Drift POV

Jamie has been sick for four days now. Jamie doesn't have typical cold symptoms. She's exhausted and sleeps a lot—a low-grade fever and periods of being freezing or too hot. Jamie doesn't think she needs medicine.

Cade was checking Jamie over when I walked into her room with tea.

"Yes, you looked concerned, I thought I should check on her," he says before I could say anything, "he worries too much, doesn't he?" Cade joked, looking at Jamie. This got her to smile and laugh. I put the tea on the tray that pulls out from the nightstand.

"She's fine, just a lingering cold," Cade says before leaving the room. Jamie will drink the tea and go back to sleep. Knowing this, I went to check on the other two.

"I'll be here when you wake up," I say as I kissed her forehead.

This has been our temporary routine—a slight change in what I've been doing for three months. Jayce and J.R. have been sleeping in the past three days, and Jamie will be asleep by the time I get back to the room.

Jayce and J.R. weren't in their rooms. They must be doing a little better today to go downstairs to eat breakfast. Hopefully, this means they're eating more than they have been the last two weeks. The two were sitting on the couch on either side of Crosshairs. The T.V. wasn't on, but I don't think the two girls wanted to watch T.V.

"They will not eat," he tells me before I can even ask. Even though it's only ten in the morning, this is concerning. They didn't look sick either, just depressed. I went back to the room and laid with Jamie, falling asleep with her.

One hour later

Crosshairs POV

Come on; we don't want to have to resort to nutrition drinks. Even then, we'd have to make sure they drink enough of it.

I watched the two girls sit at the table, eating very little oatmeal. There's not much in their bowls, to begin with. We've been questioning if oatmeal is a good thing to give them. We like how it's quick to make. When I can take my attention away from these two, I'll do some research. Everything was fine, except for how they won't eat until J.R. got up and ran upstairs. Jayce wasn't sure how to react.

"Go, I'll stay here," Hound instructs me. I ran upstairs though I don't think J.R. is thinking of doing anything to harm herself. I thought Jayce was fine at night and found the door locked, so I'm not taking any chances.

J.R. is lying on her stomach in bed, crying. I sat on my knees at the side of the bed and started rubbing her back. I don't know if she knows it's me or doesn't care who came in. J.R. had a short cry before she looked at me. She got up to sit on my lap and hug me. I can't tell if this is something new bothering her or she's been keeping things bottled up again. I coaxed her to tell me what has been bothering her. Thankfully, it's nothing new, but the longer this goes on, the more terrified she becomes Jayce, Jamie, or both will harm or kill themselves.

J.R. is scared to see Jayce, thinking it'll be her last time, and I suspect she'd be thinking the same about Jamie if Jamie wasn't in bed, sick. It doesn't matter if one of us is with Jayce and Jamie; J.R. is still terrified. She knows one of us is with Jayce most of the time, and we've taken all the precautions we need to, watching if there's anything we've missed. Then it occurred to me; is she also terrified we'll give up on them? Though she knows how Jamie can be with her struggles, we're used to this even though now it's all three of them. I don't know what to tell her. Is there even anything I can say that get her to realize the other two are safe? I just hugged her and let her cry for a few minutes before lying on the bed with her. As far as I know, she hasn't had the nightmare about watching us disappear after Jamie dies again, but I worry she's had this nightmare at least once in the past week.

I left J.R.'s room an hour later. As always, she fell asleep after crying. Figured Jayce would be in her room, and Hound was with her. He tells me she also had a crying episode, and I was not too fond of why.

"She heard what J.R. said," he tells me, "I'm sorry, I didn't know she snuck off until I caught her running to her room."

Jayce knowing this, whether by eavesdropping or J.R. telling her, is not good with her mental state. She'll confront J.R. about this, which normally would be good, but I'd rather not take the chance with Jayce's current record of seizures. Two in twenty days is better than her record during the nightmare situation. However, I'm not taking the chance, and J.R. is terrified of watching Jayce go through one. The problem is how to keep her from confronting J.R. about what she heard J.R. say?

"I don't think that would matter," Hound says in a worried tone, looking at Jayce, "Even if she doesn't confront J.R. about what she heard, she'll think about it."

Hound was right, and it sucks, thinking we're preparing to see another seizure. How much more mental pain do these two have to endure before this is over?

"I'd rather have the three of them deal with emotional struggles all the time than this shit," Hound says, "Even when Jamie has challenging days, it's nothing compared to this."

"I don't know, Hound. This looks like old mental wounds from the nightmare situation brought on by Jayce's unexpected thought that Jamie could harm or kill herself over Buddy's passing. They were lucky to be able to recover after watching Jamie fight for her life. Though I know Jayce worries, whether every day or just watching Jamie go through a minor flare-up. If Jamie has another severe one, she won't be able to take care of Jamie. At least she's able not to worry about Jamie when they go on their adventures or join us in battle. Remember, Cade brought up Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but doesn't think Jayce fits the criteria. You've seen her; she is scared when we realize Jamie is having a minor flare-up but can care for her. Her behavior now would fit the criteria."

We sat quietly, thinking about what I've just said.

one hour later

Drift POV

I was leaving Jamie's room when I heard a scream coming from down the hall. The door to either Jayce or j.R.'s room has been left open. A few seconds later, I see J.R. running towards me. I don't think she was coming this way to get me. Oh shit, she must have fallen asleep, and Jamie was the subject of her nightmare. What else is she worried about now?

"She's sleeping," I tell J.R. She has a terrifying expression on her face, "what was the nightmare about this time?"

She said nothing and tried to head back to her room, but I grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"I know you had a nightmare about Jamie, why else would you scream and run to her room?" I was trying to get her to tell me what terrified her, but she didn't like hearing that I heard her scream. Crosshairs comes down the hall two minutes later, but even he can't get her to say anything. She was getting more distraught the more we tried to get her to tell us. This was strange; she wants to tell me something but is also terrified. Next thing I know, Crosshairs picks her up and carries her back to her room. Hound walks by them and asks me what happened.

"Damn it, well, I suspect Jayce will wake up soon. They can't even sleep for long without drugs," Hound sighed before going to Jayce's room. I'll wait until later to find out if Crosshairs got J.R. to tell him what terrified her. I went back into Jamie's room and sat on the bed. I hate hearing Jamie's heavy breathing, but I saw Cade's equipment this morning. I doubt he just listened to her lungs and possibly heart. He checked her vitals, making sure her oxygen level wasn't low. I doubt he would have done all that if I didn't look so worried. I wouldn't be bothered if Jamie ended up with a minor flare-up, it's Jayce and J.R. I worry about. I don't think they'd be able to process what's going on and know Jamie will be ok. It wasn't long before I got a text from Crosshairs.

Cade POV

I don't like how J.R. slept for two hours before waking up, terrified. Nor do I like the text Crosshairs sent me;

J.R. slept 2 hours before waking up, terrified. Drift said he heard a scream before she ran down to Jamie's room. She wouldn't tell him what's terrifying her. I worry this won't end well.

He didn't mention it, but I went to the medbay and prepped a syringe. There's nothing I can do to prevent what he's thinking will happen. He added that he instructed Hound to do all he can to keep Jayce in her room if she wakes up.

"You need to tell us what's terrifying you," Crosshairs says.

"You had a nightmare about Jamie, and I need to know," Drift insisted, "You want me to keep her safe?"

"You can't,' "she said in a sad tone, tears rolling down her face. This concerned me, and I'm sure Crosshairs and Drift are also concerned. She knows we know what to do to take care of Jamie even if she ends up with a severe flare-up. We tried for ten more minutes to coax her into telling us. Things went downhill from there.