Moonrise | Paul Lahote

19

A few hours later, Jenna was woken up by a tap on her shoulder.

"Hi, love," Helena whispered, smiling softly at her son who was fast asleep, curled up with his head on Jenna's stomach.

"Hi." Jenna yawned, rubbing her eyes. Her back ached from the stupid bed, but it felt marginally better with Paul by her side. She snuggled closer to him. "What time is it?"

"Seven."

"Damn."

Helena chuckled. "You needed your rest. Both of you."

The way her face fell at the end made Jenna's chest go tight. She glanced down at her sleeping boyfriend, gently threading her fingers through his hair. "How was he? While I was out," she asked softly.

Helena was silent for a few heartbeats. "It was... well. Just don't get yourself into anything else, okay, dear?" she replied. "Anyway, how are you feeling? Compared to earlier?"

"Better," she admitted. "Hungry."

That made Helena smile. "Good thing I brought this, then."

Out of a tray on a cart next to her bed, Helena whipped out a huge sandwich. Its fresh bread and ham smell hit Jenna's nose and she immediately started salivating, having to restrain herself from making grabby-hands at it.

She (quite literally) wolfed it down. Halfway through, Paul woke up, groggily blinking his eyes open.

They fixed on the bread.

"Gimme," he demanded. Jenna instinctually snatched it back, barely avoiding his mouth as he lunged for it.

"Get your own, bitch," she growled. Or tried to. It was barely intelligible through her stuffed cheeks.

Helena laughed at the sight. "Stop stealing hers, Paul, I got you one too. It's chicken."

"Yes!" he crowed, practically falling off the bed to reach it.

The two sat on the bed, legs tangled up, and ate their sandwiches with an almost concerning amount of concentration while Helena beamed at them.

Once they were done, Helena informed her that she could be discharged. She pattered off to deal with the paperwork, leaving Jenna to get up.

"Why am I here, anyway?" She asked as Paul helped pull her legs over the side of the bed. "Didn't they freak out because of— ya know, the body temp?"

"Only my mom and the leech have been looking after you," Paul answered.

"Huh."

"The Cullens also paid for the whole thing," he added, looking reluctantly pleased about that. "And the private room."

"Oh, sweet." She loved taking advantage of the rich.

Paul slid an arm around her back. She grabbed his shoulders as he slowly brought her up to her feet. For a second they just stood there, with Paul holding most of her weight so she was just floating on the ground.

"Okay?" He asked as he gently lowered her.

A dull ache started radiating from her legs as she put pressure on them, but it wasn't too bad. "Okay."

Her legs shook like that of a baby giraffe as Paul helped her to walk around. She could tell by his expression that he wanted nothing more than to scoop her up, but knew her well enough that she'd bash his face in if he did.

They slowly made their way into the hallway, towards the exit at the back. Helena met them there, giving them each a quick hug. "Once you get home, go straight to bed, Jenna," she warned. "You need to take it easy. I mean it."