Chapter 12

John couldn't sleep at all that night. He just couldn't seem to think why someone would try to kill him...or Jenna. The last five hours had gone by so fast. After the doctors were able to extract the bullet from Jenna's leg and get her all stitched up, John made sure that she was with him.

He turned over on his side and looked at Jenna, who was sleeping peacefully with an IV in her arm and only a pillow separating them. John was still worried that Richard might try to hurt her again, or that Jenna might start using if she saw Richard again.

As daylight hit, John got off the bed and had to deal with putting the synthetic leg on. But he still wasn't going to leave his apartment. He sat back down near the desk, waiting to see if Maldonado was going to call in to ask him what had happened the night before. And he was right.

"Hey," Maldonado said as she came up on the screen. "Well, Richard's pissed and has a black eye and his nose is messed up. What happened-?"

Before she could finished her sentence, John moved his chair over so she could see Jenna. "He was at the bar harassing her. Sandra, those two have a history together...a bad one. I can't have her go near him...and I can't leave her." He took a deep breath. "If that happens, then she might start using again...and I can't let that happen.

Maldonado hesitated for a little bit. But she knew that John cared about this girl. "All right. But just for a couple of days, but then I need you back here."

He nodded and didn't say anything. Maldonado quickly exited the screen. He turned around and saw that Jenna was finally waking up.

"John...?" Jenna asked in a weak tone.

"Hey...hey I'm here." John said as he crawled back into bed and held her hand. He half-smiled as Jenna opened her eyes and looked at him. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

He nodded back. "I promise."

"What about Richard? Should I go talk to him-?" Jenna tried to get up, but the pain was still too much to bear.

"No, you are going to stay right here!" John coaxed her back to bed. "I'm not letting you leave, ok? And I'm going to make sure that he doesn't get anywhere near you. And if Dect. Paul wants to deal with me, then I'll let him deal with me. But right now, you have a busted leg. So at least let me take care of you."

She looked at him and nodded back. "Ok." Was the only thing she could think of at the time. Then she said. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I shouldn't have gone up on stage like that...I didn't mean for any thing to happen." Her eyes started to fill up with tears.

"Hey...what happened back at the bar was not your fault. You stood up for yourself in front of everyone there...and me." John couldn't hide his feelings any longer. He moved over closer and embraced Jenna, kissing her softly on the lips, wiping away her tears.

"John...I have to leave." Jenna said after their lips parted.

"What?" He gave her a weird look. "But why?"

Jenna shook her head, not looking at him. "I can't tell you."

He knew that something was going on. She wouldn't tell him why, and that made Dect. Kennex wonder if she knew the person that had been up on the roof the night before that had tried to kill them. He wasn't going to ask questions right now though because all her wanted to was rest and get better.