Painful Lullaby

"Adam stop crying."

"I-I c-c-can't Ja-a-g."

"I told you I'd try. But I think I love her! Can't you just be happy about that?"

"B-but i-i-it h-hurts!"

There was a round of heart-wrenching sobs, and my eyes fluttered open. My neck hurt.

"Roxie?"

"Jag?" my voice was barely a whisper.

"Are you okay?"

"I-I don't know." The tears rolled town my cheeks. I couldn't move.

"Donny's coming. Please hold on. Please. Don't leave me."

My eyelids felt so heavy. I couldn't keep them open. I fought them, but they closed.

"Roxie, no! No! Don't! Please stay here with me! I n-need y-you!" He was crying. Don't cry, I wanted to say, but I fell asleep instead.

__________

My neck was so sore. My mind hadn't really registered what had happened over the past few hours. Or, at least I think it was hours...Maybe it was minutes. Or was it days? I didn't know. I tried to move, and it hurt. I groaned.

"Roxie?" His voice cut through my mind like a knife.

"Jag..." I whispered. I could feel his hand in mine.

"C-can you open your eyes?" I tried. My eyes felt dry, but I opened my eyes anyway. I seen Jag sitting next to me. His eyes had dark circles under them and they were red from crying. His face was tear-streaked. I could see Donny and Adam behind him, but I was focusing on Jag. I held his hand tighter.

"Hey," I whispered. He tried to smile at me.

"I want you to know that I figured that stuff out, and I want to get to know you better," he murmured. He had started crying again. He wiped the tears away from my eyes.

"I want to know you better, too," I managed to say between the sobs. He smiled at me.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done it, but I seen you at the park, and I...I didn't know what else to do! I'm so stupid," I cried.

"You're not stupid...you're not stupid," he whispered. He got up and layed on the bed with me. He pulled me into his arms, and I cried into his shoulder. I could hear the sobs from Adam and the sniffs from Donny. Jag held me tight, and I never wanted him to let me go.

Even though we were all crying, it was so serene, so calm. It was sort of perfect, even though for Adam, I'm sure this was Hell. I wanted to apologize, I wanted to say I was sorry. But all the tears had worn me out.

I fell asleep in Jag's arms that night, while we held each other on his bed.