Cassandra woke up to the same pain from earlier, only this time is was not as intense, allowing her to open her eyes without too much pain. She struggled to remember what happened, her mind still foggy and unfocused. She slowly began to make a list of what she remembered in her head.
Her first time at a club. Photos of people. Purple rhinos. Dorian Gray. Colonel Baird chasing him. Pain.
She winced slightly, remembering how instant the pain had struck her, but then continued with her list.
Eve and Ezekiel helping her leave the club. Darkness.
That was all she could remember at the moment, everything still seemed a blur. As she continued to try and gather her memories, she suddenly felt another pain on her hand.
"Ouch," she said, instinctively pulling her hand to her chest, opening her eyes that she hadn't realized she closed once again when making her list.
"Hey, you're all right, Cassie. Give me back your hand."
Jacob?
She turned her head to see Jacob and his slightly outstretched hand. Cassandra was confused by this and she was about to ask why when another wave of pain shot through her hand and she winced.
"Your hand has been cut pretty deep," Jacob said with a scowl on his face, examining her cut. Eve and Jenkins explained everything that happened to Cassandra and how they overall ended up defeating Dorian Gray. With the thought of the man who had given the cut to Cassie, his scowl deepened even more.
"Damn that Dorian," Jake whispered to himself. He could feel himself fuming with pent up rage. His thoughts running rampage through his mind.
How dare someone do this to Cassie?! You should've been there to protect her, Stone! You're supposed to always be there to catch her when she falls!
Cassandra slowly examined her hand, remembering that Dorian had cut himself, therefore cutting her. She was filled with so much adrenaline, she almost forgot about the cut. Cassie looked back up at Jacob and suddenly remembered something.
Jake was the one who carried me back to the annex!
She blushed then turned her head back to her cut, hoping Jake wouldn't notice the change in color of her cheeks. Cassandra remembered the feeling of being held close to his body, safe within his strong arms. Arms that were strong enough to work on an oil rig, but gentle enough to safely and carefully examine pieces of art work that were dear to him.
When she was sure that her blush had faded, she turned back to Stone, putting her hand gently back into his so that he could continue to examine the deep cut of her hand. Right before she did this, however, she noticed the scowl on his face, clearly angry or upset.
"Jacob," she said suddenly, trying to talk as quiet as she possibly could for her head was still aching from her hangover, compliments of Dorian Gray. She huffed at her own internal mention of the name. She looked back up at Jake who seemed to be drawn out of his thoughts, now looking at her with soft eyes, but a small scowl still lingered upon his handsome face, as he wrapped her hand with a clean bandage.
"Are you mad at me?" her voice soft, almost seeming upset. That's when Jake's heart melted almost instantly, his scowl completely vanishing from his features.
She thinks I'm mad at her.
"No, of course not, darlin,'"
"Then why do you seem upset?" she spoke quietly, closing her eyes for a moment, the light suddenly causing her another wave of pain within her head. When Jake started to speak, she opened them again, locking her eyes with his.
"I'm just mad at myself. And that damn Dorian," his scowl slightly returning, but not as much as before.
"Why?"
"Because he hurt you Cassie!" he said, raising his voice slightly, his emotions taking control of him.
"Understandable. I would be furious if he hurt any of you, too, but why are you upset with yourself? You weren't even there."
"That's exactly the point, Cassie!" he said, "I wasn't there! I couldn't protect you! I'm always there to catch you when you fall, but I wasn't this time and I almost lost you for it," he exclaimed, trying his best to keep eye contact with her, but he had to look away when he said his last sentence, tears welling up in his eyes, but he blinked them away. Anger once again found its way back to him. Anger for Dorian. Anger for himself. He clenched his fists after he let go of Cassie's hand, and stood up. He began to pace the room, his entire body tense with rage.
Cassandra took this moment to sit up slowly from where she was laying, her head slightly spinning, but she quickly got it under control. She took that moment to watch Jacob Stone pace the room, jaw and fists clenched, looking like he would punch a wall any minute. She slowly stood and made her way over to the fuming genius.
How can he blame himself for this?
Jake was about to turn around and continue his pacing when he found Cassandra stopped right in front of him. Her eyes were slightly squinted, from sadness or from her head pains, Jacob didn't know, but his mind immediately went blank when she softly placed her hand on his cheek, stopping his thoughts completely.
In that moment it seemed all time stood still and Cassandra's baby blue eyes stared into Jacob's.
"Jake," she paused for a moment, noticing the fear in his eyes.
Had he really been that scared to lose me? I thought not trusting me meant that he didn't care for me, at least not like the way I care for him…
"You can't blame yourself for this…Besides, I'm fine now," she said, giving him a slight smile, trying to prove she was fine. She noticed him glancing down at her hurt hand.
"This will heal, Jake, and my hangover won't last forever. I'm still here, ready to go on our next mission to save the world," she smiled again, "After all, we haven't saved the world twice before Friday yet!" she giggled slightly, noticing Jacob grin slightly. He brought his hand up and placed it on top of hers that still resided on his cheek. He gently squeezed her uninjured hand and then slowly brought it down for him to hold it with both hands. He held her hand for a few moments before he began to speak once more.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you."
"You can't be there every time I fall, Jake. You have to realize that."
"That doesn't mean I ain't gonna try, darlin" he said with a smile on his lips, slowly guiding her by her hand back over to where she was initially laying.
Before she laid down, she slowly brought her hand up to his cheek again, holding him in place, then she slowly raised herself on her tip toes and placed a sweet, gentle kiss on his cheek that her hand wasn't occupying.
"Thank you for taking care of me," she said as she laid back down, trying to get some rest.
Jacob's gaze found the floor after this, attempting to hide his slight blush that appeared on his cheeks. After his initial shock, he placed a blanket over Cassandra before heading over to a desk where he could do his work and keep an eye on Cassandra at the same time.