During the time between the last chapter Jessy and Zack spent a lot of time talking and getting to know eachother.
*two months later*
*Zack's POV*
I woke up to find Jessy, who was still asleep, holding onto my arm with her head on my shoulder. 'guess I'm not getting out of bed'. I tried my hardest not to move so I wouldn't wake her. After a while her soft snores turned to small whimpers and she tightened her grip on my arm.
Soon her whimpers grew louder and she dug her nails into my arm. "Jess," I said as I shook her gently, "Jess wake up baby," she didn't wake up and her grip became tighter. "Jess!" I said more frantically. Finally her eyes flew open and she gasped as if she hadn't taken a breath in hours. "Zack!" She breathed before wrapping her arms around my neck. She burried her face into my chest and began to sob.
"It's okay baby," I said as I gently rocked side to side in an attempt to calm her down. We sat like that for atleast ten to fifteen minutes before she was calm enough for me to talk to her. "Do you want to talk about it baby?" I asked. She shook her head violently. "Okay," I whispered, "that's fine. Do you want to take a bath and try to relax?" She nodded so I scooped her up and headed to the bathroom.
I set her down on the sink, started the water for the bath, then turned my attention back to her. Being in the light for the first time, I noticed that her usually tan skin was pale white. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked. She shook her head and began to slouch forward.
I caught her, set her on her feet and wrapped her in a tight hug. 'Why is she still drenched in sweat? I had thought it was from the nightmare but maybe.....' I broke the hug and pressed my lips to her forehead. "You poor thing!" I said after pulling away from her, "you're burning up! That's probably why you had the nightmare! Come on, let's get you in the tub." I said as I slid off her T-shirt.
"Will you take something for the fever?" I asked as I brushed away the hair that was stuck to her face. She sighed, "I don't really want to but if it'll make you happy....." "good!" I said as I stood up, "you need anything else?" "A glass of water would be nice," she replied. "Coming right up!" I said.
I went downstairs, grabbed a bottle of cold and flu medicine, a thermometer and a glass of water before returning to Jessy. "Open up," I instructed as I held the thermometer towards her. We waited in silence for the thermometer to beep to say it had a reading. I snatched it from her when it did. I felt my eyes widen as I saw the numbers, 110 degrees. I sighed as I turned to pour her some medicine.
After she took the medicine I started to help her get washed up. "I can do it myself!" She protested. "No," I said calmly, "I want to help you." She grumbled a response. "You're so stubborn!" I said with a laugh.
*later that day*
Jessy and I had spent most of the day sitting on the couch watching tv. Her temperature was back to normal but I still told her to just sit ad relax. My phone started to ring, interrupting the silence. I picked it up to see Johnny's number. 'Why the hell is Johnny calling me'?
I answered the phone but all I could hear was Johnny sobbing. "Johnny?" I said. No response. "Johnny?" I said louder. Still nothing. "Damn it Johnny! What's wrong?" I demanded. "We got in a fight," he sniffed, "he told me to leave and I didn't know what else to do so I went to the bar but they cut me off and took my keys. I didn't know who else to call....." he broke off sobbing again. "Okay," I sighed, "just hang tight. I'll be right there."
I hung up and Jessy looked at me questioningly. "Johnny and Jimmy got in a fight and Johnny's at the bar," I explained as I slipped my shoes on. "Is he okay?" She asked. "He's fine," I said, "but they cut him off and took his keys. I'm going to get him and he'll probably want to come back here instead of facing Jimmy."
"I'm coming with you," she said as she stood up. "Jessy you don't need....." "no," she said, "I'm feeling better and we've both seen Johnny drunk, you'll need help." "Fine," I said knowing that arguing was useless.

Notes