Veronica held her breath. She had to do this. He had promised her that if she did, he would protect her. She only hoped that Brenda would forgive her for what she was about to do.
"Do you have any idea how much I love you? "
Brenda was smiling now. Her face was glowing as she thought about how wonderful her future was going to be, illness or no. She was going home to Jax. She was going to get to know her mother. Taking her mother's hand in hers she nodded.
"I think I'm beginning to. "
Veronica's eyes glazed over and she lunged for the wheel.
"Good! "
"JAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!! "
Brenda screamed his name as the car slammed through the embankment. That first impact shocked her system. Jax's face flashed in front of her, the light from the helicopter above capturing the horrific scene in detail. The car hung for a split second and then plunged. Her seatbelt kept her from being plastered to the roof of the car, but the pressure of the fall made her dizzy. She couldn't stop screaming Jax's name, and then impact! The pain was worse than when the ELQ jet had crashed. There was a rushing sound and then Brenda felt nothing.
*********************
Jax watched in horror as the rental car carrying his life flew off the cliff. He could have sworn that he heard Brenda's terrified screams, in an echo he called out to her before leaping out of the helicopter, without a care for the height they were at.
"BRENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! "
He dove again and again. Not caring that the water was frigid, not caring that the rip tide was pulling at him, trying to tug him out to sea. All he could see was his beautiful Brenda. All he could feel was the pain of losing her. NO, he would not lose her. He surfaced to get a breath of air and then dove again. In the murky depths something brushed against him and he spun around.
Veronica.
Her eyes were open, fear etched forever on her face as she gazed at nothing. There was a wide gash on her forehead that would have been oozing blood if the water hadn't staunched the flow. Pushing her away Jax struggled towards the car. There in the driver's seat was Brenda. Her body was slumped over. The roof of the car was gone, as was the passenger seat, which explained Veronica's current state. Jax kicked furiously and reached the door. He yanked on it until he got it open and his heart stopped.
Brenda, please don't leave me. Please be alive.
With a shaking hand he checked her pulse. He kissed her forehead when he found it, thready and weak, but there. Unbuckling her seat belt he gently gathered her in his arms and headed for the surface. She stirred in his arms and opened her eyes. They were cloudy but he saw recognition there and smiled.
"You're safe now Brenda. I'm going to take you home."
Suddenly a blackness came over him. He fought to stay conscious, but his muscles were becoming non-responsive. He heard Brenda's muffled screams and the terror was overwhelming. He didn't consider that he was going to drown at any moment. He could only think of Brenda. As if in a thick fog he saw her head go under water. Struggling frantically, he tried to move his leaden arms towards her. Nothing. He was beginning to go under himself when he caught sight of her. Her hair in a swirl around her illuminated in a surreal blue-green glow. A black silken fringe blown by a soft wisp of wind, nearly suspended. Relief lifted his heart right up to the last second before she disappeared. He could do nothing. His body was no longer his own. Nothing could be felt save the searing of his deprived lungs and the salt in his eyes. The humming in his ears was as deafening as his silent scream.
BRENDA! NNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!
****************************************************
The sounds of commotion around Jax brought him back slowly to consciousness. His eyes strained against the brightness of the floodlights. The rocks were cold and unyielding beneath him. His mind caught up finally to what had happened. At least most of it.
"Brenda!"
The voice that trickled out was not his own. More of the gurgling of a tongue not yet ready to function properly. He strained to focus his eyes and clear the fuzziness of his head. As he sat up his head spun fiercely. A chill ran through him as a realization came to him. Brenda wouldn't leave him lying on the rocks in this state. Where was she? A vision of her hair in the water under the chopper's spotlight. The terror in her eyes and then the darkness of the empty water. Oh my God, he thought, I let her drown! Nausea slammed through his gut and he threw up repeatedly on the nearby rocks. He lay there too weak to move. A sweat broke out on his forehead, mixing with the familiar salt of the water dripping from his hair. Despite the cold air he felt he was burning up. I'm in hell. He almost laughed at the thought. It would be a fitting end for what he had failed to prevent. Why hadn't he seen the signs in Veronica? Why didn't he pay her off and send her packing? He couldn't blame her; she was sick beyond all reason. No, he could only place the blame where it rightly belonged and that was squarely on himself. He proceeded to become violently ill again and finished in a pathetic sob. A voice assailed his ears.
"Jax! Jax!"
He heard the scattering of rock and gravel as Jerry flew down the overhang. He tried to straighten up so Jerry could see him better, but a wave of nausea attacked him so he simply laid his head against a cold rock.
Jerry saw his brother lying on the ground but not moving much. The panic in him intensified. Why wasn't he moving? He had seen Jax wash up on the rock beach seemingly lifeless. The bystanders who had pulled over to try and help tried to persuade him to stay put until the rescue team got there. Since when did he ever listen to a damn thing anyone had ever tried to tell him? Jax was down there and nothing was going to stop him from being down there too. It took him nearly half an hour to make his way safely to the bottom. His focus was solely devoted to the body below. He tried not to imagine life without Jax, refused to even consider the possibility that Jax might not have won over the riptide. His mind shot back to their youth and the time that Jax had not so gracefully wiped out on his board. Jerry nearly smiled at the memory. He had come to after being tossed onto his head in the sand. The initial fear in Jax's eyes was slowly replaced by a wicked gleam. That gleam had become a familiar thing to Jerry. It always followed some sort of hard-won triumph. It went hand in hand so damn well with the slightly loppy grin. The thought of never seeing those two precious things again made his stomach twist tightly.
Jerry slipped and slid across the rocks to get to Jax's unmoving form. He simply would not acknowledge the fact that Jax could very well be dead and Brenda along with him. A wave crashed up perilously close to Jax and Jerry slipped as another big one knocked him off his feet. He barely registered the jagged edge of a rock cutting into his arm. His only mission was to get to Jax. In his mind he said a litany of prayers that he thought he had forgotten long ago.
"Jax!!!"
He screamed his name trying to get some sign of movement. There was nothing, save the pounding surf against the rocks. Out on the water the search effort for the car and Brenda and Veronica was being rapidly begun. Search lights from helicopters and lifeguard boats flooded the area and the murky water was churned up even more with the helicopters overhead. The noise was pounding in Jerry's head as he skidded to a stop, finally reaching Jax.
"Please, please, please..."
His hand touched Jax's neck and Jerry winced at how cold he felt. Tearing off his own half-soaked jacket he wrapped it around Jax.
"Come on bro, now would be a good time to wake up. "
Still nothing. Drawing a shaking breath he reached over and tried to find Jax's pulse. Again, and more alarmingly he found nothing. No. He simply would not allow Jax to be dead. He was the light in the family.
He was the golden one.
