Chase sat up wiping the tears out of his eyes as he saw a nurse try to stop the woman he knew as Aunt Carol from coming into the room. The nurse pleading, "Ma'am I can't let you in only family is allowed in."
When Carol saw Chase in the chair she said, "He's not family and he's in here."
"He's a federal agent ma'am." The nurse said trying to remove her from the room. Carol finally looked at Jack the tears falling down her face. "Please just let me see him I won't hurt him. Chase is here to make sure of that. Don't want to hurt Jack now do we." She was clearly frantic. Chase shook his head at the nurse knowing there was no other way around it.
Carol stood back at the foot of the bed and looked down on the man that not only took her sister away from her, but now her niece. "You fucking asshole. It wasn't enough you ruined Teri's life, but you had to ruin Kim's too. I hope you die. You don't deserve to be breathing right now." She thought about pulling the tube out of his throat and watch him suffocate to death.
"It's not his fault." Chase said sticking up for Jack who couldn't stick up for himself.
"Don't you even defend him Chase. You know as well as I know if he would have taken the advice he game you and left Field Op's neither of us would be here right now. Teri would still be alive, and so would Kim." Chase stood as Carol walked closer to Jack. Chase didn't know what he could do if she decided to attack him. He would have to pull her away, but he also understood her pain even if he didn't blame Jack he could see her side.
"Is that all you have to say now?" Chase said looking at her seeing her tears run down her face making him want to cry too.
"I can't do anything else." She said, "Kim's funeral is Wednesday."
"I'll be there." Chase said.
"We were wondering if you would be willing to be pallbearer." She knew it was asking a lot but they had one spot that needed to be filled.
"Ok." Chase said not wanting to do it, but at the same time he needed to do it.
"Is he going to be awake by then?" Carol said saying he as if it were the worst thing on earth.
"Probably not. They don't even know if he is ever going to wake up again."
"What happened Chase?" She said needing to know.
"I don't know yet." Chase answered using a half truth.
"You wouldn't' tell me if you did."
"I might someday." Chase said looking at her.
Brad Hammond cleared his throat as he was in the doorway and had heard most of the conversation. "Excuse me." He said feeling as if he were intruding on something.
"Carol this is Brad Hammond he's the head of division."
"I was just leaving." Carol said walking past Bard.
Brad walked into the room and looked at Jack hiding the weary feelings he had about Jack ever coming around.
Chase slumped back into the chair again exhausted already from the three major events of the day. "What can I do for you sir?"
"When you return to CTU it was decided that you would head up Field Operations until we find someone to replace Jack or Jack comes back." Brad said knowing it would not be the thing Chase wanted to hear while it was a promotion it was also a sign of people giving up on Jack already.
Chase didn't know what to say. He looked at Jack and just stared at him until he heard alarms going off.
Chase first thought it was Jack crushing until one of the nurses ran into the room telling Brad, "Mr. Almedia has just taken a nurse hostage and is in the process of leaving the hospital."
Chase jumped up and looked at Brad, "Can you stay here with him?"
"Go this is your job I can watch Jack." Brad said knowing Chase should be able to track Tony.
Chase ran down the hallway to the hall that Tony had been on. He ran towards the parking garage but by time he reached the front Tony was already gone. "Get an APB out on him now. I want him before he leaves."
Tony was driving down the streets of L.A. in just the gown from the hospital. He had let the nurse go and was working with the cell phone in the car to call a few contacts he had collected over the years working with CTU.
He found one that was willing to work with him finally, a drug dealer that had help him set Jack's cover for the Salazar operation.
"It's going to cost you."
"I don't have any money." Tony said feeling the weight of his escape leveling on him.
"Information?"
"Like what?" He was already branded a traitor, his wife was dead, and he would have people after him wanting him dead, what was selling your country out after all of that. They had sold him out first.
"Whatever we want to know."
"Fine. Where can I meet you?"
"Meet me at the small airport off Main St."
"When?"
"As soon as possible you really pissed some people off and they want you bad."
Chase returned back to Jack's room. Baker and the others were out searching for Tony with very little hope of finding him. Brad saw Chase slump in the chair and he asked, "How much sleep have you gotten recently?"
"Let's not go there. Tony's probably gone. Bakers out looking for him but he had contacts because of CTU he's probably already out of the country." Chase sighed.
"We'll keep looking for him. Why don't you go home and be with your daughter for awhile. I got some paperwork I brought with me I can sit here and work on it and watch him." Brad felt guilty he didn't help Jack earlier when the injuries weren't as serous.
"I can't leave him." Chase said looking.
"Do it Chase. If he were to wake up know you know his stubborn ass would try to get out of the bed and smack some sense in you. Go take your daughter out to supper or something. Come back tonight or something. That's an order Agent Edmunds."
Chase stood up he was use to defying orders especially working with jack, but he knew Brad was trying to do what was best for him. "Call me if anything changes. If he even moves I want to know."
"Don't worry I'll keep you in the loop." Brad said smiling at Chase happy he was going to go home.
------------------
A week after Kim's funeral Chase went back to work. There still had been very little change in Jack, and Chase felt like his being there wasn't helping. Every night after work he would go see Jack and sit there for a few hours talking about the stupid stuff that went on throughout the day. They had no clue where Saunders or Tony was, and Chase felt as if he were failing Jack, which was part of the reason his visits got less and less long.
One night Chase returned to his sister's house still not staying at his own place and he had heard Angela crying in her room. Chase knocked on the door and walked in. "Hey Kiddo." He said walking in.
Angela wiped the tears away from her eyes and looked at him trying to act strong. "I miss Kim."
"So do I baby. So do I. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No I understand she's never coming back." Angela said looking at her father seeing the pain in his eyes. "What about Jack? Why wasn't he at Kim's funeral does he hate her?"
Chase sat on the bed almost in tears, "No baby. Jack's sick." Chase didn't know what to say to her.
"Is he in the hospital?"
"Yes baby." Chase said putting his arm around her.
"Can I go see him some time? He came and saw me when I had the chicken pox."
"Yeah baby. We can go tomorrow." Chase said not really wanting to take her to see Jack who still looked horrible even if some of the bruises on his face were fading, and some of the stitches would be coming out of his face soon.
"Ok. Can we get him something to make him feel better?" She asked her father her eyes big and sparkling.
"Sure we can go to the gift shop tomorrow." He said hugging her. "It's late go to bed now."
"Ok daddy. I love you."
"I love you too honey." Chase tucked her into the bed and kissed her goodnight before turning the night-light on and the main light off closing the door. He walked into the living room and slumped onto the couch.
Her sister's husband came in and handed him a glass of scotch. "Thought you could use that."
"Thanks." Chase said swallowing the scotch quickly. He closed his eyes and felt himself drift off.
His sister noticed this and took the glass out of his hand and covered him up with a blanket.
The next morning Chase was woken by Angela climbing onto the couch with him. He smiled at her as she snuggled up against him. "Daddy your still in the same clothes as yesterday."
"I know baby. Daddy's getting up. Go see if Aunt Amanda will help you get breakfast while daddy goes and takes a shower so we can go visit Jack."
Angela got up and quickly went she figured the faster she moved the quicker she'd get to see Jack. Chase walked past his sister who stopped him, "Are you sure you want her to see him?"
"She wants to. And I don't see how it could hurt her." Chase said thinking as long as he doesn't die while we are there.
"It's your choice Chase."
"I know and I made it." He said walking to the bathroom suddenly angry again. He thought about going home tonight leaving Angela with his sister so he could have some time on his own he still had not faced the fact that Kim was gone yet. He hurried through his shower hearing Angela knocking on the door trying to rush him. "Have you gotten dressed yet?" He called from the shower.
He heard her scurry away down the hall to get dressed. He got out and dressed himself walking out to find Angela at the front door with his key's and wallet in hand. "Let's go daddy."
"I got to get my shoes on." He said when she laughed, they were next to her.
He smiled and walked over sitting on the steps to put his shoe's on. Angela jokingly climbed onto his shoulders while he did so. He smiled at her and carried her out to the car like that. He grabbed the child seat out of his sisters car and put it in the SUV. He buckled her in and smiled, "Are you sure you want to see him? He's really sick honey. He won't be able to talk to you, and will be asleep the entire time. They have him hooked up to a lot of machines."
"Will he know I'm there?"
"I think so baby."
"Than I want to go. He would visit me if I were that sick." She said with a straight face.
"Ok baby. If you change your mind that's ok. Jack won't be mad at you. He would understand."
"I know daddy. Let's go put the pedal to the medal."
"Yes ma'am." Chase said turning the car on and backing out of the driveway. He had already informed Hammond he would be out of the office today, and Hammond was fine with it, he knew Chase was going through a lot and understood even if that meant more work for him.
When they reached the hospital Brenda, the friendly nurse that had helped Chase through the entire ordeal greeted him as he walked through intensive care unit with Angela carrying a teddy bear and flowers for Jack. Brenda smiled and asked, "An who is this?"
Angela hid behind Chase's leg and Chase smiled, "This is Angela. Angela this is the nice nurse that's been taking care of Jack."
Angela peaked her head out and said, "Hi."
Brenda looked at Chase and asked, "Is she yours?"
"yeah the little rotten girl is mine."
"Hey daddy." Angela said pushing his leg.
"Oh I meant the perfect little angel behind me is mine." Chase smiled.
"Well I won't take up anymore of your time." She said letting him go to Jack's room. Angela walked behind him looking back at the nurse and smiled. She stopped smiling when she walked into the room and saw Jack lying on the bed with all the machines hooked up to him. She immediately went over to the chair and climbed up standing on it so she could see him better.
"Be careful baby." Chase said worried she might do something that would hurt Jack.
"Can I touch him?"
"Sure baby just don't' touch the bandages."
Angela took Jack's big hand into her little hand and kissed it. She stood up and reached over him kissing his cheek, "Wake up Jack." She said looking at him.
"He's not going to wake up baby."
"Is he like Kim?"
"No honey." Chase said his voice cracking slightly.
Angela grabbed the teddy bear she had dropped off as she walked into the room on a small table by the door. She walked back over climbing on the chair again to reach Jack.
Brenda, the nurse watched as Angela put the small teddy bear by Jack's head. "There he should protect you from the bad guys. He looks exactly like my bear, Jackie. What do you think we should name him Jack?"
Brenda felt a tear come to her eye. She knew long ago that she had cross the patient-nurse boundaries. She crossed it when she started to check up on Jack even on her breaks, than started referring to him by name instead of the patient with multiple gunshot wounds, and even now when she started to worry about him more than she normally should. She was letting her feelings cloud her judgment.
"We'll name him Sunny. How does that sound Jack?"
"Baby he can't answer you." Chase said feeling as if his heart was splintering even more as he watched her with him.
"I know that, but I can still talk to him can't I?" She suddenly became worried she might be hurting him by talking to him.
"Yeah you can." Chase said. He was taken out of thought when he heard someone say, "Ma'am you can't come in here." It was one of the guards in the hallway.