Cover of Not Quite Dead Yet

Not Quite Dead Yet

by Holly Jackson


Genre
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime
Year
2025
Pages
417
Contents

Chapter 7

Overview

Jet’s family stages a tense “breakfast” to pressure her into life-saving surgery, but Jet refuses and clashes violently with her mother, who even produces funeral brochures to force the reality of Jet’s death. While probing Halloween alibis, Jet confronts Sophia about her two visits and pins Luke down on his timeline, raising new suspicions and tensions. Unable to spend her remaining days in her parents’ house, Jet leaves and asks Billy to let her stay with him.

Summary

Jet wakes late to find Luke and Sophia at her parents’ table with baby Cameron for an awkward “family breakfast.” Jet, still fixated on the limited time she has left, notices fresh scabs on Luke’s knuckles; Luke claims he scraped them at a construction site after tripping into a trench.

Jet confronts Sophia about coming to the house twice on Halloween, as shown by the doorbell camera. Sophia nervously explains she returned because she left her phone in the kitchen. Jet then presses Luke for his exact whereabouts at 10:46 p.m., the time Jet’s Apple Watch recorded the attack. Luke says he and Sophia were home from about 10:15 p.m., put Cameron to bed, watched Friends, and went to sleep.

Dad insists they “know” it was JJ because JJ ran and sent a “Sorry” text, but Jet refuses to treat that as certainty. Luke explodes with anger at the idea of JJ being responsible, while Jet reiterates that she needs to account for everyone’s alibis.

The breakfast’s real purpose surfaces: Jet’s mother wants to take Jet back to the hospital immediately for the risky surgery before an aneurysm forms. Jet refuses again, furious that her family is trying to override her choice. Jet’s mother escalates by slamming funeral-home brochures in front of Jet and demanding Jet choose between burial or cremation, breaking down as she pleads that she cannot bury another child.

After the fight, Jet decides she cannot stay in the house for her final days. She packs quickly, leaves her medication behind, says goodbye to the dog Reggie, and drives away as her mother watches from an upstairs window. With nowhere else to go, Jet goes to Billy’s apartment, admits she needs a place to stay, and asks if she can live with him for the rest of the week.

Who Appears

  • Jet Mason
    Injured protagonist; questions family alibis, refuses surgery, leaves home, asks Billy for a place to stay.
  • Jet’s mother
    Desperate to save Jet; stages family breakfast, demands surgery, thrusts funeral brochures at Jet.
  • Billy
    Jet’s connection in town; answers the door and is asked to house Jet for her final days.
  • Luke Mason
    Jet’s brother; claims scraped knuckles from work, gives alibi with Sophia, rages about JJ.
  • Sophia
    Luke’s wife; explains her second Halloween visit as retrieving a forgotten phone, supports Luke’s alibi.
  • Jet’s father
    Tries to keep peace; believes JJ is responsible, follows Jet’s mother’s push for hospital return.
  • Cameron
    Luke and Sophia’s baby; present during the argument, cries when tension escalates.
  • Reggie
    Family dog; Jet says goodbye before leaving the house.
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