Freeze (The Jewel Project #4)

Savior

Taking shifts had become the norm after four weeks. And as much as it sucked that Sam was still in a coma, Jimmy had come to appreciate his turn to watch him. It was the chance for hours of piece and quiet in which he got to think about a lot of things.

Like where this entire Agency thing was going, or what he planned to do with the rest of his life, if he had any. How he felt about his parents, about Snitch Gravel, about Billy's disappearance.

They weren't mostly good feelings. It had taken him about a week to be completely off meds and process what had happened to them, how close they'd cut it. That Sam was in a freaking coma which could leave him with permanent brain damage.

It had been a swirling spiral seeing everyone crash and burn after the adrenaline faded and they finally came to terms with the fact that they were still alive. Just barely.

Billy had hurt the most. He hadn't called, hadn't been found. His body hadn't washed ashore somewhere. Jimmy still secretly hoped he was out there somewhere, that he'd just had the sense to climb out of that river and walk away from all the madness.

His parents on the other hand turned out to be a huge disappointment. Freider had made good on his threat and disappeared from home for long periods of time, sometimes days on end. He refused to mention what he was doing, where he was going, what his plans were. They hadn't insisted because Jerry didn't want more fighting and the rest of them couldn't be in the same room as Freider for five minutes without shouting. 

And it broke their mother. Maxi resembled a moping ghost lately, her frame much skinnier, her eyes red and devoid of any light. Jimmy sort of understood, since her child was in a coma and everything, but he wished she'd do something. Everyone insisted on protecting her, but Jimmy felt like shaking some sense into her head.

Everything could've been avoided if they'd just been smarter. Tragically, they hadn't, which led to nothing by pain for everyone involved.

After two weeks, Sam had been deemed safe enough to travel, so they'd moved him to a hospital in Chicago. Which was just great since they were supposed to return to school. After much thinking, they decided to do it. It would provide a welcomed distraction, and maybe then the stupid rumors that Sam was dead would stop.

It didn't help that random goons sometimes made pathetic attempts to finish Sam off. So pathetic that even Jerry could thwart them, which made it not enough of a challenge to plunge them into mission mode.

Jimmy had college work to do anyway. His portfolio was growing every single day, fueled by his need to lose himself in something he could understand. Even now as he headed for Sam's room, replacing Jerry for the afternoon, his mind was focused on a few improvements he could bring to his new watch prototype. He still couldn't believe he'd been sabotaged by water.

He pushed the door open and froze. There was a doctor in Sam's room, injecting something into his IV, which wouldn't have been strange, except Jimmy had never seen him before. After two whole weeks, he'd gotten to learn what everyone looked like.

This man was tall and broad shouldered, his hair completely hidden by a surgical cap, but what was most strange was the large robe he wore over his scrubs. The hunched posture made it a little hard to tell exactly what he looked like.

"Who are you?" Jimmy asked.

He jumped and half turned. In that moment, Jimmy took out his gun and pointed it at him. He wore a surgical mask and sunglasses, so he was obviously not supposed to be there.

"Step away from him." Jimmy entered the room, inching towards the bed.

There was a sneering chuckle, then the fake doctor pushed in the rest of the substance from his syringe before stepping away, his hands half raised.