Disclaimers Apply

Author's note: I'm so sorry for my delay in posting. I know everyone uses this excuse, but I have had a lot of computer issues, which resulted in me losing chapters and getting discouraged. But I'm back, so here's chapter 2!

Chapter 2

Ah the London airport. Jesse was greeted a welcome in English as he arrived in the airport. The air was crisp and cool, a stark contrast from the sweltering heat that was Tanzania. He paused and looked around for a moment. It was so organized. The tiled floor was shiny and clean, the terminal brightly lit. Everyone was in a hurry, and no one noticed the slightly disheveled American staring dumbfounded at his surroundings. Jesse smiled and chuckled to himself. It was too different, strange almost. No one came up to him, asking him for money or trying to sell him anything. There was no shouting of 'Hey Mister, mister!' It was orderly, quiet compared to the chaos that he had come from. He missed it though. There was something about Tanzania that had captured his heart. The smells, the sounds, the people, it was incredible.

Jesse rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to shake himself out of his fog. His eyes caught a glimpse of a green logo in the distance. Starbucks! That would wake him up. He picked up his duffle bag and hurried over to the coffee shop and got in line. The thought of Starbucks made him happy. While he did love his experience in Tanzania, the comforts of home still beckoned him. Starbucks was definitely one of those comforts. He looked down at his watch. His flight for LA left in two hours. It was going to be a long flight. He wondered if caffeine would be a good thing before that flight. He couldn't ever seem to fall asleep in airplanes anyway, so he doubted that it would make any difference. His body was definitely having coffee withdrawals, he was getting a headache. Going from multiple cups of coffee a day to none was catching up with him. He ordered a white chocolate mocha and a bagel, and walked to his terminal. In just over two hours he'd be on his way home.

888888888888888888888888888888888

The Beach house- 9 Hours later

"Hey Dad," Steve called out as he came upstairs. "When's Jesse's flight coming in?"

Mark looked at the piece of paper on the counter with Jesse's flight information scrawled on it. "In about an hour." He replied. "Steve, why don't you go pick Jesse up while I start on dinner. I'm sure he'll be starving when he gets off the plane, so I can have it ready when you guys get back here."

Steve nodded. "Okay. Is Amanda coming over too?"

"Yeah, with CJ."

"Great. I think I'll go ahead and go, just in case there's traffic. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Okay Steve. Be careful." Mark replied.

88888888888888888888888888888888888

Jesse was jarred awake as the plane landed at LAX. He jerked up. He had fallen asleep? How did that happen? He must have been more tired than he thought. The last thing he remembered was taking off in London. He had never slept for a whole flight before. He groaned slightly and shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. His head was throbbing, probably due to the change in altitude. He had been on quite a few planes in the past couple of days. He stretched his arms and legs and rubbed his eyes, the aching in his head forgotten for a moment. He smiled, he was home! He couldn't wait to see Mark, Steve and Amanda. Maybe they'd have dinner at the beach house.

Jesse quickly stood up when the plane stopped, ready to get his bag and to get off the plane. He grimaced a little, his back was aching. That was understandable; he had slept in an awkward position for 8 hours. His body felt weak, and his bag felt much heavier than before. He needed to wake up, he was home! He blinked, trying to get his vision to clear, and focused on getting off the plane.

The crowd inched forward slowly, and finally Jesse found himself in the terminal. He quickened his step, but that effort exhausted him immediately. He paused for a second to catch his breath. This was weird, why was he so exhausted? He had plenty of sleep on the plane. Jet lag and this altitude change were worse than he'd imagined. He began to walk again, but found it to be difficult. He was so close to the exit, he had to keep moving. He concentrated hard, and put all his energy on getting to his destination. Man, his bag was heavy. It wasn't that heavy before. He kept going.

Steve was anxiously waiting on the other side of the terminal. He had seen that Jesse's plane had landed and was ready to see his best friend. Finally he saw Jesse come out of the terminal exit. "Jesse!" He called out, and started to walk over to his friend.

Jesse smiled when he saw Steve. "Hey Steve!" he said when he saw Steve coming towards him. They hugged, in a manly way of course.

Steve stepped back and looked at his younger friend. Jesse looked worn out and exhausted. He was also pale. It must have been a rough flight. "Here, let me take your bag," Steve said as he took Jesse's large backpack.

"Thanks," Jesse replied, clearly relieved that the weight of his bag was off of his shoulders.

"Do you have a checked piece of luggage?" Steve asked.

"No, I left most of what I brought in Tanzania." Jesse answered. "So we're ready to go."

"Great." Steve said, as they began to walk to his car. Jesse struggled to keep up with Steve's pace, but he tried to not let his exhaustion show. Steve wasn't oblivious to his friend's struggle, so he slowed his pace a little, and looked at Jesse. "Jess, are you okay?"

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm just tired, and the jet lag and change in altitude gave me a headache." He didn't mention the now intense throbbing in his lower back and legs. He continued to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, and acting like he was okay.

"Okay." Steve said, still not convinced. "Dad's fixing dinner, how does that sound? He stayed home so he could have it ready for us when we got there. Amanda and CJ are coming over too."

"That sounds great." Jesse replied. "I can't wait to see them."

"Yeah, we missed you. I can't wait to hear about your trip. But it'll probably be good for you to tell us all at the same time, so you don't have to keep repeating yourself."

Jesse nodded, and yawned. "Yeah, it was incredible." He sighed. "I learned a lot, and experienced a lot."

"I can imagine," Steve said.

They lapsed into silence for a moment. The setting sun was shining in the car. Jesse squinted, it was really hurting his eyes. He closed his eyes for a second to try to make the pain stop. Maybe it would help his headache too. He took a deep breath, trying not to let his discomfort be too obvious, and hoping that Steve was paying more attention to the road than him. He relaxed for a second, and immediately fell asleep.

Steve had noticed his friend, and was shocked to see that Jesse had fallen asleep. He would've thought that Jesse's excitement over being home would have trumped all exhaustion. That's how he normally acted. He hoped Jesse was okay, this wasn't like him at all. But then again, Jesse had never been to Africa, that whole experience probably drained him.

Steve's phone rang, and he quickly grabbed it, looking over to see if the ring woke Jesse up. He hadn't moved, he was sound asleep. Steve looked at the caller ID, it was Mark. "Hey dad." He said.

"Hey Steve. Are you and Jesse on your way?"

"Yeah, we're about 20 minutes out." Steve replied.

"I bet Jesse's full of exciting stories huh? He probably hasn't stopped talking since he got off the plane."

Steve sighed. "No, actually he's been pretty quiet. As soon as our conversation lulled he fell asleep. I hope he's not sick."

"He's probably exhausted from jet lag and the trip in general. But I can take a look at him when you get here."

"Okay." Steve replied. "We'll see you in a few minutes." Steve closed his phone and looked back over at Jesse. He was still asleep.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888

15 minutes later Steve pulled into the driveway of the beach house, right on time. He turned off the engine of his truck and turned to Jesse. "Hey Jess, wake up. We're here." He said, shaking Jesse's shoulder gently.

Jesse woke up quickly, flinching at the light coming through the windshield as he sat up. "Did I fall asleep?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, you've been out for a good 20 minutes, most of the ride home." Steve answered.

"Oh I'm sorry Steve, that was rude of me. I didn't mean to fall asleep." Jesse said.

"It's okay Jess, I know you're tired." Steve said. "Come on, let's get inside, I know everyone can't wait to see you."

They walked inside and were greeted by Mark, Amanda and CJ. There were hugs all around. "Welcome home Jess." Mark said as he hugged his young friend. "We're glad you made it back safely."

"It's good to be back." Jesse replied, smiling as genuinely as he could. The throbbing in his head seemed to be getting worse by the second.

"We can't wait to hear all about your trip and the partnership." Amanda said. "You'll have to tell us all about it."

"Definitely," Jesse said. "It was pretty incredible."

"I imagine it was." Mark said. "Well, dinner is ready, Jess you can tell us about your trip over dinner. I made grilled chicken, salad and potatoes."

"That sounds great Dad." Steve said.

"Yeah, it does." Jesse agreed. He didn't have much of an appetite though, which was weird. He hadn't eaten anything since his bagel nearly 12 hours before.

Mark noticed Jesse's strained demeanor as they sat down. Jesse was pale, but his cheeks were flushed. He had dark circles under his red rimmed eyes. He seemed to be in pain too. Hopefully Jesse wouldn't be too stubborn and would let Mark take a look at him after dinner.

The dinner looked amazing, but Jesse was having difficulty eating. He just wasn't hungry at all, and the thought of food made him nauseous. He stared at his plate, shifting his food around. He didn't want to waste all that food, he hadn't eaten anything that looked that good in weeks. He took a bite of the chicken. It was delicious, but he felt instantly full. He kept cutting and moving around his food, hoping his friends wouldn't notice.

It didn't work. Mark was growing increasingly concerned, as were Amanda and Steve. CJ was oblivious as he devoured his food. Amanda exchanged a concerned glance with Mark. "So how's that jet lag Jesse?" Mark asked, trying to lighten the mood that had settled over the table.

Jesse forced a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess I look pretty rough. I'm just tired." He lied. Tired was an understatement. He was feeling worse. He just needed to sleep, that was it. But first he had to last through dinner and get back to his apartment.

"Is your head still hurting?" Steve asked.

"Oh, yeah, I do have a headache." Jesse admitted. "But I haven't gotten a lot of sleep, and I've been in the air a lot. I'll get a good night's sleep and I'm sure I'll be fine."

Mark wasn't convinced. Jesse's voice sounded weak and strained. "Well I can take a look at you after dinner before Steve drives you back to your place to be sure."

Jesse shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing Mark, I'm fine."

Mark decided to change the subject. "Okay. So, tell us a little about your trip."

"Yeah Jess, how was it?" Amanda asked.

Jesse smiled. Good, he could talk, that way they wouldn't notice that he wasn't eating. "It was incredible." He replied, perking up a little. "I met some amazing people and saw some things I'll never forget. And I think the partnership will be really good for Community General." He yawned.

"That's great Jess. Did you take a lot of pictures?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, on my digital camera." Jesse answered. "I'll have to get them developed." He yawned again, deeply.

"Well, why don't we get cleaned up in here and have some coffee and dessert." Mark said. "Jess, why don't you go in the living room and relax for a few minutes, we'll get cleaned up in here."

Amanda looked at her watch. "Wow, it's getting late. CJ has school tomorrow, so we should go."

"Mom!" CJ whined. "I don't wanna!"

"Too bad little guy, we have to. Now say bye to everyone."

CJ gave Jesse a hug. "Bye Uncle Jesse, I'm glad you're home."

"Me too CJ." Jesse replied.

Amanda gave Jesse a hug. "I'm glad you made it home safe Jess. Now get some rest okay?"

"Okay," Jesse replied. "I'll see you soon." He slowly walked over to the couch in the living room and sat down.

Amanda leaned over to Mark. "Keep an eye on him and let me know how he's doing tomorrow." She said softly.

"I will." Mark replied. "Hopefully he's right and it is just jet lag, but I don't know. There are some pretty bad illnesses that run rampant in that part of Africa."

"Yeah, well keep me updated." Amanda said. "I'll see you guys later."

Steve started on the dishes while Mark made some coffee. When they had things cleaned up he walked into the living room. Jesse had, of course fallen asleep. He was in a half sitting, half laying position on the couch. Mark gently lowered him into a laying position on the couch and felt his forehead. "He's pretty warm." He said as Steve walked into the room.

"Yeah?" Steve said. "That's not good."

"Well, I can't tell if he's running a fever or not. He may just need to sleep." Mark leaned down. "Jesse? Jess, wake up."

Jesse groaned and opened his eyes. "Did I fall asleep again?" he asked weakly.

"Yeah. Why don't you just sleep here tonight? You can stay in the guest bedroom. And I'm sure we have some of your clothes here so you can take a shower and change."

Jesse was too weak to argue. He slowly sat up and pushed himself into a standing position. He swayed slightly, and started to shuffle towards the guest room. Sure enough, he had some clothes in one of the dresser drawers. He grabbed a pair of boxers and a t-shirt and went into the bathroom.

He somehow managed to take a shower, but ended up sitting down for most of it. It felt good to be clean though.

He got dressed and crawled into bed. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

888888888888888888888888888888888

Oh no, what's wrong with Jesse? What could it be? I'll update as soon as I can! – KT