Van Terra III: Blackout [PREVIEW]

Chapter Five ~ Back in Business

The moment Grace heard footsteps hurrying into the hall, she turned around and ran back to Jasper, who'd gone entirely limp on the carpet. "Jasper," Grace stammered. "Jasper, please, don't die—"

"I'm not dying," Jasper murmured into the carpet. "Not yet, anyway."

Holly came rushing in first, but Jax and Thea were close behind. While they gathered around, Grace helped Holly pull Jasper to her feet. Holly was quick to peel off the blood-stained sweatshirt, revealing the even more soaked Shark Tank prison uniform underneath.

And it wasn't just blood, Grace realized as she fully processed that Jasper's hair and clothes were wet through-and-through. "Stars, you're drenched."

"Yeah, the ocean'll do that," Jasper mumbled.

"We need to get you into something warm before you freeze to death." Holly guided Jasper into a sitting position at the edge of the bed. "Someone grab a meal bar from the kitchen. And water. And bandages."

"I'll get bandages," Jax said, already started toward the door.

"Meal bar," Thea added as she followed.

Grace was frozen for a moment, feeling like it was wrong to leave Jasper right now but also knowing the others were right to be scrambling around—she needed more than just their presence right now.

"I'll, uh, get water," Grace stammered. She backed toward the door slowly, watching for a few more moments as Holly began to help Jasper out of the cargo pants thrown on over the prison jumpsuit. She forced herself to turn and hurry to the kitchen.

When Grace returned with a glass of water in hand, Thea and Jax were already back, and Holly had gotten Jasper into completely new clothes. As she finished pulling a long-sleeved black shirt into place, Jasper's head turned, and her long wet hair tumbled down past her shoulders. Grace froze, the sight of Jasper's hair down taking her by surprise.

Holly stuck out her hand. "Water, please."

Right. Grace hurried forward and handed the glass over. Holly held it to Jasper's mouth, all but forcing her to drink.

"Can Jax look at my arm now?" Jasper asked quietly when Holly finally pulled back. "It feels like it's on fire."

Holly nodded. "Get in there, Jax. And Jasper, you should eat."

Jasper groaned. "I feel nauseous."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Uh, dinner yesterday?"

"Take a bite." Holly took the meal bar from Thea and began unwrapping it.

Jax grimaced. "This is bad." One of his hands moved to Jasper's shoulder and emitted a soft blue glow. "Okay, the good news is it feels like your body's responding pretty well. Not as fast as I'd like, but I was expecting worse."

Jasper took a small bite of the bar Holly held out to her. While Jax focused on her arm and Holly continued to try and get her to eat, Grace and Thea watched anxiously.

Finally, Jax moved on to wrapping the arm with bandages. "I've jumpstarted the process as much as I can. Bleeding should stop in a few hours but be careful not to reopen it. Like I said, it'll be a few days before it gets anywhere close to fully healed." He finished bandaging and leaned back. "So, uh, the Shark Tank—"

"Jasper, what the hell were you thinking?" Holly blurted, her voice jumping in volume. Grace nearly jumped, Thea shot her a worried look, and Jax grimaced.

Jasper sighed. "I know I owe you guys a much longer explanation, but—"

Holly had her arms around Jasper in the blink of an eye, her face buried in her shoulder...sobbing?