𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐝𝐚'𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧. There were so many people all around her to the point where she couldn't breathe. When she opened up her eyes; the doctors acted instantly. Giada could've sworn she'd never seen them move so fast. The auburn haired woman's head pounded so harshly, an ebbing throb that didn't want to leave her brain.
Miraculously, the injury she'd obtained helped Giada receive her memories back. She did not even know how that was remotely possible, and based on what she'd seen, maybe Giada had been better off not knowing. It was all beginning to make sense on why she had felt such a strong connection with Janson when Giada first met him; for the second fucking time. They used to know each other so well, and they even kissed just before he took her memories away. That would certainly explain why her lips were swollen when she'd arrived in the Glade.
She wanted to be angry with Janson about the whole situation, she really did. But Giada supposed her former feelings for the old, arrogant asshole were coming into play at the worst possible moment. All Giada knew was that she needed to confront him about it, and this time Janson wouldn't be able to get away with lying right directly to her face because she'd seen the memories for herself. With her own eyes.
It took the doctors and nurses a long twenty minutes to finally give Giada the okay to leave the room. The rumor was that the people here were beginning to believe that she was dead. Apparently, Giada hadn't woken up for a whole entire week after Janson carried her in. She could personally never see the man doing something like that for anyone but himself, but Giada figured she'd rather it be him than anyone else.
The auburn haired woman walked out into the hallway after all of her tests were done to only be met with Heath and Violet right off the bat. Now Giada knew why she'd gotten really close to the two of them right away. She had been there when Violet found out she was pregnant, which made the evening end in tears. Luckily, Heath wasn't one of those types of fathers who would run away and abandon his child. He seemed to adore his daughter.
"Giada!" Violet ran into the other woman's embrace, hugging her so tightly. Heath stood to the side, shooting her an awkward smile as he held onto Naomi. The little baby was trying to grab onto her father's dreads with her small hands. "I thought you were actually a goner!"
"So did everyone, apparently," She remarked, wrapping her arms around Violet as well. "Was I seriously asleep for a whole week?"
"Yes, you were." Heath spoke up. "You had lost a lot of blood."
Giada raised her eyebrows as Violet added nonchalantly, "Janson's hands and clothes were lathered in it too. It looked like he tried to go on a murdering rampage."
"What do you mean?" She whispered breathlessly. So, her being in Janson's arms before her mind went blank had been completely real and not a fragment of her imagination?
"He wouldn't let anyone touch you, I'd never seen the man do something like that," Violet explained calmly. This made Giada flutter her eyelashes in disbelief. "And trust me, I've known Janson for a very long time." Yeah, longer than me I presume.
"Where is he?" She inquired, glancing at the both of them repeatedly. "I need to talk to him like right now."
"Not sure," admitted Heath with a frown. "Janson just tends to go wherever he wants. I haven't seen him all day."
Her brain was beginning to become fuzzy again, and Giada desperately needed to confront him about what she saw before she potentially forgot about it. Right now would be the best time possible, except the asshole decided to not make his gallant presence shown for once. Giada opened her mouth up to argue, but Violet placed her fingers upon the auburn haired woman's lips gently to silence her.
"You can go chase after a man old enough to be your father later," She said sternly. Giada really hadn't considered that. I mean, Janson's not that old, right? The woman usually didn't have the opportunity to make an inquiry about the man's age. "Right now, Heath and I are going to make sure you eat."
She figured there was no use in objecting as Giada let Violet take her hand and proceed to drag her into the cafeteria. Her side still did sting so the brunette made sure not to move too quickly. Heath handed her Naomi before he set off to make the woman a plate.
"You know I'm not incompetent, right?" Giada commented wryly, gently bouncing the giggling girl on her lap.
"Cut yourself a break," retorted Violet, not wanting to hear any of it. "You almost died. That's the perfect excuse to get pampered."
Giada could see the sense in that. None of them thought she was going to survive, but here the woman sat. She felt wide-awake for the first time in forever. Besides, the pain in her lower side wouldn't allow Giada to fall into a deep slumber even if she really wanted to. While the woman ate to replenish some of the missing nutrients in her body, the only thing on her mind was Janson. Especially after Heath told the woman that the older man literally ordered the doctors to do anything and everything they could to save Giada's life.
Her only hearing that made the woman more lenient to set off to find the man. Giada quickly finished the meal that Heath had gotten so graciously for her before walking out of the cafeteria. She had several guesses on where Janson was currently, but Giada made the rapid decision to go check the attic. If she was desperately trying to avoid someone, that's the first place she'd personally go. Not very many people went there anyways except for the two of them anyways.
She crept into the not so secret place, shutting the door behind her as quietly as humanely possible. Considering all of the doors here were made out of pure metal, it surely was not an easy task. Giada's eyes darted around the terribly lightened room, seeing as there's only a dying lamp not too far away from the couch that was the place's only light source.
Then her eyes found a slumped figure on the couch which made her heartbeat regulate a little bit. Giada instantly knew it was Janson before she even made the full approach to where he was. His steady breathing told her that much, and nervously the woman forced herself to peer down at him.
Janson was fully clothed and asleep with his whole body positioned towards the left side. It was clearer than day that he hadn't shaved in the whole week she'd been out of it because his normal stubble was nearly looking like a beard. Not that Giada was complaining, he did look really good with facial hair. In her opinion, not all men could pull that off, but Janson could. He also appeared to be so peaceful when he wasn't awake causing problems in the world around him.
Slowly, she reached out to gently stroke his face. The man who took everything away from her was in such a vulnerable position right now. His skin felt rough under her soft fingertips, but somehow his black and white beard wasn't brittle to the touch. The color of it matched Janson's beautiful hair, which looked a lot longer than she'd last seen it. It was messy as per usual, some of it dangling down his forehead.
Giada could've ended this whole thing right then and there, but she couldn't find it in her heart to. Just because the man underneath her could kill people without a problem, that did not mean she was the exact same way. Giada still had morals; don't kill someone unless they hurt someone you love. The auburn haired woman didn't have anyone she actually loved in this shitty world. Of course that was debatable as she continued touching his face gently.
Then the man began to stir, and as fast as a tiger, Janson's hand reached out to grip her arm tightly. His sapphire eyes fluttered open involuntarily at that as Giada let out a loud gasp. She'd allowed herself to forget how strong the man actually was, even though he was fairly skinny. Well, that's what I get for touching him. Giada thought with a wince as she tried to pull her arm away from him. The man was gripping it so tight that it was probably going to leave a bruise.
"What the actual fuck do you think you're doing?" Janson snapped out. He stood upright and finally got a good look at the person in front of him. At first he thought it was Cheryl, because he didn't know what it was with her and liking to watch him sleep. However, it wasn't her. Even in the darkness, Janson could recognize Giada's ocean blue eyes staring at him with pure fear. He released her immediately, recoiling backwards as the woman began to clench her arm.
"Hello to you too," Giada said sourly.
Janson eyed her in disbelief, watching the auburn haired woman make her way over to the large window. The doctors weren't expecting her to make it, and he had begun to believe them. But there Giada was, her ginger hair shimmering under the profound moonlight. He approached her cautiously, not wanting this to be a dream. But once her perfume hit his nose, Janson knew he was wide-awake. He took his place next to her and she didn't even look at him.
"You're alive, congratulations." He murmured raspily.
Giada rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I suppose."
"How does it feel?"
"Like my period, but eighty times worse."
"Interesting comparison."
"That's not all of it though," Giada whispered as she placed her smaller hand right beside his. "I saw things, weird things."
Janson raised his eyebrows in confusion, tilting his head so all of the man's attention could be fixated on her. He waited patiently for Giada to speak.
"I saw things," She repeated slowly, the emotion showing rawly through her eyes. "Things that I probably shouldn't have seen."
Now Janson was extremely curious. Still, he didn't offer anything to say as he nodded for her to continue speaking. In his defense, Giada was the one who chose to bring it up.
"A bunch of things forced themselves into my mind, things that I had no recollection of ever happening," She explained. Janson visibly stiffened beside her, but the woman took no notice of that. "I remember a lot of things, but most importantly..."
They both turned to face each other at the same time, as if they were in sync. Giada placed her free hand right directly in the middle of the man's chest. She felt Janson's heartbeat pulsating underneath her touch, and for some odd reason it soothed her. The man stared at Giada, taking turns glancing from her hand placement to her face.
And when Giada looked right into Janson's eyes, it was almost like he knew exactly what she was going to tell him. Normally, Giada wasn't the type of woman to confront someone about something as serious as this, but she needed to truly know if he'd lie to her.
"I remember you," She admitted hoarsely. "You were in my past so much."
A look of realization spreaded all over Janson's face, and Giada could've sworn she felt his heartbeat increased by her touch.
"That's impossible-" He tried to scoff.
"I kissed you," Giada cut him off quietly. "And then you took everything away from me."
She saw the older man remembering the moment with a faraway gleam in his sapphire eyes. Janson's brain and heart were both in completely different places even as he said hazily, "Ava wanted me to kill you for what you did to us." That's adorable because he clearly didn't follow through with what his boss wanted.
"So, why didn't you?" Giada demanded, raising her voice. "I've seen you kill other people before, so why couldn't you kill me?"
"It's complicated," Janson retorted, a huge amount of defense seeping in. There was no way in hell he'd tell her the real reason why he didn't have it in his heart to kill her. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me," She dared him coldly.
And when Janson did not take her dare, Giada removed her hand away from his chest with a loud sigh of annoyance. She started to storm away towards the door. The woman just wanted to know why he wouldn't kill her so she wouldn't have to live this terrible life anymore.
"Would you do it again?" Janson asked her softly.
"Do what?"
"Betray me for Thomas's benefit."
Giada thought briefly on that question. She wasn't in a good place with the Gladers as of currently, and being utterly honest; the woman believed she never would be. Giada literally did proclaim her loyalty to WCKD in front of hundreds of people. Except the only person she's even doing this for was Janson. If he hadn't been here, she probably would've left a long time ago.
"No, I wouldn't." Because I actually love you and I fucking hate myself every single day for it. "Just because you love betraying the closest people to you, that doesn't mean I do."