Shot in an Alley: Realizations of Love

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Thank you to all of the reviewers!

I know this is extremely short, but the end of the chapter was a good spot to stop!

"Elizabeth? Did you hear me?"

Elizabeth shook her head to clear it, "Ahh, yes Ric I heard you." she assured him, then silently thanked God for the fact Ric wasn't in the room to see the deer caught in headlights look she was sporting.

"Is that okay?" he asked.

Her mind practically screamed No! but she could hardly say that without violently tipping him off that something was up. "Well, you know, Gram and I haven't seen a lot of each other lately so we were just going to talk. She wants to know all about you."

Ric laughed a little, and Elizabeth nearly breathed a sigh of relief. "I understand. You two have fun."

Elizabeth glanced over to Jason and noticed his eyes were closed. "Um, Ric, I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow. Love you!" She ended the call and ran over to Jason. "Jason? Jason can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I was just closing my eyes." came his sleepy reply. A thin veil of sweat was on his face and chest, and he was breathing heavily.

"You scared me." Her voice was shaky. She pushed that way; she didn't have time to be nervous. He needed her to be focused.

He opened his eyes to look at her. She looked into them and saw pain and concern - for her. His eyes were gentle, not harsh like the last time they had spoken, the time that she had pulled the gun on him. Sadness and self-loathing swept over her. She wondered why she had ever done something like that to him, but she already knew the answer – Ric.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. He sounded tired, which was understandable.

"Why don't you go to sleep now Jason? I'll bandage the wound." she offered, knowing exactly what he needed.

"Thanks," he swallowed. He seemed to be deciding something, and then said, " I- I missed you too."

Elizabeth smiled at him. "Sleep now." His eyes shut and he instantly fell asleep.

Her smile turned sad, even though him missing her implied that he didn't hate her for pulling a gun on him. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind - all of them leading back to the gentle blue eyes of the man she loved.

Loved? Elizabeth was so shocked by the thought she stopped the final touches she had making on the bandaging she started after he had fallen asleep. No, that wasn't true at all. She loved Ric and he was with Courtney, he probably even loved her. The argument sounded weak, even to her.

An odd feeling came over her as she laid the blanket over Jason. Not that sadness from before. It was a new feeling. Indescribable joy was the best Elizabeth could come up with.

Did she still love Jason? Unbidden, she whispered her revelation,"I'm in love with Jason!"

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