Blue Christmas (The Moody Blue Trilogy | Book One) (20 page)

“And what would that be?”

“Well, we don’t make a big deal of it, but the fact is, most of us are
pretty strong in our faith. A lot of people in the business are. It’s not that
we’re ashamed or anything like that. Not at all. We just don’t want to be put
under undue scrutiny—dubbed ‘Christians’ and somehow categorized as freaks and
never heard from again. And that happens a lot. Sad to say but Christians get
verbally crucified every day in the industry. It’s brutal out there. And, to be
honest, we can help a lot more people flying under the radar, if you know what
I mean. They let us into their world where they never would if we waved our
Christian flags in their faces. Jason calls it
Christian espionage.
We
just love ’em and try to be Jesus for them.

“But our faith is an integral part of what we are. Bet you didn’t know
that.”

“No, I didn’t. I mean, Jason has always been pretty outspoken about it
personally, but I never knew about the other guys.”

“Yeah, Jason’s totally upfront about how much he loves God. He and Gevin
were both raised that way, but Gevin’s more private about it. It’s there. Trust
me.

“As for me?” A sassy lilt crept into her tone. “Little Miss Marissa here was
singing in the Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church choir when she was only
five years old.” Her smile gently warmed her face. “And she knows the real deal
when she sees it. The others—Jason made sure they’re all ‘glory bound,’ as he
calls it. You should see him do his crazy evangelist routine, Hannah. Girl, he
cracks me up.

“But what I’m saying is, we all believe, we’re just on different pages of
the book, you know what I’m saying? None of us are saints—you can trust me on
that one too. JT? Now, there’s your bull in the china shop. JT wears his life on
his sleeve. You always know exactly where he stands. He’s got a lot of baggage—a
lot of rough edges, and he’s still got a lot to learn. He still struggles with
some issues, but deep down, he’s there. And Sergio and Jackson—they’re both on
board too, just low-key.”

Marissa leaned back in the chair, relaxing her legs out in front of her.
She closed her eyes, her head swaying ever so slightly as she hummed a quiet
melody. It was a hymn but Hannah couldn’t place it. The sound of Marissa’s rich
alto was soothing, calming Hannah’s nerves. She felt her own eyes get heavy,
giving in to the fatigue.

A few moments later she heard Marissa whispering. “Oh, Jackson, c’mon.
Hang in there. We need you, baby.”

Chapter 14

T
he sun rose on the first day of
the new year.

And then it set again.

Jackson Greer held on, but he was somewhere far away in a world that
wouldn’t connect.

As his close friends and family settled in for the long vigil, they grew
more quiet with each passing hour. The city of Chapel Hill reached out to them
in gracious but unobtrusive ways. The hospital opened a hall of empty patient
rooms for them, allowing them to sleep or shower in shifts. Flowers arrived by
the truckloads. Huge bouquets and stuffed animals filled the waiting room and lined
the long walls of the wing the employees now called Jackson’s Floor.

The intensive care unit strictly limited visitation for all its patients,
no matter who they might be. Throughout that first night and day, Jackson’s
immediate family, along with Alli, took turns visiting at the specified times.
Later, the guys would be allowed a brief visit.

Around 10:00 in the evening, Jason stepped into the waiting room and
called for Hannah. As they went out into the hall, he yawned deeply and wrapped
his hand around hers. “I want you to come in with me to see Jackson.”

She stopped. “No, Jason, it wouldn’t be right. I couldn’t.”

“We’ve all had a chance to visit him, and it’s my turn again. I want you
with me.” His eyes pleaded with her. “Change that—I
need
you with me,
Hannah.”

She studied his face. The pain and fatigue overshadowed the normal
exuberance she found there. The deep creases of his brow seemed to be knotted
permanently in place. She couldn’t refuse him. She pulled him toward her,
wishing to somehow give him the strength he needed. He searched her face as
though looking for the hope he lacked, gently pushing her hair back away from
her face. Finally, they turned and moved quietly down the hall.

As Jason slowly opened the door to Jackson’s room, Hannah took a deep
breath and silently asked God to give her strength. Alli sat beside Jackson’s
bed, her back to them, her hands wrapped around his lifeless hand. Jason
motioned for Hannah to stand back with him, not wishing to intrude on Alli’s
privacy. He wrapped his arm around her tightly as they observed their two
friends.

Apparently unaware of their presence, Alli laid her head against Jackson’s
leg covered by a blue blanket. Her body rocked slowly back and forth. They
could hear her unsteady breathing. After endless moments of silence, she raised
her head, gently caressing Jackson’s leg. “Wake up, Jackson. Please wake up,”
she whispered.

Then they heard the faintest sound of her singing.

I could never love another

The way that I love you,

I could never face another day

Without you by my side.

Hannah recognized the haunting melody of the ballad though barely
discernible—the first song Jackson had ever written, recorded by
Blue
on
their sophomore album. His love song for Alli.

Now, as Alli struggled to murmur his lyrics, Jason stepped quietly behind
her, Hannah close beside him. He gently squeezed her shoulder. She looked up at
them with eyes so filled with pain, Hannah could barely stand to watch, her own
tears racing down her face. She leaned over, hugging Alli as Jason covered them
with his arms. No words were spoken. Instead, they simply shared the
unspeakable sorrow as the medical machines beeped steadily around them.

After several
moments, her friends still embracing her, Alli reached back out to hold Jackson’s
lifeless hand. She was rocking again, Jackson’s song filling her. Her voice was
raspy from too many hours of too much crying, yet she softly sang the words.

I will love you always,

Always and forever,

With every breath I take

I will love you—

Always and forever . . .

Jason pulled away from them, abruptly leaving the room. Hannah hugged
Alli once more then quietly left the room. She found Jason standing in a dark
corner, his head in his hands.

“Why, God? Why Jackson?
Please
don’t let him die . . .”

Hannah stood just behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He
poured his heart out to God—begging and pleading. Hannah simply held him. She
leaned her head against his strong back, feeling each ragged breath he took.
When she finally opened her eyes, something near the window caught her
attention. She squinted, trying to make out the movement of the images
reflected in the glass. Gently pulling away from Jason, she moved toward the
window.

What she saw took her breath away. “Jason, come here.” She heard him
sniffling. He didn’t move. “Jason, please. You’ve got to see this.”

Rubbing his eyes, he shuffled slowly toward her. “What is it?”

She reached for his hand, pulling him closer toward the window. “Don’t
get too close, but look outside.” She watched his face as the dancing lights
flickered against it.

When he finally realized what he was seeing, he let out a breathless
gasp. “I can’t believe it.”

Below them, on a tightly secured hospital lawn, thousands of people
covered the hospital grounds. In their hands, they held candles. Like tiny
lights sparkling on a moonlit sea, they burned with one message:
We love
you, Jackson.
Young girls clutched teddy bears, others held up signs of
encouragement.
God, Please love Jackson tonight . . . Hang in
there, Blue . . . We are Blue for You . . . Jackson,
we want you back!

Out of his tears came the sound of Jason’s laughter. “Will you look at
that? There must be thousands of them.”

Hannah laughed too, feeling the healing balm of hope descending over them.
She heard footsteps approaching them from behind.

“What is it?” Gevin asked, his arm around Marissa’s shoulders. When they
got close enough to see, the same shock registered on their faces.

“Oh my gosh,” Marissa whispered. “Gevin, look at all of them!”

In moments, the others joined them at the window—JT, Tracey, Sergio, Laura
and Frank, Jackson’s parents and siblings. They all had the same reaction–—at
first shock, then overwhelming gratitude.

“Wait—I’ve gotta get Alli. She’s got to see this.” Jason peeled off down
the hall. Moments later he returned, his hands pulling hers, dragging her
against her will.

“Jason, stop it! I don’t want to leave him. Please stop!”

“It’s just for a minute, Alli. You need to see this. I promise you won’t
regret it.” He escorted her to the front nearest the window.

Her expression melted immediately. “Oh . . .” It fell from
her lips, nothing more than a breath. “I can’t
believe
it. If only Jackson
could see this.” She smiled through her tears as Jackson’s parents embraced
her.

The friends and family members crowded close together in one collective
hug as they watched the lights reflect on the faces of the faithful fans below.
They wept through their smiles at the extraordinary gesture of love.

“Hey, look at that.” JT pointed toward the right side of the crowd. “Over
there on the side of that van.”

A huge banner flapped in the brisk winter breeze. On a brilliant blue
background, the bold white letters grabbed their attention:

DON’T GIVE UP!

WE LOVE YOU!

BLUE FOREVER!

“Do we have the most amazing fans, or what?” Jason sighed. He hesitated,
then turned toward Gevin. Their eyes locked momentarily.

Gevin raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, Jason, we do. We have the most amazing
fans.” With that, he moved closer to the window, unlatched it and threw it wide
open. At first, the mass of faces below didn’t see them. Then slowly, like a
giant wave, they began pointing up to the window where the cluster of their
beloved
Blue
members stood waving with family and friends.

The cheers roared, swelling to a crescendo. Not the raucous cheers they
heard at their concerts. These were passionate expressions of love and hope.
They waved back, Jason patting his hand over his heart to say thank you. JT
covered his face with his hands to hide his emotion. Sergio simply stared in
disbelief as tears streamed down his face.

Voices young and old drifted up to them.

“We love you!”

“Tell Jackson we love him!”

“God loves you!”

“We’re praying for you!”

About that time, blinding lights panned the window as camera crews
discovered the impromptu gathering. The special, intimate moment ended. Frank
closed the window as the others made their way back to the waiting room.

“That was
awesome
,” wowed Micah, Jackson’s younger brother. “Wish Jackson
could have seen it.”

“He knows, Micah,” Jason responded with a wink. “Somehow I think he
knows.”

“Well, it can’t hurt to remind him.”

They all looked at Gevin with puzzled faces as he headed back down the
hallway, pulling Marissa along with him. “C’mon. I think it’s time we stopped
all this crying. There’s something we need to do.”

JT, Tracey, Sergio, Alli, Jason and Hannah followed them down the hall.
After a few minutes of desperate pleas to the attending doctor, they received
reluctant permission to make a group visit into Jackson’s room. They filed in
silently, reverently aware of Jackson’s still form lying so peacefully in that
bed. Alli took a seat in the chair beside him again as the others formed a
circle around the bed.

It was the first time they had all been together with Jackson like this.
Alli looked around from face to face with a renewed hope shining through her
glistening eyes.

“Gevin?” Jason looked inquisitively at his cousin.

Gevin took a deep breath, taking a second to look at Marissa beside him.

“Go on, baby,” she whispered.

“Okay, Jackson. It’s like this,” he began, his dark eyes focused on Jackson’s
face. “We can’t stand this anymore, buddy. See, you pretty much scared the hell
out of us, but . . . well, we just wanna tell you we love you,
man.” He swallowed hard and took a moment.

“But you need to know there are
thousands
of people outside
pulling for you. They’re holding candles and all they want is to hear that
you’re okay. And that’s all
we
want, Jackson. Come on, man. Pull out
from under this . . .” He stopped, this time looking at the
others, his eyes moist, pleading for someone else to speak.

“Hey, man, it’s me, JT,” he started, his voice graveled. “Now, you’ve
been lying here on your butt sleeping way too long, man. And we’ve all decided
it’s about time you wake up and smell the coffee, know what I mean? Come on, Jax.
You can do it. I know you can do it.”

“No kiddin’, Jackson. Enough already.” Jason feigned a tease, his tone
not quite convincing. “If you needed a break, all you had to do was ask, man.
We’d chill for you—you know we would. But right now—well, right now we need you
to wake up.” His voice grew quiet. “We all need you, Jackson. We can’t make it
without you. None of us can. I hope you know that.”

Hannah tightened her grip on Jason’s hand, urging him to continue. “And
the thing is . . . well, we’ve been praying for you, man. And
all those people outside? You should see them. They’re praying too. And Jackson,
we
know
God’s not through with you yet. I think He just reminded us of
that when we looked out that window. There’s so much more we’ve gotta do
together, Jackson.”