Etched

Chapter 31

Jenna's POV

Illusion. Sometimes that's what we crave, expecting to believe that what we just saw or experienced was the made up situation of our mind and not some scenario spread in front of our unmoving eyes.

It is so much easier to shake ourselves to expect that things aren't a part of reality sometimes and just a figment of our imagination but then it isn't always possible. Just as I half believed that Jerdy was standing there teasing me and Gabriel would still be there sitting on the sofa where we would later sit together for lunch but then in actual, none of that happened.

What I didn't expect was racing towards Jerdy on seeing his pallor appearance, uneven breathing and his disheveled state. I guided him towards the couch, making him ease at the soft cushion seat. I was limp, afraid seeing him the way he was and even though I was rubbing against his freezing hands, the shaky movement of mine was terribly obvious.

My breathing was erratic and the panicky state wasn't helping anything either. I didn't know what to do and who to call. I made him lie down and unwrapped a sweet from the table making him eat. It could just be hypoglycemia but still I wasn't up for taking risks. But as soon as I reached for my phone, Jerdy halted my movements.

I didn't want to comply to him for taking his health and life for granted but the pleading appeal on his face had me staggering.

A while after he had gone towards being normal but I was scared, extremely. I grabbed him some water and kept gazing at him trying to gauge how he was feeling. It was terrifying to say the least, the state I ended up seeing him in and only I know how I tried calming myself down for I didn't want to cower away and make him feel bad.

"Jenna!" Jerdy said, pulling me out of my state. I gulped and sat by his knees gripping his hands in a vice grip. "I'm okay. It was just low blood sugar" he said, looking at me. I nodded absentmindedly, not actually listening to what he'd said and trying to recover from the shock.

"Is that how your condition was when Brit called me?" I asked trying to sound firm but my breathy, quivering voice showed exactly how afraid I was. My fingers were so cold and unresponsive, it was terrifying and I appeared sicker than he was.

"That was different" Jerdy said smiling. Although, he was trying to act normal it was fairly obvious that something was wrong. His mien was different now, he didn't look the same to me as he did yesterday or the day before. His eyes had a painful sheen of clouds that were engulfing him, it was painstakingly visible. He was hiding his pain much more ardently than he did before and like always I didn't have the guts to ask.

"Jerdy, I was so scared. Don't ever pull this on me again, okay?" I asked. He clutched my hand in a reassuring squeeze. I was holding him with all my might, trying to comfort myself with the thought of his presence. I was trying to wrap my head around the events that had happened in the matter of half an hour, they had my head spinning.

He nodded with this gaze transfixed towards the ceiling "Jenna, go back. Don't stress yourself too much, at least not for me." he clenched his eyes shut. I scoffed in disbelief, What is he talking about? I can't believe he's actually insinuating that I go back leaving him like that. I still hadn't recovered from the shock of seeing him the way I did and he's proposing that I go back.

"I am not going anywhere" I stated firmly searching his eyes. The incredulity on my face was bared and I wanted him to see it.

"Jenna, I am fine. I just got a bit lightheaded but I'm absolutely okay. You can go back, you know there's work to do and I don't think your boss would like your absence too much, huh?" he smiled at me raising a brow, I shook my head. Standing up, I walked towards the kitchen to get him something to eat.