A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! You're all incredibly awesome. :D See the first chapter for the disclaimer. This chapter is a lot more of the comfort piece of the story. As always, I hope you guys enjoy this one, and please review.

Chapter Fourteen

Nicki's arms encircled her uncle's neck tightly, and she was very happy to feel his arms wrap around her back. She kissed him gently on the cheek, and he smiled, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

She lay down next to him on his better side, hanging onto him in the process. He pulled her closer, and she looked at him. "Am I hurting you?" she asked.

"You're fine," Jamie replied gently.

She nodded, resting her head against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I worried you," he said.

"It's not your fault," she replied. "You didn't ask for this."

He nodded sadly. "When did you become so smart?"

She smiled.

"Your mom said you were pretty upset," Jamie told her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Nicki shrugged. "It was hard seeing you… like that. I wasn't… I mean, my mom told me it was bad, but…"

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

She hugged him tightly. "I didn't have to come in. I wanted to. And I don't regret it. But it was hard."

He nodded, hugging her back. "I'm okay."

She picked her head up to look at him. "You're a bad liar, Uncle Jamie."

He shook his head. "You get more and more like your mother every day."

She smiled.

"Fine," he said. "I'm not okay yet, but I will be."

"I know," she said. "You have us."

"I know."

She nodded to herself, moving off his shoulder somewhat. "How's the pain?"

He shrugged. "Not as bad as it was when I woke up. Still hurts, but now it's also itchy, too."

"Don't scratch it," she warned.

"I know," he replied. "I've been told Aunt Linda wouldn't be too happy about it."

"I'm sure you'd figure out a way."

He smiled. "That's what I keep saying."

She smiled back. "I'm glad you're getting better, Uncle Jamie. I was worried about you. We all were."

"I'm sorry, honey."

"I know, but it's not your fault. It's theirs."

Jamie nodded stiffly. "Yeah."

Nicki noticed the change in his demeanor. "I'm sorry, Uncle Jamie. I don't want to make you more upset."

He shook his head slowly. "It's okay. It's gonna happen whether I want it to or not."

She nodded. "Do you remember a lot about what happened?"

He shook his head again. "Not much."

"Are you lying again?"

"No, sweetie, I'm not lying."

She turned to look him in the eye, and while she knew he was still lying to her, she decided not to call him out on it. Mostly because she realized that there had to be a good reason why he was lying, and that she might be better off not knowing that particular reason. She kissed him gently on the cheek in lieu of a response.

Yet, she noticed that he knew she didn't believe him.

Neither one spoke, though. Instead, they turned on the TV and settled into a soap opera, since it was the middle of the day and there was nothing else on.