Rated: PG for possibly strong language

Walking barefoot, she went back into the bedroom to see Jax move his head from side to side on the pillow. She quietly walked over to him and placed her hand on his forehead, and it felt a little warm already. But at the touch of her hand, he soothed, and fell into a deep slumber again.

As her eyes moved to the side of the bed, she saw it. His police-issue handgun. It looked deadly laying there on the table, and when she closed her eyes, she somehow still couldn’t picture him holding it, much less aiming it at his partner’s head and emptying it. She hated the sight of it. Sonny was always trying to convince her to get a gun for protection, living out in the wilderness like she did. {Maybe I did need one. To protect me from Sonny.}

She gingerly walked over to it, and picked it up with two fingers by the butt of the gun. Holding it as far away from her body as possible, she walked slowly over to the closet with it and went inside. She looked for an old pair of snow boots that she never wore anymore, and put it in the box with them. Then she piled more boxes of shoes on top of it. The deeper she hid it, the safer she felt. Finally satisfied that it was secure, she came out of the closet and took a deep breath, looking back at the sleeping man in her bed.

She stood for a few minutes, and then went to get a shallow basin and washcloth out of the bathroom. She filled the pan with water and then brought it to the bed. Sean had already pulled the chambray shirt off of Jax’s left shoulder, so the left side of his chest was bare to the waist.

Brenda couldn’t stand to see him trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, and he seemed to still be unconscious. So, she untied his right hand slowly. When the restraint was loosened, his wrist fell limp in her hand. Trying not to jostle him too much, she eased the shirt out from under him and then worked it down his right arm so that he was stripped to the waist.

She took the cloth and after wringing out the excess moisture, began to sponge his chest with it. It seemed to cool his body, and she discovered he had some minor cuts and scratches from his descent into the ravine. Using a fluffy white towel, she dried his chest, trying not to think about the perfect human form she was working on. {Think like a nurse, Brenda, not like a sex maniac.} She applied some antibiotic crème to the cuts, and then sponged off his right arm. She didn’t want to attempt moving the left, since she was afraid it might jostle the wound and cause him pain.

Having done that, she sponged off his face again. He almost seemed to know what she was doing, since he turned his head one time into her hand holding the cloth. She caressed his face with the cloth, noticing the worry lines on his forehead. He was too young to have lines like that. She wondered what had put them there. He let out a sigh one time, but still appeared to be unconscious.

With that done, Brenda came to the part she had been dreading. If his upper body had cuts and scratches, no doubt he might have some on his lower body, too. She had noticed several small rips in his jeans earlier. She chewed her lip in deliberation. {Act like a nurse, Brenda. Clinical. Passionless. …..Yeah, right.}

Taking a deep breath and praying that he would remain unconscious, she began to unzip his jeans, with one eye on his face the whole time. The sound seemed to echo off the walls of the room. She decided it was too quiet in the room, and she went briefly to turn on the TV set on at a low volume. As the picture cleared, she saw a football game was on, so she switched the channel to find a humorous sitcom. Anything to keep the mood light.

She turned to face him and decided she had delayed enough. Gathering all of her intestinal fortitude, she went back and started easing his jeans down his body. {I hope it’s boxers. PLEASE let it be boxers and not one of those little bikini-thong things.} She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw blue silk boxers revealed. {He listens to his mother. Always wear underwear that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to have the people at the hospital see if you’re in an accident.}

Once she got the jeans past his ankles, she set to work sponging his legs. She tried not to think about his muscled thighs, and every time she got near the hem of the boxers, she froze for a minute. {I probably should check to make sure there’s no other cuts. Yep. I probably should.} She took two fingers and delicately moved the fabric a quarter-inch higher. {Good enough, no cuts. He’s fine.}

She began to sponge his legs below the knees and there were a lot of cuts to be cleaned. There were several deep gashes that needed cleaning and an application of the antibiotic. She worked quickly, glancing up every now and then to make sure he was still deeply asleep. Once she had finished with his legs and dried them carefully and applied the creme, she took one more look at the area covered by his boxers. She thought for a minute more, and then decided that he wouldn’t die overnight if that particular area of his body wasn’t squeaky clean. {Coward.} So she pulled the cool sheets up to cover his body and felt his forehead again. It was still warm.

She took care of the pan and cloth and then came back to the bed. The exhaustion of the day finally began to set in and she turned off the TV and all the lights except for the lamp next to the bed on her side. Pulling the sheets back gingerly, she climbed in beside him. As he felt the weight in the bed, he seemed to wake a little. She immediately rolled over to him and placed her right hand on his chest, trying to soothe him. To her surprise, his right arm snaked around her, drawing her to him. She looked at him suspiciously, but he appeared to still be deep in sleep. But at least now he seemed peaceful again. {Who are you to argue with what keeps the man asleep?} So she carefully reached over and turned out the lamp, and then gently snuggled next to him, laying her head softly on the right side of his chest. She felt him give a long sigh and relax. The combined effects of the day’s events and the soothing sound of his heartbeat soon took her into a deep sleep herself.

#####

She felt him move before she heard him. He began to turn his head from side to side on the pillow, and it pulled her back into consciousness. She opened her eyes slowly, and felt his chest moving and his right arm leaving her side to move restlessly on the bed next to her. Brenda looked up at Jax and saw his eyes were still closed, but apparently he was either dreaming or delirious. He began to mutter, and at first she couldn’t understand what he was saying. She reached a hand up to feel his forehead, and it was very warm.

She threw the covers back and jumped out of bed to go get a cool cloth and some Tylenol. When she came back, he was still muttering, and was beginning to move his upper body around in the bed some. Brenda wondered if she had made a mistake loosening his right hand. She went around to his left side and sat down next to him on the bed. His eyes opened for just a moment, but then slid shut again.

"Jax!" she said softly. "Jax! Wake up! You’ve got to take this!"

His eyes opened again, and he looked confused. "Brenda?"

"It’s me, Jax. You’re starting to run a fever. You need to take this so you’ll feel better."

Jax lay back on the pillow. "Hot. I’m so hot."

Brenda was almost crying. {Why did you ever think you could take care of him by yourself?} "Come on, Jax, this will help cool you down." She eased herself behind him on the bed and tried to raise his head without moving his shoulder too much. "Come on, Jax, just open your mouth and then swallow these with some water and you’ll feel better."

To her relief, he finally opened his mouth and she was able to get the Tylenol in him. She held the glass as he drank, and he coughed a little. She felt his body relax against her again, and she stroked his forehead from behind lovingly. He still felt so warm.

Putting the Tylenol bottle on the nightstand with the glass of water, she ran back around to her side of the bed. She chewed her lip and stared at the bindings for his right wrist again. If he just weren’t so strong, and so much bigger than her. With tears coming down her face, she slowly took his hand and tied it to the bedframe again. She climbed in bed, and delicately lay her head on the right side of his chest again after placing the cool rag on his forehead.

About 2 hours later, she was glad she had made the decision she had. She was jerked rudely back from slumber when Jax’s entire body tensed and he began screaming.

"Jerry! Jerry, no! Don’t get in the car!" She looked up into his eyes and although they were wide open, she doubted that he was awake.

She stroked his forehead and it was still warm. "Jax, wake up! You’re just having a nightmare!"

But the screaming continued, and he began trying to sit up in the bed. "JERRY! NO! THE CAR!!…" He made a sound like a wounded animal, and tears began to gather in her eyes again.

"It’s OK, Jax," she crooned, stroking his forehead with the cloth. He finally seemed to be able to hear her voice, and she thanked his angels. "It’s all OK," she repeated. "You’re here with me and it’s all OK."

He tried to sit up again and winced when the strain finally took its toll on his wounded shoulder. "Everything’s OK?" he said softly.

"Everything’s fine. Now just go back to sleep," she soothed. She hated lying to him. She recognized the name of his brother, and realized that Jax still was consumed with guilt for his death. But she doubted that when he finally awoke, he would remember any of this. She tried to calm him and ease him back down flat on the bed. Finally, he relaxed and his eyes closed again.

She lay back on his chest, and listened as his heartbeat finally slowed to its normal rhythm. A while later, she reached up her hand, and was rewarded with dampness when she felt his forehead. Thanking his angels silently once again, she drifted off into a more peaceful slumber herself.

#####

A bright ray of sunlight coming in through the bedroom window finally woke Brenda. She squinted her eyes when she opened them. Glancing at the bedside clock, she realized that they had both slept until almost noon. She hadn’t even noticed the time when Sean finally left the night before. She reached a cautious hand up to Jax’s forehead, and it was still cool to the touch.

She lifted herself off his chest to look at his wound. The gauze just had a small stain of red, so at least he hadn’t done too much damage during his ravings during the night. She glanced up at his right wrist, and decided that since the fever appeared to have broken, it was safe to undo him.

She went into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She looked into the mirror and was almost scared by what she saw. Her face looked marvelous. Her cheeks glowed, and her eyes were bright. She expected the ordeal of the last few days to have given her crow’s feet at the least, but instead it seemed to have sparked a new freshness and energy in her.

She quickly came out and changed into some fresh shorts and a knit top. She rationalized that maybe later in the day, she could chance taking a shower. Right now, she wanted to go downstairs and make herself something to eat and see if there were any news bulletins about Jax.

After checking him once more, she went down and started getting herself some food in the kitchen. Munching on a fresh bagel, she turned on the TV. She was rewarded with the local noon news program.

Grabbing some juice, she sat down in front of the TV. "Today, we have an interview with local Police Commissioner, Mac Scorpio," the anchor intoned. The shot broadened to include Mac’s haggard face. {Hah! I’ve got the "bad guy" here with me, and I look great and you look like hell!} "Commissioner Scorpio, can you give us the latest update on the search for fugitive, Jasper Jacks."

Mac nodded, and Brenda began to doubt the wisdom of eating while matching this particular part of the program. "Thanks, Karen," he replied slickly. "Yesterday was a very important one in our search for this dangerous man." The shot cut away to show Jax’s smiling face as Mac’s voice continued. "He was finally spotted on a stolen motorcycle outside the city limits, near Highway KK and Cooper Road." The shot cut back to Mac. "Our city’s finest joined state troopers in the chase and we believe we finally cornered the suspect near Cooper’s Ravine."

The shot widened to include the anchor, who was now sitting in a chair next to Mac. "And we understand that your men fatally wounded the suspect in this encounter?"

{YES! My trick worked!}

Mac took a deep breath. "Our troopers believe that they managed to hit Mr. Jacks at least once when they shot. We also believe that we hit the stolen motorcycle at least once in the gunfire. The cycle left the road and went down into the ravine. Unfortunately, before our men could get to it, the motorcycle exploded."

The anchor looked serious. "And Mr. Jacks was apparently killed in the explosion?"

Brenda held her breath. "All our troopers found when the finally were able to get close to the wreckage was the remnants of the cycle and a few personal items belonging to Mr. Jacks. One was an expensive Swiss timepiece that he frequently wore, and one was a leather jacket that was stolen at the same time as the motorcycle. Both were extensively burned." Then Brenda’s heart rose in her throat. "It does appear that Mr. Jacks perished in the fire, but just to be sure, our forensics experts are examining the ashes and the surrounding area. We caution the residents in the Port Charles vicinity to still be on the alert. This suspect is a very dangerous man."

The anchor persisted. "So how long before you can tell for sure whether or not he’s dead?"

"The forensics report probably won’t be back for at least 4-5 days." Mac looked annoyed. "A government agency has requested the results be examined twice by their own experts before they release them to us."

Brenda smiled. {God bless Sean and the WSB. He bought Jax more time with bureaucracy.} Having found out the news she wanted to hear, she turned off the TV and went back upstairs to check on Jax.

His color seemed to be returning, and when she came into the room, his eyes opened slowly. "Brenda?"

She walked over to sit by him on the bed. "Hey, you," she said fondly. "How are you feelin’? Does the shoulder hurt much? Do you want something to drink? Do you want…"

He smiled wanly and put his finger up to her lips. "Still don’t know when to quit, do you?" The finger outlined her lips and she began to breathe faster. He winced and lowered his hand. "I’m still kind of hot, and thirsty."

She put her hand to his forehead and it felt a little warm again. She looked at the clock. "I can get you more Tylenol, or something for the pain." At that moment, they both froze as they heard a knock at Brenda’s front door. Then Brenda let out her breath a little. "Sean said last night he would send someone to check on you." She rose from the bed as Jax closed his eyes again. She turned back to him at the door. "But be quiet – just in case it’s somebody else."

She went down the stairs slowly and peeked out the window next to the door. A sophisticated-looking woman stood patiently waiting, holding a small overnight bag and a briefcase. Brenda froze at the window, not knowing what to think about this visitor. {Well, it’s certainly not a trooper – but I sure don’t think it’s the Avon lady either.} As she debated, the woman looked back at her through the window and smiled warmly.

"Miss Barrett? I’m here for falcon – I’m Miss Blue."

Brenda opened the door cautiously. "Shouldn’t I be asking for some kind of identification?"

Miss Blue smiled again. "We spoke last night – you have the falcon with the parrot for a mother? A J3 emergency? Sean sent me."

Brenda heaved a sigh of relief and pulled Miss Blue inside. "I’m so glad you’re here."

Miss Blue looked worried. "Did you have any more trouble with him overnight?"

Brenda motioned for her to follow and began walking upstairs. "He ran a pretty high fever overnight and I think he was delirious for a while. The fever broke towards morning, but I think it may be coming back."

Miss Blue nodded and the news didn’t appear to surprise her. "A gunshot wound may cause fever sometime – particularly if it shows any sign of infection." She followed Brenda into the bedroom and as soon as she saw Jax, her eyes melted into warm puddles. She walked over to the bed and sat beside him. She raised one hand to caress the side of his face gently and his eyes popped open. He immediately smiled. "Hiya, Blue," he said softly.

"Hi yourself, darlin’," she answered quietly. "Forgot to duck again, didn’t you?"

He took her hand in his right hand and raised it to his lips, kissing the back of it regally. "You know us falcons," he said, still lingering over her hand, "anything for a little attention from the female of the species."

"Well," she drawled slowly, "I think you’ve drawn quite enough attention to yourself for a lifetime already, Jax." She looked at the bag on the floor. "I brought you a change of clothes since I thought you might be getting a little ripe by now."

Jax shifted in the bed, favoring his shoulder. "How did you get into my place – aren’t the cops watching it anymore?"

Miss Blue was taking off her jacket and rolling up her sleeves as she spoke. "I thought it was pretty safe to just use my pass key, but just in case, I took Miranda with me and we went under-cover as cleaning ladies." She began taking out clean gauze from the briefcase and some small bottles of clear liquid. Then she smiled wickedly at Jax. "And yes – I went ahead and made her clean the toilets while we were there."

Jax smiled broadly. "Serves her right for what she pulled on me the last time we went on a mission together." He looked at Blue. "I guess this is the part where we stop having fun, right love?"

Blue nodded seriously and looked over at Brenda. "Can you come over and help me, sweetie? Jax might need someone to hang onto while I change the dressing and irrigate the wound." Brenda nodded, came to stand by Jax’s side, and then sat behind him and extended her right hand to grip his. Blue looked at Jax. "Now if this starts getting too intense, darlin’, let me know before you break the young lady’s fingers. I can only handle so many of these emergencies a day, you know." Jax nodded and Blue began taking the dressing off his wound.

Brenda could feel his entire body tense with pain and he began to squeeze her hand. She used her left to stroke his forehead gently and then he turned up to look deeply into her brown eyes. "Blue and I go way back, don’t we, love?" Brenda recognized Jax’s plan to distract himself by talking to her. "Before she was Sean’s executive assistant, she worked for Robert Scorpio."

Brenda looked surprised. Blue kept working efficiently. "Scorpio? Like in Mac Scorpio?"

Blue nodded. "Mac’s brother." Her fingers stopped for a moment. "Robert must be spinning like a lathe in his grave at the thought of what Mac’s become."

"Robert wouldn’t have wanted his brother to be police commissioner?"

Blue looked suspiciously at Jax, but he nodded slowly. "It’s OK, Blue. She just doesn’t know the whole story yet."

As Brenda looked from one to the other with questions in her eyes, Blue finished re-bandaging the wound. "There you go, darlin’. Good as new. It doesn’t look like a serious infection, but just in case…." She reached down into her briefcase and was pulling out a bottle.

"Oh, no, Blue," Jax said in mock horror. "Not the horse pills!"

Brenda looked confused. "Antibiotics," she explained to Brenda. "Jax just doesn’t like them because they’re so big and hard to swallow. But he’s used to taking them, aren’t you?" Jax nodded wearily and as she closed her briefcase, Blue smiled and chuckled to herself. "Besides, I would think you would prefer anything to those shots I had to give you after that snakebite in Afghanistan."

Brenda had let go of Jax’s hand and was helping Blue gather up the soiled dressings. "What – doesn’t he like shots?"

"No, sweetie," she said smiling. "He just didn’t like it because I had to give him a shot in the tookus every morning for three weeks."

"Now, Blue," he said lewdly, "you know normally I LOVE anything you do to my tookus, but…."

They all froze as they heard the sound of a motorcycle. "Jason?" Jax said tersely.

Brenda jumped up and ran to the window and looked out. "He’s back," she whispered. She looked back at them in terror. "He’s alone."

Blue began gathering up the things. "Go downstairs, sweetie. I’ll handle everything."

"But your car…." Brenda began, but Miss Blue waved her on to go downstairs. She looked at Jax helplessly, but he gave her a weak thumbs-up.

Brenda walked down the stairs and tried to keep her knees from knocking. She opened the front door after taking a deep breath. "Hi, Jason. I wasn’t expecting you for some time. Where’d you get the motorcycle?"

Jason walked in the house looking around. "I filed the insurance." Brenda noted with disdain that he had also secured a replacement leather jacket. "Sonny told me to check on you after he heard about my bike. Who does the car belong to?"

{Oh, God. Here it comes. What do I tell him now so that he believes me?} Just as Brenda opened her mouth, Miss Blue came down the stairs smiling and interrupted her. "Why, Brenda, who is your handsome friend?"

Brenda fervently hoped that Blue had a good plan. "This is a friend of mine, Jason Morgan." Jason extended his hand warily to shake Blue’s outstretched one. "And this is…."

Blue interrupted. "…her cousin, Rona Barrett. Pleased to meet you, Jason." She moved closer to Brenda. "I’m just here visiting from D.C. for a while."

Jason looked at her suspiciously. "Brenda never mentioned a cousin in D.C."

Blue didn’t look phased. "She didn’t?" She slapped Brenda lightly on the arm. "Well then, honey, we’re even, because she sure didn’t mention having a friend like you, either." She looked confidentially at Brenda. "I think he looks a little like Brad Pitt, don’t you? Or is it that guy with the leather jacket from years ago, James Dean? But they say everyone has a twin somewhere in the world you know. Why I know our great uncle Horace had a guy who looked just like him…."

Jason’s face began to take on a pained look. "Well," he interrupted loudly, "I certainly don’t want to interrupt a family reunion. I can see the family resemblance," he muttered under his breath. "Sonny just told me to check, so I did. Bye!"

He headed for the door while Brenda stood there standing with her mouth open. "It’s been real nice meetin’ you, honey," Blue gushed, following him to the door. "Come back and we’ll talk about my cousin Harry. He knows somebody who actually rode a motorcycle cross-country back in the winter of ’42. For the life of me I still don’t know how he got that thing through the snow…" Jason never left the cottage so quickly.

Blue held her hand up to silence Brenda as she watched out the window. After the roar of the motorcycle had faded into the distance, she looked at Brenda with a straight face. "He’s a few pickles short of a Big Mac, isn’t he?"

Brenda was still gasping in amazement. "How did you do that? He can always tell when anyone’s lying to him!"

Blue was rolling down her sleeves and picking up the briefcase she slipped down the stairs with her. "Lots of experience, sweetie. Lots of experience with the WSB." She put on her coat. "Make sure Jax takes two of those horse pills a day – I left them on the nightstand. And try to see that he gets a lot of fluids. I’ll try to call you tomorrow to check on him. By then, you’ll be wondering if you did the right thing saving his life." She chuckled to herself. "He’s a real bear when he’s recuperating. As charming as those blue eyes are, I have a feeling you’ll be itching to kick his butt out of here in a few days."

Brenda nodded as she walked her to the door. "Thanks – for everything."

Blue’s eyes were warm when she turned back. "Jax should be the one thanking you, sweetie. I hope he realizes just how lucky he is to have you."

Brenda watched as Blue’s car made the trip down the outer road and soon disappeared from sight. She walked slowly back up the stairs and saw Jax was still awake when she entered the bedroom.

"Is Blue gone?" he asked quietly.

Brenda nodded and came to sit on the bed beside him. He looked drowsy. "She’s amazing. She lied to Jason through her teeth and yet he believed her."

Jax smiled but his eyes remained shut. "Blue’s a woman of many talents. She’s save my butt so many times I’ve lost count." Then, to Brenda’s surprise, his eyes opened wide and they were the most amazing shade of blue/green she had ever seen. He reached for her hand and held it to his lips. "But this time the credit all belongs to you. I don’t know what I would have done without you, hellcat." He touched his lips to her hand, and then his eyes closed and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

He didn’t turn loose of her hand. As he cradled it to his chest, she reached up with her other hand and brushed back the hair off his forehead. {And I don’t know what I would do without you either, pig.}

To be continued….

Author’s note: I’m taking a chance here and showing my age, but Rona Barrett was a real person – a Hollywood gossip columnist in the late 70’s and early 80’s.