Chapter 6 (part 1): A Start
Sue had been in the middle of wishing Jack would start to recover instead of going downhill when Bobby walked in. He had walked over and sat down on the other side of the bed before she even registered the presence of someone else in the room. Despite putting on a calm front, she could tell that he was worried and hadn't stopped whipping himself, convinced it was in some way his fault.
"It's not your fault." She told him, breaking the silence and making him jump slightly.
"I should have moved faster." Bobby said, his face showing his anger. "I should have been able to do something."
"You did the best you could." Sue told him kindly.
"It's not good enough." Bobby practically yelled.
"Jack once told me, "You are not personally responsible for every little thing that happens in this world, good or bad." I think he would probably tell that to you now too." Sue told him.
"Jack's a smart man." Bobby said. "How is he?"
"No change since you left." She answered. Bobby sighed and looked back down at Jack. Suddenly he reached down and gripped Jack's shoulder.
"Come on mate, you can't stay here forever." Bobby told him. He was surprised when suddenly one of the monitors beeped. Looking up, he saw to his surprise that Jack's blood pressure was actually rising. "His blood pressure's rising!" Bobby exclaimed. Sue looked over at the monitor and a ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "Come on Jack. You can do it mate." Bobby whispered, his eyes glued on the monitor. Jack's blood pressure leveled off at a point a little higher than it had been when they had first seen him. Together they breathed a half sigh of relief. He was getting better, but he was nowhere close to being out of the woods yet. After about a half an hour Bobby finally left to get some sleep. Sue was off work, but he wasn't. He got up, promising to be back the next morning, and then he left. It took a while, but finally Sue fell asleep, sitting in a chair at Jacks bedside, her dreams filled with dark, empty expanses and bitter winds.