Dawn of Vengeance

Chapter 19 - Aftermath

Jake's POV:

Seven Hours Later...

Jake sat beside Matthew's hospital bed in absolute silence as he waited for his mentor to wake up. He'd come out of surgery about two hours after Eve and Rayne found him and the others on the roof, but he still had yet to wake up. All he'd done was mumble in his sleep and occasionally his eyes would begin to open but they never did. He just sat there lost in whatever dreams he was having while all of the drugs in his system wore off. He was awake when they brought him to his room of course but he was delirious from the pain killers and Jake simply acted like everything was okay, like nothing had ever happened. As far as Father Matthew knew Sister Mary was still alive and that was how it was going to stay until the Jake was sure his mentor was himself again. Then the grieving can begin.

He'd had thought to tell his mentor about his wife's death but after seeing him in such a state of pain and deliriousness Jake just couldn't bring himself to do it. No, Father Matthew needed to be sane when he heard the news otherwise- Well who knows what would happen, all Jake knew as that it was probably best to wait while he recovered. Jake would grieve until his mentor awoke and then he'd be his teacher's rock to make sure he didn't fall into a catatonic state. He'd already witnessed the death of one teacher; he couldn't stand to watch the other slip into a silent state of madness and grief.

At least he wouldn't have to do it alone. Jake thought as he recalled Rayne going off to Aeria along with Andrew's battered and still barely moving body to call for aid in hunting down Stark and his wife. The other boy had suffered horribly at the hands of Stark. The vampire shattered his ribs and absolutely crushed his right arm from the forearm all the way to his knuckles. If it wasn't for the healing abilities of Rayne and Garrett, Andrew would never had been able to use that arm again and even now it was still up in the air on how much he'll be able to do with it.

As for Issac. Well Jake wasn't too sure what to think about that guy, ever since what happened on the roof it was like he'd taken it upon himself to be Jake's personal bodyguard. He never let Jake out of his site, even when he went to the privacy of the bathroom to cry his eyes out and wash his face Issac stood right by the door until he came out. Of course Rayne didn't trust him one bit but Jake could care less what Issac wanted anymore and he wasn't about to waste his time trying to tell the vampire what to do. Still, Rayne instructed both Eve and Garret to remain to keep an eye on the vampire boy.

They took turns watching Issac switching out every couple hours so that the other could get some rest. Neither of them spoke a word to Jake, even Garrett who before would've been all over Jake using any excuse to touch him was silent while Jake sat in the hospital room. It was Garrett who was in the room with them now; he was reading a magazine by the window while Issac sat atop the sink behind Jake. None of them said a word for two hours the only sounds that could be heard were those of Father Matthew's heart monitor and the chatter of passing nurses. It was a very gloomy setting that Jake was more than happy with, he didn't want to do anything, he didn't want to say anything, and he didn't want to feel anything.

All that changed though when he heard the familiar sound of a deep masculine voice saying his name. Jake slowly turned his head in the direction that the voice had come from to find Lance standing in the doorway. Just like bodyguards both Garret and Issac got to their feet and formed a bit of a wall between the two of them but Jake got up with a sigh and told them to stay with Father Matthew in case he woke up. Jake got to his feet and walked slowly toward Lance with every step feeling like it was taking forever to take until finally they were face to face.

Jake knew that his face was that of a lifeless mask showing no emotion whatsoever, while Lance had a sorrowful expression plastered on his face. Without warning the other boy threw his arms around Jake's neck before letting apology after apology fall from his mouth. Most were saying how sorry he was that he wasn't here while others were asking if she was really gone, all of which just didn't seem to register in Jake's brain. To him they just sounded like someone who was shouting something to him but they were too far away for anything to have any particular meaning, they were just sounds that someone was making off in the distance.