She could not believe what happened.

Staring down at the still body lying under her feet, she was mesmerized by the unnaturally peaceful face, and the glamorous curly hair now matted with blood and dirt.

She realized, with growing dread, that he was not moving, and mentally kicked herself. Of course he was not moving! He was dead.

A blast of the night's cold air whizzed by her, and she felt a chill in her bones unmatched by any she had experienced before.

Then she looked at his face again, and almost squeaked.  Bright set of eyes were looking directly back at her.  She inhaled sharply before pulling herself out of her stupor and crouching down beside the stranger – not stranger- her husband, she reminded herself as she fell to her knees, her high heels and tight skirt making it a tougher task than she expected.

"You're not dead?" well, she had to be sure.

He blinked at her, confused. Then realization finally hit him and he grunted audibly.

She met his eyes – they were so deep, so pain-filled that she almost wished she could take his pain away – almost.

"My cell-phone is dead," she informed him quickly, "I have to go look for help."

She started to rise only to have his hand reach out weakly and stop her.  "No," he hissed, "Don't. Not safe."

"You need help," she insisted.

"No." and he shut his eyes as another wave of agony hit him.

Before she could mutter another word, an angry cry from behind froze the blood in her veins.  She whirled around, and there he was, her giant and currently very angry, brother in law.

His strong hands grabbed her and pushed her roughly away, tossing her aside like a useless soda can.

She stared as the man gathered his brother in his arms, raw fear masking his face. Then she shivered at the colorful choice of words he muttered upon inspecting his brother's wound.

"I'll kill him I swear!"

"It was Jax," her husband revealed through clenched teeth.

"Don't talk, okay? I'll take care of it."

She jumped as someone's hand touched her shoulder. "Get in the car, madam."

She blinked, just realizing that others had shown up.  After taking a much needed breath, she allowed the man to help her back to her feet, and after casting a worried glance toward her injured husband's direction, she let herself be steered toward the waiting car.

0O0O0O0O0O0O0

It was way past midnight, when they finally returned to the Jackson's mansion, her new home.

The minute she stepped into the house, rough hands dug painfully into her arms and whirled her around.  She winced, and tears threatened to fall as she stared into her brother-in-law's dangerous eyes.

"I find out you have anything to do with this, and I'll kill you.  I'll kill you with my bare hands, you hear me?!"

"Edmond! Stop it!" Paula, her sister-in-law, pushed Edmond away and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Of course she has nothing to do with this!"

Edmond glared at her dangerously before storming outside once again.

"Please forgive him. He's just worried about Andrew. He's very protective of him, you know," Paula smiled kindly, then turned around, as of looking for someone. "Martha!!"

"Yes Miss Paula?" the old maid showed up instantly.

"Take Lydia to her room."

"Right away, Miss."

"You look so tired," Paula noted with a frown, "You need to rest, dear." Then after a slight hesitation, she regarded Lydia with sad eyes. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this in your wedding day. First you get forced into this marriage, and now... this! I bet you already hate all of us."

Lydia shook her head, "I just don't under-"

"Shhh," Paula cut her off with a wave of her hand, "We'll get plenty of time to talk tomorrow.  What you need now is rest, okay sweetie?"

Lydia was about to object, but then changed her mind. She nodded and followed Martha up the stairs and into her new room.