Chapter 24

The sound of a single gun shot rang out as it sliced thru the air and pierced her skin. She cryed out in pain, her eyes wide with shock as the blade fell from her hand, clattering to the floor. He'd only shot her in the arm. Only to scare her, slow her down. She held her right arm with her left hand, blood sliding down the length of her arm.

"I..I cant believe..you shot me", she said slowly as she moved backwards, stumbling into the table behind her.

"I cant believe you dont take me more seriously", he said.

Leaning against the table she began to slump to the floor, still clutching her arm.

"Too much blood...my blood..not my blood", she stammered.

Jackson walked over to her slowly. She leaned over to the side, her head hit the floor. Switching on the safety Jackson pocketed his gun and kneeled over Orchid. He lifted her head. Placing two fingers on her neck he took her pulse. She was fine. Apparently she had passed out. He eased her head back down and stood up. He looked around the room for something to tie around her arm. He had to stop the bleeding. Not having any luck, he rip the sleeve of his shirt to use to tie her arm. After that was done he picked her up and lay her on the bed. Taking a seat in what he was beginning to feel like his chair, he prepared himself to wait, until his cell phone rang.

Chapter 23

"No!", Orchid said as she jumped up.

"What now", Jackson asked.

"You think Im stupid dont you. I fall back and you tell Amy everything I just told you! I worked way to hard to keep this little duo in tact and I am not about to let you come along and ruin everything I dont care how sexy you are!"

Jackson stood up, thrown off by her sudden out burst. He watched as she walked quickly to a table on the other side of the room, pulling open a drawer, she started to toss things onto the floor until she found what she was looking for. She turned around slowly, a switch blade she held tightly in her hand. His breath caught in his throat. Reaching in his pocket he pulled out his gun, stopping her in her tracks as soon as she started towards him.

"Stay right where you are!", he demanded.

She looked surprised, yet she still held on to her weapon.

"Drop the blade or I'll shoot."

"You wouldn't shoot me. You may not like me very much, but I think you have a soft spot for Amy. You hurt me..you hurt her."

"You dont know me as well as you think you do. Make one more step in my direction and I'll shoot you."

Orchid laughed. Clearly testing him, calling his bluff. She moved towards him again. Jackson pulled the trigger.

Chapter 22

"Im listening", Jackson said.

She scooted back until her back was leaning against the head board, pulling her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Amy has had a hard life. Terrible things have happened to her. Things so horrible that the only thing that kept her from completely loosing it was to basically create someone who could handle the things she couldn't."

"She couldn't cope, so she created another person in her head?"

"Yeah..I guess you can put it that way. But its much more complicated.

She unfolded her legs and turned towards him, leaning in as if she was about to tell him a secret.

"You see Amy was so severely traumatized that she became catatonic. She just...checked out. But I fought for her. Ugh..how do I put this so you can understand? I guess you can say I have always been a part of her..that strong part of her that fights and never gives up. But some how she lost that part of her. She gave up. She stopped fighting. Even tho she lost sight of that part of her, it never died. I was not about to die, so when she checked out, I took over. She truly did wake up another person. Everyone kept using the word amnesia. But they didn't realize Amy was still asleep. Her family..well, I guess you can say our family kept doing things to try to jog her memory. The more they pushed and reminded her, the more that old part of her started to wake up. I wasn't very happy about it. For awhile, I fought it. I was afraid once Amy was back, she'd remember everything and push me away again. I had lay hidden deep inside her for so long..I was afraid if shoved down again, this time I would truly die. But thankfully for me and her both, she never remembered those horrible things that led her to that point. She doesn't even remember being hospitalized. Maybe now you can understand why its better that we keep Amy in the dark."

Jackson just sat there for the longest time, not sure what to say or do next. Snapping back into focus when he felt Orchids hand caressing his face.

"I think Im ready to talk to Amy now", he said.