Chapter 78 THE ANGER THAT FADED
I took the photo, ready to go. I was sure I had just brought up a past he probably didn’t want to remember—something that should have been left alone.
And he still had his face buried in his hand.
“I’m just gonna go,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
I needed to breathe. It felt like I was choking.
But just as I stood up, ready to leave, he caught me by surprise when he grabbed my hand and pulled me back down to sit beside him, his gaze finally meeting mine.
That was when I noticed something.
He was shaking violently.
Just like yesterday in Brentmere when I woke him up in the study.
“Can I hug you for a minute? I promise it’s really going to be just a minute.”
His question caught me completely off guard. But I noticed his harsh breathing and how pale he had become.
“Are you okay?” I asked worriedly.
Instead of answering, he leaned toward me and rested his head on my shoulder.
Before I could react, his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to his warm, bare chest.
My body tensed immediately at his touch.
Since the incident in Brentmere, something had changed between us.
The tension.
The feelings I couldn’t quite describe.
“God, you smell so good,” he said in a hoarse voice as he leaned even closer, his warm breath brushing against the skin of my neck.
That only made things worse.
A shiver ran through my entire body.
I found myself struggling to catch my breath, but I couldn’t even pull away from his hold. He was holding on so tightly, and somehow I couldn’t bring myself to push him away.
It reminded me of the times he would beg me to hug him after being beaten up by Ravyn Vale and his men.
He had once told me that his mother always hugged him whenever he was in pain.
A small smile touched my lips when I realized he was still practically the same boy I had spent the worst two weeks of my life with.
He was still shaking violently—especially his hands wrapped tightly around me.
I took a deep breath, finally managing to gather enough air into my lungs.
Then I reached out to pat his back, but hesitated for a moment before drawing my hand back. Instead, I rested it on his arms wrapped around my waist and gently patted them in comfort.
And somehow, we both stayed there, wrapped in each other’s arms, recreating the same comfort we used to give each other as kids.
After a while, I felt his breathing begin to steady.
But then his arms around my waist suddenly loosened, and his weight against me became heavier.
“Jaxon,” I called out.
There was no response.
Was he asleep?
“Jaxon, I really need you to hold on so I can get up,” I said again, unsure what to think. I couldn’t see his face since it was still buried against my neck.
I carefully pulled his arms away from around me and tried to push him upright.
That was when I realized something was wrong.
His body simply fell back onto the bed.
At first, I thought he was pretending to have fallen asleep.
But then panic surged through me as his body rolled dangerously close to the edge of the bed, nearly falling to the floor.
I quickly grabbed him before he could slip off.
He was so damn heavy.
Struggling, I managed to pull him fully onto the bed before noticing the sweat covering his forehead and how dry his lips looked.
“Jaxon, come on… open your eyes, please, huh?” I begged, gently tapping his cheeks in an attempt to wake him.
The only response I got was a very low groan.
I immediately knew he might need medical attention, so I rushed downstairs in panic in search of Troy. I found him in the kitchen, calmly sipping a cup of coffee.
“Something is wrong with him,” I said as soon as Troy’s questioning eyes met mine when I rushed in.
Without asking a single question, he immediately stood up and rushed upstairs. I followed closely behind him.
He went straight to Jaxon, checking his pulse and breathing before grabbing a suitcase that held syringes and small liquid containers of drugs.
It was the same suitcase he had used the night Jaxon passed out at Billy’s fashion house.
I watched as he injected about three containers of those drugs into Jaxon before turning to me.
“He’s running a fever too. Do you think you can grab a bowl of water from the kitchen? Let’s work on calming down his fever while the drugs do their work.”
For a moment, I just stared at him, struggling to find my voice. Then I nodded quickly and rushed downstairs.
I searched through the cabinets until I found a bowl and filled it with water before hurrying back upstairs.
Troy handed me a small towel, and I immediately got to work.
I dipped the towel into the bowl of water and placed it gently on Jaxon’s forehead.
I repeated the process over and over again until his burning body finally began to cool down. Only then did I let out a deep breath as I changed the towel once more.
All the while, Troy stood quietly beside me.
When Jaxon’s fever finally began to fade, relief washed over me.
But at the same time… sadness followed.
“What’s wrong with him? How long has this been happening? Was it since the accident… or after the kidnapping?” I asked, finally summoning the courage to speak.
I saw Troy hesitate.
He opened his mouth as if to answer but paused. His gaze held mine for a moment before he finally said…
“It’s complicated.”
I looked at him for a while before slowly nodding.
I made sure he didn’t notice the small wave of disappointment that crept into my chest. It hurt a little that he didn’t trust me enough to tell me.
But then again, I had never really given him a reason to trust me.
From the moment we met at the sheriff’s office, I had always been hard on Jaxon.
I had been so angry.
But that anger had already begun to fade even before I realized he was the boy I had always wanted to meet again.
The boy who had endured so much pain… pain I could never fully understand.
Just knowing that Jaxon was him had changed something inside me.
I couldn’t find that anger anymore.
With one last look at his still pale face, I slowly pushed myself to my feet.
I needed to be at Renna’s school by 11:00 p.m.
“I need to go. Just take care of him, would you?” I said to Troy before picking up the picture from the floor where I had dropped it earlier.
Then I quietly headed out.
Troy’s POV
I watched as she left.
She looked even worse than before.
Completely defeated… and exhausted.
But at the same time, I couldn’t blame her.
I had overheard her conversation with Jaxon, and I finally understood why she was so determined to take Ravyn Vale down despite the danger.
I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on their conversation, but the possibility of Nancy being the girl who had been kidnapped alongside Jaxon was something I never saw coming.
It was still so hard to believe.
From the look in her eyes earlier, I could tell she was disappointed that I hadn’t answered her question about Jaxon’s health.
But it wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her.
I simply couldn’t.
Jaxon hated talking about his health with anyone other than Dr. Jane. Even his father didn’t know how serious Jaxon’s condition was until he had one of his episodes right in front of him.
Still, seeing the concern in Nancy’s eyes made me realize something.
Maybe she cared about him after all.
And the truth was… I really needed her help exposing Jaxon’s mother’s identity.
Before I could even think twice about it, I found myself running after her.
When I rushed outside, I saw her just about to leave the gate.
“Nancy, wait!” I called out just before she stepped out.
She stopped when she heard my voice as I ran up to her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question back inside. I wasn’t sure what to say,” I admitted, struggling slightly to catch my breath.
“It’s okay. I’m not angry or anything,” she replied, her gaze barely meeting mine.
“Why don’t we meet up tonight? I’ll explain everything,” I said.
She nodded.
“I was actually going to call you, but that’s fine. I’ll be needing more information if we’re going to dig into this.”
Her response left me stunned. I honestly hadn’t expected her to agree so easily.
“Wait… you’re really going to help?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise.
“I have to,” she said with a straight face. “I hate being curious, and this has definitely picked my interest.”
A smile immediately spread across my lips as I silently muttered yes to myself.
“Text me anywhere you want us to meet around town and I’ll be there,” I added quickly.
“No need. Let’s meet at my apartment in town. I was planning on moving back there tomorrow, so it might be a little dusty, but it’s the most private place I’ve got.”
I couldn’t have been happier to hear that.
“I’ll text you the address.”
I nodded in response before she added—
“See you later then.”
“Thank you, Nancy. Really.”
She simply gave me a small smile before turning and walking away.
I watched her leave before taking a deep breath.
Finally.
Someone who might help make this entire case start to make sense.
Now all I had to worry about was how I was going to tell her that Kelvin Randy might be involved in all of this.
And that…
Was going to be very difficult.