A Wolf's Purpose

•Chapter 101• Among The Living

Jayden watched closely as his sister's eyes fluttered open very slowly. Louis' hand was on his shoulder, trying to keep him back a little to give her some room, but Jayden stood very still in place. His brothers – who rose from their seats as well – piled up behind him with their heads sticking out to watch Jade slowly wake up. She clearly needed a moment to adjust. Where was she? Who was staring at her like that? Once her mind settled on earth as well, her lips formed a small smile as she looked at her brothers. "Hey, you." Jayden greeted her. His hand rose up to touch her hair gently. Suddenly, she pulled a weird face. "What's wrong?" Jade shifted a little on her pillow and placed her hand over her bandages. "It hurts." Her brother sighed in relief. "I know, only for a little, okay? It will get better, I promise." He assured her, "I'm so happy you're awake. And alive." Jayden said to her as his finger stroked her hair gently. "Me too."
"Me three."
Jade glanced a little further than her oldest brother to see the other two right behind him. She gave them a smile too. There was so much they all wanted to say. Each and every one of them wanted to apologize for what had happened and promise that they would stick together from now on. But there was a harder sentence that needed to be said. "Jade, we've got to tell you something." Behind him, Louis covered his own mouth; he wasn't sure if they should tell the girl now or not. None of them knew what she saw if she saw anything at all, and how much she remembered. Jayden inhaled deeply as if he was going to dive into a deep pool, knowing that he wouldn't touch the bottom any time soon. "Dad's dead." He said and inspected her face closely. Should he have kept it from her and kept her happy for a few minutes longer? Probably, yes. He feared that he might not have the courage to tell her at all if he waited any longer. "What?" The tremble in her voice reminded him of when they were younger and Jack had told her a scary story about monsters and said they were hiding under her bed. "They were on their way to get him. He knew that he would be locked away for all of this. He grabbed Louis' gun and shot himself in the head." It still felt unreal. Jade looked at him with watery eyes. "He's really dead?" Jayden nodded his head. "I checked. Multiple times." Louis spoke up behind the boys. Deep down she already knew it. She heard that shot but never saw anything happen. She didn't have much time to think about it either. 

Jade glanced down to see her brother holding her hand. Bill was really gone this time. For some reason, it didn't hurt as much this time as it did a few months ago. Perhaps she'd gotten used to the fact that she didn't have a father anymore. "Are you okay?" Jade nodded her head. There was a soft knocking on the door. "I'll go talk to them. Don't ambush her." Louis said before leaving the room with Ian following close behind. Jade looked at her brothers. "Where is he going?" Jerry moved to sit on the bed so Jade could see him better. "There are some people here for us." Jayden helped her sit up slightly and fluffed her pillow. "They're going to take you away again, aren't they?" 
"Easy. Louis will take care of it. Right now you need to rest. The nurse said you lost a lot of blood. Louis got you hooked up on this." Her brother pointed at the blood bag that had a tag with Bill's handwriting on it. "He said you should be fine. You're already starting to get a little color on your cheeks again." Jack spoke up beside his brother, "You looked dead for like an hour." Jade laughed softly and shut her eyes for a few seconds. She felt drained. Even if she wanted to get out of bed to keep the cops from taking her brothers, she couldn't push the duvet off her body. When Jade opened her eyes again, she noticed that there were more people in the room with them. Casper and Andrew were sitting next to each other looking like they were holding their breaths. "You're here." She mumbled happily. She started to sink further into her pillows again. "Yeah, we're right here." Casper said, "Barely left your side, Boss." He was overflowing with happiness when she looked at him again. Andrew gave her the exact same smile Casper had. "How are you feeling? Aside from the pain." He asked her sweetly. "I think I'm okay. A little sleepy still and I feel fuzzy in my head." She answered honestly. "That's normal. The nurse said you would need some time to recover. It was a pretty heavy surgery. The bullet was pretty far up and they struggled to get it out without touching or damaging any of your organs. But everything went well." As horrifying as it sounded, Jade was glad to hear those words. "I am kind of thirsty, though." She admitted. "I'll get you some water," Casper said before getting up from his seat. 

She smiled sleepily and turned to look at her brothers. "So you're all okay?" All three of them nodded with a comforting smile planted on their lips. Jayden was still holding her hand. "I was so scared for you. All I could think about was what happened with Mom. Jack was not kidding, you really looked dead. You were so cold." Jayden told her, "I don't think I have ever held your hand this long before. And that includes the time when you started walking." Jade smiled at him and let out a soft chuckle. "Is it that bad" 
"Yeah, did you rub your butt with it or something?" Jayden asked her. Jade shrugged slightly, going along with it. "It was itching. My armpits too." All three of them laughed softly and rolled their eyes whilst saying 'yikes' together. Jayden finally let go of her hand and grabbed the end of the duvet to tuck her in. Her eyes were heavy and everyone in the room had picked up on it. Jade hadn't noticed Henry or Liz but that wasn't important right now. Jerry was holding his girlfriend's hand happily but kept his eyes on his sister. "Go take another nap. You can barely keep your eyes open. We'll be right here. And not just because the cops are outside." Jayden assured her.  "Just let her have a sip of water first. You need to stay hydrated." Casper spoke up and walked back toward Jade holding a little cup of water. "After that, she can take a nap." 

"Is she awake?" Donna asked Louis. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. He and Ian stood right in front of the door like a pair of guard dogs. There was no way that they would let anyone pass through that door. "That's none of your business. I've got to say, it's very rude of you to knock on a random door at the hospital. Especially considering that you're aware of the patient that is inside that room, and are fully aware of their current state." Louis pointed out to them. "It is so rude." Ian agreed with him. "We need to be up to date on your niece's current state. We're asking a perfectly normal question." They didn't care about her. Why would they? "She's resting. Just like she was when you asked two hours ago. She won't testify for a long while, sweetheart. So I suggest you go home instead of stalking us like a bunch of creeps." Louis told Donna. Her expression shifted from professional to offended. "Is she awake?" She repeated, this time a lot more stern than before. "You can ask us that a thousand times and we're not going to answer. Because if she's awake, then you will want to ask her questions. Questions she is not ready to answer." She was probably struggling to stay awake. "Go home," Ian told them. Detectives are awful. 

Jade felt tired. Her eyes could barely stay open but she didn't want to go back to sleep. Her brothers, however, were fast asleep. They were tired after worrying as much as they did. Jade sighed and turned her head to the left where Casper and Andrew were sitting. She didn't see them, but she knew they were there. "Guys?" Both Andrew and Casper looked at her. "Annie?"
"I'm here. Do you need something? Are you okay?" She shook her head slightly. "I can't fall asleep. I'm tired, but I can't. Can you keep me company for a little while?" Casper scooted his chair a little closer to her and Andrew followed close behind. Henry and Liz had gone outside to get some food, so it was just them and the triplets, but they were fast asleep. "Of course, boss. Anything you want. We're right here with you." Casper replied. Jade felt very safe. The boys saw her smile. That was a good sign. "Hey, when you're cleared from the hospital, how about I cook something for you again? Remember when we were at my place?" 
"That sounds delicious." Jade smiled at him, "Can Annie come too?" Casper turned to look at Andrew. "Depends on what you're making." He chuckled in response. It felt strange, and yet also right. "Whatever makes you happy, boss." Jade moved her hand a little to reach for him. Casper grabbed her hand and brushed his thumbs over the back of her hands. They already felt a lot warmer than they did before, which means that the blood was working. "We'll also have a moment between us. Just the two of us. Don't worry." She smiled at him with her eyes slightly opened. Casper returned the smile and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Sure thing."