Fuzzy Warm Chest

"Jenny sweetie!" Senator Travis called out to his daughter in a quivered way. He just landed on the Olympic Harbor's helipad. He borrowed one of Lucas's choppers when he found out about the accident.

His gait was slow and heavy but when he saw his sweet child, he walked as if his shoes had wings on them.

His assistant had to double his efforts, his tight suit not helping at all. Once they reached Jenny's location, he passed the towel to Senator Travis who gingerly wrapped it around his daughter who used to be a sunny girl.

They ushered the girl into the chopper and flew her out of their shared nightmares.

"Sweetie, everything's going to be okay. Daddy's here." Senator Travis rubbed his daughter's arm, his soft coaxing was warmer than a puff jacket.

Yet Jenny never glanced at her father's way. Jenny kept her gaze on the sea. She repeatedly whispered the last words she heard from her Da-jie while she grasped on her keepsake.

"I'm a pirate, I'm a pirate, and I will see you on the coast. I'm a pirate, I'm a pirate, and I will see you on the coast."

...

Huang Household —The Capitol Commons

Jenny's eyelids fluttered. The soft glow of incandescent lights from the crystal chandelier that hangs stationary from the ceiling didn't bother her one bit.

For once, her world stopped swaying. The sound of the ocean long gone and was replaced by the white noise of the infusion pump and pulse oximeter on her finger.

This was her room.

She was on her bed.

She was finally home.

"I'm a pirate and I will see you on the coast," she murmured under labored breath.

Auntie Lala jolted from her awkward position; she was seated on a tufted Victorian accent chair with half of her body laid on the bed. It was not long ago when she succumbed to her exhaustion but her sweetie was finally awake and her energy level multiplied by tenfold.

It has been a rather long day for their family but the clock told her it was just a quarter past nine in the evening.

"Omo, my Sweetie, what were you saying? Mommy's here." She trembled as she held Jenny's hand and rubbed it softly yet reassuringly.

Jenny replied with a faint smile and forced her way back to a light slumber; her temporary solace from her living nightmare.

She could hear mumblings in the room all day yet she refused to open her eyes. She kept her eyes shut and tried to scavenge every inch of her memory but could only see her smiling face as she sang that silly song and cheered her on.

'How could I not have noticed that she was no longer behind me?'

A big fat tear dropped onto Jenny's weary face. She did not want to cry. She did not want to disappoint her Da-jie. She should be happy to be alive but everything felt so wrong when you never saw the person who gave you a second chance at life again.

Auntie Lala saw how her daughter struggled, her heart broke into tiny little pieces yet again. She wanted to comfort her but she knew it was better to let Jenny have her space at the moment.

The door creaked open, Auntie Lala stood up and welcomed the guest with open arms and a soft hug. She talked in whispers, worried to disturb her sleeping child.

"Omo, Lucas. You look worn-out. Have you eaten yet? Nevermind. I will tell the chef to fix something for you. In the meantime, stay as long as you like. Okay?" Auntie Lala patted Lucas's shoulder and left. She mildly closed the door behind her.

Lucas surveyed the apparatuses in the room; all hooked on the sunny girl in a torpid state.

He leisurely walked to the direction of the upholstered canopy bed. Ivory drapes were tied on the posts. The girl who laid on the bed looked like a princess, 'What was that princess's name again? Was it Beauty? Sleeping Beauty?' He tilted his head and scratched his temple. He chuckled at his ignorance when he could not figure out that Disney Princess's name.

He sat down at the edge of the bed and held Jenny's hand where an IV was inserted. "Does it hurt? The IV?" he asked the stock-still girl on the bed.

It may look like she was deep asleep but he still called her out on her pretense. He knew she was pretending to be asleep the moment he entered the room.

She covered her eyes with her other arm and softly cried — her dry and flaky lips trembled. Her shoulders shook with every gasp of breath when she forced out words in a hoarse voice what she was scared to admit even to herself, "Lucas, I forgot her name."

"Whose name?"

He held her arm that covered her eyes and gingerly pulled it away.

"The girl I was with. I forgot her name, Lucas. Wuwuwuwuwuwu!"

Jenny mourned over her lost friend and memory. How could she forget her name too?

Lucas slid under the sheets, Jenny hugged him straight away. She nuzzled her head against his chest. His perfume's scent was long gone and was replaced with his sweat and body scent but it did not matter because his bodily scent comforted her more.

Lucas combed her hair with his fingers. He frowned when he felt how much damage the saltwater has done to her hair.

He sniffed the top of her head and gave it a soft kiss. "Mmm. We can get an artist to do a sketch, don't cry over small things. I will go to the Olympic Village tomorrow and triple check the manifest and the survivors. I'm sure that the girl is alive and well. Word was out that almost 90% of the passengers survived."

Jenny looked at Lucas, her light-brown almond-shaped eyes sparkled under the glow of the incandescent lights.

For the first time after her living nightmare, her entire being changed from melancholy to somewhat hopeful. His words sparked hope and promise that her worries might be unfounded.

She nodded her head and nuzzled one more time on his chest. His steady heartbeat and shallow breaths comforted her more than anything else in the world.

Lucas was silent the whole time. He really did not know how to console the little fairy in his arms. He tried to say as many facts as he knew, maybe, just maybe, that's what Jenny need right now. Facts.

"Don't pretend to be asleep next time, okay?" He eyed the little girl and pressed on, "Don't be afraid to say what you feel too," Lucas said in an attempt to break the silence.

Jenny opened her mouth and was about to say something when a soft knock came from the door, she instantly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"Mmm," Lucas mumbled, he cleared his throat then tapped Jenny's shoulder when he caught her do the opposite of what he said.

Jenny opened her left eye and sent a kissy face to his direction. She nuzzled back to his fuzzy warm chest and said, "Don't forget that I'm asleep."

Edited by Swaning