Chapter Two-Hundred and Nine
Jade smiled as John slowly made his way into the kitchen, able to see that Chance was right by his side as he pushed his weight from spot to spot on the walls. "Hey…" She started to wave, stopping when he glared at her with eyes of onyx stone. "How do you feel?" She asked, reaching to help him as he forced himself to put weight on his leg.
"Like I got hit by a fucking bus." He snapped, his attitude so close to the edge that he was almost over the cliff of his temper limits. "Or I had diesel poured on me and someone lit me on fire."
She nodded, shrinking in on herself at the fire in his eyes. "Are… they, um, getting any better?"
He picked up the milk jug, tipping it to his lips without even grabbing a glass to pour it into. "No." He growled, knowing damn well that the worst of the burns was close to an infection. "If anything, they're worse." He looked out the sliding-glass door, his body aching to be outside after nearly a week cooped up inside.
She dropped her gaze, able to see where his bandages had become soaked through with the fluids that were fighting to heal him. "Do you need help-"
"I don't want any fucking help." He lashed out at her, frustrated that he could barely take a piss on his own and had to rely on the adults or his cousin to bathe him. "I want to do things on my own again. I want to take a bath by myself. I want to take a piss without someone being there to make sure I'm okay." He swallowed, forcing his emotions back. "I want to be the man that Claire deserves."
She reached toward him, gently touching his wrist only to pull away when one of the bandages made her hand wet with the seeping fluids that were fighting the pending infection that was wanting to take over. "You are." She stated, gently cupping his cheek in her palm and lifting his head to look into those eyes of his. "You don't see it, but you are enough for her." She smiled as his eyes lightened, knowing that she'd found that nerve that both John and Dominic had, though John's was hidden deeper inside of him. "She loves you. That's all a girl wants. Is someone to love and hold."
He gave a little smile, moving to the window to look out at the world that was off limits to him until he was better. "I want to go outside…"
She picked up some extra bandaging from the counter, gently undoing his old bandages to change them. "Not yet…" She winced as the biggest bandage on his back took the scab with it when she peeled it off. "Just a little longer."