Nurse Jack

After her relaxing bath, Elizabeth was sleepy. Jack made sure to dry her off, then he went to get the cough medicine the doctor had left. It tasted terrible, but she managed to swallow all of it. Jack then took her by the hand and walked her to bed. Once she had slid between the sheets, he tucked her in. Her eyes were already closing but she managed a weak thank you and I love you to him. He watched her sleep for a few minutes, thankful they knew what was wrong with her but still worried about her. He hated to see her miserable like this.

He was about to join her in bed when he heard a knock at the front door. He quickly left the bedroom to answer it before the knocking woke up Elizabeth. He opened the door to find Abigail. He stepped aside to let her in.

"Hi Jack." She said. "I came by to see how Elizabeth is feeling. Is she having any trouble with morning sickness?"

"Actually, no she hasn't. However, she is sick. She has bronchitis and a sinus infection."

Abigail gasped and noticed the worried look on Jack's face. "Oh, Jack! She must be feeling horrible."

"Yes she is. She is sleeping right now. Dr. Matthews gave her a cough medicine that makes people drowsy. Normally he would have said for her to take it just at night but given what she has been through the last week, he said it would be good for her to take it more often so she could rest."

"That's good. And I know you will doing anything you can to help her feel better." She smiled, thinking how happy she was that her friend had such a wonderful man as a husband. "I won't stay as I can tell you are tired too. I will be back later with a big pot of chicken soup for her and something for you for your dinner." She turned to open the door to leave.

"Thank you, Abigail. You are a great friend and we both appreciate you more than you know." Abigail gave him one last smile and shut the door.

Jack returned to the bedroom and crawled back into bed. Abigail was right that he hadn't gotten much rest. He needed to get some sleep so he didn't get sick too. He was startled when a soft, familiar voice asked. "Who was at the door, Jack?"

"You scared me, Sweetheart. I thought you were asleep. That was Abigail, checking on you."

"She is a great friend, isn't she?"

"She is. She is going home to make you chicken soup and will be back later." He settled down in bed and took her in his arms. "Now you need to get some sleep. You need to rest if you are going to get better."

"I know. I dosed for a minute or two then I heard you talking. I don't know why I can't sleep yet."

"If I gave you a back massage would that help you go to sleep?"

"I don't know but I know it would help me relax and rest." She flipped over onto her other side so he could get at her back. She moaned at the touch of his hands rubbing her back. "Oh, Jack! That feels so good! Thank you!"

"Anything for you, Sweetheart. I will do anything to help you get some rest. I suppose it will be fine if you just lie in bed and rest. We can cuddle after I finish your massage."

"I would love that, because you need some rest too."

"We will rest together." He leaned down to run a trail of kisses on her neck.

Elizabeth happily sighed, then rolled over to her other side so she was facing Jack. "Thank you for the massage, My Love. I needed it. My back has been hurting from sleeping up against the wall at the school house. I am ready to just be held in your arms and hopefully fall asleep."

"I'm glad I am making you feel better. Maybe later if you want another bath, I can join you again and massage your back with the warm water."

"Hmmmm. That sounds like heaven." She lifted her head slightly to kiss his cheek. "You take such good care of me."

"I wouldn't do anything else. I love you, so much. Your happiness and wellbeing are my number one priority. Especially now since you are having our baby, a baby made from the love we have for each other."

Elizabeth wiped a tear from her eyes. "Oh, Jack! That was so beautiful." She snuggled deeper in his embrace. "I love you, too." She murmured as she closed her eyes. Within minutes, she had dozed off.

Jack quickly realized she had fallen asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief. He desperately wanted her to get some much needed rest. She needed her body to get well so it could properly nourish the growing life inside of her. He placed his hand on her abdomen, attempting in his own way to bond with his unborn child. He couldn't wait to hold their baby in his arms. He drifted off to sleep thinking how much he would love to have a little girl with her mother's eyes and dark curly hair.

A few hours later, Elizabeth woke up feeling a tickle in her throat. She carefully moved Jack's arm from around her so she could go to the kitchen and make a cup of tea and have something to eat. She was feeling hungry. However, as she tried to get out of bed, she felt dizzy and fell back, landing on Jack.

Jack yelped when Elizabeth landed on him. "Elizabeth? What's wrong?" He helped her get settled back on the bed.

"I'm sorry I startled you. I woke up with a tickle in my throat and my stomach was growling. I wanted to get some tea and something to eat. When I got up, I felt dizzy and that's when I fell on you." She felt tears forming in her eyes and lowered her head into her hands. She hated feeling like she couldn't take care of herself.

Jack noticed she wasn't looking at him. He put his hand under her chin and gently lifted her face so he could see it. He noticed the tears and knew instantly why she was crying. One of the reasons he fell in love with her was her independence. He knew how much it was bothering her to have to rely on him to take care of her. He put his arms around her and let her cry it out. "Sweetheart, there is nothing wrong with letting me take care of you right now. You are still the caring considerate independent woman I fell in love with."

Elizabeth pulled away from him, wiped her eyes and smiled at him. "I know. It's going to take me some time to get used to having you help me now that I am expecting, not to mention being sick right now."

"How about I go make you your tea and snack, then bring it in here?"

"Yes, please."

Jack started to help her get settled back in bed when they heard a knock at the door. "That must be Abigail with the soup she was going to make."

"I hope so. Soup sounds really good right now."

Jack leaned over to kiss her, then went to answer the door. Sure enough, their visitor was Abigail, along with Frank, who was helping her with the food she had brought over. Jack took the pot of soup from Abigail and welcomed them into the house. Once in the kitchen, Jack was amazed at all the food she had brought over.

"Thank you for all the food; I am not sure we can finish it all though." Jack said with a chuckle. "Abigail, Elizabeth is awake if you want to go say hello. I was about to go make her some tea and get a snack for her."

"I am glad she is hungry. That's a good sign."

"It is. I am going to bring her some of the soup you made."

Abigail nodded then went down to see Elizabeth, leaving Frank and Jack to chat in the kitchen. She knocked on the door then walked in. "Hi, Elizabeth. How are you feeling?"

Elizabeth opened her eyes and smiled when she saw her friend, even though she was feeling terrible. "Not so good, Abigail. The sinus infection and bronchitis are horrible. I have never felt this bad before."

"It must be because you are also pregnant. Your body has a lot going on." Abigail sat down on the edge of the bed "I hope you are letting Jack take care of you and give you some pampering. You deserve a break after taking care of the children all that time."

"I am trying to. Jack has been so wonderful; he is willing to anything to help me feel better. He gave me a back massage earlier after I told him my back hurt from sleeping sitting up against the wall. He then offered to take a bath with me later and work some more on my back muscles."

"Jack is one of the best men I have had the privilege to know. He reminds me so much of Noah. I remember getting a bad head cold when I was expecting Peter. Noah took care of me much like Jack is with you."

Elizabeth was about to reply when Jack came back into the room with a tray, her soup and tea sitting on it. There was even a glass of water. Abigail got up from the bed so Jack could put the tray down. "I see you are in good hands, Elizabeth. I will leave now so you can eat and get some rest but I will come by tomorrow to check on you. She walked about of the bedroom, found Frank and they both called out to the Thornton's as they walked out of the house.

"I want you to eat all of that soup, Elizabeth. You need it to get better." Jack told her.

"I will certainly try, Jack. I know my body needs it." She picked up her spoon and put it in the bowl. She brought the spoon to her lips to blow on the soup to cool it down, then put it in her mouth. "It tastes so good." She said.

"I'm glad. Abigail brought some sandwiches for me to eat as well as meatloaf for my dinner tonight. I am going to grab a sandwich and a drink and bring it in here, if you don't mind."

"I would love to have your company while I eat, Jack." She smiled at him, then watched him walk out of the bedroom. When he was gone, she bent her head over the steaming soup and breathed in, then swallowed another spoonful of the delicious chicken noodle soup. She sat back against her pillow and thought about how lucky she was to have a kind, caring friend in Abigail and a wonderful husband in Jack. She couldn't wait to get in the hot tub with Jack later and have him work out the knots in her back.