Chapter Twenty-Five

It doesn't take Brian long to get to Jess's apartment. She fumbles with her key cause for some reason her fingers won't work. Brian takes them from her and lets them in to the building. Once they get into her apartment, Jess sits on the couch.

Brian - "What do you want to eat?"

Jess - "I'm not hungry."

Brian - "Your mom said you should eat something. Let's see what do you got in the fridge. Not much. I'm going to run to that little store on the corner I'll be right back."

Jess - "Brian you don't have to."

Brian - "I want to I'll be back in like ten minutes. Why don't you get a shower?"

Jess - "Okay." He kisses her forehead and leaves. Jess some how makes herself get up and get in the shower. When she got out she smelled bacon, and her stomach started growling. She slips on her robe and goes out to the kitchen. Brian is making bacon and eggs. "You're cooking?"

Brian - "Yeah. I don't know how to make a lot but I can fry some mean eggs. Sit." She sits at the breakfast bar and he hands her a plate. "Want some toast?"

Jess - "Yes please."

Brian - "What kinda of jelly. Grape, strawberry, or blackberry."

Jess - "Blackberry. You didn't have to go to all of this trouble. You know I would have been happy with a bagel."

Brian - "I know I wanted to. After you eat it's straight to bed."

Jess - "Yes sir." So they eat in relative silence, she's still worry about her gram. She calls and makes her mom promise to call if anything happens. Then she changes into some comfy clothes and Brian makes her go to bed. "Brian."

Brian - "Yeah hun."

Jess - "Would you lay here with me for a little bit just till I fall asleep?"

Brian - "Yeah." He sits on the edge on the bed and takes off his shoes. "Scoot over." She moves over and he lies down and puts his arm around her. He twirls a piece of her hair in between his fingers and rubs her back every now and then. It takes all of ten minutes for Jess to fall asleep. Brian watches her for a few minutes and then goes out to the living room to call Kevin.

Kevin - "Hello."

Brian - "Don't yell they'll know it's me."

Kevin - "Hey what's up? No it's not Brian it's my friend Thomas."

Brian - "Thanks."

Kevin - "Yeah long time no see when are you coming to one of our concerts."

Brian - "I'm not sure she's not doing so well."

Kevin - "Okay she left. What do you mean you're not sure? Yes Nick its Brian. No go watch the door. How is she?"

Brian - "She's really shaken up. Shirley's still in a coma. Jessica's whole family had to gang up on her to get her to leave."

Kevin - "Can I talk to her?"

Brian - "She's sleeping."

Kevin - "I talked to Loren. I guess that Jess and Stephen spent a lot of time with their grandma when they were kids. So that must be why she's so upset."

Brian - "Yeah. I've never seen her look so sad."

Kevin - "So when are you coming back?"

Brian - "I'm not sure probably tomorrow. I want to make sure she's okay before I leave."

Kevin - "Okay you know you left your cell here."

Brian - "Yeah I know I did it on purpose. Christine would be making me crazy."

Kevin - "So what are you going to tell her?"

Brian - "Kevin please don't start. If you would have heard how upset she was you would have told me to come. She said she needed me."

Kevin - "alright cous. If you need me just call. But please try to be back by tomorrow."

Brian - "Okay." They hang up and he comes and gets back in bed with Jess. He cuddles up to her back and is asleep in a matter of minutes.

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Jess wakes up and stretches. She's a little groggy about the events of the past 24 hours but it slowly comes back to her. She rolls over and sees Brian but more importantly the clock over his head.

Jess - "Oh shit. Brian. Bri wake up!"

Brian - "What? No. Okay I'm up. Where's the fire?" Jess is out of bed and throwing stuff out of her drawer looking for jeans.

Jess - "It's 6:30. I should have been at the hospital hours ago."

Brian - "Because you sitting by your gram's bed all night would have made her wake up." She ignores him. "Calm down you won't find anything like that."

Jess - "Wait what are you still doing here you should heading for an arena some where?"

Brian - "In Atlanta actually. Don't worry I've taken care of it. We talked and we all agreed that some one needs to be here for you." She looks at him and it's so plain on his face how much he cares for her. Being able to be that honest about how you feel must nice. He leaned down and kissed her very softly.

Jess - "Brian." She reaches up and pulls him closer. They lay on the floor kissing softly. The phone rings and interrupts the peaceful moment. "I have to get that. Hello."

Stephen - "She woke up."

Jess - "She did! When?"

Stephen - "Just now she was only wake for a couple minutes but I thought I should call you."

Jess - "We're on our way. Come on she woke up."

Brian - "Wait you might want to put on some pants." She looks down and realizes that she's only wearing the tee shirt she slept in. They leave and take her car. The way Jess drives they get to the hospital in ten minutes; it should have taken 25. Brian looks a little pale.

Jess - "you okay?"

Brian - "Yeah remind me if I'm ever running late for something to have you drive."

Jess - "Sorry sometimes my control gets away from me. Come on." She cuts some one off for a parking place. "Oh blow it out your ass. Come on Bri." She grabs his hand and they run to the ICU. Loren is standing outside Gram's room talking to Berg. "Hey."

Loren - "Jessica I'm so glad you're back." Brian and Berg introduce themselves to each other while Loren fills Jess in on Gram's condition. "Everything is looking really good. So how are you?" Jess knows what she's getting at.

Jess - "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Loren - "Well, your mom's inside she's been waiting for you."

Jess - "okay." Jess goes in and Brian turns to Loren.

Brian - "How are you holding up?"

Loren - "Okay I'm kinda tired but I'm use to it. I'm so glad you're here. Jessica might look really strong on the outside but she's not that tough. She needs you too lean on."

Brian - "I know I'm not going anywhere." He goes in to see how things are.

Berg - "So Jessica's new boyfriend is a Backstreet Boy."

Loren - "no, they're just friends it's a really long story."

Berg - "okay. I've got to get back to peds. I'll check back in a couple hours."