Jamie walked forward slowly. It was clear he was afraid he was interrupting something.
"Jamie!" I said immediately straightening up from my moping position. I wiped what was left of my tears away and brushed my hair away from my face. Then plastered a fake reassuring smile on my face. I had to be strong for Jamie.
He made his way over to beside my cot. "Hey Kid," Jared said.
Jamie stood there; I think he was afraid to touch me. I felt bad; I must look horrible to him. "Hi guys, how are you feeling Wanda?"
"Much better," I thought I saw Jared smirk at my attempt at lying. Jamie nodded. His arm reached up like he was going to touch my face and he lowered it again.
"I'm sorry Wanda. I can't believe Kyle would hurt you like that." He said quietly. He studied my face for a moment longer.
"Come here." I said stretching my arms up. Jamie climbed up on the very crowded cot to give me a hug. Jared moved over to make room. I held him for a few minutes. I needed to hold him and make sure he knew everything would be alright. I needed his warm body in my arms for those few minutes. Jared watched affectionately.
Eventually Jamie pulled away, he knocked my arm by accident as he attempted to get off the cot and I flinched. "Oh sorry! Wanda, sorry, sorry, didn't mean it. You okay? Sorry." He repeated himself several times while I composed myself. I chuckled
"Fine Jamie, relax." I replied with a weak smile. Everything hurt all the time anyways this wasn't much of a change.
"Are they almost finished up?" Jared asked Jamie. I assumed he was asking about the tribunal. Like it was meant as an answer, we heard two sets footsteps coming down the tunnel.
Ian and Doc emerged in the entrance to the hospital moments later.
"So?" Jared asked a little impatient.
"I tried my best Jared but the death sentence didn't go over. Jeb is getting to soft. Maggie and Sharon along with some of the others that are on Kyle's side put up a good fight. It was split right down the middle, but in the end it's Jeb's house. He's kicking Kyle out tonight. He said he won't have a rapist living in the cave no matter his motives; but he won't let him leave till it's dark and he has a chance of getting somewhere safe before getting caught. Jeb has too much of a heart to kill Kyle."
Jared let out a growl. "Fuck that. I'll do it myself," he said, as he got up angrily.
"Don't you think I thought that too?" Ian replied calmly. "Jeb said if we did, we'd be gone too." Jared contemplated this for a minute and for a moment I thought he was going to do it anyways. He then looked over and me and Jamie and I knew he wouldn't. Maybe he thought he had too much to stay for.
Doc came over to check on me while Jared struggled with his internal moral battle. "Alright everyone—well no just Jamie out." He ordered.
"What? why?" Jamie whined.
"I have to check Wanda's stitches. You wanna watch?" He teased.
"Oh fine. I'll see you later Wanda." He left mumbling about how he misses everything.
"Anyone else want to leave?" Doc asked before examining me.
"No," Ian and Jared answered together.
"Fine. How are you feeling Wanda? The truth don't sugar coat it." He asked softly.
I knew there was no reason to lie without Jamie here. "The stitches burn. Everything else hurts. It seems to be a bit better if I don't move, but basically everything hurts." I replied honestly.
"And that is why he should die." I heard Ian mumble. He was sitting on the ground beside Jared across the room. I chuckled because they looked like pouting puppy dogs that didn't get their way.
"Not funny Wanda," Jared complained. "No one should have to go through what he put you through." His face was serious again.
I ignored him and glanced back at Doc. "I'm gunna have to take a look, alright Wanda?" His expression seemed to be apologizing and asking permission all at once. I nodded and lay down. He moved the shirt up and poked around a bit. I winced at every touch. You're healing well. I can't do anything about the burning sorry; we don't have anything to give you. You won't be leaving this bed for a few days but you'll be alright Wanda. If I can do anything let me know." He smiled and pulled my shirt back down. "Someone needs to get you some real cloths. Are the ones you were wearing before any good?" I shook my head no, thinking about how they had been torn in the process. "I'll go see if I can get something from one of the girls," He replied. "Boys keep an eye on her, she can't leave this bed. Got it?" He gave me a stern look.
Ian, Jared and I all nodded. "K." Jared said as Doc left.
"If no one's gunna let me go anywhere I'm going to get bored!" I complained.
"No you won't we'll come visit you all the time. Or just never leave. We'll be bored together," Ian said cheerfully.
"Ugh." I replied. Doc returned a few minutes later with some gray comfy looking sweat pants and a black t-shirt. "Thanks Doc." I said cheerfully. I put them on, as the guys looked the other way. I thought about how odd it was that I was so comfortable with three men here, probably more comfortable than I would be with the girls in the caves.
We were all sitting around chatting, finally relaxed a bit after all the stress we had been under. I was finally feeling a bit better. I had taken a short nap and could now think straight. Jared came over to fluff my pillow for the umpteenth time and he brushed my shoulder in the process. At his touch Mel finally stirred in my head. "Mel! You're back!" I exclaimed, lost in my own little world.
"Wanda? What happened? Where have I been?" She started skimming through my memories of the past day or two.
"WHAT! Oh my god. Wanda…I'm so sorry… Are you okay? Ouch stop moving around that hurts"
"I'm not moving and I know it hurts. We're in a lot of pain."
"I'm gunna kill him." I laughed at the amount of people who had said that recently as Mel started mentally showing me all the ways she would painfully murder Kyle.
Everyone looked over at me and this brought me back to reality. Apparently this wasn't the correct time to laugh in the conversation we were having.
"Sorry…Internal conversation. Mel's back." I exclaimed, trying to put an end to their confusion.
"Great." Jared said making his way over to my cot.
"Hey babe. Welcome back." He smiled down at us and gave me a kiss on my forehead that I knew was meant for her.
"Wow things have changed with him." She took note of Jared's changed of heart and began skimming my memories for when that had happened. She found it and smiled.
"Tell him I love him."
"She loves you." I told Jared. He was beaming.
"Love you too Babe." He replied with a grin that seamed to go for mines.
Just then we heard someone approaching from the south tunnel. Everyone looked up to see Kyle standing there.
The good mood ended abruptly and all smiles fell. Jared, Ian and Doc all leapt to their feet. Mel wanted me to walk over them and kill him myself; before I reminded her we could barley stand.
"How dare you show your face in here!"? Ian roared moving towards his brother furiously.
"Kyle, get lost." Doc looked at him with disgust.
"GET THE FUCK OUT. NOW." Jared spat.
I cringed away from him; just his face brought it all back.
A touch, a smack, a tear, a scream.
It was replaying in my head all of it. Jared was still standing fairly close to me and reached for my hand.
"S' okay." He said reassuringly.
Kyle took in the scene. "I can't believe you're protecting it." He laughed. "You've all lost your minds."
There was a loud smack and I saw blood gushing out of Kyle's nose. Broken again by Ian.
Then Jared was across the room in a flash. He kneed Kyle in the groin with all his might and gave him a smack of his own across the face.
Kyle let out a yelp and bent over in pain.
"Fuck Jared!" He whined, mostly complaining about being kneed.
"I hope I broke it. Next time think before you stick it somewhere it doesn't belong." Jared spat.
"Now get out." Ian insisted.
"Hold on. I'm leaving in a few hours and I just wanted to say goodbye to my brother." Kyle pleaded.
"You're no brother of mine," Ian replied making his way back over to me and away from his brother.
"Fine then. Love you too Bro. I'll try not to get myself killed. You should do the same. You could start by staying away from the parasites." He looked over at me and gave me a wink. That was the final straw. Jared gave him another smack and hauled him out of the room with the help of Doc.
Ian came over to sit beside me on my cot. "He'll never touch you again. No one will. Not as long as I'm alive. I'm here for you Wanda."
"Thank you, Ian. You're too kind."
"If you ever want to talk about it, what happened in that cave. I'll listen." He assured me.
I thought about reliving it and figured I wasn't ready yet. "Thanks Ian, I can't think about it yet, but when I can it might be better to share with someone. I'll let you know how I feel down the road."
"K." Ian pulled me close in his arms and I felt totally and completely safe. Melanie allowed it because she knew it was what I needed right now. I would always feel safe in these arms. No matter what kind of danger I faced I knew Ian would always be there and I loved that about him. In a few months this would all be behind us and we could move on with our lives. But for now Ian was here. Ian was holding me. And right now, that's all I could ask for.
He leaned over to give me a kiss on the forehead. I smiled up at him and I knew that he would always be here for me. In that moment, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of happiness for the first time in days.
I'm going to do one more chapter, the Epilogue and that will be it for this story guys. Review; let me know what you think. I love reviews; they're my favorite part of writing. I had fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it.