Cassandra sat quietly at Jake's bedside, her back straight as a board and her hands folded in her lap. She bit nervously at her bottom lip as she watched him breathe slowly in and out. She noted that he breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. She had counted every breath, every wince and every groan of pain he had made since they had gotten back from their latest mission.
They had been tracking down the magical sorcerer's hat, you know, the one from the Mickey Mouse movie. Turns out, it wasn't nearly as sparkly in real life and it turned people into power crazed psychos. They had managed to get the hat to the Annex, but not before it's previous owners attacked them.
Despite the team's protests, Jake stayed behind to hold off the attackers so Baird could get Ezekiel, Cassandra and the hat to safety. They had waited for him to return to the Annex for over half an hour but when he failed to show, they quickly went back out to search for him. They had found him just a mile away, laying unconscious on the ground, beaten and bloody.
Cassandra had gone crazy. She began spewing out useless facts as her brain tried to process what she was seeing. She had never seen anybody so badly beaten before and the fact that it was Jake made it worse. After they got him back to the Annex, Cassandra and Ezekiel sat quietly out of the way as Jenkins and Baird cut off his shirt and cleaned the blood and dirt off of him.
Ezekiel held Cassandra's hand in an attempt to comfort her. Her brain kept going and going. She could only pull her knees up to her chest and rock back and forth as hallucinations of the human anatomy flooded her vision. Her eyes stayed glued on Jake's bruised face as Baird came over to tell them the news. "From what we can tell, he has a couple broken ribs, a twisted ankle, a lot of blunt force trauma and possibly a concussion. We won't be able to find out more until he wakes up. Jones, help me move him up to his room. Cassandra, I need you to help Jenkins get the first aid stuff."
Ezekiel nodded and stood to do his job but Cassandra stayed frozen, un able to tear her gaze away from the unconscious cowboy laying on the table. Baird's face softened as she knelt down next to the librarian. "Cassandra, I know you don't want to leave him but I need you to help so he can get better."
Cassandra finally nodded and let the guardian help her to her feet. Jenkins had an uncharacteristic caring look in his eyes as he took her arm and led her away. She turned her head so she could watch Jake until they were out if sight.
After they had gotten everything they needed, the went upstairs to Jake's bedroom. Baird and Ezekiel had him carefully tucked under the covers, gauze wrapped tightly around his chest and pillows propped under his injure ankle. They had cleaned all the dirt and blood away, revealing the nasty dark bruises that tainted his skin.
Jenkins quietly applied antibacterial ointment and bandages to the various cuts on his face and hands while Eve wrapped an ice pack around his swollen ankle. After they had finished, Jenkins cleared his throat and said, "I can stay with him until he wakes up."
"No." Cassandra said suddenly, speaking for the first time since they had got home. She grabbed Jake's armchair from the corner of the room and pulled it over to his bedside. She sat down and said, "I'll watch him."
Nobody protested, they just nodded quietly and left her alone. So there she was, watching the cowboy intently. She fought back the urge to reach our and brush a strand of hair out of his face. He had a nasty bruise on his left cheek, his lip was split, and a butterfly bandage was placed on cut over his right eyebrow.
His knuckles were busted open and his forearms were covered in bruises from where tried to fight off the attacker. Bruises in the shape of fingers were imprinted around his neck like a sick necklace. She felt sick to her stomach. How could anybody ever do this to another human being? Magic. It had made the man who attacked them crazy. Magic was to blame here. Magic was suppose to be fun and, well, magical. Not evil and corrupt.
She reached out uncertainly. That piece of hair was bothering her. The urge to brush it away made her fidget but she didn't want to bother him. Finally giving in, she softly brushed her fingertips against his forehead, pushing the pesky hair out of his face. He didn't wake but he did subconsciously lean into her touch. She smiled sadly and continued to stroke his face. She hated seeing him so broken. He had always been a sturdy rock for her, an anchor. He thought that it was the smells of breakfast that kept her grounded during her hallucinations but he was wrong. It was him. It had always been him.
His smile, his eyes, the texture of his skin, his smell, the thick accent of his voice; those were the things that kept her sane. But he didn't trust her and she didn't blame him. What she had done was terrible, unforgivable, but he still never left her. He never abandoned her. And now, she wouldn't abandon him.
She began to pull her hand away stopped when Jake's face twisted in pain at her absence. She scooted the chair a little closer and laid her hand over his. She would stay beside him until he woke up and she would still be there when he did.
After a while, Jenkins brought her some hot tea. She took it gratefully and politely declined his offer to stay with Jake so she could rest. She told him, "I just want to stay with him."
Jenkins smiled and patted her shoulder. "Mr. Stone is lucky to have you in his life. One day he'll see it too."
Cassandra could only smile as the older man left the room. She sipped at her tea as she watched Jake sleep. Is it still called sleeping when you've been beaten unconscious? She wondered. She sighed and stroked his face. She tried not to jump when he suddenly reached up and held onto her hand. His eyes fluttered open. When he saw her, his split lips turned up at the corners, forming a small smile. His voice was husky as he greeted, "Hey, Cassie."
"Hi." She smiled. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes. She quickly brushed them away, refusing to cry. Jake frown and brushed away a stray tear that she had missed.
"Why are you crying, Cassie?" He asked, his tired voice was gentle. Cassandra sniffled.
"You got hurt." She said quietly, not trusting herself to say more. She knew if she tried to talk that she would cry. "You got hurt protecting us."
"It's not your fault." He told her, running his thumb over her knuckles. He smiled. "I'm glad you're safe."
"The hat is safe, too." She told him with a blush. He shook his head.
"I don't care about the hat. I stayed behind so you could be safe." He whispered. Cassandra was dumbfounded.
"But you don't even-"
"I like you, Cassie. So much that it scares me. And I trust you. I trust you with my life." He admitted to her. Cassandra's heart fluttered in her chest. She smiled as he continued with tears in his eyes. "I've been trying to keep my distance but I can't do it anymore. I really, really like you. I thought I was going to die today but the only thing I could think of was how much I regretted not telling you how I feel."
"Why haven't you told me this before?" She asked, her voice breaking. Jake swallowed.
"I thought that if I admitted it, it would be real; then it would be something that could end, something that could go wrong, something that I could lose." He stopped and wince in pain. Cassandra stood up.
"I'll go get you something for the pain." She said, turning away from the bed. She wiped away a tear as he reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Please don't leave me. It doesn't hurt when you're with me." He begged. She turned to him and smiled.
"Okay, I won't leave." She promised. Jake winced as he moved over in the bed. He patted the now empty space beside him. Cassandra nodded and carefully laid down beside him. She avoided his injured ribs and rested her head on his shoulder. She breathed in his scent as he wrapped an arm around her. He just wanted to be close to her.
She listened to his deep breathing and steady heartbeats. They assured her that he was going to be okay. After a while, Jake had fallen back asleep. Cassandra placed a hand over his heart and whispered, "I love you."
Maybe she was just hearing things but as she too drifted off to sleep, she could have sworn she heard him say it back.