Always Look Forward
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Ten
The next few hours were a blur for Jackson.
Lisa had been on the verge of dying when the EMTs arrived and started to care for her. Henrietta and JR had been herded away from Lisa by a kindly police officer, who had followed the EMTs to the scene. Jackson was pried away from her side to be treated for his gunshot wound. Both the Rippners went straight into surgery upon arrival at the nearby hospital.
Henrietta and JR were taken to the hospital as well by the police officer, who called Joe Reisert to meet them there. If Joe had seemed surprised by receiving a phone call from the police, he showed no signs of it.
When Jackson woke up, he was mildly surprised to see Henrietta and JR asleep on the nearby bed and Joe staring at him from the chair the older man had pulled up between the beds. Joe seemed incredibly suspicious of him.
"How's Lisa?" croaked Jackson, not bothering to have a staring contest with Joe. He glanced over towards the twins, and was extremely grateful that they were okay. Emotionally, they would be scared, but he could see no physical marks upon them.
"Somewhat stable. You aren't allowed to see her," Joe answered, anticipating Jackson's next question.
"Why the hell not?"
"The police want to question both of you. They found her blood on your knife with your fingerprints at the scene, as well as the gun that shot you with her fingerprints on it. They are not letting either of you near each other until they figure this matter out. I'm frankly surprised that they are letting me and the children visit."
"Why aren't you with Lisa?"
"No visitors are allowed to see her right now. Let's stop beating around the bush, shall we?" said Joe, cutting to the chase. "What happened?"
Jackson sighed, before saying, "It was all Jack. He got the company set after us. The company kidnapped Henrietta and JR and Lisa hit me with a car. She was rescuing them when I was sent to the safe house where they all were. Jack made me attack her and she attacked me back when Jack had me take a swipe at the twins."
"Mr. Rippner?" a knock sounded at the door, startling both of the men. They looked up and noticed a police officer.
"Yes?" rasped Jackson.
"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"Not at all," lied Jackson. It was one of the few times that he would ever lie in his life. Unlike most people in his profession, he preferred to tell the truth.
"Is this the first time that there has been a domestic dispute between you and your wife, Lisa?"
"I don't know about 'domestic dispute', but yes we have had our fair share of fights. Never like this before though."
"What about the time that a police report was filed, about six years ago, saying that you threatened her aboard an airplane and then chased her with a knife around her father's house? It says here that you were shot twice, stabbed with a shoe, and stabbed with a pen. What do you have to say about that?" questioned the police officer, bringing up the red eye.
Fuck. He had thought that everything had been dealt with concerning that flight. Apparently not.
"It was a misunderstanding, as was our latest fight," Jackson said with a smirk. "I love my wife."
"Did you, or did you not, stab your wife with a knife?"
"Yes, I did, but I was not in the right state of mind at the time."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm mentally ill due to various traumas inflicted upon me over the years. It causes me to do things that I regret, such as hurt Lisa. Lisa understands and she hurts me back to stop it," Jackson explained coolly.
"Hmm," muttered the police officer, recording what Jackson stated into his notebook. "You will have to be examined by a mental health professional to determine the accuracy of this claim. Until then, there is a restraining order preventing you from going near or contacting Lisa Rippner as well as Henrietta Rippner and Jackson Joseph Rippner. I'm sorry Mr. Reisert, but you will have to take the children out of the room and away from Mr. Rippner."
"What?" cried Jackson in disbelief. "Who authorized you to keep me from my family?"
"Jackson, leave it," hissed Joe, standing up and heading over to wake up the twins.
"Who told you to make that order?"
"I did," admitted Joe and Jackson focused his blinding blue gaze upon him. "I gave the order. It's just temporary—until Lisa can tell us otherwise. It's not that I don't trust you, Jackson, I just don't trust Jack."
Jackson could not believe what he was hearing. Joe was taking his children away from him and the police were keeping Lisa hidden from him. He had saved his family and defeated Jack only to lose them all.
"Grandpa? What's happening?" asked a sleepy JR.
"We've got to go back to my house and leave your daddy alone for awhile," Joe told the miniature Jackson.
"Why?" questioned Henrietta, rubbing the sleep from her blue eyes.
"Your daddy needs to sleep, right Jackson?" Joe said pointedly.
Jackson was shocked. Joe wanted him to corroborate with him and second what he had said. He wanted Jackson to send his own children away.
"Is that true, daddy?" JR looked him square in the eye. "Are you sleepy?"
"Yes," nodded Jackson, his voice breaking from the emotional pain that he was experiencing. "You have to listen to grandpa and go with him because daddy's tired."
"But I don't want to go," pouted JR. Henrietta did not protest because she had seen him stab Lisa. She was afraid of him. It was the other way around for JR. He had only seen Lisa shoot Jackson. "Do I have to go, daddy?"
"Yes, you do. Daddy needs to sleep. Grandpa will look after you and bring you back to see me soon, okay?"
JR looked hurt, but he relented. Not before tackling Jackson and giving him a hug though. Jackson ignored the pain that his son unknowingly caused and hugged him back, not wanting to let go because he did not know when he would ever see his children again.
"Be good for grandpa," Jackson called after him and Henrietta.
"Thank you for making this easy, Jackson," Joe whispered before following the twins.
Jackson glared at his retreating back, hating him for taking his children away. He knew that Joe had their best interests at heart, but it did nothing to lessen the pain.
"Mr. Rippner, I will try and track down someone willing to give you a mental evaluation," announced the police officer before he followed Joe out the door.
Jackson gritted his teeth. He wished that he could be following the group out the door and leaving the hospital with Lisa, Henrietta, and JR in tow. He wanted his family back and he wanted their life to go back to normal—or at least normal for the Rippners.
Author's Notes:
In the next chapter, Jackson gets a mental evaluation and Lisa wakes up. Lisa really could have died or lived, but if she was alive, it would give Jackson something more to fight for. The road to ridding himself of Jack is just beginning and it's not going to be easy. Enjoy!