Robert was sitting on the couch going through some papers when Jessie walked in. He looked at his watch and smiled. "I had fifteen minutes before I promised John I would go down and get you. You saved me a trip. You okay?"

"If I said yes, would you believe me?"

Robert looked her over. Her eyes were bright from the alcohol she had consumed, but she was still pale and the circles around her eyes seemed to be getting darker and deeper. "Nope, sorry kiddo. You look like something the cat dragged in...then back out...then back in again." He laughed, but he was only half joking.

Jessie laughed too. "Thanks. That's what I was going for."

"Jess, I just want-"

"Robert, please, I don't want to do this again...not now."

"It's not what I want either. I just want to tell you I'm sorry for what happened down there. What I said...I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She told him simply. When she first walked in and didn't see John, she thought maybe he had stepped out for a minute, but now she was starting to get the feeling that something wasn't right. "Where's John?"

"Sent him to bed after I came back up. He wasn't feeling well."

Jessie's heart sank. Was it something she said or did? She looked down at the floor, not wanting to see the truth in Robert's face if what she was thinking was true. "Was it because of me?"

"No, Jess, nothing like that. He's worried about you, but his not feeling well has nothing to do with you. John's body is just trying to tell him he's doing more than it's capable of right now and he needs to slow down. He'll be fine after some rest."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. John had a slight fever and his leg was bothering him. He bled through his bandage a little, so I helped him change it and gave him some Motrin and Percocet. He's been sleeping ever since." He took a deep breath and let it out, the image of John's thigh wound still fresh in his mind. "His thigh...what Langston did...he hurt him bad."

"He did," Jessie said quietly, thinking he had only seen one of the several ways Langston had hurt John. She felt guilty. Sure, Krieger had hit her in the head and Langston cut her wrist, but what they had done to John was much worse and all he wanted to do was take care of her. "I'm gonna go sit with him." She started towards John's room.

Robert reached for her arm as she walked by him and she stopped. "He's okay, Jessie, really," Robert reassured her. "Look, Joey will be here soon with-"

"He would do it for me, Robert. He has done it for me. I need to be with him when he wakes up."

Robert was hoping they could sit and talk for a while, just the two of them, but he saw it in her face that she was determined. "Okay. I'll let you know when they get here."

Jessie smiled. "Thank you."


Jessie tapped on John's door lightly. She didn't want to just walk in on him if he was awake. When she didn't hear anything, she opened the door and went in. There was just enough light in the room to see that he was still sleeping. Stepping up to the bed she reached out and touch his arm, then ran the back of her hand gently over his cheek. "I'm sorry. Please be okay." She whispered. Without taking her eyes off him, she pulled the desk chair over, sat down and waited. "I'm with you." She told him.


Robert heard voices outside the front door, so he stacked the papers he was going over and put them aside. When the door opened and Bailey and Sam walked in, he stood up to greet them. He hugged Sam and put his hand out to shake Bailey's, but Bailey hugged him instead.

"How's everything going, Robert?" Bailey asked him as the hug broke up.

Robert pointed to the pile of papers on the coffee table. "Just trying to get through some work stuff. I may get it sorted by next year." He joked, then seriously. "Its good to see you both. I know you have a lot on your plate at the VCTF."

"Family comes first," Bailey told him.

"Where is John?" Sam asked a little concerned. Knowing they were coming, she was surprised he hadn't been waiting for them. "Everything okay?"

"John's sleeping. He was up earlier, but didn't feel well so he went back to bed." Robert told them. He looked over at Joey. "Jessie didn't sleep at all."

"Great," Joey said miserably. He thought about telling Robert about the Provigil and how Jessie hadn't slept in the last two days, but he couldn't to that to her yet. He wanted to talk to her first. "I'll talk to her." He started towards the stairs, but Robert stopped him.

"She's not upstairs, she's with John."

"That's good, right? Being with John, maybe she got some sleep." Joey tried to sound hopeful, but deep down he knew better.

"Maybe." Robert looked at his watch. "Let's order some dinner and get them up. None of us have eaten since breakfast and I'm sure they want to see you both." He said to Sam and Bailey.

"What do y'all feel like for dinner?" Joey asked, knowing he would be the one to go out and get it.

"You did enough running around today, Joey, I'm just gonna order from the restaurant downstairs and have them bring it up. Does Italian sound good? Sam? Bailey?" Both agreed so he continued. "Okay, I'll take care of that. Joey, can you take their bags and bring them to the empty guest rooms?"

Sam smiled at Joey, as he picked up her bags. "Thank you."

"Have a seat, make yourselves at home." Robert told Bailey and Sam. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen and order dinner and see what else we might need. Can I get you a drink? Beer? Wine?" He pointed to a liquor cabinet across the room. "Or I can just bring you a glass with or without ice."

"I'll take a glass," Bailey said walking to the liquor cabinet.

"Wine sounds good." Sam sat down on the couch.

"Red or white?"

"White."

"White it is. I'll be right back."

Bailey sat down next to Sam. "John's fine, Sam." He had seen the worry in her eyes ever since Robert told them John wasn't feeling well. "You know, John, he doesn't know how to take it easy."

"I know. Thanks, Bailey."


Sitting in the dark, listening to John's quiet breathing, Jessie was finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes open. If she didn't do something about it fast, she was going to come down hard from the last couple days and that would not be good. She went into the bathroom, closing the door before turning on the light, so she didn't wake John and went to work. She tore a page from a magazine that was on the counter, laid an Adderall tablet on it and crushed it with a water glass. She then tore a small piece off the page, pushed the crushed tablet into a long, thin line, and then rolled it up. "Here we go." She inhaled the first half, stopped for a minute, then inhaled the second half. She closed her eyes and held the bridge of her nose, fighting off the sensation to sneeze. After the burning in her nose stopped, she went to the sink and splashed water in her face. "Now all you gotta do is keep it together." She told herself, went back out and sat back down in the chair.

When John stirred fifteen minutes later, Jessie felt like her whole body was vibrating. She watched him for several minutes, waiting for him to wake-up, but when she heard his breathing change too fast and unsteady, she knew he was dreaming. She reached forward, put her hand on his arm and squeezed gently. He settled a bit, then sat up quickly, breathing hard. "John?" She wasn't sure he was awake.

"Jess." John reached over and turned on the light causing both of them to close their eyes at the sudden brightness. He smiled when his eyes adjusted, happy to see her.

"Are you okay? You were dreaming."

"I'm okay."

"What were you dreaming about?"

John shook his head. "Don't know. It's the second time today though. I woke up feeling like there was something wrong. Like something bad is going to happen."

"Something bad already happened John." She said quietly

"I know. Are you okay?" He didn't like how pale she looked.

She just nodded and changed the subject back to him. "How's your leg? Robert said you weren't feeling well."

"Better. I think it was the stairs, that did me in. I haven't been using my crutches like I should be either. What can I say, I'm a rebel-"

"It's no joke, John," Jessie said angrily. She had sat and thought about it while he was sleeping and was going to tell him after the service, but she decided now was a good a time as any. "After Dad's service tomorrow I want you to go. I want you to go back to Georgia."

"What? Why?" John was confused. He did not see this coming.

"After the service, it'll all be over. You can go back home and get better. You can go back home and get back to your life. You can't do either of those staying here with me."

"So, I'm just supposed to go home and forget everything that happened?...forget what's happening now?...forget you? Is that it?"

Jessie didn't answer him, she just looked down at the floor and continued. "If you stay here...you'll get hurt. I can't watch something happen to you, John...I can't do it." She looked up at him. "Don't make me."

John patted the bed next to him. "C'mere." He told her and when she hesitated he took her hand and urged her forward. She gave in and sat next to him. "Now, look at me." When she looked at him, he could still see that lost, far away look in her eyes. "I'm not leaving you. I've lost so much time already...with Travis...with Dad...with you...I won't lose any more. I need this. I need to be your big brother."

Jessie leaned forward and put her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. "I just don't want to hurt you, John. I never want to hurt you."

John held her. "We're okay," he told her. "We will always be okay, no matter what."

Jessie nodded against him.

John leaned away from her so he could see her face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She told him but was wondering if she was the only one hearing her heart racing. Not wanting him to focus on her, she told him Bailey and Sam had arrived. "I heard them come in earlier. We should probably go out there."

John was excited to see Sam and Bailey, but he needed to make sure Jessie was okay. He put his hand on the side of her face. "Promise, you're okay?"

"I'm okay. We should go."

"Okay." John knew she wasn't okay, but he didn't want to push her. He moved his hand away and kissed her forehead as he stood up. He went through a pile of his clothes and pulled on a pair of jeans and changed his t-shirt. "Ready if you are." He told her.

"Crutches, John." Jessie pointed to them as she stood up.

"Thank you for reminding me. Bailey would be all over me if I walked out there without them."


Robert smiled when he saw John and Jessie coming down the hall and was especially happy that John was using his crutches. "Hey, look who's up."

Sam and Bailey got up and met John halfway into the room. Sam hugged him first, then Bailey.

"How do feel?" Bailey asked looking him over.

"Better," John told him. "I'm okay, Bailey."

Sam reached up and touched his forehead. "Robert said you had a fever."

John smiled and held her hand when she moved it away from his forehead. "I'm fine, Sam, really. It was nothing."

Jessie started to move away, thankful that their attention was on John, but Bailey caught her movement and stopped her. He turned so they were face to face and his brow furrowed for a split second when he looked her over. She had looked much better the last time he had seen her, in the hospital, but he smiled anyway. "You think your getting passed me without a hug?" He opened his arms to her and she walked into his embrace. "It's good to see you, Jessie."

"Thank you for coming, Bailey." She looked over at Sam. "Thank you both for coming."

Sam smiled back. "We're here for all of you, for whatever you need."

There was a knock at the door and they all instinctively turned towards it. Robert stood up. "That's dinner. I'll get it." He opened the door to three hotel restaurant employees carrying bags of food. He pointed them straight ahead. "There's a dining room through the kitchen. Can you set everything up there, please." He looked around at everyone. "Alright everyone, let's go eat while it's hot. There's stuff to drink set up on the counter in the kitchen, so grab something on the way in. There's plenty in the fridge too, if you don't see anything you want on the counter. Help yourselves to whatever you want, okay." He watched as everyone filed into the kitchen, but noticed Jessie and Joey hanging back. "You two coming?"

"Yeah, just need a few minutes," Jessie told him.

"Everything okay?" Robert asked looking between the both of them.

Jessie just nodded, so Joey answered for them. "Everything's fine, Robert, go eat."

As Robert walked into the kitchen the three restaurant workers were walking out, so Joey showed them out and thanked them. He walked up to Jessie and kissed her cheek.

"You're brooding, Joe. What's wrong?"

"I'm not brooding. I'm worried, there's a difference." Joey said matter-of-factly.

"Fine. What are you worried about then?"

"Robert said you didn't sleep today...after we left this morning."

"So, I wasn't tired. I guess I got a second wind." Jessie took his hand. "Please, don't worry about me okay. I'm good. I have Robert and John to worry about me...to hover over me and watch my every move, I don't need it from you too." She moved closer to him and put her other hand on his chest. "I need you to just be with me...and to understand and trust me. Please."

Joey couldn't take the pleading look in her eyes. Everything else he wanted to say just went away and he hugged her tight. "I just don't want anything else to happen to you, Jess."

"I know." She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. "Thank you for the last few days...for taking care of me...for putting up with me and my craziness."

"Jess-"

"No, I need to tell you. You need to know how grateful I am...how lucky I feel to have you with me. I love you, Joey." She told him. "More than I can ever say or show you."

He smiled and pulled her into a hug. "I love you too." He ran his fingers through the back of her hair, then leaned back so he could see her face. He put his hand on her cheek, moved his thumb gently across her lips, and kissed her long and slow.

After several minutes Jessie gently pulled away. "We should go in. Robert's gonna come looking for us if we stay out here much longer."

"Huh, that's a switch." Joey smiled and winked at her. "I want to take you upstairs and you want to go eat."

"Trust me, it's not what I want. I'm not even hungry, but I think Robert will have a cow if we don't go in there. Did you see all the food they brought in?"

"Yes, and it smells awesome."

"Okay then, let's go."


Tbc...