Chapter 1
Jack was a rugged and tough cowboy, which Lisa knew when she married him. She knew there were risks associated with ranching, but she didn't like him taking unnecessary ones. Jack was trying to gentle his new horse Blue, without the help of Amy and he was doing it while no one was around. Lisa worried about the challenging horse and Jack's safety. She kissed him goodbye and left, after asking him to please be careful. She loved him more than life itself, and didn't want to see him get hurt or worse.
Jack stood in the round pen drinking his coffee. Blue seemed interested, like maybe he wanted a drink too. Jack gave him a bucket of water, trying to establish a kinship with the horse. The horse happily drank the water Jack gave him. Jack decided to mount the horse. He slowly put weight on the stirrup, then put his foot in and swung his other leg over the horse. The horse agreed with having a rider for a moment. Jack was happy with the breakthrough, though it was premature. Blue began to buck wildly, Jack held on best he could, but he was no match for the bucking horse. Jack flew off the horse, slamming his back and arm into the fence post and rail. He remained on the ground for a moment, before putting his hat back on then went into the house.
Lisa was not able to shake the sinking feeling she had. After sitting through meeting after meeting with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach she decided to leave and head home. She walked into the kitchen just as Jack was placing a bag of ice on his banged up arm. Lisa was immediately concerned. Jack wouldn't let her see his scraped up arm, he insisted he was fine. Lisa asked what he was trying to prove, when he explained it wasn't about him, it was about Blue. No one ever gave that horse a chance and he was going to, he could tell Blue was a good horse. Lisa told Jack that was one of the things about him that she fell in love with. His ability to see good where others didn't. She again asked him to be careful, he told her he would be alright. She told him he better be, she was not prepared to see him get hurt. Lisa started dinner, glancing out the kitchen window every so often to check on Jack. She remembered when she got news of Jack's heart attack, she was devastated and immediately went back to Heartland to help in whatever way she could. She didn't like the feeling of watching someone you love physically hurt, she prayed he would be careful.
After dinner Lisa joined Jack on night checks. She could see that he was in pain. He was moving awkwardly. She didn't mention it, instead she asked how his arm felt, trying to get him to tell her how he was feeling. He of course, said he was fine and changed the subject to the meetings she had all day. They finished up and went back into the house to get ready for bed. Lisa came back from the bathroom just as Jack was putting on pajamas. He had pants on but no shirt.
"Oh my god, Jack, your back."
"What about it?"
"Jack, it's all bruised, dark purple and black."
"It's fine Lisa, you worry too much."
She walked over to him, looked into his eyes.
"You need to get that looked at, probably need X-rays."
"Lisa it's nothing."
She cut him off.
"Jack please do it for me. You would want me to get looked at if the shoe was on the other foot. Please honey." She practically begged him.
Jack saw Lisa's beautiful blue eyes filled with tears that she was trying to hold back. How could he deny her. She was worried about him. He leaned down and kissed her.
"Alright, I'll do it for you."
She reached up and put her hands on his cheeks, softly stroking his stubbled cheek.
"Jack Bartlett, what am I going to do with you?" She gazed into his eyes, before leaning up and kissing him. "You worry me, we have plans Jack, and I want you here beside me when the time comes for us to do them."
"No need to worry Lise, I'm not going anywhere yet," but he could see that she was serious. Lisa tended to worry needlessly, but this wasn't one of those times. "Look, I'll call tomorrow, I think it looks worse than it is." He held her in his arms. " I'm sorry for worrying you, I love you."
They climbed into bed, Lisa laid with her back against Jack's chest. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her in close. He was lucky to have someone to care and worry about him. He whispered, " I appreciate you worrying about me." He kissed her shoulder then drifted off to sleep.
Jack was sitting at the table drinking his coffee and reading the paper when Peter came in from a red eye from Vancouver.
"Hey Jack, how are you?" He put his hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack flinched.
"Hey, I'm sorry, everything alright?"
"Keep your voice down, I'm fine, just got a little banged up from my new horse. If Lisa overhears us, she'll start worrying again."
"Ok, I got it, but does she have a reason to worry?" Peter knew Jack didn't like anyone making a fuss over him and Lisa does tend to worry over small things sometimes.
Jack kept his mouth shut and shrugged his shoulders.
Lisa walked into the kitchen just as Peter headed to his and Lou's bedroom.
"Morning Lisa."
"Hey Peter, how was your flight?"
"It was good, happy to be home."
"Well I'm sure Katie and Lou will be happy to see you."
Lisa walked over and kissed Jack. "Did you call the doctor yet?"
"I did, I left a message with Trisha's service, she wasn't in yet."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No Lise, I'll be ok. You go do what you need to do."
"You promise you'll call me the minute you're done."
"Yes Lisa, I promise."
Lisa grabbed her bag, kissed him goodbye and headed out the door. She sat in her car for a moment, debating whether or not she should cancel her meetings and go with Jack. He would hate that she decided, better to go on with her plans and let him call her when he finished. She really hoped her gut was wrong and it was nothing.
Jack left for Maggie's. He had something to drop off to Lou before his appointment, and she would be there for a lunch meeting. His day had been going pretty well, until he ran into Dan.
"Hey Jack, how are you, how's your back, I hear you let a horse beat the crap out of you. Well I guess that's what happens at your age."
"I'm fine Dan, how'd you hear about my incident with Blue?"
"Well Lisa told me this morning. What, she didn't tell you we are pooling our resources?"
"Ah, she might have, it must have slipped my mind." He knew Lisa never mentioned it. He definitely would not have forgotten that.
"Well I guess at your age remembering things is hard too. Take care Jack, I've got to get back to Lisa. We're planning our next trip to France."
What is he talking about Lisa never mentioned any of this to him. Did she, now he was doubting himself. Did she tell me about France and I forgot? Jack needed to move along and get to his appointment. He hoped the doctor had good news for him, this day was getting worse by the minute.
Jack arrived at Dr Virani's right on time. He was taken back immediately by the nurse for vitals and blood pressure. The nurse mentioned to Jack that his blood pressure was quite high. Tricia went in to see Jack. She was concerned about his high blood pressure. She checked out his back and arm and was pretty sure nothing was broken.
"Now for the bad news Jack. I don't like your pressure being that high. I'm going to admit you to Hudson General for overnight observation. With your cardiac history, I don't want to take any chances."
Jack started to protest, but she brought up his heart attack and how long he was in the hospital for, surely one night to get checked out would be better. He reluctantly agreed. She offered to have him transported by ambulance but he said he would drive himself.
"I'll let you drive yourself only if you promise to go straight there. They will be waiting for you."
Jack agreed.
"Can I call anyone?"
"No, I have my cell. I'll call when I get there." Jack wasn't sure he wanted to call Lisa, she might be busy planning her trip to France with Dan. He didn't understand what was going on. Dan is the last person he would expect Lisa to work with. He's burnt her so many times with business deals. He needed time to think, this was the perfect escape.
It was late and Lisa hadn't heard from Jack. She was worried. She arrived home to find that Jack hadn't returned. Lou or Peter weren't home, Amy was out with Lyndy. Katie didn't know when anyone would be home. Lisa tried Jack's cell phone again, still no answer. She was starting to panic. As a last resort Lisa called Dr Virani's office. All the nurses had left but Tricia was still there. After a few rings she picked up.
"Hey Dr Virani, it's Lisa Stillman. I haven't heard from Jack all day and he's not home. Was everything ok?"
"Lisa, I'm sorry, Jack said he would call you. I sent him to Hudson General, his blood pressure was quite high and with his history I wanted to be safe."
"It's no problem Tricia, we probably just got our signals crossed. Thank you so much for the information."
Lisa hung up the phone. She had no missed calls from Jack and no text messages. Clearly he didn't reach out to her, but why. He knew she would worry. Lisa raced out the door, she had to get to Jack. She didn't even think to pack a bag for him. She just had to figure out what was going on.
Lisa practically ran down the hallway in the hospital. She stopped at the desk and once she got his room number took off. There was something he wasn't telling her, something was wrong, but what? She pushed open his door.
"Jack, are you ok, what's going on? Why didn't you tell me you were here? I've been worried sick."
"Well I figured you were busy."
"What do you mean busy, this is serious Jack. I had no idea where you were."
"I figured you were busy planning your trip to France."
"What trip to France, Jack, what are you talking about?"
"I ran into Dan before my appointment. He knew all about my incident with Blue, if you didn't tell him, how did he know? He told me all about your decision to work with him again and pool your resources. He also told me you guys were planning your next trip to France."
Lisa sat down on Jack's bed, she reached for his hand but he pulled it away, so she rested her hand on his leg.
"Jack, I don't know what Dan told you, but there is nothing going on between us. I would never get back with Dan. There's no trip to France, there's no working together and there's no pooling of resources. I wouldn't work with him again if my life depended on it."
Jack saw the sincerity in her eyes. He made a big mistake listening to Dan. Dan liked to push his buttons, and this time he almost caused a fight between them, a big fight. But Lisa would never lie to him, that he was sure of. If she said nothing was going on he believed her.
This time it was Jack that reached for Lisa. She leaned in close and kissed him.
"You scared me cowboy. I didn't know if you were hurt somewhere or what. You didn't call or text me. I got home and you weren't there, I didn't like that feeling. I had to call Tricia to find out that you were here. Please don't ever do that to me again."