DISCLAIMER

This is gonna be a bit sappy, but…Hey, I couldn't just let him go, could I?

Sorry for the language, as usual.

And as usual thanks so much to Nancy for her reviews!

Chapter 20: Wake Up

When Parker entered Jarod's room, she noticed that for the first time in her life she would talk to him and have the last word.

Doctors hadn't deceived her: hadn't he woken up in the next hours, the situation would become uncertain and dangerous for the patient.

Parker couldn't stand watching that man who usually was full of strength, vigor and dynamism, lying in an hospital bed, unarmed.

"He seems so…defenseless…" she muttered towards Sydney.

"Yeah…"

Miss Parker walked beside his bed, next to the windows, and sat at the chair that was occupied by Margaret just a moments before. She took Jarod's left hand in hers and took it to her mouth, starting to wetting it with her tears.

"I can't, Syd.."

"You can…and you must, Parker…he needs us…we have to be the strong ones, for once. Think about what he did for us during these last years…think about your children!"

"I'm never gonna make it without him, Sydney…I can't live without him!" she responded, angry with herself for what had happened and for her own fragility. How did she end up like this? A few days before she was an independent and unattached woman.

Sure, she also was futureless, but that was just a detail.

And now she was a mom-to-come, risking to become the most premature widow in all Blue Cove history.

Perhaps neither that one was the destiny she would have chosen for herself.

Sydney was absorbed in his thoughts, and he suddenly started to laugh. Parker looked up at him, uncomfortably. How could he possibly find that situation amusing?

"D'you remember the time that Jarod met Bartlett in Georgia? And we used Angelo's faculties to understand who wanted to kill him?"

"Yes…" she answered, angry. Whenever she listened to somebody speak about that animal Bartlett was, she didn't understand anymore the distinction between good and evil. Should she find him in front of herself, she'd probably kill him like a dog.

"I had guessed that you were hiding something…the way you lavish to save Jarod…I knew you didn't want Bartlett to hurt him…"

"It was just because I did want to catch him before he could!" she retorted, her old huntress tone surfacing again, at times.

Sydney kept on giggling "Are you sure of that, Parker?"

The woman thought about those moments she had spent waiting for Angelo to find out what person from Jarod's past wanted to kill him.

…

"Bartlett, Angelo! Is he the one who's going to kill Jarod?"

Angelo was at the floor and Sydney finally understood who was the man Angelo had been afraid of for a few hours, by then. The empathic dragged himself out from the net Jarod had built for Bartlett and approached Syd, nodding evidently.

"Bartlett! Must stop Bartlett. Bartlett hates Jarod, hates everyone!"

Sydney stared at him in apprehension.

"Bartlett wants to kill—wants to kill Jarod! Sydney, help Jarod now!" Angelo lashed out.

Syd didn't want to waste a second more "Parker, we have to do something!"

The woman, who still didn't want to show, was as anxious as the two.

"Broots, call the Florida Bureau of Prisons, see if Bartlett is still in custody!"

"Okay" he answered, running outside the room to go and check.

Parker then made a few steps towards Angelo and Sydney "Bartlett is a racist sleazebag who would kill his own mother."

Angelo, in the meantime, was exhausted by the pain he felt as assimilation for Jarod's emotions. Sydney stood up and listened to her.

"Syd, we have to find him. If Bartlett finds Jarod first…he will kill him…"

Sydney looked suddenly at Parker, she was staring at him intensely. Her expression showed all her concern, in that moment. The psychiatrist, in fact, couldn't help but notice the irony of that situation. The most assiduous among Jarod's pursuers was afraid for his own safety and wanted to find him not to take him back to The Centre, but to save his life. Was she starting to realize, deep within of herself, what he had understood a long time before? That between them there weren't just mind games, but an intimate and ineradicable bond?

Parker knew she had to come back to her senses and put on the Ice Queen façade, so after a few seconds of embarrassment, she talked on "…and ruin my chance."

But Sydney didn't miss the way she pulled up her shoulders and she tried to disguise her fear, for he was the man who had seen her grow and he knew every attitude of hers.

"Let's just pray we're not too late…" he concluded, finding a tacit inner agreement of Miss Parker.

…

"Ok, I admit it…I spent many hours in my office that afternoon, pondering the first kiss Jarod and I ever shared and about what we had said to each other when Bartlett tied us together down in Bahia Grande…I was terribly worried, I was afraid I would loose him before I could understand…"

"Understand what?"

Parker smiled and kissed again Jarod's hand "Something I'd already known in my heart for long, but that I didn't want to admit…"

Sydney watched her while she stroke Jarod's forehead, he still didn't show any signs of recovery.

"That I've always loved him…"

Sydney smiled again. It was so good to listen to her talking so openly about her feelings for him.

"You know what he said to me, some time ago?"

Sydney shook his head, with curiosity.

"When we went down there to Pastor Jones' church to ask about him, we thought he had already left…and yet, he was still there, right under our nose. He was enjoying the sung Mass on the church roof!"

The psychiatrist couldn't resist and burst into laughter again "I can't believe that…"

Parker giggled too "I can almost imagine him, their guardian angel…literally! You do are crazy, Jarod…"

Their laughs faded, and Sydney understood that was the moment for him to leave. He patted Jarod once more and then he dragged his wheelchair outside the room, leaving her alone with him.

"Jarod…there are so many things…things I never told you, things I would have wanted to tell you, things I should have said…"

The man, obviously, didn't show signs of life.

Parker sighed deeply, ready to talk once again "Jarod, d'you remember what you told me after Brigitte's death, that day I confided you that I've never told Tommy…that I loved him?"

…

"I thought that getting revenge for Tommy's death would somehow bring me peace. But even if I had been able to, I know now it wouldn't have."

She didn't actually know why she was confiding in Jarod. Maybe because he was the only one who actually helped her discovering the truth about Thomas. The only one who was always with her during the most difficult moments of her life. Who knew why, then. She chased him everyday, she pursued him to bring him back to the terrible place he had run from. And yet, he still cared for her, he still saw her as his childhood friend to be protected from pain. Parker would never admitted it in front of him, but that constant presence of his in her life was fundamental. Jarod was her pillar, and after all that affair, she was realizing that more and more.

"That isn't the unfinished business that needs finishing." he replied to her, lost in the middle of a grove in total different place. He would have loved to be there with her, but he knew she had to face the pain on her own, that time.

"You said the other day that you wish you had told him…told him what?" he asked her, curious.

"I never…I never told Tommy that I loved him…" she finally confessed, glad to remove that weight from her consciousness to confide it someone. And not just any someone. To Jarod.

"And now your heart and your mind are raging a war against each other…"

That was the reason Parker loved to speak with him: because he understood her without even needing to explain things out loud. He knew her better than anyone else.

"I would trade everything for one minute with him…Just to say those words and have him hear them."

"Tell him…" he concluded "Let your heart win the war."

…

Parker squeezed his hand stronger.

"You were the one who taught me that we mustn't underestimate the importance of expressing our feelings for the persons we love…and now I realize I don't want to miss the opportunity with you too."

She sent him a languid look, almost in the hope that he would wake up that very moment.

"I've never been an easy person to deal with…since I was a child I didn't have any friends outside, nobody really got along with me. You were the only one who understood the real me, you knew that something had broken inside of me after my mother's alleged death…you stood by my side and donated me the most precious gift: our friendship."

Parker pondered for a second about all those times that, as kids, they had wandered across The Centre corridors and got into trouble. She remembered that time Sydney had found them playing hide and seek down in SL-12 corridors and have admonished them not to scare him like that anymore, because he had been looking for them for hours and Jarod needed to finish a simulation. Good old Sydney, she thought.

"It was all my father's fault if I've become…an hopeless bitch, trained with the sole purpose to plug The Centre security leaks. It was foregone that he charged me with your pursuit, he was so sure that Mind Rain had been successful that he didn't even care about all the skeletons in the closet I would discover having to deal with you night and day."

Parker paused, pondering the words.

"I don't blame you for hating me…I don't blame you if you tried to forget me, I've made your life a living hell for so long…the more you tried to show me the truth, the more I tried to get some distance from you. I couldn't admit the truth to myself."

Parker stood up and placed Jarod's hand on the bed once again, then she looked out the window and turned her back to him.

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened hadn't I come on Carthis…I guess you would give up, one day…you would understand I was a lost cause and you wouldn't have looked for me anymore. But we know what happened in reality…my surprise ending, the turning point you had asked me…that night on the island I realized I still loved you. In fact, I've always had…and I'm sorry that I didn't figure it out sooner, Jarod, but I was a such a fool! I've been blind, irritating, cynic, arrogant…I must thank you for opening my eyes…thank you for your love…thank you for changing me…thank you for Michael and for Clio…I won't ever thank you enough, my love…for everything you've ever done for me."

Parker was still crying.

"D-did you actually c-called me...my love?"

Parker turned around at once, sure that she was dreaming. Jarod's eyes were open and he was looking at her, waiting for her reaction.

"Jarod! Oh my god! Doctor!" she shouted, pressing the warning button so that the acoustic signal started to resound wildly. Then she went outside.

"He's awake!" she screamed, calling or the relatives to order.

A real mass of people tumbled into the room, but Parker stood outside a moment more, decided to stay back and recovering from such a huge emotion. Doctors came together with nurses and they did a complete check-up on Jarod immediately, monitored his vital signs and almost calling it a miracle, seen the few chances he had to survive.

From the room, dozen of voices were crowding one another. Margaret was still holding her son's hands, next to her Major Charles and Catherine. Emily, Ethan and Jesse stood beside, on the other side of the bed, and they were looking at their brother, even if leaving the doctors' movements some room.

Broots and Debbie peeped from the corridor with Angelo in that very moment, noticing at once that something must have happened, if everybody had disappeared.

When the technician saw Parker weeping, he thought for a moment that Jarod was dead.

"I-is h-he…"

"He woke up, Broots!" Sydney explained, smiling to his lifetime friend.

Broots seemed overjoyed for the news, while Angelo started to spin, because he felt skin-deep all the positive emotions emanating from that room. Jarod was fine, he was awake. He was safe.

"May we?" Broots asked Parker.

"Of course, everybody's inside!" she agreed.

Sydney stood behind with his girl and waited patiently the doctors' visits to come to an end. When one of them, visibly disappointed, snarled "That's enough, everybody out! We must check on the patient's condition! Just one of you can stay!"

Even if all of them complain for the doctor's order, they started to exit the room one by one, leaving Margaret inside. The woman, anyway, looked at her son while he asked her something, then she exited too and went towards Parker.

"He asked of you…" she whispered.

Touched, Miss Parker thanked her with a gaze full of affection, then stared at her mother "Would please go and fetch Michael? I'd love him to see his father, now…"

"Of course, sweetie." she answered.

Parker approached Jarod just as the doctor said "It's almost incredible, but it seems the worse part is over, Jarod…you do have a hard rind!"

Guessing the two knew each other, Parker noticed the relief in the doctor's eyes and heard Jarod replying "Thanks, Jeff."

"Let's give them some time, Rose…let's get out." he said, addressing himself to the last nurse still in the room.

Parker arrived at Jarod's side and bended so that she had her arms leaning on the bed and her face right next to his one, seen that the pretender was lying on his side, because they had just checked his wound at the back.

"How's Michael?" Jarod asked her.

Parker couldn't help but finding his altruism just irresistible. She shook her head slightly and kissed him with passion, even if this meant he would loose his breath for a while. She had missed those lips, that day. She had been afraid that she wouldn't have tasted them anymore.

"Did I miss something?" he questioned.

"My father's dead…and so is Lyle."

Jarod guessed at once that she had been the one who had killed his brother.

"How?"

"Let's just say he's not going to annoy us anymore, that's for sure…"

"Are you all right?"

Parker giggled "You were dying and you ask if I am fine?"

"I'm not the one who's carrying a life in her womb, Parker…is the baby all right?"

She nodded, lifting a hand and caressing his face. He half-closed his eyes and enjoyed that soft and lovely touch.

"We'll have so much time to talk…now you need some rest, Jarod. I'm coming back later."

He opened his eyes suddenly "No! Stay…" he pleaded her.

She huffed "You really are a child! Are you sure you don't want your mummy?" she asked him, not too much sarcastically.

Jarod smiled and coughed "Before, I woke up in time to hear you saying that you've been blind, irritating, cynic, arrogant. You forgot ruthless!"

Parker burst into laughter "Ok, then ruthless too." she agreed, taking his hand and dragging the chair beside his bed, so that she could sit next to him. Then she bended again and rested her face close to his one, realizing their two different breathing could become one.

"We made it, Parker…"

"You made it…" she corrected him "…and for the first time in your life you won't have to look at your back, because nobody's going to hunt you anymore, Jarod."

"I was hoping that you would still." he admitted. Now that The Centre had fallen, who knew why, he was almost afraid he could loose her. As if their lives had already fulfilled their purpose. Just as the Prophecies revealed.

"I won't chase you anymore, Jarod…" she interrupted, while he stared at her, pondering "…because I won't have to stay a step behind you, in the hope of reaching you. From now on, we'll be together, we're walking the same way, side by side. The huntress and her prey."

Jarod smiled "This seems a perfect ending for a novel…"

Parker laughed again "Well, then I might start writing. I mean, I'm unemployed!"

"I'm sorry! I've never thought about that side of the coin. I must help you to find a new job, then!"

"I think The Centre ensured us a settlement that will relieved us from such a necessity, Jarod."

"Settlement?" he asked, not understanding what Parker was talking about. He didn't know that Broots had envisaged a little "payout" for all of them.

"Let's call it…a compensation for punitive damages…this will allow you to keep on helping the others as you've always done, if that's what you want."

"By now, the only person I want to help…it's me…I need a bit of balance in my life. I want to make up for lost time with my family…and with you. That's the only thing that matters to me, now!"

"Yeah" she agreed "And then…I guess the next nine months will be a new experience for you too. Guess how you must behave to second the pregnant Ice Queen cravings…"

"I believe I have to keep a gun on hand for the difficult times." he replied, causing her to laugh again. Parker wondered how could he make her feel so…peaceful.

"And I'll have to renew my clothes." she concluded, kissing him again.

Let me know what you think.

Oh, by the way...it's not over yet! :)