Not Alone

Urgent-sounding noises wake me, but my eyes feel like they are glued together, so I don't even attempt to lift my heavy lids.

"Where the fuck is she, Finn?" Jackson asks.

"I don't know, Jackson. Last time I saw her you were hauling her arse off the bar. I thought you had her," Finn replies icily.

"No, she yelled at me and then stormed off." I can hear the worry creeping into Jackson's voice.

"Well, she probably disappeared in here then," Finn replies with an exasperated sigh.

The door creaks open.

"Holy shit!" Jackson exclaims, and I'm guessing he is taking in the sight of me passed out with half a bottle of tequila cradled to my chest like a prized possession. I try to open my eyes, move, or say something, but my body won't respond. That is until I projectile vomit all over the floor.

"Fuck!" I hear both men yell.

"Should I call an ambulance?" Jackson asks, panic in his voice.

"Nah. Kat would be super pissed if we called them out for this. She doesn't do hospitals at the best of times." There's a bit of muffled conversation that eludes me but then Finn says, "I need to get everyone out of here. Can you take her upstairs and look after her until I can get up there?"

"Of course," Jackson replies in a low voice. He slides his arms around me and lifts me into the air. The journey back to the apartment is hazy and jolty as I flop around like a rag doll. I am vaguely aware of the changes in light, and then I realise in some weird, abstract way that I have ended up in my en-suite bathroom. I hear the sound of water running and then feel my sodden clothes being stripped off me. With a gentleness that I am not expecting, I feel Jackson lift me into the bath and start sluicing me down with warm water.

I manage to open my eyes for the first time to look at Jackson. Concern is etched across his features. "You don't have to do this, you know," I croak, my throat raw. "I'll be fine. You can go now."

"Like hell I will. You could have killed yourself tonight. There is no way I am leaving you alone," Jackson retorts.

"I'm not alone. I have Finn to look after me," I sigh, closing my eyes and willing Jackson away.

"Whatever," Jackson murmurs. I catch a whiff of my shower gel and then feel the soft brush of his fingers as he runs them over my body. When I am soapy, I hear him open my shampoo and then feel his fingers working up a lather in my hair. Moments later the warm water is rinsing my body and head, and then I hear the tap shut off.

"Can you stand?" Jackson asks softly, and I open my eyes again.

"I think so," I rasp out and try to lift myself out of the tub. I fail miserably and almost slip until Jackson catches me and hauls me to my feet. Holding me around my waist so that I don't keel over, he manages to wrap one of my ginormous towels around my body and another around my sopping-wet hair before lifting me and depositing me on my bed.

"Drink some of this," Jackson says earnestly, offering me a cool glass of water. "Just not too quickly, otherwise you're going to throw up again."

I take a very unladylike slurp and enjoy the sensation of the cold liquid against my sore throat. I manage a couple more mouthfuls before laying my pounding head down on the pillow and closing my eyes. The mattress dips as Jackson lays down next to me, his shirt and jeans long gone. "You need to lie on your side, Kat." He manoeuvres us so that he is spooning me. "Oh, Kat, what are we going to do with you?" Jackson murmurs into my ear before placing a gentle kiss on my cheek.

I'm drifting off when I suddenly hear Finn's voice. "What the fuck, dude?"

"Shh, she's just fallen asleep," Jackson whispers. He gets up and the two of them have an urgent conversation that I struggle to follow.

"She was covered in puke," Jackson says quietly. "I wasn't going to let her stay like that."

"I would have sorted it when I got back up here. She is going to be spitting bullets when she finds out you were in here with her."

"She knows. She woke up briefly when I was washing her. And anyway, what the fuck would you have done?"

"Washed her, same as you."

"What…the…fuck?!"

"Look, I have seen that girl naked more times than I can count. It means nothing. She is like a sister to me. Who the hell do you think helped her through the rough times with her colitis? I've been here through it all, the diagnosis, the aftermath of…" Finn stops himself before he can say too much. "I've helped her when she couldn't even stand up straight after one of her accidents," Finn states, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, man," Jackson groans, and I can only imagine the look of contrition that must have just crossed his face. "Sorry, dude."

"Look, I know how you feel about her. Believe me, there is nothing I would like more than for her to run away into the sunset with you, but at the moment this is all about her and her issues. There is no way anything more is going to happen until Kat gets her head on straight. So, you can't be here when she wakes up, otherwise, she is just going to throw a shit fit, and you will be back to square one."

"Okay," Jackson sighs.

"Let me grab you some clean clothes to go home in," Finn offers. Their voices grow quieter as they amble off down the corridor. I wait to hear if anything more will be said and momentarily wonder if I will remember any of this in the morning, but the darkness takes over, and soon I am comatose again.