Chapter 10

Forty-eight hours and no one would tell me if they knew where Steve was. I refused to eat anything. Not by choice though, I couldn't stomach the lightest of foods. Steve was gone and it terrified me. I hadn't left his room since the morning on the beach with Jake. I only got up to shower and use the bathroom. Otherwise, I sat on Steve's bed staring at pictures of the two of us.

I had overheard Catherine and Danny talking late last night. Steve was somewhere in North Korea. They knew the location, but a man named Wofat was holding him. Apparently the two federal agents had been paid off. A knock sounded at the door, but I refused to say anything.

I stayed in my same position as two people entered, Kono and Chin.

They both wore a sad smile, "Hey Jessa." Kono said sweetly.

I didn't reply, Chin sat next to me and wrapped me in a hug. I clung to him tightly, "We have to go, and we'll be back hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday."

I had lost track of the days, apparently it was Sunday. "Are you going to bring him home?" I finally spoke.

"Jessa..." Kono began.

"Oh... I see..." I whispered and folded into the sheets. They couldn't talk about what they were going to do. Kono and Chin gave up on trying to talk me out of the slump so they walked out. Whatever they were doing, I didn't care if it wouldn't bring Steve home.

I clutched the photo frame and whispered a silent prayer to God. Wherever Steve was, I prayed he'd be alive.

Almost seventy-four hours since I had last seen Jessa. The look in her eyes of pure terror as they took me away shredded my heart. I stood, hands chained to the ceiling in an old bunker. I heard scrambling and gunfire and then everything was silent.

"Steve?" It was faint. I almost thought it was my imagination, but then I heard it again.

"Danny?" My voice croaked from dehydration.

"He's over here!" Someone shouted, Danny burst through the door.

"Boy, am I glad to see you for once." I cracked a smile.

He walked over and broke me free from my shackles, "Yeah well, let's get out of here."

I nodded my head, "I need to get back to Jessa. I need to make sure she's alright."

"She's fine, but we need to get you to a hospital." Danny mumbled as I leaned against him.

"No, gotta get home, gotta make sure Jessa is ok." I said determined.

"Alright, alright. Let's get you to the helicopter, and to the plane. Then you can go see her." He stated.

I nodded my head satisfied as we made our way to the waiting copter. "Good to have you back boss!" Kono said.

I smiled and nodded my head and noticed someone there I hadn't seen in two years. "Joe." I said.

"Nice to have you back, son." My SEAL training commander smiled.

"It's good to be back. Let's hit the road, I've got a daughter to get back too!" I grinned. The helicopter flew us to a waiting plane and we boarded. The next eight hours were torture as I waited to finally be home. When we landed I was rushed off to the hospital. Danny had lied to me, but I knew I would get to see Jessa.

I had just gotten out of the shower and was pulling on my clothes when I heard a car pull into the driveway. I looked out the bathroom window and saw Danny get out. My heart sunk to my feet. I turned away when I heard a second door slam shut. I looked out and my breath caught in my throat. He was here. I slammed through the bathroom door and ran down the steps.

I threw open the front door and slid outside. Steve saw me and smiled as I ran straight to him. I slowed down when I saw the cast around his arm. I came to a screeching halt in front of him. "You're home." I whispered.

"I told you I would be." Steve said as he wrapped me tightly against him. My arms found his middle and I breathed in the scent of him. Tears soaked his shirt and he spoke, "Hey, Jes, everything's ok. I'm here."

"I almost lost you too, Dad. I almost lost you and I never got a chance to call you dad." I cried.

"I'm not going anywhere, come on let's go get some dinner." He kissed the top of my head and walked us both inside. "What sounds good?"

"Nothing." I said simply as we sat down on the couch next to each other.

"What?! My daughter doesn't want food? What has this world come to?" Steve joked.

"I'm not hungry." I shrugged.

"Yeah, she hasn't been hungry for eighty-seven hours." Danny grumbled as he came through the door.

"What are you talking about, Danny?" Steve raised an eyebrow in his direction.

He sighed and sat down, "I'm talking about the fact that she has been starving herself! She refuses to eat and drink!" He ran a frustrated hand through his slicked back blond hair, "I tried Steve, I really did."

I glared at my uncle. I felt a hand cup my chin and turn it towards expecting eyes, "Jessa, is that true?"

"Yes." I muttered.

"Jessa Mae, I'm going to cook something and you will eat! You hear me?" Steve nearly shouted.

"Yes." I whispered in guilt. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat though, I couldn't.

Steve got up to go to the kitchen just as the front door burst open. In came a frantic Catherine. "You're back!" She grinned. Catherine ran to Steve and kissed him. He opened his good arm and folded her inside. I turned away, not wanting to see my father practically make out with his girlfriend. "What are you doing? You should be resting!"

"I was just about to make my daughter some dinner." Steve growled.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Steve. We all tried to get her to eat, but she wouldn't." Catherine shrugged, "How about I make dinner?"

He nodded and walked with her into the kitchen. Once they were out of earshot I turned to my uncle, "You didn't have to tell him."

Danny got up and sat next to me, "Listen, babe, Steve is my best friend. He asked me to watch his daughter for him and to make sure she was safe. I couldn't even get you to eat!"

"Uncle Danny, it's not your fault. I just haven't been able to stomach anything." I lied. The truth was, I didn't want to eat, I felt I had lost my last chance at a real family and if I couldn't have Steve as my dad then I didn't want to have any more family.

Twenty minutes later and Catherine called for dinner. Everyone was here by now and we all gathered on the back patio for dinner. Kono, Chin, Malia, Kamekona, Catherine, Grace, Danny and someone named Joe sat around the table. I took my seat next to Kono and she gave me a smile.

I looked at the plate of food in front of me. It looked good, but made me feel queasy. Everyone waited, for what, I had no idea. It seemed to me they wanted to make sure I followed through with the meal. I picked up my fork and dug into the spaghetti. I ate it even though I knew I'd be sick. Everyone let out their breath and finally ate their meals.

Talk arose amongst the guests and I sat there silently, trying to finish my food. Two more bites and I could be done. I shoveled it in and felt the wheels churning inside. I breathed through my nose, but it was no use. I slowly stood up, trying not to bring attention to myself. I acted as though I was just clearing my plate.

Once inside the house, the plate dropped from my hands and shattered across the floor. Not caring, I ran straight upstairs to the hall bathroom. I shut the door quickly, stopping only to lock it and turn on the fan. I made it just in time to the toilet. Waves of nausea overtook and I gripped the bowl. My knuckles turned white as the contents of my stomach came up.

"Jessa?" Came Steve's voice from the other side of the door. "You ok, Princess?"

I breathed deeply before answering, "Yeah." My voice came out a little too shaky. Another wave of nausea overtook me and I unsuccessfully tried to hold it back. Nothing was coming up now; I sat there, painfully dry-heaving.

Before I could do anything Steve, or rather my dad, had kicked in the door. I didn't bother to even move away from the toilet as I continued my heaving fit. "Jes..." Dad sighed. I felt his strong hand begin to rub soothing circles on my back.

When I was done, he helped me stand up, "I think I'm just going to go to bed."

Dad silently nodded and held me close as we made our way to my bedroom. We stood outside the door when I started feeling dizzy,

"I... I... Don't... Feel so good..." I felt myself slipping to the ground, but Dad caught me.

I remember him saying something about the hospital and getting some fluids put in me, but that was it. I blacked out.

An annoying beep woke me from my restful sleep. My eyes felt heavy, but I forced them open. I looked at my hand, there was a needled stuck into a vein. It was secured into place by a piece of tape. Needle... In my hand. I shifted in the uncomfortable bed and went to rip it out.

One strong hand stopped me. I looked up to find Steve, my dad, watching me. "Hey, you're awake." He smiled.

My chest rose and fell quickly. "Needle." I hurriedly spoke. The heart monitor began beeping uncontrollably. I tried to rip the needle out again, but failed.

Dad's non-broken hand rested on my hair, soothingly. "Jes, you need to leave it in. It's going to help you. It's ok, I promise it's not bad. I wouldn't let anything hurt you."

Tears blurred my vision and it made me angry. Stupid medicine. The door opened and in walked Malia. "You're awake! That's great! You should be able to go home in a couple of hours."

My voice came out raspy, "How long have I been here?"

"Threw days. You were awake yesterday for a few minutes, but you were disoriented. The IV helped with that. Your vital signs are looking good and we'll check up on you in a few hours. If you're still awake then we'll go ahead and discharge you!" She smiled sweetly at me, "You have a crowd of people wanting to see you, mind if I send them in?"

I shook my head and she went out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. "Jessa, we really need to talk."

"Why is it that we always need to talk?" I joked.

Dad gave me a helpless look as the door opened. In rushed Kamekona, Danny, Grace, Kono, and Chin. "Jessa!" Grace shouted and jumped up onto my bed hugging me tightly.

"Hey!" I rasped out.

"Danno said you were sick. Are you all better now? I brought you your favorite kind of shave ice!" She handed me a large cup of blue raspberry shave ice.

"Thanks, Gracie!" I smiled.

Kamekona wrapped me in a bear hug, "Don't ever scare me like that!"

I laughed roughly and hugged back. Everyone else came up and hugged me too until there was just one left. Catherine stood back waiting for everyone to disperse. I lifted the weak hand with the IV up and waved her over. She came next to me and stood.

Lightly tugging on her hand I pulled her closer to me and whispered in her ear. "Thank you for taking care of me. You're really great and Dad is lucky to have you. When you both finally decide to get married, your kids are going to have wonderful parents."

Catherine's eyes twinkled at my words. "You are too sweet and you should tell that to him." She turned to everyone, "Ok, guys let's give Jessa some space. How about lunch?"

A round of yes's were heard and everyone nodded. "I'm just gonna stay with Jes." Dad said.

"I'll be ok. Go eat food for the both of us!" I grinned.

"No, I'll stay with you." He stated. Catherine shrugged at me and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

They all left and an uneasy quiet settled in the room. After five minutes of complete silence, I couldn't take it any longer. "Ok, what is going on?" I sat up taller in the bed.

Dad rubbed the back of his neck, "Jes, listen to me. You need to realize that no matter what happens to me, you will always have a family. You can't starve yourself like that. And don't lie to me! I know exactly why you did it."

I hung my head, "I don't want to have a family if it's not with you."

A hand lay on my arm, "I told you that I would come back. I always keep my promises to you." I nodded my head.

"I know you do, but this time- this time it really scared me. What if Danny couldn't find you? What if you were dead? I can't lose you, Dad. I just can't." The words were out before I had time to stop them. I hated showing signs of weakness; I swore I would never admit to being afraid of anything.

Dad sighed, "I'm right here, Jes. Right here. Don't get caught up in the land of what if. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

I nodded my head and changed the topic, "So, when are you going to propose to Catherine?"

Dad groaned, "Now you sound like Chin and Malia! I'm not going to rush into a marriage. You and I are finally getting somewhere, I'm not going to change that."

I rolled my eyes, "We've always had a great relationship, we just had to get past a few obstacles. And if you're worried about whether or not I want Catherine in this family, you shouldn't be. As much as I hate to admit my dependence on others, we both know we need her."

He chuckled and kissed my forehead, "How about I go check on you getting discharged?" I nodded my head and he left. I sat against the pillows and sighed.

Boredom set in and I twiddled my thumbs. Finally the door opened. "Jessa! Are you ok?" Jake rushed in.

"I'm fine!" I laughed.

"I just heard and came right over. Why don't you tell me these things?" He furrowed his brow.

"Jake, I was unconscious for three days... I can't exactly pick up the phone and text you that." I shook my head.

Jake's eyes grew wide and he took my hand. "So why are you in here?"

"Lack of nutrients. And before you lecture me on starvation I want you to know that I'm not trying to kill myself." I stated firmly.

"Good." He smiled, but froze. I could tell there was something he wanted to say, "Jessa, we really need to discuss what we are..."

"Jake we are best friends." I stated.

Jake rolled his eyes, "We both know we are way more than that."

"Let's discuss this later. Ok? I'm hopefully being discharged soon." I sighed.

"Fine, will you be at school on Monday then?" He asked.

"Yeah and can you tell Mrs. Daniels that I'll be at the auditions for the musical? I wouldn't miss those for the world." I grinned.

Jake smiled and nodded his head; "Alright I'll see you then! Hey, text me when you get home, alright?" He gave me a kiss on the forehead and left.

Moments later Dad walked in all smiles. "Can I go home?"

"Yes, you can! Here, I brought you some clothes. The nurses are on their way to come and get rid of the IV. I'll wait outside." Dad walked to the door ready to leave.

"Wait! Please stay until it's over with..." I whispered. "I don't think I can do it alone."

He turned around and nodded his head. He took a seat just as the nurse walked in to take the IV out. "Are you ready?" She smiled. I nodded my head and looked away. Dad took my hand in his and squeezed it. "Now this might hurt a little bit."

I bit my lip as she pulled the long needle, tube out of my arm. Tears blurred my vision and I took a shaky breath. Dad's hand never left mine. He gave me the strength I needed and I gave him his. Together we were a family. Sure, it wasn't the most ordinary of ones, but it was a family.

It has been so much fun sharing this story with you all! I have enjoyed your amazing feedback and reviews! I hope this tied up any loose ends for you all! To the guest who left me that lovely review of chapter 9: yes, there is more to Jessa's story... I am in the process of many different sequel ideas and I am thinking of doing a smaller Thanksgiving/Christmas story. There will be lots of adventure, problems, and maybe a little new romances! ;) Keep your eyes peeled!

As a chapter closes, so must a new one open.

Until Then,

Theatrefreak10