Heart of Their Jewel

Chapter 22

"What?" Jace asked once he could get his brain to function. "What did you say, Jewel?"

"It...it w...wa..was...H....Ha..Hale..I...no," Jewel said as she started to back crawl into the corner of the sofa. Her eyes were wide open yet her pupils started to dilate making her eyes look huge. Her body was trembling to where it was visible to Jace.

"Jewely, calm down, please, you're terrifying me. Did you just say, Hale?" Jace said softly as he tried to reach out but she flinched away. "Okay, Jewely, I won't touch you."

"He....I....no...you...no," Jewel said as she gripped her hair in fistfuls and started tugging till it seemed like something snapped in her. Her arms dropped to her sides and she just stared at her lap with a blank look.

"Jewel?" Jace questioned with a perplexed look. "Jewely?"

He lifted her hand and the second he released it, she dropped it back into her lap. He picked it up again and once more it dropped. He lifted her face and gasped at the emotionless black stare that faced him.

"Jewely? Come back to me baby, he isn't here. I swear on my life he won't come near you again," Jace tried coaxing her back yet there wasn't even a twitch from her. "Shit," he whispered as he ran his hand over his face. 'Did she say you? Does that mean she remembers not only him but what happened after? How far gone is she?'

After trying to decipher the puzzle of Jewel, Jace decided it would be best to have her in the comfort of her bed with her favorite blanket. He picked her up and did just that. Once he had her all comfortable he looked at her to notice that she was just staring at the ceiling with an emotionless expression. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. "Jewel, if you can hear me can you blink once for yes, and two for no?" he asked. He held his breath as he waited but when he realized that she wasn't going to respond, he sighed heavily. "Maybe you will feel better soon."

And that is how it went for an entire week. He would wake and find her in the exact same place he had put her. Every time he checked on her, which was anywhere between every thirty minutes to an hour, she never blinked, twitched, nor showed any sign of responding or recognizing him. It was like she had become a real-life doll.

His mind was frantic and in overdrive. No matter what he tried with no response from his little sister, it also meant she had gone a full week with no food or liquid in her system. It was to the point where he was going to have to figure out how to insert an IV into her to keep her alive or her organs would start to fail.

Looking at his phone he had a thought. How could he let his feelings override what his sister needs? He could just take her to the hospital but they wouldn't know how to properly care for her. He needed help and knew the people to do it, yet he knew they would have his ass for what he had done. 'Maybe if I told them I did it to lose any trail of any other stalkers possibly working with the guy....yeah maybe they will believe me on that. And that I was going to contact them when I believed we weren't followed,' he thought as he held the cell phone in his hand.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, yeah he could do this, it was for the sake of his sister. Everything he did was always for his sister, even if he did go a not-so-normal route. His little sister has been the only light he has ever had in his life and he hated to see that light completely snuffed out. The darkness had won and has enveloped her in the web of the abyss. He never could help her in her darkest hour although she was always there for him, pulling him up when he thought all hope was lost. Without her, he probably would have never met the Academy, the men he called brothers, or became a renowned Senior Pharmacist.

He dropped his cell phone and pinched his nose as he tried to gather the strength he needed to do what he was about to do. He slowly exhaled before walking back to Jewel's room. Twisting the knob, he pushed the door open and froze. Just as he expected, his hopes were not answered and she was still sitting on the window seat with her hands in her lap and her face towards the window, soaking up the last of the afternoon rays.

He walked over to her and sat down, putting her feet in his lap. "Jewels?" he murmured as he held her hand in his. A tear slipped down his face at how skinny she had become. Her eyes were sunken in and the veins on the top of her hand were now very noticeable. When he moved her arms and legs to keep her muscles from deteriorating he could feel her spine and ribs and it frustrated him as well as made him feel sick. He should be able to reach his sister and pull her out of this and yet at the same time he hated that it was because of him that she was in this state. Well, not the full reason but part of it. He turned her face towards him and gently rested his forehead against hers.

"I know there's some part of you that can hear me, Jewels," he murmured. "I love you Jewels, I always will. I hope you can forgive me, just know I did what I thought was best but I know it was wrong of me now. I'll fix this, I promise, Jewely, I'll fix this and bring you back. Just remember I love you, little sister."

He turned her so she could see the painted sky that she loved so much and headed to the backyard. Taking a deep breath as he looked up to the same sky, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and dialed the memorized number from heart.

Two rings filled his ears as his heart raced and then he heard, "Hello?"