Page 14 of Jackson

I scrambled up from the floor right as both Tyson and McMurphy slammed down onto it. My heart pounded hard in my chest as I froze, not knowing what I could do to even help Tyson. I wasn’t good at fighting, or hurting anyone for that matter.

They both rolled around on the floor, trading blows with each other hard enough for thuds to be heard as fists smacked against skin and bone. I winced at every single one of them, trying desperately to look for a way to break them up without jumping headfirst into the fray.

Tyson’s fist shot up to grab at the sheets on the lower bunk next to me, trying to pull himself up off the floor. Both the top blanket and sheet ripped away from where it had been tucked against the wall and shifted across the bed messily as he tried to stand up.

The give in it wasn’t enough, though, and soon sent Tyson flying back down onto McMurphy’s chest.

Richards lifted his foot to slam it down onto my cellmate, and instantly, I had my hand wrapped around my pillow and tossed it at him.

It barely had any effect aside from getting him to look up at me when it hit him and turn that scowl into a downright snarl.

“You have something you wanna say, Gonzalez?” he spat out.

My arms flew over my head instinctively, years of this same situation suddenly flashing through my mind, mirrored by what was going on. Soon, I’d be hit in the back or on the arm hard enough to break the protective hold I had over my face. The force of it would stun me enough to pry my arms apart and next a fist would come flying at my face, upper cutting me hard enough to rattle my teeth.

That’s how it always went. I’d be back in the damn house with no one but my oblivious neighbors to hear my screaming.

My breaths hitched in and out of my chest hard as I waited for the familiar blows. My entire body shook as I hunched in on myself, praying that it would be over soon.

A crash coming from the front of the cabin had me sinking to my knees instantly, practically curling up in a ball on the floor as panic began to take over.

“What the fuck is going on in here!” someone shouted. “Get the fuck up off each other!”

There was some more arguing and what sounded like a couple of our COs breaking up the fight. I didn’t dare to peek, though, afraid that I’d be met with a fist to my eye and a concussion to follow.

“Jesus,” someone said over me, a familiar voice, laced with worry.

Worry?

“Gonzalez?”

My entire body was most definitely shaking visibly.

Oh god, was I going to get shipped back to SAC?

Only two days into the goddamn program?

I was never going to get another work program like this if I got sent back. No board was going to look at my record and cut me some slack if they thought I was involved in some fight.

Hands came around to grab at my wrists in a gentle hold, pulling at them. “Hey, come here.”

I was frozen solid, stuck in the protective position while I rode through my panic attack. That was the shitty thing about having PTSD, it came at the worst fucking times.

The hands let go of me and instead, I felt a pair of arms wrapping around my body and quickly plucking me up from the floor. Instinctively, my fingers latched onto the hard muscles of the shoulder I was thrown up onto, holding me tight to the person that was carrying me.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, patting my back. “You’re all right.”

A soft noise escaped my lips.

I was carried through the cabin and out into the cool night air. Breathing in deeply, I caught a familiar spicy scent that had me relaxing almost instantly. Back inside the cabin, I could hear the COs yelling, something about illegal gambling.

“Gonzalez.” I was carefully swung back down onto my feet and Jackson’s face suddenly appeared in front of me. “What happened?”

“I... um...” I tucked my arms tight around my body, holding myself while I shook.

He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. The inside of it was warm and had his scent practically melted into the seams. I nuzzled my face against the collar, letting the spicy smell of him soak into my bones and bring me back down.

“Were you guys gambling or something?” he asked.

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