"So was Michael right?"
"He was the only one stronger than Lucifer."
"Then don"t worry," I say. "Michael won"t let me fail. Or is it me you don"t have enough faith in?"
"Of course I have faith in you, but Lucifer plays dirty and you don"t. How do we know this friendship he"s been playing at with you is even real? Maybe he"s using it to make you pity him and lower your guard so he can strike when you least expect it."
"No, I don"t believe he"s playing that sort of game with me. He sees me as a friend, as close as he can get to one anyway."
"You"re playing a dangerous game with him, Jess."
"I know. I"m not that nave, Mason. I realize he"s like a rabid dog who could turn on me at any moment and try to bite my hand off. I"m fully aware of that possibility. But, I also think he just needs someone to have a little faith in him, a little trust. It"s just like Malcolm in the alternate world. All he needed was for someone to believe he could be a better person. I think that"s all Lucifer needs. I don"t have any illusions that he"ll change his ways overnight, but all I need right now is for him to believe in himself enough that he can become more than he is. If I can help give him the courage to try, maybe he will."
Mason cups my face with both his hands.
"Be careful," he tells me. "He won"t just bite your hand off if he turns on you, Jess. He"ll kill you because you"ll be a reminder to him that he can never change."
"But I believe he can."
"And I don"t believe he will."
"Then on this one point we"ll just have to disagree."
Mason sighs and leans into me, kissing me softly on the lips, making me feel cherished and loved by the simple action.
"Please be careful," he begs, resting his forehead against mine.
"I will. I have too much to live for."
Mason smiles.
Mason changes into some clothes I didn"t even realize he"d placed in my closet.
"You don"t mind do you?" He asks. "I thought it would be easier to just have clothes here when I need them."
"Of course I don"t mind," I tell him, watching him from the doorway of my bedroom. "I"ve always liked you thinking of my house as your home too."
Mason smiles. "You know I have six homes around the world but your house has always felt more like home than any of them."
"Then you have seven homes," I tell him which makes him smile even wider.
I raise an eyebrow at him as he stands in just his underwear.
"Stop smiling or I may not let you put those cloths on," I tell him.
Mason promptly pulls his underwear down and throws them on the floor. When he turns to face me again, he smiles and winks.
"Oh," I say reaching for the bottom of my shirt and swiftly removing it as I walk towards him, "you"re asking for it now."
"Why I believe I am," he says innocently.
I punish Mason for a good hour and feel sure afterwards that he"ll always smile and wink at me for as long as we both shall live.
When we arrive at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center, an older nurse in pink scrubs is in Zack"s room checking his vitals.
"You"re like the poster child for coma patient recovery, sweetie" the nurse tells Zack, taking his temperature with a temporal thermometer across his forehead.
"Just got lucky," Zack tells her with a smile.
When we walk further into the room, Zack"s eyes immediately settle on me and he smiles.
"I was wondering when you would come back," he says, sitting up straighter in his hospital bed.
"Sorry I had to leave so suddenly yesterday. Things got a little crazy," I tell him, coming to stand by his bed.
The nurse looks up at me.
"I know you, don"t I?" she questions.
"I don"t think we"ve ever met," I say, trying to remember if I might met her the day before when we came to find Zack.
"Oh, now I remember. You"re Chandler Cain"s fiance! Congratulations on the engagement. I can"t tell you how many ladies around here are completely heartbroken that he"s off the market. Not like any of them ever had a chance mind you," she laughs.
I smile brightly at the woman but am cringing for all I"m worth on the inside. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mason"s scowling face.
"Thank you for your well wishes," I say. "I"ll be sure to pa.s.s them on to Chandler."
"Well, I"ll leave you two to visit," the nurse says. "I"ll be back in a little while to check on you Zack."
"When do you think the doctor will let me go?" Zack asks.
"Well, I don"t know for sure, sweetie. Like I said, you"re a miracle. But, if you remain stable, I don"t see why he wouldn"t let you out in a couple of days."
Zack nods. "Ok, thanks."
After the nurse leaves the room, Zack pats the side of his bed indicating I should have a seat.
When I do, he tentatively reaches for one of my hands.
I hear him sigh contentedly as our skin touches.
"Your hands are a lot nicer to hold than Rafe"s," Zack says with a small laugh.
I smile because I enjoy the contact too. "Did he explain everything to you yesterday after we left?" I ask.
Zack nods. "Yes. Honestly, I can"t believe someone like me is involved in something so monumental."
"What do you do for a living?" I ask him.
"I run a charity organization for abused children," he tells me. "We"re small but we do good work for the kids who come through. I"m a child psychologist so I help them cope with their feelings and attempt to get them past what"s been done to them."
"That sounds like a worth while endeavor," I tell him, wishing someone like Zack had been around when I was a child going through my own abuse.
"Rafe said I would need to find my crown and talisman," Zack says.
"As soon as you awaken whatever power it is you possess, your crown will send out a beacon of sorts for us to find it."
"Isaiah took Rafe to get his crown this morning," Mason tells me. "I meant to tell you earlier but we got preoccupied with getting those matches."
I look over at him because he"s standing on the other side of Zack"s bed now and find myself completely unable to prevent a huge smile from appearing on my face.
"The never ending quest for matches," I tell him with a sigh. "I don"t think we"ll ever get enough."
Zack looks confused by our conversation and I decide he needs to stay that way.
Mason"s phone buzzes and he walks away from the bed to answer it.
"So," Zack says, "tell me what the deal is with Chandler Cain. Are you really engaged to him? I know Rafe said he was one of the seven."
I begin to tell Zack everything he needs to know about me, Mason and how my relationship with Chandler is simply a cover story to prevent anyone from asking too many questions when he needs to disappear for a while.
"I need to leave," Mason tells me, coming to stand in front of me.
"What"s wrong?" I ask, standing from my seat on Zack"s bed.
"I have to go coddle the President again. Apparently he got upset about what happened with the Tear last night and he wants me to explain to him what exactly did happened."
"Ok, well, will you be able to take me home when I"m ready to leave?"
Mason sighs. "I have a feeling he"s going to keep me there longer than usual. I"ll let Isaiah know to expect a call from you. He can take you home when you"re ready to leave."
Mason leans in and kisses me lightly. "I"ll come home as soon as I can."
I smile. "Ok. I"ll keep the home fires burning for you."
"Should we plan on getting matches later then?"
"Yes. Plan on getting matches later."
Mason winks and then phases, taking a large part of my heart with him.
"Matches equals s.e.x right?"
I turn to look at Zack and feel myself blush.
"Were we that obvious?" I ask him.
"Yeah," Zack says with a smile, "you kind of were."
"Sorry," I tell him sitting back down beside him.
He reaches for my hand again. "Don"t be. It was cute."
Zack and I talk for a good two hours as we share things about our past, our present and our future plans. I learn that he has lived in California all his life with his mom and dad. He has a sister named Maggie.
"I think she"s the one we heard when we were searching for you," I tell him.
"Yeah, she"s great. She came to spend time with me every day after the accident. She never gave up hope I would wake up. Rafe met her when he was here. Hopefully, I can introduce the two of you sometime."
"I"m sure I"ll get to meet her."
My phone buzzes. I look at it and don"t recognize the number that"s calling.
"h.e.l.lo?" I answer.
"Is this Jess?"
I sort of recognize the male voice on the other end of the line but it takes me a moment to place it.
"Horace?"
"Yeah. Hey, you happen to know where Chandler is?" He asks in a rush.
"No. Why?"
"None of us can find him. I thought maybe he was with you."
I can hear the worry in Horace"s voice which makes me start to worry too.
"Are you sure he didn"t just step out for lunch?" I ask.
"No, we had lunch together," Horace tells me. "The last thing he said to me was that he wanted to work on a new song. Usually he does that in the bathroom."
"The bathroom?" I ask, sure I heard Horace wrong.
"Yeah, whatever city we"re in, he always goes into the bathroom to write. He says the acoustics are better in there."
"I a.s.sume you"ve tried calling his cell phone."
"I"m looking at it right now. It"s sitting on the coffee table in the living room. That"s weird too because he almost always carries it with him wherever he goes."
"You keep looking for him, Horace. I"ll see what I can do on my end. Tell him to call me if you find him."
"Ok." Horace doesn"t hang up so I wait for him to say something else. "I have a bad feeling about this, Jess. I think something"s happened to him."
"We"ll find him," I promise.
I tell Zack what is going on and immediately call Isaiah to explain the situation.