Twenty nine
The arrow pierced his shoulder and Jessie screamed.
Jessie kept screaming. She was in shock and couldn't think properly. Everyone came thundering into the living room. Elektra was the first person to react she ran to the window and grabbed the back of a coat and hauled the person into the room. "What have you done?" she screeched. Jessie stared at him. Recognition hit her.
"You?" she asked. "You're the person Daniel hired. I should have known that when I saw you with him earlier at the YOI," she said. He smiled.
"Hi again Jessica," he smirked. She scowled. Mike was now leaning over Rick who was sat on the sofa, almost unconscious.
"you know him?" he asked as he looked at Rick's shoulder.
"Yeah. He went to my old school and absolutely hated me and Josh. But I never expected this," Jessie said turning away from him and leaning in to look at Rick's shoulder. Gina grabbed his arms.
"You can wait in the office for the police," Gina told him dragging him out the room. "And everyone except Elektra, Jessie and Mike get out the living room."
Rick's eyes were starting to close. "Don't let him go to sleep," Mike told Jessie seriously.
She nodded and sat on the arm of the sofa and lifted his head up towards her. His eyes flickered open. "Don't go to sleep Rick. We need you to stay awake. Think about ... that time in the garden. When we were sat on the grass together. And we fell asleep. Remember how cold it was when we woke up. Remember that and how much fun we have together," she said softly. Rick kept his eyes locked on Jessie's as he nodded. There were sirens coming up the drive and Jessie relaxed a bit. "You'll be fine," she said.
"Stay with me Jessie," he pleaded. She nodded as the paramedics came in and started looking after Rick. She stood back and watched them get on with it. It was her fault Rick was injured. If she'd only taken the stupid warning more seriously then maybe this whole thing might have been prevented. She regretted not telling Mike her suspicions about being followed. The paramedics led Rick out the house. Mike was going to go with her and Jessie was going to get the bus to the hospital. The moment the ambulance door closed she ran down the street towards the bus stop. She jumped on the bus that had just arrived. She was impatient as the bus travelled towards the hospital. Jessie had no idea how Rick was but it was all her fault. She stared out the window and watched the scenery. She really should have taken the threats more seriously. The bus pulled up at the hospital and Jessie jumped off. She ran into A&E. She walked up to reception.
"Hello, I'm looking for Rick Barber," she said.
The receptionist glanced her up and down in distaste. "And how are you related to him?" she asked in a really sarcastic voice.
"I'm his girlfriend and my care worker is also with him and I'm supposed to be in his care," Jessie said, smiling sweetly. The receptionist scowled and reluctantly gave her directions to Rick. Jessie hurried down the corridors. She spotted Mike staring through a glass pane into a room. Jessie stood next to his shoulder and stared into the room. Rick was laying on a bed wired up to lots of scary looking machines. The doctors were looking at his shoulder and at an x-ray. Jessie was panicking. She was scared by how bad Rick was injured and as she kept coming to the conclusion her fault. "How bad is it?" she asked Mike, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"They think the arrow might have pierced his bone and so his shoulder might be broken. His muscle was definitely pierced though and that will affect his strength and movement in his arm," Mike explained to her without looking at her.
Jessie felt the tears welling up in her eyes and quickly brushed them away. She wasn't going to let Mike see how bad she felt about the whole situation. The nurse came out to them. "Sorry to disturb you. The scan shows us his bone is broken in two places as the arrow pierced at an angle. We are going to strap it up but we also want to keep him in over night as he has lost a lot of blood which we need to replenish," she told them both. Jessie turned to look at her.
"May I come in and see him?" she asked. The nurse looked at her.
"I don't have any issue with it. So I suppose so. Go on," she said holding the door open. Jessie slunk in and went over to Rick's bed. Rick was awake but was having to breathe through an oxygen mask. Jessie smiled at him as she got closer. He smiled back and pulled his oxygen mask off.
"Hey Jess," he said breathily. She scowled at the nickname she didn't like. He grinned even wider.
"Hey Rick," she said. She leaned in and pulled his oxygen mask back on. "Don't make yourself worse," she said. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't of been with you. You wouldn't be here. I'm so sorry. I just... feel so guilty," she told him.
He pulled the mask back off. "Don't be. It's not your fault. I jumped in front of the arrow to protect you because I wanted to. I don't want to see you hurt. You mean too much to me," he said as the nurse came towards them.
"that's enough now. He needs rest and we've got to go splint his bone," she said. Jessie nodded and turned to leave.
"I love you," he called after her. She stopped and turned back.
"I love you too," she said smiling before walking out and going to wait with Mike.
A/N: Aw. Isn't that cute? A little bit of cheerfulness at the end. Indigo :)
