Free Web NovelChapter 422: His demands.
Leilani.
Joy.
Intense indescribable joy was all I felt when I heard the news of Jay coming awake.
My heart hammered frantically against my chest and I didn’t even know when I got off my seat or how I ran all the way to Jay’s ward until I was standing right in front of the familiar door. And as soon as I pushed the door open and stepped inside, my joy peaked.
Why?
Because there he was, sitting up slightly, with the most part of his back leaning against his pillow and his head bowed slightly.
At first glance, he came off as someone who was lost in thoughts. But when he heard the sound of the door being pushed open, he glanced up slowly... irritatedly, only for his face to suddenly break into a very wide smile.
"Lani..."
The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled at me and so did the very beautiful dimples on the sides of his cheeks choose this as an opportunity to show themselves off.
I smiled. "Jarek..."
Then with wobbly legs— due to all the overwhelming feelings I got— I went over to him, pulled him into my chest for a hug and then froze slightly when he let out a sharp painful gasp.
"Lani..." he groaned, pulling slightly away from me.
At the sound of his voice, I took a step back, glanced at him and then my heart stopped. It literally skipped about several beats all at once. But that wasn’t all. It felt as though suddenly, I became unable to breathe or speak.
Why?
Well, that’s because as I said earlier, this wasn’t my Jarek.
He was practically looking so frail, so thin, sick and goddess, his skin was a little too pale. His cheekbones and shoulder blades appeared a little too sharp, and that in itself was scary.
My breath caught as I looked down at him, took a cautious step away and muttered under my breath: "Jay, do you feel good? Are you starving?"
The tears pooling in his eyes clawed at my heartstrings. It made me scared too because he was never one known to be like this. Jay would never cry even though he was in severe pain, which led me to believing that this may be worse than I thought.
"Jay?" I said again, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He flinched in surprise before slowly coming to look at me, then his lips pressed into a thin line. He drawled; "I am not starving, Leilani. I am in a lot of pain."
Blunt.
Truthful. freewebnoveℓ.com
Those were two major attributes that Jay had. One that he always armed himself with like armor— but one he would never use in times like this, especially since he was someone who hated to be pitied.
But he had just used them now.
My heart fell.
My already wobbly knees wobbled even more as I crouched in front of him, then with shaky fingers, I brushed off the matted hair from his forehead and face. However, I was struck with another wave of fear and worry when my skin grazed against his only to be met with fire.
And I say ’fire’ because he was scorching hot. Gosh his skin felt like molten magma.
His body which burned feverishly was covered in cold sweat and his breath almost scorched my skin when it ghosted over my arm.
I muttered; "Should I call the doctor?"
He quickly shook his head and latched his warm hands on my arm. "No."
"Why?"
"Because I heard them talking about it earlier..." he rasped softly, his voice coming out more like a anguish-filled moan, "...and I know that there’s nothing they can do to save me."
"Oh Jay, don’t be ridiculous!" I snapped quickly, mostly because I was too scared and I hated the fact that I was hopeless and could do nothing to help him. When he cocked his eyebrows at me, I gulped, lowered my head and whispered;
"Do not talk like that. They would find a way out of this. They will save you and the silver will be completely drained out of you."
"It won’t." He answered coldly in that rasp tone that I have come to dread now. It made him sound frail which was a stark contrast to the man I know. The man I love. The man I care about...
"It cannot." He continued with a tone of finality that I found strange. "I cannot push on, Leilani. Everywhere hurts. Everything feels overwhelming. I wasn’t just shot with a silver bullet, I was injected several times with it until you came to find and save me, so it cannot simply be flushed out. It can not be—"
His voice trailed off right there as bouts of cough forced its way out of his lungs.
And the sight of him struggling to breath... struggling to hold on, twisted at something painful in my guts. Even when I didn’t want to, tears filled my eyes, burning at my corneas and making the tip of my nose sting.
But ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in my chest (not really) I held onto his arm with enough force to steady him but not enough to hurt him, and with my left hand, I traced slow circles along his back, rubbing at it and hoping to the goddess that somehow... just anyhow, that would make him feel better at least.
And after a series of coughing, he finally stopped, heaved a deep sigh and then turned to look at me with sad eyes, his voice impossibly soft as he said;
"Lani, you remember who my lawyer is right?"
I didn’t like the sound of that.
I didn’t at all.
However, I ignored the flashing alarm bells in my head and nodded. "I do."
"I need you to reach out to him today. In fact, immediately. I need to see him for something very important."
"How important is this thing that cannot wait?" I couldn’t help but ask, already hating the fact that even in this situation, his first thought was ’work.’ "You are pretty indisposed, Jay, and you should relax, not bother about things that you can always go back to."
He smiled— softly. Sadly. "It is very important." He murmured. "Also... you can send for the doctor now. I think I feel well enough to see him."
His sudden calm scared me as much as it unrattled me, but deciding that it was better to simply follow his instructions, I helped him lay down on his bed, kissed him on the cheek and walked out to head to the doctor first.
Then afterwards, I’ll go to his lawyer.
