Anxious Jeopardies

Chapter Nine

They made it back to the headquarters. It seemed to take forever. She insisted on walking; she refused to let herself be carried, which was really stupid; she was still extremely tired and really just wanted a peaceful sleep that wasn't interrupted by constant yelling. Max was at the door and held it open for them.

"Feeling better, Ana?"

"A little." She smiled weakly. Her knees buckled when she reached the stairs, much to her chagrin. Derek picked her up and carried her to the top. He had been going to set her down again there, since she seemed intent on walking as much as she could, but she had fallen mostly asleep in his arms. She hadn't realized how tired she was.

He walked inside his room and set her on the couch. He stared down at her. She was still just wearing her shorts and Jake's T-shirt. Her face was contorted in pain, and she moved around on the couch to try and get comfortable. When she twisted, she landed on her thigh and her bruised back and woke up, unaware that she had yelped out in pain.

"Are you okay?"

She shifted. "Yeah, just hit my sore spot."

"I think Jake was right."

"That's a first," she grunted sarcastically. She got up, slowly, as usual, and tried to walk around again.

"Shut up," he glared at her, but the look softened immediately once he saw how hurt she was; she could barely walk. "I don't think you should do another job for a while."

"You've thought that for a long time, and we both know it. You think it's inappropriate for a girl to be doing all this stuff."

"I just care about you. I wanted you to be happy, so I let you do what you want. But now, I don't know. I think your safety is more important than happiness." She looked at him like he had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "You can barely walk! How can you expect to run around shooting people if you can't even stand?"

"I can walk just fine." She said through a clenched jaw. "I could yesterday, at least," she murmured to herself before sitting down on the couch again.

"You were in shock yesterday. Infections never take full effect that fast, if there is one." She glared up at him.

"Since when do you know so much about stabbing people?"

"I may have... Looked it up." Her glare increased.

"I don't know why you worry about me so much. I am perfectly capable of healing. I have before."

"Before what?"

"Before I... Before I met you, I guess."

"Exactly. Have I ever let you get hurt while I was around?"

"Well, no. But I have gotten hurt since you took me in." She poked her bruise, which angered her ribs. She clenched her teeth again, trying not to show the extreme pain she was in. The redhead plastered on a smile. He saw through it and looked unamused.

"But when I could, I always protected you."

"Yes."

"Did Jake?"

"What?"

"Did Jake protect you?"

"Why do you care about him?"

"Just tell me."

"Uh, no. There wasn't anything to protect me from. I think he might've been trying to protect me from you. And he did try to stop me from doing things that could potentially injure me more. And when I tried to arrest his mom..." When Derek didn't respond, she looked at him. His face was dark; the office wasn't well lit.