Imagine Jack Waking You from a Bad Dream

                                    

                                          
"No. No! Get away!" you cry. "Stop! No!"
Suddenly, someone is shaking your arm. "(y/n). (y/n)! Wake up! It's a bad dream! Jus' a nightmare!"
You gasp and sit up. Tears begin to fall from your eyes, and Jack's arms envelop you.
"The Refuge again?" he asks, smoothing your (h/c) hair.  You nod, trying to smother the sobs.
"It's alright," Jack reassures you. "I'm right here, an' I won't eva' let 'em get ya again, (y/n). Eva'."
  
As he holds you, your mind wanders back to the first time he held you like this. You were younger then. Two years younger, though it seems not so long ago and like an eternity at the same time.
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You shiver and try to wrap more of the tiny blanket around you. It's promptly yanked away by one of the other two girls who share your lower bunk. You cough violently. When you're finished, your chest hurts. You had thought that the cough was just a cold. Maybe it had started out as one, but that had been three weeks ago. It definitely is not a simple cold any more.
But no one worries about your health in the Refuge. No one worries if you're hungry or thirsty or terribly ill. They might care if you died, though they'd only be concerned about the lack of funds they would be receiving since they would have one less kid the government would pay them for. 
You sigh, looking out the window next to you. You've tried to escape before, but the fire escape only went down to the second story. Even if you could get down there from your third story room, you'd have to jump down from the second story to street level, a distance enough to break your bones.
On the other side of the room, the door opens quickly and then is eased shut. All of your senses go on high alert. People only enter this room for two reasons: to bring you food or... No. You put the thought from your head, not even wanting to think about the terrible things they do here. 
Squinting, you try to see who entered. Whoever it is, they are extremely quiet. The people who usually come in here are never quiet. Suddenly, a hand covers your mouth. Your scream is muffled by it.
The light from the window illuminates your captor. You relax slightly, recognizing that he is one of the boys from downstairs. His dark hair is disheveled, but his blue eyes snap with excitement.
"Don't make a sound," he commands. "Got it?"  He doesn't remove his hand until you nod.  "How far can this window open?"
"All the way," you whisper. "Why are you up here?"
"Our windows don't open far enough to get out. Thought I'd try up here."
You want to keep quiet, but feel a cough coming on. It racks your body, and you double over with the force of it.  The boy uses the noise you make as cover to ease the window open. He slips out and is about to close the window again when you put your hand on his shoulder.
"Take me with you," you plead.
He hesitates but sees the absolute desperation etched on your face. He sighs. "Alright, but hurry."
You scramble through the window, and he shuts it as softly as possible. He leads the way down the fire escape, and then sees the huge drop to the alley below. He mutters some choice words under his breath.
"Wait," you say and rush back up to the window. You pry it back open and reach your hand in. Feeling the blanket you so coveted before, you grip it tightly and rip it away from the girls in bed. You slam the window shut before they can protest and run back down to the boy. Handing him the blanket, you instruct, "Tie it onto that bar, see? And then we'll hope it holds."
He nods, tying the knot as tightly as he can. You try to smother a cough while he works. 
"What's your name?" you ask suddenly. 
"Jack Kelly," he grunts. He tugs the knot into place and looks up at you. "What's yours?"
"(y/n)," you reply, trying again to not cough.
"I'll go first," Jack volunteers. "I'll move that trash can under the blanket, and once you're down, I'll untie it so nobody will know how we escaped."
With that, he puts his plan into action. It's executed perfectly, until the trash can tips over as you step on it. You come crashing to the ground, but, to your credit, you don't scream. Panicked by the noise, Jack grabs your hand and pulls you up. 
"You alright?" he asks. You nod, and he begins running, dragging you along with him.
After only a block of running, you have a stitch in your side. You're so short of breath, you don't know how you can go on like this. But you try to keep going. Now you're three blocks away. You feel a cough coming on.
"Jack," you wheeze, and begin coughing violently. He mercifully stops running and drags you into an alley. You sink to the ground. There's nothing in the world except coughing and pain. Oh, it's never hurt this badly before. You're vaguely aware that Jack has wrapped his arms around you.
"You'll be alright," Jack whispers in your ear. "We're gonna be okay."
Your coughing subsides. "Thank you," you shakily say and smile a little.
"Here, I know a place where we can stay tonight," he says and helps you up. 
You both wind through the alleys at a much slower pace. At last, Jack opens a door and leads you through. It looks like you are backstage at a theater. There are props and set pieces scattered around, and there are several racks filled with costumes.
"My friend owns this place. She's still here; the door's always unlocked when she's here," Jack explains in a whisper.
"Hey!" a voice yells. "Who's back there? Nobody's allowed in here!"
"Not even me, Miss Medda?" Jack asked.
"Jack Kelly, is that you? Come out here and give me a hug!" Medda cried.
Jack rushes out onto the stage. You follow behind him, slowly.
As he's hugging Medda, Jack introduces you. "Medda, this is (y/n). We... we need a place to stay. Just busted out of the Refuge."
"My goodness! Of course you two can stay here," Medda exclaims, moving toward you.
You smile and try to thank her but cough hard instead. Concern shows in Medda's eyes.
"How long you had that cough, (y/n)?" she asks, giving you a small hug.
"A few weeks," you answer softly.
  
"Well, first thing in the morning, we're gonna go get that checked out," she declares. "Both of you are gonna be just fine."
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Jack is still holding you in his arms. It feels as good as it did the first time. His arms make you feel safe and protected. With Jack, you feel as though you could face anything.