When Love Takes You In
Disclaimer: I do not own Brokeback Mountain.
Author's Notes: I had this chapter done a few days ago, but after reading all of your wonderful reviews… I tore it out of my notebook and rewrote it because you all deserved better than what I had. I was trying to find an easy way to get the story where I wanted it and I took a shortcut and that resulted in the chapter being too OOC for me to post. So I rewrote it for ya'll… because I like you all that much.
Chapter Two
Ennis hurried through the hospital, making his way to Jack's room. He ignored a nurse who tried in vain to make him wait until Jack was awake.
When he stepped into Jack Twist's room, he felt like all his breath was sucked out of his lungs. Jack looked so fragile and helpless, not like the man Ennis knew, the one who held him at nights and kept the badness of the world at bay for a while each time.
Now the usually tanned skin looked pale and waxy, save for the colorful bruises and red swelled skin surrounding open wounds. One leg was encased in a plaster cast and both arms were bandaged between wrist and elbow. There was a large bandage around Jack's head and a large patch bandage over the right side of his face.
Ennis ran a hand lightly over any uninjured parts of Jack's body and screwed his eyes shut, trying to keep at bay all the unwelcome images his imagination kept feeding him. He shrugged and nonchalantly wiped away an unwelcome tear from his eyes.
"Jack fuckin' Twist…" he managed to choke out, "You're one helluva mess."
"Mmm… Ennis…"Jack mumbled, making Ennis jump slightly in surprise. Jack shifted in his drugged sleep and Ennis started rubbing Jack's hands to encourage him to wake up. His efforts were rewarded when Jack's eyes fluttered open and rested on Ennis's hunched form.
"I thought I dreamed you." Jack smiled up at Ennis. Ennis straightened up and looked over at Jack's face.
"No dream, bud. I'm here… had to take emergency time off work to get here. Might have to up and quit if you need me to." Ennis said bluntly.
"Ennis, I-"
"I was kinda hopin' that you would want to come back with me when you got out of the hospital."
"I have a family, Ennis… here in Texas." Jack pointed out.
"I know that. I also had my girls in Wyoming all those times you asked me to come out here." Ennis shot back. He took a breath before speaking again. "I didn't come to start another fight. It ain't fair for me to ask you to leave what I couldn't. But I love you, Jack Twist."
Jack's face showed his surprise.
"Ennis, you don't even know what yer sayin'. Ya never told me that before." he protested.
"I never knew it before. Well…. I knew it was something… I didn't know the word for it because it ain't supposed to happen between to guys. But sure enough…. That's what it is." Ennis fiddled with the fabric of his shirt as he spoke, still not used to expressing such emotion through words.
"Ennis… shit. I love you… known that since our first great fuck up in Brokeback. Always thought you'd leave me forever if I came out and said it." Jack admitted. "And now… I'm scared what'll happen to us now that it's out there. I do want to be with you… prolly woulda stayed in Wyoming if you'd asked me years ago… my kid hates me (damn Lureen's daddy did everything he could to turn him against me before he died) and my wife stopped caring about anything but money several years ago."
"So then do it. Come with me."
"What about the two men when you were little, Ennis? Killed because they were together. Ya said that you felt like everybody knew about us. What if people did find out?" Jack asked. Always the one who never cared what anybody thought as long as he and Ennis were together, he was now playing Ennis's part.
"Jack… what did they do to you to make you so afraid? I know you ain't no stranger to pain and broken bones. They've got you scared shitless…. Tell me everythin'." Ennis put a hand to Jack's left cheek and rubbed his thumb under Jack's lips. Jack turned his face away from Ennis's hand and closed his eyes.
"Nothin, Ennis. Nothin' but what you see."
"Don't you lie to me, Jack Twist. I know when yer lyin'." Ennis growled. Not because he was mad, but he thought it would be the only way to make Jack talk. He needed to hear it from Jack.
"They… three guys… I knew them. They were regular helpers in school things and I saw them a lot. They came after me on the back roads. They got me over the head with a tire iron…. Got me good. I fell fast and they turned me over and… ah… well then they came at me over and over with that thing. Said I wouldn't be so much a pretty boy when they got done with me. Said nobody, man or woman, would ever fuck someone as ugly as I would be when they got finished. They wanted to get at my face real bad…. Ended up getting my arms a lot though… I tried not to let them at me." Jack told Ennis. Alone, that story was bad enough… but Ennis could still see Jack hiding something.
"Jack, yer still the only one I want. Scars be damned." Ennis leaned in to kiss Jack, but got his cheek when Jack turned his head. Hurt filled Ennis's eyes and Jack immediately felt guilty for that. It didn't stop Ennis though. He kissed Jack's hands and nuzzled his own face in them.
"I know you still ain't tellin' me everything. I will still love you no matter what." He whispered. He could see Jack's defenses fall down. He mumbled something that Ennis couldn't make out.
"Huh?"
"They fucked me. I never wanted them too, I promise. It was three against one and I couldn't stop them, Ennis. I tried… I swear I tried." Jack said, meekly. His eyes were wet with tears of shame and guilt.
"Shit. Jack, I'll kill 'em. They did that to you? Those worthless sons of whore-bitches." Ennis balled his hands into tights fists and he thought his blood would get so hot that it would boil.
"Yer not mad at me?" Jack asked, surprised. Ennis stared at him.
"You fuckin' crazy? What'd you do so bad? Nothin'! They did this to you and they will pay. They'll pay and then I'm gettin' you so far away from this place… you'll forget all about it. Jack, I swear." Ennis promised, though Jack never asked him to swear anything and Ennis really wasn't the swearing kind.
End chapter two
Author's Notes: Yes that last sentence was a little homage to the written book. Yay.
