Hi, again :) This week I'm back again with a new, short chapter for you ;) Hope you'd like.

1 October, 2011

He blindly reached his hand out toward the bedside table as instead of say a word, quiet growl left his lips and he realized there wasn't even a one droplet of saliva in his mouth. He was dry like a well on the desert and he even didn't has a strenght to lift his finger, let alone to go to the bathroom and drink a water from the washbasin. Unless...He knew there should be somewhere a bottle of water or at least a glass with something to drink, if he didn't forget to leave it before he has crashed on the bed and forgotten about whole world.

'You're searching for this?' The cheeky, annoying voice rang somewhere above him, making him dig out from the coverlet he has been completely hidden. He growled as his head left the safe and dark space only to be met by accurate light and a little figure standing few feet away from him, in hand waving a small bottle of water. His redemption. Little smartass, he thought annoyed and reached his hand out toward her.

'Give it to me.' He ordered with hoarse voice, not in mood for any games.

'You look like shit.' She suddenly announced with deadpanned face. 'You should take a shower. I'm sure you're stinking.'

'Sylvia, give me my water back.' He said firmly, annoyed. 'You really don't want me to get angry.'

'If you didn't drink so much last night, you wouldn't need this.' She stated with a cheeky smile and he felt a big urge to push her down the stairs. 'You have funny hair. They're all standing.' She giggled slightly.

'Fine, you're asking for it…' He growled and pushed his legs down the bed to sit. He was pulling out the coverlet from his body, when Sylvia panicked and simply threw the water toward him, hitting him straight on the nose. 'For fuck's Sake!' He yelped with pain and grabbed his face in hands as he laid flat on the bed, while the girl squealed scared and moved away from him, before he had a chance to get her in his hands. 'You could broke my nose!' He yelled and looked down at his hands to check if there was any blood on them.

'And you could stay in bed!' She cried with a shrink voice. 'I'd give you back this stupid water!' He gritted his teeth together as he looked heavily at her.

'I swear, one more thing like that and I'm taking you back to your grandma!' He warned and gently massaged the rib of his sore nose. 'Jesus! And why it's so much light here?' He scowled, looking around the room.

'It's almost noon.' She replied quietly with a sad face.

'So?' He asked taken aback, didn't understand what kind of explanation was that. 'Just don't come to my bedroom, when I don't say you to do it, you understand? And don't touch anything, here!' He growled and unscrewed the bottle.

'Fine.' She rolled her eyes. 'If you want you can sit in darkness, I don't care.' She scowled annoyed with his outburst.

'Cool.' He muttered and wiped his face with a hand before set his eyes again at the little girl and looked at her closely. 'By the way, how did you manage to get here?' He asked suspiciously, realizing she didn't has rights to be here. At least not until he'd take her back from Darren's place.

'You gave me they keys.' She reminded him. 'You said, you not always would be able to pick me up from the school and the day room isn't open long enough for me to wait for you there in case if you have to stay longer in work.'

'Well, yea, maybe I said that.' He muttered and scratched his head. 'But still you should stay over uncle Darren's house, not coming back to home on your own. Next time do what I say.'

'It means you'd let me to keep the keys?' Her face lightened up.

'Only in school. When you'd be in home, you'd give them back to me.' He replied and reluctantly stood up. 'Okay, I'm going to take a shower.'

'Okay…So did you have a nice night?' She asked with curious and threw herself on man's bed as he moved toward the wardrobe to remove clean clothes.

'You can say that.' He replied shortly and looked critically at the pair of dark jeans.

'And that's all?' She cocked her eyebrow, quizzically. 'I heard you saying it'd be yours the best night out.'

'It doesn't mean I'd share with you all details.' He snorted. 'Don't you have nothing to do? I bought you board games, didn't I?' He glanced briefly at her above his shoulder.

'And with whom I'd play?' She rolled her eyes annoyed before she looked at the bedside table and with a small smirk reached out for lying there book. 'With myself?'

'Watch TV or draw something. I don't know.' He shrugged off and pulled back from the wardrobe to grab the blouse from the violet armchair standing in the corner of the room.

'You're just trying to get rid of me!' She complained and opened the book.

'How did you guess?'

'Just got that vibe from you.' She replied with a growing smirk as her eyes stopped at the bottom of the page. 'Who's J. McQueen?' She cocked her eyebrow.

'Who?' He quickly turned around on his heel and frowned as he noticed a book in her hands. Crime and punishment. And then he remembered. 'Oy, give it back to me!' He snapped as a pair of crystal blue eyes appeared in his head. 'What I told ya about touching my things, eh?'

'It's just a book!' She scowled and put it back on the table with a roll of her eyes. 'Why are you so nervous? Besides I think I know J…'

'Just find something to do, okay? I'm not going to tell you about my night off with Darren and explain you who I met at the party. It's not your business!' He said annoyed as he moved toward the door.

'It's everything you wanted to say?' She asked bluntly with arms crossed against her chest.

'There's only one more thing I want to say to you.' He replied as he took a step back and lifted his forefinger with a heavy look. 'Get out of my bed!'

3 October, 2011

'Does she need to stay at hospital?' He asked with a small voice as he looked toward his little girl sitting at the small table behind the glass, drawing a picture for him. His heart was aching and he wanted to cry of helplessness.

'Well, that would the best for both of you…But seeing how good care she's getting from you, I think it's not necessary, yet.' The doctor replied and put his hands down at the table. 'I think you should be proud of yourself, Mr…'

'Spike.'

'Okay, Spike… Like I said you should be proud of yourself. Normally kids with such a large heart defect don't live even two years, while your daughter is already four. Besides she's in good shape as for her health condition.' He knew it should help him feel better, but it didn't. He was losing her, regardless of what he'd do and he just could watch and wait what future would bring for both of them, and have nothing to say. It was so unfair.

'But recently her condition worsened. And we both know what that means.' He said quietly and looked at the doctor, afraid that if he kept watching his little bunny, he'd burst in tears.

'She needs a new heart.' He replied simply like it was so easy to get one, like they were growing on every fucking tree.

'I know that since she born.' He said annoyed. 'She's already on the list…'

'She needs it now.' He wanted to argue to express his annoyance with the health system, but as his lips opened in need to say anything, no words came from them. He felt like someone just hit him on the head and take the whole air from the room. 'I already moved her at the top of the list.'

'It's very serious...' He muttered, suddenly realizing the seriousness of the situation. It was her the last chance.

'Yes, it is.' He admitted with a slight nod of his head, his eyes staring back at him with sadness. 'We really don't have too much time and I need to warn you, that her health condition might diametrically worsen during the next weeks.'

'How much?' He asked with steady voice, although he was all shaking inside, his vision blurred because of the tears gathering in his eyes. He was losing her.

'Sorry?' The doctor asked confused, at first didn't understand his question.

'How much time left for us, if we don't get the heart.' Everything was screaming in his head, didn't want to let him think about that, to accept brutally truth, but he knew he needed to know that. To prepare himself for the worst…if he ever could do that.

'A month.' The sentence has been passed an there was any chance of appeal.

'A month?' He repeated with hollow voice, with hope he heard wrong, but the doctor's full of sympathy look left him without any illusions. 'But she looks fine.' He stuttered.

'But her heart doesn't look fine.'

'Is there anything I can do for her?' He asked with broken voice.

'Spend with her as much time you can and keep going with what you do so far. Just keep her happy.'

'She's my everything…' He said in small voice as his eyes slide back toward his little Jasmine laughing sincerely about something, unconscious of her true condition and her fate...Sometimes he wished he couldn't know it either.

3 October, 2011

She understood he could be tired after all day with a bunch of kids, but today he was exceptionally highly irritable and was doing everything to piss her off since he has come back to home. He not only was ignoring her all the time, but even didn't think about offer them something to eat!

'I was working for all bloody day 'Chaela, when you were shopping!' He scowled at her on his way to the bathroom.

'You don't have any idea how exhausting it can be!' She called after him, annoyed.

'Especially on high heels!' Mercedes added from the kitchen with a phone pressed to her ear as she decided to order a pizza, before they'd die of starvation.

'You always could wear sneakers.'

'And you could shut up!' She snapped and pulled her face out. Sometimes he was so annoying!

'John Paul, where do you have my book?' It was Jackie turn to speak up as she has left his bedroom and began pounding on the door of the bathroom. 'Jonathan need to read it for the next week.'

'It should be somewhere in bedroom.' Came the suppressed voice.

'I was there and didn't find it!' She scowled. 'Can you take the shower, later? I really need it.'

'Check my purse. It's somewhere in wardrobe.' It was everything they got in back before the cascade of water overpowers everything.

'Little brat!' Jackie for the last time treated the door with her fist. 'Come on, Michaela. You'd help me.' She suddenly ordered as she stopped in front of her with hands on her hips and dangerous gleam in her eye.

'I'm watching my favorite talk show.' Michaela replied with a smirk. 'But Mercy is free.'

'And you're the youngest.' Jackie stated and unceremoniously turn off the TV. 'Move your ass, 'Chaela.'

'Oh, just great! So John Paul lost your book, but it's me who needs to find it! Where's the logic, here?' She scowled as she unhappily raised up from the couch.

'It's funny you're asking. It was always you never using logical thinking when you came up with something.' Jackie smiled slyly, clearly pleased with herself.

'Why everyone are always picking up only on me?' She moaned and reluctantly followed her the oldest sister at the same time as the sharp sound of the doorbell rang in the flat. 'They already deliver pizza?' She looked quizzically at Jackie.

'It's very unlikely.' She stated and nodded at the door. 'Go on, open the door. Maybe it's someone to John Paul.' She ordered and keep moving toward the bedroom at the end of narrow corridor.

'I'm coming!' She shouted annoyed as the bell rang once again. 'Yea?' She opened the door and cocked her eyebrow as her eyes stopped at the short, skinny man in a suit with a dark hair shuffling nervously on his feet, in hand instead of the box of pizza, he was keeping some book. 'Sorry, but we don't have any book to give you.' She blurted out and was ready to close the door, when she noticed the man's fingers on the jab.

'I don't collect books!' He scowled, almost offended as with shocked face he looked back at her.

'Well, whatever you're collecting, I'm sure we don't have it! And if there's any chance you're Jehovah's Witness, you can kiss the door from the other side!'

'Oy, wait! I'm not Jehovah's Witness. I'm Craig Dean and…'

'So?' She came into his word, annoyed. 'You can call Prince Harry and still I won't buy anything from you or let you come in!'

'Would you just shut up and let me say something?' She opened her mouth shocked, couldn't believe he had an audience to speak to her like that! What a cheeky twat!

'Look, Mr. Shorty, I think I said it clear enough for you to understand…' He gritted his teeth together.

'I'm searching for Jacqueline McQueen!' He came into her word, feeling it'd be the only way to shut her up. 'We met at the party last Friday and she left there a book.' He added calmer and showed the confused young woman the book he was keeping in hand. 'I'd like to give it back to her and I wouldn't mind to talk with her.'

'She wasn't at any party last Friday.' She frowned. 'You have to mistake her with someone else.'

'Trust me, I know with whom I spent all fucking night!' He snapped, red on the face. 'Now, the question is if it's her flat and she's inside.' She kept watching him unmoved. 'If you don't believe me, ask her! She has to remember Craig Dean.' He said firmly, didn't believe someone would be able to forget him. There was some rumor inside the flat and the door shut close somewhere near them.

'But she didn't go anywhere, only…' She frowned and then smiled slyly as she looked behind the door and her eyes shone with excitement. 'So, you're saying it was last Friday?' She casually leaned against the door.

'Yes.' He confirmed, pleasing her. 'Something's not right?'

'No, it's just, you see…' The rest of her words turned into moan as she suddenly has been pushed away and another women with a dark hair tied in ponytail stood in front of him with unpleasant face, suddenly cooling his all efforts.

'Jacqueline isn't in home, right now. She's off with her friends.' She informed with unfriendly voice, her dark eyes looking coldly back at him.

'Oh, that's really shame, but maybe next time I'd be more lucky.' He said cheerfully, trying to mask his nervousness. 'If it's where she's living, now.'

'Yea, it's her flat.' She nodded slightly and moved her eyes at the book. 'You can give me the book and I'd tell her when she comes back you were asking for her.' She suggested. 'You can leave your phone number, if you want.'

'Well, to be honest I'd like to give the book to her own hands.' He said, feeling the wave of courage flowing through his body. 'It's not like I don't believe you'd give it back to her, but I'd feel better and sure if I'd give it her, personally.' He explained himself, catching her hard look.

'I think she really needs this book.' She insisted.

'And I believe she can wait one day, then.' He retorted with a small smile, noticing a ghost smile on woman's hard face.

'In that case, why don't you come in, Mr. Dean? I'm sure Jacqueline would be back soon.' She opened the door widely and moved aside with a forced smile to let him know he's welcome to come in.

'Ah, you're so kind.' He grinned slightly and happily came inside with a thought that maybe that day wasn't lost, yet.