WARNING: Much shorter than normal, but I was feeling inspired so what the heck. A short one here and there isn't so bad. There will eventually be an extended version of this one. Sorry – Only my favorite couple this time…

"I'm not leaving," Jonny cut off the nurse before she could tell him what he did not want to hear. "She's my wife." He saw the skepticism in her eyes, but had no plans to back down.

"Young man," she sighed. "Let me explain. There are very specific regulations…"

"I know what HIPAA is," he interrupted heatedly and then turned away from the nurse and looked at Jessie in an attempt to stay calm and get his breathing under control. He was instinctively standing between them. Jessie was in the bed and the nurse was still in the doorway. "I'm sorry, Corie. It's been a long…"

'Keep it together, Quest. You just have to keep it together a little longer. She needs you to be strong.'

"Are you okay?" Corie asked and tentatively stepped into the room. Jonny was still refusing to look at her. "Are you okay?" she repeated.

'NO,' he screamed inside.

"It's Jonny, right? Young man?" she tried again.

Jonny took a deep breath and then turned to meet her stare.

"Yes," he nodded. "Jonny."

"Are you alright?" she asked for the third time.

"Yes," he said it firmly. 'No,' he thought. 'I want to fucking fall apart.'

"Do you need medical attention?"

"No," Jonny huffed, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "I need you to examine her and tell me she's gonna be okay. That's all I care about. That's what I need. Please?"

Corie walked by Jonny and headed to Jessie's bedside. "I need to take her vitals and get her into a patient gown," she explained. "What's her name?"

"Jessie," he smiled.

"She'll need to be admitted," Corie told him. "Why don't you head back to the nurse at the front desk and start the paperwork?"

Jonny shook his head. "I'm not leaving her. Someone can bring me whatever needs to be filled out." He watched as Corie took Jessie's temperature, checked her blood pressure, her breathing, her pupils and her pulse. All the while recording everything, but not saying anything. Hooking her up to a machine that would continue to monitor her. Jonny watched like a hawk and hovered a few feet away. Willing himself to stay patient. That only lasted two minutes.

"How are her vitals?" he asked. "She was so cold when I found her. I tried to warm her up. Her pulse was steady though. Strong even. She's strong."

"The sooner she's admitted the sooner she'll be examined by a doctor," Corie told him.

Jonny still refused to budge. Paranoid that if he left the room they would not let him back in. "I've been to the emergency room enough to know that's not true. She's not conscious. They'll look at her without the paperwork. But, like I said, I'll happily fill it out from here. I know you don't believe me and I know you're only doing your job. I'm sure you have people lying to you daily, but I'm not lying to you, Corie. She's my wife. Please don't ask me to leave her again."

Corie straightened and crossed her arms.

"I know," Jonny continued. He tried to keep the impatience from his voice. "Listen…I know," he repeated and then lied smoothly. "I'm too young. It'll never work out. I don't understand enough about life to make such a huge commitment. I've heard every counterpoint imaginable from my father and hers. Three times over. Truly…I have, but that doesn't change the fact that this is my wife and I'm not leaving her side. It doesn't change the fact that she is unconscious and can't speak for herself. You don't know what she would want. I do. She takes care of me and I take care of her." Jonny made sure his left hand was visible throughout his rant and internally fist pumped when he saw her glance down at his ring finger.

"Where's her ring?" Corie challenged.

"Damn it." His eyes filled with unshed tears again. This time from exhaustion and frustration. "He took it from her along with her FUCKING clothes," Jonny snapped and then started shooting off information rapid fire. "He took everything else too so…no…I don't have her insurance card before you ask, but I can tell you everything you need to know. She doesn't have any pre-existing conditions. She's not on any medication. She's not pregnant. She's had surgery twice. Tonsils when she was ten. Appendix when she was thirteen. Stitches once. That scar on her hairline. She smacked her head on some coral when we were taking a surfing lesson. She's truly terrible at surfing, but that's the only thing I can think of that she's truly terrible at," he laughed without humor and then the unshed tears started to spill. He kept going without wiping them away. He did not have the energy. "She's never had a broken bone, but she's sprained her wrist once and her ankle twice. Over the last thirty-six hours, she's been injected with something against her will at least twice. Probably more. I think it's Ketamine, but that's just an educated guess. She has a very large bruise along her side because she fought back. I'm hoping it looks worse than it is. Her breathing has been pretty steady so I don't think her ribs are injured. She has a lot of small cuts and what look like burns to me. I'm praying they heal clean so she doesn't have a daily reminder of what he did to her. She's…"

"What?" Corie asked. She had been writing it all down.

"She's fucking brilliant," he grinned, sitting back on the side of her bed and taking her hand. "Transferring to Stanford next semester because Harvard was too easy for her," he stopped, giving in and wiping at his wet face. "At least that's what she's telling everyone. I got in to Stanford. I've wanted to go there my whole life. That's where my mom went. It's where she met my dad while he was there as a guest lecturer. But I would've eventually given it all up. I never would've lasted four years away from her. She knew that. So she transferred first so I wouldn't have to. She's the love of my life, Corie. And I didn't waste a damn second once she told me she wanted forever. So I'm not breaking any rules," he promised. "But if you still don't believe me than you're gonna need to find someone strong enough to physically remove me."

Corrie nodded. Resigned. "She's stable. Her vitals are strong. A doctor will be in shortly to examine her more thoroughly. Was she raped?"

Jonny knew that question was coming, but it still took him off guard and he started crying again. "I don't know," he cleared his throat and clenched his jaw. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"Okay," she said sympathetically. "I know this is hard, but we'll take good care of her. Bryan here is my nursing assistant this shift," she then announced.

Jonny jumped up quickly, berating himself. He had not even noticed that another person entered the room. He wiped at his face again and gave Corie a confused look. "Where's the doctor?"

"She'll be in shortly," Corie promised. "Bryan will get Jessie into a gown and pull her hair back so she's all ready to go. It's okay. It's part of his normal duties."

"No fucking way," Jonny told her. "And it's not okay with me. She doesn't need more strangers touching her than absolutely necessary. Give it to me," he ordered and held out his hand. "I'll do it myself."

"Let him do it," Corie said and Bryan handed over the gown.

Jonny held his breath until they both left the room and the door was closed. Then he quickly went about changing her into the gown before someone else walked in. He hated himself for it, but he purposely avoiding looking at her injuries. He could not do it again. Once he was satisfied that she was properly covered, he pulled the closest chair up to her bed and sat down. He grabbed her left hand and laced their fingers.

"You're a hard one to get alone, beautiful. I have a feeling this may be our last chance for a while. The quiet before the storm. I'm not gonna ask you to wake up again, but I do miss you. In case you can't tell." He stared at her ring finger for a minute. "I'm sorry for lying. I know how you feel about that, baby. I've been doing a lot of lying the last two days. It's a little scary how natural it comes when my back is against the wall. I don't think you'd approve at all. Even though I was doing it for you. You'd probably hate that more. It's not so black and white though, babe. Or maybe it is. Because I would've done anything…anything to get you back, Jess. I wasn't prepared for how desperate I felt."

He massaged her ring finger lovingly. "When it comes to you, I always tell the truth. Even if I'm technically lying. Don't look at me like that," he teased. "It was a lie of necessity and I wasn't that far off base. I'd marry you right here, Bannon. You're my penguin, remember? God…you've turned me into such a sentimental asshole."

He pulled the keychain from his pocket and slipped the key ring part over her finger. "I'll love you forever."

Then he finally gave in and closed his eyes.

Jonny heard raised voices as soon as he walked through the front door.

"You're a LIAR," she screamed. "You always have been. At least you're consistent. That's something," she spat.

"I didn't lie to you, Stel. You're being unreasonable as usual," Race shot back.

"A bold-faced lie. A lie to protect me. A lie to protect our daughter. A lie of omission. You have a whole arsenal of lies and a whole list of excuses to justify them. Do have any idea how sick I am of hearing your excuses?" she sneered.

Jonny sighed and hoped Jess was not in earshot. He tiptoed down the front hallway, hoping to sneak by unseen. For a split second, he considered walking in on them and trying to lighten the mood.

"YOU ARE SO SELFISH," Race yelled. "DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE HOW SICK I AM OF THAT?"

"SHUT UP," she tried to scream over him.

"YOUR COMPLETE LACK OF COMPASSION OR UNDERSTANDING?"

Yeah the instinct Jonny had to intervene disappeared when he peeked into the kitchen and saw them squared off. Specifically, the angry look on Race's face. He kept walking with a sigh, climbing the stairs fast in the hopes of finding and distracting his girl. He closed his eyes and shook his head when he realized they could be heard clearly from the second floor too.

He checked her room first and then his with no luck. Next, he headed for Hadji's room. Hadji was in Bangalore for an extended stay and did not like people in his room. Jonny and Jessie both respected that ninety nine percent of the time, but it was the perfect sanctuary the other one percent.

He found her there. Standing with her back to him. She was staring out the large bay window and had her arms wrapped around herself. He walked in quietly and shut the door behind him. She turned her head to look at him briefly, but that was the only acknowledgment of his presence. He hated it when her parents fought as much as she did. Although his reasons were selfish and he knew it. When her parents fought, it always shook her faith in him. He hated it.

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He breathed a little easier when she did not tense. Instead, she relaxed back against him and placed her hands over his. He kissed her temple and waited for her to speak. She was still staring out the window, but it was completely dark outside. It took him a minute to realize that she was actually staring at their reflection in the mirror. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was okay, but she beat him to it.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"Better than yours," he sympathized.

"Since when is it a competition with us?" she met his eyes in the glass.

"Since the day we met," he teased. "Probably the hour we met. I think your favorite thing to say to me the first five years you knew me was 'haha, I beat you'."

She laughed and elbowed him playfully. "Not what I meant, jerk."

He wrapped his arms around her tighter so she would not pull away. "My day was fine, but it's getting better by the second."

"Do I have something to do with that?" she smiled.

"Only everything," he kissed her temple again.

"Don't lie to me," she said.

"I'm not," he laughed. "You're…"

"No," she interrupted and turned around in his arms. Hands gripping his shirt. The look in her eyes made him freeze. "Don't lie to me," she whispered.

"Jess…" he brought his hands up to frame her face.

"Break-up with me before you start lying to me or don't lie to me at all," she told him.

"I choose no lies," he said immediately, leaning down to kiss her firmly. He pulled back reluctantly. "I love you, Jessie."

She pushed up on her toes and kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling her body flush against his. "I love you more, baby. Take me out tonight?"

"Sure," he grinned. "I'll be honest though, I was expecting more of an interrogation. What's changed?"

She looked down and he gently forced her chin back up. "Look," she started. "I'm not promising that I'll never need another reassurance from you, but I wouldn't be sleeping with you if I didn't trust you, Jonny."

He smiled and then pulled her into another kiss.

"Your heart is beating so fast," she whispered against his lips.

"We'll never be like them, babe. I know it," he declared. "Because you send my heart into a tailspin only by telling me you have faith in me. Because I'll never forget the way you just looked at me when you asked me not to lie to you. I never want to see that look again."

"I trust you."

"Good. Since that's settled, where do you want me to take you?" he smiled.

"I've changed my mind," she flirted. "Let's stay right here and find a way to entertain ourselves."

He swallowed and then scooped her up quickly before she could change her mind. She laughed happily as he carried her to the bed and she sobered when he laid her down in the middle of it and got on top of her.

"See?" he bit his lip. "My day keeps getting better."

"Nah…I think I have you beat, babe."

"You win," he started kissing her neck and then his head popped back up quick. "Hadj can never know about this."

"Obviously," she giggled.