Warriors ⎜ John Wick

Quattuor

For the remainder of Saturday Jessica watched John like a hawk, searching for any abnormalities in the little personality she had seen or in his speech patterns. Brain trauma was a very big deal and Jessica has often dealt with it in crashes more minor than John's. She was understandably concerned. Her water restriction went into effect immediately and after his second swig she snatched the bottle and ordered him out of the kitchen. She gave him salt tablets with every meal and had to all but shove them down his throat. She was acutely aware of how horrible this whole process was, she had gone through it herself several years ago, but she also knew how crucial it was. The salt tablets tasted as if you had taken a drink from the Dead Sea but they were effective at regulating water within the body.

Jessica had found John a t-shirt and sweatpants buried deep in her dresser and vowed that she'd get him something else to wear on Sunday. She tried to sleep in Sunday morning after getting only five hours the previous night, but was awakened by a gentle hammering downstairs. With her robe wrapped securely around her, Jessica wandered down to the first floor, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. At the bottom of the stairs she found John in his boxers and t-shirt putting the guest room door back together. A small toolbox sat next to him, something he had to have dug through the garage for. He glanced up at her and continued to put the door back on its hinges.

"It's the least I could do," his deep voice rung as she swept by him.

Jessica smiled down at John. "Thank you."

Jessica continued into her kitchen and looked around. The kitchen was beautiful with its quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, and elaborate backsplash of blues and oranges. It was a disappointingly under used space. With her long hours, Jessica hardly ever had the time or energy to cook for herself, especially since most recipes were designed to serve families and would leave her with a week's worth of leftovers. Usually she simply ordered some pizza or Chinese or, on the rare occasion that she made it to the grocery store, would pop a ready made meal into the oven. Today, however, Jessica was feeling more energetic and had a desire to cook, especially now that there was someone else to eat what she made.

Within fifteen minutes she had a bowl of pancake batter sitting next to the stove and Frank Sinatra playing from her bluetooth speaker. She hummed along softly to each song, sprinkling chocolate chips onto each pool of batter that landed on the pan. She stopped for a moment when "New York, New York" began to play, remembering each time she and her father would belt out the lyrics in the car or have dancing lessons through the kitchen. Her lips twitched up at the memories and her hips began to move along to the music, eventually morphing into twirls and flourishes as she momentarily forgot about her new house guest.

When the music faded away into another song she turned to find John watching her with amusement and nearly dropped her platter of pancakes. Her cheeks flushed and she ducked her head as she continued to the breakfast table which was already set. John took his spot next to her where she poked at her pancake, dying of embarrassment inside.

Jessica took the liberty of breaking the silence and cleared her throat. "I danced throughout high school and college."

John simply nodded and shoved another pancake in his mouth. He was trying to hide a shit eating grin. Jessica could tell by the way his eyes crinkled involuntarily. Jessica rolled her eyes and sipped on her coffee, savoring the deliciously bitter flavor.

"I'm going shopping today."

John's head snapped towards her. She wondered at how he hadn't broken his neck yet with how many times he had done that.

"It isn't safe."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "So far it seems as if nothing is safe with you."

John gave her an annoyed look that seemed to say "you know I'm right."