Author's Note: Hey, sorry that all the symbols were in the text. I've got ride of them now.
Chapter One
Set some time after the Dark Signers.
Everything was going well in New Domino city. Yusei, Crow and Jack were living together, racing together and dueling together. Both Yusei and Crow had jobs, but Jack didn't and Crow never got off his back about it.
"I'll show you!" Jack snapped one morning at Crow.
Yusei was stood hopelessly watching again as Crow and Jack had it out again.
"I'll get a job no sweat and it'll be ten times better than the stupid job you work!" Jack said.
"Then prove it!" Crow snapped back. "Go get a job and don't come back till you can pay your half of the rent."
"I won't!" Jack snapped and left.
"Jack, wait-" Yusei said.
"Let him go." Crow said.
Yusei and Crow began to talk about Jack and his options once Jack was leaving. That morning, Jack had visited three different places and been fired within the hour. By lunch time Jack was annoyed and frustrated. He sat outside the cafe just opposite the house he shared with Crow and Yusei. That nervous waitress brought out his Blue Eyes Tea as always and then hurried back inside.
Jack calmed down once he took a sip of his tea and just enjoyed the silence. By the time he was almost finished with his tea though a good fifteen minutes later a thought came to Jack.
I wonder where Carly is? She normally comes around this time with some new nonsense gibberish about local news. Jack then took a moment to think about what Carly had done for him and in past and how she had helped him get a few jobs before. Maybe having Carly visit him like usual wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Jack pulled out his mobile and checked to see if he had any missed calls off Carly or any messages saying she wasn't turning up today. There was none.
When Jack stopped to think about Carly he remembered that he actually hadn't seen Carly for the past three days. That was extremely odd now that he thought about it. He usually saw Carly every day. Why hadn't he seen her.
Deciding he'd risk it, Jack called Carly. When she didn't pick up the phone Jack felt the worry that he'd had a good while ago when he figured out that he hadn't seen Carly in three days surface. His mind flickered back to the Dark Signers incident.
With that thought, Jack got on his bike and drove off. This was just as Crow and Yusei were approaching him, but Jack had been in such a one set mind that he didn't even realize they were there.
Xxxxx
Jack parked outside of Carly's apartment finding her disgusting yellow car still parked outside. He figured she must have been inside if her car was still there. Jack marched up the steps to her door and began banging on it. After a few bangs and no reply, Jack banged on the door again and shouted "Carly, are you in there?"
When it had been a good few minutes, Jack tried turning the door knob and found that it was open. He let himself in and walked into Carly's apartment. The place looked a mess and quiet.
Then Jack turned his head to see Carly slowly appear at her bedroom door. She looked terrible. She was still in her night clothes, with her black hair a mess and she didn't have her glasses on. She looked thinner than usual, as if she'd lost weight. She looked very pale and was swaying from side to side, it looked like she was barely able to walk and keep her balance. Carly was taking deep breaths as if she was struggling to breath and her eyes were downcast. They had bags underneath them and it looked as if she was struggling to see and focus on things.
Carly finally looked up and saw Jack standing in her living room.
"My God Carly, what happened to you?" He asked.
It took time for Carly's eyes to focus and her to make out the tall blonde figure in her living room. "Jack?" Carly asked, gasping her words. After saying Jack's name the world began to fade and the room began to spin. Carly lost her balance and whatever strength she'd had to pull herself out of bed.
Jack managed to move quick enough to break her fall and have her land on him instead of the floor. "Hey Carly, what's the matter with you?" Jack asked.
When Jack got no answer, but instead heard Carly panting for breath, he moved her about, lifting her up into his arms and took her back into her bedroom. "Idiot, if your ill you should have stayed in bed." Jack said, placing Carly back into her bed and pulling her blankets back over her.
Carly's eyes opened and closed as she tried to focus on him. "Jack." She said again. Then she realized where she was and what a mess she was. Carly covered her face with her hands and turned to hide her face in her pillows as she said. "Oh no, I don't want you to see me like this."
"Don't be stupid." Jack said catching her before she could hide her face in her pillows. Jack pulled one of her hands away from her face, but as he did, he could feel the heat radiating off her. Jack's eyes widened in surprise and he put his hand to Carly's fore head, feeling her temperature. "My god, your burning up Carly. Why the hell did you get out of bed?" Jack snapped at her.
Carly said nothing. She couldn't even if she wanted to. Carly just felt so ill and so much pain that she didn't want to argue with Jack.
Jack stood up from sitting on the side of Carly's bed and entered her kitchen. Jack was going to get Carly a wet towel for her head to try and cool her fever when he noticed Carly's phone ringing. Jack moved to Carly's desk, seeing it a mess and covered with paperwork. He took Carly's phone and answered it.
"FINALLY!" The other voice on the end of the phone said. "Carmine, you better have a very good explanation as to why I have three missing reports from my desk! Do you hear me? Are you there? Answer me Carmine!" The voice snapped.
Jack hated this man as soon as he opened his mouth. Who the hell did he think he was talking to the Jack Atlas like that?
"This isn't Carly, this is Jack Atlas." Jack said.
There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Jack Atlas?" The other voice said, sounding surprised. "I, well, it's an honor to be on the phone with you. Tell me, how's life for you now? A good few months now since you lost your title and Director Goodwin disappeared. Tell me, what are you doing with yourself now?"
"I'm not here to do an interview!" Jack snapped down the phone disguised at this man. "Look, your Carly's boss, right? Well Carly is currently ill and can't come to the phone right now. And when she's well again, then you'll have your stupid report on your desk, understood?" Jack hung up the phone before he could hear the other man's reply.
As he did Jack saw that Carly had over twenty missed calls from her boss and other people. Even his name popped up on her missed calls. Jack left Carly's phone on her desk and walked back into her bedroom.
He found Carly sat up in her bed with her feet on the floor. When he entered, Carly looked up at him and asked "Who was that?"
"Never you mind. Now get back in that bed and lie down, idiot. You're not well are you." Jack demanded Carly.
Carly seemed confused and conflicted. She touched her head as if to try and figure out what it was she was thinking. Jack got impatient and pushed Carly's shoulder to make her lie down.
"Who was you talking to?" Carly tried asking again.
She gasped from the shock of the cold towel Jack placed on her head, but soon she began to sigh with relief.
"It was just your boss. I told him your ill and will get back to work when your better." Jack said, standing up straight and not thinking too much about what effect his words had on Carly.
"What?" Carly said. She began to struggle to get back up, but Jack began pushing her down and telling her to stop, but Carly talked over him saying "I've got to get that story finished. I've got to-" She was interrupted by a huge coughing fit. Jack felt all his muscles go on edge as Carly clutched over coughing. It sounded like she was chocking and couldn't breath. He hit her hard on the back to try and help her, but it didn't. In fact, he just saw tears come to her eyes which stunned Jack into stillness. Carly's coughing fit subsided, but there were still tears running down her checks. Jack was sure he hadn't hit her that hard. Was she crying because she had been choking? Or because she was in that much pain? What was wrong with her?
Jack watched as Carly just fell back into another sleep, her breathing uneven sucks of air and shaky exhales. Jack had only ever felt this still, just shaky, this scared about Carly one other time and that was when he was holding her in his arms as she was dieing. The same fear began to dawn on Jack. Was Carly dieing? He couldn't stand by and watch her helplessly fade away again. Not this time.
Jack stood up straight and hurried and pulled out his phone. He dialed the emergency services, told them the situation and Carly's address. They told Jack they were sending a doctor.
Xxxxx
Fifteen minutes later, Jack had almost made a hole in the floor from the amount he had been pasting Carly's apartment. He'd tried making himself a cup of tea but his hands were too shaky. He was even tempted to pick Carly up and take her to the hospital himself, but she cried out in pain when he tried to move her. He had no idea what to do or how to help her. All he could do was wait for the doctor to arrive.
When someone knocked on Carly's front door, he hoped it to find the doctor.
"What took you so long? She's through there." Jack said, snapping at the doctor and taking him into Carly's room.
The doctor got to work, pulling out things from his bag, checking Carly's temperature and all sorts. He asked Jack a few questions like how long she had been sick and what symptoms she had been showing. When Jack didn't know most of the answers, the doctor looked disappointed with him.
"Well, what's wrong with her?" Jack snapped.
"Please, calm down and let me have a moment to analyse her." The doctor said.
Jack was quiet from then on and waited for the doctor to finish all his tests.
It seemed to Jack like an eternity till the doctor rose from Carly's bedside and calm towards him "Well?" Jack asked impatiently.
"It seems she has a bad case of pneumonia." The doctor said.
"Pneumonia?" Jack repeated. "You mean she isn't going to die?"
"No, no. Not with the right treatment. But I must say Mr Carmine, letting your wife get this ill in such a short time is not a good thing!" The doctor said, looking annoyed and disappointed with Jack.
"What? I'm not-" Jack tried to say.
"I'm sure you never meant for things to get this serious, but they are. Now," The doctor said, getting out his little book from his bag and writing in it. "I am going to prescribe your wife a couple of antibiotic to get rid of her illness. You should also give her pain killers to get rid of her pain. She needs plenty of rest and fluids and try to keep her as stress free as you can. Run her a bath if you can, a cool one to help her get rid of her temperature. The fluids will help bring her temperature down as well. Also, I advise changing the bed sheets and keeping everything as clean as you can. Also feed her chicken soup. She defiantly needs to eat more. It looks as if she's not been eating and lost weight. If her symptoms don't change and she coughs up mucus or blood than take her straight to a hospital as she may have bronchitis."
Jack didn't have anything to say to the doctor. He wasn't sure what to say. The doctor gave Jack the prescription. Jack looked from the prescription, and back to Carly.
The doctor placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. "She is going to be fine Mr Carmine. The pneumonia isn't too bad, but it does need to be treated. Follow my instructions and your wife should be fine within the week."
Jack nodded and let the doctor see himself out.
Jack moved closer to the edge of Carly's bed, seeing her sleeping soundly now. It seems the wet towel on her head had helped soothed her a lot and sent her off into a deep sleep.
"What have you done to yourself Carly?" Jack asked.