Heart of Their Jewel

Chapter 12

"Stay with us," Axel offered. "Stay until she is fully healed. She was happy to see us and not just because we were rescuing her. It was like she was truly happy even for the briefest second. She clung to me more than she should have. It was like she needed me. You know she won't be happy if she wakes up and we aren't here."

"Are you still posted up in those apartments? Would there even be enough room for the both of us?" Jason questioned as he thought it over.

"Actually, I have a suggestion," Owen said as he cleared his throat. Axel and Jace turned to face him. "You say this Hale person has been making contact again. From that, we can gather that he knows you were at one point part of the Academy so he would know about your team."

"Yes..." Jace trailed off with uncertainty in his voice.

"He doesn't know us," Owen pointed out. "Since you left, there is no reason for him to continue gathering information on the Toma team, so it is reasonable that he does not know that the Toma team has worked with us or knows us. Come stay in our mansion until we are able to capture him. There is plenty of room for the both of you. Or if you insist on staying with the Toma team to search for him then allow her to stay with us so we can protect her while you hunt."

"I don't know...." Jace said as he thought it over. "I can't deny that it would be the best scenario, but I have to think what my sister will be most comfortable with."

"Why don't we let her decide when she wakes?" Corey asked.

"Then it's decided! Now Doc you said she won't wake for what three days?" Luke asked as he looked toward Sean.

"If her vitals stay stable then yes she should be awake in three days," Sean confirmed.

"Then it sounds like we have three days to prepare both homes for our possible guests and to get things situated with our jobs and missions. Then we will all come back on the third day to do a check-up on her, meet and greet, and let her decide," Luke said, ending with clapping his hands together with a cheesy big smile.

Most of the team had a dumbfounded face at how calm their jockster brother was. Then the room burst into chuckles.

"What?" Luke questioned, "Was it something I said?"

"Ya, how easy fucking peasy your ass made it all seem yet I can't fucking deny that it's not a shitty plan," Gabe said as he threw an arm around Luke's shoulders.

"Just one suggestion," Marc said as he shook his head. "I don't want to leave her alone. Just because Doc said she will wake up in three days doesn't mean she will. She could wake earlier, it's a possibility, correct?"

"Yes," Sean confirmed. "If she keeps doing well then we will wean her off her medicine in two days and she will wake on the third day."

"But she could wake sooner than that," Marc nodded, "So why don't we rotate so she is never alone just to be on the safe side."

"I won't be leaving her at all," Jace shook his head.

"We will need you to check out both places," Axel pointed out. "To make sure everything is good for her. You obviously know her better than us so we will need your final input on everything."

"I'll go tell Dr. Roberts that I need off for an undisclosed amount of time but will remain in contact for emergencies," Sean said as he made some notes on his notepad.

"Just tell him it's regarding me and my sister," Jace said as he turned back to look towards the room she was in. "He'll understand since he was the one to recruit me in the first place and was the one to support me in my decision in leaving to stay with her."

"Interesting," Sean mumbled, "but alright, thanks." He stood and left the room.

"I'll put in for leave for us," Corey said as he opened his laptop. "I'm sure Doc Roberts will vouch for us and for you."

"I'll put in for us," Victor said as he opened his laptop. "I agree that Doc Roberts will push for both of our family leaves. Academy may not like it but at this point, I really do not care."

"Agreed," multiple voices murmured.

At this point, the teams had congregated into small groups in Jewel's hospital room chatting about different topics, including ideas for the house and apartment, and Jace catching the Toma team up on what has been going on in his and Jewel's lives. An hour had gone by and the teams were figuring out the best rotations for the next few days.

Startling the whole group was Jewel's hospital door being thrown open and Dr. Roberts charged in with a scowl on his face with Sean trailing not far behind him looking perplexed. "What the hell happened?" Dr. Roberts demanded as he stood in the middle of the room while looking at the tech machines hooked up to the small woman.

"Hey Doc," Jace said as he left his sister's side to go stand in front of the doctor. "It's been a while, Old Man." Jace smiled in a joking manner. Dr. Roberts frowned so Jace sighed. "Take a seat, it's a long story."

Dr. Roberts glared but took the seat Sean rolled over to him. He crossed his arms, "Spill everything now."