⁂ Oh, my goodness! I didn't update in December! Thats the first time that I've missed a month, since this story began. I am so sorry! Obviously, the holidays ere upon us and things were busy. We have a major fundraiser for the non-profit I work at coming up soon, and I've been working non-stop on the since the beginning of the year. There's still some last minute art and marketing that I need to do, but I found a couple of hours to wrap this chapter up for your guys, since you've been so kind and patient! Enjoy, my loves!
Chapter Forty-Three
"Jim? Claire? Hey, wake up! Merlin! What the heck happened?"
"Daaaaaa!"
Jim groaned, his head pounding. He was really sick of losing consciousness.
"Jim? Hey, Jim! Darce, he's waking up."
"Jimmy Jam?"
"I'm awake," Jim assured his friends, slowly pushing himself up on his knees and shaking his head. Blinking his eyes open, the rock floor below him was spinning nauseatingly. Despite his gaze swimming, he could see his hands braced on the floor below him as he pushed himself up. They were no longer covered in blood, though he was still in his armor. If it weren't for the familiar sick feeling that he usually experienced following being exposed to intense magic, and the slight candied lemon scent mixed with his mate's scent coming from his left, he would have thought his recent experiences nothing but a pixie induced nightmare. Lifting his head, his vision beginning to stabilize, he saw Toby and Darci in front of him; Toby was leaning down by Jim's side, his hand resting bracingly against his shoulder. Behind him stood Darci, who was holding baby Ellie in her arms, swaying back and forth absently to soothe the child, who was twisting back to look down at her parents on the ground, chewing her fingers anxiously.
"Da?" Ellie asked around her fingers, her blue eyes tearing up as she looked at him.
"Daddy's okay, Pumpkin," Jim assured the baby, though it was obvious she didn't understand when she started whining and then crying in gasping infant sobs.
"Oh, Ellie, it's okay," Darci cooed, shushing and rocking the baby gently.
Jim shook his head tiredly, trying to dislodge the last of the dizziness from his brain, and gave a weak chuckle. "You make a good mom, Darce."
Darci's face reddened furiously, she and Toby sharing a nervous glance, and then she shook her own head, smiling weakly. "I think I'll stick with being an aunt for a few more years."
"How hard did you hit your head?" Toby asked, raising an eyebrow as he helped Jim stumble to his feet, his hands braced against his shoulders and chest. Jim sucked in a pained gasp at the pressure, and he allowed his armor to dissipate. As the armor disappeared, Toby's eyes widened and he gasped, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Dude, your chest! What… how did you… why are your clothes disappearing?!"
"What?" Jim asked, frowning in confusion, and then he looked down at himself. His chest was bare, his recently re-opened wounds on full display, because the Elven clothes that he had been wearing beneath his armor were — as Toby had pointed out — disappearing. Darci let out an embarrassed squeak and turned her back, tucking the baby in her arms against her chest, as if to shield the infant from seeing her father naked. However, glancing down toward his still unconscious mate, he realized that wasn't the only one that was in the buff; Claire's own Elven garb was completely gone, leaving her entirely exposed. Thankfully, she was laying on her stomach, so — while her bare backside was on display — her front was more or less hidden. Merlin, meanwhile, was still in his own armor, never having changed into anything different. Jim could only surmise that his and Claire's clothes were disappearing because they, technically speaking, had yet to be made. With more effort than he would care to admit, Jim summoned his armor again, cringing slightly as the chainmail now rubbed against his bare skin — especially in certain, more delicate, areas. "I'll explain later. I have to get to the hospital."
"The hospital?" Toby asked, cocking his head to the side and scrunching his eyebrows in obvious confusion. "What happened to seeing the Elders? Did you see the Elders?"
Jim frowned, his head aching with a growing headache. "How long have we been gone?"
"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Darci asked, turning back around after a hesitant peak to make sure that he was covered. In her arms, Ellie was twisting and turning, struggling desperately to escape her aunt's hold. "It's only been about an hour since you and Claire left to go see the Elders. We wouldn't have gone looking for you, except that Ellie suddenly started throwing the worst fit I've ever seen a baby throw."
As if to prove her aunt's point, Ellie sucked in a huge breath and let out a high-pitched wail at the top of her lungs, causing everyone to cringe back from the sound. On the ground, Claire began to stir, pushing herself up on her hands weakly, her head hung down. "Baby?"
"M-M-M-MA… MA!" Ellie screamed, the sound echoing off the cavern walls with enough force to dislodge a few pebbles and stalactites from their places. "Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama!"
Claire gasped, throwing her body back into a sitting position, her eyes wide and frantic as they searched for her distressed baby, her arms already reaching out instinctively. Toby turned his back to her, his face turning red, though Jim was sure that his best friend hadn't allowed himself to really look Claire over.
"Here, here!" Darci said frantically, moving forward to kneel in front of Claire and pass the squirming infant into her arms. "Mama's here, Ellie."
"Ellie?" Claire questioned, shaking her head and blinking down at the baby in her arms in confusion. A few tense seconds passed, and then Claire let out a relieved sob and clutched the infant to her chest, rocking on her knees as she cried into Ellie's soft, black hair. "Oh, mi bebé. Mama's here. I'm here, I'm here."
Ellie continued to cry in clear distress, clinging to her mother's hair with tight fists, and Jim's heart lurched in his chest, recognizing the same instinctive panic in his little baby as he had seen her older self exhibit. Of course, she would be able to feel the manipulation of Time; it was her own ability, after all. They had, for all intents and purposes, been ripped out of Time, and to little Ellie — who had no real mental grasp of what her powers meant or what she could do with them — it would feel as if her parents' souls had been extinguished. Jim clapped a hand over his mouth, his stomach twisting nauseatingly as he realized that the baby had more or less thought that he and Claire had died. Of course she would throw a fit — she had been terrified.
"It's okay, Pumpkin," he choked out, moving to kneel by his mate's side, and bringing a hand up to cover Claire's, cupping the back of Ellie's head. He brushed his thumb across the baby's cheek, wiping away some of the tears, though more spilled over almost immediately. "Mama and Daddy are okay. We're safe; you're safe."
"Shh," Claire soothed, nuzzling the baby and pressing kisses to her cheeks and lips. Lifting one arm, she grasped one of Ellie's little hands that was tangled in her hair and gently tried to pry it away. "It's all right. Let go, baby. Mama and Daddy aren't going to leave you again. That's it, let go and you can have some milkies. Ellie want milkies?"
Ellie cries quieted down into sniffles as she contemplated the offer, and Jim couldn't help but to chuckle a little under his breath. Food solved almost every problem; in this, his daughter took after him, as well. Still sniffling, she released her fists from her mother's hair and nodded her little head. "Mik."
"So full of words this week," Claire cooed praisingly and rewarded the baby by lowering her to her chest. Ellie turned and latched onto the offered breast, the milk having already let down at the sound of distressed crying. Claire sighed tiredly, leaning into Jim's chest, her head drooping and her eyes closed, though he knew his armor was hardly a comfortable place to rest against. "I guess you figured out what happened and how to change it?"
Before Jim could answer, Toby turned back around, his eyes squeezed shut. "Will someone please tell us what's going on? And maybe find some clothes for Claire? No offense, Shadow Dancer, but I only ever wanna see Darce naked, thanks."
Claire let out an embarrassed squeak as she looked down over herself, somehow not really realizing that she was fully naked before that moment, not that Jim could blame her. He hadn't been worried about being naked in front of Toby, and he had known that Darci wouldn't look. Likewise, Claire probably felt the same, not caring that Darci could see her and knowing that Toby would be polite enough not to look; although, apparently, not polite enough to not point it out.
Throughout all of this, Merlin only turned over onto his side and began to snore. Jim was half tempted to kick him awake, but that would mean one more person for Claire to be embarrassed in front of, and he wouldn't do that to her.
"I told you that I would tell you later," Jim said, shaking his head as he stood back up. Ellie whimpered against Claire's chest, her blue eyes riveted to his movements, and Claire rocked her, cooing to her reassuringly. "Go to the Elders for us and tell them an emergency came up, but I have important information to present in Eli's defense. Tell them to hold judgement until we get back. They owe us that much."
"But what happened?" Darci asked, her voice exasperated as she looked between him and Claire in curiosity.
"I…" Claire started, glancing up at Jim questioningly. The hand not cradling their daughter to her chest drifted hesitantly to her stomach, her shoulders tensing with the unasked question.
Jim nodded, and Claire's tense posture relaxed again. Jim, however, could not bring himself to be calm, especially as his most recent memories forced themselves to the front of his mind's eye. He knew sooner or later, his mate would insist on him telling her what had happened, and he didn't think he was strong enough to admit the truth to her. All the same, he had no time to think or grieve right now; he had to get to Sarah's side and come up with some kind of plan to protect her… and, also, he had to muster up the courage to face her and tell her what their father had done.
"Just go get some clothes and get to where you need to be," Toby said, his back still turned, but clearly sensing the tension in the air. "We'll take care of Merlin and go talk to the Elders for you."
Jim nodded, leaning down to grasp Claire's elbow and help her stand. ON her other side, Darci stood as well, her hands grasping Claire's other elbow to help steady her when she wobbled a little on her feet.
"Claire, what happened to your side?!" Darci gasped suddenly, letting Claire go to gently brush her fingers over the still-red, but now sealed gash marring her pale flesh.
"Oh," Claire said, cringing back from the touch a little. "Nothing. It was just an accident. Merlin healed it, but said it wouldn't clear up for a couple of days."
"But it looks deep!" Darci insisted, chewing her lip, her eyes beginning to glow wetly. "Oh, Claire…"
"I'll be okay," Claire assured her sister, leaning closer to the girl to give her a reassuring nuzzle. "Just make sure no one destroys my cave while we're gone, okay? And Ellie will come with us, so you don't have to worry about her."
"Really don't know what happened," Toby grunted, shrugging slightly with his back still turned toward Claire, though he chanced a side glance in Jim's direction. "She's usually really good with her Uncle T.P. and Aunt Darce. She just… lost it."
"I think I know what happened," Jim assured his best friend. "I'll explain later, but I don't think she'll tolerate being babysat for awhile. She'll be safe with us, but we need to hurry."
"Okay," Claire nodded, her expression becoming firm. "Let's hurry home and get some clothes. Uh…" she hesitated, blushing as she gave Darci a desperate look. "Could you and Toby run ahead and clear everyone out?"
"Sure thing, Claire Bear," Darci said, smiling reassuringly at the pair of them. She reached over and grabbed Toby's hand, and he closed his eyes as he turned. Darci led him further up the path, Toby's eyes closed until his back was to Claire again, and then they ran off and disappeared passed the bend of the tunnel.
"Okay, what happened?" Claire demanded in a quiet voice as soon as Darci and Toby were out of earshot, and they started trailing down the path after them, leaving enough space and time for them to warn the others.
Jim's heart twisted again, his vision blurring as tears filled his eyes, and he opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't get anything passed the tightness in his throat. "I… I…"
Claire, however, didn't need his words, because she could perfectly feel his emotions along their Soul Bond. Freezing in place, she looked up at him in horror, her own eyes filling with tears. "No… oh, Jim…"
"It won't happen," Jim swore, growling savagely and squeezing his eyes shut tightly. "I won't let it happen. I know what to do now."
"Then why are we going to the hospital?"
Slowly — with many pauses to recollect his emotions — Jim tried to explain what he had learned. He could't bring himself to talk about Aiden; at least, not his future self and the fate he had endured that Jim was determined to circumvent. He would not allow his children to suffer, and as he and Claire discussed the situation, they slowly came up with a plan. Granted, it all depended on Sarah's reaction and her willingness to go along with said plan — which, admittedly, was a long shot — but it was a start, and it was a thousand times worth every effort to convince her. Honestly, with his children's lives at stake, Jim was willing to force his sister to go along with this, if he had to, though he hoped it wouldn't come to that.
After finding himself and Claire some clothes and wrestling Ellie into some comfortable, human friendly clothes of her own (who would have thought that a baby would be grumpy about being forced to wear a cap in the middle of summer?), Jim called Strickler. He couldn't explain too much over the phone for multiple reasons, but he managed to convince his would-be step father to lock himself in a bathroom, so that Jim, Claire, and Ellie could portal to him without being noticed by anyone or by any cameras. The fact that it was the middle of the night helped, as far as people traffic went.
"I didn't know you were bringing Ellie," Strickler said when the magic cleared and the Glamour Masked changeling saw the three of them, and then he sputtered and did a double take when he took in Jim's human form. "Wait, who—?"
"It's me," Jim sighed, rolling his eyes, lifting a hand to rub at the annoying scruff on his face that he hadn't had the tools or time to shave. Claire had pulled his longer hair into a messy bun on the top of his head; he hadn't caught his reflection in anything, thank Deya, but he was sure that he must look like some kind of hipster. Though he didn't like it, always having preferred a cleaner look, he looked different enough now that, should Kubritz or any of her goons show up, they wouldn't recognize him right away. "Merlin made a glamour charm for me, using some blood magic. I'm… me again. Sort of, anyway. I guess my human self did some maturing in the past year; I didn't have time to clean up."
Strickler clearly didn't know whether to laugh or cringe, so he turned to Claire and offered his arms for the baby instead. "Hello, there, my girl. May Papa have a hug?"
Ellie whined and shook her head, tucking her face into Claire's shoulder, while reaching up to try and tug her cap off again.
"No, mi amor," Claire cooped, gently prying the baby's hand away and straightened her cap. "You have to keep it on right now." Giving Strickler an apologetic smile, she continued, "Sorry, Mr. Strickler; she's really upset and clingy right now."
"That's all right," Strickler replied with a concerned frown, lowering his arms and glancing back to Jim. "What's the hurry? Sarah's still unconscious and… the police are here."
"Damn it," Jim cursed, biting his lip anxiously. "Is Mom…?"
"They're speaking to her now," Strickler said, nodding in confirmation at the unasked question. The older man's frown deepened, looking away from them briefly. "She… she's not… handling things well."
"That makes two of us, then," Jim admitted with a frustrated sigh and a tight voice. "The military hasn't shown up, have they?"
"Not yet," Strickler replied, crossing his arms in front of himself nervously. Jim knew that his wings would be twitching right now, if they were visible. "I suspect it won't be long."
"Damn it, Dad," Jim cursed under his breath, pressing his hands to his face and shaking his head. "You've really messed things up."
"I…" Strickler started, hesitating. "I heard… he made you listen… I'm so sorry, So— Jim."
Jim cringed back at the forced reminder, but couldn't blame Strickler for bringing it up. He didn't do it to hurt Jim, and he knew that. "Thank you. I'm… okay. I mean…" he lifted his head from his hands and reached for his mate's hand, clutching it desperately in his own when she gave it to him. Jim gave her a weak smile, and then turned back to his mother's boyfriend. "I wasn't okay, but… I am now. Better than I was, at least. I'm… more worried about Sarah, right now. I'm not sure… how to tell her."
"You won't be alone," Claire assured him with a gentle squeeze of his hand. Even Ellie, who was fussy and hadn't taken to Jim's new look well at all, let out a plaintive "Da…" while giving him a small smile.
Strickler's lips twitched up with a slight smile at the baby's words, and he reached over to grip Jim's shoulder bracingly. "Claire's right. You need only ask for help, and you have it."
"Thanks," Jim sighed, lifting his free hand to grasp Strickler's on his shoulder. "I need to be by Sarah's side. I can't explain now, but she can't be alone."
"I doubt that will be easy," Strickler said, frowning again. "The police want to speak with her as soon as she wakes. Your mother has asked that they let her talk to her first, but given that she's your father's ex-wife…"
"It's a compromised position," Jim surmised, nodding in understanding.
"Hm…" Claire hummed to herself thoughtfully, giving Jim a calculating once-over. "You know…"
"What?" Jim and Strickler prompted at the same time, glancing at each other nervously at the slightly amused smirk growing on Claire's face.
"They wouldn't keep Sarah's fiancé from sitting with her until she wakes."
"Babe," Jim started, frowning in confusion. "I'm pretty sure Sarah doesn't have a long-term partner, let alone a fiancé."
Claire laughed, her hand tightening on his left, and he felt her fiddling with his ring finger. A second later, she let his hand go, and then lifted hers to show them the ring that now adorned the index finger of her right hand. "Now she does."
"Wha—" Jim gasped, jerking his hand up to stare at his now ring-less fingers. His face burned with embarrassment, while his stomach twisted uncomfortably. "You can't be serious."
"You do look different enough to not be immediately recognized," Strickler mused, looking Jim up and down again. "And Claire's right — a fiancé wouldn't be questioned as harshly. You just got a call that she was here, and you came to support her. You had no idea what was happening with her parents."
"Right," Jim said, uncomfortable with both the idea and the narrative, but knew that it was probably the best solution. Sighing, and shaking his head, he turned back to Strickler. "Okay, fine. I need you to keep an eye out for Anson, though."
"Anson?" Strickler asked, obviously confused again. "Why—?"
"I'll explain," Claire promised, absently rocking the baby in her arms. "But Jim needs to get to Sarah."
It didn't take much effort to play the panicked lover, mostly because he was still slightly panicked — every second wasted was a chance for the enemy to close in. Thankfully, the hospital staff bought the story of him having dropped everything — including his ID — to get to the hospital as fast as he could. And wasn't it just so nice of his sister-in-law to come and pick him up and drive his panicked self to the hospital? After all, she'd just picked her baby up from daycare and had to pass his work on the way home, anyway.
Jim let Claire weave the story, since his emotions tended to be present in his voice, and he wasn't sure he could tell anyone that Claire and Ellie were anything other than his wife and daughter. When the teary eyed nurse had looked at him in sympathy, and he blurted, "Can I see her now?" while fidgeting, that was apparently the correct reaction, and she led him to Sarah's room without further question. Claire and Ellie stayed behind "to give you some privacy," which actually meant that they would be with Strickler, Claire explaining their plan and keeping an eye out for Anson with the Changeling.
Sarah was still unconscious, as Jim had already known, but he was grateful that she wasn't hooked up to anything more unusual than a heart monitor and an IV. If she had been intubated, he didn't know if he could keep his composure as well as he was. She was paler than normal, and her breathing was deep and heavy, but he knew that was because of the medicine she was receiving. He wasn't exactly sure how it all worked (how could giving one medicine negate the effects of another?), but he was grateful for the calm, at least. He didn't know how she would react, to both the remnants of the drugs in her system or to the news about her mother and their father. He had taken her anger with them for granted, thinking that she didn't care for her parents, but he should have known better. No matter how bad the parent, a child will always love them; he knew that from personal experience.
"I'm so sorry, Sarah," Jim whispered, pulling up a plastic chair and seating himself next to her bedside. Gently, he took her hand in both of his — it was so cold and limp in his grasp — and bent to press it to his forehead. "Please… forgive me."
. . .
Several hours passed without incident. Nurses came and went. Jim's mother came in for a second, saw him, burst into tears (which, judging from how red her eyes were, she had already been crying heavily), and then turned back around and rushed out. Claire was allowed to come in, briefly, to check on him, still under the guise of being his sister-in-law. Little Ellie had fallen asleep and was drooling on her mother's shoulder, and though Jim was dying to give his baby a cuddle, he didn't want to risk waking her and making her upset; his mate had confided in him that she had taken back on her clingy habits that she had had when she was first born. No enemy made themselves known, although he didn't expect that they would. Even if they knew of Sarah and planned to use her, her future self has said that the Draknagoth had merged itself within her through various intimate encounters; as she was now, Sarah wasn't in any condition to even masturbate, let alone have sex.
And on that awkward thought, Jim decided that it would probably be best to go back to thinking about other things.
"Are you sure that I can't bring you anything?" the nurse asked him the next time she came in to change out the saline bag on the IV stand. She had come in about three other times during the night, asking him the same thing every time. He would like to say "Sure, could you bring me an extra large garbage burger and a glass of gasoline to wash it down with?" but he was sure that he would be admitted to the psyche ward, if he did that.
"I'm fine, thank you," Jim said, instead, ignoring the nurse's concerned frown as she glanced between him and the still sleeping Sarah.
"You know…" the nurse started, almost hesitantly, brushing her bright red hair back behind her ear. The color was identical to his mother's and to… to his sons'. Jim shook his head slightly against the memory of his twin boys, who wouldn't even exist for another few years. The nurse didn't notice the movement and continued with her thought. "There are… options for her."
"What?" Jim asked, tired and confused. He focused on the nurse more steadily and noticed that she was young, maybe in her mid-twenties. Her name tag read "Hermione." Jim couldn't help but snort a small laugh, and then blushed as the nurse raised an eyebrow at him, clearly having caught his glance and snort. "Er, sorry. I just, um…"
"My mother is a huge Harry Potter fan," Hermione laughed lightly, guessing where his amusement came from. "I have a brother named Ron." She paused again to let Jim laugh again, and then asked, "What's your name?"
Jim sobered, biting his lip and glanced away from the nurse, toward his sister, and then back again. "…Andrew."
"Well, Andrew," Hermione smiled kindly. "It's nice to meet you. Ms. Lake is very lucky to have someone who loves her so much."
Jim tried not to grimace, glancing toward his sister again. He did love her, but not in the way the nurse was implying. The thought made his already upset stomach twist agonizingly. "Yeah…"
"There are options for her," Hermione repeated, moving to the wall and opening a cabinet. She pulled out a handful of pamphlets, and then moved to stand beside him, offering the papers. "Rehabs. And there are programs to help with the costs, if—"
"Thank you," Jim interrupted, shoving the papers back into her hands, maybe more harshly than he should have. "I… I'm sorry, but I… I can't think about that right now. I just want her to wake up."
"Right," Hermione replied, her cheeks reddening in slight embarrassment. She put the papers down on the rolling table that was hovering over the foot of the hospital bed. "I'll leave these here, then, but…" she turned back to him, her expression determined. "Please don't try to take this on by yourself. Recovering from addiction is just as difficult on the family as it is the recovering user. And…" the nurse hesitated, biting her lip anxiously as she glanced between Jim and Sarah again, her eyes glistening with emotion. "…given the situation, she's going to need all the support she can get."
Jim nodded, but couldn't reply, casting his gaze back toward his and Sarah's clasped hands. Hermione seemed to understand that she wouldn't be able to get much more out of him at the moment, so she left him with a reminder to use the call button if he needed anything.
More hours passed, but he remained in the same place, refusing to move or leave. Nurses came and went, one of them bringing him a tray of food, which he ignored. Claire came in again once, with a very fussy Ellie, who had practically demanded Jim's attention by babbling his name over and over until he'd hugged her close, kissing and nuzzling her. Thankfully, no nurses or doctors came in to overhear his daughter's declaration; otherwise, their story would become pretty twisted, and it was already twisted enough. He didn't know how much the medical staff knew about Sarah, other than the drug use, though he would have thought if some disease had come back in her bloodwork, they would have asked him to undergo testing, as well, given that he was playing the part of her lover. Thankfully, it would seem Sarah had been extremely lucky throughout her years of abuse and had not contracted anything.
"Dada…?" Ellie cooed quietly, yanking curiously at the hair on his face, causing him to wince, even as Claire laughed lightly at his expression.
"Yes, baby?" Jim replied, gently extricating her hand from his beard (and dear God, when he'd finally looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and saw that it was a full hipster beard, he'd been mortified) and relocating it to the neckline of his shirt.
"An-Sa," she replied, turning her head to look and point toward her aunt, who was still unconscious. Ellie brought her hand back to her mouth, fingering one of her small, lower fangs anxiously. "An-Sa seep?"
Claire and Jim exchanged a look of pride and worry over their daughter's quickly growing vocabulary… and her understanding. Jim wondered if she'd simply been cataloguing all the words she'd learned in her first six months of life until she felt that what she had to say would be taken seriously. They knew her understanding of her small world had already been there, her intelligence made known since she was only a few weeks old. She'd picked up sign language within hours of starting to teach her the gestures, and had understood what they said when they addressed her. Jim remembered the great responsibility his daughter's older self had held herself to when looking after her younger siblings, her strategic nature, and her ability to keep mostly calm in the face of danger.
"My brave, little Trollhunter," Claire cooed, reaching over to gently caress Ellie's cheek. "You'll be such a good big sister."
Ellie cocked her head to the side in confusion at her mother's words, and then shook her head, looking back up Jim. "An-Sa seep?"
"Yes," Jim replied, his voice gruff in emotion. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Aunt Sarah's sleeping."
"Why?" Ellie asked, looking back to her aunt again, her expression concerned.
Jim and Claire shared another wide eyed look, and Jim hesitated slightly as he tried to think of how to explain. "She… doesn't feel good. She's sick."
"S… s…ick?" Ellie repeated, sounding out the unfamiliar word.
"She'll wake up soon, Pumpkin," Claire promised, petting the baby's head and adjusting her cap at the same time. They laughed when Ellie grumbled, trying to swat Claire's hand away and pull the cap off. "You have to keep it on, El."
"No," Ellie growled defiantly, and Jim frowned and gave her a stern look.
"Eleanor Juliet," he said, and the baby pouted as she let go of the cap and let Claire adjust it, letting out a little growl from the back of her throat.
"Already got an attitude, huh?"
"An-Sa!" Ellie screeched excitedly as they all jumped at the tired and hoarse voice that had broken through their family moment. Looking up, Sarah was still lying on the hospital bed, her head turned in their direction as she gazed tiredly at them, a small smile on her face. "An-Sa! An-Sa!"
"Is that me?" Sarah croaked, laughing lightly. "Am I 'An-Sa'?"
"An-Sa," Ellie said again, her voice firm as she nodded.
"Going for the hipster look today, bro?" Sarah asked in a hoarse voice after chuckling at her niece's answer. "You look more like yourself, though."
"It's complicated," Jim grunted, his stomach twisting with nerves, relief, and fearful anticipation. "But it's a more refined type of glamour charm. And, uh… call me Andrew, in front of everyone else."
"Andrew?" Sarah asked, giving him a confused look. "Isn't that your middle name?"
"Yes, but I'm…" Jim started, and then looked to Claire helplessly, and she gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Andrew is your fiancé, remember?" Claire said to Sarah in a pointed voice, gesturing with her head for Sarah to look around them. She did, her eyes — which were becoming more alert with every passing second — darting around the room, first in curiosity, and then in panic.
"Wh-where…? Am I in the hospital?"
"Shh…" Jim shushed her, passing Ellie back to Claire to reach for his sister's hand again, clasping it tightly in both of his and rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "Yes, but I'm not going to let anything happen to you. It's okay. You're safe."
"I…" Sarah started, the beeping of her heart monitor picking up in speed, and her breathing becoming quick and shallow. "No, I… I was home. I was—"
"Sarah, breathe," Jim said calmly, remembering how the future Aiden had helped him through his own panic attack, and breathed deeply, encouraging Sarah to match him until she calmed again. "It's okay. Yes, you were home. Dad called us."
"Dad?" Sarah asked, glancing around the room again, as if the man in question were there and she had just missed him. Jim cringed, his gut twisting nauseatingly at the slightly hopeful look on her face. "Where is he? Why am I here?"
"You overdosed," Jim said, squeezing her hand lightly between his, deciding to mostly ignore her first question for the time being. "He thought you were having seizures. You're lucky my mom was with us, and she knew what to do."
"Overdosed?" Sarah questioned, her eyes becoming unfocused as she tried to think back. Her cheeks turned red as she must have remembered, and she groaned and ripped her hand from Jim's, tugging the blanket over her head. "Oh, my God, please tell me that you didn't see me—"
"No," Jim promised, too afraid and angry at the reminder of why she had been under such heavy drug influence to even laugh at her embarrassment. "Mom would know how to explain it better, but it wasn't the overdose itself that you were reacting to, but the comedown. She said it was an extreme withdrawal."
"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed," Sarah mumbled beneath her blanket, her fingertips the only thing visible as she clenched the material in her grip.
"Embarrassed?" Jim growled, only lowering his voice when Claire placed a soft, reminding hand on his shoulder. He sighed, reaching forward to tug the blanket away from her face and tucking it back around her torso. "You could have died, Sare."
Sarah watched his tender movements sadly, her blush receding slowly, and then she rolled her head to the other direction, away from them. "…sometimes, I wonder if that wouldn't be for the best."
"Don't say that!" Jim snapped, standing to his feet abruptly and grabbing his sister by the shoulders, shaking her roughly as his vision blurred with tears, and his voice cracked with emotion. "Don't you ever say that! I-I can't l-lose you too! I can't…"
Jim broke down, falling to his knees, and sobbed into his sister's side, ignoring both her's, his wife's, and his daughter's voices as they gasped and called to him. He scrambled desperately for Sarah's hand again, and she offered it, gripping his fingers between hers just as tightly in response.
"Lose me…?" Sarah whispered, reaching across with her other hand to gently run her fingers over Jim's head and the back of his neck. Her fingers were cold and trembling, the touch light as she was limited by how for the IV in her arm would allow her to stretch. "What are you talking about?"
"I…" Jim sobbed, forcing the words out passed his re-breaking heart, his whole body trembling. He could feel his mate rubbing his lower back soothingly, offering her silent support, but knowing that he was the one that needed to tell his sister the truth. "Dad… he - he and your mom… I'm so sorry!"
Sarah's finger's stilled their movements over his head, though she still trembled slightly with weakness, and Jim looked up, meeting her wide eyes with his own. "…what are you talking about? Wh-what about them? The - the police came?"
"No," Jim croaked, lifting her hand to his mouth and pressing a hard kiss to the back of her hand. "I… I didn't know… If I had any idea that he was going to—" he broke off with another sob, and even though he could tell by Sarah's expression and the gasping hitch of her breath that she had guessed what he was trying to say, he knew that he still had to confirm her suspicions aloud. "I'm so sorry, Sarah… they're — they're gone."
A low keening sound rose quietly in the back of Sarah's throat, something between a cry and a scream, and Jim tightened his hand around his sister's again. Another sob broke from his chest when Ellie asked quietly, "who go?"
Sarah gasped in a huge breath, and then another, and another. Just before she started wailing in despair, Jim pulled himself up to sit on the bed and hugged his sister to his chest. She clutched to him desperately, screaming and sobbing into his chest, the sound only barely muffled. The sounds of rushing feet came frantically up the hall from outside of the room, and then the door crashed open and a few nurses, a police officer, and a doctor rushed in.
"Step away from her," the police officer demanded, glaring at Jim, one hand braced on the gun at his hip.
"No!" Sarah cried, hugging Jim tighter when he loosened his hold in order to comply with the cop's demand. The pressure on his chest caused him to gasp slightly in pain, but his sister refused to let him move away. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't m-mean to sc-scare everyone. An-Andrew… let me know about m-my pa-p-par-parents."
Jim hugged her to himself, burying his face into her hair as she broke down into tears again.
"You! You're not supposed to be in here!" the police officer barked, and Jim almost ripped himself from Sarah's arms when Claire gave an indignant sputter and Ellie cried out in surprise. He looked up to see the police officer grab his mate by her upper arm and yank her up from her chair, barely managing to catch the wobbling and squirming baby on her hip before the child tumbled to the floor with the rough movements. Before Jim could go to his mate's defense, Ellie growled loudly, bearing her tiny fangs at the man grabbing her mother, and then lunged forward to sink her teeth into the top of his hand. "Ow! What the—"
"Ellie, no!" Claire gasped, yanking herself and the baby back a couple of steps as the man let go of them, shaking and clutching his heavily bleeding hand.
"That fucking little monster bit me!" the cop exclaimed in pained shock. One of the nurses and the doctor rushed forward to examine and treat the wound, but the officer pushed passed them, fury on his face as he unhooked the taser on his best.
"You stay away from us!" Claire warned in a high voice, her eyes beginning to darken with the swirling of black magic. In Jim's arms, Sarah gasped in fear, stunned beyond her grief at the sudden turn of events.
"Grrr…" Ellie growled and snarled, and then — the cop ignoring both Claire's and Ellie's warnings, the magic swirling around them all, as well as Jim's own harsh snarl as he made to lunge at the man — everything came to a soundless and sudden halt.
To be continued...
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