Chapter 20
When I regained consciousness I was in a hospital bed, once again, and my hands, knees and feet were wrapped in white bandages. My hands and feet were throbbing and my vision was wavering in and out. I breathed out weakly,
"Loki." I murmured. A body shifted somewhere close beside me, a hand brushed my hair back from my forehead. I turned my head towards the movement and saw Loki gazing at me worriedly. I smiled at him relieved and said, "I... I'm sorry. I just..." He smiled tiredly,
"Shh. It's ok, I forgive you. Don't speak now, you're very weak. Get some rest and I'll talk to you soon." I smiled weakly at him and he smiled back. He started to stand up and walk away, I reached up and grabbed his hand,
"Please stay." He looked at me and sighed. Loki bent down to kiss my forehead,
"For only a little while longer." I smiled at him,
"Thank you." He sat back down and rested his head on my arm. I looked at him once again and faded off to sleep. I jolted awake a short scream escaping my mouth. Loki immediately sat up, reflexed primed, ready for action. He looked at me and his gaze filled with surprise and worry,
"Jenny, are you alright?" I took deep breaths and nodded unsurely,
"I... I think so. It was just a nightmare. It just seemed so real. Sorry." I sighed and laid back down on the bed, still breathing heavily and sweating slightly. I was surprised to feel the back of Loki's hand pressing against my sweaty forehead, taking my temperature. His face darkened,
"You feel like you're running very warm, are you sure you're all right?" I nodded, more definitely this time, but I was still shaking and the sweat was cooling on my skin, making me shiver. I looked towards Loki,
"Would you be able to get me a glass of water?" He nodded,
"Of course. I'll be right back." I smiled reassuringly at him,
"Thank you darling." He smiled back worriedly, apparently unconvinced by my cover up. As soon as he went into the bathroom I let out a deep sigh, 'I really need to stop having these stupid nightmares.' I thought frustratedly. I had always had nightmares for as long as I can remember. Who hasn't, right? But these were different, these dreams were so vivid it was as if they were reality. Loki walked back into the room and broke my concentration. He was holding a short glass of water and handed it to me carefully,
"Are you able to hold it?" I curled my fingers around the glass and held it with both hands. I raised the cup to my lips and took a small sip. The water was cold and refreshing and I sighed happily after gulping the rest of it down. I looked up at Loki,
"Thank you, I feel much better now." He smiled and bent down to kiss me on the cheek,
"That's good. I've got to leave now, so don't got into any trouble while I'm gone." He gave me a quirky half smile and I grinned at him,
"Of course not. You know me." He waved and turned to go,
"I'll see you later babe!" I waved good-bye and fell swiftly asleep.
I opened my eyes feeling well-rested and refreshed. I sat up and stretched my arms above my head. I dropped my arms back onto the bed and looked down at my hands, 'Well, at least they don't hurt as much as they did.' My stomach rumbled loudly and I realised I probably hadn't eaten in a few days. I threw off the blankets and swung my legs over the side of the bed and sighed frustratedly. 'How do I always manage to get myself into these messes?' I thought and carefully unwrapped the bandages on my knees, bending them slightly to make sure the wounds didn't re-open and start bleeding. Once I had made sure that my knees were fine, I tried putting some pressure on my feet. I didn't bother taking the bandages off as I figured they would act as some sort of protection. I slowly stood up, holding on to the bed for support. I took a few steps, a steady ache starting to spread through my feet. I took a deep breath and looked around the room, suddenly realising I didn't know where I was. I groaned, quite annoyed, and looked for something that resembled a wardrobe so I could find some clothes. I spotted a small pair of doors on the other side of the room and hobbled over to them. I opened the doors and sighed, greatly relieved to find a small range of clothing in the closet. I grabbed a pair of loose sweatpants and a soft, tight fitting pale orange t-shirt. I couldn't find any shoes, so I just shrugged and limped towards the door. I slowly opened a door and looked both ways down the corridor. It looked like every other hallway around here, I sighed and tried going right first. After a short walk I came to the kitchens and navigated my way to one of the dining rooms. Thor and Frigga sat on either side of the table eating, 'Lunch?' and talking quietly. They both stood up and walked over to me when they saw me enter the room. Frigga hugged me tightly and said in a very motherly way,
"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright dear, we were so worried about you!" I just nodded a little shocked and gently hugged her back. Thor was looking at me worriedly and I tried to smile reassuringly at him. He gave me a half smile back and I gently disentangled myself from Frigga's hug. Thor cleared his throat and said,
"Mother, don't you think Jenny is a little hungry as she has been unconscious for nearly four days?" My eyes widened as I looked up at Thor,
"Four days? Really?" He nodded and I looked back to Frigga. She quickly said,
"Of course! You must be starving! Come, let's get you some breakfast." I smiled warmly at her,
"Thank you." I threw Thor a grateful sideways glance and he smiled in return. I started to limp towards the table when Thor appeared beside me and offered me his arm, I took it gratefully and leaned heavily on him the rest of the way to my seat. When I had sat down and had got some food into me, I started to ask some questions. "What happened while I was out?" I asked, my mouth full of poptart. Frigga and Thor exchanged glances. Thor finally spoke up,
"Well, Luke seems to have mysteriously disappeared and um... so have all of his followers." I tilted my head thoughtfully,
"Huh. That's weird." Only one answer popped into my head, 'Loki.' Both of them nodded. I finished my poptart and took a bite of my scrambled eggs, "How's Odin doing?" Frigga smiled happily,
"Much better. He seems to be a lot happier now than he was a few days ago." My heart fluttered and I smiled,
"Well, that's great!" I exclaimed happily. Thor and Frigga exchanged worried glances again and Frigga asked delicately,
"So, honey, what happened before you broke your mirror? No one saw you for days before that." I coughed awkwardly,
"Well... uh you see..." I wracked my brain trying to find a decent excuse for my sociopathic behaviour earlier on. An idea wormed its way into my head, "I... um wasn't feeling very well and I wasn't able to get out of bed." It wasn't a complete lie, yet it wasn't the whole truth either. She looked at me worriedly,
"We could have gotten you a doctor or something if you had told us." I shook my head,
"I guess I just needed some alone time to recover." I smiled apologetically at the two and they each flashed me a small smile. I ate my fill and leaned back in my chair, feeling extremely full. I sighed contentedly and patted my stomach, "Breakfast was amazing, just what I needed. Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'd like to go back to my own room and rest for a little bit." They both nodded and Thor stood up,
"Would you like me to walk you back?" I shook my head politely,
"No thank you. I think I can manage." I smiled and stood up, "Thanks again for breakfast!" I tried to walk normally out the door, ignoring the pain heightening in my feet. I limped slightly to the massive doors and turned around and said cheerily, "Talk to you later!" They both waved and I waved back. Once I had gotten out of sight and earshot of the doorway I leaned against the wall and let out a sharp gasp at the steadily growing pain in my feet that was slowly creeping up my legs. I felt an arm snake around my waist,
"Need any help there, darling." I turned my head to see Loki standing behind me, grinning wildly. I turned my attention front again,
"I think I can manage on my own." I felt his arm tighten around me,
"Oh, don't lie to me, you know you won't get away with it." He swiftly put another arm beneath my knees and scooped me up off the ground. I gasped, surprised, and quickly wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. He chuckled softly,
"I'll give you a lift." I sighed, feeling slightly annoyed and gave in,
"Fine. It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice anyways." He laughed quietly,
"No. No you don't." He started down the long hallway, carrying me gently. I looked into his deep green eyes and asked him quietly,
"Hey babe?" He looked down at me, "What did you do to Luke and his buddies?" Loki switched his gaze forward again and his face darkened,
"I disposed of them." He said in a very sinister voice. I held my gaze on him,
"You mean you killed them?" He nodded curtly, I stared at him shocked, "All of them?" He nodded again. "But why?" He looked down at me and his gaze softened,
"Because they were bad people and they hurt my darling." I gave him a small smile and he kissed the top of my head. I rested my head on his shoulder and he continued walking. He walked past my room and I looked up at him curiously,
"Hey, you passed my room!" He grinned widely and said smoothly,
"I know." I rolled my eyes,
"Where are you taking me then?" He looked down at me and raised an eyebrow,
"Where do you think?" It was my turn to raise an eyebrow,
"Your room? Really?" He nodded,
"Your feet need new bandages and my room has everything we need." I shrugged,
"Ok then. Lead on noble warrior." I smirked up at him and he laughed out loud. When we got to his room he pushed open the door and sat me down on the bed,
"Stay there." I saluted,
"Yessir." He rolled his eyes and turned to the bathroom. I sat on the bed looking around, 'God, I missed this room.' All those books he had and the walk-in closet and the balcony and just everything about the room screamed Loki. He returned from the bathroom a few seconds later, carrying a roll of thick bandages, medical tape, a small bottle of painkillers and a pair of scissors. He tossed the bottle at me,
"Take two." He began to busy himself with preparing the bandages. I nodded and popped open the bottle. I shook two of the small pills into my hand,
"Do you have a glass of water?" He held out his hand and a tall glass filled with clear water slowly materialised in his hand. I took it and stared at it, "That is the coolest thing ever..." He chuckled and turned to my feet. I put the pills in my mouth and downed the water and set the glass on the table. Loki looked into my eyes,
"Now, this might hurt. Quite a lot." I bit my lip and nodded. It felt kind of relieving as he unwrapped the outer layers of the bandage, but when he got to the inner layers, the blood had dried on the bandage and plastered it to my skin. He looked up at me apologetically and I nodded. He tried to take it off as gently as possible but it still hurt like hell and most of the cuts were re-opened. He quickly wrapped it back up with a fresh bandage and did the same proceedings with the other foot. I laid back on the bed breathing heavily and my feet throbbing like mad. The painkillers had helped immensely but had not completely eliminated the pain. A few minutes later, Loki laid down on his back beside me and said sympathetically, "I'm sorry love, but it had to be done." I nodded and looked over at him,
"I know. I'm fine, I've dealt with worse." I smiled at him and he smiled back. I leaned over to him and he claimed my mouth in a deep kiss. A soft, contented moan escaped his lips and I grinned into his mouth. We reluctantly pulled away from each other and smiled happily at one another. I looked into those deep, dark green eyes of his and whispered, "I love you Loki." He just smiled warmly and leaned in for another kiss.