Keeping Faith

Jack's eyelashes fluttered in exhaustion as she dumped her book bag on the entry hall of Imam's home. The rare breezes that wisped through the open windows were not nearly enough to cool her down. She felt as if her body was slowly melting, the liquid evaporating in her as quickly as a puddle in the street, victim to the blazing sun. She wished for the desert night to come with its strong winds and complete darkness.

Stumbling forward, she caught herself on the cane-stand that Imam kept near the door. Breathing deeply, she concentrated on getting to the kitchen, where she heard Imam preparing dinner. Walking forward, her clammy hand trailed on the wall, waiting to be used for extra support. Jack clenched her jaw. She had been training every single day, getting stronger and stronger and suddenly she was weak with heat?

'What would he think…' she thought as she neared the entrance to the kitchen. Biting her lip, she squinted against the sunlight that naturally lit the room. She saw Imam turn to greet her and suddenly stop in mid-sentence.

"Jack, my child, what is wrong!" his alarmed voice was gentle, trying not to hurt her anymore then absolutely necessary. He thought this was just the heat getting to her, as it had done to many of his students.

"It's hellishly hot outside…" she mumbled, collapsing into a chair and resting her head on the table, relishing the cool feel of the marble.

"That it is. Here, have some iced water." He said, waiting as she slowly raised herself to receive the glass, gratefully draining it and holding the still-cold ice. Tipping back the glass into her mouth, she took an ice cube with her tongue and left it to melt in her mouth, cooling her off slightly. "Once you finish that, take a cool shower then rest."

"Mmk, thanks for the water." She mumbled, finishing the ice cubs and leaving the glass on the table, still too weak to walk over and put it in the sink. Imam saw this and let it go, knowing that she wasn't just being lazy.

As she slowly left the room and made her way up the back staircase, Imam sighed and shook his head. Jack did work out and train every morning, yet she was still weak all due to the lack of Riddick. He knew that it was the convict who had given Jack her spark and eventually her flame. She had been unbeatable when he had been with them, if only for those five weeks. The morning Jack discovered he had left for good had been terrible and he shuddered to think of it. Briefly she had cried but then pulled herself into a shell, emotionless and dull. Jack trained with fury every morning since then, but it was an extremely slow process to get her to feel again. Imam had been secretly afraid to check on Jack during those first few weeks. He had always thought he would open her door to find her pale and dead, resting peacefully in a pool of her own blood. Yet he was always rewarded with her sitting on her bed or the windowsill, staring deep into nowhere, lost in thought. Although he found her this way, he left her every night telling her to keep faith. He would return. She smiled sadly in return or just nodded. Between keeping faith and waiting, he believed that Jack would survive.

Jack groaned as she stripped, feeling it took entirely too much energy but then it would be hard to cool down if she was still clothed. Feeling the cool spray of the water as she stepped into the tiled shower, Jack relaxed, thankful to be there, cooling down. Yet in a few minutes the water felt warm to her and she checked the temperature she had set it at and it was still at the coldest setting. Shrugging it off as a malfunction, she made a mental note to tell Imam as she stepped out of the shower, quickly drying and dressing.

In what her mentor believed to be too short shorts and a tank top, Jack rested against the wall, still feeling weak. She moved to get to her bed but suddenly everything blurred and she fell hard to the ground, immediately unconscious.

"Jack! Time for dinner!" Imam called, still putting the last touches on his meal. He stopped when he didn't hear her reply. She always called back, letting him know she had heard. The sudden fear stabbed him again as he slowly approached the stairs, calling her name again. When there was no answer he ran up the stairs and opened the door to her room, panicking when her bed was empty. Walking quickly into the room, he found her on the floor, looking as if she had fallen, not as if she had laid down to rest.

Kneeling down he slapped her cheek gently, hoping it would wake her. When that didn't happen he touched her forehead lightly, immediately pulling his hand away, as if he had been scorched. Swearing under his breath, he checked her arms and legs, feeling that every part of her was afire. Standing, he reached to her bedside table and dialed for the emergency line. Quickly relaying his emergency, he was barely relieved when he was told an ambulance and team of medics were on their way.

Picking up Jack, he carried her downstairs and cleared the marble counter he had been preparing dinner on. He heard her moan slightly when the cold marble came into contact with her skin. Wetting clothes, he dabbed her forehead and wrists, hoping to cool her in the slightest. She was heavy with fever and it scared Imam he knew not what from.

A sudden banging on the door brought him to the entry hall, where he opened the door to let in the team. Leading them to the kitchen, he moved out of the way to let them work. He had to look away when they began to inject Jack with needles, knowing that she detested medical attention. Praying for her forgiveness, Imam sat heavily down on a nearby chair, wondering where Riddick was. He would want to know of Jack's condition, but he had left no contact number. Imam's head snapped up when a gentle hand touched his shoulder. A young girl looked kindly down on him as she informed him that they would have to take Jack to the hospital. He nodded, feeling lightheaded from all the excitement.

Imam shut the door behind them as he briefly looked on Jack's weak form strapped to a stretcher. Her eyes were closed but her body still gave off an incredible heat that he didn't understand. Walking back into the kitchen, he half-heartedly ate the abandoned dinner, hardening his resolve to go the hospital as soon as he was called.

Jack opened her eyes to bright lights and the stench of nothing. Alarmed, she tried to move, only to find that she was still strapped down to something. Trying to form a shout, she panicked when she realized her throat was completely dry. Glancing down, she saw needles inserted into her arms and with a growl, attempted to yank them out. Unsuccessful, Jack closed her eyes and failed to relax. Suddenly a figure formed above her and a gentle female voice asked her to open her mouth. It took her a few seconds but when she did she was relieved to feel cool water crack away the dryness that she had previously felt. The hand that had given her the water petted her sweat-soaked hair, giving her reassuring words. Jack was even happier to realize that she was being un strapped, giving her some freedom of movement. Turning her body slightly, she tested her muscles, glad to feel that all of them were in working condition, although still weak.

Soon this person left, shutting off the lights behind them. Jack was very grateful for this and closing her eyes, emitted whimpering noises, sad to be left alone in darkness again. She mused that no monsters would dare creep into such a sanitary and white place as this. Barely comforted by that thought, Jack tried to fall asleep but could not and was left to stare into the darkness.

Time passed and she awakened to the concerned face of Imam as well as a few other doctors. Growling, she pulled herself up, ignoring the protests of the doctors. 'Fuck them,' she thought.

"Jack, my child, they just need to ask you a few questions." Imam said, informing her of the situation. The doctors took the wordless reply as affirmative and stepped forward to being the questioning.

"Do you have any blood relatives?"

Jack snorted in reply. None that she knew of or even wanted to know of.

"Ah…I see. Is this man your only guardian?"

At this question Jack turned away, hoping it wasn't the numb feeling that was the lack of Riddick that was eating away at her inside. Biting her tongue, she nodded, seeing Imam's downcast face at her reply. Both of them wanted to believe Riddick would return, but it had been too long.

"Now the questions will become more personal. Have you or are you taking drugs?"

Jack wanted the lunge and rip the man's throat out when she heard his voice. With a snarl she barely formed the words 'fuck no', regardless at her mentor's shock at her reply.

"Well, that's…good. Jack," the doctor stepped closer, viewing the young girl at a nearer distance. "We aren't quite sure what made you pass out like you did. From these blood tests," he said, flipping through notes on his clipboard, like all the doctors did. "It seems that you are above average health. You are in supreme condition. Your mentor tells us you work out every morning?"

Jack nodded.

"That's very impressive. Keep that up and you'll be a very strong woman one day. We're going to wait for these other test results, but other then that, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here. Since we don't know what triggered the attack of this fever, we need to keep watch."

She sighed in reply and turned her head away, sad at the news she would have to watch darkness once more. It was so much like him, like the man who would never return to her. Jack didn't even notice the needle being injected into her bloodstream but vaguely wondered how she was falling asleep so fast. Although she seemed at rest, Jack heard every word of the following conversation between Imam and the doctor.

"Does…Jack have any outside relationships?"

"No, not that I know of."

"Alright, has she been intensely attached to anyone previous to this fever?"

"I…ah…yes, she has. One man, who protected her. They were quite close."

"And is he still with her?"

"No…no, he left a while ago."

"Hm," there was a trace of sadness in the doctors voice, maybe sympathy. "That would easily put subconscious pressure on her body. I think that she had a severe case of dehydration and combined with this deep sadness she has been feeling, her immune system could've been partially destroyed. So she could've picked up a bug on the street that anyone else could've barely noticed, but it broke her down."

"Will she be alright?"

"Yes…physically she will be fine. Yet, watch her in the following weeks. Are you able to do that?"

"Of course. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. It is very pleasing to me when I have patients that aren't in here because they aren't healthy and fit. She's a good girl, but very lonely."

"Yes, she is." Imam agreed quietly, and Jack assumed they were both watching her as she 'slept'. She heard both of them leave, shutting off the lights and closing the door behind them. Jack's last thought was that she wished she could remove the needle that felt glued into her arm.

The darkness suffocated her this time as she opened her eyes into her thoughts and soon-to-be-dreams. She felt loose tendrils of smoke turn into iron grips on her arms and legs. Opening her mouth to scream, all that came out was a pained whimper. The inky black began to crush her, as if making sure she felt every bone in her body shatter. Cries came out as barely held back screams as Jack twitched on the bed, jaw clenched tightly. Suddenly the blackness left and she felt sand beneath her and Jack didn't want to be here. She knew what was there, waiting for her, lurking just beneath the sand. Looking for something to grab onto Jack gasped and struggled as the sand fell out from beneath her and she looked down to see metallic shadows of those monsters from that detested planet. They flew beneath her, screaming and mocking her as she fell down, trying to avoid their viciously sharp jaws. Despair washed over her again and again as she reached out to grab onto something, anything and only to find there was eternal darkness. The creatures lashed out at her, never eating her but just wounding her. Tears soon came and Jack wished she could fall faster, but to her, it was never ending.

Yet she jerked when something new came into her constant nightmare. Looking up, she saw the sand closing back into ground, putting her in complete black. Although she felt complete loss at this sight, something wrapped around her waist and it wasn't the jaws of one of the monsters, but warm comforting cloudiness. It lifted her and Jack realized light came with it, forcing the creatures to flee at its presence. Leaning back into this warmth, she looked up to see the sandy ground fall in again as she came up through it. It didn't stop there, but she realized she was basically flying. Her whimpering had stopped, her tears had dried and now a slight smile lit her face. Finally stopping, Jack closed her eyes, feeling herself wrapped in this warm comfort.

Sleeping for the first time in complete bliss, Jack felt her shell crack and emotions gently stream through. They neatly filled her being, leaving no worry unturned or left to stew. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt such ease, even with Riddick. Briefly she wondered if it was the drugs that was making her this…happy and content, but she wrote the thought away as just silly suspicion.

Later Jack thought this next scene part of the dream, but the thoughts had slipped away just like all other dreams did until she slept again. She had cracked open her eyes in the night to feel something warm and solid holding her, whispering gentle words into her ear. Yet this unimaginable comfort was taken as part of the dream.

All to soon did the sleep drift away and Jack's body began to force her to wake. Mumbling incoherent complaints, she was annoyed to still find the needles still taped into her arms. Yet as her eyes fluttered open, she felt her hand grip something. Ignoring her protesting muscles, Jack propped herself up on her elbows, looking down into her hand.

Her smile returned as she saw she held a pair of unmistakable black goggles.

The End

Note – couldn't keep myself away. Hope you all liked it. If anyone has ideas or something just toss 'em in the review.