Title: Divine Intervention
Rating: T
Summary: (To her, he's invisible. But to him, she's all that he can see.) A montage of the years that passed after Jack's death. Companion piece to "Mend My Shattered Soul" and "My Favorite Mistake".
Author's Note: Companion piece to "Mend My Shattered Soul" and "My Favorite Mistake". This time it is told through Jack's eyes and set after he gets shot and dies. It follows the life of Haley …and some other people. Characters not yet met from "Mend My Shattered Soul" are introduced in this story, and will be introduced in the re-write of "Mend My Shattered Soul". The part in italics is Jack. I suggest that you listen to Taking Back Sunday's "Divine Intervention"; it goes great with the story. After ever part in italics it's a new "scene".
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Please don't sue; I don't have the time to deal with any of that legal stuff.
Divine Intervention
By: RedHot911
Death. A mystery, which for me is no longer mysterious. All my life I've pondered the meaning of life, and just when things were getting good, everything was taken away from me. In a split second, I went from having everything I could ever want, to having nothing at all. And now, as I hover above the living, breathing world, I watch those who still remain close to my heart.
Haley knelt down beside the cold tombstone, placing a small bouquet of flowers in front of it. Her slightly swollen fingers traced the engravement and she forced a small smile on her face. "I know you hated to see me cry…" She whispered in a raspy voice. She quickly cleared it and bit her bottom lip; soon remembering that he hated that too. Sighing she said, "Oh, Jack…I love you. I wish there was some way that you could be with me now." Haley looked down at her rounded stomach and gently, lovingly stroked it. "I wish you could be here with us."
She jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She sighed and placed hers on top of it.
"C'mon Hales, let's go."
Her brown eyes glistened with the tears she had been holding back as she looked up at Ryan Chase; Jack's best friend from high school. She glanced back at the tombstone before nodding and standing. Ryan grabbed her arm and pulled her up and she muttered a mere "Thank you," before waddling towards the car.
The short three miles back to her house seemed to go on for an eternity as the silence expanded and made the stiff air even stiffer, filling the car with an uncomfortable aura. Finally, shattering the painful silence, Ryan spoke.
"You know Hales; Jack would want you to be happy. By allowing yourself to feel something, even the tiniest ounce of happiness, you're putting him at ease." He turned his head, his shaggy blonde hair momentarily falling in his face as his zealous blue eyes met her vigilant brown. "He would want you to move on. I know, it's been a while since the shooting—"
"Seven months," Haley quickly added in. "It's been seven months since…the accident."
Ryan paused as he glanced over at Haley who was diligently watching the scenery pass by. "I hate seeing you like this. You're one of the most amazing women I've ever met, and I hate seeing you so---"
"Unhappy?" Haley chuckled in a sarcastic manner. "Jack was right; you were never good with words."
Ryan was right. It killed me to see Haley so unhappy. But, truth be told, I'd rather see her miserable and alone…then happy and in love.
"Congratulations. It's a girl!" The doctor said enthusiastically as he placed the baby on Haley's chest.
Haley nodded as she closed her eyes. "That's great…" She said as everything around her soon became black.
When she finally woke up, her room was different and filled with balloons and flowers.
"Mornin' sunshine! Congrats on the kid"
Haley smiled as she rubbed her eyes. She recognized the voice; it was her best friend Cadence Harper said as she pulled her long hair into a ponytail. "You're back!" Haley exclaimed as she stretched. "How was everything at home?"
Cadence shrugged. "I saw the family; saw old friends…nothing exciting really."
Haley nodded. "Right."
"So," Cadence began as she walked over to the open crib located on the far side of Haley's hospital bed. "I don't believe you two have formally met…" Cadence said as she scoped the baby out of the crib and gingerly carried it over to Haley before placing it in her arms.
Haley gasped and stared lovingly down at the creature in front of her. Her thin fingers gently caressed her daughters light brown hair and she tiredly shifted as Haley ran her finger down her rosy cheek.
"She's beautiful." Cadence said as she sat on the edge of the hospital bed. "What are you gonna name her?"
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet." Haley whispered as Cadence laughed.
"Let's not go all geek on me now Hales," she chuckled as Haley rolled her eyes and admired her best mistake yet.
Time. There's an infinite amount, yet most people don't have enough of it. Haley and I didn't have enough; my death was not expected, and neither was her pregnancy. I now hold an infinite amount of time and at this moment, gazing down at my wife and daughter, I hold an infinite amount of faith; Faith that one day I will see Haley again, faith that my daughter will grow up to be a strong woman who unlike her mother can carry a tune, and faith that Haley will rise above her misery and open up her heart to the one person that truly needs all the love that Haley can give.
"This is it?"
"Evelyn Rose," Haley snapped as she bent down to her daughter's level. "Please…" Haley spoke softly as she placed a finger up to her lips.
Evelyn did the same adding a quiet "Shhh" to it before sitting next to the gravestone and wrapping her tiny arms around it. She closed her blue eyes and placed on kiss on the cold stone. "Hi Daddy," she murmured as Haley placed a rose on the top of the frozen soil.
And at that moment the snow began to fall steadily, and Haley looked up into the gray sky and smiled. She closed her eyes, opened her arms, and threw her head back. Slowly spinning, she attempted to embrace the crisp breeze that engulfed her slim frame. "Hey there stranger…"
Evelyn giggled as she stood and pulled on her mother's jacket. Tilting her head to the side, attempting to get eye contact, she asked, "What are you doing Mommy?"
Haley swooped Evelyn into her arms and twirled her around. "Did you feel that breeze?" Haley asked as Evelyn let out a screech of excitement and nodded her head gleefully. "Well," Haley said as the twirling came to a halt, and she and Evelyn looked up. "I have a feeling that was your Daddy."
Evelyn gasped, but suddenly remembered that the breeze had come and gone. "Will I ever feel him again Mommy?"
Before Haley could answered another breeze swept through the land that gently swept through them. Evelyn smiled and nuzzled her head in the crook of her mother's neck. "You'll feel him many times through your like Evie. He's like the wind; you can't see it, but you can feel it."