Present Day

Well at least her face wasn't gray anymore.

Tess had gotten out of surgery after a couple hours and had been out until the late afternoon, although he hadn't seen her when she'd woken because of course that was the one time he'd been cajoled by his brother to take a lap to get some coffee. She'd been out again by the time they'd gotten back, not in regular sleep like he'd thought but medically knocked out, by none other than Dr. Charles. Jay felt like the whole hospital had stopped by to check on her, and him, the longest visits being Mrs. Goodwin and Sam, the neurologist sharing his guilt that they hadn't taken the opportunity her migraines had afforded them to review her total health. But what was done was done and since she'd been out they'd run as many tests as they could. Physical and otherwise.

And of course Dr. Charles had also come by, to check on them and to lend his expertise when he'd learned her ulcer had been stress-driven, which was apparently not as common as people used to think it was. It had been luck that she'd been waking while he was looking in on her and after, in his words a short but very lucid conversation where she'd explained that she knew what had happened, not the ulcer but that she had pushed herself to her limit, he had put her back to sleep. Because she'd asked him to. Which was the only reason Jay had been okay with not getting to speak with her himself. Will had been more upset about not getting to examine her himself but once he saw he didn't mind his brother had relaxed; he knew what it meant for Tess to ask for more rest, that she knew how badly she needed it. And, if he was being honest, he'd appreciated having the time to process the message Dr. Charles had told them she'd asked him to pass on.

That their mom sounded exactly the way she'd thought she would.

That would have hit him regardless but after the conversation with Will it had felt like a hammer to the chest, except he'd never been hit with anything so warm. It made it easier when Tess didn't wake for the rest of that evening, or that night, like it was okay if she wasn't with him because his mom was taking care of her. Probably her own too. Every time he thought that he swore he could hear their voices which wasn't possible since he'd never met Tess's mother, or her father but he still felt like he had, like he just couldn't remember it. Given all the near death experiences he'd had, maybe they had visited him. It gave him peace to think so, and also made him laugh- Tess was vehemently opposed to religion, to the point where she called God a celestial dictator, so the idea of heaven was one she wasn't comfortable with. But being her she'd probably say it was an alternate dimension or something. And whatever it was he didn't care, so long as the next time she went there he was with her.

Jay knew it was hypocritical to hope she would never follow him, not to mention unlikely but he was focusing on addressing his guilt right now.

He could save that for another day.

Because he'd insisted Tess get a private room with a window he knew as soon as it was a new day and after the sun seemed to be fully up he begrudgingly got off the bed where he'd been curled up beside her to move back into one of the chairs. She always seemed to wake when he wasn't around so maybe a bit of distance would prompt her into consciousness. Hopefully because he really didn't want to go that far.

"Coffee?"

"I'm not-" He trailed off when he saw his brother was already holding two to-go cups, giving him a raised brow and a wry smile as he passed one over. "Thanks."

"I learned my lesson yesterday. She wake yet?"

"No."

Will took a deep breath, he was still getting used to what was normal for others not being what was normal for her but after a minute he nodded and sat down on her other side. "You are unusually okay with this situation."

He hadn't felt that way yesterday but he supposed no one would respond well immediately after thinking someone they loved had been poisoned. Or after finding out they'd actually just made themselves so sick with worry they'd sent themselves to the hospital. But after that…

He guessed he had been handling it well.

Maybe it wasn't as hard to change as he'd always told himself.

"I trust her. And you. And Ethan. She'll wake up when she's ready."

And would very likely take her time doing so.

Tess loved to test his patience.

When he caught her shifting with their voices he realized she was already close but when Will sat up he waved him back down; he was kind of starting to like this not panicking when she was in trouble thing. And even though it still felt strange Jay was starting to like that look his brother gave that he was pretty sure meant he was thinking of their parents. Not a comparison he ever would have made himself but it felt right. And sitting across from his brother in this hospital room sure as shit felt better than it had any other time. Didn't mean he wanted it to keep happening, but he could appreciate how far they'd come. Unfortunately he only got half an hour to enjoy the feeling before his watch started vibrating, one of Tess's upgrades, and when he pulled out his phone to check the notifications he had to smother a curse.

"What's going on?" Will asked warily, following his lead as he stood despite gesturing for him to stay where he was.

"Stay with her."

"Jay-"

"Stay. With. Her." He repeated seriously, until he knew his brother would listen. "Some prick is here to rub it in that she got hurt. So I'm going to deal with him. Okay?"

"Alright." Will acquiesced with a small, begrudging nod that got a lot more fierce when he looked over his charge.

Satisfied she'd be safe, and that there likely wasn't any real danger he hurried out to the waiting room, briefly surprised to find two large men perusing the magazines until he realized he recognized them. The bouncers from the Tomb. Liam hadn't been by himself yet but it wasn't surprising he'd want to make sure she was protected.

And his men could come in handy.

"We got trouble?" One asked as they both stood, immediately relaxing when he shook his head.

"We got a dick. My brothers in there-"

"I'll make sure no one bothers them." The second one said confidently, moving closer to her room while the other motioned that he would follow him, an odd feeling since he didn't know the man but he wasn't about to turn down backup.

Especially when they opened the doors that led to the hallway beyond and found Malcolm and some of his goons making their way towards them. The prick didn't even seem surprised to see him blocking his path, actually looked excited at the prospect of a fight.

Too bad Jay wasn't going to give him one.

Much of one.

"Get out."

"Last I checked this is public property." He answered with a grin, coming to a stop just shy of being within punching reach. "I see Donahue left you with some guard dogs."

"Woof." The man at his side said with a smirk, one he matched when Malcolm just sneered.

"You never were good at comebacks."

"On the contrary, I'm always down to cum on a bitches back." He replied with a pointed look over his shoulder and Jay hated that he couldn't hide it but he bristled at the implication. "How is yours doing by the way? I heard the poor little thing gave herself an ulcer. Looks like the stress is finally getting to her."

With a slow breath to calm the rage that he knew, and he didn't know how, he decided to dispense with the niceties. "I'm going to shoot you in whatever stump she leaves of your dick."

Well that caught his attention.

"Is that going to be before or after I make her my bitch?"

"You're not going to touch her." The man beside him cut in but Malcom ignored him, though his own backup didn't, a stare down that made it clear that whenever and however it happened they were going to have a hell of a fight on their hands.

But not between the two of them.

"Two shots." He said confidently, stepping forward until he was firmly in the former soldier's personal space, going so far that when he pointed his finger at the other man's forehead he was just shy of touching him. "One in your dick, and one right there."

Malcolm's eyes burned with the challenge but his next sneer didn't bother him. "Are you that out of practice? Or just getting old? Cause your aim is off lieutenant."

"You know I don't miss a shot." Jay responded evenly, so much they all straightened.

Because he wasn't pointing at the centre of his forehead, where any of them would line up their shot. He was pointing just to the left and he didn't know why but he knew it was right. That when the time came, that was where he'd be aiming.

And he'd shoot true.

"This may be public property but you're not welcome here, so get out before we run you off."

Malcolm's stare went dark, vicious and violent and they all prepared themselves for things to get physical but after an intense minute of glaring he just smiled and stalked out, his men doing the same as they followed him. And that was how he knew Tess was right that he wasn't working alone. Not because Malcolm wasn't smart enough to, he hated to admit it but he was, but because that hadn't just been rage or madness in his eyes but surety. There was a plan to hurt them and he was confident it was going to work.

Which meant he had to make sure that it didn't.