Holding Your Hand
By Sam
Author's Note: Hi to all! I'm new here but I've posted this story before. Please R&R! I love both praise and constructive criticism so feel free!
Part IJack awoke in the arms of the one he had been waking up with for the past eight years. His head lay on his love's chest whose arms were draped loosely around Jack's body. He breathed deeply his scent and cuddled into his embrace, not wanting the moment to end. He knew exactly what time it was without looking at the clock. He knew because he woke at this time each morning. It was 5:55- their alarm would go off in five minutes.
Jack rose slowly and turned off the alarm. He reluctantly got out of the bed and headed towards the en-suite bathroom where he proceeded to splash cool water onto his face. He brushed his teeth and then went back into the bedroom where he removed two t-shirts and two pairs of sweats from the large dresser. He tossed the clothes onto the bed and then crawled over to his sleeping partner. He kneeled beside his love and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly.
"Up and at'em, Doug."
He received a groan of protest in return.
Jack hopped out of bed and began searching for boxers. "C'mon, get your lazy ass out of bed."
"I don't feel like it today. Come back here."
Jack laughed. "No way, man. I'm wide awake and ready for my morning jog."
"Christ, Jack, you're thirty-two years old- don't say 'man.'"
Jack rolled his eyes. "You coming?"
Doug sighed and sat up. "Of course. Couldn't break the morning ritual."
"You would never do that."
Doug smiled at him. "You know me too well."
Jack grinned. "I know you inside out."
The two of them were soon jogging across the beach in the sunny September morning. They spoke occasionally but as usual, they tended to jog in a comfortable silence, just breathing the air and enjoying the peacefulness together. They carried nothing on them but their cell phones in case of an emergency- in case Amy needed them. It was only in the past year, since Amy had turned eight, that they had started feeling comfortable enough with leaving her home alone every morning for the forty-five minutes they spent jogging. She was asleep during that time, she had two dogs in the house with her, and it was only Capeside, after all. Still, both of her fathers felt as if this was a big step.
They were home by seven o'clock. They woke Amy, showered, and dressed. Jack jogged down the stairs as he did up the belt of his slacks and headed for the kitchen where Doug was pouring Amy a bowl of Rice Krispies. Jack went over to the fruit bowl on the counter and got himself an apple.
"You want some banana on that, honey?" he asked Amy.
Amy shook her head and scrunched up her adorable little nose. "I hate bananas!"
Jack rolled his eyes. "I know but they're good for you!"
Amy stuck her tongue out playfully at him and brought her plain cereal to the breakfast bar where she sat down. Jack and Doug moved around the kitchen as Doug prepared himself toast and strawberry jam and Jack made lunches for the three of them to take with them on their day. When he finished, he poured himself a bowl of Rice Krispies, sliced a banana into it, and added milk. He got a glass of orange juice and joined the rest of his family at the breakfast bar.
"Mrs. Collins said we're going to start a new unit today," Amy was saying. "I think it's going to be about forests."
"Why do you say that?" Doug asked.
"Because we're going on a field trip to Stucky Forest in two weeks."
"Oh, that's right- did you sign the permission slip for that, Doug?"
"Yes, just the other day. You brought it in, right Amy?"
"Yeah."
"Say 'yes', Amy," Doug said.
"Yes, daddy," she groaned.
Jack gave Doug a look as Amy got up to put her bowl away.
"You're the English teacher. You should be enforcing these things too."
Jack smiled. "Yes but I'm the cool English teacher. I let my students say 'yeah' all the time in my class."
Doug laughed. "Wow, you are cool."
Jack stuck his tongue out and followed Amy to the dishwasher.
Twenty minutes later, Jack looked out the living room window and gasped. "Amy! Hurry up! Your carpool's here early!"
Amy soon came bounding down the stairs, slinging her knapsack onto her back, Doug following close behind. He bent over and kissed Amy's cheek. "Have a good day at school, hon."
"I will."
Jack kissed her forehead. "Have a good day. Love you!"
"Love you too, daddy." Amy grabbed her jacket and ran out the door to the minivan waiting for her.
Jack closed the door behind her and looked over at Doug. "Ten minutes early! They're lucky she was ready!"
Doug shrugged. "Better early than late."
"Of course." He gazed at Doug a moment, standing there in full uniform, lit up by the sunlight streaming through the window on the front door. God, he is so beautiful, Jack thought.
"What're you thinking about?"
Jack smiled. "Oh, just the fact that we've got a full twenty minutes before either of us has to run off to work."
Doug crossed his arms over his chest. "Very true. And how, dare I ask, are you planning on spending those twenty minutes?
Jack shrugged his shoulders innocently. "Gee, I don't know." He walked slowly up to Doug and pressed his chest against his love's crossed arms. "I was just, you know, enjoying the view."
The two men stared into each other's eyes a moment before they simultaneously leaned in and allowed their lips to meet. Doug uncrossed his arms and wrapped them around Jack's waist, forcing their bodies closer together as the kiss deepened. Tongues slid into mouths they knew so well. Their lips fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Soon, they lost themselves in each other …
********
" ' … "if it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy." That was her feeling- Othello's feeling, and she felt it, she was convinced, as strongly as Shakespeare meant Othello to feel it, all because she was coming down to dinner in a white frock to meet Sally Seton!'" Jack paused and glanced up at his twelfth-grade English class and then looked back at the book in his hand and flipped about a hundred pages forward in Virginia Woolf's, Mrs. Dalloway. He cleared his throat and read, " 'But this young man who had killed himself- had he plunged holding his treasure? "If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy," she had said herself once, coming down, in
white.' "
Jack closed the book and placed it on his desk behind him. He began to pace the aisles of desks as he continued to speak. "So Clarissa considers this quote from Othello twice in this day. The first time, it is in a memory full of such happiness that she feels she cannot ask for more of life. The second time, she is considering death itself- or life itself, I should say. And through this, she does arrive at a conclusion. Even after the disgrace she feels at the Bradshaws speaking of death at her party, she comes to a- a wonderful conclusion about life that can be linked up to the quote from Othello and also to the recurring theme of time we've spoken about." Jack glanced around the room at his students. Half of them had the glazed look in their eyes that Jack knew to well. "Alright, I've lost half of you, haven't I?"
There was a mutual murmur of agreement. Jack smiled a bit. He rubbed his hands together and prepared himself for one of his speeches he was famous for. The kind of speech that was often required in these situations. Jack was known for delivering these speeches which held every soul in the room captivated as he made his point clear using terms that a room full of seventeen-year-olds would understand perfectly. His students adored Jack for these speeches. "OK, guys, look at it this way-"
He was abruptly cut off, however, by a sharp knock at the open classroom door.
"Yeah?" Jack called.
The head of Melissa Pearson appeared in the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt your class, Jack. Could I have a word?"
"Sure." Jack made his way through the desks to the classroom door. Melissa had been principle of Capeside High for the past two years and was well-loved by students and teachers alike. She was an honest, levelheaded woman who did her job well.
She looked evenly at Jack and took a deep breath before she spoke. "Look, Jack- I'm afraid I've received some bad news … I just got a call from the police station saying that Doug was taken into the hospital. They didn't say why- only that you should go to the emergency room at Capeside Memorial and someone from the station will meet you there. Don't worry about your class- Pat said he'd take over the rest of your classes for the day and I can take care of this one. I guess you'd better hurry …"
Jack didn't quite know what to say at first- didn't know what his reaction should be since he didn't know what was going on. Finally, he found his voice. "O- OK, great, thanks, Melissa. I'll just- I'll grab my stuff and go … and, uh, thank Pat for me, will you?"
Melissa nodded and patted Jack on the shoulder. "Of course. Give us a call when you can, all right? We want to know what's going on and all the best to Doug."
Jack nodded. "Of course."
Jack soon found himself in his car, on the road to Capeside Memorial. He drove fast, not caring about the speed limit. The only one who had ever pulled him over for speeding in the past eight years had been Doug and now that he needed to reach Doug- he just needed to get there as quickly as possible.
When he arrived at the hospital, he parked recklessly and dashed into the emergency room. He found himself in a room lit by fluorescent lights, filled with molded plastic chairs, outdated magazines, broken toys, vending machines, and people. Many people. The room was infested with people who were sick, injured, crying, comforting, bored, angry, annoyed … but Jack paid little attention to any of them. He scanned the room and quickly found who he was looking for- a man and a woman, both in their blue uniforms, sitting side by side in a corner. Jack made his way over to them and they both jumped up at his arrival.
"Jack- thanks for coming so quickly," the woman said.
"Of course, Lisa, why wouldn't I? What happened? What's wrong with Doug? Is he ok?" Jack spoke frantically.
The two officers exchanged a look before the man looked back at Jack and spoke, "Look, Jack, there's actually not much we can tell you- no one will let us know anything in this place … But we can tell you what happened." He paused and took a deep breath, looking into Jack's fearful eyes.
"What is it, Mike? What happened?" Jack demanded.
"Three men went into Diggory Grocery today armed with handguns and demanded that each of the cashiers hand over the contents of their cashes. Doug was first on the scene and well- when we got there, he was on the ground and so were two of the robbers … We got a few witness accounts and they said that when Doug demanded they drop their weapons, one tried to get away. Doug shot him in the back- he's dead. Another of the robbers immediately got him in the leg- just below the knee. Doug started to collapse but not before firing again. His aim wasn't as good this time, considering his condition, and he only got the guy in the shoulder. The jerk is in here somewhere, recovering nicely, I expect … He shot Doug as well, Jack- got him in the chest … The third guy tried to run off but that's when the two of us arrived on the scene and we apprehended him. Doug was immediately rushed here, of course, but no one will tell us how he's doing. Everyone keeps telling us that he's in surgery and that we'll have to wait to find out what'll happen with him.
"He shouldn't have gone in alone, Jack, that's that truth. But you know Doug- he didn't want to risk them getting away so he risked everything to do his duty as sheriff … I wish he hadn't, of course, but with Doug- I know he wouldn't have done it any other way."
Jack stared, stared at nothing, gasping for air, trying to grasp what he had just been told. He collapsed and hardly noticed when the two officers caught him and helped him to a chair where he sat, head in his hands. He could not believe this was happening- didn't want to believe it.
How could he accept that the only one he had ever loved was somewhere in this building, fighting a battle for his life that he could very well lose?