Timourous {Ky and Nolan}

I hold the blanket up and open for him. It's a completely open invitiation if he wants to lay with me. I hope he does because if he refuses or decides to stay in the chair, I'll know something has changed between us, and I don't want that at all. My arm slowly looses it's power but not before he gets up and and accepts my offer. A half grin appears on my face as he climbs in beside me and gently scoots up next to me. He presses his body to match my curves and angles, molding himself next to me. A calm surrounds me when he puts his arm around my body and for a moment, this is what heaven must feel like.

"I"m sorry I left tonight. I had to work through some shit, you know. But it's over now." I want to come out with words to express my dislike for that, but that's who he's always been. I understand that and for once, I just let him speak. I"m not going to try to argue with him or try to put him down for his behavior. It was me who said those awful words. It had to have been me who set aflame to that fragile string holding him together.

"It's okay, Matthew. You came back... thank you." I tell him, shaking my head slightly and pressing my body back into him a little harder, almost afraid that if I let got for a moment, he'll disappear or this is some kind of nightmare. A gentle kiss is pressed to my cheek. A wave of emotions seems to set me off and I close my eyes to keep from letting out a whimper of needs to have him to stay with me.

"You're safe now, Ky. Everybody is."

Those words. This situation. You can't have the good without the bad. We've all suffered. We've all went through hell and flames to get to this point. His words just sound so... untrue. How can it be, that after eleven years of torture, pain and bruises that it be overwith just like that? How can it truely be cured? Vy is safe now. Matthew is safe. I'm safe and I won't ever have to worry about Jins being this constant fear in my life with my daughter running around. What he did, wasn't for me.

"Mira won't have to worry about him. Mira won't ever have to know about him, either. This is a dark secrect for us, Matthew. I only want her to know the good parts." Just like that, the door opens and the nurse comes in. For a moment, I jolt because she doesn't know we're together, but this view must change her mind about us as she only demands that he take his shoes off. A small bout of a laugh escapes my parched lips as she comes over to me and presses her fingers against my wrist.

"67. You still look pale, dear. Did you drink the juice?" She asks, as her eyes go straight to the table to see the juice left untouched. With a shake of her head, she walks over and grabs the little bottle and pokes a straw through it. "You need to drink this, hun. You've not taken anything since you've been here. Not healthy for you or your child. Do I need to get your friend here to make you drink it?"

I shake my head and reach out for the bottle and put the straw to my lips. The sweet nectar of the juice sends this cold chill through my body and in a matter of gulps, the small container is empty and the nurse is taking it to the trash.

"I'll grab you something to eat as well." She addresses me as she glances toward Matthew before leaving the room.

"Why are they always so pushy?" I mumble and bring a hand up behind me to touch Matthew's face and turn to look at him. I get a better look at his face from this distance and let my eyes drop. "Are you okay, Matthew? Do I need to ask a nurse to look at you? Or your hand?" I wink at him, telling him I can sense the unease it is around his hand. How gentle he is being with it. Something tells me the problem he needed to work out ended with a fight and I'm completely sure of it now.

His body seems to warm me from the inside out. It's that tingle of comfort and warmth that spreads and it's simply the result of one four letter word. It's always been something about him that has made me comfortable to be within his grip. No matter what fights we get into, we always come back together. Our relationship has had so many bumps along the way. Each bump never jostles us enough to stay away. Such as now.

As the nurse walks out of the room, I have a feeling that with Matthew here, he's going to make sure that I eat whatever nasty food this woman brings back for me. I didn't realize that Matthew might be hungry as well since he left for a while. No telling what trouble he got into and what food he might have consumed. Asking the nurse for something to eat as well, makes me feel as though he only went out to get physical to deal with his anger.

"They want to get rid of you as soon as possible." I grin and push my head against the pillow.

I happen to be right, yet again, asking him if he's alright. He actually considers letting the nurse take care of his hand and face. Though, he thinks it's not fair that he's the only one that came out of this ordeal without punishment against himself.

"Yeah, maybe not a bad idea. It's pretty sore." He pulls his hand upward and looks at his hand and I see, fully, the extent of the damage and swollen hand of his. I shake my head. "But first we're taking care of you and I'm not going anywhere now."

"As vital as I need you to be with me, you aren't going to do me any good if you don't take care of yourself. I need you to be well. We can't take care of each other at the same time. If we both end up in the floor, who will come to our rescue?" I tease him and very gently move my lips to touch his swollen hand. "How do you always manage to get my attention like this?"

A gentle knock on the door arrives and the nurse is once again, bringing in a tray of food for me, and on top of the covered plate, is a sandwich for Matthew. She places it on the table beside the bed and moves it in front of me.

"Now, when I come back to check on you, I want to see this food gone, alright? Nurishment for your little girl. Sir, make sure she eat, alright?" She gives him a smile, flirty, but a smile before handing him the sandwich as well. I sit up and watch the lady leave the room and look toward Matthew.

"Getting rid of me, huh? Or stuff me with awful food that has no flavor. I think they are trying to kill me though. Taste buds at least." I open the lid and look at the steaming food and lean back against Matthew. "don't make me eat this." I joke with him.

The food does look good. It even smells good, but I have no desire to attempt to shove that food in my mouth no matter if my tongue is craving any sort of flavor. Matthew, on the other hand, starts to tear into the sandwhich as if it was his last meal. The flirty nurse who gave it to him, makes me want to consider asking her not to return. For some reason, I feel like competition to her, but that brief thought leaves my mind the moment Matthew accepts my need to not consume the food and claims he'll eat it himself. The relief that floods over me lasts but a moment before he teases me.

"Start eating before I pin you down and feed you." I glance at him, as he wiggles his eyebrows at me and takes another bite into his sandwich, showing that the food isn't going to kill him at all. I drop my head and look at the food. Instantly, a wave of nausea runs through my stomach due to hunger and what the nurse said seems to sit uneasily with my mind. My baby does need the nurishment. I've not eaten all day and that might have been one of the reasons I passed out earlier. With a sigh, and a pouting lip toward Matthew, I push the spoon into the beans and take a few bites.

"Hmm... I think you might need to feed me after all. Would be better than having to endure this on my own." I glance over at him and notice how he suddenly stopped eating for a moment. That's when it starts to get a little hard to process. Maybe, he's not doing well at all, either? What with what he had to endure today. How he had to be the one to pull the trigger. Slowly, I bring two more bites to my mouth before hearing him try to encourage me to eat.

"C'mon, Ky. Have some more. Think of Mira. She wants a little mash and beans." A smile errupts quickly from my lips as I hear him address our daughter by her name. It sounds so sweet to hear those words come from him and it makes me feel even worse for kicking him out earlier when he's accepting her right now. I did over react and I've caused him this pain he's in with his hand. A heaping bite is taken for fun, to show him I'm trying as I place my hand over my mouth and keep from smiling too big. With it swallowed, I drop my head and shake it.

"Has your brother been here?" He asks suddenly and I shrug my shoulders a bit. I know where he's getting with this. I know what he wants to know and how do I tell him that that I told my brother a lie? I actually lied to my brother.

"Yeah. He was here earlier. He had to leave to go pick up Brooklyn for Vy. He's going to watch her tonight while she's... umm. Yeah." I slow my words, but instead of saying anymore more, take another bite of the beans, warding off the taste with a shiver. "The beans are horrible, but the potatoes are okay."

I'm kind of avoiding the topic in whole, but decide there's no point in really keeping it from him. "I didn't tell him that we fought. I mean, I should have, but I didn't. It was my fault in the first place, but I told him that a peacekeeper had come to talk to you about what happened and you would only be gone for a little while. I told him, I made you go, but.. yeah. He don't know anything else. He stayed with me when they did anything and as long as he could before he had to get Brooklyn." I lay the spoon down, placing a hand over my swollen stomach and lean back against the bed. "Are you okay Matthew? You don't look well."

I reach out, placing my hand on his leg and looking at him.

My concern falls upon my guy. All of it at once, I see how unwell he is and it worries me just a bit. Enough that I take my attention away from eating just to talk to him and find out if he's doing okay or not. Although, his responce is something that I'm not exactly fond of. I shake my head and keep my hand on his leg, rubbing my thumb gently against him to let him know that I'm not wanting any bull. I don't want any false information. Today, of all times, I want the truth and I want to be able to deal with it head on. No more secrets.

"How much do you want to know?" He questions me and I end up giving him a stern, yet saddened look and with a responce to see how much he wants to tell.

"As much as you want to tell me." It's as if I"m testing the limits to see what he'll say and how much he'll hide from me. It takes him a few moments to really open up to me so, I give him just that much time for him to tell me my squeezing my hand on his leg, and then just keeping my hand still. He turns his eyesight away from me and I wonder if it's all really that bad? Did he mess with a keeper again? Did something happen when he went out? Did he get another lashing that I'm not aware of? My heart flutters in my throat and a burning sensation appears as if I am going to break down if something terrible happened like that because of this whole Jins scenario.

Something happened.... please, tell me, Matthew. I beg internally.

"I picked a fight with a guy who seemed weaker. He wasn't. PUnched me out." I let out this quivering sigh. Letting out this huge fear inside of me that thought something happened as a result of him shooting the one man in this world that was hellbent on killing me. My eyes drop from him as he then makes a joke about it, which actually earns a half-concerned grin from myself. I still don't look at him, but my hand on his leg squeezes yet again.

I open my mouth to say something just as the nurse comes in though. I glance up to Matthew then the nurse when she notices that I've not eaten as much as she likes and then threatens me with an IV to feed the nutrients into me.

"I'm just not hungry... I can't eat that stuff." I whisper out and watch at she gives my boyfriend another flirty look. One that I'm turning away from instantly.

"The doctor will come by soon and have a look at you." She takes the tray from the table and inspects the amount still left over. Finally, a smile appears on her lips. "I"ll see if we have something more edible for you." With that, she turns and leaves the room, shutting the door.

I turn to Matthew, sitting up and putting my hand to his face. "Why would you do that, my love?" I have a reasonable amount of hurt in my voice, I know. I shake my head. "I"m sorry, I made you do that." I barely get out before another knock on the door arrives. The man walks in, his appearance telling me he's about my own fathers age, with grey seeping through the sides of his head around his ears. He gives me a gentle smile.

"How we doing, Ms. Ruze?" He takes note of the man laying in the bed with me and makes a sly comment. "You do know, sir, that patients only are allowed in the beds? Especially, those that already have two occupants." He gestures toward my middle.

I shrug my shoulders slightly and drop my hand from Matthew's face, allowing it to come to a rest over my abdomen. "I don't want an IV. I just.. am not hungry." I state immediately, knowing that he might be in here for only the reason that the nurse is too worried about my food consumption rather then my emotional state that is preventing me from consuming anything more.

"Understandable. I'm more worried about your sycapal episode that you had earlier. Gave them all quite a fright. Just wanting to check up on you and your baby before I head out for the night." He comes over, and looks me over and makes a 'tisk'ing noise. "Lets have them check your blood sugar again, and if that's all right, we may send you home in the morning."

"Thank you... Umm, can you please look at Matthew?" I state and offer up Matthew as if he was some sort of experiment.

The moment the doctor walks in, I feel nothing but fear. Fear of a needle and fear of Matthew leaving. Especially when the doctor mentions that only patients are allowed in the beds, forcing Matthew to suddenly roll out of the bed, putting this epic amount of chills down my back where he was keeping me warm. It's a sudden chill that I don't want. It feels like he's leaving me all over again, even if he's only moved over to the chair. Without notice, he speaks up above my own.

"Could you check on the baby again?" I look at Matthew and see that look on his face. Even though he's hurting and possible not doing well, he's suddenly more worried about me then himself. If only that were a one street road. We are more concerned for the other. The flashlight that he's shining in my eyes gets stopped and he even seems to agree with Matthew, unknowningly to who he really is to me and the growing baby inside.

Before any information is given about him, I throw Matthew to the wolves, so-ta-speak. A moment passes by and the question still lingers in my head. Is he the father... is he the father? Is he... the... father? I'm not even sure if I need to tell just yet, but the doctor's humorous side comes out and then goes back serious when he tells Matthew to go downstairs for a scan. Already, I feel my pulse quicken because I'm afraid he might not come back again. If something really is wrong with him, then they might put him in the hospital and I'll be alone to suffer the rest of the night with nothing but the sound of silence.

"I got knocked out during that fight. My head hurts and my hand and... Yes, you were right. That's my baby. I'm NOT going to leave." I look to the doctor and then to Matthew. I'm almost stunned for him to suddenly be upfront and honest about who this baby belongs to. I would have guessed to keep it a secret, but does that mean he really does care for us, both? Maybe!

After a moment, the doctor goes over to him and starts to assess him as much as he can without proper equipment to do so. Just the light and questions gets asked and even though Matthew's voice is low, I can still her his answer to whether he's got those symptoms my doctor described. I curl up in the bed, pulling the blanket up over my shoulders as I watch the interaction between the two.

Something is confirmed about Matthew, stating a concussion is most likely the cause. As much as I hate it, it seems to be what's ailing him.

"Oh, Matthew..." I whisper out, knowing that it wasn't the fight I was in that gave that to him. It was the other, when I sent him away.

"I'll stay here. If anything happens I'm close enough." Matthew tries to convince the doctor that he doesn't need to leave my side by stating he'll just stay here, but what he says next has a small chuckle coming from my lips and Matthew freezing, staring blankly at the doctor. One look at his hand and it's clear. It has to be broken if the doctor is telling him to go get it checked out. I give Matthew the go ahead and watch as he leaves, urging me to eat the sandwhich that was just brought for me. I lay it on the table as the room is given to just me and the doctor and nurse.

The next few minutes seem to go by even more slowly and more heart strumming as I feel anxious about them checking on the baby again. What if something is wrong now? Matthew's gone. He won't be back for however long it takes. Jeran's at home with Brooklyn.

The sound of my baby fills the room, causing a few stray tears to fall when the doctor says the baby is doing fine. He even reassures me that everything is great but my health is going to be the sole determinator of little Mira's health.

"What happened to you? You're so young?" He questions me and right now, I'm nothing but a mess, though I try to fight against everything falling on me.

"I fell in love?" I joke, miserably, but the doctor only stares at me and seems to expect a better answer. "... are you refering to what happened to me earlier? It isn't the first time... he's hurt me before. He's tried to so many times... "

Then there's this look on the doctor's face as if I might have said the wrong thing and realize he's thinking Matthew is the problem. I quickly speak up again and shake my head. "Not, Matthew. He's the one who saved my life. Mine and my baby's life... it's the other one. It's not the first time he's abused me..." To say that out loud seems to set in motion a whirlwind of effects and emotions through my body. A slight trembling comes next as I put my hand over my mouth and the doctor puts his hand on my arm.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Ms. Ruze. Thing is, you got help. Okay?" I guess it's their job to try to understand the situations as well. "How long has this been going on?"

I shrug my shoulders. It's been longer then I can imagine and finally it's over, but it's left an emotional scar that will never go away. The look he gives me next makes me confess it. "A little over ten years?" I pose it as a question.

"Stresses like this kind of situation can effect your pregnancy. It might effect the growth of the baby, although I see nothing of the sort. It's just a precaution though. If want, I can see about getting someone you can speak with about this?" I shake my head and he gives me a simple nod as he repositions the belt when the heartbeat gets lost. "Where did you hide, little one?" He questions and a moment later, the sound is back, giving me quite a releif. "We'll leave this on for a while, just to keep you monitored. No getting up and wandering around. If you need something, make sure to hit your call button, please. Don't need you to give my nurses a scare again."

With that, he checks one more thing and walks out, leaving the sound of my baby to sooth me into an uneasy slumber.

"Matthew? Vy? Brody?" My voice carries along the empty corridor of my house. There's no sounds what so ever and the lighting is off a bit. I feel a jolt of fear penetrating my heart as I look down to see my stomach as flat as it was before I got pregnant, though, is that normal? Was I ever pregnant? Was I dreaming that the entire time? Was Jins a dream as well and he's still alive and well and waiting...

"Jeran? Are you home?" I call out and walk up my stairs ever so quietly. I'm getting such an uneasy feeling about being in my house and I don't understand why. Everything is as it should be. Everyhting is in the right spot.

"Kyanite. Can you come down to the kitchen?" I hear my fathers voice. With furrowed brows, I turn away from the stairs and walk back down, and very easily make my way into the kitchen, seeing my dad sit on the chair at the dinner table. His very pristine suit looks like it just was put on, freshly pressed and without a hitch in it. I nod and lean against the door frame.

"Yeah, dad?" I question him. All pretenses are lost as I beg to question this world and determine that maybe this is the real world. It looks normal. Seems normal.

"I want you to do something for me today, will you? When you spar against Jins, make sure that you are prepared to take him down, got me?" He puts his drink down, and folds his arms in front of him as he leans forward and stares me down. "Jins is a tough kid. He's rough and probably one of the best kids in the weapon spars. When you fight him, I will not accept defeat. You got me?"

"Huh? He... I? Dad... I already did. Years ago. Remember? Back when I was twelve. I beat him..." The look on my fathers face is nothing but full of confusion and he stands, walking over to me and placing his wrist on my forehead.

"Kyanite. Are you sick? You're talking crazy." He chuckles at me and shakes his head, removing his wrist from my head. "No fever. Go get dressed or you'll be late for your first sparring match."

He give me a shove in the right direction to go back up the stairs adn slowly but surely, I make my way to my room, and as I enter the door, I see a room so similiar to the one I had when I was twelve or am? "Jins... match with Jins? What are you talking about... " I question out loud and walk over to the mirror and look inside only to see myself. My younger self.

"No way!" I say and my hand touches the mirror instantly. Everything is the same. My hair in braids. My youthful face and tiny arms. "What the hell?" I scream out and turn to leave my room only to see someone already standing there, with a sword in hand and poised to attack.

"Hello, sweetheart." His voice makes me cringe and backup right before I see him take three quick steps and bring the sword into my midsection. I gasp, feeling the pain spread through my body and then take two steps backward, falling onto the bed before Jins's face gets close to mine. "You'll always be mine... always..."

His lips come down to touch my face...

"NO!" I jerk up in the bed, my hand reaching for my stomach immediately and cringing as I take in the surroundings of where I'm at. I look beside me, noticing Matthew's face and the absolute horror he's producing. I don't say a word just yet, but taken a few gasping breaths as my hand moves across my stomach and I look down to notice the swollen part and silently give thanks. "Oh god..." I whisper.

I turn to Matthew and instantly push my body into his, draping my arm across his neck. Heaping breaths come and go. "Just... a nightmare... only a dream. Just a dream." I hold on to him tightly and push my nose into his neck; body trembling.