Jarod awoke to the noise of laughing.
He shut his eyes tightly from the light that seemed to hit him from the window of the hotel room.
Squirming under the sheets, he struggled to pull himself free of his peaceful sleep.
Living in the outside world for some years now, Jarod had never truly had a full nights sleep.
Commanding his body to move, he slowly lifted his torso, but still not opening his eyes.
He let out a huge sigh, which developed into a huge yawn. Blinking his eyes open, he finally opened his eyes fully.
The sight that greeted him caused him to smile.
The laughing noise had been caused by none other than Baby Parker.
James was tickling the child, which in affect caused him to squeal with laughter.
Jarod laughed at the sight.
James raised Baby Parker's shirt and blew a raspberry onto the little boy's tummy.
Turning his head, his laughter died down.
Amanda lay on the bed with sweat dripping off over forehead and upper lip. She was shivering all over. The sheets were stuck to her body.
Quickly he threw the sheets off of his body and launched himself to the floor. Leaning down, he placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"I don't know what to do." James said as Jarod turned to look at him.
Baby Parker had wedged himself under James' chin again.
Jarod just looked back to Amanda.
Jarod had known that Amanda would have to fight off the effects of the drugs in her system………he just didn't think it would cause this kind of reaction.
He had expected a high fever………maybe vomiting……but not this.
Her body was shutting down on itself. Trying to battle with the drugs in her system.
The concern on his face was visible. James had begun to panic. His eyes switched from Amanda's form to Jarod's, constantly.
"What's the matter with her? Is there something I can do?" James asked in one breath.
Jarod had checked all of her vital signs.
Placing his fingers against her wrist he measured her pulse. Grabbing his small flashlight he opened her eyes and checked for a response.
"She seems to be fine………..its almost as if she's put herself in a sort of coma….." Jarod said in self-revelation.
James just stared at him and then at Amanda.
"Will she come out of it?" He asked in a higher tone of voice.
Jarod turned his gaze from Amanda to James. He looked past James for a second and then back to James. He let out a big sigh.
It was all the answer James needed.
They had arrived at night at the villa, nestled away from prying eyes.
D'Artagnan had kept his distance from his mother the entire time. He didn't need to speak with her right now. Facing her at the moment wasn't what he needed.
Assisting the others into the house had been his main priority. Though he really didn't know his brother's and sisters, he had taken it upon himself to keep them safe.
It was all he really could do.
He felt it his responsibility. Not because he was the oldest…….but because Amanda would have wanted him to.
Sitting on his bed, staring out the window, he watched as the children played. Watching them laugh and play.
All he could think about is how Amanda would love to see them play. To see their brother's and sister's laugh as they ran around a lush green grass. No one to hurt them or steal them.
Amanda had always been the protective sister. She had always been the boss- the brains of the situation. He had always been the muscle. The person that did what she said.
D'Artagnan smirked remembering all the things that they had done.
Amanda and him had shared a connection unlike any relationship he had ever known. And yet...they both had felt that they were missing something...a peice of themselves that they didn't know that they didn't have.
Amanda had been the one to tell him about Barry. Telling him that they had a triplet, a brother, that was living on the outside of the Centre walls...and that he was trying to reach us.
It was times like those that he remembers the most. Talking about leaving the Centre. About living with their families in a house far away from the Centre's grasp.
She had been so certain...so sure of the fact that he had felt cocky. He had said no to a simulation. Amanda had screamed in his mind. Telling him that she would provide him with the answers he needed like always...but for the first time he had not listened to her. Determined to stand up for himself.
He had never been a pretender, only an empath. He had come soo close to yelling it out to them. To tell them that Amanda had been supplying him with the answers.
He had never gotten the chance.
He saw the events replay in his mind.
She had been dragged in by two sweepers. They had already broken her nose. Blood was everywhere on her...staining her clothes.
And that man had been behind her.
D'Artagnan remembered watching him walk into the room behind Amanda. His steely blue eyes that showed no emotion but contempt. That evil smirk that always graced his face.
And the sound of Raines' voice talking to the man.
"Make sure he runs the simulation...Alex." Raines had wheezed out.
And his grin widened. And that's when he stuck her and climbed on top of her.
D'Artagnan shut his eyes closed, squeezing them tightly to fight the image. To make it go away.
He didn't want to relive it...he didn't want to see her eyes begging him to help her again.
"Hey you gonna sit in here all...what's the matter?" Breanna said as she walked from his doorway into his room.
D'Artagnan opened his eyes to stare at Ace's twin.
She reached out a hand to touch his face.
He didn't know he had been crying until she wiped one of his tears away.
Breanna just stared into his eyes.
"Your thinking about her?" She asked without really needing to, she already knew the answer.
D'Artagnan tried to turn away from her eyes but she turned his head back, forcing him to look at her.
She looked nothing like Amanda. Yet he was reminded of her when she looked at Breanna.
"If she loved you...which I most certainly think she did...she would want you to be happy." Breanna told him.
D'Artagnan just let more tears fall.
"I hope you never have to go through...what I have." D'Artagnan said to Breanna.
Breanna's eyes almost swam at the statement.
D'Artagnan then stood up and walked out of the room. Leaving Breanna behind in his room.
Breanna prayed that she never had to go through what he was. She knew what it was like to have someone be your other half.
She never wanted to feel that pain of losing Ace.
Shaking her head and wiping away the tears that had formed in her own eyes, she turned and left the room and closed her door as she went to go find Ace.
It would be weeks before Jarod and the others would see Amanda wake up. They had moved out of necessity to stay out of the Centre's reach. Staying in the same place for too long was never a smart thing when dealing with the Centre.
James would always carry Amanda to their room, while Jarod and Baby Parker would check in the hotel and give him the key to the room. They didn't need people seeing Amanda and making their assumptions about her.
Through the weeks that had passed since the first day he saw her, her skin was almost free of the bruises that had covered her body.
Some remained, but were hardly noticeable.
Then one day...while Jarod was on his laptop, and James and Baby Parker had gone out to get some lunch...she woke up.
Jarod hadn't noticed. He had been turned away from her, facing the open light of the window at the desk in the hotel room.
He had been soo busy trying to find out what happened to Miss Parker, Sydney, and Broots that he didn't notice Amanda standing right next to him. He turned to grab something from his bed and jumped when he saw Amanda standing there looking at him.
It took him a second to process that she was actually up.
Jumping out of his chair he grabbed her arms to look at her.
"Are you ok? Are you all right? You have no idea how worried we've been." Jarod said in a rush.
Amanda opened her mouth and tried to talk. She shook her head and looked up to the ceiling in despair. She tried again, but again no sound came out.
Jarod held his hand up in front of her mouth and smiled.
"I understand. Don't hurt yourself." He said teasing.
Amanda's face enveloped into a smirk.
That's why she hadn't announced herself. She wasn't able to talk.
"Your voice should come around. It's been a long time since you've talked. Your body has to get use to it." Jarod explained to her as his hands ran up and down her arms in a comforting manor.
She nodded her head and made an attempt to take a step back when her knees gave out. Jarod caught her before she could hit her head against the desk.
"It's ok. Don't worry! I got you. Your muscles haven't been used for a while...they need to get use to you moving about again." Jarod said as he helped her sit down on his bed.
Jarod stood up and leaned on the table facing Amanda. He crossed his arms and looked at her.
She looked like she was in perfect health. Like she hadn't been asleep for 9 weeks.
Dear sweet God. Has it really been that long?
Amanda watched as his smile became a frown.
Jarod began to count back on how long it had been since he heard from Sydney or Miss Parker. He became very worried. Something had happened and he didn't know what. It had been driving him crazy for 2 weeks now.
He knew he needed to wait some time from contacting anyone from the Centre since he rescued Amanda from the evil place...so when he tried to contact them over two weeks ago now, and found no one...he panicked.
He had sent friends of his to Miss Parker's house, asking them to check on her.
When they had reported back that her closets were empty, and it looked like the house had been empty for months, Jarod knew something was extremely wrong.
Amanda pulled him back to the present, by waving her hands in front of his eyes. He shook his head and looked at her as if to say 'yes?'.
Amanda mouthed the name James.
Jarod's face broke into a smile.
He had grown extremely fond of James. James had showed him a lot about the world while they had been traveling. Showing Jarod about such things as simple as old cartoons, and complex things like interaction with people.
James was a good guy.
Not only did he take care of Amanda, but also Baby Parker.
Jarod had watched stunned, as he would wash Baby Parker, cloth him, feed him……….as if it came natural for him to do so.
He remembered when he would watch as he fed Amanda through her haze. She would respond to him by swallowing her food. He would watch as he would place a kiss on her forehead and clean her mouth off from the food that remained on her lips.
He knew that James was in love with her from the second he had met him………he just didn't know it was his true love. The one that your suppose to spend the rest of your life with.
When he saw James brush her hair back as she slept…….he knew.
Amanda again waved her hands in his face to bring him back to the living.
Jarod blushed and looked away.
"Sorry…….just thinking." Jarod said to her.
Amanda's personality shined through when she mouthed the word 'really?' in a sarcastic manner.
Jarod laughed out right.
Amanda graced him with a lopsided smirk.
"James went to buy some food for us. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you awake." Jarod said with a smile on his face.
Amanda nodded her understanding as she began to scan the room. Her face made a face that showed she was uncomfortable. She started pulling at her shirt, and that caused her to look down.
She actually had on clothes. And she didn't smell to high heaven. She looked up with her eyebrows raised and looked at Jarod.
Jarod blushed more and reached up to message the back of his neck with his right hand.
"Ahh…….we didn't want you to get any more ill then you were…………soooo…….we sponge bathed you." Jarod said.
When he had the courage to actually look back into Amanda's eyes she saw the scared and shocked look in her eyes.
'We' she mouthed.
"Ahh……..I……..mostly…..did. Butbut I promise I was a gentlemen…..I'm not the type of person that would…" Jarod began to explain that he looked at her like a patient and not like a woman.
Amanda stood up and walked up to Jarod and placed her hand on his forearm.
He looked at her and she mouthed 'I know.'
He smiled in relief at her.
She smirked.
'I wasn't afraid of you bathing me…..but did James see me naked?' she asked mouthing the words.
The question through Jarod for a loop. Though James had not seen her naked, or had wanted to help….which he had thought strange…….why would Amanda be afraid to have James see her naked?
"No…….he….he didn't." Jarod answered.
Amanda let out a huge sigh of relief and closed her eyes and mouthed the words 'thank you'.
Jarod was confused.
Amanda then asked 'Are there any clothes for me to switch into?'
"Yes. In here." He said as he went to a suitcase that he had on the floor. He grabbed the suitcase and placed it on his bed and opened it.
Amanda inspected the clothes.
"There all a large in size. You should be able to fit in them." Jarod said offhandedly.
Amanda slowly turned with a death stare at Jarod.
Jarod looked like a deer caught in head lights.
"I mean...of course you'd be able to fit in them." Jarod said trying to redeem himself.
When Amanda didn't stop giving him the death glare he slowly moved away from her side.
Amanda slowly chose the pieces she wanted to wear and then walked slowly towards the bathroom.
Jarod was right behind her.
"Do you need any help?"
Amanda turned and smirked at him once more and shook her head 'no'.
Jarod nodded his head. He watched as she turned around and entered the bathroom.
He would stand in front of the door the entire time she was in there.