As if she'd been held underwater for a long time, Jasmine sprung awake as she sat up instantly. She looked to her right and sitting there was none other than Phil, who looked like he hasn't slept in days.
"Jasmine? Are you okay?" Phil asked
She looked at him and looked around before she collapsed onto Phil, hugging him as she felt tears roll down her cheeks. Phil didn't say anything but held her close to him as she cried. After a few minutes, Jasmine calmed down a little and he let her go but still held onto her hands.
"Hey, are you okay? What happened?" Phil asked
"I remember everything." Jasmine replied, "Its Nicholas. He did all this. He got Donald to hit me and because it didn't do much damage, he drugged me. I was in a drug induced coma for a year!"
Phil gritted his teeth, "Fucking son of a bitch. I'm going to tell the others about it."
As Phil moved to stand up, Jasmine held onto his hand.
"Wait. Please don't leave yet. I really need to be around something familiar. I don't want to fall back asleep." Jasmine said
Phil's expression softened as he sat back down. He leaned into kiss her on the lips as he stroked her cheek.
"You're not going to fall back asleep. I'm not letting another 3 days without kissing you slip past me." Phil said
Jasmine chuckled and said, "I was out that long, huh?"
"Yeah. And we're just on the kissing stage. Imagine how I'd be if we were on the sex stage. I'd be dying already." Phil said
Jasmine laughed and shook her head, "Horny even when there are walkers around."
Phil grinned and shrugged, "I can't help it."
"How's your injury?" Jasmine said
"Getting better. It's healing." Phil said
"Where's Bradley?" Jasmine asked
"With Alicia and Tamina. After you fell asleep, he started to get scared. He was afraid you'd slip into another coma." Phil replied, "So they had to bring him away from here."
"So… You've been by my side the whole time?" Jasmine asked
"Yeah. I've been using your body as my table whenever I eat." Phil joked
Jasmine lightly punched his arm and said, "You know what? I'm feeling a lot better now. You can go tell the others already. I'm sure I won't fall back asleep cause I won't want to be someone's table!"
Phil laughed and held Jasmine close to him as he said, "I love you."
She moved out of his arms and looked at him, "What?"
"Ever since I met you, you're all I think about. I knew there and then that I would die for you if I had to. These past 3 days was all the time I needed to think about how I feel. And, I know I told you I'm not into that mushy stuff but I thought I should let you know." Phil said
Jasmine looked at Phil, unsure of what to say.
"If you don't feel the same way, that's fine. But at least I got it out of my chest." Phil said
She slowly broke into a smile and said, "Well, I think I love you."
Phil looked at Jasmine and raised his eyebrow, "Think? Well, I could live with that. Although I'd much rather do away with it."
Jasmine couldn't help but laugh as Phil wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"Fine, fine. I love you too." Jasmine said
Phil smiled and leaned into kiss her before they both cuddled on the bed, enjoying each other's company as they looked forward to the next day.
The next morning, Jasmine headed over to Alicia's tent and as soon as she peered into the tent, a boy collided into her, nearly knocking off her feet.
"Jasmine! I was so scared you left me alone again!"
She chuckled as she held her little brother close to her, "I promised you I wasn't going anywhere and that includes going back into a coma."
They hugged for a little while before Alicia interrupted.
"Glad to see you're back!" Alicia said
"Thanks. It's good to be back." Jasmine said
"All ready to find that jerk?" Alicia said
"Ever ready." Jasmine said
Together, they made their way out to the breakfast area where everyone was seated. All of them beamed when they saw Jasmine, delighted that she's okay.
"Jasmine!" Alanna exclaimed
She smiled as she picked Alanna up, "Hey there."
"For you." Alanna said, putting a flower into Jasmine's hair.
"Why, thank you." Jasmine said
Alanna gave her a quick hug before Jasmine put her down.
"How are you feeling?" Tamina asked
"Good as new. Refreshed actually." Jasmine replied
"You sure you're feeling good, mi-ha?" Rosa said
"Yes, Rosa." Jasmine said
"Good cause we are gonna need our fighting senorita back." Hunico said
"Thanks for asking how I am, Hunico." Jasmine said
Hunico smiled and so did Jasmine. For once, she felt like this was her family and there was nothing out there that threatened their survival.
Samantha hugged Jasmine, "I'm so glad you're okay."
Jasmine smiled and patted Samantha's back, "Me too."
Samantha let her go after a while before she went back to her seat.
"Now that everyone's here. We should probably tell you what's going to happen." Paul said
"We're going to find Nicholas Nemeth." Phil said
"That son of a bitch hurt one of us and we're going to find him." Bryan said
"Do you know where he's at?" AJ asked
"Yes. We do. Turns out, the message on that piece of paper you found, was a code. Zeke managed to find out what it says." Randy replied
"So… What does it say? Where do we find him?" Samantha asked
Ezekiel stood up and joined the others in the center, "Nemeth Corporations."
"The one in downtown Miami?" Alicia said
"Yup." Ezekiel said
"Figures. The one place he feels most in control. Donald's probably with him." Jasmine said
"Well that makes two people that would be a joy to kill." Paul said
Bryan looked at everyone, "So… Are we all in agreement?"
Everyone nodded and were soon dismissed to pack up since they were leaving tomorrow morning.