And Then She Was Gone

Gentle Hands

It was 3:16am exactly when the pale blonde began to stir, Jason had taken to leaning back in the chair with with a hand pressed against his forehead, his elbow resting supporting its weight as he leaned on the armrest. Dark circles lined his lower lashes and his eyes felt as dry as sandpaper due to his fixated stare on her throughout the better part of the early morning. Her shifting body snapped him out the dark abyss of his mind and its constant swirling perseverative thoughts.

His upper body immediately straightened and his feet planted firmly on the floor so that he could slide his chair as close to the bed as possible, his hand eventually reaching out to grab lightly at her wiggling fingers which seemed to tremble most likely due to the damage from the wound on her arm. Cane was busy in the background of the room seated in his own chair sending a message to the other Betas letting them know she was finally waking up.

Her free hand raised up shakily to press at her forehead as her brows furrowed from the discomfort of her throbbing head, a light groan erupted from her throat as her lips parted and then closed again from the unwelcome feeling of an incredibly dry mouth. Jason moved to standing at her side, moving his hand to her opposite shoulder and leaning over her as he rubbed her soothingly.

"Don't move too quickly." he whispered as if she was a fragile piece of glass and he was afraid she would break.

"W-what?" she moaned out with still clenched eyes that were beginning to flutter open, her vision having trouble adjusting to the darkened room lit by the glow of the surrounding medical equipment.

"Just take it slow." he spoke still in a whisper as he took a seat on the available spot on the bed by her hips, his hand moving up to her face so he could affectionately stroke her cheek with his thumb.

"W-where am I?" she said finally being able to focus on something, that something being him. His face being bathed in the blue lighting of the monitors glow, the sounds of the monitor beeping every few seconds filling her ears.

"You're in the pack hospital." his face still showing clear signs of worry as he kept his lowered tone.

"What? Why?!" a panic began to set in as she tried to prop herself up on her elbows, only to have her forward motion stopped by him placing his free hand on her other shoulder before she made any real progress.

Her eyes were now alert and she took in his disheveled tired looking appearance. The bags underneath his eyes, his unruly hair which obviously had fingers run through it countless times, the dark shadow of hair on his chin. He looked exhausted.

"You don't remember?" A confused curiosity set in on his face as his brows furrowed and he looked down at her, his hand leaving her shoulder and going up to her head to tuck her hair behind her ear and away from her face.

"N-no... W-what's going on?" her eyes were wide and staring straight into his showing the clear anxiety behind them that was beginning to ravage her mind.

"Elizabeth... Please calm down." he said as he continued to stroke at her hair, his touches counteracting her upset and providing a soothing effect.

"What happened?" she questioned as she shifted her head away from him to stop him from distracting her with the tingles emitting from his gentle touches.

"What do you remember?" he sighed as his hands lowered to the bed and planted firmly on each side of her waist, his upper body leaning over hers as if he was unconsciously forming a protective shield to keep her from harm.

"You...uh.." her brows furrowed and her eyes dropped down focusing on his chest as she tried to recall her last memory clearly. "You left me with Geoffrey and Joseph, and then you called him outside the room... and that's it." she said blinking a few times before looking back up into his eyes.