. The world seemed to get brighter, my mind wasn’t telling me anything but my body was telling me to panic.

“Are you ok JJ?”

I shook my head, trying to clear it. “I’m not sure. I’m probably just a little light headed from being in the hospital so long. I’m sure it’ll pass.”

“If you say so.” Jace gave me this look like he knew I was lying but he didn’t press the matter.

I parked the car and made my way into the building. Everyone was staring at me, it was like they all knew something I didn’t and it was making my uneasy feeling worse. I shook my head, this was all just my mind playing tricks on me. That was until I turned the corner and saw Ryan pressing some random girl against the lockers. He stopped for a second and sniffed the air, he turned and looked me dead in the eye and smirked. I felt my heartbreak and chest burn like I hadn’t breathed in a while. I fell to my knees as Ryan made his way over to me. I looked up at him as he stood over me. At that moment it all came flooding back to me. Him stealing my virginity from, the rejection followed by the severe beating I was given. It was then that I realized the reason no one told me why I was in the hospital, they truly were trying to protect me.

I was pulled out of my waking nightmare when Jace shoved Ryan to the ground. I saw Jace turn toward me, I saw his mouth move but I couldn’t hear him say anything. I got up and took off running, I ran to my car. I tried to fish my keys out of my pocket, my hands were shaking so bad that once I got them I dropped them on the ground. I bent to pick them up but someone beat me to it. I looked up to see Wes holding my keys, I backed up against my car feeling panic surge again. Wes gave me a worried look but didn’t say anything. He simply reached out his hand and grabbed my arm, before I knew it I was engulfed by two strong arms. I struggled to get away from him. I screamed and cried and kicked but he never budged, he simply held tighter. Wes loosened one of his arms and started stroking my hair.

“It’s ok Jess, you're safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He continued to coo and stroked my hair.

My panic started to fade, but my sadness didn’t. I relaxed my body and just cried on Wes’ shoulder. He held me close and continued to stroke my hair while whispering comforting things in my ear. I felt myself calm further and wrapped my arms around Wes and nuzzled my face into his chest. I froze when I realized what I had done, it just felt so good I couldn’t stop myself. I was about to push away and apologize when I felt Wes kiss the top of my head. I froze for a second before I felt him rest his cheek on the top of my head.

"I've got you, you're safe."

I felt more tears well up in my eyes. I knew Wes liked me but I didn't think he liked me enough to be there for me when I truly needed someone.

"What the f**k is going on here?" I didn't even lift my head when I heard Nico's voice.

"I'm comforting your cousin. What does it look like?"

"Making a move on here."

"You know full well that I see her as a sister just like you do." I didn't know that.

I heard Nico sigh. "What happened?"

"From what Jace said she remembered everything and came face to face with Ryan."

I heard Nico growl and I finally lifted my head to see him walking away with his fists balled up in rage. I didn't want him to leave and I didn't want him to do anything rash.

"N-Nico."

I called out to him with my arm stretched out. He turned around, his face twisted in rage. He looked at my hand and his face softened. Nico placed his hand in mine but I wanted him to hold me as well. I gave him a quick tug and he got the picture. I placed my hand where it previously was. Nico wrapped his arms around me and interlaced his fingers with mine.

"I think this is the first time you've hugged me bro."

"Don't make it weird."

I smiled at their banter. I loved watching these two together. They always made me laugh with their bickering. I felt Wes lower his arm so it was sitting just above my ass.

"Watch where you're putting you hand."

"What? Afraid I'll touch your d**k?"

"Dude why did you have to go there? I meant I wanted to keep your hand away from Jess' ass. Why do you gotta make it weird?"

"Because watching you squirm is fun."

I burst out laughing. These two were the most entertaining comedy duo ever, and they weren't even trying. I lifted my head to look at Wes. He was smirking at me.

"Something funny?" Wes c****d his eyebrow at me.

"The two of you are. I mean you should take this show on the road."

"Well I'm glad you're feeling better." Nico dropped his arms and backed away. "Wes take her home."

"What are you gonna do?" Wes dropped his arms and I turned toward Nico. He had his back toward us.

"I'm gonna take care of this."

"Nico, not at school."

"Why not Jess?! He beat the s**t out of you right in front of the entrance!"

"So what you're telling me is you just want to see him suffer?"

"I want more than that but I'll settle for it."

"Then I'm going back in there."

"No, you need to go home. You've had enough excitement."

"Please let me do this one thing and I promise I'll go home. You can even come with me."

Nico sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know the only way you'll listen is if I give you an Alpha order. I also know that if I give you an Alpha order you'll kick my ass six ways from Sunday."

"Then let's go." I took Nico's hand and interlaced our fingers. Wes came to my other side and placed my hand in the crook of his arm and we made our way back into the school.

It was still early so everyone was still in the halls. Ryan was pretty much where I left him but Jace was nowhere to be seen. He must have walked away after I left. As soon as I walked into the hallway Ryan made eye contact with me and gave me his devious smirk. Nico cleared his throat and Ryan's face paled. I took my arms back from the boys and stepped forward.

"Are you sure it's wise for you to approach me without your bodyguards?"

I didn't respond to his taunt. I raised my chin and looked him dead in the eye. "I, Jessica Santiago, accept your rejection."

Ryan grabbed his chest and fell to his knees. I didn’t bother to look at him any longer than I had to and turned on my heels and walked away. "I'm ready to go now."

Wes decided to take me home in his car. He said he'd run back to the school in wolf form and then drop my car off at the house. Once Wes dropped me off I went straight to my room and buried myself under my covers.

Jace POV

I had really hoped JJ wouldn't remember as quickly as she did. I knew something was off with her the second we left the house. Then that bastard had to be here and ruin everything. I wish Nico could have kept him in the cells longer, like maybe the rest of his life, but he had to give him a just punishment for the harm he caused.

I was both happy and sad when JJ ran out of the school after I shoved the bastard. She needed to get away from him as well as process everything that came flooding back to her. Not wanting to cause more damage, I went to my first class right after my sister was out of the building.

It was next to impossible to focus at school knowing my sister was in some kind of turmoil. I also had to figure out how I was getting home. Luckily I didn't have to wonder too long. After the last bell Wes met me by my locker. He told me that he was going to give me a ride home since he had to drop JJ's car off at the house.

I convinced him to stop by a floral shop so I could get my sister some flowers. It didn't make up for all the hurt she was feeling, but I would at least show her I was thinking about her. As soon as I got home I ran up the stairs to her room. I stopped when I saw her door was open. I could hear her talking to our mom.

"What's wrong baby girl?"

"I remember everything momma. Why would he do that? Why would he reject me after all that time together?"

"I don't know, baby. It's just awful he seemed so genuine about his feelings for you."

"I know. What makes this hurt most is that I gave him everything momma. I gave him my heart and my body and he still tossed me aside like I was nothing."

I stood there stunned as I listened to my sister's story and I couldn't help the rage that built up inside of me. I dropped the flowers on the floor in front of her door. They were long forgotten now that my rage had set in. This was the final straw. Not only did he break my sister's heart, he violated her in the worst way. I stormed out of my house and headed straight to the packhouse. Nico needed to know this new piece of information.