[b]Chapter 18. The Anger [/b]
Jack stormed into her room, blood boiling as she tore off her jacket and threw it against the wall. Her foot collided with the trash can as she screamed, "Damn it!"
"Jack, calm down!" Sheldon spoke calmly as he appeared in front of the angered Hunter.
"I could've gotten him, Sheldon!" Jack howled at the Ghost, "If Cayde hadn't -blam!- pulled me out- "
"You would have been dead!" Sheldon retorted, "Jack, I wasn't healing you fast enough; I couldn't! One more blast from Septiks, and you would've died! Cayde made the right call!"
"Bullshit!" Jack sneered, desperately trying to tell herself that she could've done it, "I could've easily ducked into cover and-"
"Fallen surrounded you, Septiks was powering up, and I was busy trying to heal your internal bleeding; there is no way you could've taken cover during all that! Even if you did, you still would've been suffering from fourth-degree burns and a slew of Fallen; you weren't going to be finishing that mission, not alive, at least."
"You don't know that!"
"Yes, I do!" He snapped, "I know all of your inner workings; I can see any injury you suffer and if it'll kill you! You were as good as dead!"
Jack bit inside her cheek as her hands tightened into fists, her face red due to her frustration with losing the fight.
Sheldon sighed, knowing that his words only made her madder, "Jack, please, go take a shower and try to relax… it's been a long day."
She glared at the Ghost for a moment before growling, "Fine, whatever…."
Once in the bathroom, she peeled the sticky blood-soaked clothes off her body. Most of the blood was Fallen and Hive, while a few patches were her own. She looked at her frail and naked body in the mirror, more muscle was beginning to form, and she noticed that she had gained more weight. Probably due to all the ramen and chicken she had been eating with Cayde and Elizabeth. Her hands skimmed down the parts of her body that the Fallen had cut, the wounds nonexistent, but Jack could still remember the pain as her hands trailed down where the marks should've been.
She washed herself off and changed into her pajamas, still not having any other clothes but her orange outfit and her pajamas. Laundry day was always interesting; Elizabeth would let her borrow her robe as Jack did her laundry. Elizabeth had told her they couldn't give her any more clothes because they lacked her size, her size being petite, and she had promised to take Jack out shopping when she was free. She was never free.
Jack sat down on her bed, wet hair dangling off her body as the water dripped onto the floor. She continued to think about the strike; her anger had subsided, but only slightly. She did feel bad about yelling at Sheldon, she knew deep down that he was right, but her pride continued to overshadow the obvious.
"Three weeks," the Ghost hummed.
"What?"
"It's been over three weeks since we came here," he said in slight amusement, "And you're still here."
She scoffed as she ran her fingers through her scalp, "That's only because you like it here."
"Oh please," he said as he rolled his optic, "You like it here just as much as I do."
Jack stared at the comforter as his words echoed in her mind. He wasn't wrong; she had grown fond of this place, its food, its people…. It was just the Traveler she didn't like, the orb still making her feel uneasy whenever she saw it. At the end of her first week there, she decided this wasn't that bad of a place, and it was thanks to Cayde she felt that way. For years she had to fend for herself, no one ever helping her but Cayde… Cayde was the first person to show her genuine kindness, which she starved for. True, she did stay because of Sheldon and the safety, but it was mainly due to Cayde'a kindness that allowed her to see the good. She had grown close with him in the past couple of weeks. His genuine concern for her was touching, and he always knew how to make her laugh. She wanted to impress him with this strike, show him that his training wasn't in vain and that she could handle herself. That was why she was so mad, not just because it hurt her pride but because she felt like she had disappointed Cayde.
Her head suddenly turned to the door as she heard a soft knocking.
"Jack, it's Cayde."
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Cringe