Charlotte and Tom were walking down the hall, nearing Jack's room, lost in conversation. As they entered Jack's room, Tom put out his arm to stop his mom. She looked up to see what Tom had seen; Elizabeth was lying next to Jack, his arm tightly around her, her arm loosely draped across his chest, both asleep. Charlotte's heart melted as she brought her hand up to her chest. She took Tom's hand and pulled him out into the hall.
"Let's let them sleep. They both need it," she said with a smile. "How about some ice cream? My treat."
"You're buying? I'm in!" Tom answered, giving his mom a loving shove.
Jack stretched his shoulder back, arching his back and moaned. The movement woke Elizabeth and she quickly lifted herself off his chest, sitting up and looking down at him. Realizing he was moaning in pain; she gently squeezed his arm.
"Jack." She shook him slightly. "Hey, Jack."
Jack's eyes slowly opened; a small moan slipped from him again.
"Jack, are you alright? Do you need the doctor?"
Jack nodded.
Elizabeth slid off the bed and ran out into the hall. Florence was nearby and Elizabeth asked her to get the doctor. She paged Dr. Gowan and within a couple minutes, he was walking into Jack's room.
"What's going on Jack?"
Jack just moaned, moving his shoulders back and pulling at his arm.
"Talk to me, Jack." Dr. Gowan urged. "Where are you hurting?"
Jack pointed at his hand.
Dr. Gowan gently lowered Jack's arm from the sling it was suspended in. Jack let out another groan, tightly squeezing his eyes shut. The doctor looked at Jack's fingers coming from the cast then carefully laid Jack's arm down onto the bed.
"Son, we're going to have to get you in to surgery right away. Okay?" The doctor was speaking slowly and carefully articulated his words, making sure Jack was understanding him.
Jack nodded his head in a fast motion, clearly wanting the pain to end.
Elizabeth was standing back out of the way, wrapping her arms around herself, worry in her face.
"Nurse Blakeley, call up to O.R. 2 and let them know we are coming up now."
Florence nodded, turned and left the room.
"Alright, Jack. We are going to move your bed and get you up right away to get this taken care of. Hold tight, soldier." With that Dr. Gowan left the room.
Elizabeth went back to Jack's side, holding his free hand. His grip tightened on Elizabeth, a bit too tight, but she didn't say anything, knowing that he wasn't aware of his action.
Two orderlies appeared, along with Florence. She began unhooking Jack from some of the machines and unhooked the IV bag from the pole and laid it across Jack's good leg. The orderlies unlocked the wheels of the bed and began pushing Jack out and down the hall.
Elizabeth followed them as long as she was allowed, then took a seat in the waiting room. She pulled out her phone and called Charlotte.
In O.R.2, they transferred Jack from his bed onto the operating table. Jack's pain was intensifying as people around him were quickly hooking him up to new monitors and IVs. "We're going to give you something so you can sleep now." Gowan nodded at the nurse and she injected something into Jack's IV. Darkness quickly took over Jack.
Charlotte and Tom arrived shortly after Elizabeth called them. They were all sitting in the waiting room when Grace and Julie showed up. The group sat in silence, waiting for any kind of update. Forty minutes after they took Jack to surgery, a nurse finally appeared to update them. The group stood when she entered the room.
"Hello. I'm nurse Montgomery. I'm one of Jack's O.R. nurses. Jack is still in surgery. When Dr. Gowan removed Jack's cast, it was what he had expected. Jack has compartment syndrome. His hand was badly swollen in the cast and that is why Jack was in so much pain. The doctor is doing a fasciotomy. I'll let you know when they take him to recovery and when you'll be able to see him. Do any of you have any questions?"
"What is a fasciotomy?" Tom asked.
"The doctor will make incisions across Jack's hand to open up the swollen tissue." Nurse Montgomery traced imaginary lines across the top of her hand and down each side. "This will relieve the pressure and restore blood flow to his hand."
"Incisions...you mean he's cutting Jack's hand open again?" Tom asked, eyes wide.
"Yes, unfortunately this happens sometimes with this kind of trauma. If you don't have any more questions for me, I'm going to return to the O.R."
Everyone shook their heads and watched as the nurse left the room.
Charlotte dropped to her chair and Grace ran to her, sitting next to her, she put her arm across her shoulder. She tapped the top of her leg with her other hand, "He's going to be just fine."
"I know, but it's just so much. When will he catch a break? He's been through so much." She looked up at Grace, "What if he can't take it anymore? You hear things about soldiers all the time...not being able to continue."
"Now, Charlotte. You cannot allow yourself to think like that. All we can do is be there for Jack and pray." Grace took Charlotte's hands in hers, "Let's all pray now."
Everyone took seats around Grace and Charlotte, creating a circle, and took each other's hands. Everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes as Grace led them in prayer.
Jack was once again sitting on the steps in front of the jail. The wolf taking his regular spot next to him, enjoying the attention as Jack petted him. They sat and watched as all the people buzzed around, again, not seeming to be doing anything. Jack turned his attention back to the wolf. "How are you doing, bud?" The wolf lifted his head and looked at Jack, letting out a small gruff. "What should I call you? If we're going to keep spending time together, you'll need a name." Jack thought for a moment, then it came to him. He grinned before saying, "Tuk." The wolf lifted his head again, letting out a short howl. "That's your name isn't it?" Jack asked him, scratching him behind his ears.
Jack leaned back against the post, Tuk laid his head on Jack's leg. Everyone that had been busy, walking from business to business, stopping occasionally to interact with each other, all stopped and looked at Jack. Jack straightened up. "Jack," he heard them all say to him. "Jack, can you hear me?"
Jack opened his eyes to someone looking down at him but the face was a blur. His eyes closed, unable to keep them open.
"Jack, come on. Wake up and look at me."
He could feel someone rubbing their knuckles on his chest. He opened his eyes again, this time blinking the face into focus. He could now see that it was Dr. Gowan.
"Jack, can you hear me?"
Jack nodded.
"Good. You just went through surgery, but everything went just fine. Your hand might be a little sore for a while. We've given you some pain meds so when they wear off, if the pain is too much, you make sure you let someone know. Okay?"
Jack nodded, still blinking his eyes, forcing everything to stay in focus.
"We're going to move you back to your room so your family can see you."
"Okay," Jack said in a low, scratchy voice.
Thirty minutes later, Jack was back in his room. He was still a bit sleepy, the anesthesia not quite letting go of its hold quite yet. Then Elizabeth came into view. His eyes locked with hers.
She took his hand in hers, placing her free hand on his cheek. "Hi," she smiled, that smile that sent shivers through Jack's entire body.
"Hi," he returned with a small smile.
She stepped to the side, still holding his hand. Charlotte stepped up, giving her son a quick peck on the cheek. Grace and Julie each stood near Elizabeth and waited.
Tom walked up to the other side of the bed and placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Hey there, bro. Always gotta be extreme about everything, don't ya?" He winked at Jack.
Jack gave him a little laugh and a nod, his eyes still heavy.
Dr. Gowan entered the room and stood at the foot of the bed. "As the nurse filled you in already, Jack developed compartment syndrome in his hand. The tissues swelled up so badly that it was cutting off the blood flow to his hand and fingers. Once I removed the cast and could see the extent of it, we had no choice but to do surgery. I cut four incisions in Jack's hand, two across the top, one down the side of his thumb and one along the side of his hand." Dr. Gowan, like the nurse, ran his finger along his hand showing where each incision had been made. "Once these were made, and the pressure was released, the blood flow instantly returned. We caught it soon enough that no major damage had been caused. I did have to debride some damaged muscle but it wasn't extensive. These incisions will have to remain open for a few days to allow the swelling to subside. Once it does, we will take him up once more and a plastic surgeon will close them. Any questions?"
"W...will...I...st...still...ha...have the...use...of my...h...h...hand?"
"You will have some, Jack. But until your hand heals completely from the crush injury and you begin rehab, we won't know if you'll regain full motion or not."
Jack pushed his head back into his pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Elizabeth squeezed his hand to let him know that she was there for him.
"Any other questions?"
"No, thank you doctor." Tom said as he shook his hand.
"You're welcome. If you think of anything, just let the nurse know and she can page me."
As Dr. Gowan left the room, Elizabeth looked over at Jack's bandaged hand. She could see that it had a splint now, but was loosely bandaged. Knowing that Jack had open incisions under the bandaged made Elizabeth's heart ache for him more. She couldn't even imagine the pain he must continually be going through.
"How are you feeling, Jack?" Charlotte asked as she laid her hand on his leg cast.
"O...k...kay."
Elizabeth squeezed his hand, "I'll be right back."
Jack nodded and gave her a small smile.
Elizabeth touched her mom's arm as she walked past, letting her know to follow her. Grace and Julie followed her out into the hall where Elizabeth's emotions took hold of her again. Grace pulled her daughter into a tight, motherly embrace as Julie rubbed her back.
After letting some tears flow, Elizabeth stepped back and wiped her face. "I don't know how much more he can take, mom."
"Oh, daughter. Just be there for him. He will make it through this with support. We will all be here for him."
"Thank you, mom. I know this has been a very unorthodox relationship, but...but.."
"You love him," her mom finished for her.
Elizabeth looked up at her mom, new tears falling down her cheeks. "Yes, mom. I think I do. But how did..."
"We can all see it, Beth. Charlotte, your dad, even Tom."
"And me," Julie added.
Elizabeth looked at her sister, "Really?"
Julie giggled, "Of course, silly. You don't exactly hide your feelings very well."
Elizabeth let out a small chuckle, "No, I suppose that I don't." She looked back at her mom, "I know I should return to school, but I just don't know how I can this week."
"Don't worry, I'll call the school and let them know you need the rest of the week off. You can see how you're feeling this weekend to see if you're up to returning on Monday."
"Thanks, mom." Elizabeth gave her a hug.
The following day was full of a steady stream of nurses and therapists in and out of Jack's room. Each time he would finally doze off, someone else would come in. Jack's bandage was removed from his head and kept off. As well as the bandages around his abdomen. One small one remained over the incision from his splenectomy. People came in to wash him up and give him a proper shave. After getting compartment syndrome in his hand, they were keeping a close eye on his leg. It had been removed from the hanging sling a couple days ago only to be placed back in it to keep it elevated. His hand had been checked on and clean bandages placed around it to try to keep infections out.
That afternoon, the speech therapist arrived for Jack's first of many sessions. Elizabeth returned to Jack's room, not realizing the therapist was there, and walked in.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize anyone was in here." Elizabeth turned to leave.
"Elizabeth," Jack called out.
She stopped and turned to find the therapist looking at her wide eyed. "Elizabeth? You're Elizabeth?" She asked.
Elizabeth nodded.
"Please, come sit by Jack. You can stay during this."
Elizabeth sat by Jack and took his hand in hers.
"Hi, my name is Dottie. I'm Jack's speech therapist."
"Nice to meet you."
"Jack and I have just been going over some pictures here. I'd like to try them again. Okay, Jack?"
Jack nodded.
"Jack, remember, use words please."
"Yes," he answered.
Dottie looked at Elizabeth then back to Jack. She picked up a pile of cards and showed Jack the first one. "Jack, please tell me what this is."
"Dog," he answered.
"Remember, Jack. Full sentences."
"Th...that is a...dog."
"Very good. And what about this?"
"That...is...a...h...house."
"Hmm...yes. And this?" She turned to another card.
"That...is a...baby."
"Very good, Jack." She laid the cards down and turned to Elizabeth. "He has been struggling during our entire session. He couldn't remember the word for baby. Until you walked in. When I heard him say your name without hesitation or struggle, I was shocked." She turned back to Jack. "Let's try a few more."
Elizabeth sat, dazed at what Dottie had just told her. Jack continued naming each item on the cards, struggling just a little, but always eventually getting the word formed.
"Very good, Jack. We will try some new things tomorrow. I'm going to leave some new cards here with you. Would you like to help Jack with them, Elizabeth?"
"Yes, I'd love to."
"Great, just make sure he uses sentences. Even have him describe it. Like what color it is or what it feels like."
"Yes, okay," Elizabeth said as she took a stack of cards from Dottie. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Dottie turned back to Jack and patted his good leg, "I'll see you tomorrow, Jack. Keep working on this."
Jack nodded.
Dottie stopped, pointed at Jack and gave him a teasing head tilt, "What did I say?"
"Yes. O...okay." He smiled with his dimpled grin.
After Dottie left, Jack dropped his head back into his pillow, clearly exhausted.
"You need to sleep, Jack."
Jack pulled Elizabeth toward him and lifted his head so he could look at her, "So d...do...y..you." He smiled big.
"Mmmm..." Elizabeth said as she touched her hand to his dimple.
"Kiss me, please." Jack said with complete clarity and without stuttering.
Elizabeth smiled and bent down, matching the longing intensity of Jack's kiss.
"I...have been...wanting...to do that...all d...d...day." He smiled when they stopped to take a breath.
Elizabeth bent down to Jack's ear and whispered, "Me too." Then she met his lips with hers once more, slightly parting them, inviting him in for a deeper kiss.
Then she pulled herself back and took a long look at Jack's face, she ran her hand down his cheek. You clean up nice. But I must say, I kind of miss your stubble."
"Oh...r...r...really?" he said with an ornery smile.
"Yes, but this look is good too." She gave him a kiss on his cheek then climbed onto the bed next to him. He wrapped his arm around her with his hand up, running his fingers through her hair.