"Bring him in."

Ennis took long strides to the nearest couch and the laid Jack's body down, legs first, head second, as Laureen ran to the phone. He wasn't the praying kind but as he knelt beside Jack, still with a continuous flow of tears down his cheek, he tilted up his head, folded his hands, and began whispering incoherent pleas. After finishing his conversation with the heavens, Ennis began to stroke Jack's cheek. The corners of Jack's mouth were quivering. He was trying to smile. Ennis pressed their foreheads together again, "Jack don't even move, you're alright now, just a short time now."

Laureen stepped into the living room, she had not wanted to believe those two were lovers, but what choice did she have? Laureen began to cry, but for a different reason than Ennis. She had spent a good deal of her life with someone who was never really in love with her. She knew at one point they had loved each other but those feeling had long since died and she now knew he had always had Ennis as his true love anyway.

She wiped her eyes lightly then walked closer to her husband and his "fishing buddy," delicately she said, "Ennis," he immediately looked up for a report. Dammit, he loved Jack so much. She continued, "The doctor should be here within a half hour, until then he said we should try to keep pressure where he's still bleeding and get him cleaned up as best we can."

"Alright," Ennis stood up and gestured for Laureen to take over.

"You know what Ennis," she started tearing again, "I think it'd be best if you do the most of this." Ennis nodded in agreement, almost thankfully. Laureen stepped in front of Jack and bent down to lay a final kiss on his forehead, "You were good to me Jack Twist, thank you."

She stood up and started back towards the kitchen, "I'll be right back with some rags."

Ennis pulled up a chair next to Jack, and with his lips next to Jack's ear he continued whispering encouraging words, meant more for himself than Jack.

Laureen returned, a pile of old shirts and towels in her arms. "Here," she placed the cloths down on the coffee table next to Ennis, "Feel free to rip them anyway which way you want. I'll get some water to soak 'em."

Ennis knew this was hard and sudden on Laureen and he almost wanted to pause and apologize to her, but there was no time for that. He took the first shirt off the pile, a white t-shirt. He ripped off a strip from the bottom and then turned back to Jack. Where to start? First he tenderly placed a hand on Jack's cheek, "Jack, I have to get some bandages on you," Ennis started choking on his tears as he tried to speak, "don't let me hurt you, alright?"

Jack opened his mouth slightly, ready to respond, but Ennis, realizing his mistake in asking a question, placed his fingers over Jack's lips not wanting him to expend anymore energy.

Ennis began by undoing the buttons on Jack's shirt. He remembered how he had done this so many times before, but never under such circumstances. When the last was undone, he took one edge of the shirt and began to pull gently, tugging the blood soaked material away from Jack's wounds. Ennis winced for Jack as he continued to reveal more and more of Jack's maimed torso.

He heard a whine escape Jack's lips so he immediately dropped what he had and shifted himself to sit before Jack's head. Ennis dropped down, lying his head next to Jack's, "I'm so sorry."

Jack and Ennis both knew that he needed these bandages, and that the pain he was going through couldn't be spared, but Ennis especially was just wishing for it to end.

Laureen had been watching them in the kitchen doorway for some time now, still holding a pail of water in her hand. She had never had any opposition to queers, and especially now that she saw the beauty of it. But it was her husband. Her husband. She knew it was only fair to give him up after this, and she knew that wouldn't be the hard part for her. For a long time now she and Jack had been on the edge of divorce. But it was more so a blow to her pride, the idea that she was led on for so long just to find out she had always been lied to, that would leave her wounded.

She walked forward setting down next to Ennis and starting to soak cloths from the pile. She began with Jack's arms, wiping away the blood as gently as possible as it was evident that his arms had been bruised and probably broken.

A long silence stood, interrupted only by Jack's heavy, unsteady breathing and Ennis's occasional sob. He was trying so hard to act a man before Laureen but every time he looked up to his Jack's face, a hurt stirred within in him and forced the tears out. Laureen had noticed this.

"Ennis, it's alright, you can cry all you want to."

Ennis glanced over at her, surprised and ashamed. Jack had found himself a smart woman.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is much harder for you than me, please cry, Jack deserves it."

Ennis nodded, she was right.

After cleansing Jack as best she could, Laureen stood up, patting both Jack and Ennis on the shoulder. She smiled then walked off.

Ennis stayed and continued to wrap Jack's torso to stop the flow of blood out of his body.

Jack was guiltily loving this, of course he was in a great deal of pain, his body ached and cried out all over, but for some reason, Ennis, the one he loved, was here, taking care of him. He couldn't understand how or why Ennis had come to that exact spot in Texas where he was lying, ready for his life to end. Ennis had never even come to visit him before. Maybe Ennis had finally come around, ready to take him up on his offer so that the two of them could get away and be together without end. Or maybe Ennis had come to end everything. Maybe he had thought the best way to say goodbye was in person. Maybe he was only doing this now because he felt he had to. Jack would not be able to tolerate that. He couldn't have these moments where he felt so close to Ennis, only for them to be his last with his love.

Jack whined again. As he had hoped, Ennis dropped everything and sat before Jack's head again. Ennis placed a comforting hand on Jack's cheek.

"What is it? Jack, did I hurt you? Are the bandages too-"

He was cut off by Jack's own strained words, "I need to know, I need to know you ain't leaving."

Ennis was almost hurt by Jack's statement and was certainly shocked. "Jack…" he didn't know what to say, "no, I'm not leavin', I'm never leavin' again."

Jack slightly relaxed.

"Jack, the reason I'm here," he took a deep breath and cleared his eyes, "I wanted to take ya up on that offer. I, I want ta start a life with you."

That was all Jack needed to hear. The corners of his mouth began to quiver again, and Ennis once more prevented him from wasting energy but this time with his own lips. Ennis didn't expect Jack to kiss him back, he just needed Jack to know he loved him.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

The doctor soon showed, and could only frown on Jack's condition, he found most of his ribs were broken, as well as his left leg and right wrist. The gashes were deep and would require much attention as well as stitches later. The bruises he said would heal with time, but only depending on if the rest of Jack's condition improves.

Ennis stumbled on these words. If. What the hell was he talking about, if.

Ennis couldn't say anything as long as the doctor was there, even with as much as he wanted to jump on the doctor and knock him down, he had to just let Laureen be Jack's concerned wife as he sat in the corner as the "co-worker."

The doctor even made a comment on how well Laureen had done the makeshift bandages, and she just smiled guiltily.

What the doctor couldn't understand was what had happened to Jack to bruise him up this badly. When he asked Ennis's face grew hot but Laureen played it cool and said, "He was just working on the car in the garage, there was some backfire or something I guess, we heard an explosion an' dragged him out like this."

He had bought it.

He was gone not soon enough, leaving with the words, "He's ain't to move for at least a month. I'll be back to give him casts tomorrow, but he's still gonna be needing his bandages changed twice a day."

Laureen nodded with a quick glance at Ennis.

The doctor left and Ennis jumped to join Laureen at Jack's side.

Laureen had been holding Jack's hand for a show of her support when the doctor was there but as he left and Ennis came running over, she handed it to him instead.

"Listen you two, I've got to get Bobby from school, we'll tell him the same thing we told the doctor." She stood up, "Also, this is gonna be hard enough on the little one, so when he's home just play it cool alright guys?"

Ennis nodded and Jack blinked, slightly tilting his head to respond. The doctor had taken a good look at Jack's eye and cleared away the clots of blood to enable both his eyes to function again.

Laureen left, taking the less used car, instead of the truck which had supposedly "backfired."

Ennis had a million things he wanted to say to Jack, but all he managed was, "You scared the shit out a' me."

Jack also had it easier smiling now, "Sorry 'bout that."

Ennis gave a pained smile. Then threw his head into his hands, "Ah Christ, this is all my fault Jack."

"What in hell gave you that idea?"

"Why couldn't I have just taken your offer when you first made it?"

"I tell you what. We could had a good life together, fuckin' real good life. Had us a place of our own. But you didn't want it, Ennis."

Ennis painfully remembered Jack's words from their last trip to Brokeback.

"Ennis, it don't matter no more. We're both together now, and it's stayin' that way for a long time."

Ennis turned to face Jack, his head still cast in his hands. Jack gave him that damned smile. Ennis laughed, tears of joy now rolling down his cheeks, "Jack Fucking Twist."

Ennis caressed Jack's cheek and then leaned in for kiss.