Chapter Twelve: Bedside Guardian.
The rustle of soft footsteps and fabric rubbing together as someone walked by the half-open door. Jill looked out into the hall, vision fuzzy as she tried to keep herself awake. The beeping of the heart monitor, soft and consistent, lulled her further into the warm embrace of sleep. The throbbing in her knee from where she had whacked it chasing Skye was far in the background now, distant. Almost nonexistent. She inhaled languidly, sighing as her eyelids drooped down one final time. The beeping of Takakura's heart monitor continued on.
When Jill came to, it was three in the morning. The sky was still pitch black outside and the moon illuminated thin, shafted paths across the room. A figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light in the hall, and for a moment Jill couldn't make out who it was. Her eyes adjusted gradually. She ran her tongue along the backs of her teeth testily when she could finally make out who the person was. Getting to her feet, she ignored the urge to stretch as she walked from the comfy chair to the the door. She gestured for the person to follow her into the hall.
"Skye." Jill said. He nodded, adam's apple bobbing minutely as he swallowed.
"Is- Is he alright?" Skye dipped his head towards Takakura's room. Jill adjusted her weight, crossing her arms. She remained silent, a cold fury being spoken. Finally, she looked away with what sounded like a sigh.
"Head trauma." Skye slowly nodded,
"I'm sorry, I didn't-" Jill's head shot up,
"You didn't what? Mean to do it? You didn't mean to land him in hospital? You know what, I can handle you stealing from my friends, I can handle you stealing from me, but I cannot handle you stealing from and injuring the old man." He reminds me of- he's just like Dad. Jill paused and shook her head, "You're gonna pay for doing that Skye." She brushed past him, jarring his shoulder on her way to return to Takakura's side. Skye's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist.
"Look, I'm sorry. Pony, I'm really, seriously sorry. I never meant to hurt him, or anyone, when I'm on a job. I messed up. I admit that and I've apologised for my mistake, what more do you want me to do? What more can I do? I can't magically heal people, Pony." Jill ripped away from his touch,
"You can start by leaving me the hell alone." She shut the sliding door behind her and the hallway fell quiet. Skye sighed and turned away, beginning the journey back home. He regretted ever stealing from that farm. If he'd known this was how it would turn out, he would have chosen another location. Looking up at the hospital, the still night air wrapping its cool arms around him, he wondered why he felt so guilty. He'd hurt people before, hadn't he?
_
"Alright, so to make up for the whole forcing you leechers to go out and work, I have decided to..." The teacher squinted through his glasses at the piece of paper that contained the morning announcements in his hand, "What... Oh, right. I have decided to throw a halloween party in the school. P.S. You'll be funding it." Jill covered her ears as the whole class erupted into complaints and threats. The teacher raised his hands, trying to calm everybody down with what he was probably taught to be 'soothing gestures'. He gave up quickly and just scribbled down the day's work on the blackboard before walking out of the room. Jill's hands fisted, why couldn't everyone just be quiet? So what if the headmaster was being wholly unfair again? They should just deal with it, it couldn't be that hard, could it? She huffed, the growing irritation inside her ticked her off even more. Couldn't they all just shut up? She scoffed. No, of course they couldn't. Kicking her desk leg, she stood up and marched out of the classroom. From the corner of her eye, she saw Claire get up and follow her.
"Jill!" Claire called after the retreating brunette, "Jill, wait up!" Jill broke into a sprint and Claire's jaw jutted out before running after her.
"Miss. Suzumiya, shouldn't you be in school-" Jill dashed past the old lady sitting at the hospital desk and thundered up the stairs. She slowed as she came to Takakura's room, entering and sliding the door shut gently behind her. Falling down into the chair beside his bed, she let out a long sigh, glancing at the old man. His eyes were closed, chest rising and falling. His heart monitor beeped quietly. Background noise.
"How are you Old Man?" She asked, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. "I bet those weeds are taking over the farm fast, you should get better soon so I don't have to clear them up at the weekend." She tried a laugh, but it was short and hollow. She hated having to speak to him like this, when he was unresponsive. It felt like talking to a dead man. A corpse. But then he shifted and Jill shot up like a bolt,
"Old Man?" He wheezed, letting out a breath of dry air like a cold Autumn wind. His brow furrowed and his lids moved to open, but then remained shut.
"I think," He paused as his voice cracked from lack of use, "You'll be clearing up those weeds." The relief flew from Jill's face and she jabbed Takakura in the shoulder,
"No way Old Man; if you can talk, you can pull weeds." He half-smiled, before sighing. His face relaxed and his breaths came deep and slow. He was asleep again. Jill rolled her eyes and stood up. At least he was alright. She felt much more stable for having talked to him aswell, much less irritable. She looked to the door to find Claire stood there, arms crossed and foot tapping. The lady who usually sat at the desk was there too. Jill tried a sheepish look and, failing to sway them, stuck her tongue out. Claire walked over and flicked her in the forehead,
"Come on, we've still got school you know?" Jill groaned, but followed Claire past the old lady and down the stairs,
"Can't we just skip?"
"Nope."
"Agh. You're lame."
"Shut-up."
It was already break time when Jill and Claire got back to the school. They made their way to the benches where Mark and Chelsea were already sitting, pushing each other as they balanced precariously on the backs of the benches and threatening to throw food in the other's hair. Jill dashed off and pushed them both from behind, laughing as they got a face full of dirt each. Claire rolled her eyes and traipsed after her. The racket Chelsea, Mark and Jill had struck up attracted the attention of half the playground for a moment before everyone went back to their own thing. Jill was in the middle of warding off Chelsea and Mark's fearsome attacks when Toby walked up to them. He cleared his throat and the trio paused, giving him their full attention.
"Um, I was just checking if you were alright." He looked at Jill earnestly, "The way you ran out this morning and all, everyone thought something bad had happened." Jill stared, then laughed,
"Nope! Nothing at all, thanks anyway Toby." Toby chuckled along with her and rubbed the back of his head,
"Well that's good to hear." He went to turn back, then stopped and smiled sheepishly at Jill. "I've got my spare rod with me today if you'd like to come fishing again?" Jill grinned,
"Sure! I'll meet you at the gates after school." Toby nodded and trotted off back to his friends. Mark slid to Jill's side and elbowed her,
"Somebody's got a boyfriend~" Jill growled and punched him in the head,
"Say that again and I'll pull your guts out through your throat." Claire whacked her backside the head and Mark laughed as if he had achieved some small triumph over the brunette, sparking both their competitive streaks and providing an entertaining show for Chelsea and Claire.
Lessons, as usual, dragged by and after what seemed like an eternity to the group of friends, the last bell finally rang. Chelsea and Mark leapt from their seats, sprinting from the classroom and down the stairs, through the already teeming corridors to the locker room to change their shoes and, after hours of sweltering inside a humid, stuffy room, feel the fresh air on their faces.
"Oh thank the Goddess it's over!" Chelsea cried, throwing her hands in the air. Mark wailed beside her,
"And to think it's only Monday!" Chelsea shot him a mock glare,
"Don't say that." She whined. Mark laughed and bumped her shoulder,
"Come on, let's find Claire. Jill isn't walking with us today, right?" Chelsea shook her head,
"No." The two wandered around the front of the school, looking for Claire. She turned up a few minutes later and joined up with them.
"Hey guys, we ready to go?"
"Mm." Chelsea nodded, hitching her bag up into a more comfortable position, "Yeah." The three of them set off for home, waving to Jill and Toby standing by the gates. Mark grinned with a mischievous glint to his eye and Jill flushed red, brows flying into a 'v'.
"I'll pull your guts out through your throat!" She yelled. Mark laughed and gave one last wave before hurrying to catch up with Chelsea and Claire.
Jill and Toby traipsed up the rocky mountain path. It wound up one of the valley sides and, according to Toby, would eventually lead to a great fishing spot just after one of the smaller waterfalls that fed the valley's rivers and streams. At that moment, Jill was concentrating on the word 'eventually'; this walk seemed to be taking forever. But the overhangs of the trees and the winding, gnarled roots that they had to dodge and made the walk that much harder were, in all honesty, a sight she'd never want to forget. She couldn't remember what it looked like when she first moved to the valley, it had been late evening and therefore dark, but as she and Toby continued their uphill trek, she decided that she'd stay here, in the valley, for as long as she could. He lips twitched upwards and she lifted her head to the clear, blue sky, a faint wisp of white cloud hemmed with grey making its way slowly through the blue. She wondered just how strong the wind was up there...
"Watch it-" Jill spluttered as she got a branch to the face and stumbled backwards. Toby stopped, a few feet ahead, with his eyebrows tilted down in concern. "There's a branch there." He finished. Jill snorted and pushed branch out of the way,
"I noticed, thank-you." She let it shoot back into place after she had passed and the two continued on their way. Jill decided that it was probably best if she kept her thoughts on a tight leash for now or she'd end up with worse than a face full of branch.
They walked on, climbing further and further up the hills that hemmed the valley in. The path, previously root-strewn and riddled with small rocks and rough pebbles, grew smoother and the trees receded back to make way for soft green grass that swayed softly when the wind breezed by overhead. The path curved around to the left and ended. There, a swinging bridge ran across the front of a gushing waterfall that fell from the higher hills above them. Toby led the way across the bridge, impervious to the way it swung from side to side with each step. Jill teetered across after him, one hand gripping the rod she had borrowed and the other clinging to the rope rail. Toby cast a smile back her way and she tried to reciprocate it. Her knees wobbled as a gust of wind rocked the bridge harder. Looking back again, Toby took her by the elbow and guided her steadily to the other side. Jill let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and stood up straight,
"Thanks." She said. Toby smiled and nodded,
"The fishing spot is just through that tunnel." He said, pointing to a dark hole in the side of the rock by the waterfall. Jill eyed it curiously,
"This is turning out to be quite an... odd walk." She noted and Toby's smile turned to a wide grin for a second.
"It's worth it, I promise." He said, walking into the dark tunnel. Jill followed after him and was soon plunged into darkness.
The tunnel wound down and around, but it wasn't cold and damp like she'd been expecting. Instead, it was warm and the ground was dry. Toby's footsteps ahead of her were comforting in the dark though. Whilst Jill wasn't particularly afraid of the dark, she didn't like the way it removed her sight from her. She liked being able to see what was around her and it was far too easy to fall over when you couldn't see where you were going. But just as she was thinking about the darkness, a light seeped in and gradually lit up the edges of the tunnel. Toby took form in front of her, his hair turning from dark grey to its usual silvery-blue. His hat and fishing rod became visible as they turned the corner and the light pooled into the tunnel with more strength. It opened up and the two of them emerged from the tunnel onto a grassy overhang. Jill blinked at the bright sunlight and squinted at her surroundings. Briefly she considered the possibility that this was the reason Toby had a permanent squint. The cool air created by the waterfall that continued to fall down beside them took away some of the Autumn heat and Jill inhaled deeply, opening her eyes fully as they finished adjusting to the light. Toby poked her with the end of his fishing rod and gestured with it to the semi-deep pool of water at the end of the overhang. As she looked at it, she saw droplets of water fly into it from the waterfall. Toby sat himself down on a rock and cast his line out. Jill pulled herself from her reverie and sat on the grass beside him. It was slightly damp because of the spray from the waterfall. She cast her line out aswell, looking up a Toby,
"Definitely worth the walk." She said.
"I promised didn't I?"
Skye breathed out through his nose and tossed the bundle of spinach up and down in his hand some more. He stopped and looked at it. It was just one of the many bundles he had stolen from the farm, but he'd already used quite a bit the night he'd stolen them for a curry dish he'd been planning for a while. He looked at the bag hanging at his hip. Two more bundles sat inside along with a small package. Skye sighed and looked up at Jill's house. It was early evening and a light was on in the window. He watched as Jill came into view with two cups of steaming tea. She had company? He looked back down at the bundle of spinach in his hand. He had planned to pick the lock and leave it inside somewhere; it would have been easier than trying to get Jill to listen to him. But she was home and somebody else was with her. Skye sighed and his head fell to rest his chin on his collarbone. He didn't really want anybody else to know what he had done. Stepping onto the porch, he placed the three bundles of spinach by the door along with the small package, wrapped in brown paper. Silently, like a ghost or a shadow, he departed.
Jill looked out of the window.
"You alright?" Claire called from the sofa. Jill looked over and smiled,
"Yeah. Just thought I saw something is all." She sat down next to the blonde and handed her a cup of tea. "What did you want, by the way?" Jill asked, curling up and warming her hands with her own steaming tea. Claire sighed heavily and leaned back into the sofa,
"I actually wanted to talk to you about earlier today. Takakura specifically." Jill watched guardedly as Claire placed her tea cup on the coffee table carefully. "You... You're okay, right?"
"I'm fine." Jill tried to be nonchalant about it by adding a shrug, hoping it would end the conversation quicker than snapping at the blonde would.
"You're not, Jill." Claire pushed, turning to face her fully. Jill looked away. "Jill. You attacked Skye. I know he's not the most moralistic, or even the nicest, person in the world, but you can't go beating him up and trashing his house - other people live there y'know." Claire looked at Jill silently, trying to deduce what she was thinking. It was no use, all she could see was the back of her head.
"Jill." She tried again, "Talk to me, I just want to help you-"
"I told you I'm fine." The brunette bit, turning just enough for Claire to glimpse the furious glower in Jill's amethyst eyes. Claire set her jaw, then wiped the tension away. A clean slate. That would work best.
"Alright then. If you're fine, why don't you tell me about your date with Toby?" Jill whipped around so fast the sofa shifted backwards. That got her attention.
"For the last time, it wasn't a date!" Claire chuckled and waved her hand,
"Yes, yes. I know, I was just teasing you." Jill's shoulders sagged and she tipped her head back, ignoring the tea that had sloshed over her leg.
"It was fine. Toby caught something like five fish - I don't even know how they got in that damn pool, what did they jump out of the waterfall or something?!"
"Salmon can jump." Claire interjected.
"Yeah, but- oh who cares?" Jill threw her hands into the air, completely forgetting the teacup in hand. The contents splashed across the carpet and Jill cursed, leaping to her feet with Claire. They got damp cloths from the kitchen and spent a good while dabbing the tea out of the carpet. Jill would have just left it to stain or stagnate - whatever tea did when it was left in carpet for too long - but Claire, being the meticulous 'housewife' type, had forced her to keep dabbing away.
"This is the last time I get a house with thick carpets." Jill muttered. Claire laughed and told her to get back to work.
Jill showed Claire to the door later that evening, after watching a film. Or maybe two or three... Claire yawned and shivered as the cold Autumn night wrapped around her.
"Do you want a coat? I've got a spare." Jill offered, pointing to the cupboard under the staircase.
"No," Claire shook her head, "Thanks anyway though, I'm sure I'll be fine." She went to leave when her toes caught on something and she stumbled. The 'something' skittered across the porch and thunked down the first step.
"You sure you'll be fine?" Jill joked, stepping out in her pyjamas to pick up the object that had tripped up Claire.
"Yeah, what is that?" She shuffled closer to Jill, crossing her arms to keep the chill out. Jill shrugged and looked around for a note or a card. Her eye caught on three bundles of spinach by her door and her face soured.
"It's crap, that's what it is." She spat, tossing the package and going back inside. "I'll see you at school tomorrow Claire, goodnight."
"Wait!" Claire jammed the door with her foot. Jill sighed and opened it again,
"What?"
"Who's it from?" Jill glared off into the distance.
"That bastard thief-" Claire reached out and placed a hand on Jill's shoulder,
"Open it." She said with that endearing, honest, heart-on-her-sleeve look that Jill could never say no to from Claire.
"Fine." She slipped past the blonde and picked up the parcel and the spinach. "I'll open it later." She said.
"Promise?"
"Yeah, yeah. I promise." Claire smiled,
"Good. I'll be making sure aswell." She waved and set off home. Jill rolled her eyes and shut the door.
The bundles of spinach were downstairs in the fridge. Jill lay on her back on her bed. She could smell the tea that had integrated into her pyjamas. The package was in her hands, being turned around and the paper fiddled with.
Plain. Jill thought. What did that say about it. About Skye?
"I'm really sorry..."
That's what he'd said. Jill sighed and rolled over.
"Stay the hell away from me."
That's what she'd said.
The package slipped from her hand and thudded to the floor.
Sorry for the super-long wait! I'm in the middle of my exams, but I'm almost out of the thick of it now, so hopefully I'll be updating a little less sporadically.
Anyway, I know it's a bit of a rubbish chapter, but bear with me please! I plan drama in the next chapter. Maybe. MAYBE.
Anyway, constructive criticism is welcome, I hope you're all doing well.
Thank-you for sticking with me for so long ^_^
