Author's Note: Hope everyone is enjoying this story! It's already a chapter longer than "Abandoned" now, and still not over yet! So, onto chapter 14! And to hgirl, thanks; glad you think I'm nice! You are too!
Dallas' POV
I was acting tough about finding out that my brother was an evil traitor, but on the inside, I was crushed. He's my brother, after all; He was only 4 years older than me; I had grown up with him. I had known him since I was born, and we had always been very close. That was all changed now. Nothing could change what he had done: killed a great man, hurt Jack, and betrayed me and everyone else in the camp; I could never forgive him. I hide my emotions from the five people I had learned to trust in the room and in response to Kim said, "We're going to kick his but and send him and his goons to jail."
Kim's POV
I couldn't imagine what must have been going through Dallas's head right now. His older brother, someone who he obviously loved and trusted, was a traitor. I was an only child, but Jerry, Milton, and Eddie were almost like brothers to me, and I knew that if they betrayed me, I would feel hurt, angry, and confused, and as for Jack . . . well, I loved him, but not in a brotherly way; I just wish he knew that.
I could see the hurt on Jack's face too; whether it was sympathy for Dallas or because Jack had actually liked Galen, I wasn't sure. I throw him a questioning look, but he ignores it, taking an interest in the blanket covering him. I wonder what had happened between Jack and Galen?
Jack's POV
Kim could apparently see the hurt look on my face, because she sends me a questioning glance, which I ignore, looking down at the blanket and fiddling with it. I had been pretty close with Galen when I was young. Both Dallas and him had been like brothers to me. I could always remember this one time when the enemies had raided our camp, and I had been held at knifepoint.
I was only five years old, and I had been terrified. Galen, who had been nine at the time, had bravely taken on this person and resulted in wounding him. I had been so thankful to him, because even though I was young, I knew how close I had come to dying. His exact words were, "I'll always be there for you, Jack. You're like a second little brother to me! Whenever you need me, I'll be there for you, and I'll protect you." Obviously, all these years later, his vow had been forgotten, or at least held no meaning to him.
There is a knock on the door then, and a doctor comes in. He looks at our sad expressions with confusion. "Why the long faces?" he asks cheerily. "Jack is doing great! He will be able to leave in another day or two; you don't need to be worried." We all look at him solemnly, which just confuses him more. He pulls himself together and says, "Anyways, I came in to tell you that visiting hours end in five minutes, so you should say your goodbyes now."
Everyone looks shocked that it is already time for them to go; had we really been talking for that long? I shift my position to see the clock, and wince a little as my side and chest scream out in pain. The doctor frowns and gives me some more pain medication, telling my friends that they should leave and let me rest; then he leaves the room. "Sorry, guys, if it was up to me, you could stay as long as you want," I say. "I really want to talk to you about all of this, and make a plan, and-" Kim cuts me off.
"It's okay, Jack. We'll talk tomorrow," she says, taking my hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Her eyes are filled with kindness and something else . . . what was it? Longing? I couldn't tell. The guys all said goodbye and left. Kim stayed for a little while longer, still holding onto my hand. "Kim?" I say eventually, snapping her out of whatever her thoughts were. She looks down at our entwined hands and blushes, letting go; I hadn't meant to embarrass her. I actually was enjoying her closeness . . .
"I'll see you in the morning, Jack," she says, getting up off of my bed and heading towards the door. She pauses before leaving and looks back at me with her gorgeous brown eyes, the same mixture of kindness and whatever the other feeling was still there, and says, "Bye, Jack." Then she turns and leaves before I can say anything. Just seconds after she leaves, after I've laid down, trying to figure her and everything else out through the fog and tiredness of the pain medication, the doctor comes back in.
"Good news, Jackson," he says, smiling a little. "I've looked through your records and monitored you progress, and it looks like you should be okay to leave tomorrow. We'll just have to do a quick little evaluation tomorrow morning to make sure you're all set, and if everything checks out okay, then you're free to go!"
I smile back, and he doesn't notice that it's a forced smile. Sure, I would be happy to be out of here, moving around again instead of confined to a bed, but yet I was scared of what leaving here meant. It meant that I was fair game to Galen and his gang, and that my friends and I would be in constant danger until we took care or them. It also meant that a fight with them was inevitable, and that it would be happening soon, whether I am injured or not.
How could I fight someone I had once considered a brother, even if it had been years ago? How could Dallas fight his actual brother? How could any of us possibly get out of this alive when they had killed my father, a highly skilled and careful spy?
All of these awful questions ran through my mind, and yet I still had a fake smile plastered on my face. The inevitable is coming soon, and I wasn't going to enjoy it one bit.
Author's Note: Hey, sorry it's a little bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it! Review please?