Depths

The Cameron's

Under the fluorescent lights of the waiting room exhaustion takes over, lulling Harli and JJ both to sleep in the chairs. JJ's arms are wrapped around Harli's shoulders as she leans over on his chest. When Harli wakes, she's unsure of how long she had been out. She glances over to see that JJ had also fallen asleep. As she moves from his embrace JJ stirs awake. He gives her a sleepy half smile when his eyes land on her.

"Any word?" JJ questions her, but she nods her head.

"I just woke up." Harli informs him. The two teenagers heads turn upon hearing two familiar voices.

"Where is John B Routledge's room?" A blonde asks the secretary at the nurse's station. Both Pogues share a skeptical look with one another upon seeing Sarah Cameron and her father, Ward. All eyes meet with one another as the secretary points them in their direction.

"What the hell are they doing here?" Harli whispers to the blonde boy sitting beside her.

"I have no idea."

"Harli. How is he?" Sarah asks, worried expression, but as if she and Harli were old friends.

"They haven't told me anything yet." Harli confesses.

"I'll see what I can find out." Ward reassures his daughter and walks away to find a doctor.

"What are you doing here, Sarah?"

"I had to see him. I need to know that he's okay."

"Sarah," Ward grabs her attention and motions for his daughter. Quietly the two talk to one another, Harli's frustration growing that they're keeping the information about her brother from her. A minute later Ward and Sarah both walk back towards Harli and JJ. "Harli, he's going to be alright. He just has a broken arm and a slight concussion. Given the fall, he's extremely lucky. It could've been much worse."

Harli releases the breath she had been holding. JJ wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her in close to him, kissing her forehead. The two Cameron's watch the exchange. 

"You can go in and see him now. He should be waking up soon. Once he does I'd like to talk to the both of you in private." Ward instructs the young Routledge girl. Fear sets in her mind at the thought of what Ward could possibly need to talk to her and John B about. Was he about to turn them over to DCS? She nods hesitantly and makes her way towards John B's room with JJ's hand in her own.

Harli gently pushes the door open, letting it close behind JJ. Her eyes land on the brunette lying in the hospital bed in front of her and tears start to pool in her eyes. Her mind jumps back to the argument the two had right before his accident. Bile starts to rise in her throat at the thought that those could've been her last words to him- screaming about the stupid treasure and leaving him angry. JJ pulls her closer to him if that was even possible given the tight hold he already had on the girl.

"I could've lost him, J." Harli breathes out quietly.

"But you didn't." JJ reassures her.

"Yeah, but I could have. And I said all of those hurtful things. What would I have done if I'd lost him? He's my brother. He's the only family that I have left."

"Li, look at me. You didn't lose him. He's right here. And you're never alone, you hear me?" JJ spins her towards him and looks deep into her sea-green eyes. "I will always be here for you. I'm never leaving you alone."

Harli stares into the blue of his eyes as her breathing starts to steady. Something about JJ Maybank was calming to her. Maybe it was the fact that they'd been best friends for years. Or maybe it was the calming blue of his eyes. Or maybe, it was the feeling that she got in her heart when he'd look at her, eyes piercing straight through her soul with a look that said he'd never let her go. Whatever it was she was thankful for it. The slowing of her heart rate calmed her anxieties about John B and DCS if only for a little while.