Chapter: 9 Some Kind Of Magic
Swirling patterns greeted her as she felt herself drifting from her body.
The light spoke to her, calming and gentle, it sounded like the child who took her to Jake. It told her not to worry, that she would be well taken care of. Sherry argued with the presence; she wasn't ready to leave Jake and the others yet.
Her Mother and Father appeared to her giving words of encouragement and love, when his words reached her.
"I love you."
Starring at her parents they smiled, already knowing her decision.
Before she knew, she was running towards a dark tunnel away from the light; towards the unknown.
"This is my penalty for all the lives I took." Jake whispered with a heavy heart as he made his way to the door glancing over his shoulder, mentally saying goodbye to Sherry.
….Beep… Beep…Beep….Beep, beep, beep…beep, beep, beep…
The heart monitor sprung back to life as Sherry gasped for breath, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.
"Hey! HEY! DOC?!" Jake shouted as he rushed to her side.
It didn't take a moment for the Doctors and Nurses to arrive. They looked at the monitors and then to Sherry's wound which had begun to heal miraculously.
A huge sigh of relief came from Jake, as he was unwillingly ushered from the room and back to behind the glass where he could watch over his little angel, his Supergirl.
'Her healing ability must have regenerated.' Jake thought as he watched the medical team take more blood samples, and inject her with morphine.
"That's what I'm sayin' Hero."
Sherry heard Jake reply to a familiar person in the distance, but her mind jumped to her body and she was fully aware of how much she hurt.
She'd never been in so much pain before. 'What happened?'
"If you don't believe me, ask the Doctors." His voice darkened as the blonde was being too much of an ass now.
"He never said he didn't believe you Jake. It's just… an astonishing story."
The Redfield sister wasn't bad looking Jake thought as she backed Leon, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at this. 'Fucking typical.'
"Look Ada told us the J'avo were leaving, and we got the go ahead from Hunnigan to move in. How was I to know this Ada was lying?"
"Ada?"
"Yeah, Ada Wong... Oh, that's right! You two know each other right?" Jake asked pacing around the corridor, smirking cockily. He had one up on Leon now, and by the expression on his face there was more to him and her than anyone knew.
"Excuse me, but may I have a word with you Mr. Muller?" The Doctor asked as he came down the corridor holding a clip board and pen, nodding, Jake followed into a small office.
"Did Sherry get bitten by a BOW when you were in the field?"
Jake shook his head.
"No. Why?"
"Well, as I said previously we have found small traces of C-Virus in Miss Birkin's blood samples, hinting that she was bitten... But it was a minute amount, suggesting it wasn't a full bite or a fully infected subject." The doctor explained, making Jake think hard.
"Is that even possible? Hmm... The J'avo's never got close enough to her to."
He ran through everything again, the military base, the run in with Ada, J'avo running after them, the Widow creature, those small bugs and the last battle where she'd been -
"The bugs!" He exclaimed a little loudly, receiving an intrigued look from the Doctor.
"What bugs, Mr. Muller?"
"These moth creatures, they attacked and bit Sherry... more than once." He reminisced watching the Doctor take notes.
"Do you believe these bugs carried the new virus?"
"It's hard to say Doc, but considering they came from a newly mutated BOW it's a pretty good assumption."
"I see, I see. I need to get these notes to my team, we will come up with a rounded conclusion before she wakes."
Jake nodded letting the Doctor leave before thinking the situation over.
It made sense that the bugs carried the new enhanced virus and infected Sherry when they bit her, even if it was a small amount. It also made sense that she looked so pale and unwell after it too.
'She must have felt sick the entire time and didn't tell me.'
"You let her get bitten?!" Leon shouted from the waiting room seconds after Jake walked into the room. "You bastard!" He continued as he lunged for Jake.
"Now's not the time." Chris interrupted, seizing Leon before he reached Jake.
"He let Sherry get hurt Chris!"
"Hey! I did not let her get hurt! I was trapped by a motherfucking monster at the time! What could I have done better?" Jake shouted back, taking his fighting stance.
"Leon!" Claire called from the doorway eyes brimming with tears. "Stop it! Right now!"
"Yeah Hero, listen to the lady."
"It wasn't Jake's fault." She said as the tears slowly made way from her ducts, for once showing her vulnerability. "Leon, you told me he would protect her with his life, and from what I've heard that's exactly what he's done."
Jake couldn't help but feel guilty, he didn't deserve any credit from the Redfield sister.
He didn't do everything he could to keep her safe.
His eyes went to the floor.
"You give me too much credit Claire."
"So you admit you didn't do enough?" Leon asked, emphasis on every word as he struggled against Chris finally jerking himself free. Turning and glaring at Chris, he rearranged his jacket. "Hmph, I guess Claire's right. You would have given it your all to save her... Sorry."
Jake knew he didn't mean his apology and was only doing it to keep Claire from crying. '...at some point, you need to take responsibility for your own actions.' Came Sherry's words resounding from memory's long gone.
"No. I didn't do everything I could."
Leon was astounded, he wasn't expecting the guy to come clean.
"At... least you're honest about it." He replied through gritted teeth suppressing the urge to pound Wesker Junior into the ground.
Before any of them could say or do anything Claire had brushed past Leon and smacked Jake square in the jaw.
"Claire!" Chris groaned as he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back before she could land another hit on the man.
"Damn lady, you pack quite a punch." Jake replied to her whilst holding his jaw.
"You were supposed to protect her!" She screamed hysterically, letting emotions get the better of her. "Do you know how much she looks up to you! You let her down!" She continued, "All she ever did was talk about you! Telling me how great you were..."
"Claire... Calm down." Chris jutted in. "He said he was caught up in a fight of his own." He glared at Jake nodding, "And from the sounds of it, a nasty one, he couldn't have done anything better."
"That is true." Jake confirmed as he sighed flopping down onto a small sofa. "It had me up a wall, completely trapped... In fact, Sherry was the one to save me."
"She... saved you?" Claire's voice was small as her body relaxed against her brothers, watching Jake nod. "Oh Jake... I'm so sorry." She wept, the emotional torment of the day clearly showing now.
"Come on Claire let's get you a drink." Chris said softly.
"He really saved my ass there." Jake said to Leon who was still angry from the look on his face, once the other two were out of ear range.
"If you're still like anything you were in China, you really WOULD do anything for Sherry, unless you were in a bind... Right?"
"Right."
"Then why did you agree that you could have done more, if you couldn't?" Leon asked frowning.
"I could have thrown a grenade at the son of a bitch, but at the cost of blowing us up... or I could have helped shoot those little bastards."
"And that's it?" Leon asked amused, receiving a fierce look. "I meant, if that's the only things you could have done, then there really was no way of helping."
"Still... I keep going over it in my head... when she was shot... I told her not to separate from me, and when I turned she was gone." Jake saw it in his mind's eye.
Leon, Claire, Chris and Jake all took turns to watch over Sherry as she slept in her coma-like state.
Only after 24 hours were they allowed into her room as the Doctor's were scared of outside infections, they didn't want any new threats to her already weakened body.
Both Claire and Jake settled their differences a day later when Leon accompanied Chris to the BSAA main Middle East quarters, leaving the two alone.
At the BSAA compound, Leon called Hunnigan about Sherry's accident; giving her Jake's full report of what happened. She had been deeply upset when Leon had called to break the news of Agent Birkin, it was then she granted him a short sabbatical leave to fly to the Middle East to see her.
Now, Ingrid gave orders for Leon to stay in the Middle East until Sherry was back on her feet, she would call him in a few days to give him new orders now that his previous ones in the US had been postponed... Bringing his thoughts to the present, he was waiting quietly in the Hospital's cafeteria for the call, but none came.
"Something's wrong." He told Claire as the day was coming to a close, "Hunnigan never forgets."
"Yes Sir, I have." Ada murmured into her cell as she looked out at the desert, seeing the hospital in the distance, "The charges have been set. The BSAA and every other signal's will be jammed..." She listened carefully at her boss' unbroken speech and questioning.
"5 minutes." Ada notified.
She would lose all contact with him when the EMP went off, so he gave her his lasting orders until she could acquire a new phone in the next town.
Jake was sat next to Sherry in a daze, thinking too much, he couldn't help it no matter how hard he tried. 'I almost lost her, I did for awhile... Never again Sherry, I promise.'
A sudden whirr came from the entire hospital as all the lights and machines went off, and darkness surrounded him.
"What the?" He muttered looking around.
The place was silent until another low hum came, and the lights and everything sprang back to life but much dimmer than they were, Doctors and nurses were panicking and rushing around as they had to check on every patients equipment to make sure it was working.
"We've been struck by an EMP." Chris informed as he rushed into the room followed by a Doctor who checked Sherry's vital signs, putting the machine back on and onto the right settings before hurrying out again.
"The hospital's backup system should be fine for a couple of days, but after... a lot of people are going to die. I'm taking a team up the mountain to fix the power grid, while another will fix the satellites in the West."
"Why are you telling me this, Redfield?"
"I need you to protect Sherry and Claire."
"I will... with my life." Jake replied tilting his head. "If there's any trouble."
"Thanks." With that Chris took his leave, just as Leon strutted into the room with dual guns in hand.
"Claire and me are going to patrol the place. We need to see if there's any intruders."
Jake nodded pulling out his own gun once Leon left, 'Just in case.'
UPDATE: 14/01/2015 - Spelling & Grammar