"I'm worried about Jesse," Amanda said.
"Who's not?" Steve said, holding a cup of coffee in his hands.
They were relaxing at BBQ Bobs in the evening.
"Was he hallucinating or something?" Amanda asked.
"I don't know. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Or it could be a dream that felt like real. It happens to everyone," Mark answered.
"It's strange," Amanda said.
"It is," said Mark.
***
Jesse was starting to recover. He was having breakfast with the help of Amanda when Mark entered the room. Jesse was getting weaker and weaker. He still felt guilty about Mia's death. Worse, nobody believed him. He was tired convincing everyone about it. So he preferred to shut his mouth.
"Hey, how's the patient doing?" asked Mark.
"He hasn't had enough appetite to eat," Amanda answered.
"Hmmm?" Mark turned to Jesse.
"Mark, where can I go home?" Jesse asked.
"Sooner or later. It depends on your improvement. You've improved a bit. But a bit, and it's not much. We need much improvement to make sure that you're fine to go home," Mark stood behind Amanda. "Eating is one of the factors which will help you on getting better," he continued.
***
Two weeks passed and now Jesse was allowed to go. Even though Mark didn't allow him to stay at his apartment until he was fully recovered, at least he could go out of hospital. It made him a bit happy.
"Make yourself comfortable," Steve said as he led Jesse into his beach house."
"I always feel comfortable in here," Jesse said, walking with crutches to the deck.
Smiling, Steve brought two glasses of orange juice to the deck. He passed one glass to Jesse and got a 'thank you' smile from him.
***
Jesse was going to brush his teeth. He looked in the mirror. He realized that he looked so terrible. He looked exhausted with dark lines under his eyes, his blue eyes looked swollen as though he hadn't slept for nights. And he looked so thin as well.
Jesse took his toothbrush and started to brush his teeth. When he'd finished, he cleaned up. When he looked up in the mirror, he saw someone passing behind him. He turned around quickly, just to find out that nobody's there. He got out of the bathroom.
Jesse went to the living room. There was nobody. He assumed that Mark and Steve had already slept. He took a peek at the deck through the door. He saw someone standing there. Jesse opened the door. He called the man. But when the man turned around, Jesse was shocked to see the man's terrible face. Jesse screamed.
Steve was woken up when he heard the scream. He got up and rushed to the living room where he found Jesse curled behind a couch.
"Jesse? Oh my God, what's wrong?" Steve helped Jesse stood, then looked at the opened door.
"The-there was someone, standing on the deck. He-he was a monster, Steve. He looked terrible, and... and... and..."
"Ssssh," Steve hugs his shivering friend, quieting him. He looked his father came to the living room, "You're having nightmare, Jess."
"No, Steve, it's..."
"Ssssh, I know, I know..." Steve looked up at his father. "You're still exhausted, Jess. Go to sleep. You haven't slept, have you?" Steve let go.
"No," Jesse answered.
"Come on," Steve put his arm around his best friend and led him to the guestroom. Mark followed from behind.
Jesse felt dizzy. Reaching the bed, he collapsed.
Steve and Mark startled, "Jess? Jesse?" Mark shook him. He earned nothing but a heavy breath.
Steve settled Jesse on his bed. Then, he looked up at his father.
"He's totally exhausted. Go back to sleep, I'll sleep here with Jesse. I don't want to leave him alone," Mark said to his son.
Steve left the room.