I ran out of my room and I saw Amelia. We usually came around the back so for a second I couldn't understand why she was on the front porch. Then I saw him. At her feet lay the crumpled body of a man.

I froze for a second and my hair stood on end. I didn't want to recognize the bloody coveralls or the swollen face.

Octavia put her hand on my shoulder. I jumped but I was in too much shock to yelp.

"I'll call an ambulance," she whispered calmly and disappeared into the kitchen.

I stood staring at him. My mind flashed to that horrible night when I found Gran. No, this couldn't be happening again. I barely had any family as it was, I couldn't lose anymore.

"Sookie, Sookie!" It was Amelia, she was talking to me but I was dumfounded. "Sookie, he's alive!"

Alive…alive! Oh Jason, I thought, as I came to myself and rushed over. What have you gotten into? I crouched on the ground beside Amelia and lowered my fingers to his neck. There was a pulse and it was strong. Thank god.

Now that I had gotten hold of myself I could see that there wasn't much blood. When ever I've seen a dead body (which is far more often than it should be) there is always blood. Great puddles and smears that ensure that the person is completely gone.

Jason was beaten and bloody but relatively whole. Every inch of his skin seemed to be swollen and his leg was twisted back in a way that was completely unnatural. His breath rattled as he sucked it in. I put my hand gently his arm. I was worried I would hurt him but he was out of it. Where was that ambulance?

I hated feeling helpless but there was nothing I could do for him. There was no bleeding to stanch, no way I could make him more comfortable. Why hadn't I listened to him yesterday? Why didn't I see that he was in danger? I could have asked Eric or Bill to watch him. I could have prevented this.

The whine of the ambulance came down the drive and a single tear slid down my nose and dripped off to land on Jason's dirty coveralls.

Phil Renton and James Trevor ran out with a gurney. They passed me off to Amelia and I just stood there as they loaded him up and checked his vitals. They were asking questions but I couldn't answer them. I heard Amelia's voice buzzing in the background but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

The ambulance whirled off in a stream of light and noise and Octavia put a steadying hand on my shoulder. After the lights faded she led me into my room. I sat on my bed just staring off into space while she rummaged through my drawers. She lay some jeans and a tee-shirt on my bed.

"Can you manage dear," she asked. I looked up at her and I didn't see a powerful old witch, I just saw a kindly old woman. I shook myself, snapping back to the situation.

"Yes, I'll be okay." I put on the clothes and walked to the bathroom to tie my hair up and splash some water on my face. I was pale through my summer tan. I shuttered. I slipped on some sneakers and asked Octavia to drive me, I wasn't sure if I could focus on the road.

They had taken him to the hospital in the next town. Bon Temps wasn't big enough to warrant anything bigger than a clinic. The receptionist waved us into the waiting room. It felt like an hour before the doctor in blue scrubs came out to tell us that Jason had stabilized.

I went to go see him but Andy Bellefleur stepped in front of me. I glared at him and he took it in stride. I was worried so I wasn't shielding well and his thoughts were not nearly as calm as he would have me believe.

"I'm sorry for the interruption Sookie but I would just like to clarify a few things about Jason's condition." Sorry my ass. He was standing there gloating over the fact that he could do this.

"No problem Andy dear," I said sweetly. I didn't usually call people dear but I knew how much it bothered him. He smiled but I knew it hit home.

"So your boarder there…" he looked down at his notepad as if he didn't remember her name.

"Amelia."

"Yes, Amelia. She told the paramedics that she was coming home and she found Jason on the doorway. Is this what happened?"

"Well, you'd have to ask Amelia that. I was asleep."

"Was your brother in any kind of trouble that you know of? Did he have any enemies?" He was wondering who had hated Jason bad enough to do something like this. The medical report said it was a beating so he had been put on the case to find out who was responsible. Andy was not above suspecting anyone, let alone the other strange Stackhouse sibling. He thought that where ever there was trouble we were always one step behind.

"None that I know of," I said continuing my sweet act. "There are bound to be a few men not to pleased with Jason's way with their ladies but other then that. Most people like Jason."

"So he hasn't been into anything unusual recently."

"Honestly Andy I wouldn't know. Me and Jason aren't exactly on speaking terms." There was a glint in Andy's eye. He was wondering if I had one of my vampire friends do this. I forgot myself and answer a question he didn't ask out loud.

"Me and Jason were just fighting over how he handled his marriage. I would never want anything bad to happen to him. Jeeze Andy, he's my brother, he's all the family I got."

"Now I didn't ask that did I Sookie." His words were a warning. I inhaled deeply and tried my best to stay out of his head. People got real uneasy when I started answering their stray thoughts.

"I'm sorry Andy, I'm just real worried about Jason. Do you think you can ask these questions later? I really want to see him."

"Of course Sookie," he said. "I'm sorry to have kept you this long." He wasn't, but I didn't bother saying anything. I just hurried to Jason's room.

I wasn't sure what I expected but it was worse. He was all bandaged up but no amount of bandages could cover the damage. His body was a giant bruise.

There were tubes coming out of his arms and a giant one in his mouth, breathing for him.

"Oh Jason," I murmured under my breath. "What have you done?"

I wanted to run over and throw my arms around him. I wanted to hug away all the pain but I was afraid to. He looked too weak. My strong brother was lying there in the hospital beaten and hurt.

"It looks worse than it is," a voice said from beside me. It was a tiny nurse dressed in floral scrubs. She looked familiar but I didn't know where I had seen her before. Then I realized that this was hardly my first trip to the hospital. I myself had quite the tendency of ending up on the wrong side of a hospital bed. When I didn't have potent vampire blood to bring me around quickly I ended up staying there for awhile.

I didn't want her pity. I wanted facts and the woman read my face as surely as I read minds.

"He has a few broken ribs, a concussion, a broken leg, nose, color bone, and bruises on every inch of him. You did a good thing getting him here so fast. There was some internal bleeding, any longer and I'm not sure if he would have made it." I didn't want to think about what might of happened if Amelia hadn't come home at that moment.

"So we found him pretty soon after it happened?"

"Oh yes I would say within the hour."

"How long will he be out for?" I was proud of myself for asking questions and not breaking down at the sight of my brother so helpless on the hospital bed.

"That I can't tell you. With head injuries it's hard to determine. It could be three minutes it could be three months. You just have to wait and see. His body has been through a huge trauma, the best thing you can do is just be there for him right now."

"Thanks," I said to the nurse. She took it for the dismissal it was and quietly left the room."

I walked close to the bed and stared down at his misshapen face. I put my hand on the bed, not daring to touch him.

I sat in a chair by the bed for the day. I didn't really have much to talk about so I told Jason stories. Stories about nothing really. I told him about when we were kids, some anecdotes from Merlotte's, a few of my milder adventures.

It was my day off so I didn't have to worry about getting to work. The tiny nurse came in every now and then to fuss with the tubes or add something to the IV. She was brisk and business like but she brought me food when she saw I was going to be there for awhile.

People from town came in and out of the hospital all day. They said they were there to check on Jason but I could tell most of them just want to gawk and to have one more thing to gossip about when they got home. It was frustrating, but I managed to smile and not insult anyone.

It must have been just after dark when someone else came to visit. I jumped when he spoke as I hadn't noticed him come in.

"Sookie. I came as soon as I heard. Are you alright?"

"Bill, how many times have I told you to make noise when you come in. You scared me half to death." I scolded. He stood there, dressed in a black suit. His perfect features looked even more mysterious under the harsh florescent lights. In humans the lights brought out ever flaw, in vampires it seemed they brought out every perfection.

"I'm sorry Sookie," he said. "I was worried about you."

"Don't worry about me, worry about Jason. He's the one somebody tried to kill."

"Sookie," Bill's voice was questioning. He was asking me to think about it differently. "Don't you think that this was meant to scare you or be a warning of some sort?"

"Me! Bill, I'm fine. Not even a scrape. Jason's the one who's hurt." I didn't want to believe that there was someone after me again. I had only just started to relax from the last time someone was threatening my life.

"They left him at your house. They could have left him anywhere but they put him on your front steps. There has to be a reason Sookie." His words were calm and logical but every one drove the idea into me. I stood there hugging myself, eyes filling up with tears. I didn't want to accept it.

Bill took one look at my face and he closed the distance between us. He wrapped his strong arms around me. I tried to resist for a moment but then I gave in and buried my face against his jacket.

He felt so comforting and familiar I let go and sobbed. He just stroked my back and kissed my hair and was there for me. It was too familiar. It brought to mind the short time we had spent in love. It made me want to revisit it. But that was over. He has betrayed me, and no matter how much my body wanted the comfort, my mind knew better. I pulled away sniffling.

"Thanks for coming Bill," I said. "I really appreciate you being here, but I think I should get back to Jason." He looked me over and shook his head slightly.

"You should get to bed, you're exhausted."

"I'm fine," I said bravely. Even though my body was trembling from the stress of the day.

"No you're not," he said. He was so sure of himself, I hated it that he knew me so well.

"Well how I am doesn't matter, I want to be here for when he wakes up."

"That could take weeks," he said. He saw my determined stance and softened. "We could get the hospital to call you if he wakes up. You could go get some sleep and come back to see him in the morning. Jason wouldn't want you to drive yourself into the ground looking after him."

I wanted to be strong. I wanted to stay there and be there for when he woke up but my body was agreeing with Bill. And the lure of a soft bed was just to strong. "You'll make sure they call?" I asked, but I was already convinced.

Bill went and talked to the nurses a the reception desk and then came back, everything was taken care of. He even offered to give me a ride back on his way home, which was nice since Octavia had driven me to the hospital. And I didn't really want to be alone in the dark anyway since Jason's attacker was still out there.

Bill saw me to the door like a gentleman and promised to keep an eyes out for me. Then I stumbled to bed. I barely stayed awake long enough to get changed and wash my face and I was lost in sleep.

I woke again to the buzzing of the phone. It took me a minute to even realize what it was. I glanced at the clock, 4am. Why would someone be calling me now?

"Hello this is Mary-Anne from county hospital." My heart stopped.

"Is Jason okay?" I asked.

"Oh yes, Miss Stackhouse. He just woke up, he's asking to see you."

"I'll be right there," I said and I scrambled out of bed.