Sue came awake suddenly, Levi probing at her with his nose. She saw Lucy standing in the door, tears on her face. She walked slowly over to Sue. "Lucy, what's wrong?" She looked at the clock and saw that it was 8am. "Where's Jack, isn't he here?"
Lucy tried to keep more tears from leaking down her face, but failed miserably. Levi walked over to her and shoved his nose into her hand. "Sue, I'm sorry….there…" She broke down, and Sue felt fear beginning to overtake her. Did something happen to him? Why was Lucy crying?
"Lucy, where's Jack?!" She said urgently, praying that her fear was irrational.
"Car accident." Lucy sobbed. "Died on his way here."
Sue felt numb; no tears, nothing. "No. It's not possible. No."
Lucy simply shook her head and walked over to sit on Sue's bed. "I'm sorry, Sue."
"No! Please, God, no! I can't lose him too! Not Jack! Damn it, I finally realized I loved him! No!" Sue yelled.
Sue woke being shaken by Lucy. "Sue, wake up. Wake up Sue. Come on, wake up."
Sue's eyes finally came into focus as she looked at Lucy, not realizing tears were staining her face. "Where's Jack? Where's my phone, I need to talk to Jack!"
"Sue, honey, he's making breakfast right now in the kitchen." Lucy said, thoroughly confused.
"I need to see him, please!" Sue said insistently, gasping in pain as she tried to lever herself out of bed, throwing her legs over the edge.
Lucy put both hands on her shoulders to prevent her from continuing to make her way to the kitchen. "Sue, stop. I'll get him. Then I want to know what's got you so shaken up."
Lucy made her way to the kitchen to get Jack, quite confused. She and Jack were sitting in the kitchen as Jack was frying off bacon, figuring they should be getting Sue up soon and Lucy on the road to work. As Lucy was getting some stuff from her room, she heard Sue talking in her sleep. After a few moments, she began to yell incoherently, and Lucy ran in to find her thrashing weakly, tears pouring down her face. It must have been some nightmare; Lucy hadn't ever seen her like this before.
Jack looked up. "I thought I heard something, is Sue alright?" He asked anxiously.
"She wants to see you. I think she had a nightmare and is really shaken up." She barely finished when Jack was walking past her, pressing the turner into her hand. "Take care of the stove please. Thank you, Luce!" Lucy shook her head and made it over to the stove with a grin on her face. "That man."
Jack swept into Sue room to find her sobbing into her hands. He walked over and knelt before her, taking her hands in his. "Hey-"
That was as much as he got out. Sue threw her arms around him and held him tightly, ignoring the protest from her ribs. "You're here. You're safe. I was afraid I lost you. My gosh, you're ok!" She broke down sobbing again, running her hands along his back and through his hair. Jack just held her gently, making soothing sounds, knowing that though she may not hear it she might just feel it.
Sue finally calmed down enough to let him go and backed away slightly, blushing a brilliant red as Jack wiped the last of the tears away from her eyes. "Hey now, what's got that pretty head of yours so bothered? I'm right here. Talk to me, Sue. Matt?"
Sue took a breath and leaned her head on his shoulder, still seeking contact with him to reassure herself. "No, not Matt. I don't dream about him anymore. I...I had a dream. Lucy walked in and told me that you died. Car accident. It was horrible Jack! I..." She looked up at him, pain in her eyes. "I don't want to lose you. I..." She snuggled into him, tucking her head under his chin and taking solace in being held by him.
When she finally let him go, he tipped her chin up and looked her in the eye. "I'm not going anywhere. I told you that already in the hospital. Okay? Like it or not, you're stuck with me." He ran his knuckles along her cheek, brushing her hair away from her eyes. Then he pulled back quickly. He was getting lost in her eyes too quickly and that could lead to...awkwardness. "Now, Lucy is going to have to get to work soon, so I'll send her back in to help you get dressed and I'll have breakfast ready for you when you come out. Deal?"
She nodded and reluctantly let him go. As he left, she thought about how his first concern was that she was crying over Matt. How was she going to tell Jack that she was over Matt? She still didn't have that figured out. She cursed quietly as she realized that she had missed a prime chance. Why can't I realize this stuff when it's going on instead of afterwards?
Lucy walked in and saw the irritated look on her face. Lucy was confused. Again. "Okay, what's wrong? Sue, you went from tears to irritated. Did Jack say something?"
Sue shook her head violently. "I had a dream that Jack died in a car accident, which is when you woke me up. Thank you, by the way. Jack thought it was about Matt, but I told him that I dreamt that he died. I missed my chance to tell him that I'm over Matt. That's why I'm irritated."
Lucy shook her head, a crooked grin sliding onto her face. "You've had a full day's worth of emotions and it's only 7:30. Sue...what if you just told him?" Sue looked at her, obviously unconvinced. Lucy shrugged. "You'll get it figured out. Come on, lets get you up so that you can eat breakfast with Jack." Lucy said the last with a dreamy tone, winking at her, enjoying that she would be able to take teasing again.
Sue blushed and rolled her eyes. It did not, however, escape Lucy's notice that Sue did hurry up more to get ready and out to Jack than normal.
"So how are you holding up now, Sue? I know that you swapped over to the cane, but are you running into any excessive soreness or strain now that your body has had an evening to register it?" Jack asked as she settled into her recliner and he took his standard location on the couch.
"Oh, nothing excessive. Obviously there's a little extra soreness in the leg and ribs, but nothing indicating an issue. Just what the doctor warned. Thanks for taking me to the doctor, by the way. I really appreciate how you are helping me with everything, Jack."
He smiled and waved it away. "I want to help you as much as I can. Are you feeling a little better than you were this morning?" He asked, his expression gentle and slightly concerned.
She smiled back at him. "Seeing you okay made my day." She took a breath and decided to plow straight ahead. "You were concerned that I was crying over Matt...You may think it's bad, or too soon, or..." She struggled to find the right words, flushing in shame. "I'm past the pain of losing him. I'm ready to move on. It's like losing a good friend, not...someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with." She didn't even look at Jack, concerned about how he must think that she has cold hearted, moving past Matt so quickly.
She was surprised to feel his finger under her chin, lifting her gaze to his eyes. "I'm glad that you aren't hurting anymore. I mean, hurting like that. Like-" He stuttered, cursing in his mind as he messed up his wording.
She giggled slightly. "I know what you mean."
"Good." He said. Then he took a breath. "And don't be ashamed, providing I read your blushing properly." His gaze dropped. "I know how it is to move past the pain. I lived it already."
"Thanks Jack." She said shyly. He looked like he was going to say more, but Levi walked over to him with his leash and nudged his hand.
"Levi, you need a walk buddy? Figures." Jack said. He winked at Sue, then took the leash and started walking to the door. Making sure he was facing away from Sue, he spoke to the dog. "I tell you what, between you and Myles, I'll never get a chance to tell Sue how I feel."
Jack made his way back in with Levi padding over to Sue, interrupting her reading. "Hey there Levi. You bring Jack back with you, or did he get lost." She looked up at him and winked.
"Some tracking dog." Jack said. "Couldn't track a squirrel if his life depended on it. Honestly, it ran right under his nose, ran up a tree, jumped off to bounce off his snout, and ran back up the tree. It was toying with him, and he couldn't realize where it went."
Sue laughed. "Poor Levi. The terrible squirrel teased you." She ruffled Levi's fur as he put his head in her lap.
"So what are you reading?" Jack asked. "You finished off your last book before I left yesterday."
Sue blushed. "It's the Silmarillion, as geeky as that is to say. I haven't read it before and you spoke so highly of it..."
Jack grinned broadly. "You are a jewel among women, fairest Sue."
Sue turned even redder. "You're a shameless flatterer Jack; I'm far from fairest. I've got a crooked nose now, with a couple of scars on my face, and a leg in a reinforced boot."
"You sell yourself short, Sue." Jack said, the teasing tone and look absent. "There's more to being fair than external beauty, though you are strikingly beautiful." He hesitated.
"Sue-" His phone rang. "Hudson."
"Jack, this is Myles." Myles said. Seriously?! Jack thought.
Irritation surged through Jack. "What Myles? What do you want?"
Myles looked at his phone. Not like Jack to be upset when he was with Sue. "Is everything ok, Jack?"
Jack felt like throwing his phone across the room, but he refrained. "Yes. What's wrong Myles? You don't normally call to be sociable."
"Actually, I was calling to see if you and Sue would like to join us for dinner tonight." Jack felt a little less irritated.
Dinner tonight with the gang? Jack signed. Sue smiled. That sounds like fun. Where and when?
"Sounds good to us. Where and when?" Jack asked.
"Luigi's. You two able to be ready by 6?" Myles returned.
"I reckon so." Jack said. "See you then. Thanks for asking, Myles."
"Not a problem Jack." Myles said. "See you later. Bye." He hung up.
Jack turned back to Sue. "Luigi's at 6. How's that suit your fancy?"
Sue grinned. "Sounds wonderful." She paused, remembering that Jack was getting ready to say something before Myles had called. "Jack, what were you saying before Myles called? You seemed irritated to be interrupted. More than usual for you."
Jack gave a rueful grin. "Yeah...well, Myles has that effect on us all at times. Excepting your patient self."
"Patient in more than one way." Sue said with a giggle.
Jack laughed, then grew serious again. "Sue, what I was going to say was-"
A key turning in the lock interrupted him, and he looked to see Lucy walking back in. She saw a look of exceptional irritation flash over Jack's face before he grinned and started laughing, running his hand over his face. "Levi, Myles, and now you, Luce." Jack said as he turned away from Sue to face her. "What can I do for you?"
Lucy felt that she just couldn't understand these two today; both were confusing the heck out of her. "I forgot my lunch and didn't have cash on me. I am not asking Myles for cash again today, and I already owe Bobby, Tara, and D, so I'm not going deeper in debt. Did I interrupt something?" Lucy said the last as she was walking away from Sue.
Jack walked into the kitchen with Lucy. "Only what I started the day I found out Sue wasn't leaving us to go to New York."
Lucy stopped shuffling through the fridge. "Sorry Jack..."
"It's ok. You're not the first. Levi did, then Myles called, then you walked in. Fourth times the charm? Here, try this. You haven't tried my deer parmesan. It's like chicken parmesan, except with deer. Novel, I know."
Lucy laughed. "Thanks Jack. Well, I'm off to work. Good luck."
Sue looked up from her book to wave goodbye again to Lucy, then again when Jack touched her hand. "Yes Jack?"
"Before I get interrupted for the fourth time, I want to finish what I started to say." Jack said, his eyes were filled with...something. Sue couldn't read what emotion it was, but there was a lot of it there.
"Sue, I realized...I made a huge mistake. I made a huge mistake when I let you go and never told you." Sue began to breathe a little faster. Is this it? She thought.
Jack took a deep breath. He couldn't remember being more nervous, not even on his first raid. "Sue, I realized that I don't want to live my life without you. I was a fool for not saying it earlier, before you even considered leaving for New York. I've fallen in love with you. I want to go through life with you by my side. This span of time caring for you and spending the days with you only reinforces it. I love you, Sue." When Sue just looked at him, tears in her eyes, sudden doubt began to assail him. Did I read it wrong? Was mom wrong?
He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "I'm sorry." He swallowed hard. "I misread...forgive me." He began to rise only to have his hand grabbed tightly.
"Don't you dare leave me, Jackson. I've waited years to hear you say you love me." He turned back to see a massive smile on her face even as tears ran down her cheeks. She slowly rose to her feet, Jack only able to look at her. She turned to him and laced her arms around his neck, noting that his breath caught as she did so. "And I know now that you've waited too. So let me make this clear, Hudson." She leaned close to him. "I love you too, Jack."
She kissed him gently, allowing him time to overcome his shock before she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Oh, my, gosh. Was all he could think. He returned it with vigor, caressing her back and sides gently. This was so much better than Callahan and Merced. A thousand times. Because she loved him. It wasn't just a cover, but it was real. When she finally pulled back from him, she noted that there were tears in his eyes. He opened his mouth a few times before he finally closed it and leaned his forehead on hers. "I love you, Jack. Thank you for putting your heart on the line. I love you, I love you, I love you." She kissed him again, then nuzzled his neck.
Jack pulled back far enough for her to read his lips. "I love you too. You have no idea how happy I am to finally have that off of my chest. And I finally have you! Forgive me for not spinning you around, but-"
"But my ribs and leg thank you. There will be other times." She said with a smile. "I can't believe it. I'm finally dating Jack Hudson." She said with a laugh. Suddenly, her face became concerned. "Jack. What about work?"
Jack sighed. He had hoped to enjoy the euphoric feeling just a little longer, but it seemed Sue had other plans. "Come on, let's get you settled down and we can talk."
He began helping her to the chair, but she shook her head. "I want to sit with you, so let's sit on the couch."
Jack settled next to Sue and she snuggled gently against him. "Sue, I know what the rules at work are. I know also that you have your dream job, and our group is absolutely amazing with you in it. I hope to be able to get D to get an exception. If not...I will ask for a transfer."
She sat up abruptly and winced. "No, Jack-"
"Sue. Really. Let me give you that gift." He also had in mind, though he daren't tell her, that their group was possibly the most welcome and open of the groups. Others may not trust her since she was deaf. And he wouldn't have her deal with that.
Sue sighed. "I don't like it."
Jack nodded. "Neither do I. But I'll give it up for you."
Sue smiled slightly. "I don't deserve you."
Jack's eyebrows went up. "I think the opposite is true. Now before we get too concerned, let's talk to D and let him work his magic. He's managed to get us out of more scrapes than I care to admit of late. He'll do everything he can." He blew out a breath. "So, what do you want to do today?"
One more, I believe. Maybe one more with an epilogue. We shall see. Thanks for reading!
