Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, sorry for the delay and please don't hate me!

Chapter Ten: Death

When Lisa heard the ringing of Jackson's phone, her heart stopped. She fumbled through the pocket of her sweatpants in desperation, but the only thing that the voice of the other end of the phone gave her was a rendezvous point. She left the kids with her father and ran from the house as she was, pausing only to pull a pair of tennis shoes onto her feet. Climbing in the Jackson's car, she peeled out of the driveway and ran every 'stop' sign she came to without a second thought.

When she reached the rendezvous point, some old abandoned construction sight, she was greeted by the sight of the same man from the night before; the only one who had really acknowledged her presence in her own house. He walked up to the car and opened the door for her, his face completely expressionless. Lisa unbuckled her seat belt and looked up at him. "Where's Jackson?"

The man responded with, "Mrs. Rippner, don't say a word, just get into the car."

He pulled her from the Jag and led her over to a large black Escalade. Before shoving her into the back of it, he wrapped a blindfold over her eyes. Lisa didn't care. They could do anything that they wanted to do to her as long as they took her to Jackson and he was okay. She wanted so desperately to ask them if he was alive, if he was safe. But, these were the people that Jackson worked for and they had told her not to say anything…so she was gonna keep her mouth shut.

With the blind fold on, her sense of direction had been completely thrown off. She had no idea what way she was heading, where they were going, and the feeling left her breathless. She had already been yanked into a world without Jackson, which no longer made sense to her and now she had had her bearings ripped away from her as well. It was like being trapped under water and not knowing which way was up. She hugged her arms tightly to herself and leaned into the side of the vehicle praying that that would give her some sense of stability, but it really didn't help. Imagine the situation. You're trapped in a car with people whom you know to be deadly, all you can see is blackness, and all you can think about is the image of your husband being shot in the chest. Suddenly, as Lisa was in the midst of a complete and total nervous breakdown, the car came to a rather abrupt stop, sending her slamming into the back of the seat in front of her. She felt two men grab her by both of her upper arms and drag her from the backseat. She wanted to kick; wanted to scream. She wanted to struggle against them, but she was afraid that if she did they would keep her from Jackson. She felt her feet hit solid ground just before the blindfold was ripped from her face and she found herself staring up at a tall brick building that brought involuntarily to her mind the thought of a reform school. Was this where they had taken Jackson? The image of him wounded and all alone in a cold dark cell swam into her mind, and she wanted to throw up. She had never thought of her husband as a vulnerable person, but now suddenly the only image of him that she could conjure up was the helpless look in his pretty eyes as that bitch had shot him in the chest.

"Follow me, please." A voice commanded, breaking her from her train of thought. She was led into the building by the same nameless man from the night before. The same man who had shown some semblance of kindness to her children. The man that she had unwittingly began to trust. They walked through the large, empty lobby and stepped into an elevator. Lisa tucked herself into the corner as they ascended thirty floors to what was apparently their destination. When the doors opened, Nameless led her down a long narrow hallway. There was nothing on the walls and hall was so long that it automatically brought to mind that scene in The Shining. Lisa felt a chill run down her spine, but she kept making herself put one foot in front of the other. Finally, Nameless stopped at one of the many office doors and pushed it open. The office was vacant and the walls were as empty as the hallway's. The only sign that someone actually worked in there was the desk and the piles upon piles of papers that sat on top of it. Nameless gestured for her to go in and she did so without hesitation. It was only when the door shut behind her that she began to get a little nervous.

The office was not small, though it was not what you would call large. Aside from the desk, there were three chairs and two bookcases in the office. One heavy leather chair that sat behind the desk, the other two chairs were cloth with wooden arms and legs, like the cheap chairs they have in doctor's office waiting rooms. Lisa did not sit down. The bookcases were filled with thick books with worn out binding, such to the point that the shelves bent beneath their weight. The walls were, as previously said, bare and the room had no windows. It was not the most comfortable place to be enclosed in. Lisa waited anxiously. She shoved both hands back through her hair and tried to still her racing mind. She wondered if they had thrown Jackson into a room similar to this one. Surely they hadn't. He was one of their own; they wouldn't do that to one of their own…would they? Looking around the office, suddenly she wasn't so certain. It was at that moment that the door behind her opened and, much like it had when the cell phone had rang, her heart stopped.

The man who had opened the door was very tall. Very tall. She thought for a brief moment that he very well might have been the tallest man she had ever seen. And he was big. Not big as in fat, but built. He looked as though he could pick her up with one hand and break her as he might a match stick. If she hadn't been already, the mere presence of this man made her extremely uncomfortable. He ran a hand back over his cleanly shaved head and Lisa couldn't help but notice how the light reflected off of his ebony scalp. The skin looked very smooth.

"Mrs. Rippner." He acknowledged her. His voice was very deep.

"Yes." Lisa said, fighting to keep her voice calm and under control.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, "You're husband is actually a dear friend of mine."

Lisa couldn't help but smirk. Jackson had friends? The thought had never really occurred to her before. She was pulled back to reality when the man offered her one big hand to shake. Tentatively, she slid her hand into his. It seemed like a child's hand engulfed in his massive palm.

"I'm Dr. Bilks." He introduced himself.

At that moment, Lisa felt as though nothing could have surprised her anymore. "So," she began, "you must know how Jackson is. Please, tell me. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Mrs. Rippner." He said and Lisa stopped breathing, "When Jackson got here, he was dead on arrival."

Lisa's knees buckled and gave out, letting her drop to the floor with a thud. Her breathing turned into short, quick bursts and her stomach began contracting violently with an unexplainable pain from deep within it. The office and the man in front of her started to go blurry as her eyes filled with tears.

"We spent a full ten minutes trying to resuscitate him…" he was saying, but Lisa couldn't hear anymore. All she had heard was that Jackson was dead. A barrage of memories assaulted her pained mind as she hugged her arms tightly across her stomach. Jackson, the first time she had ever seen him standing behind her in the airport check in line; his handsome smile as he laughed with her at the airport bar. The way he looked leaned against the wall when she first saw him again over a year later at her hotel. His arms wrapped around her in protection; the only place she had ever really felt safe. The way his eyes had sparkled the first time they had made love. Their wedding day. The way he had smiled when Luhki had been born. Jackson rolling around on the floor playing with their kids. Jackson smiling. Jackson laughing. It was interesting that with all the bad things that her husband had done, the memories to come first and foremost to her mind were the ones where he was expressing joy and love. He was Jackson…her Jackson…and now he was gone. Her mind immediately began the denial process. No. No. Jackson was not dead. It wasn't possible. It simply was not possible. He was Jackson Rippner for crying out loud! One fucking shot couldn't kill Jackson! He was beyond that kind of thing!

"You're lying!" she seethed up at the man from her position on the floor. Insulting a man of his size may have not been the smartest thing in the world to do, but at the moment Lisa didn't give a damn about the world.

"I assure you, Mrs. Rippner, I'm telling you nothing but the truth."

Lisa dropped her face into one hand and let out one loud sob, before turning her tear streaked face up to this man she barely knew. She needed to see him. She needed to prove that this wasn't real; that they had made a mistake. "Can I see his body?" she asked.

"Body?" the man asked, "Mrs. Rippner, have you not been listening to me?"

Oh God, Lisa thought, what had they done to Jackson's body?

"I should have warned you about Lisa, Bilks." A familiar voice said from the doorway, drawing Lisa's attention. She hadn't even heard the door open. "Sometimes, she doesn't pay attention when she should." Jackson was standing there, casually leaned against the door jam as though it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be doing at that moment.

A whole whirlwind of emotions washed over Lisa as she sat there on her knees looking at her husband who was, as it seemed, very much alive. In less than a second, she was on her feet and had slung her arms around his neck. Jackson let out a small yelp of pain, but didn't try to pull away and Lisa didn't let go.

"Rippner, what the hell are you doin' out of bed?" Dr. Bilks said, but there was a smile on his wide face.

"I heard my wife was here." Jackson said.

Lisa had pulled away slightly and she could take in his appearance. He looked wonderful to her, but in actuality, he looked horrible…like a walking corpse. He was pale with dark circles under his eyes, which themselves were bloodshot. He wore a button up shirt open so she could see the bandages on his chest and stomach and at the sight of the blood that had seeped through the gauze, her heart ached. Not as much as it had been two minutes earlier, but it still ached. She looked up into his big pretty eyes, bloodshot or not, and smiled at him. Her chin quivered as she cupped his face in her hands and pulled him to her for a kiss. Just a gentle, loving peck…but it was chalk full of every emotion she had been through in the past twenty or so hours. She knew he understood when he lightly tugged a small strand of her hair between two fingers. A single tear slid down her cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb.

"I thought you died." Lisa said in a very small voice. They were the first words she had said since Jackson had entered the room.

"Didn't you hear? I did." Jackson chuckled, but winced with the pain the slight laughter brought along with it.

"Don't joke." Lisa said, "I didn't know what I was gonna do."

"Hey," Jackson said, pulling her to him again, ignoring the throbbing soreness in his abdomen, "I'm not goin' anywhere. What? You think you can get rid of me that easy?"

This time, the kiss was not just a peck. Lisa pulled him to her, devouring his mouth with her own. She didn't want to not be touching him, so terrified that she would wake up and it would all be a dream and that he would vanish into the air like smoke.

"I love you." They were both saying in between kisses. It was an uncharacteristically tender moment, but under the circumstances, it couldn't have felt more right.

Lisa broke away from the kiss, but she made sure to keep her hands on him. Tears were steadily streaming down her face, but they weren't completely hopeless tears as they had been earlier. "Can you come home, now?" she asked Jackson, the looked to the doctor, "Can he come home, now?"

Dr. Bilks looked uneasy with the idea, but the look on Lisa's face got to him. "I suppose. I really shouldn't let him, but Rippner's a stubborn ass and I know that if I keep him here, I'll never hear the end of it." At this, Jackson smiled, sort of. It came out as more of a grimace. "But, he has to stay in bed for at least the next two weeks and no…" his eyes traveled back and forth between the two of them, "strenuous activity for at least three."

"No promises." Jackson said with a smirk.

"Get outta here." Bilks said and walked around behind his desk.

Nameless was waiting for them outside the office door. He started leading the two of them down the hall. The mere act of walking seemed to be taking every ounce of Jackson's strength, so Lisa attached herself to his side, his arm slung over her shoulders, she acted as his crutch, trying desperately to support his weight. Every step he took, his face winced and contorted into a new expression of pain. When they got into the elevator, Jackson propped himself up in the corner, Lisa remaining at his side.

The same suited men that had driven her to the building put her back in the SUV. They earned a look from Jackson when they tied the blindfold over her eyes, but he knew the procedure and didn't argue with them. Besides, fighting over such a small thing would have taken too much damn energy. The whole time though, Lisa clung to his hand like a child who was terrified of being separated from a parent. She kept waiting for Jackson to strike up conversation with the men in the car, but he never did. Throughout the entire ride back to the construction site, Jackson kept one hand intertwined with Lisa's. She wasn't complaining though. From the moment he had walked into the doctor's office, she hadn't had any desire to lose contact with him. As long as she was touching him, she knew that he was really there.

The vehicle came to a stop with a jolt and Lisa felt herself being pulled out once again. Her hand was ripped from Jackson's grasp and she let out a small scream and tried to get back to him. Large arms restrained her, holding her in place. The blindfold was pulled from her eyes and she saw that two other men were helping Jackson out of the large car. Once his feet were on the ground, he fixed the man who had his arms around Lisa with his infamous Jackson glare.

"You can let go of my wife, now." He growled.

As soon as she was free, Lisa flew to Jackson's side and he shifted his weight onto her, keeping his gaze fixed on the suited men until they were back in their car and driving away. He turned his gaze to Lisa, looking at her with such a weakened, longing expression, she could've stood there with him for the entire night. "Let's go home." He said.

Lisa nodded, helping him around to the passenger side of the car. Once he was in his seat, Lisa practically sprinted back around to the driver's side. Jackson had already reclined his seat back as far as it would go and was lying back almost completely flat. He had buttoned three buttons of his shirt, but after that he had found that he just didn't have the energy for something as mundane as buttoning his shirt. Lisa glanced over at her husband. Even in his weakened state, he looked positively beautiful. She gave in to steering the car with one hand, reaching the free one over and running it through Jackson's hair. His eyes had dropped closed and he seemed to be resting. A fresh batch of tears welled up inside of her. She was so sick of crying. It felt like all she had done for the past twenty four hours had been cry and cry and cry some more. She didn't want to cry anymore. But she couldn't help but think about how she had almost lost the most important man in her life.

She smiled at him, though his eyes were closed and he could not see her, before looking back to the road. She drove the long way back to her father's house in silence, but every now and then, she would reach over and run her hand over Jackson's hair. She needed to keep reassuring herself that he was really there. She still couldn't quite bring herself to believe that he was okay. Every time she touched him, she let out a small sigh of relief. He stirred slightly under her fingertips, but she never pulled her hand away. Just smiled and brushed her thumb over his forehead.

She guided the car into her father's driveway and gently reached over and squeezed Jackson's thigh to wake him. His eyes stirred for a second before his eyelids fluttered open. Lisa hurried from her seat to the other side of the car to help her husband stand. They moved incredibly slowly to the front door, which swung open just as Lisa was reaching for the doorknob. Joe rushed to Jackson's other side to his daughter and son in law.

"Good Lord, boy." Joe said, "Who'd you get yourself shot by this time?"

Jackson chuckled, "The babysitter."

"What?" Joe asked.

"Later, dad." Lisa said.

They hauled Jackson upstairs, taking each step very slowly in attempt to keep Jackson's discomfort to a minimum. When they got him to the bedroom, he practically fell into the bed.

"All right," Lisa said, straightening from where she was bent over helping Jackson get comfortable and turning to her father, ""Better let him rest, daddy. We'll see you in the morning."

"Okay, honey." Joe said, leaning forward and kissing his daughter on the forehead. "Get some sleep, son."

Jackson waved a hand in acknowledgement, his eyes already closed. As soon as the bedroom door was shut, Lisa snuggled onto the bed by his side.

"Where are my kids?" Jackson asked.

"Asleep. You can see them in the morning."

Jackson nodded. "Give me a kiss."

Lisa smiled and used her toes to push herself higher up on the bed and kissed his lips. Jackson's hand slid down her back and squeezed her bottom. Lisa laughed and pulled away from the kiss.

"Hey, now. The doctor said no strenuous activity." She scolded over a smile.

"Leese," Jackson said, his tone dead serious, "all that means is that you have to do all the work."

Lisa laughed.

"I, for one," Jackson continued, "am willing to make that sacrifice."

"Jackson, baby, I love you. Now, shut up and go to sleep."

Author's Note: Okay, did anybody really think that I was gonna let Jackson die? What kind of a heartless bitch do you think I am? Just kidding. But, do tell me what you think! There only one more chapter to go, but it won't be posted until I am completely happy with it so bear with me for a little bit longer, kay? Thanks:)