Chapter 26:

"Zara?"

The girl took in a sharp breath, her eyes suddenly open as she was woken. Remembering where she was, Zarabeth rubbed the back of her neck, sore from her odd sleeping position as she looked up at Jim, her eyes focusing as they got used to the dimness of the room. Zara's voice was only a little above a whisper as she smiled. "Hey. Welcome back to the world of the living."

The boy turned to face the girl sitting beside him, his look full of confusion as he hesitated to ask. "What happened?"

Rising from the chair she'd been in, Zarabeth moved to sit on the bed, facing Jim as she continued to hold onto his hand. "You've been out since early this afternoon. Apparently your little disappearing act got you into more trouble than we'd thought. Thank goodness for hospitals, right?"

Jim groaned, covering his eyes with his free hand as he began to remember. "Idiot." Removing his hand, the boy looked back over at Zara, a pained look on his face. "In the hallway, that really was you. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it." The girl leaned down closer to Jim, a gentle smile on her lips as she tried to reassure him. "That wasn't you. This is you, and I'm kinda partial to this one."

Jim's face relaxed, smiling slightly as he reached up to move some of the girl's wavy hair behind her ear.

Zarabeth closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of Jim's hand against her skin. These last few days had been so uncertain, so discouraging, but they'd shown her how desperately she needed Jim. Zara bit her lip, speaking slowly as she asked the question nagging at her mind. "Out of curiosity, who did you think I was?"

Jim pulled his hand back as he pushed the hair away from his forehead distractedly, his answer low. "Camellia."

The girl scrunched her nose in surprise. "Really? Why her?"

"Your eyes, I thought they were that purple color."

Zarabeth laughed quietly, imagining how she'd react if she thought Damian was trying to pass himself off as Jim. "Well if that's what you saw, then I really don't blame you. I probably would have been even less patient than you if the situation were switched." Swinging her legs up onto the bed, the girl sat cross-legged atop the white sheets as she played mindlessly with Jim's hand. "You told me that you wouldn't be fooled again. When did she try before?"

The boy swallowed hard, concentrating on the ceiling tiles as he explained. "The night that I thought Damian was with you, something wasn't quite right with the way you looked. I only thought of it this afternoon after I saw Camellia staring at me in one of my classes. Now I'm sure it was her."

Suddenly, things began to fall into place in Zarabeth's mind. Thinking aloud, the girl began arranging her thoughts. "Camellia looked like me to trick you into thinking that I was in trouble. That must have been all she did though. Damian used her to get you off guard." Releasing her hold on Jim's hand, Zara began gently rubbing her temples as she concentrated. "There had to be at least one more person, but who? Damian and Camellia were the only two that had evidence against them," Zara thought to herself. Looking back at the boy, the last piece of the mystery suddenly snapped into place as her eyes fell upon Jim's neck. Her mouth hung open slightly, her countenance falling as it suddenly made sense, unconsciously whispering a single word as she felt her chest tighten in pain. "No..."

"Zara?" Trying to prop himself up on one elbow, Jim watched the girl's face in confusion as he tried to guess at what had disturbed her.

The girl hurriedly sat forward, trying to make herself look more relaxed than she was as her heart raced in realization. "N-nothing, my head just kind of hurts. None of this is making much sense." "Liar," she thought as she reprimanded herself. Slowly looking around the room, Zara could see how early the night still was, morning a long ways away. Turning back to the boy beside her, Zarabeth smiled sadly as she slowly rose. Now that she knew he would be fine, she didn't have any real reason to stay except to want to be with him, but that wouldn't change the fact that she still had classes in the morning. "I-I should probably go. I'm keeping you up and you really need your rest. Night Jim. I'll come see you tomorrow."

Turning to leave, the girl was stopped as she felt him grab her hand. Looking back at Jim, she couldn't help but smile as she saw his hopeful eyes, his voice soft as he spoke one word, "Stay."

Gently pulling her closer to where he lay, Jim half sat up as he supported himself with one arm. "Please?"

Zarabeth laughed quietly as she watched Jim, her answer equally quiet. "Can those eyes get any bigger?" The girl smiled as a wave of fatigue gently washed over her, lowering herself to sit beside Jim as she added quietly, "Scootch over."

Rolling over to face each other, Zara couldn't help but feel completely happy, lying beside the boy she loved, his arm draped around her as their foreheads rested together. She listened in silence to Jim's uneven breathing, trying to read his face for any signs of discomfort as he smiled at her.

Planting a small kiss against her nose, Jim found himself lost in the girl's eyes as the dim moonlight reflected gently in them, too tired to stay awake, but not wanting to fall asleep. He couldn't help but think about how beautiful she looked in the low glow of the room. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For always being there." How did he get so lucky? This precious girl lying beside him truly was his rock. When everything else was changing and falling apart, Jim could always count on her to be waiting for him, no matter how idiotic or empty-headed he'd been.

Zara smiled, tearing her gaze away for only an instant as she tried to stifle a yawn. Her heart was full, full of warmth and love for the boy surrounding her in his embrace. "Thank you for always coming back."

"I'll never stop trying."

"And I'll never stop waiting."