PAPER HEARTS/JENLISA

10

"Excuse me please, sorry." Jennie mumbled several apologies to the many doctors and nurses as she ran down the hospital hallways and pushed past them, not caring that she probably resembled an insane maniac.

Lisa had been taken into hospital unconscious a few days ago yet up until now, Jennie hadn't even caught a glimpse of the woman. When the ambulance came, the paramedics couldn't allow anyone who weren't Lisa's relatives to ride with them so Jennie could only watch helplessly as Lisa's body got hoisted up and inside the ambulance before driving away.

She wanted to be the first person to be there by Lisa's side when she woke up but was unable to due to precautions; they had to lie low for a few days in case Ludo decided to strike again so Jennie was then sent to live with Irene for a few days until Lisa came out of the hospital.

The discovered bags of body parts were sent off for investigation, amazing the press as well as the rest of the police members since it was the biggest discovery concerning the Ludo case they've ever had. The mystery of the 'missing' body parts was solved yet when back-up turned up at the warehouse, there was no sign of Ludo. Fingerprint, footprint, clothing, nothing.

Jennie continued to rush up stairs and down hallways until she came to Lisa's assigned room, forgetting about the fact that she had just left Irene behind at the reception somewhere. Outside, she met Rosé who was just finishing her conversation with one of the doctors.

"How is she, Rosie?" Jennie asked desperately without so much as a greeting, she could hear her own heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.

"She's fine, just resting from the surgery." Rosé gave her a reassuring smile.

Jennie let out a sigh of relief; she could breathe a lot easier now.

"The doctor said she'd shattered her tibia - her shin, however they've managed to reconstruct it so it shouldn't be a problem. She should be able to leave the hospital in a day or two."

"Can I go in?" Jennie asked, still anxious. She couldn't believe that Lisa was really fine until she saw her with her own eyes.

"Go ahead, she's still sleeping though."

"Okay, thanks Rosie." Jennie gave the superintendent a brief smile before entering the room.

Inside, Jennie eyed the peacefully sleeping woman before grabbing a chair and pulling it next to the bed to sit on.

The blankets that covered Lisa were tousled slightly in her sleep, exposing her bandaged right leg. Jennie bit her lip hard; she noticed the cuts and bruises around Lisa's arms and head from when she fell onto the concrete.

"Lili..." Jennie breathed, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Her hands reached out to hold Lisa's. Seeing Lisa lay on the hospital bed like this made her heart heavy, she couldn't help but think how easy it was for Lisa to have gotten hurt and how she could've been injured a lot more.

Lisa may be sleeping peacefully now but Jennie knew how easy it was for Ludo to turn her temporary sleep into an eternal one. Her grip tightened on Lisa's hand at that thought.

'At least she's okay now... She's okay.'

Jennie reminded herself.

Her gaze turned to Lisa's sleeping face.

'She's beautiful.' Jennie thought, her heartbeat gradually increasing. Her thoughts then wondered back to the night at the warehouse, Lisa had urged her to run despite being injured, she still cared about Jennie despite the pain.

'There's so much more to you than people think, Lili. You may seem cold and intimidating but underneath all that, you're the one who cares the most.' Jennie smiled a little, 'You're such a mystery...you're unpredictable but I guess that's a good thing, you never fail to surprise me.'