Chapter 13) Relaxing In Paradise

By the time the ambulance arrived at my house in a rushed fashion, Nick and I had an unbelievable stroke of both luck and fright with Tricia's condition. When we called the ambulance, the second they heard who I was, they immediately sent someone under the radar so the paparazzi didn't trail them. As for Tricia, Nick noticed I was panicking without realizing it myself, and calmed me down. I carried her downstairs to the living room for easier access to the paramedic, and kept running the same scenario through my head.

'What happens if she doesn't wake up? Will I be blamed for her death? What happens if I don't get rid of this insane amount of miasma? Can I even do that?'

When that final question hit me, I started pulling at the edges of my memories trying to find anything of use. That was when the ring around my finger caught my eye. 'Would this thing possibly work If I somehow harness it's absorption ability? I turned over to Nick and asked him that exact question. He just looked at me with a spark in his eyes.

"Jay, you're saying you don't remember what happened earlier? Dude, you stopped some crazy black fire with that thing! If anything is going to work, it'll definitely be that!"

When he gave me the reassurance of what happened earlier to give me a positive push, I felt I could manage something.

"Hey Nick, the ring managed to suck up the black flames, instead of putting them out right? Then I have an idea, so bear with me."

Once I told him, he just looked at me with the same spark as before.

"I have to give you credit Jason, you really know how to make someone feel stupid in comparison to you, cause I hadn't even thought of that."

I tried to focus on the ring, looking for any sense of a presence, when I heard a strange voice in the back of my mind.

'So you finally decided to use me, Master. Let it be so, that I will allow your mind to meld with my own and together we can achieve greatness.'

At that moment I felt a peculiar sense of warmth flow through my veins, as if a fire was burning from the inside, searching for a way out. I focused my mind on the goal at hand, and watched as the ring began to shine intensely, using the black fires from earlier, burning away death's cloak, inch by inch, until it was nothing more. My upper left arm started to burn with an intensity that knocked the wind out of my lungs. It was as if my arm were being ripped open with a heated knife from the inside out. Through my Grid, despite all the pain, I saw that all of death's cloak was gone and Tricia was fluttering her eyes open. Nick was left speechless, deciding who he should help first, and that was the last I saw before passing out.

'At least she's alright…'

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When I came back to my senses, I overheard the ambulance speaking with Nick about Tricia. I tilted my head to the side, and saw Tricia sleeping on the sofa.

"Sir, the girl, Tricia was it? She is perfectly fine, in fact, she seems to be completely healthy. As for young Grey, it seems that his mind just became overwhelmed with stress, forcibly putting him out cold. It is nothing to worry about, considering he's always been like that. Just let him rest for now, and all should be fine by morning."

I sat upright quickly, startling both of them, and groaned loudly.

"Last time I checked, the hospital is supposed to keep private information in confidential."

Nick practically fell over himself trying to rush over to my side.

"I don't know what to say man, like, are you alright? Maybe I should get you a glass of water. Oh! Right, I should probably tell Tricia to wake up, maybe she'd like to ta-"

"Nick, shut up. You tend to ramble when you're excited. I'll wake her up myself, but I will take the offer on some water."

He left the room to get me that water, and the paramedic went to report to his superior on his phone outside. I was left in the room alone with Tricia sleeping barely 10 feet away, and all I could do was just listen. I listened to the rhythm of her breaths, and slowly started to ease the muscles I hadn't even known were so taut. I started to relax after what seemed like a century, and almost drifted to sleep by the time Nick got back from the kitchen. All he did was place the water nearby and keep watch. I sat back up and reached for the glass of water, and in the process, came tumbling to the ground. I slammed my arm against the edge of a table and proceeded to mutter obscenities as the pain subsided. With all of this nonsense, I was surprised to find Tricia still sleeping.

While I had been bolting up the stairs earlier, apparently Nick's priority at the time was to stop the food from burning. I went to retrieve Tricia from her nap while Nick brought the pots onto the table to be served.

"Wake up sleepy head, or Nick will eat your share of the food."

She got up with a big yawn and walked over to the dinner table. Only then did she realize that I had been the one to wake her up.

"Jason! Oh my god, are you okay? When I woke up earlier you were unconscious and you were holding your arm really tight. I asked Nick but he said to wait for you to tell me yourself."

Of course he did. I'm gonna be sure to give him hell for this stunt.

We walked side by side down the hallway to the dining table. Tricia was still looking at me, trying to pry an answer out of my head.

"Tricia, if you're going to be staring, can you at least tell me if my hair's a mess?"

Her gaze went from piercing to one of amusement.

"Yes, your hair's a mess Jason. That doesn't change the fact that you haven't told me what happened. Nice try though." She gave out a light laugh.

We walked through the main doorway to the dining room, where Nick was dancing to a song that was playing on his phone. He had his eyes closed and his back towards us, so he couldn't have noticed Tricia and I laughing hysterically. He whipped around suddenly, hitting a particularly high pitched note in his song, opened his eyes, and his face went serious instantly.

"You could have told me you were here, you know."

Nick was still pouting about his interrupted singing episode, while I was serving the dinner that thankfully stayed intact. Tricia was paying very close attention to her phone, seemingly avoiding eye contact with me, probably because I refused to answer her question.

'Whatever. I don't plan on telling her even if I have to bring it to the grave.'

I made my way around the table, giving her a decent amount of food piled on her plate, then left Nick for last just to see the light in his eyes dim a bit, mostly because it was just funny. I sat down and gazed at all the food I had made, and looked up to find Tricia reveling at the enormous pots of rice, beans, and of course, the meat.

"Alright, I guess I should be fair and tell you what you're going to be eating. In Dominican households, the yellow rice with the chunks of meat would be called 'locrio.' If you don't like that, I also made plain white rice with chicken breast. I would recommend getting a spoon to scoop out the broth water at the bottom of the pot, so you can drizzle it over your white rice. To go on the side, we have beans and fried plantains,"

I took a moment to look around to track their gazes, satisfied with their curious gazes, I continued:

"If you want plantains, I should also recommend that plate of fried salami. The reason why there is so much Spanish food is because in my own opinion, they definitely know how to eat, and their food is a bit more simple to make. Besides all of that, I made some spaghetti and finally got lazy waiting for the dough I made to rise, so I heated up garlic bread from the freezer. Anything you guys don't like?"

They just looked at the whole spread in wonder. While their own families obviously cooked, Tricia's family was more of a BBQ every day kind of family, while Nick's place was more of a pasta place. If they were to eat anything else in the week, it would be their family went out to a diner or restaurant instead.

I looked across the table with a swelling feeling of pride. While I normally cook for myself, and maybe for my mother when she forgets to eat after working hours on end, I've never cooked for someone outside of family. Seeing them ecstatic about my dishes warmed me up inside.

"Alright, everyone dig in. I made a lot because I expect y'all to eat a lot. Nick, while I'm aware you and I can put down all this food easily, show mercy at this table for poor Tricia, as she isn't ready for the food brawl...yet."

With a savage look in his eyes, he gave me a slow nod as he tucked in, savoring the food. Tricia had a look of concern, and confusion written on her face, having noticed the "yet" at the end of my little speech to Nick. Nevertheless, she tucked in as well, and gave a little squeal of delight when the flavors exploded in her mouth. I asked if it was alright for them, and they didn't even bother answering, having started to become more fierce and almost feral while ravaging their plates.

"While we are at the table, I might as well introduce you guys to the only worker in the house. She is quite shy, and doesn't like too loud of noises, as she has very sensitive ears. She is also quite overprotective of me, so please mind your manners near her. Luna, come over here! Let me see my sweet girl!"

Both Tricia and Nick looked around, confused at first about my declaration, more so about where this Luna person had been the whole time. Unknown to them, with completely silent steps, a massive figure strode up behind them.

"I proudly present Luna, my bestest friend in the whole wide world! Come here Luna, stop what you're doing so you don't give them both heart attacks." I started chuckling, as both Nick and Trish whipped their heads behind themselves, only to come face to face with an enormous white tiger. Luna currently had the classic "cat stupid mode" face engaged, as she was about to pounce on them whilst they ate.

At my call however, she disengaged her "stupid mode" and lumbered over to my side, releasing chortles in greeting. Luna then proceeded to lie down next to my seat, and started begging for head pats and ear scratches. Nick and Trish were as white as sheets, while their jaws dropped, staring at Luna the whole time.

"Yo-You had a pet tiger in the building the whole time?! Why didn't we see it the whole time? How long have you had a damn tiger? Why do you have a pet tiger? I have so many questiioooons."

While being overly dramatic, and having utter mental breakdowns, I couldn't help smiling over their reactions. 'At least they aren't negative about it. Although they might freak out completely if they know Kuma has been staring at them from the corner of the room for a while now.' Kuma, is a black leopard I decided to take full responsibility over when I saw him at a nature reserve's recovery center, healing from two nasty broken legs. While he has recovered, he refuses to leave me in the same room as Luna, mostly because he gets jealous of all the affection I dump on her.

"Anyway guys, finish eating first. I want you to pet Luna to know how much of a good girl she is. Then you can have fun with Kuma."

Now they were looking all over the place for the now mysterious Kuma, while I smirked with satisfaction over their panic. Finally they finished eating, and once we had all cleaned our plates, I told them they could go to their rooms while I go down to my lab. 'It is about time I start playing with you little guy,' I thought to myself while stroking the ring.

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While I watched Jason disappear down towards the basement, I finally released the breath I didn't even know I was holding. I turned to Tricia with a serious look.

"Alright, now that super-boy finally decided to stop babysitting us, we have to sit down and have a little chat. You can bet on my life I don't plan on letting you into Jason's inner circle without first getting asked some questions."

She looked at me as though I were a complete idiot.

"Only if you talk about yourself while we're at it. That way it's at least mutually benefitting, considering I'm stuck here with you two all week."

After that we went outside to the backyard, where a large off-building was located next the inground pool. Once we stepped inside, making sure Jason hadn't somehow noticed any of this, we began to relax and talk. With a long sigh, I started:

"First things first, I'm sorry for what he's put you through all day. You didn't blow up on him even when others would have normally, and for that I'm deeply thankful. Ya see, besides his parents, and now that I've been made aware, his large cats, I am all he's got to talk to. You should know that today has been the most I've ever heard him speak in one go. It shows how much he cares about us because he would have normally stayed quiet, but he wanted to make sure we would both understand and be safe whenever he would do something. Overall, he's just a super emotional introvert that doesn't have enough places to vent all that pent up emotion."

I watched her expressions as I spoke. First with shock, then with confusion, followed by a not so small amount of guilt. All day she had been boiling on the inside, from being dragged through all this crazy stuff mostly against her will, to just frustration with the situation all together, and was on the verge of actually venting this all on Jason. After Nick told me all that though, I began to calm down, as I hadn't realized that while Jason was the main focus in all this, he also wasn't doing it all on his own volition. He got thrown into this just as randomly as I did, and yet he still put his bestfriend and a complete stranger above himself. 'Jason, I'm sorry if I snapped at you at all today, and I'll try to make it up to you if I can, as soon as possible.'

"Now then, I suppose its my turn?"