Across Broken Glass
Chapter One: A Beautiful Tragedy
He woke to the most beautiful sight that he had ever laid his eyes on. There she was, in all her beauty, laying next to him the sheets wrapped tightly around her, long black hair messily scattered around her face. A small smile sat peacefully on her face as she soundly slept. He must have stared for hours until she finally woke.
She took in her surroundings and whom she was with and her smile grew, and for a moment she had never felt happier. Then, like a whisper it was gone. She turned to him, his expression grave and full of knowing, she opened her mouth to speak but he beat her to it.
"I know" was all he needed to say.
What more was there anyway? She had promised Rhys through holy matrimony that she would spend the rest of her life with him, by his side forever, and until death would they part.
In spite of this she knew she loved Jack terribly; so much it ached to be apart from him. He wasn't any different, he physically yearned for her, each day seeing her at work was a struggle, a struggle not to hold her in his arms and whisper sweet nothings into her ear, but they had promised they wouldn't. That would make it harder than it already was.
Yes, Jack and Gwen loved one another, but she could never be with him. For that was how it was meant to be and that's exactly how it was. He made certain of it.
The rain poured down in buckets, the cool air nipping at his jacket, blowing it softly around his body. His jaw set as his large blue eyes once full of life, now lifelessly looked ahead at the hospital that lay in front of him.
He was walking slowly considering what might have happened, but yet he couldn't force himself to move any faster. For moving faster would bring him closer to reality, and reality was something he was not ready to face.
His feet however brought him closer to the hospital with each step, and finally, after a few minutes the clear doors slid open and a powerful light left the morbid building. He stepped into the entrance and continued walking straight.
Past the woman at the desk organizing stacks of paperwork, past the countless doctors and nurses hurrying around him, and past the dozens upon dozens of patient rooms, until he reached his destination.
It was the last door on the left of the corridor, room 32A, his heart quickened and his muscles tensed. Pausing a moment outside the door he closed his eyes briefly, seconds passed. Those seconds soon became minutes, until finally he could wait no longer.
He reached out and gripped the silver handle, and in one swift move he was in the vibrantly lit room.
Although the room was bright, pain, sorrow and regret hung heavily. Jack felt suffocated and oddly at home. All these terrible emotions were something that he had grown accustom to, and had quickly become part of his life.
Ahead of him he could see a large green curtain sectioning off most of the room, the edge of a hospital bed slightly poking out. He stopped mid-stride as the sounds of sobs reached his ears.
A woman was crying, loud and desperate sobs that ached with despair. Two other sounds also reached his ears one he clearly recognized as two people talking, one seemed to be angry; the other seemed to be at a loss.
The last sound was unfamiliar to him.
A hand suddenly landed on his left shoulder, he jumped slightly and turned around. There before him stood a nurse, a grim expression on her face, her brown eyes full of pity.
"I'm sorry," she told him softly.
Briefly making eye contact before she turned away and headed over to the curtain.
His heart skipped a beat, he was confused and worried, something was wrong. He could feel it.
Jack entered the boardroom, the room was empty save for Ianto who sat quietly, his eyes staring into the distance. Ianto's expression was heartbreaking. He seemed to be undergoing an inner battle with himself, his eyes were red and puffy and his cheeks tear stained.
"What happened?" He asked his Ianto, his own voice almost pleading the younger man to answer him.
"You need to go to the hospital. Rhys phoned." He finally replied after a few moments, his voice choked with sobs as he finally gave in and let the tears roll freely down his pale face.
Grabbing his jacket, which lay across the table waiting for him, he ran out of the boardroom and out of the hub; toward the hospital where the answers to his questions lay.
He hadn't realized his eyes were closed until he heard the curtain being pulled back and loud thunderous footsteps approaching him. He opened his eyes reluctantly as the footsteps finally reached him. He knew what was coming next, he expected it, and he was ready for it.
Rhys' fist was harder than he expected, he felt his nose cracking beneath the pressure, blood flowing freely, and his eyes closing once more but for only a few seconds as a wave of pain registered.
He tried to speak, to say something, anything, but what could he say? So he just closed his mouth and let Rhys take another swing.
He would let him; after all it was his fault, he had brought Gwen to Torchwood so long ago ruining her life. Now here she was in the hospital, probably injured and on life support or something, because he had told her that he loved her and that she would have to stay with Rhys.
It had worked out at first, she would go home to Rhys every night and the next morning she would come into work go about her day and then leave. Then, exactly twenty-five days later she walked into his office.
Tears running streams down her face. It broke his heart to see her like that but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't go up to her and enclose her into a heartwarming hug. That would only make things harder.
That day, just over eight months ago, was the day that Gwen Williams had walked out of his life; the last day that he had seen her; the day she had quit.
Suddenly an eruption of tears brought him back to the hospital room, Rhys had stopped punching him and now stood in front of him tears streaming down his face.
"Its all your fault Harkness! I bloody hate you! You know that? I hate you!" Rhys screamed into his face.
"You were always the one she ran to, always the one whose name was the last on her lips, the one she cried out for during her sleep. Do you have any idea what it was like to see her smile at me, and to know that she was only thinking of you," he continued as his face became red and tear-stained.
"What happened?" Jack managed to croak out finally.
Rhys' reaction surprised him, instead of more tears or an explanation all he received was a bitterly sarcastic laugh.
"As if you don't know" he replied with venom before he pushed past Jack and stormed out of the room.
It was then he saw, the curtain was moved back. Now he had a clear view of the other side of the room. There was large hospital bed occupying most of the space, a woman who he recognized to be Mrs. Cooper sat beside the bed, her face buried in her hands as she sobbed.
Next to her stood Mr. Cooper who couldn't bring himself to look at the hospital bed where his daughter lay. Instead he stared at his wife hopelessly.
In the far corner, holding a tight bundle stood the nurse who had offered him condolence as he entered the room.
His feet brought him across the room in three strides. Upon hearing the faint sound of his steps Mrs. Cooper tore her face from her hands and looked up at Jack. As she stared directly into his cold blue eyes, she seemed to sob harder.
Mr. Cooper met Jack's eyes next and gave him a sad defeated look before he turned his gaze away and stared at the bed.
Jack's eyes involuntarily followed his gaze. He was certain that his heart must have stopped for a full thirty seconds. For there, lying cold, pale, and ever so beautifully was Gwen. Her eyes closed peacefully at rest.
He didn't remember his knees colliding with the floor beneath him, he didn't remember grabbing Gwen's distant and lifeless hand. Nor did he realize he was crying until long after Mr. and Mrs. Cooper had left the room, leaving him alone with the woman he loved and ached for.
Memories of the past swept over him. The first time they had met, that cold raining night, the first time he had held her hand and led her away, her second day when she had pulled him into that quick and unexpected kiss. How stunned he had been and yet the joy that he had felt had been so unexplainable that he had sat there frozen, his hands tracing his lips, remembering her taste. More tears seem to fall as everything hit him at once. The first time he had told her that he loved her, the smile on her face, her eyes wide with shock and happiness, the first time…
A familiar hand placed itself on his left shoulder once more, tearing him from his painful memories back to reality.
"Sir" the nurse spoke softly. "Sir, please stand up"
Jack did so, still clutching Gwen's hand his tear-filled eyes never leaving her face.
"You need to let go of her hand"
Jack looked up at the pale ceiling as the tears rolled off of his cheeks and fell to the spotless hospital floor beneath him.
"Why?" he whispered.
The nurse gave a soft sigh before she answered.
"Because if you don't you won't be able to hold your daughter."
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the story. I hope I captured the right emotions to set the plot accurately. Please review and constructive criticism is always welcome. More soon.