Chapter 36: Healing process
O'Hara went in to see Jewel as Kelly was going to go check up on her uncle and so that O'Hara would have time alone with her mother. He quietly shut the door after entering. After taking a deep breath, he turned around and saw Jewel in the bed resting. There were at least 20 candles burning which made seeing easier. He walked to the side of the bed and looked down at Jewel and covered his mouth with his hand to keep from falling apart. She could die and there was nothing he could do. She was very pale and looked extremely weak. O'Hara gulped to gain his composure then pulled up a chair and sat down. As he grabbed her hand and held it, he noticed how cold her skin even was. He looked up at her as a tear escaped his eye "Jewel...I am so sorry. I love you so much, and I let you go on that damned mission and you nearly got killed. I had this awful feeling about the whole thing and I should have known." He looked at her face again then let out a sob and laid his head on her hand "I'm so sorry," he cried. "Please come back to me, I can't lose you."
Almost as if on reflex of hearing him, Jewel began to slowly and weakly flutter her eyes open. She looked down at O'Hara and saw that he was crying. She brushed her fingers against his cheek making him look up quickly "Jewel?"
"Hey, handsome," she smiled weakly.
O'Hara smiled as tears fell from his eyes. He sat on the bed next to her and gave a slight kiss on the lips "The doctors said...said that you might not have come out of it."
"Yes, well, they don't know how stubborn I can be. Can't get rid of me that easily," she smiled and rested her hand on his cheek "You look terrible," she joked.
O'Hara chuckled and nodded "But you look beautiful," he sniffed. "Do you remember what happened?"
Jewel nodded weakly "I think so. Um...Gabriel, Martin's son and other rebels came for us. They killed everyone." She shook her head "Oh my god. Will!"
"He's all right," O'Hara reassured her. "He had a flesh wound, but he's fine. Bordon is as well, besides the bump on his head from falling onto a rock or something."
Jewel nodded "I shoved him out of the way."
"You saved his life."
"I suppose I did."
O'Hara sighed "You think you have nine lives or something?"
"Hmm, that's a good thought. Maybe I do," she smiled. She saw him smile a little too then hung his head "What's wrong?"
He shook his head and sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck then looked back at Jewel "I thought I was going to lose you. That's all and I don't think I could bear it if I did. Especially since I am partially blamed for all of this."
"Don't. Don't you dare blame yourself for this, Charles. I would have went whether you said I could or not, and you know that. You and my brother both, need to stay away from the guilt goblin, because it's not your fault and it's not his fault. I chose to go. I chose to push Bordon out of the way. Granted, I thought I would get out of the way before Gabriel ran the knife in me, but needless to say I was wrong, but I couldn't let Bordon take the hit. Regardless that he has been a complete and utter bastard, I couldn't let him die like that."
O'Hara gulped "Does that mean you still love him?"
"I care for him still in a way."
He turned away fearing she was going to say more.
Jewel tilted her head then sighed "Charles, look at me."
He still faced away from her.
"Charles. Look at me." He turned around facing her. "A part of me still cares for Bordon, but not in the way that you are fearing. You're the one I am with now. You're the one that I am utterly in love with. Only you. Please don't doubt that. I know that that you were fearing that I was going to go back to Bordon, but it's not so. Do not doubt of the love that I have for you and only you. All right?"
O'Hara nodded "All right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you."
"Well, I don't blame you. I can understand how it may seem, but you are the love of my life. I haven't felt the way I do when I am around you with anyone else and that's a compliment."
He rubbed Jewel's hand "All in all, how are you feeling?"
Jewel gave a slight shrug "Not bad for being stabbed...twice...in the same spot...on the same day and by the same bloody person. Am I due for a holiday now?"
O'Hara chuckled "Any time you want one, you got it."
"All right, let's go," said Jewel.
"I meant more in terms of a week or so."
"Buzzkill," she sighed.
He smiled then kissed her hand "I love you."
"I love you too," Jewel smiled then looked past him and out the window "Full moon tonight. Beautiful." She closed her eyes and sighed.
O'Hara looked out the window at the moon then sighed as he felt an overwhelming feeling for something he really wanted to do "Jewel?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you say that you're in the right state of mind, right now?"
Jewel raised her eyebrows then opened her eyes "Well, I'm not crazy right now, at least I don't think. Why?"
He let out a shaky sigh then reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a box.
"What's that?" Jewel asked, barely being able to see the box.
He leaned forward with the box then opened the lid, revealing a ring. "It's a claddagh ring. It was my mothers. My mother was part Irish and my father was British."
"It's beautiful," Jewel looked at it.
The ring was white gold, with a amethyst heart and diamonds surrounding it. She smiled as the moonlight hit it making it sparkle "It's amazingly beautiful. I love amethyst. It's my birthstone."
"I know. Which is why it makes complete sense. Jewel, my mother once told me that one day I would find a woman to give this to, a woman who I would deeply love and wanted to spend my whole life with." He stood up from the bed then got down on one knee making Jewel gasp "Jewel Tavington, I love you with all my heart, my soul, and every fiber of my being. I promise to love you in this life and the next, forever. I want you to be the one who I wake up to every morning, be the last face I see before I fall asleep, and the one I want to grow old with. You are my sun, that keeps me warm, my ocean that brings tranquility into my life, you are the air in which I breathe, and my world that gives me a reason to live. Will you, Jewel Tavington, do me the extraordinary honor in becoming my wife?"
Jewel sniffed as tears of happiness came rolling down her cheeks then she looked at him and smiled "Yes," she laughed. "Yes, I'll marry you."
O'Hara chuckled, took the ring out of the box, and slipped it on her left ring finger with the heart pointing away from her "This means when the heart is pointed away from the wearer that the wearer is engaged, then the day of our wedding day, I'll turn it around and the heart will face you which will indicate that you are married." He pushed it down her finger and smiled "It's a perfect fit. My mother always said that the ring would fit perfectly on my future wife. Looks like she was right."
"Mother's always are," Jewel smiled.
"Yes, that they are." He kissed her gently on the lips.
"Here, lay next to me."
"Is that wise?" he asked.
"Who cares about wise? Just lay next to me."
He sighed, let out a snicker, then got comfortable under the sheets next to Jewel "You're going to boss me around a lot aren't you?"
Jewel leaned against his shoulder "You like it," she sighed.
"Frightening enough, I do," he said then kissed her.
She leaned her head on his shoulder and they held hands.
"Are you sure you don't need any more pain medicine?"
"Probably couldn't hurt as a extra bonus, but you are my main healing medicine, Charles, and you've just made me the happiest woman in the whole world."
"As you have made me the happiest man in the whole world," he said smoothing her hand.
Jewel sighed "Now all we have to do is solve some problems and eliminate the others."
"Such as?"
"Well, we have to deal with my brother, Lord Cornwallis, the war, Jack and his goons, and Benjamin Martin, other than all those, things should be easy."
"Uh huh. Do we have a plan for all of this?"
Jewel paused. "Nope."
"I suppose our first problem will be your brother. Or really my problem is to keep him from killing me."
"Well, you could change your mind," said Jewel looking up at him.
"Ha, there is no way that is going to happen. I'm going to marry you. You're stuck with me," he smiled.
She smiled back at him "Sounds like paradise to me."
O'Hara leaned down and kissed her slowly, as the kiss began to deepen, Jewel groaned in pain.
"What is it?" he asked in alarm.
"Ugh, I'm sorry," she groaned "It's the damn wound. If I never get stabbed again, I'll be extremely happy. I'm really sorry, Charles."
"Jewel, I'll have the rest of my life to kiss you. You have nothing to be sorry about." He sighed "You know, I really can't get over on how much I love you."
Jewel sighed and looked away.
"What's wrong?"
"What about...what about kids? I mean, the doctor said that I most likely won't be able to have any children. Are you sure I'm what you want?"
O'Hara kissed her head then laid his on top of hers "Jewel, let me see your left hand."
She moved her hand over towards him and rested it on her lap. He stroked her ring finger and the ring itself "Jewel, I love you. If you are able to have children, that's great, if not that's all right too. I'm in love with you for who you are not whether you can you can have any more children. Besides, don't rule out the possibility for children, because even though they say you can't have them, doesn't mean a thing. Doctors aren't always right, even if they like to think that they are."
"Got that right," Jewel said closing her eyes.
"You should get some more sleep."
"Ah, it's overrated."
"Hardly," said O'Hara as he kissed her head again.
"You must be tired too. You should get some sleep."
"You first," he said.
"Why me first?"
"Because I like watching you sleep," he smiled at her.
"Likewise," Jewel yawned.
O'Hara chuckled "Go to sleep."
"After you."
"You are so stubborn," he smiled.
Jewel sighed "Yes, I am," she smiled then looked up at him "Are you going...to um...stay in here tonight?"
"Yes, I am. All night and every night."
"What about my brother?"
O'Hara looked at the nightstand "Well, I have my pistol and sword here next to the bed and if I fail to defend to myself, well, you're worth dying for," he snuggled his head against hers as he leaned back against the bed.
"As you are to me," she let out a relaxing sigh.
A few minutes later, he noticed that she had fallen asleep. Looking down at her, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a child with her. He'd help raise, Kelly of course, but it crossed his mind about children, but he meant what he said. All he needed was Jewel and her daughter. Everything else was nothing compared to them. Then other thoughts began to plague his mind. What of Jack and the others. He knew they wouldn't stop until Jewel and her brother are dead or they themselves dead. He looked down at her again and stroked her hair. After letting a big sigh, then kissed Jewel's head then rested his head on hers and fell asleep.