Hold On

Chapter 4

The next morning Thomas woke up first. Unfortunately, the side effects of the drug he was given were still with him – he felt cold and had a hell of a headache. He wondered how long it would take until he was better. However, he knew he should rather worry about other things, namely his chest and ribs. It's not like he was never in a fight or suffered from that kind of injuries, on the contrary – when he, TC, Rick and Nuzo were captured in Afghanistan, he had much worse injuries, some of which could have been fatal but this time it was different. He wasn't alone, here there was Juliet and although she was a former MI6 operative and was quite capable of defending herself, she definitely counted on him and if they were to survive and come back home safe and sound, he had to be physically fit.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and found out that it wasn't that dark anymore. There must have been a window somewhere in the room but he decided not to turn and look for it in fear of waking up Juliet. Without doubt, she was very tired and she needed her rest. That's why he didn't move a bit, just lay there, focusing on the strange feeling of having her in his arms. It was amazing that to him it felt natural, like she always belonged here. He never experienced something like that in his life – not even with Hannah, though he thought he loved her. He didn't know what it meant or maybe he knew but didn't want to admit to himself, let alone tell her. He sighed quietly and delved into his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Juliet was slowly coming round and with each passing second of regaining her consciousness, she started feeling a growing headache. It was like the morning after a very good party with lots of drinks except that wasn't the case here. She tried to put her killer headache aside and the first thing she noticed was the fact that she was still lying in her partner's arms and despite the not very favorable conditions, she felt surprisingly comfortable. It seemed strange to her but if it wasn't for the situation and the place they were in, lying with her eyes still closed she would say it felt like home, like it was an everyday habit of sleeping by Magnum's side.

So many different feelings came over her – she was surprised, excited even but most of all it really scared her. She was scared of this growing affection she felt for Thomas with each passing day and she was afraid that sooner or later she'll have to confront her feelings and talk to him. She just didn't know whether she would be brave enough to take that risk.

At that moment, another wave of cold hit her and she shivered. Without giving it a second thought, Juliet snuggled closer to him. She was surprised when he instantly pulled up the blanket and gently caressed her arm.

"Morning." She heard Magnum say and she smiled against his chest.

"Morning." She replied and moved her head to look at him.

He met her eyes and beamed at her. "How was your night, Higgy?"

"Actually, not good. You were snoring like a freight train." She stated, her face deadly serious.

"What? No way!" It was evident he was truly surprised.

"Calm down, I'm joking." She said with a smile.

Magnum chuckled at her words and at that moment his sore ribs brought him back to reality. He instantly gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in pain.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Thomas. I forgot that I can't make you laugh." She told him with remorse.

"It's okay. Actually, I forgot about it too." He replied quietly and after a few moments he added, "How are you feeling today?"

Juliet sighed. "The coldness hasn't left me yet and it really comes in waves just like you said but right now there's something else I have to deal with."

"What is it?"

"My head is killing me. I've had some bad headaches before but this one is unlike any of them. What about you?"