Thank you, everyone for the kind reviews! And thank you BregoBeauty for being my BETA . . .

Enjoy:

The first thing that registered in Jackson's head was pain--not the kind of pain that is unbearable--but enough to make his hand ball up into a fist to fight it. He let a groan roll from his mouth, and was startled when a silky-soft hand rested upon his shoulder.

"It's okay, Jackson. I'm here," Lisa whispered in his ear, running her hand through his hair. He had awoken her minutes ago, when he started restlessly moving around. She had berated herself for falling asleep; he could have fallen into a coma or something else similar.

In health class years ago, she had read that a victim who suffered respiration trauma could easily go into shock, and become comatose if they were not checked on every two hours to prevent it. Jackson had been very annoyed with her when she did so--he even cursed in her name telling her, that if she woke him up one more time, that he'd have to kill her.

Flashback:

"Jackson," Lisa called softly. After receiving no response, she had begun to worry. "Jackson," she persisted louder, hoping that he'd just moan to show he was still in the world of the living. Yet again, no response; not even the slightest movement.

Finally, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. When she thought back, she realized that she had never seen someone react so quickly. Jackson's eyes snapped open, and he nearly threw her across the room; his weakness had luckily slowed him down.

The two rolled off the bed, and he dropped to the ground beside her. Breathing heavily, he looked at her questioningly, "What the hell was that for?"

Lisa gave him an apologetic look and explained, "Well . . . I have to wake you up every two hours, because if you lost consciousness, you could fall into a coma. I was just trying to make sure that you didn't . . . sorry."

Jackson rolled his eyes at her, and slowly clambered to his feet. "You're trying to kill me aren't you!" he accused. He watched amusedly as her face steadily turned red from embarrassment.

A loud gasp shrilled through the air. "I would do no such thing! I have a heart . . . but I'm sure you don't, and I bet you would have killed me by now if you had the strength!" she screamed at him, trying hard to defend herself.

Now it was Jackson's turn to defend himself, "If I really had wanted to kill you, don't you think I would have done it by now? You need to get your facts straight. What about all the crap you claimed in the bathroom, huh? The 'you have a conscience' and now I don't have a heart?"

It was then, that Jackson knew all of his energy had indeed left him, and a horrible colored gray slowly ebbed its way into his line of sight. An awkward sense of nausea accompanied the pain he was feeling, and he fought hard to keep upright . . . well, technically sideways. He dully heard his name being called, by what sounded like a worried Lisa.

"Jackson?" Lisa asked, with her voice cracking. She didn't like how he was swaying, even though it wasn't a rapid movement. His glazed eyes stared off into nothing, refusing to make contact with her own. She had almost no time to react, when his eyes closed, and his knees gave way, bending quickly; no longer willing to support him.

He rested limply within her arms. "Not again," she mumbled bitterly. Carefully, she managed to drag him onto the bed. "You need to stop doing that," she told him. Then she continued speaking, knowing fully well that he would not answer her. "I suppose that I'll just have to wait until the afternoon to try and wake you up again." She smiled when he moaned, almost as if he had heard her.

Flashback End.

Jackson's eyes opened and wandered around the room. Soft light illuminated the large room, and a light breeze carried in through the silk drapes. Lisa came into his field of vision and she gave him a lop-sided smile.

"Welcome back sleepy head," Lisa called him. His eyes rolled at her again, and she silently mused how well the action fitted him.

"How long have I been out?" he questioned. The smaller woman looked at him then towards the door. She bit her lip, in a motion of thinking.

"Well I'd say around a few hours . . . but I'm not sure as I haven't checked the clock," her explanation seemed to please Jackson, as he nodded from his position on the pillow.

Jackson tried to sit up, but he was failing at the task. He tried not to smack the young woman when she said exasperatedly, "I will help you if you need it. All you have to do is ask." Her smile grew ten-fold when he refused to ask for it. As stubborn as he was, he kept trying to sit up.

His arms wouldn't hold him, and he didn't have enough strength to pull himself against the headboard. With a groan of defeat he grumbled, "Will you help me sit up?" He kept his eyes downward, focusing on the dark blue satin sheet that rested on his lap. Even then, he could see her huge smile of victory.

Lisa slowly moved her hands down to his shoulders and lifted gently. She heard his sigh of relief and smiled proudly, seeing as she had made him swallow his pride. "See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Her ears tried to rain in on what he was mumbling. Unfortunately, she only caught a few of the words such as 'don't hit her . . . she'll cry . . . I hate it when women cry'

"You'd actually hit me?" she asked shocked.

Jackson moaned again as he realized he had spoke his words out loud. "You act as if I've never done it before," he told her.

Jackson observed Lisa's hand clenched tightly into a fist as she remembered how he terrorized her. He felt something in his chest, something he realized was guilt. "I don't know," he confessed. After pulling the comforter from his legs, he turned his body sideways, and then began swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Lisa knew that if Jackson were to leave, there was no telling what kind of trouble he would get into--not to mention he had ruthless people looking for him. He can't even stand up! Her mind screamed at her.

"I have overstayed my welcome . . . well, actually, I was never really welcome . . ." Jackson said, rubbing his chin.

Lisa cut him off by saying, "Uh uh, you're not going anywhere, Mr. Rippner. I don't mind if you stay. I suppose that the past is the past, and that's were it should stay." Lisa lifted Jackson's legs and put them back on the bed, then pushed him down by the shoulders. His surprise shown clearly within his icy blue eyes. "Look, you're tired, so just sleep and we'll talk about it later."

Reluctantly, Jackson agreed, and lay down heavily onto the bed, letting Lisa coddle over him, pulling the blankets over his chest. Secretly, he was thankful that he had come to Lisa, but he was still suspicious at her kindness.

"Thank you," Jackson's soft voice spoke to Lisa as his eyes closed of their own accord.

"You're welcome," Lisa spoke to him as if he were a child.

Both were incredibly startled when the doorbell rang.

TBC: