Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story 
Chapter or StoryAuthor's Chapter Notes:
This is gonna be sappy, but…Hey, I couldn't just let him go, could I?
When Parker entered Jarod’s room, the weirdest thought came to her mind. She realized that for the first time in her life she would be able to talk to him and have the last word.
All the doctors agreed on the fact that if Jarod wouldn’t wake up in the next few hours, his recovery would be uncertain.
Parker couldn’t stand watching a man who usually buzzed with life, vigor and dynamism forced to lie in a hospital bed.
“He seems so defenseless.” she observed.
“Yeah.” Sydney exhaled.
Miss Parker walked crossed the and stopped in front of the windows, then she sat in the chair that had been occupied by Margaret until a few minutes before. She took Jarod’s left hand in hers, bringing it to her mouth.
Unwillingly, she wetted it with her tears.
“I can’t do this, Syd.”
“You can, and you must, Parker. He needs us. We got to be strong, for once. Think about everything he did for us. Think about your children!” Sydney tried and encouraged her.
“I’m never gonna make it without him, Sydney. I can’t live without him!” she responded, angry with herself for causing this and for her own vulnerability, too.
How did she end up like this?
A few weeks before she was an independent and unattached woman.
Sure, her future was a dead-end, but that was just a tiny detail.
Mow she was a mom-to-be, worse, she risked becoming the youngest widow in Blue Cove. And that wasn’t the destiny she would have chosen for herself either.
Sydney was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice that he was chuckling out loud.
Parker looked at him, uncomfortably. How could he possibly find that situation amusing?
“Remember that time when Jarod met Bartlett in Georgia? How we used Angelo’s faculties to understand who wanted to kill him?”
“Yes.” she replied, feeling angry. Whenever someone mentioned that animal’s name, she felt like she couldn’t distinguish what was right and what was wrong. Should she see Bartlett again, she’d probably kill him.
“I knew that you were hiding something. The way you made efforts to get to Jarod in time…I knew you didn’t want Bartlett to hurt him.”
“It was just because I wanted to catch him before him.” she retorted, her old huntress tone surfacing again, from time to time.
Sydney kept on chuckling, “Are you sure, Parker?”
The woman was reminded of the moments she had spent waiting for Angelo to tell them what person from Jarod’s past wanted to kill him.
“Bartlett, Angelo! Is he the one who’s going to kill Jarod?”
Angelo was at the floor when Sydney finally found out the name of the man Angelo was afraid of.
The empath dragged himself out from the net Jarod had built for Bartlett and approached Syd, nodding with conviction.
“Bartlett! Must stop Bartlett. Bartlett hates Jarod, hates everyone!”
Sydney stared at him in apprehension.
“Bartlett wants to kill—wants to kill Jarod! Sydney, help Jarod now!” Angelo cried.
Syd didn’t want to waste another second, “Parker, we have to do something!”
The Centre operative, who still didn’t want to show her real feelings, was secretly as tense as they were.
“Broots, call the Florida Bureau of Prisons, see if Bartlett is still in custody!”
“Okay” the technician answered, running away.
Parker made a few steps towards Angelo and Sydney, “Bartlett is a racist sleazebag who would kill his own mother.”
Angelo, in the meantime, was exhausted by the pain he had felt empathizing Jarod’s emotions. Sydney stood up and listened to her.
“Syd, we have to find him. If Bartlett finds Jarod first, he will kill him.”
Sydney suddenly glanced at Parker, she was staring at him intensely.
Her expression showed all her concern, at that moment.
The psychiatrist couldn’t help but notice the irony of that situation. The most assiduous among Jarod’s pursuers was afraid for his own safety and wanted to find him to save his life – not to take him back to the Centre.
Was Miss Parker starting to realize what Sydney had understood a long time before? That between huntress and prey there was more than just pranks and mind games? That they were connected by an intimate bond?
Parker knew she had to get back to her senses and put on the Ice Queen façade, so after a few moments of embarrassment, she said, “ – and ruin my chance.”
But Sydney didn’t miss the way she shrugged to try and disguise her fear, for he had seen her growing up and he knew every single mannerism of hers.
“Let’s just pray we’re not too late.” he concluded, finding tacit inner agreement with Miss Parker.
“Ok, maybe that day I kept remembering what he told me when Bartlett tied us together in Bahia Grande.”
Sydney was intrigued: neither Miss Parker nor Jarod had ever mentioned anything about what they had said to each other in that occasion.
“When I managed to get free from the rope, I thought I could handle Bartlett, but he was stronger than me. Jarod freed himself too and saved my life.”
“And then he ran?”
“No, he tied me up first.” Sydney grinned. “But I asked him why he saved my life. He said that he still remembered the little girl who gave him his first kiss.”
Sydney gasped in astonishment as his psychiatrist skills kicked in.
So Jarod had been in love with Parker even at the beginning of the pursuit?
“I was terribly worried, I was afraid I would lose Jarod before being able to understand.”
“Understand what?”
Parker smiled and kissed Jarod’s hand again. “Something I already knew in my heart, but that I still wasn’t ready to admit.”
Sydney watched her while she stroked Jarod’s forehead; the pretender didn’t show any signs of recovery, yet.
“That I’ve always loved him.”
Sydney smiled again. It was so good to hear Miss Parker speaking so openly about her feelings.
“You know what he said to me, some time ago?” she grinned as she recalled another funny story. Sydney shook his head, indulging her.
“When we went to Pastor Jones’s church to ask about Jarod, we thought he had already left. But he was still there, right under our nose. He was enjoying the chorus sitting on the church roof.”
The psychiatrist couldn’t resist and burst into laughter again, “No way!”
Parker chuckled too, “I can almost picture him, a guardian angel! You are crazy, Jarod.” She sighed.
Their laughs faded, and Sydney understood that was the signal for him to leave. He patted on Jarod’s arm once more and then he pushed his wheelchair outside, leaving Miss Parker alone with him.
“Jarod, there are so many things – things I never told you, things I would have wanted to tell you, things I should have –”
She interrupted her speech, trying to hold back the tears.
Obviously, Jarod didn’t move.
Parker sighed deeply, ready to talk again. “Jarod, you remember what you told me after Michael’s birth, that day I confided to you that I’d never told Tommy that I loved him?”
“I thought that getting revenge for Tommy's death would somehow bring me peace. But even if I had been able to, I know now it wouldn't have.”
She didn’t actually know why she was confiding in Jarod. Maybe because he had helped her discovering the truth about Thomas.
She couldn’t figure why, but Jarod was always with her during the most difficult moments of her life.
She chased him every day, her whole life revolved around bringing the pretender back to the place he was running from.
And yet, Jarod still cared for her, he still treated her like his childhood friend. Parker would never admit this out loud, but his constant presence in her life was crucial to her survival. Jarod was her rock, and she was realizing this more and more each passing day.
“That isn't the unfinished business that needs finishing.” he replied to her, walking with no destination in a totally different place.
He would have loved to be by her side, but he knew she needed to confront the pain on her own.
“You said the other day that you wish you had told him. Told him what?” he asked her, curious.
“I never – I never told Tommy that I loved him.” she finally confessed, relieved by the fact that she was confiding this secret to someone. And not just to any someone. To Jarod.
“And now your heart and your mind are raging a war against each other.”
That was the reason why Parker loved speaking with him: the pretender understood her without needing to say things out loud.
He knew her better than anyone else.
“I would trade everything for one minute with him, just to say those words and have him hear them.”
“Tell him.” Jarod concluded “Let your heart win the war.”
Parker squeezed Jarod’s hand stronger.
“You were the one who taught me not to underestimate the importance of expressing our feelings for the persons we love. I don’t want to miss my chance with you, too.”
She looked miserably at him, almost hoping that he would wake up at that very moment.
“I’ve never been an easy person to deal with. Since I was a child, I had no friends outside of the Centre, nobody really got along with me. You were the only one who understood the real me, you – you knew that something had broken inside me after my mother’s death. And you stood by my side, you cared for me, and you have me the most precious gift: our friendship.”
Parker pondered on all those times that they had wandered across The Centre corridors as kids and got into trouble.
She remembered that time when Sydney had found them playing hide and seek down in SL-12; the psychiatrist had admonished them not to scare him like that anymore, seeing that he had been looking for them for hours and Jarod had been scheduled for a SIM.
Good old Sydney, she thought.
“Then my father, he – he turned me into a hopeless bitch, he trained me to close the IT security gaps of The Centre and later he charged me with your pursuit. He was so sure that Mind Rain had been successful that he didn’t even think about the skeletons I would discover having to deal with you night and day. Mostly night.”
She chuckled at this thought. After a long pause, she kept talking.
“I don’t blame you for hating me. I don’t blame you for trying to forget me I made your life a living hell for so long…The more you tried to show me the truth, the more I tried to get some distance from you. I couldn’t believe that my father was such a monster.”
Parker placed Jarod’s hand on the bed again, then she stood up and turned her back to him, her eyes fixated on the outside.
“Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we hadn’t met on Carthis. Would you give up on us? Maybe you’d finally realized that I was a lost cause, and you wouldn’t have tried anymore.”
She sighed, “Fortunately, we both know you’re an obstinate S.O.B.” she chuckled. “You pushed me to face that turning point. That night on the island I finally let go and realized I still loved you. I probably never stopped. And I’m sorry that I couldn’t figure it out sooner, Jarod, but I was a fool. I’ve been blind, irritating, cynic, arrogant. I must thank you for not giving up on us.”
Miss Parker burst into tears, so out of character that she couldn’t believe feeling so weak.
“I won’t ever thank you enough for everything you’ve ever done for me.”
Parker was still crying.
“D-did you actually s-say thank you?”
Parker turned around with a rapid movement, sure that she must have been dreaming.
But she wasn’t.
Jarod’s eyes were open, and he was looking at her, waiting for a reaction.
“Jarod! Oh my god! Doctor!” she shouted, pressing the button to call the nurses. Then she ran outside.
“He’s awake!” she yelled.
A mass of people ran into Jarod’s room, but Miss Parker didn’t.
She remained behind; she needed to stay back and recover.
Doctors and nurses did a complete check-up on Jarod immediately; they monitored his vital signs and talk about a “miracle”, seen the few chances he had to survive.
Inside the room, dozens of voices could be heard talking one above the other.
Miss Parker was trying to distinguish the words of the doctors when Broots and Debbie peeped from the corridor with Angelo, noticing by the turmoil that something must have happened.
When the technician saw Parker crying, he assumed the worst.
“I-is h-he –”
“Broots, he woke up!” Sydney grinned, smiling to his friend as he came out of the room.
Broots chuckled with joy and Angelo began swinging back and forth, sensing all the positive emotions emanating from that room.
“Can I –” Broots asked for permission.
“Get in, moron, everyone else is inside.” Parker smiled.
Sydney stood behind with her; they patiently waited for the doctors’ consult to come to an end.
Later, they heard a nurse who snarled in annoyance. “That’s enough, everybody out! We must check on the patient’s condition!”
Even if all of them complained about that request, they started to exit the room one by one, leaving only Margaret inside.
Miss Parker noticed Jarod’s mother listening to her son as he asked her something, then she got out.
“He asked of you.” Margaret whispered.
Feeling emotional for that request, Miss Parker gazed at Margaret full of affection, then she stared at Ethan. “Would please go and fetch Michael? I think his father would love to see him.”
“Of course, sis.” He smiled in return.
Parker approached Jarod in time to hear the doctor say, “It’s unbelievable, but it looks like the worst part is over, Jarod. You’re a fighter.”
When Miss Parker noticed the relief in the doctor’s eyes, she got the weird sensation that the two knew each other. She was sure of it when she heard Jarod replying, “Thanks, Jeff.”
“Ok, let’s give them some space, Rose.” he said, addressing himself to the last nurse who was still in the room.
Parker walked to Jarod’s side. She slowly sat on the chair and bended so that her face was a few inches from his. The pretender was still lying on his side after the doctor had checked his wound.
“How’s Michael?” Jarod immediately asked her.
Parker couldn’t help but smirk for his innate sense of altruism.
She shook her head slightly and gave him a soft peck.
She had missed those lips. She had been afraid of not being able to taste them anymore.
“What did I miss?” he asked.
“My father’s dead. So is Lyle.”
Jarod didn’t need two options to guess that Parker probably been the person who had killed his twin.
“How?” he asked, nevertheless.
“It – it doesn’t matter, let’s just say he won’t annoy us anymore.”
“Are you all right?”
Parker chuckled, “You are the one who was dying and you ask if I am fine?”
“I’m not the one who’s carrying a life in her womb, Parker. Is the baby all right?”
She nodded, lifting a hand, and caressing his face. He half-closed his eyes and enjoyed that soft and lovely touch.
“We’ll have time to talk later, now you need some rest.”
He opened his eyes suddenly, “No! Stay.” he pleaded her.
She scoffed, “You really are a child. Are you sure you don’t want your mom?” she asked.
Jarod smiled and coughed, “Before, I woke up in time to hear you saying that you’ve been blind, irritating, cynic, arrogant. You forgot merciless.”
Parker burst into laughter, “Ok, then merciless, too.” she agreed, taking his hand in hers.
“We made it, Parker.”
“You made it.” she corrected him. “You won’t need to watch your back from now on. Nobody’s gonna hunt you anymore, Jarod.”
“I was hoping that you would, still.” he admitted.
Now that The Centre was out of the picture, he was almost scared of losing her.
Scared that their existences had already fulfilled their purpose, just like the Prophecies said.
“I won’t chase you anymore, Jarod.” she stated with his eyes fixated on hers. “I won’t have to stay a step behind you. From now on, we’ll walk together, side by side. Huntress and prey finally reunited.”
Jarod chuckled and coughed again, “This seems a perfect ending for a novel.”
Parker laughed again, “Maybe I should start writing. I mean, I’m unemployed!”
“I’m sorry! I never thought about that side of the coin. I must help you finding a new job, then.”
“I have the feeling that The Centre ensured us a final buyout, Jarod.”
“Buyout?” he asked, not understanding what Parker was talking about.
He obviously couldn’t know that Broots had provided them with a very generous severance pay.
“Let’s call it damage refund. That money should allow you to keep helping the little guy, if that’s what you want.”
“The only person I wanna help right now is me. I need some balance in my life. I want to make up for lost time with my family – and with you. That’s the only thing that matters.”
“Yeah.” she agreed. “I guess the next nine months will be a whole new experience for you, too. You’re gonna spend your time indulging the cravings of the pregnant Ice Queen.”
Jarod grinned at the thought. “I’ll keep a gun for the bad days.” he replied, causing her to laugh again.
Parker wondered again how he could manage to make her feel so peaceful.
“God, I must renew my wardrobe.” she complained, kissing him again.
Chapter End Notes:
Let me know what you think :)
