Chapter 10

A/N: I just wanted to dedicate this chapter to some amazing readers/friends of mine-my OC girls-Kyla, Kat, Jackie, Stace, and Eryn, who always take the time to read every chapter, encourage me to write more, and make sure I know how much they're enjoying this story. Love you girls!

There's lots more coming with this story! Hope everyone continues to enjoy and read

"Matt!" Jack's anguished scream echoed around the horrified group as Matt collapsed to his knees. Sprinting forward, Jack caught him before he hit the ground, easing him gently onto the grass. "Matt, Matt, stay with me, stay with me," Jack begged, frantically tearing off his shirt and pressing it to the wound. Kate was sobbing, hands plastered against her mouth, and Mia, tears streaming down her face, wheeled on her.

"Kate, stop crying, and go hold that t-shirt on the wound!" Mia snapped, forcing a deep breath into her lungs. "Jack, what do you need?"

Kate knelt next to Jack, shaking hands replacing his on the shirt, already soaking through with blood, and Jack instantly transferred his hands to Matt's face, streaking it with scarlet. "Matt, Matt, it's going to be ok," Jack chanted, and Mia grabbed his shoulder, squeezing hard.

"Jack, what do you need to save Matt's life?" Mia shouted, and Jack twisted his tear-soaked face to meet her gaze. She squeezed his shoulder again, this time to the point of pain.

"Needle, thread, gauze, any medical supplies you can find!" Jack shouted out, and Mia took off running.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Kate sobbed out, but Jack ignored her, frantically stroking Matt's cheek as he peered at the wound.

"It went in and out," Jack assured Matt. "That's good, that's really good." Matt gritted his teeth, back arching upwards as a scream of pain escaped his lips, an anguished sob slipping past Jack's. "I'm going to fix you, okay, I'm going to look after you, you're going to be fine…" The words spilled from Jack's lips in an unending hysterical prayer.

"Tell Jordan…love her," Matt gasped out, and Jack froze, fingers cupping Matt's sweat-soaked face.

"You tell her, you're going to tell her," Jack ordered, voice verging on complete hysteria.

"Love…you…" Matt breathed out, hands clutching at Jack's. Jack leaned down, with no hesitation, and kissed him, pressing his body back into the sand, relaxing his tensing muscles and seizing back, massaging Matt's clenching fingers between his hands.

"I love you too," Jack whispered, "so you hang in there, please. Please, babe, please." Matt's eyes suddenly, viciously, rolled to the back of his head, and his breath stopped completely, taking Jack's with it. "No, no Matt, don't you dare, stay with me!" Lowering his mouth to Matt's, Jack breathed into it, then laced his fingers on top of Matt's chest and pumped, choking out the count through his frantic sobs. Kate's wails cut through the air as she clutched at Matt's hand, keening back and forth, Jack never ceasing his frantic efforts on Matt.

"Don't you dare leave me, don't you dare leave Jordan, Matt, please, please," Jack sobbed out, now slamming his fists into Matt's chest, over and over. "Don't leave me, please, don't leave me." Mia came sprinting back, and froze, eyes refilling with tears as she took in the sight before her. Jack dropped his forehead onto Matt's, beginning through tears "Please, please" and slammed his fists into Matt's chest.

Matt's body suddenly arched, air shooting through his lungs, a gasp of shock jolting out past his lips. "Oh god, thank you thank you thank you," Jack sobbed, forehead still pressed against Matt's, lips kissing their way across Matt's face. Kate raised Matt's hand to her face, cradling it against her cheek, and Mia hurried forward, sliding to her knees next to the group. Matt's eyes closed again, but this time his chest continued to rise and fall with shuddering breaths.

"That's good, he passed out, he won't feel any of this," Jack said, voice still trembling, but less violently. He placed one last kiss on Matt's forehead before taking a deep breath and raising himself up, reaching for the materials Mia had brought.

****

Matt blinked, eyes taking a moment to focus on the cave roof directly over his head. Twisting his head to one side, he found Jack curled up against him, one arm thrown protectively over Matt's stomach. Reaching out a hand to touch his face, Matt felt a searing pain in his side, and curled up into himself, "Fuck!" shooting past his lips.

"Take these," Mia's voice said gently, placing two white pills in his hand. Slipping behind him, she helped him raise his head slightly, watching as he swallowed the pills with a small sip of water. "They're painkillers, they'll help a lot. We couldn't give you any before because they might have thinned your blood…plus, you were passed out, so the swallowing thing could have been a problem." She saw Matt glance down at his side, and smiled reassuringly. "Jack did an amazing job. The bullet went through and through, and missed any organs. He stitched you up before you lost too much blood. You've been out for a while though. I had to slip Jack some sleeping bills in his bottle of water so he'd get a little sleep. He wouldn't leave your side. Carried you here and then curled up right next to you."

"Hey, Mia, I didn't…I didn't mean…" Matt trailed off, his muscles still limp with exhaustion, his eyes flickering open and closed. "You're a good friend. Great."

"You too," Mia said with a soft smile, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "Please don't worry, ok? Just focus on healing up. Get some rest. Close those unfairly gorgeous eyes of yours. We haven't told anyone else what happened yet, so you can get some sleep before the barrage of well-wishers come streaming in your cave door. I'll be right nearby, and I'll come check on you soon."

"Thanks," Matt said gratefully, eyes already drifting closed. He heard footsteps retreating, and then a few seconds later, footsteps entering. "Back already?" No one responded, and Matt forced his eyes open, to find Kate standing hesitantly at the mouth of the cave, eyes welling full of tears, looking in at him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, leaning against the cold stone.

"Hey, c'mere," Matt murmured kindly, taking Kate's hand when she knelt next to him. "I'm not mad, ok? It was an accident. You're a good person."

"What I did…that got me arrested…" Kate started, but Matt squeezed her hand, stopping her.

"Hey, I know, and you don't have to explain anything to me," he said softly. "I'm just sorry for what I said."

"I'm not mad, ok?" Kate said with a relieved laugh, squeezing his hand back. "You're a good person." Matt smiled, his eyes starting to droop closed again. "Get some sleep, ok?"

Matt let his eyes close again, and within a few seconds was half-asleep. He felt Jack stir against him, and a smile spread across his face. He was about to muster up the energy to speak when he felt Jack spring up.

"Get the hell out of here," Jack practically growled at Kate, and Matt forced his eyes open to find Jack standing protectively over him, Kate having retreated back to the mouth of the cave.

"It's ok," Matt said, laying a hand on Jack's leg. Jack looked down, a grin spreading across his haggard face, his eyes softening.

"Don't worry about it, Matt," Kate choked out. "Take care of yourself." She fled out of the cave, and Jack's gaze was instantly back on Matt.

"Hey you," Jack said softly, a smile stretching up to his eyes as he knelt down, tenderly running a hand down Matt's cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Could be worse, from what I've been told." Leaning his face into Jack's hand, Matt kept his eyes on Jack's face. "Thank you for saving me."

"You scared me so much," Jack whispered, gently brushing the hair back from Matt's still-wan face. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I don't really remember much," Matt said quickly, eyes moving to a spot behind Jack's head. "Must have been the pain or something."

"You're trying to give me an out, aren't you?" Jack said with an affectionate laugh. "You're going to pretend you didn't hear me say that I love you, so I can take it back if I want." Taking a deep breath, he lay his shaky hands on each side of Matt's face, lowering his head until he was starting directly into Matt's eyes. "Well, you're not getting rid of me so easily. I was an idiot, such an idiot, but you went into shock, you almost died, and I love you."

"You like long speeches, huh?" Matt laughed, tears filling his eyes.

"Better get used to it," Jack grinned back, matching tears in his eyes.

"I think its sexy," Matt bantered back, eyes drifting closed as he fought to keep them open.

"You need to get some sleep," Jack whispered, laying back down next to Matt, wrapping careful arms around him. "I'll be here the whole time." Matt turned his head as much as he could, so it was resting on Jack's shoulder.

"So babe, huh?" Matt whispered, a grin spreading across his face as he let his eyes close.

"Is that not ok?" Jack said quickly, propping himself up on one elbow to study Matt's face. "I'm new to this kind of-this type-this-"

"I love it," Matt said with a broad smile, relaxing into Jack's shoulder. "I love you." His eyes closed.

"I love you, too," Jack said, a smile lighting up his eyes as he settled back down, nestling around Matt.