Chapter 27: Family reunion 1 (Chloe and Jason)

(Pov Chloe)

“So how's he doing? Like, how's he actually handling it all?” She spoke quietly to Jasmine as they sat in the chairs by the only small table in the room. Well, the only one that wasn't by the bed. 

“Better than he could. Worse than he's letting on, I am afraid.” Jasmine cast a concerned glance toward their boyfriend. Who was right now talking to his extremely relieved close family. 

It was actually quite heartwarming to see. Not that she ever doubted they would be any less caring, but seeing it still made a warmth spread through her chest as his mother fussed over his pillow for what had to be the eleventh time since they got here. His father hadn't said much, but he had never been an expressive man. At least that she could remember. Sophia was the strangest of them; she had seemed pensive? Or perhaps guilty, since they got the call that Jason was waking up. Even then, in the six weeks since her brother had ended up in a coma, she had seemed withdrawn. Ecstatic when she found out she was going to become an apprentice to a theurgist, sure, but other than that… well, withdrawn was the best word for it. Even now she sat in a chair by the foot of the hospital bed her much more fragile-looking brother was occupying. Her fingers took up nearly all of her focus, as they were wrung together and picked at.

“He asked about you. It was one of the first things he did when Cassandra and I asked him what he remembered.”

Chloe's breath hitched as she turned to look at the noctian sitting next to her. “Really?”

The tired-looking noctian gave her a small smile, which was odd enough on its own; she had never seen Jasmine tired, and they had seen a lot more of each other over the last six weeks. “Yeah, you should have seen the way he relaxed back into the bed when I told him you were fine. It was adorable.” She hesitated. “And somewhat heartbreaking. To see him get so riled up, when he's still.” She gestured subtly towards the bed.

Chloe blushed. Relief and a hint of guilt flooded through her. She had hoped he would ask. God knew she had hoped he would. Not that she expected him to startle awake screaming her name… but a girl could have her fantasies. Even when everything had gone down, Jason had been trapped in the middle of it all. She certainly hadn't expected him to come to her rescue then, even if some part of her had hoped for it. That hope had died when she saw Jason sitting against the house wall, and when she saw the corpse of the man Jasmine had torn nearly in half being pulled out of the house.

“I can only imagine.” She said quietly, her mind flashing back to the crimson-filled vial she had hidden in a mini fridge.

She shook the thoughts from her mind and tried to give Jasmine a warmer smile. “How are you holding up?”

The woman shrugged. “Better than I expected, but the relief of him finally waking up… Well, it took it out of me. You know, like how you feel like a punctured balloon after an exam, or job interview, or something like that. I am just glad he didn't have any… Well, I am just glad he came out as well as he did.”

Chloe shifted awkwardly. She understood that, given the other things they had been worried about. She was relieved too, but she hadn't been here to fret over it almost every day for six weeks.

“At least you can get some sleep when you get back home.” She said. 

“Hmm.” Jasmine looked at her, confused for a second. “Oh. I am not going home tonight. I am going nowhere until another Noctian clan member takes over tomorrow evening.” 

“I get that he was attacked, but isn't that the state troopers' or cops' job?”

Jasmine glanced at her with a look that screamed that Chloe had just said something unfathomably stupid. “Chloe, Jason is becoming my thrall; that makes him a clan member. We will look after one of our own. It's already been cleared with the hospital.”

Chloe nodded with a meaningful awkwardness. She had read about noctian blood marriages and what they both meant and did. She simply hadn't thought about the fact that it was a major part of Jason and Jasmine's relationship in weeks. Of course Jasmine was being protective; someone had the audacity to go after her thrall. She doubted her boyfriend would be left properly alone for even a spare second for the next few weeks or even months. 

For some reason though, she didn't disagree with the idea. He shouldn't be bothered in his current state, not more than he could handle, at least. That did not mean they should leave him alone. She didn't like the idea of some stranger who wasn't a professional doing it. But if Jasmine trusted the girl, that would simply have to be good enough. She did have an inkling that if the girl tried to exploit their now-vulnerable boyfriend, Jasmine wouldn't let that go easily. And given that she had karate-chopped a man to death, well, she wasn't too worried.

“Hey you two, stop sulking over in the corner and join the rest of us,” Samantha spoke loudly from over by the bed.

Chloe waited the short few seconds it took for Jasmine to lift herself from her chair before they wandered over. Jason gave them a tired smile as they got there. His hand gave a small, weak wave, barely lifting from the mattress. His hand was bony. Frankly, all of him was bony, or sunken in. Six weeks of no movement had done him no favors. His skin had turned a sickly, wax-like pale color, possibly from the lack of sunlight and everything else. 

Chloe shifted uncomfortably.

“So what was it my son did that was so endearing?” Samantha looked at Jasmine with a slightly strained smile. She knew the woman still wasn't sure how she felt about Jason marrying what might as well be a vampire. That was before the entire secrecy aspect. At least they aren't going to make anything out of it here and now. 

Jasmine looked at Jason, and she winked at him. “Well, I was just telling Chloe that he asked about her first thing when he first started remembering what happened before he fell into a coma.”

A small blush spread across her face. Which was still far better than Jason, who had turned scarlet from ear to ear. At least it made him look healthier.

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(Pov Jason)

Jason was tired. The nap had helped, but having his family here for three hours didn't help with his fatigue. It felt fantastic having them here. But he had limits, severe ones apparently. Still, he was glad they had finally moved off the topic of his return to the land of the living, as Dr. Cassandra put it.

“Well, I think we should go grab something to eat.” His mother hesitated and glanced over at her son. “Do you want anything, honey?”

“He's not allowed solid foods yet, or thin fluids. Doctor's orders until we know if he can swallow properly and to help wean him back on actually eating.” Jasmine gave his mother an apologetic smile. I don't remember Cassandra mentioning that. That didn't mean it was a lie, though; food just hadn't been part of the discussion when the good doctor was here.

“I am fine, Mom. Thanks for asking. Go eat.” He gave her a weak smile. 

His mother's lips pursed for a short while before she sighed. “Well, if you say so. I think we could all use a little food.” She turned towards Chloe and Jasmine. “Would you two like to join us?”

“I would love to,” Chloe said without hesitation.

His fiancée, however, hesitated. Glancing at him with a deeply concerned look, like a museum curator considering leaving a six-year-old alone with ancient fine china.

He gave her the most reassuring smile he could, though it didn't seem very convincing. “I'll be fine for the hour or so you guys are gone. You need to eat too. If anyone was going to kill me, they would have done it while I was in a coma. Not the day I wake up from it.”

She sighed before she walked up to him. “You can't know that.” She mumbled under her breath as she kissed him on the forehead. “I'll mention it to one of the others in the building; they'll be nearby. I'll be back as soon as we've eaten.” She gave his mother a smile. “I would love to, Samantha.”

His mother's face eased back into an easy smile, though he had caught a glimpse of something more complicated just before. Does Mom not like Jasmine?

As his family and lovers got up to leave, Jason looked over at his guilt-stricken sister. His chest tightened at the sight. She didn't deserve that. He had a fairly good idea what it came from, too.

“Sophia, could you wait a bit?” He said just as his sister was about to go out the door. 

She stopped in the doorway and cocked her head as she looked at him. Or rather, next to him, she hadn't looked him in the eyes since they got here.

“I was hoping to talk to you for a bit.”

“Yeah, sure.” Sophia turned and told the others to text her where they were going and a photo of the menu, and that she would catch up to them soon. She sat back down heavily in her chair.

“Could you maybe come a little closer? My voice still isn't that good.”

The chair didn't make a noise as Sophia picked it up and put it back down closer to him.

The silence between them was deafening, and the tension felt thick enough that Jason was fairly certain that if he could lift his hands properly, or use a knife safely, he could have cut it. 

“It's not your fault, Sophia.”