Stolen In Paradise

Chapter 18: Gemma Jackman

48 hours later...

Jackman stood outside the terminal in the Nadi International waiting to board her flight back to Sydney with Agents Smith and Taylor. Jessica Clark was already looking much better as she was given some of Jackman's clothes to wear and was already cleaned up. Her entire forearms had been bandaged and there were still dots of red over her wrists but she was smiling and was rehydrated. She was excited to go back home.

Hell, everybody was.

After giving a statement and turning over the evidence to the Fijian Police Department she was free to go. Her actions were deemed justifiable, minus the collision incident. That one came out of public expenses, courtsey of the Australian Government. The Sydney Morning Herald were pleased that they were getting their exclusive, which meant that Jackman would have to deal with being interviewed by a reporter as soon as she got home, but for now she just worried about boarding the plane and getting some much needed rest.

Jackman leant back in her chair and closed her eyes. Sometimes, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't forget what she'd seen in that straw cabin. The memory was so vivid it kept her up the night after the incident. She could still smell the stench of blood and the faces were burned into her mind forever. She wished she could get a hug any time soon.

"Hey."

Jackman woke up and saw Jessica's hand was placed affectionately over her's.

"I never got to say thanks for coming for me. You do realise that I wouldn't be here without you. You're my hero and I was hoping we could be friends." She said softly before wrapping her arms around Jackman and squeezing her tightly.

Jackman had no idea what to think.

Just doing my job, ma'am. Would be the text book response.

"Trust me when I say I was just as afraid as you!" Jackman said happily. The two laughed.

"You were invincible. The way you took him on was inspiring." Jessica said.

Jackman tried to figure out how to word her next question.

"Those other girls in there." She began. She could already feel Jessica's gaze on her.They made eye contact. "Do you still see them?"

Jessica looked reserved about answering the question and she sipped her bottle of water before doing so.

"I don't think that a day will go by that I won't." She said sadly. "The important thing is that I was lucky enough to survive what happened and that man got what he deserved. So I'm going to live every day like its my last and I have you to thank for that."

That made Jackman smile.

"But I don't think I'll be talking to strangers any time soon."

The two laughed.

When Jackman had arrived back to the office in King's Cross in Sydney everybody had erupted in cheer just like she'd fantasised about. A ton of constables welcomed her back, eager to shake her hand and a few of her friends in the force had decided to make her a cake (for some reason) and amongst it all she could hear news reports cut away from the football to bring up some "Breaking News". Jackman saw footage of her and Jessica exiting the terminal in the Sydney airport and then it cut away to footage of an exclusive interview. People crowded around the TV quickly beckoned her over with wild expressions, but she didn't care. Because amongst it all she saw David smiling widely at the back of the crowd. She'd seen that smile only a few times before and it was contagious. It was the smile that said that he was proud of her.

It was the smile that said "That's my girl."