Under Investigation

9

Jett acted differently around Sadie than he did around others, and Sadie was very much aware of this. It was strange to see the caring man she had grown to like be so blank as he sat beside her in her car.

She had just picked him up from Chris and they were heading to the ranch. She had tried to conjure the scenerio in her head, but only drew blanks. Truth is, she had zero idea of the situation. She didn't even know where they had been investigating.

Jett's eyes were staring out the window, but they were glassy like he wasn't quite there. His hands were clenched tightly, shoulders tense. He hadn't said one word to her. It did bother her a lot. She was so excited to see him and have him visit, but not like this.

"Jett," she murmured, "are you excited to see my place?" She hoped for some response, as she was totally unnerved.

He glanced her way. His eyebrows furrowing just a tiny, tiny bit before he returned to the window.

Sadie owned a equine therapy center. She used horses for therapy for people who had mental struggles, so she should be good at taking care of Jett. It was her whole career. But this was a totally different ballpark. There wasn't even a diagnoses to work with.

"I'll show you to your room," she said when they made it home. She guided him up the stairs to the spare bedroom. "The bathroom is across the hall. Would you like something to eat?"

Sadie jumped back as the door slammed in her face, heart pounding in her chest. She didn't like this at all. She felt like she had a stranger in her house, and it wasn't supposed to feel like that.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and decided to go out to the barn to do some work. The horses hadn't had much attention today.

For dinner, she made some pasta. Jett was asleep, but she thought it would be a good idea for him to eat. She doubted he had eaten or drank at all since the investigation.

"Jett, wake up. I made dinner," she said, knocking on the door to get his attention.

"Sadie?" he whispered, sitting up in bed. Was the fog finally clearing up? "I'm not hungry," he growled, flopping back down.

"If your not downstairs, then you won't be getting any," Sadie said. She had lots of experience with children, and if he wanted to be treated like one, she had no problems with that.

She was frustrated. She felt like she had been put in a position where she had no idea what was actually going on, and she had to be some kind of nurse therapist on top of it.

Jett didn't end up coming down to eat, and the guilt weighed on her greatly so she took a tray of food to his room, leaving it on his bedside table. She hoped he would at least drink something.

That night, Sadie was jerked awake from her sleep by a painful scream. A cold sweat broke over her body as her heart fluttered with fear. She didn't hesitate to run to Jett, who was still sound asleep.

"Jett?" she called, walking towards his bed. She placed her hand over her heart, willing it to slow down.

It was one thing to hear a scream in general, but it was a totally different experience to hear a guy like Jett scream with so much pain like he was being attacked.

He woke up slightly. "What do you need?" he asked harshly, his voice thick with sleep.

"You were having a nightmare. I wanted to make sure you were okay," Sadie said, not daring to move any closer. She longed to curl up with him, to have him hold her like he did in Vegas, but she had to remind herself this wasn't really the same person.

"Whatever. Don't fucking wake me up again," Jett muttered, turning back over on his side, his back facing her.

Sadie didn't know what to make of it. His harsh words cut her, especially since she was only trying to help. 

She only had an hour before her alarm went off, and as much as she wanted to sleep, her mind was quickly filling with anxious thoughts that would not allow her to do so.

She did know sleeping was no answer and would only prolong Jett's situation. He needed to get up and face whatever it was that had taken over, if that's what you would call what was going on. She was clueless.

Even so, she went on with her day. She promised herself that she would find a way to get Jett out of bed tomorrow, and put him to work. She was just becoming more and more cautious with how she did things because of how he had been lashing out.