Jason and Elizabeth had come home from a relaxing ride when they were greeted by shouting in the garden. Elizabeth became concerned as she approached the volatile scene. It had become mysteriously quiet as they found Jaime leaning against a tree. When Jaime began heading towards the house, Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Mr. Nam.
Elizabeth walked beside her with Jason hovering
behind. She exchanged glances with
Jason. What happened? Jason shrugged his shoulders and then was
suddenly weighed down by Jaime’s limp frame.
Elizabeth stifled a gasp as Jason adjusted his
stance and maneuvered Jaime up into his arms.
She followed Jason as he swiftly carried Jaime to her room.
As the days passed, everything seemed to worry
Elizabeth. Jason and Elizabeth, along
with Donnie and the staff kept watch over the unusually somber girl. She hadn’t spoken a word about the kidnapping
since the plane ride back to Venice.
Even Jason couldn’t lure her into a sparring match.
It seemed like the nights stolen away from Jaime
had a hold on her that no one could break.
Until today. This outburst had
been the first bit of emotion Jaime had shown.
In the beginning, Elizabeth suggested leaving, but Jaime protested,
citing ‘the trip won’t be ruined anymore because of me.’ Elizabeth felt helpless. And she felt guilty. She thought in some way she could help by
relating the trauma to her experiences of rape. But somehow Elizabeth couldn’t quite comfort her with her words.
Mr. Nam was followed slowly behind and began
heading towards the main door when Elizabeth called after him. “She’ll be okay Mr. Nam,” Elizabeth offered.
The sharply dressed man nodded solemnly. “Thank you Ms. Webber. I want to thank you and Mr. Morgan for
finding her.”
Elizabeth smiled slightly and shook his
hand. “We’ll take good care of her.”
Mr. Nam smiled half-heartedly and left.
Elizabeth looked towards the stairwell. Please let her be all right. Please.
~~~
Jason felt Jaime regain consciousness as he
placed her on the bed. He sat on the
edge of the bed as her eyes fluttered open.
“Are you all right?” Jason asked.
Jaime seemed to orient herself to the
surroundings. “How did I get to my
room?”
Jason studied his friend, evaluating whether a
doctor needed to be called. “You
fainted.”
Jaime sat up and ran her hand through her
hair. “Is he gone?” she asked
suddenly.
Jason assumed she was referring to her
father. He nodded. “Yes.
I heard the door close on my way up.”
Jason paused, weighing whether she was emotionally up to speaking about
Rosco. “Jaime?”
Her brown eyes met his. “Yeah?”
“I think we need to talk about it.”
Jaime averted her eyes and began climbing out of
bed. “Where’s Elizabeth? Did you guys have a nice ride?”
Jason grabbed her arm. He wouldn’t let her change the subject so fast. “We’re going to talk about this you know
that?”
Jaime nodded and looked at Jason’s hand. He let her go. They’d talk later in the evening, like they always did. “And I think maybe you should see a doctor.”
The suggestion stopped Jaime in her tracks. “Are you joking?” Jaime cried. “There’s no way I’m seeing a
doctor. I’m fine!”
Jason sighed.
“Your fainting in my arms tells me something different,” Jason retorted.
Her dark eyes glared at him in defiance. “I’m just a little light-headed. I’m probably dehydrated from being out in
the sun too long,” Jaime replied dismissively.
“Or it could be from not eating
signorina,” Donnie’s voice chided.
The older Italian man had managed to evade
Jason’s radar, coming in unnoticed.
“Donnie don’t worry so much,” Jaime chuckled as
she ran a brush through her hair. “I’ll
be fine in a couple of days.”
Donnie threw a look towards Jason. They both knew it would take more than a few
days to sort through the mess Rosco had put her through. Apparently Jaime caught the worried glances
and was amused. “I promise,” Jaime
swore, putting her arm around both Jason and Donnie, “I’ll be fine!”
~~~
Jaime prayed the words would be true. That she wouldn’t make a liar out of
herself.
Elizabeth hopped into the room looking
questioningly at the huddle. “What’s
going on? Shouldn’t you be in
bed?” Elizabeth asked.
Jaime shook her head as she looked around at the
concern pouring out from each one of her friends she sighed inwardly. They really care about me. The thought made her finally feel something
other than confusion, fear, or anger.
It was a welcomed thought.
Jaime smiled.
“I’m kind of hungry. Is anyone
up for supper?” she asked.
The mention of food and hunger finally seemed to
put a slight dent in the protective wall they were building around her.
“Yeah!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I’m kind of hungry from the ride. Jason?”
The blond hair, blue-eyed friend gave Jaime a
squeeze. “Sure. Besides, you’ll need it for tonight.”
Jaime cringed inwardly at the thought. “Yeah,” Jaime laughed half-heartedly. “Can’t wait.”
Elizabeth looked at both of them quizzically and
then proceeded downstairs. Jaime
followed behind Jason and Donnie.
Oh God, give me the strength to get through this
all. Please.
~~~
Elizabeth felt distracted throughout the
supper. Jason’s comment caught her off
guard. Though she quickly realized that
the two friends would be sparring, Elizabeth couldn’t get rid of this
empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Jaime asked, pointing her
fork at Elizabeth’s untouched plate.
Elizabeth smiled and stabbed a piece of chicken
with her fork. “Sure am!” Elizabeth
lied as she nabbed the freshly cooked piece of meat with her teeth.
Jaime looked at her and smirked. Elizabeth frowned. Why would she smirk like that?
Jason’ leaned over and said something, though
Elizabeth didn’t quite catch it. Jaime
rolled her eyes and hit him. “Get out
of here!” Jaime squealed.
Jason locked eyes with Elizabeth. She couldn’t read his face, but even though
he seemed so close, Elizabeth couldn’t have felt further away.
“Hey, Elizabeth?” Jaime’s voice snapped Elizabeth out of her thoughts. “Did I see a garment bag in your room?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Yes. It was a present
from a friend.”
Her eyes peered over the table of Jason who met
her gaze once more.
“What is it for?”
Elizabeth weighed her answer. Jaime seemed so much livelier than she’d
been in days. Elizabeth didn’t want to
ruin it. “It was for an invitation to
dinner.”
Jaime raised her eyebrows. “Wow must have been some dinner to need a
fancy dress.”
“Actually,” Elizabeth lit up. “It was in honor of royalty. You won’t guess who!” Elizabeth laughed.
This seemed to intrigue Jaime. “Who?”
Elizabeth dabbed her lips with a napkin and
smiled. “Nikolas and Gia!” she
exclaimed.
“You’re kidding me?”
“Nope.
They’re in Italy.”
“Well how come you didn’t invite them to
vis…it? Jaime’s voice trailed off and
silence filled the small dining room.
“I’m sorry.
I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Elizabeth apologized.
Jaime set her napkin on the table and excused
herself. “I think I’ll read in my room
for a bit before our ‘date’ tonight,” Jaime explained to Jason. He nodded.
As Elizabeth waited for the maid to clear the
dishes, she sighed. Why did she
always put her foot in her mouth?
The table had been cleared and only Jason and
Elizabeth remained.
“I’m sorry Jason,” Elizabeth moaned. “I should have changed the subject.”
Jason shook his head. “Why?” he asked.
“Because it brought up the kidnapping!”
Jason sighed this time. “Elizabeth, Jaime’s a strong woman. She can handle it. She has
to.”
Elizabeth rose from her chair and walked over to
the window behind Jason. “But I don’t
have to be the one to push her. I don’t
have to make her face it until she’s ready.”
She felt him behind her. “That’s something she’ll never be ready
for. No one’s ready to face a horrible
experience like that. But if she’s got
friends how love her and support her, Jaime will try. We’ll make her ready,” he whispered, placing a butterfly kiss on the
crown of her head.
Elizabeth imagined Jason’s arms enfolding her
body within his embrace, but all she could feel were her own hands around
her. She turned around and opened her
mouth to say something to Jason, but he had walked into the other room to make
a call.
Yeah.
Sometimes we need people, friends to make us ready to face something.