All That Remains

16. Elias

"No!" Jae shouted. "No!" She repeated when everyone continued to look at her sadly.

Silence enveloped the room as Jae looked at Jonah, Tyrell and Keenan in turn, almost as though she was willing them to answer her. Panic flooded her eyes at their lack of response and she ran her trembling fingers through her hair repeatedly as she stared them all down. Elias stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder in the hopes of comforting her. But she just shrugged it off, continuing to glare at the other three men in the room.

"If you think I'm just going to stand back and let this happen," she whispered angrily. "Then smoke inhalation must have damaged your brains or something."

"Jae," Keenan said softly, approaching her cautiously. "Jonah is dying and he wants to be put out of his misery."

"We've already lost so much, Keenan," Jae insisted, her eyes brimming with tears. "Kenji, Martha, our home. We can't lose you too." She directed her last words at Jonah with a desperate edge to her voice.

The scene was truly heart breaking, and Elias wished he wasn't here to witness Jae beg an almost dead man to stay alive. Judging from the look in Jonah's eyes, his mind was made up and nothing she said would change it. Elias had a feeling she knew this already, but was desperate to try anyway, and he couldn't help but admire her determination.

"I'm sorry kid." Jonah coughed again, his hand coming away crimson. Elias fought back a shudder at the scarlet stains on the man's lips that stood out in stark contrast to his increasingly pale skin. "I'm done for, and I'm tired of fighting. It's my choice."

"But," Jae started, only to be cut off by Keenan.

"Jae, please listen to me." He placed both his hands on her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes as he spoke softly. "The wound on Jonah's stomach is fatal, and even if it wasn't, none of us are doctors. We are out of our depth here. Jonah has made what he considers to be the best choice for us, we have to respect that."

"The best choice for us would be for him to stay alive," Jae retorted.

"Jae. Please." Jonah choked out, his voice hoarse and barely audible. "Just stop."

Jae's eyes widened and she flinched as though he had physically hurt her. Even Elias took a step back, feeling firmly put in place. It wasn't what Jonah had said, but the weary tone of voice he had used, as though he was sick of hearing Jae's pleas. She pulled herself together quickly, the shock replaced by anger as she scowled in his direction.

"Well, I'm not sticking around to watch you die," she stated, her tone emotionless. With that she turned on her heel and stormed off, stalking down the hall. A few seconds later, Elias cringed as he heard a door slam loudly.

After a tense few moments, Elias started after her, intent on offering her comfort. But, Kennan grabbed his arm, stopping him with a slight shake of his head. "When Jae is like this, it's better to leave her be for a while until she calms down. I do however, have something I need your help with."

Elias glanced towards the direction Jae had stormed off in, and back at Keenan a few times, torn on what he should do. He didn't really think Jae should be alone to stew in her anger and sadness, but Keenan did know her better and probably knew what she would want. With one last look towards the hallway, Elias nodded at Keenan, resigning himself to giving Jae the time to cool off.

Keenan smiled gratefully, though it didn't reach his eyes, before leading Elias towards the front door. They exited out into the early morning sun, a cool breeze greeting them as they stepped outside. Elias followed Keenan as he went around the house to the back garden.

"We need to collect wood." Keenan gestured towards the many trees that littered the surrounding gardens.

"You're going to burn him right here?" Elias asked incredulously.