Chapter 7

"Urgh..."

The first thing Jay saw when he opened his eyes were the white-washed walls that surrounded him. He blinked, moaning as he tried to push himself to a sitting position, and he looked around. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened - the stabbing, the pain, everything. Therefore, it was very likely that he was in a hospital.

Just then, the door swung open and Theresa entered. When she saw he was awake, she rushed over, smiling with relief, and sat his bedside.

"Jay! You're awake! Last night you got stabbed and -"

"Yeah, I remember," he replied with minimum movement in the hope that he wouldn't trigger any pain.

"Anyway, the doctor said you'd be out in a week. Thankfully, it was only a minor abrasion and it'll heal soon."

"A week? Great," Jay grumbled. "And from how the robber charged at me, I'm surprised it's only a minor abrasion."

Theresa shrugged. "I guess you got lucky," she said, gently slipping her hand into his.

Jay smiled back. "Yeah, maybe. It could have been a lot worse."

At that moment, the door opened again and this time it was Richard. Mr Fairfield, seeing that Jay was now wide awake, actually hurried to his side.

"Are you feeling better now, Jay?" Theresa's father questioned concernedly.

Jay hide a wince. "Yes, much better," he answered, forcing a smile. Well, he couldn't help but grin deep down that by a stroke of luck, Theresa's father had actually warmed up to him. At the cost of an injured stomach. Oh well, one can't have everything they want.

Theresa, noticing that her father seemed like he wanted to say something to Jay in private, got up, made an excuse to go to the toilet, and left.

Mr Fairfield looked haggard and old. Alright, so he was already old in the first place, but he just seemed so much more tired than the last time Jay had seen him, and he had reason to be. "Jay, why did you take the hit for me?"

Jay blinked. "Because... Because I love your daughter," Jay admitted, a little embarrassed. "And one day, maybe we might just be related... I hope so, at least. And besides, it's the right thing to do. Hero instinct, I guess." He laughed softly.

Richard bit his lip. "You know, I was really wrong about you."

"I can't disagree with that," Jay agreed jokingly. Richard actually laughed in response.

Richard pulled out Jay's xiphos from a plastic bag he had been carrying. "Here, your sword. I thought you might have wanted it back," Mr Fairfield stated calmly, placing it on the bedside table carefully.

Jay's eyes widened considerably. "Oh, my sword... I - I don't use my sword for anything bad, it's for... For..." His mind scrambled to create a brilliant excuse, but came up with none. Blushing a little, he ran a hand through his brown hair.

Mr Fairfield waved his hand, dismissing the matter. "It's alright, you don't have to explain the matter. I trust you. I guess everyone has their secrets from time to time. I know I do. I'm just sorry I misjudged you."

"It's okay," Jay responded graciously. "She's your daughter. I'm sure any dad would be worried for their child."

Richard smiled. "By the way, the expenses of the vase... You don't need to pay for it anymore."

"Oh... Thank you, Mr Fairfield." Jay tried to hold back his wide smile.

--

Two weeks later...

The flashy red sports car pulled up in front of the dorm. Atlanta, who was sitting at the window and awaiting their arrival, dropped the remote control that she had just snatched from Archie and got up excitedly. "They're finally back!"

Jay swung open the car door and got out, as did Theresa. She strode to the back of the car, opened the boot and heaved the luggage out of the car with surprising strength.

The whole team had gathered outside to welcome them. Archie gave Jay a poke, of which Jay winced at. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be gentlemanly and carry the luggage instead?" he asked pointedly.

Theresa answered immediately, "No, that's not advisable. Jay just got stabbed a week ago, and he's still recovering."

Jay nodded weakly as the rest of the team gasped and Archie guiltily stepped back.

"No way man!" Odie exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jay replied. "Just a little stab... That's all."

"How?" Herry questioned, scratching his head in curiosity.

"Jay took a blow for my dad," Theresa said, beaming proudly at her boyfriend, who promptly turned red and mumbled something like "It's nothing really."

"Wow, my hero!" Neil remarked sarcastically, and Archie glared at him. "What?"

--

"So, what just happened when you were over at Theresa's?" Archie asked, a little curious. The five of them sat in Jay's bedroom, boys only.

"I was plagued by the worst of luck at first," Jay explained. "Well, firstly, I got peed on by a goat."

Neil gasped. "That's unlucky! You should have asked for some of my luck, I would have given it to you."

Jay glared at him, then continued. "Then next, that same goat got into the house, broke a vase and somehow Theresa's father pinned the blame on me." He decided that he would leave out Archie the horse for particular reasons.

"Well anyway, in the end it was pretty okay," Jay said. "I got stabbed, and in the process I gained her father's trust."

Herry wrinkled his nose. "Isn't there a better, painless solution?"

"Guess not," Jay sighed and leaned back on his pillow. "But I can't say I'm unhappy about finally gaining his trust ."

"Oh, and how about that goat?" Odie asked.

"It got what was coming to it," Jay replied, smirking. At the suspicious looks from his friends, he said sheepishly, "I didn't kill it, it got caught in the act when Theresa's dad witnessed it trying to get to another vase. You know, I'm sure that goat has expensive taste."

"You talk about it as though it's a person," Archie said, rolling his eyes.

"That goat's worse than a person," Jay muttered under his breath. Looking up, he said finally, "Anyway, that's the end of the story."

Just then, the bell rung downstairs. He heard someone open the door and let out a blood-curdling scream. Thinking there was some danger of sorts, Jay and the others rushed down the stairs.

Standing at the door and holding a cage was Atlanta. The delivery man standing at the door walked off, but not after giving Atlanta a weird look.

"What is it?" Jay asked cautiously, wincing at the little pain that stabbed his gut when he moved too rigorously.

Atlanta grinned cutely, pretty uncharacteristic for her. "It's a goat!"

Turning the cage over to let them see, they saw a dirty-white, tiny goat standing in the middle of the cage, bleating. Jay picked up the letter on top of the cage. He read it aloud.

"Dear Theresa and Jay,

I would like to give you and your friends one of Goaty's offspring. One of the female goats got together with Goaty and today she gave birth to several little goats. Thought you might like one, especially the girls in your house.

Regards,

Mr Fairfield"

While Jay was reading the letter, Archie squinted at the goat. Startled, he realised that the young goat was staring at him, and with the weirdest look ever. It actually looked... evil. He blinked, shaking his head. He was probably hallucinating. Too much Atlanta-centric dreams and Cronus nightmares probably screwed his brain.

Putting down the letter, Jay gulped, bending to look at the goat. It was adorable, if not for the fact of the evil glint in its eyes which it had seemed to retain from its elderly father. Somehow, he had a feeling that history was about to repeat itself.

Here we go again.

--

THE END!

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