Fallen

The somewhat strained silence of the hospital room was broken when the door swung open forcefully as Crystal rushed in.

"What happened? Are you ok? What are you doing here?"
The rapid fire questions made the other three in the room laugh.

"Nuna, you haven't changed a bit." Jaejoong said enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Tess." Crystal pushed by him, rolling her eyes at his foolish grin. The frazzled woman came to sit on the stool beside the bed, and took Tessa's hand in both of hers. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Just a little sore, don't worry." Tess said brushing away a tear from the others cheek with a smile.

"What happened? When Yoojung called..."

"I just fell and hit my head. Don't worry."

Jaejoong and Yoojung shot each other glances, Jae's eyebrow went up and Yoojung just shrugged.  

"Fine. Don't scare me like that all right?" Crystal then stood and faced her brother.

"Now, what are you doing here? Did you..." Crystal shot a glance at Tess. "have any problems at the airport?"

Tess turned her head toward the window to the right. 

Jaejoong nodded. "No one knew I was coming." he affirmed, shoving his hands into his pants pockets.

"Junsu..." she began but then shut quickly as she looked away.

"Not even them. I just told them I was taking a week. They had their own things to do, besides Eomma wanted me to get Yoojung back safe."

"Things getting hot over there?" Yoojung said with a puff of air and a knowing look.

Crystal glared at her and mouthed 'shut up' as Jaejoong blushed slightly. "Where did you learn that?" he said in a breathy laugh.

"So obvious." The younger girl said rolling her eyes.

"Shut up." he said quietly, with a half grin that stretched the left side of his mouth.

"All right Oppa, you just be that way. Tessa Eonni, do you need any thing?" Yoojung said with her arms crossed in front of her.

"No I'm good." Tess said rubbing her temples.

Yoojung shot her brother a look of annoyance and left the room stomping her feet.

"Honestly!" Crystal said with an expulsion of air. "Jaejoong-ah be nice, at least for a little while. I'm going to see if she's ok."

As the door closed and a blissful silence filled the room, Jaejoong shifted his eyes to the brunette sitting in the hospital bed, studying her fingernails as if they were the last wonder of the world.

He cleared his throat and her gaze snapped up, meeting his briefly before looking down again.

"So why did you lie?" He stood at the foot of her bed peering down at her. Tess shifted nervously, as if she could feel his eyes on her.

"I didn't want to worry Crystal more than she already was."

"Ah, Seojung?" He took his hands from his pockets and folded his arms across his chest.
"What else is she worried about?" he asked sitting on the edge of the bed, his right foot still flat on the floor.

Tess pulled her feet up and adjusted the blanket covering her.
"It's just, Yoojung hasn't had an easy time here is all." she said clearing her suddenly dry throat.

"What happened?"

Her eyes flew to his at the hard tone in his voice. His dark eyes narrowed, making him look almost dangerous.
Tess swallowed and looked back down at her hands clutching the soft, yellow blanket.

"When I first met Yoojung she was being bullied by a group of neighborhood girls. She told me it wasn't the first time. After that I tried to stay with her when she went out but..." Tess paused and took a steadying breath. " She got into a fight about a week ago."
She felt the bed shift a little but didn't take her eyes off her covered feet.

" I was resting from a bad cold that day and she was coming to visit, even though I told her not to. Those girls are like vultures! Just waiting for her like that." Tess gripped the blanket and scowled.
"If I had caught them out after that, I would have..."

A hand reached out and grabbed hers. Taken aback she just stared at it for a moment, before looking up to find Jaejoong's face close to hers.

"Thank you." he said with a smile.

Tess stammered, feeling a blush creep over her face. "F... For what?"

"For caring so much about my sisters. They seem to have a good friend on their side."

"Ah, ha." Nervous laughter escaped as she pulled her hand out from under his. "Well what are friends for?" she said looking around to the door, hoping the others would come back in, soon.

Jaejoong watched her for a moment before standing to cross the room. He sat on the wide window ledge and looked out, pushing the blinds aside. It had started to rain while she was asleep.
Dusk was falling, and the street lights cast shadows of the drops winding down the glass onto his face, taking Tessa's breath away.
She jerked her head back around to the door as it opened and sighed.

Yoojung came in and sat beside her on the bed. "I brought you some juice and a book from the gift shop." she said handing over the items.

"Thank you." she said with a smile, draping her arm around the girls shoulder and smoothing down her hair.

To Jaejoong the gesture looked motherly. A thoughtful look entered his eyes as he watched the girls interaction, he decided to find out as much as he could about her. This woman that stirred his interest, just who was she?

~o0o~

 Tess was discharged the next morning. She was alone again, having sent the three siblings back with a promise to come see them as soon as she was free.

Walking back to her motel room took a while, yet she welcomed the chance to clear her head and think over what had changed for her this past year.
Inside, she felt as if she were empty. Now when she thought about Sara she felt cold. A relentless freezing that made the weather around her seem like nothing at all.
Tess knew that wasn't a good sign. That she would just slip father into the darkness, but she was scared. To face her emotions head on, was admitting that her daughter would never return to her. She wasn't sure she could survive it, honestly.

Her steps slowed as cars sped by on the highway overpass. A tear slipped from her left eye, as wind whipped her long dark hair around her wildly.  Tess looked out over the railing to the icy water below, not noticing an approaching figure from the other direction.

The man walking along with his hands deep in his white washed jeans pockets stopped abruptly, spotting the woman leaning on the rail with her arms crossed. It was the same woman from the diner all those weeks ago. Her sad expression hadn't changed much since then.
He was a bit flustered at seeing her again, but then he noticed the tear falling from her eye. His heart gave an unexpected lurch in response. Taking a deep breath he strode forward.

"You're not planning on jumping are you?"

Tessa pulled back quickly and turned toward the voice.

"'Cause I would hate to have to jump in there after you." The man walking up to her smiled warmly. 
He wore a light brown leather jacket, left hanging open to reveal an ed green and white plaid shirt and a white T-shirt.  He looked young, with a baby face.
His almond eyes sparkled and Tess found herself smiling back.
She dashed away the tear and pushed her hair from her face with one hand, letting out a nervous laugh.

"No I'm not jummping." she said looking out over the water. "Just thinking."

"That's good then." he said grinning. He pulled his hand from his pocket and held it out to her. "I'm Henry."

Tess looked back at him and took his hand in a firm grip. "Tess." she responded. "Are you from around here?"

They laughed at the question, thinking of the old corny pickup line.

"Yeah. I was on my way to see some friends. Want to come? You can get out of this wind." He said with a shiver.
Tess was a little surprised at the quick invite, but decided he wasn't a bad guy if he was willing to jump into freezing water to save someone he didn't even know.

"Sure. Why not." She said with a smile.

~o0o~

 Meeting Henry's friends was quite the experience.
There were two others that had Asian features, three native Canadians and one other American.
All in all there were five guys and three girls including Tess.

They readily accepted her into their group when Henry introduced them and they headed to a nearby game room/bar that they must have frequented due to the owner's friendly greetings to them as they entered.

One of the girls, Mae Li, recognized Tess from the hospital, where she worked as a nurse. She preceded to tell them all about Tess's bravery.

Tess blushed and waved her hands in front of her. "No I just did it with out thinking. Anybody would have done the same."

They all laughed and gestured while talking, making a lively uproar in their small corner of the bar where they sat. Tess smiled brightly, never having been around such comradery before. It was refreshing.

"You are quite the girl Tess!" The blond native Canadian, Jeff said raising his beer mug in salute.

"To Tess for being awesome and to Henry, my man, for dragging her to meet us!" The American guy, Mike said loudly, standing at the head of the table.

They all laughed and clanked glasses and Tess felt the tightness in her chest lessen. For now she could breathe.
That was more than she had hoped for. She would enjoy it for as long as it lasted, and consider herself lucky.

It was close to midnight when Henry and Tess left the others with fond farewells and cheers into the night.

Tess laughed at the way the group acted and spun around with a sigh, swinging her arms beside her.
Her heart felt lighter for once and she was grateful to Henry for such a gift.

He had insisted on sending her home, seeing as it was so late, and Tess didn't mind the company.
They continued to talk and joke around on the way back to her place, taking the bus to get over the bridge.
It dropped them at the intersection close to her hotel.

"Henry." Tess aid suddenly as they walked along in comfortable silence.

"Yeah." He answered looking over at her, his hands yet again stuffed in his pockets.

"Thank you."

The seriousness in her voice grabbed his attention. He turned his body towards her while they walked.

She saw the question in his eyes and smiled. "For speaking to me today, and for inviting me along with your friends even though you had just met me. Thank you." Sincerity shone in her eyes as they met his.

He swallowed and smiled. "No problem. You are a nice girl Tess."

She smiled at him and looked forward. The smile dropped from her face and she looked a bit worried. Tess stoped and tugged on Henry's jacket.

"Anyway Thanks for today, and for walking me back. This is my stop so I'll see you later ok?"

Henry nodded and gave her a quick hug. "Take care." he said. 

"I will. Be careful on your way home." She saw him off and turned back.

Jaejoong was leaning up against her room's door. She had seen him down there encased in the glow of the street lamp that stood nearby. His arms were crossed as he watched her approaching form.

"Jaejoong, what..." Her words fell off when his eyes meet hers. They were dark with some emotion she couldn't place.

"Where were you?" he ground out, his voice quiet but hard. "We were worried when we didn't hear from you."

"I'm sorry." She said quietly in English, her eyes not leaving his. "Mianhae, jaejoong-ssi. I didn't mean to worry you."
Her eyes were glistening as she apologized and he found he couldn't stay mad at her.

He sighed letting the tension leave his body. "Gwaenchanh-a. Get some sleep. Come see Yoojung tomorrow algess-eo?"

"Yes sir!" she said with a salute. He laughed and rubbed the top of her head. They parted with smiles and waves, each thinking of the other long afterwards.

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A/N: Well another chapter brought about an unexpected meeting with a member of Super Junior M. I think that will come in handy later. Hope you enjoy the story! A special thank you goes out to FeliciaSueLynn for her helpful comment. You rock!  
~ ♥ ~ Kimjade

algess-eo = all right (as in; understand or, got it in question form) 
Mianhae = I'm sorry
 Nuna=older sister (male speaking) sounds like: noona