A/N: I forgot the disclaimer on the first chapter so here it is: I do not own 24 or any of the characthers, nor is any profit being made from the publishing of this story. Ok now that's done, here's chapter two.

Chapter 2

About eight hours later, Jack woke up feeling very groggy and confused. It took his mind a moment to register where he was, but the warm body lying on his chest quickly jogged his memory. He smiled down at Audrey, glad to be lucky enough to hold her in his arms again. He had missed her so much during the time he was gone. He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and carefully extracted himself out of bed to get in the shower.

When Jack exited the bathroom fifteen minutes later, he found Audrey sitting up in bed, talking on the phone.

"Yeah Dad, I should be able to make it over there some time later today or early tomorrow," she said to her father. Jack watched her from behind as she listened to her father speak on the other end.

"I know, I love you too, Dad. I'll see you soon. Bye." Audrey finished her conversation with her father and hung up the phone. She turned around to find Jack staring at her, with a bath towel wrapped around his waist and towel trying his wet hair.

"Hey," she greeted him, "when did you get up?"

"About twenty minutes ago. How's your father doing?" he asked.

"He's doing great. He got out of ICU earlier this morning and said that the hospital wanted to keep him there for a few days to make sure he heals properly. I was hoping to stop over to see him today or tomorrow."

"Well, it's almost 3:30 now, why don't we get dressed and head over there. Then, we can go out to dinner somewhere."

"Sounds like a plan," she said with a smile. "I'm gonna go hop in the shower real quick while you get dressed." Audrey crawled over to him on the other side of the bed, gave him a quick kiss and headed for the bathroom.

Jack smiled and retrieved his shoulder bag from the living room. CTU had been kind enough to provide him with some extra clothes until he was able to retrieve his things from Diane's house and do some shopping. He pulled out the dark jeans and button up, flannel, short sleeved shirt out of his bag and threw them on.

As he waited for Audrey to finish in the bathroom, he wandered out into the living room and decided to turn on the TV. He wasn't surprised in the least to see almost every news channel hosting information about the terrorists, the nerve gas, Palmer's assassination, and Logan's unexpected 'resignation' from office.

As he stared at the TV, barley even listening, his thoughts began to wander to his unresolved situation with the Chinese government. He had almost forgotten about his unfortunate predicament, as he was so caught up in Audrey.

Almost being the keyword there,he thought ironcially.He knew that at his debriefing tomorrow, newly inaugurated President Gardner would have to decide whether or not to turn him over to the Chinese.

Jack could only hope that his actions over the past twenty-four hours were enough to redeem him in the eyes of the President, and that he would be allowed to stay in the U.S. with Audrey. Shaking those thoughts from his head, resolute to wait and see what happened tomorrow, and enjoy every second he had, in casehe didn't come back,he shut the TV off and headed back into the bedroom, where Audrey was just finishing applying her makeup.

God, she looks gorgeous, Jack thought as he took in her appearance.

She was dressed in tight jeans that accentuated her every curve perfectly and a snug light blue sweater. Her blonde hair was down and cascaded over her shoulders beautifully. When she noticed him in the mirror, she turned around and smiled at him, making him smile in return.

"You look great" he said, making her blush slightly.

"Thank you, and you don't look so bad yourself," she replied with a twinkle in her eye.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my purse." She said as she walked into the living room, Jack following her, and grabbed her purse off the table. Jack placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the door, grabbing his jacket off the hook on the way out. When they arrived at the lobby, they exited the hotel through the back door and headed out to the back parking lot. After searching the parking lot, they found a green Jeep Cherokee sitting in spot 1405, and climbed in. Jack started the car, pulled out of the lot and headed towards the hospital.