T W O ~ P R O T E C T O R

J A C K S O N

~ ~ ~

The rapid screeching of the ECG machine woke me up with a start. My mind immediately processed all that was going on.

I rushed to the edge of the bed yet again and hugged her to my body.

"You're okay," I insisted, running my hand over her head in hopes of calming her down. She gurgled and coughed, choking on her own saliva as she fought to breathe.

"No, no, no," I held her trashing body gently, not to interfere with her IV, but firmly, to stop her from hurting herself.

"You're safe, I promise. You're safe," I assured and continued stroking her head.

Sobs racked her body. The same hopeless feeling that I've been dwelling in suffocated me as I watched the tiny little fae break down in my arms.

Within a few minutes, her breathing slowed as she stopped convulsing. I expected her to go back to sleep as she'd done every other time, however, she turned and looked right up at me.

Her eyes were a bright hazel, almost orange. Not only did the rarity of her eye colour shock me but it was the innocence in them. She looked so... harmless.

Her stare was unmoving and pinned me where I sat, unable to react.

Her eyelids started drooping again and she wrapped her arms around mine, rubbing her head against it in a kittenish manner.

She closed her eyes and I listened to her little breaths. She was too precious and I'm not sure I was able to handle it.

"... my hero," I thought I heard her mumble and for the first time in forever, a cheesy grin adorned my face.

It's only been about twenty-four hours since I carried her out of a burning apartment and as of ten hours ago, she has been waking up every hour completely and wholly traumatized.

I couldn't bring myself to leave. From the moment the EMT brought her to the hospital, to the moment she was moved to this room, I haven't left her. Well, save for the twenty minutes I spent showering in the hospital. I'd changed out of my uniform and into some casual clothes that I'd bought at the convenience store across the street.

I sat next to her bed for hours, wondering what the hell I was doing here. I tried convincing myself that this was wildly inappropriate but every time I tried to leave, I'd look at her face and knew that there was no way I could go.

As the hours passed and the results of the investigation starting coming in, I kept getting more and more reasons to stay.

The preliminary reports state that the cause of the fire might've been a lighter that exploding on the couch. It caught quickly and they suspect that the man we found was passed out from excessive alcohol consumption.

It didn't take rocket science to figure that one out with the number of bottles I saw on the floor.

Anyway, the apartment was carpeted and the fire spread quickly. The explosion was from the gas pipes and they confirmed that if we'd come just ten minutes later, the damage could've been much more detrimental.

The thing is, we still had no idea who the victims were but I was going to find out very soon.

~ ~ ~

"Mr. Colt, Mr. Colt?" Someone was shaking me awake and I felt the annoyance bubbling up in my chest. Who the fuck was interrupting my sleep?

"What?" I grumbled and immediately regretted my decision when I heard a whimper from next to me.

She was still sleeping but I cursed myself for even remotely upsetting her. I caressed her fingers that were tightly wrapped around my thumb.

Someone cleared their throat and I looked up to find, what I assumed was a doctor, staring at me like I was a rabid dog that would attack at any moment. Then, I noticed the four, obese security guards standing behind him, looking just as scared, if not more.

I immediately knew where they were going with this.

"How is she doing doc?" I asked, leaned back in my seat as I kept my face completely passive.

"W-well, you see the thing is Mr. Colt, the hospital can't... we can't disclose that information to you." He pulled out a yellow handkerchief and patted the beads of sweat that were forming on his forehead. I would've laughed had this been any other situation.

"And why not?" I queried, gauging him on to see how long it would take for him to just spit it out.

"It's our policy," he started strongly but I saw the exact moment his resolve weakened again. "This is a very sensitive matter and we have to follow the rules. So, you can't... be here... right now," he finished weakly.

I stayed silent for a while, trying to get ahold of my emotions before I did something that wouldn't help the situation. The only sound heard was the constant beeping that told me the little angel was breathing. I turned towards her sleeping face before turning back to the imbeciles in front of me.

"I'm not leaving her," I stated firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Most than likely, they expected me to resist so I wasn't sure what those dumbfounded faces were all about. They looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed and I rolled my eyes at the incompetence.

"Mr. Colt," he started but was cut off by a tiny sneeze followed by the sound of shuffling.

My attention was now solely on her as she blessed me with those hazel eyes again, the innocence and purity on her face shocking me for a second.

I thought I saw a small smile creep at her pouty lips but it was gone in a second as she saw the five other males in the room.

Chaos.

That was the only word I could use to describe the events that came next. She let out a blood-curdling scream and scrambled up the bed to get as far away as possible. When that wasn't far enough, she dragged my body in front of her with unexplained strength and used me as a shield.

Pride swelled in my chest knowing that she trusted me enough to know that I would always protect her, but I couldn't dwell on it for too long because these assholes made their presence known again.

They reached for their tasers and stepped forward, drawing another scream from her as she tried her best to get off the bed and behind me. I felt my blood boil, knowing that she was most likely shifting her IV and hurting herself, all because these idiots don't seem to have enough common sense to figure out that now is not the fucking time.

I considered attacking them- it wouldn't take much effort to take these overweight clowns down- but I couldn't imagine displaying that level of violence in front of her. So instead, I turned around and wrapped my arms around her tiny body, engulfing her whole and shielding her from the men behind me.

"Don't be scared honey," I pacified, cupping the back of her head as she buried her face in my chest. "Nobody will hurt you as long as I'm here."

She sniffled and leaned away from my chest, whispering the first word from her lips ever directed to me.

"Promise?" She asked with such genuineness in her eyes that I knew I could never let any harm come to her for as long as I was alive.

"I promise angel," I whispered back. We stayed like that for a few minutes but then I looked down and saw that the back of her hand was bleeding.

Panic grasped me and I looked around the room, only to find no guards and just the doctor standing in the corner, acting as though that was his hiding spot. I made direct eye contact with him and to my surprise he maintained it. I nodded at him slightly and he repeated my action; a mutual truce forming between us.

"Baby," I cooed and she answered with a hum. I pulled her away from my chest and cupped her chubby cheeks, resisting the urge to aww at her smushed face.

"Why don't you tell me your name?" She looked hesitant and I decided to change my approach.

"How about I start? My name's Jackson but pretty girls like you get to call me whatever you want. You can call me Jack, Jackie, Jackerson..."

Her tiny giggles filled the room and I knew then that I could listen to them for the rest of my life.

"My name is Nerida but I don't have any funny nicknames like you Jackson," she giggled again and went back to rubbing her head against my chest like a kitten.

"Nerida," I repeated in my mind. It was perfect for her. Soft, pure... beautiful.

"Nerida is such a pretty name pumpkin, do you have another one?"

I looked back at the doctor to make sure he was listening and found him scribbling away at the clipboard in his hand.

"Mhmm, it's Spade. My name is Nerida Spade. I don't have another name though. Some people have three names and some even have four but I only have two. It makes me sad sometimes," she pouted her lip and looked down sadly.

"Well you don't need to be sad, baby because your two names are prettier than any other name I've ever heard," I assured, loving the smile that returned to her face.

"Nerida, you've got some bruises honey and there is this really nice man here who would like to help make them better. Don't you think we should call him over?"

Her face scrunched up as she appeared to be thinking hard and I chuckled at the intense look of concentration on her face.

"Okay," she said finally. "But you have to be here the whole time Jackie."

I knew I'd set myself when I tried to make her laugh earlier but I guess I'll just have to suck it up. If calling me Jackie is what she wants to do, so be it. Pride be damned.

"Nerida I'm never going to leave you, okay."

I helped Nerida back into her bed properly and called the doctor over.

"Hello Nerida," he greeted quietly, receiving a soft 'hello' in return. "My name is Dr. Noah Francis and I'm here to help you get all better, okay?"

Nerida nodded and he went about checking her vitals. The whole time she kept her hands around mine in an iron grip and I didn't understand how she was so strong.

Dr. Francis started joking with Nerida, trying to get her to open up and gain her trust.

"Nerida, do you think I look old?" Dr. Francis asked and I wondered where he was going with this.

Her thinking face came on again and I couldn't help the smile on my face. She was adorable.

"You don't look very old Dr. Francis but you don't look as young and pretty like Jackie."

Her statement was completely unexpected and so was the blush that coated my cheeks. I cleared my throat awkwardly as the doctor chuckled at my reaction.

"Jackie, how old are you?" Nerida asked.

"I'm twenty-eight years old honey."

"And what about you Dr.Francis?"

"Oh well I'm forty-two," Dr. Francis replied. Nerida stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking, before she spoke again.

"Well I'm sorry Dr. Francis but you're the oldest in this room. Then Jackie, then me 'cause I'm only seventeen."

She was seventeen? I guessed that she was around sixteen. She had the face of a baby and from what I could tell she was average height.

"Really, that means you're about to be an adult soon," Dr. Francis said animatedly. "When is your birthday Nerida?"

Her face lit up and I figured that her birthday was something very special to her.

"My birthday is in two weeks. Can you believe it? I can't wait! I am going to watch all the TV I want and no one is gonna tell me no!" she clapped excitedly and I watched as her emotions changed to one of curiosity as she looked around the room.

"Jackie, where is my father?"

~ ~ ~

so... the second chapter

idk what to say... this book has me feeling so sensitive

i never realized how hard it was to put your work out there for the world to see

i'm not scared of criticism because i handle my own but the scary part is taking that leap

this book really made me realize that people don't give authors enough credit

okay i'll stop now... quarantine has me all philosophical

✨d o r i s✨