"How was your weekend?" Pauline asked as she and Zoe arrived at their house the same moment. The distance and a few days apart had done wonders for how amiable they were with each other.

"It was great! How was yours?"

"Fantastic! I got to ride, which was nice. How do you think Jess did? I totally forgot it was her birthday on Saturday."

"Oh my gosh, did we forget again!?" Zoe looked distraught. "That's awful! We should take her out tonight and make it up to her!"

"I'm game for that!"

"Jess! You home?" Zoe yelled as she came through the door. "Pippin! Take it easy! Yes! It's so exciting to be back! Geez. Here you go, crazy pup. Have your treat ball. Jess!? Stacy?"

"Maybe she's babysitting those kids?" Pauline said as she shut the front door behind her. "Stacy's coat is here though."

"GUYS!?" Stacy called, her voice tight and urgent. "We're up here! I need your help!"

"What's wrong?"

"It's Jess!"

Zoe and Pauline exchanged a concerned glance before kicking off their shoes and hurrying up to the second floor.

They crowded in around the bathroom door to see Stacy crouched over Jess, holding her hair back as the girl puked into the toilet.

"Ohhhh…." Zoe winced and Pauline made a gagging face.

"Stop staring at her! Get some water!" Stacy snapped.

"How long has she been like this?" Pauline asked, holding her breath and fumbling for a cup under the sink.

"I don't know, I just got home and found her lying on the floor crying, then when I tried to ask her what was going on, she started puking."

"Jess? You ok?" Zoe asked as the girl collapsed sideways away from the toilet and back onto the floor, whimpering.

Jess shook her head.

"Is it a flu bug?" Pauline asked.

"I don't know." Jess mumbled through parched lips. "Started feeling really weird yesterday. Woke up with really bad cramps. Thought it was my period early. Not bleeding though. Fuck my stomach hurts!"

"We should go to a hospital." Stacy said, "You're really sweaty and you feel way too warm, Jess."

Instantly, Jess shook her head. "No. No hospital. Probably just the flu or something…ow…owowowoww. Oh, please…not again."

Jess heaved herself up with a tiny cry and puked.

"You should just get looked at!" Zoe pressed. "You really don't look good!"

"NO!"

"Why not!?" Pauline exclaimed, irritated because she didn't do well with vomit or worry.

"Cause mom took me off the health insurance last week and I can't afford it unless I'm actually dying!" Jess howled, weakly wiping her mouth and curling sideways again, clutching her gut.

"You're kidding me." Stacy whispered as Zoe and Pauline stood in stunned silence. "What a bitch."

"Jess, it's ok. We'll figure it out! Let's just get you looked after, ok?" Zoe said coaxingly.

"No!" Jess wailed. "I can't!"

Pauline got a hard look on her face and she said matter of fact, "Look, if you're in that much pain, then-"

"I'm just being a baby! It's probably just the flu!" Jess growl whimpered. "I'm not going to the hospital for the flu."

"Pauline, help me get her up. She can't stay here on the flood." Stacy started trying to move Jess after wiping her face with a washcloth.

The girl resisted, shaking her head and weakly pushing their hands away. "No. I just need to stay still. Just let me stay here."

"You can't just stay here!"

"Yes I can!"

"We need help." Pauline muttered.

"We're adults! We can handle this!" Stacy snapped.

"We need adultier adults!"

"Stop using memes to communicate!"

"Guys!" Jess whimpered, covering her head. "Stop…stop fighting, please…"

"Let us take you to the hospital!"

"No!" Jess wailed, borderline hysterical now. "I can't afford it!"

Zoe watched for one more minute then marched out of the bathroom, into Jess's room, flipped on the light and located her phone.

She knew the keycode. Jess never changed it.

Hands shaking, and not knowing if it was the right thing to do, Zoe hunted for the number she needed and dialed while praying they were back from deployment. At very least, maybe they could talk Jess into getting some help.

Metal, Trent and Jason were at the gym, taking a break before another rigorous set when the call came in.

Scott spotted the caller id and frowned a little. Jess usually texted over calling.

He answered with his usual gruffness. "Hey, Jess. What's going on?"

"Hi, ah, it's actually Zoe." Said the voice on the other end. It was laced with anxiety and not the typical bubbliness he'd observed before.

"Zoe?" Metal's brow furrowed as he looked at Trent and Jason. "Where's Jess? What's going on?"

"Are you guys back from deployment, by any chance?"

"Yes?" Confused, Metal put the call on speaker and made a face at his brothers. Maybe second ears would help.

"Oh thank god. Look, I don't know if it will make a difference or anything, but she won't listen to us and she really needs to go and I thought maybe if anyone could get her to listen it would be you because she seems to really take anything to guys say to heart and-"

"Ok, just slow down a minute," Unease grew in his gut and he started grabbing his stuff, his brothers following suit when they spotted the shift in his posture and tone. "Jess needs to go where and why- what is going on, Zoe!"

"Jess is sick," Zoe blurted. "Like…really sick and she's refusing to go to a hospital, and we can't make her go, but I think something might be really wrong, and I didn't know what else to do-"

"What do you mean really sick?" Jason asked sharply.

"Fever, vomiting, stomach pain." Zoe didn't even question the new voice. "At first she said it was just cramps, then said it was the flu, but now she's puking a lot and says her stomach hurts really bad."

"That doesn't sound good," Trent muttered. "I knew something was off with her on Saturday…should have asked more questions."

"Why is she refusing to go to the hospital?" Metal asked sharply.

"Because," Zoe said darkly. "Apparently her psycho mom took her off her health insurance in an attempt to undoubtedly try manipulating her into moving back home and her dad can't afford to have her on his right so she probably won't even tell him. She's dead set against going unless she has no choice. She's scared she won't be able to pay the bill even though we told her we would figure something out."

"You gotta be fuckin kidding me." Metal sent the door of the building flying open with more force than necessary.

"I wish I was," Zoe said meekly in response to the anger of the man on the other end of the call. "Look…I know it's weird calling like this, but you guys seemed like Jess was kind of important to you and I know she was staying in touch while you were away so I was hoping maybe you guys could convince her to-"

"You did the right thing, Zoe," Jason told her, tone clipped and short. "We'll be there in less than twenty."

"Thank you!"

As the call ended, Metal was fuming.

"If I ever cross paths with that woman I'm making sure I have my shovel and a bag of lye."

"You and me both, buddy," Jason agreed, his tone tense and angry.

"I'll make sure no one ever knows it was us." Trent muttered.

"Let's just go see how bad things are and figure out burying bodies later." Jason growled. "If we're lucky, it's just a bad flu."

"Didn't sound like the flu, Jase."

"I know."

Zoe answered the door after the second knock. To say she was relieved to see the three huge guys on the porch was an understatement.

"Oh my god, I am so happy to see you guys! We don't know what to do anymore!"

She moved back to let them in as the young barking of a puppy carried from the crate in the kitchen.

"You called them!?" Pauline came around the corner, surprise and relief pouring off of her.

"Where is she?" Metal growled, setting Zoe's hair on end.

"Upstairs. We just got her back in her bed. Think she spent most of the day on the bathroom floor-"

The stone cold caveman that Jess somehow befriended was already halfway up the stairs.

Trent pushed past next with a quiet, "Excuse me."

Zoe looked at Jason helplessly and he indicated they were going to follow too while asking, "When did this start?"

"I don't know? A day ago, I think? But she's been kind of off for a few weeks, not eating much and not sleeping? I thought it was stress," Zoe talked quickly, stress coloring every word. "We didn't know what else to do! She wouldn't let us take her to a hospital and then after I called you she got worse really suddenly, and we would have taken her ourselves but we barely got her to her bed without her screaming and then that only left calling an ambulance but-"

"Details, kid," Jason's tone was clipped and almost impatient. "Stick to the important details. That's what you need to focus on right now. Is she throwing up blood? Can she keep anything down? When's the last time she ate or drank? How long has she had the fever? What side does her stomach hurt? Has she taken anything for it?"

Down the end of the hall Trent and Metal had already let themselves into Jess's darkened room and flicked on a light.

"Hey!" Stacy was next to Jess, spinning around with a wild look as she took in Trent and Metal. "What are you doing?"

"Here to see Jess. Zoe called us. Please step aside." Metal told her with bare minimum patience.

Stacy swallowed and did as she was told, moving into a corner instead to watch.

Jess whimpered slightly, but didn't open her eyes. She was alarmingly pale with sweat plastering stray hairs to her forehead and a permanent grimace on her face. Her breath came in shallow puffs and she was curled in on herself, full fetal position under the blankets.

"Jess, it's Trent and Scott. We're coming in, ok?"

She twitched her brow in response to Trent's voice and forced her eyes open a crack when she sensed someone nearing her.

"Trent?" Jess squinted at him, struggling to focus. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Well, they told me my favorite fellow nerd wasn't doing great, so I thought I better come see you." He spoke lightly, as if this was just a casual visit and not a potential emergency. "How are you feeling?"

Tears instantly sprang into her eyes and she curled in on herself tighter with a sob. "Not good…stomach hurts…really bad."

"Yeah, I can see that!" A hand brushed some of her hair off her face, lingering on her brow for a few seconds, checking the temperature. She was unbelievably warm. "Do you think you could let me take a look? Maybe I can help."

Miserable and only just on the edge of lucidity, Jess nodded a little.

"Ok, good! I'm going to need these blankets off first." Trent gave Metal a wordless instruction and the other pushed the mound of blankets off the girl. Jess whimpered in protest, shivering. "Now we're going to need you to straighten out, ok?"

Jess shook her head fretfully. "I can't."

"Yes, you can. Let's take it slow. Metal and I will help. Come on, that's it," Trent carefully unfurled her body with Scott's help and got her to turn onto her back. "There you go. Nice and easy."

The girl cried and tried to curl back up once she was straightened out.

"I know, I know, kid. Just one quick check and you can curl up again. Promise. I'm going to put pressure on your stomach, you tell me where it hurts, ok?"

Biting her lips, Jess nodded and clenched her eyes shut, muting a string of whimpers while Trent checked the different quadrants of her abdomen. He pressed in on the right lower side last and Jess sobbed pitifully as she tried to squirm away. That was all he needed to confirm his suspicions.

"Appendix?" Metal asked quietly.

Trent nodded, rubbing Jess's back sympathetically as she curled back in on herself. "That's what I'm thinking. Let's get going."

"I'll call ahead," Jason said from the doorway as he pulled out his phone and headed back out into the hall. "I think Naima is working today."

"You're taking her to the hospital?" Stacy asked hopefully.

"She's in bad shape and there's a really good chance it's her appendix, so yeah, we're taking her." Trent looked at Stacy without judgment, but also said with grave honesty, "She should have gone in long ago."

With a shiver, Stacy watched 'Full Metal' scoop Jess up and shush her with surprising gentleness when she gave another cry of pain. The girl just turned her face into the crook of his neck and shook with another silent sob as he carried her from the room.

"Where are we going?" Jess mumbled, not lifting her head.

"Hospital," Metal told her firmly.

In the hall, Jess's pitiful protest rang out, "I can't…I can't go…I can't affor- aw...owowowwow."

"Don't worry about that, right now." Metal said as he descended the stairs carefully, keeping his hold tight enough so that when she squirmed she didn't fall. "Let's get you taken care of, ok?"

"I don't want to go," Jess mewed. "I'm…I'm scared."

"I'd like to say you have a choice here, kid, but you don't get one on this." Metal told her firmly. Jess swallowed a half wail and made to push weakly at him. "Shh…no…don't do that. You're ok. It's gonna be ok, promise. Yeah? Look at me, Jess. Jess!"

Squinting at him, Jess paused in her panic spiral.

"You're ok. We're gonna take care of you. Don't fight us on this."

Jess sniffed and went limp again, curling in on herself and letting her head tuck down into his shoulder.

"Don't wanna fight you," She mumbled faintly as her eyes fell shut heavily.

"That's good," He said gruffly, as he settled her in his arms again and carried her through the door Jason held open for them. "You wouldn't win anyway, pipsqueak, unless it was a battle of the brains and the topic was plants. You got me beat there."

The ride to the hospital was tense and quiet. They took one vehicle. Jess was in and out of being aware of what was going on and she threw up once. They all silently agreed never to tell her that little detail if she didn't ask. Poor kid would feel bad enough as it was.

When they got there Naima had a team waiting for them, ready to take her.

As Scott moved to lay Jess down on the bed waiting for her, Jess suddenly grew aware again and her arms wrapped around his neck like a toddler not wanting to be put down after something scared them.

"No..nononono…" Jess whimpered. "I can't…"

"Jess, honey, it's ok," Naima stepped in, rubbing the girl on the back and speaking soothingly. "It's Naima. You're ok…let go…that's it. Just relax. I've got you."

Slowly, Jess loosened her arms and Scott pulled away, pausing to brush her hair back from her forehead with a big, calloused palm and taking her small hand in the other when a doctor started doing a similar check of her abdomen as Trent had. The woman wasn't as gentle, pressing down into the lower right and releasing quickly. Jess jerked with a half broken, screaming cry.

"Right. Let's get her to the OR." The doctor looked up at the three men and asked pointedly, "Brothers? Father? Uncle? If you're any of those you can come with her part way, but only one of you."

"Ah, Uncle- brother," Metal said at the same time Trent said 'brother' and Jason said 'father'.

Naima gave them all a pained, knowing smile as she tried to soothe Jess's mewing cries.

"Pick fast which one of you is going with." The doctor ordered briskly as the team started pushing Jess deeper into the hospital.

Panic kicked through Jess with the sudden movement and the first cry from her lips was, "Scott?!"

The man didn't even ask the other two before taking off and neither begrudged him for it. He'd found the kid first and was the one to bring her into the fold. Seemed only right for him to be the one with her now, not that either hadn't been prepared to go with her.

"He's right here, Jess." Naima said. "It's ok. Here, he's going to switch with me and hold your hand, ok?"

Jess felt the delicate, softer hand get replaced with a large, warm and rough hand on her own instead and she clung to it.

"I'm scared."

"I know." Scott's voice was more sandpapery than usual. "It'll be ok. You're in really good hands, and we'll be waiting for you when you get out, ok? Don't you worry about anything, got it? I've had surgery lots of times. It's a piece of cake. Naima's right here. She'll make sure you're looked after."

"I'm still scared," Jess whispered, rocking her head back and forth as she fought another wave of nausea.

"You're allowed to be scared. It's ok. Take a breath and listen? Everything will be ok. Do you trust me on that?"

Jess pried her eyes open and squinted at him, nodding.

"Good. Now, it looks like I gotta leave you now, but I won't be far and I'll be there when you wake up. Got it?"

"Ok." Jess whispered weakly, tears still pouring down her cheeks into her ears.

Unthinking, Scott leaned forward suddenly, paused to wipe some of the tears away with a rough thumb and then kissed the crown of her head. "You'll be ok. You're safe. All good people here."

Naima took his place and the medical team hustled off with his girl.

He wasn't sure when he'd started thinking of her as an actual sister or niece, or which it was, but either way seeing her like that gutted him.

"Ok," Naima's voice was gentle and kind near Jess's ear. "Jess, we need to prep you for surgery which means we need to remove any jewelry and clothing."

"Yup," Jess whispered, keeping her eyes closed and letting unnamed people strip her down and dress her again. She was uncaring of her dignity at this point. The world radiated with pain, nausea and her mind was tucked far away, like she was watching it all happen to someone else. Having Naima there, grounding her through all the man handling, was the only thing that staved off flashbacks to the last time she'd been in the emergency department.

Worst day of her life.

"Medications? You aren't on birth control or taking any supplements? There's no chance that you're pregnant?" One of the other nurses was asking.

Jess made a face and murmured through the haze of fear and pain, "No birth control. Still a virgin. Don't go for stuff like that. Never wanted to be with anyone I dated, especially after my drink got spiked-"

"That's ok, honey," Naima soothed when Jess started to over explain from sheer anxiety, "They got what they needed to know. Let's run through a few more, then they'll take you in and get you looked after."

"I don't have insurance anymore," Jess whimpered, suddenly opening her eyes and finding Naima's face. "Mom took me off it last week and-"

"We'll take care of it, sweetheart. Don't worry about anything. It's all ok," Naima brushed her hair back at the same time as placing monitors. "You're going to be ok."

The waiting room wasn't big enough, especially not for the agitated men squeezed into the too small chairs.

Ray showed up not long after Trent, Jason and Scott dropped Jess off, joining them and helping (or perhaps not actually helping because he was livid too) bring down the fury surrounding the situation. They were all out for blood when it came to Jess's mom and, no matter how much they could conceptualize why Jess hadn't told them, they were frustrated about it.

Brock, Clay and Sonny trickled in over the next hour, coming as soon as they heard how bad of shape the kid had been in. Their arrival and the questions that came with them only served to reignite the fire.

It was Clay who talked them down from being as frustrated with Jess, giving his perspective as someone who had a shit dad and understanding how hard it was to trust and rely on people again. In the end, they all had to admit that while they'd made significant ground with their girl, she still had a long road ahead when it came to learning what having a real family meant.

Jason paced the majority of the time, stalking back and forth with his arms folded. They left him alone for the most part, knowing how much he hated hospitals, especially since Alana.

"You're going to wear a hole in that floor," Ray said quietly, finally coming closer so they could talk.

"Good."

"She'll be ok."

"That's not good enough," Jason shook his head. "I knew…I knew something was up. Emma knew something was going on with her mom, something bad enough to give her a panic attack. Then Jess even hinted at wanting to talk about it sometimes, a little while back, and I didn't…I didn't follow up."

"This isn't on you, brother," Ray said, tilting his head compassionately. "If it is, then it should be on all of us. We saw hints and signs that something was breaking inside that girl. Hell, then with how skinny she's gotten while we were away and those dizzy episodes on Saturday? We should have dragged her to a hospital then and there."

"Yeah, well, we can't change that now, can we." Jason snapped. "You know, I still just wish she'd told one of us when she wasn't feeling well or mentioned what her mom did instead of bottling it up? The kid's been forced to be too damn independent without any real guidance from anyone at way too young an age and she shouldn't have to be. Look where it's gotten her? Practically starving at fuckin nineteen? These are supposedly better times for her? Bills barely getting paid? Still not eating right? Living in a house that's a security nightmare? Driving a truck that'll probably get her killed when the damn breaks fail or it blows up!?"

"I know, Jase. I know, ok? It burns me up too, man."

Jason fell silent and kept pacing. He wanted to break something, but that would get him kicked out and he didn't really want that.

"I feel…I feel like that's my own kid in there," Jason said in a quieter tone. "Like she should have been one of mine and the universe screwed up until now."

"I know that, too, brother." Ray smiled a little, "You think that you've been hiding it well? You haven't. Only one hiding it worse is Full Metal."

Glancing at their resident caveman, Jason had to agree, "Yeah, he does seem to have a bond with her like nothing we've ever seen from him before. I really pity the first guy she falls for."

They fell silent and Jason went back to pacing.

Naima came into the quiet, tense waiting room after what felt like hours. She looked exhausted and worried as she moved to hug Ray.

"How is she?" He asked for the rest of them.

"She's ok. It was close though, Ray. Really close. For a while there they weren't sure if they were going to get it out without it bursting. She's lucky." Naima rested her forehead into the kiss her husband offered. "She's on fluids and a unit of blood. Might need another. She's pretty anemic, which caused a few more complications that they're hopeful are figured out now. It also explains the lightheadedness and other symptoms she's had lately."

"Can we see her?" Metal was glowering at the vending machine, fists clenched as though he were about to put one through the glass.

"They told me she's in post care now. You should be able to see her within an hour."

The sound that dragged Jess to the edge of waking was not the sound of the voices she'd been promised.

Instead she was hauled up from the depths by the unshakable sense that something was wrong and that she was in danger.

Gradually she became aware of an annoying *beep* and the deep throbbing of her head. Then when she tried to move, every part of her body screamed at her.

"Oh, Jessica, darling, don't try to move. It's ok, sugar. I'm right here! Everything is going to be ok now."

Eyes snapping open instantly, Jess focused in on the speaker with an incredulous sense of dread and stunned, disbelieving panic.

"M-mom?!"