Hi guys!

After these last few chapters, I am happy to announce that from now on, everything will be smooth sailing! *Chuckles* As if. Nope, we might be finished with Matt and out of danger but this story is only just getting started! I have a lot more whumping up my sleeve yet! Just think of these next few chapters as a lull in the storm that is this story, it's never going to be smooth sailing if I'm writing!

I hope you guys like how I'm writing Jack and Lisa's relationship... I am trying to take it slow and steady like the series, but I also want to show how much they care about each other and enjoy writing them together. No matter their differences, Jack and Lisa have always loved each other, even if things get in the way sometimes. Where they are at the moment, I really like writing them as great friends and I can't wait to get writing on the cattle drive episode! (I won't be uploading that anytime soon though, that's about 25 chapters down the line) I can't say anymore without releasing spoilers but Jack will always be there for Lisa, that's going to be evident in the next couple chapters...

I had to laugh at some of the reviews, I love hearing your comments about this story! Especially the one where the person wished Matt got trampled by Warrior. I had actually thought about that, buuuuuutttttttttttttttttt, I wanted to give Jessica even more to deal with. *laughs evily* I could have had Warrior kill him, but I think Jessie having to deal with the fact that she killed her father is a much more storyline and also more true to my whumping weakness lol. (I love putting them through hell)

Anyway, enjoy, drop a review and thank you in advance!

Chapter 17

Lisa heard the girls heavy breathing and looked down at her. The girl was peacefully asleep, a contented look on her face as her chest rose and fell deeply. She nudged her horse forward a little faster to catch up to Jack, Warrior following not far behind. Slowly and in silence, they continued onto the ranch. Jack glanced over at her and saw the girl asleep, then looked up at her and patted her shoulder reassuringly. She looked at him, a small smile of thanks on her lips. They would talk about what had happened later, now was not the time but it was comforting knowing that Jack was there. Just his presence helped.

Quietly, they continued on down the winding trail, the girl still sleeping soundly. A squirrel dared out in front of them, pausing to look at them coming towards it then scampered up a nearby pine. A bird sang loudly from the tree top, causing Warrior to stop sharply and look at it before trotting after them. Still, Jessie slept on.

It was almost two in the afternoon now, quite a few hours had passed since they had left the ranch. The grey and Paint were starting to tire, Lisa could feel it especially since the grey was carrying two people every time he tripped over a rock. They were almost home, it wasn't much further now.

Coming out of the trees, they could see the ranch yard empty. Everyone who had come to the search had long left and it was quiet. Spartan and Copper were in the paddock, grazing contentedly with the other horses and the general feeling of the place was that of peace.

Lisa followed Jack up to the fence surrounding the house and pulled the grey to a stop beside Paint. Warrior had stopped a few paces back, snorting and looking around but not with viciousness. More like curiosity. She felt Jessie start to stir, and looked down to see that she was awake. 'We're here.'

'Mhhmm.' Jessie replied sleepily and her eyes still closed, sore and in pain from her wounds but that was nothing to how tired she felt. She forced herself to wake though, and looked around. 'Where's Warrior?'

'He's right behind you.' Jack said as he dismounted, then stood beside Lisa's horse and extended his arms forward to take the girl. He could see the look of hesitation and fear in the girls eyes but he gently reassured her with a smile. 'Come on, I've got you. I'm not going to hurt you.' The girl hesitated for a moment, then let Lisa slide her off the saddle and into Jack's arms. He could feel the girl tense up instantly at his touch, saw in her eyes her fear. She was just like Warrior. Troubled. Traumatised. 'Hey, it's okay. I've got you.'

'Here, I'll take her.' Lisa dismounted and threw her horses reins over the fence, then Jack handed the girl back to her. 'Let's get you inside.'

'What about Warrior?' She looked at the stallion who was watching her with his head up and ears pricked, his body tense as if he would charge them if they tried to hurt her. 'He can't stay tacked up all afternoon.'

'I can untack him and put him in the corral.' Jack offered, looking at the horse. 'Would he let me?'

'Probably not normally, but he'll behave when I'm around.' Jessie weakly clicked her fingers and the stallion trotted over to her, nudging her with his nose as Lisa chuckled. She grabbed his reins, then nodded for Jack. 'Okay, just be careful. He likes to cow kick.' Jack slowly went to the stallions shoulder and grabbed the cinch strap, the girl holding onto his head as the man undid the saddle. Warrior's eyes were back, trying to watch the man as he decided if he could be trusted or not. 'Easy boy, easy. You can trust him. He won't hurt you.'

Jack lifted the saddle off the horses back, placing it on the ground beside them. 'That wasn't so bad, was it?' The stallion glared at him, kicking out underneath his belly towards him and he took a step back. 'I think I had better not push my luck.'

'That's quite enough Warri.' Jessie reprimanded. 'We better get him into the pen before he tries to attack you.'

'Then we are getting you young lady inside.' Lisa interrupted. 'You need to rest and have that leg attended too.'

'Yes, yes.' Normally she would argue, but she was tired. Too tired and in pain to protest. 'Come on Warri.'

The stallion snorted as he followed them, being led towards the corral he had been trapped in for nearly a week. He snorted again as the gate was opened, but he followed them in and stood quietly while the girl took off the bridle and let him loose.

'Behave yourself Warrior.' Jessie remarked, giving him a pat then sending him away from her and Lisa so they could get out of the yard. Warrior snorted, then backed up and trotted over to the watering trough to grab a drink as they walked out of the corral and to the house.

'We saw you guys coming in.' Lou opened the door for them, moving out of the way so that Lisa could carry the girl in. 'Doctor Barbara is finishing up her shift, then she'll be over.' She grabbed her coat off its hanger. 'I've got to go, I'll be back in time for dinner.'

'We made a bed for Jessie over near the fire.' Mallory added as she and Amy walked into the kitchen where they had gathered, Lou already hurrying off in the car. 'It's all ready.'

'Thanks Mallory.' Lisa carried the girl over into the living room, then placed her down on the stretcher. 'How are you feeling now?'

'Sore.' She chuckled slightly. 'I really shouldn't have been out riding.'

'No, you definitely shouldn't have been.' Mallory followed them in, looking at the girl. 'I might have met some crazy twelve year olds, heck I'm twelve but your the craziest I've ever seen.'

'I think that's enough Mallory.' Jack interrupted, placing his hands on her shoulders and pushing her towards the door. 'The horse's need untacking, thank you very much.'

Jessie chuckled and shook her head in disbelief as Jack ushered the girl outside,the door slamming shut behind them and making her jump slightly at the noise. 'Who on earth is that?'

'That's Mallory.' Amy walked in, holding a glass of water. 'She's a neighbour who boards her horse here. Would you like a drink?'

'Yes, please.' She took the glass and took a couple of sips, then handed it back. 'Thanks.'

'Your welcome. I'm Amy by the way.'

'Jessie, but you already knew that.' The girl introduced herself, then looked at her. 'Your the person whose phone got nibbled by my horse aren't you?'

Amy laughed. 'Yep.'

'Sorry about that. Warrior has the tendency to be curious when he's not trying to kill someone or himself. I hope he didn't do too much damage when he was here.'

'Only to the buckets he trampled on.' She glanced at the clock. 'I better go help Mallory with the horses. See you Jessie.'

'Bye.' Jessie looked back at Lisa after Amy had gone, then back at the cup. 'Can you pass that to me please? I'm really thirsty.'

'Here.' Lisa handed it to her, then pulled it away as the girl tried to guzzle it. 'Not so fast. You'll choke.'

'You sound like Lillian.' A cloud of emotion passed into her eyes, then quickly disappeared again. She took the glass back off Lisa, drinking it slowly she had emptied it then handed it back. 'She used to rouse on me too when I would drink too fast.'

'Sounds like you really liked her.' She prompted, placing the glass on the wagon wheel coffee table then knelt down beside her on the floor. 'Are you feeling a little better now?

'A little, my back and leg is really getting painful though.' A look in the woman's face told her what she was about to say and she stopped her before she could speak it. 'I am NOT going back to that hospital though. Not in a million years.'

'I take it you don't like hospitals.'

'I hate them. Poking and prodding. The noise. The smells. The last time I was in one-' Her voice trailed off sharply as memories came back. She remembered what happened that night, the night that-

'Jessie, are you okay?' Lisa saw something in the girls eyes, she looked like she was about to cry. 'What's wrong honey?'

'The last time I was in the hospital, I was there for weeks.' Jessie started, her voice wavering between a whisper and a sob. 'My mother had been running from Matt for nearly a month, and he found us living in a caravan park. He tied her up, then started beating me. I remember her screaming, screaming for him to stop and him laughing. He dragged me on the floor, then threw me against a cupboard. The next thing I remembered was being in the hospital. I had broken ribs and a concussion. Hospitals have nothing other then bad memories for me.' She looked at the woman.' I shouldn't be bothering you with me sob stories. I'm constantly doing it.'

'It's okay honey.' Lisa handed the girl a tissue and held her hand gently. 'I don't mind. It's better you getting it out then bottling it all up inside.'

'At least it's all over between me and him now.' She was referring to Matt, her father. 'Maybe the nightmare will be done away with. Maybe I can forget everything, everything he did to me. I don't want to remember what happened. I-'

'Sssh, Sssh, settle down.' She gently interrupted her. 'Your getting yourself worked up. Take a deep breath and calm yourself down. Your not going to help yourself getting upset like this.'

Jessie nodded, taking a few deep breaths then sighed. 'I don't know. I just don't know how I ever will get over it.' The vision of her shooting the man, blood everywhere played again in her mind. 'I killed him. I killed my own father.'

'Jessie, that man lost the right to be your father long ago. The way he treated you, no one should be treated like that. I know what your going through. I know the struggle going on in your mind, but Jessie none of it is your fault. It's going to be hard, it's going to be a long road but you will get over it. You will work through it. Life does go on.'

'Are you speaking from experience?' She looked up at her, a new light in her eyes. Maybe she did understand. Maybe she did understand what she was going through.

'The doctor's here.' Jack announced, walking into the room with Barbara in tow. 'I'm going to go start on dinner.'

'How's my most difficult patient today?' Barbara asked as she set down her bag on the coffee table and looked at Jessie. 'You really are the most difficult patient I've ever had.'

'I'm glad to see you too.' Jessie teased back, resting her head back on the pillow. She was exhausted, but she guessed they wouldn't let her sleep till the doc had looked at her. She didn't mind Barbara really, for a doctor she wasn't all that bad. 'I just took a little ride, that's all.'

'After climbing out of a three-story window and somehow managing to end up here.'

'Never mind the details.' Her eyes gleamed cheekily even though she was in pain. 'Wouldn't you love to know how I managed to end up getting back here in the first place?'

'Yes, how did you do that anyway?' Lisa questioned.

'Caught a ride. In the back of a pickup headed this direction.'

Barbara shook her head in amazement. The girl certainly was full of surprises. 'Okay. No wonder we didn't find you around Hudson.'

'Nope. I was long gone.'

'How are you feeling anyway?'

I am so gettiting tired of that question. She thought, but kept it to herself. 'Sore. My back, my leg. And exhausted. I could sleep for a year.'

'On a scale of one to ten, how bad would you say your pain is?'

'Probably a seven.' Jessie replied. It had been getting worse and worse throughout the duration of the day. 'It's been getting worse.'

'I'd say it is, that's the pain killers wearing off.' Barbara grabbed out a bottle and needle from her bag, grabbing the dosage out that the girl had been getting at the hospital. She saw the girl looking at her, knowing how much she hated needles. She had made that fact quite well known during the time she had been at the hospital. 'Just look away. It will be over in the moment.'

Jessie grimaced, looking away and she grit her teeth together as she felt the needle go into her vein. A short sting, then it was over. She glanced back as the doctor held a cotton ball to where she had injected her, then she placed a bandaid on the spot.

'There, that wasn't so bad.'

'I just hate needles.' That was true, but it wasn't her getting them that she hated entirely. She had watched so many people taking drugs that to her all needles were bad. So many things that they didn't think about brought back memories for her. It wasn't their fault, they weren't to know but it was just so hard when everywhere she turned their was something to remind her of her past. 'I'm not going to have to go back to hospital, am I?'

'Well, that depends on how much damage you've done to your stitches and if there is anyone to take care of you.'

'I'm happy to do that.' Lisa offered, noticing the relief in Jessie's eyes. 'I can handle it, and I'll have help too.'

'Alright, let's just check your wounds over then. Jessie, can you sit up so I can look at your back?'

'Sure.' Jessie pushed herself up, then swung her legs over the opposite side of the stretcher. 'Shirt off?'

'Yes, please.'

Lisa watched as the girl pulled her shirt off, then almost gasped as she saw how emaciated the girl was. Every one of her ribs were visible, her backbone protruding under stretched skin but what shocked her the most was the scars. Her back was a patchwork of them, it as almost so bad that there wasn't a square inch of skin that was normal. The doctor looked around at her as she put her hand to her mouth, then left the room before she burst into tears.

Barbra saw something in her face as the woman turned to leave and understood. It was quite daunting, seeing the condition the girl was in. She kicked herself for not preparing her beforehand, but really no amount of explaining prepared a person for what they saw. Pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind, she returned to the task a hand before the girl caught on that something was wrong. Gently, she began to pull the dressings off the girl's back to look at the wounds underneath. 'Well, it doesn't seem to look like you've damaged them.'

'That's a good thing.' Jessie replied. She had heard Lisa leave the room and could guess why. She was ashamed of her scars, that was the way anyone who saw them reacted. The ones on her back and her legs. She tried to hide them as much as possible. 'So, I don't need to go back then?'

'I don't see any reason why you would have to. As long as they don't get infected they'll heal up fine.' She grabbed new dressings from her bag and gently placed them over the wounds. 'Just don't do anything to tear them. Your still on strict bedrest.'

The girl rolled her eyes as she placed the shirt back on and swung back around. 'If riding Warrior and climbing out windows didn't tear them then I think walking around would be fine.'

'You really are difficult.' Barbara chuckled, then turned to the girls leg. Helping the girl take off her jeans so that she didn't injure her bandaged leg she looked at the gunshot wound in her thigh. 'You really shouldn't be walking on this.' She could see the wound was red even before she pulled the dressing off. 'You've aggravated it, but luckily it's not infected. It's just become a little inflamed because you've been moving it.'

'I'll stay off it.' She rolled her eyes again. She had no intention of being an invalid. She hated people fussing over her. 'Other then that, it's okay isn't it?'

'Yes, but if you don't rest and let it heal it will get worse.' Re-dressing the wound, she looked down at the girls leg. Blood had seeped through the bandage, drying on the material. Trying to take it off without loosening it first would cause it to start bleeding again and from the look of it, it had bled a lot. 'Did anyone clean this before bandaging it up?'

Jessie nodded. 'The Sargent did.'

'Okay, we'll just need to wet it down so we can get the bandage off.' Hearing Lisa walk back in, she turned to her. 'Could you grab a bowl of warm water and a cloth?'

'Sure.'

'Thanks.'

Jessie watched Lisa as she walked around the corner into the kitchen. She could see that the woman was upset by what she had seen, the state that she was in but it went deeper then just concern. She could see it in her eyes. It had really shaken her. She hadn't seen the scars on her back herself, she could only guess what they looked like from the ones the had on her legs. They were bad enough, but she knew that her back looked much worse. Her body, flecked with scars, was a puzzle of near misses and mistakes she'd never make again. Mistakes of trusting people. Mistakes of allowing people to take advantage of her. She was reminded she needed to keep her distance, keep quiet but she just couldn't help it. Even after all she had been through, she was still just too trusting. It just stemmed from her desire to be loved and wanted even though she knew she never would be.

'I've got it.' Lisa walked back into the room, Jessie looking up at her, obviously disterbed from her thoughts. She placed the bowl down next to the woman, then took a seat on the couch. 'How's her wounds looking?'

'Good, the stitches didn't tear so that was the main thing.' Barbra began to soak water into the bandage to lose the dried blood. 'The dressings are going to need changing everyday, so if you don't think you can handle it, I'm willing to drop in and do it.'

'No, it's okay. I can do it.'

'Alright.' The bloodied bandages were wet now, wet enough for her to start taking them off and she gently began to unwind them. Slowly, she worked them loose, the blood getting thicker and thicker as each layer was taken off. Pulling the bandage off, she was surprised that the wound didn't look as bad as she had expected. It wasn't too deep, but it did still need stitches. 'That's going to need stitches.'

'How thrilling.' Jessie groaned. More needles, more pain though she didn't feel anything from her back or leg wounds now. Whatever it was that she had given her worked like a charm. 'Am I going to have to go to the hospital to get them?'

'No, I can do them here. I brought the stuff with me. Is it okay if I do it now?'

'I guess so.' She looked away as the woman began grabbing stuff out of her medical bag. There was worse things in life then getting stitches. Gritting her teeth as she felt a needle just below her knee, she again was reminded how much she hated them. She wouldn't have needed stitches if her father hadn't left her a parting gift. How nice it was of him to slash her leg before he died, but then it was better her leg then getting stabbed in the chest. Even when he was dead he was still causing her pain. She was glad that it was over, but it was the easy way out for him, being killed. She was the one who had to live. Live with the memories. Sometimes memories could be the worst form of torture. God only knew that he had given her enough horrible memories to last her lifetime.

'There we go.' Barbra tied the last stitch neatly, then covered the wound with another dressing and bandaged it up. 'All finished.'

Jessie looked back and raised her eyebrows. 'That was quick.'

'See, it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be.' She clipped the bandage in place with a safety pin, then grabbed a handful of dressings and bandages from her bag and placed them on the coffee table. Getting up, she helped the girl lie down again then turned to Lisa. 'That should be enough there to last a couple of days.'

'Okay.' Lisa motioned with her eyes that she wanted to speak with the woman in private. 'I'll walk you out.'

'Alright.' Barbra caught the fact she wanted to speak with her and glanced back at the girl. 'I want you to rest now, but you hear? I want a good report from Mrs. Stillman here when I come back.'

'I'll be the perfect little angel.' Jessie assured her as they walked out. Laying her head on the pillow, she couldn't resist the urge to sleep and soon she was off in a dreamless slumber.