Susie-Q

Chapter Twenty One

Jack opened the door to the apartment as softly as possible. He didn't want to get Levi riled up and wake Sue if she was sleeping. And she would need plenty of sleep with the cold she had. She'd basically been out of commission for the past two days and would probably still be out for two more if it hadn't been Friday.

That was his reason for sneaking in today. Lucy had been taking care of her roommate ever since she'd been hit by the bug, but today she wasn't able to due to the fact that she'd made plans with her grandmother. And of course Sue wouldn't have wanted her to cancel on Alice because of her.

Still, Levi would need to get some exercise, not to mention take care of business, but there was no way Sue would be able to do it. She could barely move as it was so walking the wonderdog was absolutely out of the question.

Though, since Lucy was unable to perform her duties, she'd promised to persuade one of their friends into doing it. Unfortunately, Bobby was busy with his youth basketball league. Tara had made plans with a few old college friends of hers. D had to head out to be there for one of Davey's soccer matches. Myles… well, let's face it, she could picture what would happen if Myles tried to walk Levi and it wouldn't be pretty.

That just left Jack and luckily he didn't have any plans except to crash on the couch with one of his microwavable dinners. She'd thanked him a thousand times and handed him the keys to the apartment. As she finished packing up her things, she also reminded him where the dog food was and how much to give him and where she'd hung his leash.

Closing the door with a gentle thud, he took a few steps into the apartment and looked around. It was quiet, which meant Sue must have been asleep. He'd expected as much and hoped she'd still be asleep by the time they got back so he could surprise her and hopefully get her to eat.

Jack rubbed his hands together, hoping the friction would get the feeling to return to the tips of his fingers. Winter was raging at full blast outside and the snow was not letting up. Some hot soup would do them all some good a little later.

"Levi?" he called out as he stood behind the couch, his eyes following the movement of the DVD player's screensaver as it bounced all over. He heard the telltale thump, thump, thump of Levi's tail beating against the hardwood floor and that's what made him look down.

He was surprised to find Sue sleeping on the couch, though it was obvious that she'd drifted off during the movie she'd been watching. The case was lying on the coffee table and he couldn't help but giggle. How appropriate it was to watch 'Gidget' when almost subzero temperatures were practically pounding on the windows and doors.

He smiled down at her. She was snuggled up in a thick blanket, tissues strewn about her head, sleeping deeply—probably due to the half-empty bottle of medicine sitting on the coffee table. He could hear her soft snores, caused by her stuffed sinuses.

Chuckling, his gaze ran over her disheveled hair and traveled all the way to the pink tip of her nose.

Even with a severely bad cold, she still managed to look beautiful.

Levi's brown eyes peered over the edge of the couch wearing an expression Jack knew all too well. "How about a walk, buddy?"

The dog was on his feet in an instant and halfway to the door before Jack could even blink. Poor thing. He'd been cooped up in the apartment for days, except for the small important walks. Today, Jack was going to brave the cold and make sure to take him on the scenic route around the park. He would even grab a tennis ball from the stash in the hall closet.

Making sure Sue hadn't bee jostled by her furry companion's rather boisterous tail, Jack reached down and tenderly moved a tendril of hair out of her face. He allowed his fingertips to brush against the smoothness of her cheek. She smiled in her sleep and cuddled more into the sofa cushion.

Levi's impatient whimper was the only warning he was likely to receive, so he reluctantly pulled his hand away and met the dog at the door. His fingertips still tingled as he placed his hands into his favorite pair of leather gloves and he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

He looked down at Levi who was looking up at him with a look that said: "Why don't you do that sort of thing when she's awake?" It was eerie how that doggy expression made him feel.

"What?" he asked as he zipped up his jacket and picked up the leash that hung on the coat rack by the door. The dog let out a moan of disapproval. The man was so dense, yet of course he was able to pick up immediately was Levi was unable to tell him. "You think you're just so smart, don't you?" As an answer, the retriever leaned back on his hind legs and stood up on them with his front paws in the air. He wasn't just admitting it, he was gloating about it. "Well, what do you want me to do? I can't just tell her outright how I feel." It always seemed so much simpler with dogs. Boy dog meets girl dog, they fall in love at first sniff and there was a happy ending.

Returning to all four paws, Levi snorted at him. That was a load of hooey and he knew it.

Jack rolled his eyes as he clipped the lead onto the dog's leash. "Well, what would you like me to do? Just come right out and tell her that I'm in love with her? That might work in your world, buddy, but it's a bit more complicated in mine." He sighed as he glanced back over to the couch and wonder if just maybe it only seemed more complicated then it should be.

He loved Sue. Of course he did. He'd just never been able to work up the courage to ask her. Still, he had to find a way.

He looked back down at the retriever with a look of determination in his eyes.

"Can I count on your help?" The response he got was a simple "woof" and a proudly waving tail.

They were back an hour later, shivering and freezing cold. Jack could swear the temperature had dropped ten degrees during the time Levi took to sniff every tree and greet every other dog they passed. And to top it all off, the wonderdog had decided to take a running leap into a massive snow bank after the tennis ball. Jack had been forced to climb in after him and try to dig him out, but what he didn't know was that Levi had already made his escape by burrowing through the thick mound of snow and to gain his attention had begun barking at him from the sidewalk.

Unfortunately, Jack was already waist-deep in the snow at the time and could feel the coldness creeping in.

When they'd arrived back at the apartment, he laid down a towel beside the heating vent so Levi could warm up and dry off and immediately went to work on dinner.

He started on the soup first. Removing the two cans of chicken soup from the plastic bag he'd taken out of his car as they got back from their walk, he opened them up and poured them both in a pot and turned the stove on low.

Okay, it might have been cheating, but he was lucky if he didn't burn toast, so that meant trying his mother's homemade soup recipe was out of the question. Besides, it unlikely that Sue would even be able to taste it with the way she was stuffed up.

He frowned as he listened to her even breaths. They sounded harsh, raspier than they had been before. Yet, he wasn't sure if he should wake her up so she could take her medicine. Sometimes it was just better to sleep through these things.

Still, as he stood there and continued to listen. He didn't like was he was hearing. Leaving the soup to heat and warm his icy bones from a distance, he walked over to the couch. He was about to reach out and shake her away when she rolled onto her side, mumbling something.

Eyebrows knitted together, he looked at her in confusion. He could have sworn she'd just said his name. It had been soft, almost a whisper, but he was sure she had. A smile split his face. She was dreaming about him! His curiosity instantly peaked, he leaned in closer.

Sue's forehead crinkled almost in pain, but once she turned herself to her other side, it returned to its usual smoothness. For a second, he didn't think she was going to say anything more, but once she'd snuggled back into the pillow, she'd said it again. This time, much differently than the first.

A lump formed in his throat and his blood began pumping a few degrees hotter than before. The name had escaped her lips on a whisper. So sweet and content, the sound did things to him that he'd only imagined were possible.

"Jack," she breathed again. His heart was raging so loudly in his ears that he had to strain to hear her. "I love you."

His legs had practically given out underneath him at those words. They'd been slurred and slightly incoherent, but he was positive that's what he'd heard. She loved him. Sue Thomas actually loved him. He couldn't believe it. Okay, yes he could.

Her feelings always seemed obvious. He'd never been immune to the affection shining through her eyes every time he looked in them. He'd noticed. He'd just never done anything about it.

In the last two months since Sue had decided to stay in DC, he'd officially earned the nickname "turtle boy", courtesy of Myles and Bobby. In fact he could swear they'd jumped on the bandwagon along with Lucy to try to get them together as often as possible.

Like last Friday after work. The elevator heading down to the parking garage had been packed. There had barely been enough room for Bobby's large frame, let along any movement and still, somehow their friends had managed to jostle around enough to push them together.

And they weren't being subtle about it either. That was the part that got to him the most. Myles had even offered to give him pointers on how to ask her out. He'd just ignored the offer and walked away from him.

He had to admit that they were right though. He was obviously stalling. And it wasn't for lack of affection. Did he love her? Of course he did. He would have to be insane not to. The real problem he was having was finding the words. How exactly was he supposed to tell the woman that he loved that he did, in fact, love her?

He would have to worry about that later, though. As he continued to stand there and watch her, she was suddenly overcome with a coughing fit. Her entire body shock with the power of the congestion in her lungs. She needed her medicine.

Shaking her shoulder lightly, he waited for her to open her eyes. When she did, she seemed confused. She was glancing around the apartment cautiously, as if this wasn't where she remembered falling asleep.

That worried him. "You Okay?" he signed to her when her gaze settled on him.

It took her a moment for her to respond and even then, her eyes still looked glassed over in a mix of sleep and sickness. "Sparky?"