Irene was fast asleep around nine in the morning, her sleep being broken every now and then with the need to check up on him to see how he was. Her hand never left his, as knowing it was safely in hers eased the restlessness in her heart by a fraction, her head lay awkwardly next to his hand after she had moved the bar down, her eyes still heavy from the lack of sleep she had been getting these past few days.

Jackson awoke before her, his body burning with the pain. He suppressed a grunt of pain as he felt something on his hand, his head moving slightly to see his wife's head laying besides him,hair slightly on her face causing her some level of discomfort. He moved slightly feeling the burning sensation shoot through his arm. He paused before returning to do what he wanted which was move her hair from her face. She looked troubled, deep bags under her eyes and tear streaks along her face. And he knew he was responsible for it. Ignoring the pain he propped himself up slightly knowing it was a bad decision with the sharp ache he received. His eyes settling back to the form of his wife, she looked beautiful when she slept, it was the time he took to admire her, the pretence for the world fell away when she slept, a sense of peace finally encasing her, and underneath that he saw the display of vulnerability that she showcased. In the short amount of time since they had begun to share a bed, Jackson knew that she suffered from far darker nightmares than she let on. It troubled her ultimately to the point where she would try and avoid sleeping as much as possible or exhaust herself to the point where she just slept for a few hours. It had always made him restless when she turned violently, her head whipping as she muttered incoherently in her sleep yet she would never let him comfort her, she would always be the one fulfilling the role for him. He shook his head watching as she moved slightly, her hand moving to her face as she rubbed her eyes letting out a soft moan as she tried to get comfortable. Jackson remained as still as he could to ensure that she got a couple more moments of bliss that she deserved. And to his content she did, even if the position was uncomfortable, she managed to knock out for another half hour, with Jackson watching over her.

He saw Wendy enter, a big smile on her face when she saw him. He brought a finger to his lips quickly pointing back at Irene who was still fast asleep. Wendy smiled at them motioning that she would return after Irene woke up. And so he waited for her. It wasn't until it edged to ten did she finally pick herself up. Her eyes opened blink haphazardly as she moved to sit, her hand flying to her neck as she cracked it back into position. Jackson winced, but smiled as he waited for her. Her eyes flashed up to his widening. "Your awake!" She shouted slightly moving back to his side and instantly fussing over him. "Are you in pain? Where does it hurt? How's your head? Your back? What about the bleeding? WENDY-" he cut her off, pulling her down slightly and smashing his lips to hers, her eyes widened as he continued to kiss her, her arms grabbing his forearm as rested his forehead on hers. "Rene I'm fine..." he whispered. She looked at him as he attempted to smile, a small wince displaying on his features which Irene instantly caught. "Rest." She said softly turning away. He grabbed for her arm. "Irene." He called. "We can talk later, I'll send wends to check up on you." She gently detached her wrist from his grip moving away before Wendy came in with a small smile. "Glad to see you awake Jack, you gave us all a fright." He attempted to smile his eyes trailing after his wife. Wendy followed his gaze. "She was really scared last night..." Wendy said looking back at him. "I've never seen her like that ever." Jackson looked up at Wendy his eyes asking a hundred and one questions. "Talk to her when she gets back, she needs to get it out her system." Jackson nodded as Wendy flicked through his chart. "Well congratulations you'll be bed ridden for a couple of days, but the fact that your conscious and are coping with the pain is positive. Let us know how bad your feeling the pain and we can up the dosage of morphine and paracetamol." Jackson nodded. "Thanks Wends." She gave him a small smile before turning away, Jinyoung and Mark barging in followed by the rest of the boys. "Geez Jackson you gave us a heart attack." Said Bam with a small smile. Jackson looked at them sheepishly. "I'm sorry for worrying everyone." Youngjae looked at him. "We are team Jack it's what we do but please next time you want to take a few bullets and chase after cars please let us know so we can prepare mentally." He laughed, wincing slightly as JB shot to his side to help, "Jack I swear to god." He cursed loudly as Jackson smiled at him. "I'm fine seriously." Yugyeom rolled his eyes. "Hyung shut up, your in pain, let me go speak to Wendy Noona about your meds." He turned quickly, Jackson's eyes turning to Mark and Jinyoung who had remained silent. Jinyoung sighed. "Don't you dare do that to us or your wife ever again." He shook his head, as Mark nodded in agreement. Jackson turned to them. "Who was it?" He asked, seriousness carved into his features. "Was it Jin?" He asked. Mark sighed turning to the side. "Yes it was Jin. But he wasn't the shooter, you know this as well the rest of us that Jin doesn't have great aim. We watched the cctv footage back, there was someone else taking the shots, he was dressed in black and had his face covered." Jackson looked up. "It's that guy." He said firmly. "Jack it could have been anyone." "I'm a hundred and ten percent sure it was him Mark." Mark sighed. "Jack even if your right, we have no evidence. This guy cleans up his tracks well. There's no way it telling." Jackson sighed, "Have you go that file on you." Jinyoung looked at him. "I'll grab it and give it to you." Jackson nodded giving him a small thanks, his eyes turning to Irene who had re-entered the scene. The boys looked at her, giving her hugs as she squeezed back tightly. "We will give you guys some space." Irene looked down sitting at his side. "Hey." He whispered. She looked at him struggling to offer him a smile. "Hey..." she whispered back. The two settled into silence. "How's the pain." Irene asked. "It hurts but I'm okay." she nodded. "Rene are you okay." She continued to look down, her eyes watering. "Rene." He called out, his fingers brushing under her chin to pull her gaze up to his. His eyes softened seeing her tears. "Oh Babygirl." He said, wiping away at the liquid that seeped from her eyes. "Don't you ever do that to me again Wang. Your lucky your injured right now otherwise I would be slapping the shit out of you." He chuckled slightly bringing her forward and signalling her to come up on the bed. She shuffled slightly being careful to not put pressure on any of his wounds. He pulled her in closer his arms wrapping around her form as he kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry Babygirl..." "you came in covered in blood...you died Jackson. You left me." "I'm sorry Babygirl. I'm right here Rene I'm not going anywhere." She buried her head into his chest. "I hate you." She whispered. He felt his own tears slip. "I love you." He said. Irene looked up at him. "What.." he smiled at her. "I'm in love with you..."he said again watching as she smiled, his lips going back to meet hers. "Rene...i need to apologise to you. The whole thing with Youngji I can understand why your pissed. I've broken your heart too many goddamn times and I hate myself for it. She means nothing to me though Irene. I know the way that I acted my seem like it was something more but it isn't. And I'm sorry for being an ass to you. And regarding your past, I know I don't have the right to ask the questions but I wanted to know you, all sides of you and I'm sorry I kept it from you, I shouldn't have but that's me for you. I fuck things up without trying and I'm sorry Rene. I'm so fucking sorry for all the shit I keep putting you through you don't deserve it. You deserve better." Irenes hand ghosted up to his face. "I forgive you Jack. I'm not angry. Hurt yes, but I can forgive you. But please, if I give you my heart please be careful with it. After thinking about it I don't see Youngji as a threat I'm going to trust your words and your eyes. And as for the past, you probably don't even know it all, no one does but me so it's fine. Please don't hate yourself, it's fine. I'm fine." She smiled, at him, her hands slipping to his chest. "Your hearts in the right place Wang, we just need to work better together, we need to communicate." She said offering him a smile as he nodded in agreement, he leaned in but paused with a knock that sounded. Suelgi poking her head in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a big surgery it's an appendix removal and your the only one who knows what the hell their doing for that.." she trailed of as Irene hesitantly looked good Jackson. "It's okay Babygirl go,it's not like I'm going anywhere and plus they need doctor Bae beauty." Irene looked at him. "Your lucky your injured." He chuckled. "I know, that's why I'm trying I'm luck." She shook her head leaning down to kiss his forehead, "I'll be back." He nodded watching as she left hearing the teasing that Suelgi was directing at her. He laughed slightly grabbing the file that Jinyoung had dropped off moments after Irene had left, opening it up, he sighed holding that one picture in his hands. "Who are you?"

TBC

Authors note:
CLIFFHANGER!!! LOLL. Hope you enjoy this one. Let me know what you guys think in the comment section below I would love to hear your thoughts. Lots of love, stay safe xx