Jon woke the next morning to Jordan's low moaning. Getting up, he grabbed the glass on the bedside table and padded down the hall to the bathroom. He returned, helped Jordan sit up, and made him take some of the medicine.
"Thanks," Jordan whispered, and lay back down. Jon crawled back into bed and tried to go back to sleep. "Jon, what happened last night?" he asked after a few minutes.
"JJ did the dishes while I argued with you, then she went home," Jon said.
"You're upset."
"A little. Don't worry about it." Jon sounded slightly bitter. Jordan didn't push him.
"She's working for Maurice," he said. His head felt light, as it usually did when the medication took hold, then the pain in his chest began to dwindle. "You'll see her lots."
"Yeah." Even monosyllabic he sounded upset.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Jonathan, we had this conversation two days ago. Something is wrong." Jordan paused. He couldn't be that emphatic and keep his chest numb. "Jon, I can't beat you up. Just tell me."
Jon laughed half heartedly. "You never could beat me up."
"You could just explain to me what's wrong so you don't go crazy."
"Let it go," Jon said.
"Don't be stupid." Jordan closed his eyes and concentrated on making the pain go away. Jon sighed.
"Jordan, you've gotta calm down. Getting upset ain't smart."
"Just tell me what's wrong." Jordan's voice was a whisper.
"She's too worried about you, for good reason, to notice I'm alive. Go back to sleep." Jon turned his back on his brother and closed his eyes.
"What time is it?" Jordan asked sleepily.
"7:34," Jon mumbled, turning the clock to look at it. He sighed and sat up. Might as well get up with the sun, he thought, and went to take a shower. In the kitchen fifteen minutes later, he finished cleaning the dinner dishes, putting JJ's to the side, then pushed the table back to it's original position and placed the chairs around it. Setting the last chair in place, he sat in it, leaned against the table, and set his chin in his hand.
"What am I gonna do?" he asked.
It wasn't long before Danny called. "Jon, you want to talk about this whole thing?" he asked when Jon answered the phone.
"What?" Jon asked, surprised.
"You like JJ, I can see that. What's up?"
"She's worried about Jordan, same as everyone else. Maybe I'm just jealous," Jon said, a shrug in his voice.
"You can't tell me you don't care," Danny said.
"I do care. Sometimes I just get sick of it, though, and it's not fair to Jordan. There's nothing he can do about it. He was just born better looking and better able to talk to people." Jon sighed. "Don't worry about it. Thanks for calling. Did you get that kiss out of Sam?"
Danny chuckled. "Yeah. She still wasn't steady when I left." Jon laughed.
"Good. Serves her right. See you later, okay?"
"Right." Jon shook his head as he hung up. Danny was far too perceptive sometimes. It was easy to forget that.
Go on to Next Chapter | Grounds for Vengeance
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