You Failed, Jack

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Chapter Ten

It had been nine months since Lisa had been wrenched from his grasp. His claws had been ripped loose from her and he had been taken away. It was so that he could 'heal' according to the doctors.

For nine months, he suffered alone, always wondering if he would ever see her again. He had been imprisoned in the hospital ever since he had 'attacked' her. He was recuperating, but he was still far from a release.

None of the staff would answer his questions and inquires about Lisa Reisert. It was almost as if he were speaking in some foreign language unknown to them. They never replied and it only infuriated him even more.

All I want is a little goddamn information—some piece of mind. I should have been released ages ago, so why are they still keeping me around? Why won't they tell me about Lisa?

He had survived all of his potentially fatal wounds. The bullet she had fired at his head had grazed his skull, but he had not suffered any real damage. His brain had been left unharmed. The rest of the bullet holes had healed up nicely.

Where is Lisa?

Jackson lifted himself from the hospital bed. Apparently, she had not pressed charges because he was free to wander about the hospital. He was not, however, free to leave. Not yet.

He wandered around, quietly observing the people around him and keeping his ears open and alert for any news that pertained to him or Lisa. He had to find her—he could not live without her. He was obsessed with her.

He could not kill her; even though he was thoroughly pissed at her.

The joys of being an independent contractor. I am not obligated to kill her. I did not take a job against her. I simply wanted revenge. Revenge of the wrong sort.

"…Reisert. Yeah, she's being wheeled into maternity. Very hush-hush…" Jackson caught snatches of a nurse's conversation.

He bolted for the maternity ward. Lisa, what happened to you? Why are they sending you there? Are you having a child?

Then, he remembered. He remembered her crying about a rape and then he, he raped her. Then she crawled away from him to sob and shake. If she was having a baby, it was because of him. He was the father.

He could hear screams with sudden clarity. He had tuned out the other sounds of the noisy hospital. It was Lisa. That was her screaming.

Lisa, are they hurting you? Lisa? Where are you?

Frozen pools of ice masked as eyes searched the computer monitor behind the abandoned nurse's station. Reisert, where is Reisert? Where is my Lisa?

It suddenly appeared before his eyes. Room 1019—how ironic. Should I bring you a Sea Breeze too? For old time's sake?

The screams were louder. He quickened his pace and burst into the room. The doctor at the foot of Lisa's bed gave him an odd look.

"Finally, they sent someone. She's delivering. Scrub in now," the doctor told him.

She thought he was a nurse. Or something. Jackson was not entirely sure what he had been mistaken for.

He glanced over at the woman lying in the bed. It was his beautiful Lisa, clutched in the throws of agony and pain. Her knees were bent—a replacement perhaps?—and she was covered in sweat. The world began to clear again and for the first time since he had been forcibly parted from her, he actually began to think. His brain was in over-drive; plotting to get her back.

Jackson did as he had been instructed and 'scrubbed in'. Rubber gloves on his hands and a mask over his face helped keep germs from passing to the baby. It also helped conceal his identity, but not that Lisa was in a very aware mode at the moment.

"The baby's coming. Just another big push, Lisa," the doctor coached.

He was frozen; staring at small form that was slowly being extracted from Lisa. His child.

He zoned out once more, until the doctor announced, "You have a healthy baby girl, Lisa. Is there anyone I should tell?"

"No," Lisa spoke softly.

The baby was handed off to him and he went to work cleaning up the baby. It was an automatic response—he must have been in the hospital too long.

Dark hair covered her head—his hair. He could not see what color eyes their baby had, but he secretly hoped that it was Lisa's sparkling green. His daughter was angry and screaming at bright world that she had been born into. Just like your mother…

"I'll be right back," the doctor said before exiting the room.

Jackson wrapped up the newborn and walked over to the exhausted Lisa.

"Can I hold her?" she asked him weakly, her arms reaching out for her baby.

"We did good, didn't we, Leese?" he questioned her, his voice falsely cheery. "She's a perfect mix. Very angry just like you though… but she has my hair…"

"Who are you?" Lisa demanded, shrinking back into the bed and reached towards a nurse call button.

"Why, Lisa, it's me," he smirked, removing his mask with one hand while cradling the baby in the other. "Who'd you think it was?"

Lisa screamed and fumbled for the call button.

"You press that button and I drop the baby," he warned, hissing in her ear. "Want to see if she survives a fall to the hard floor?"

She shook but made no move towards the button. "Please, don't hurt her. She has nothing to do with this."

"Actually, she has everything to do with this. If you think I'm gone, then you're sadly mistaken Lisa. I'll never be gone."

"What do you want, Jackson? What is that you want?"

"I just want you, Leese. It's as simple as that. And I won't stop until I get what I want."

She started to sob. Waterworks again, Lisa? How pathetic you are.

"Consider this a friendly warning: try to run and I'll kill our child. I never let go of what's mine."

"Please, you don't have to do this…" Lisa begged, more afraid for her child's life than her own.

"I'll see you soon, Lisa. I promise," he sneered as he wandered towards the door. "And we both know that I never lie."

With that, he stalked out of her room carrying their newborn daughter. Lisa's cries could still be heard until he was far away.

I never fail… I always get what I want. She'll come back to me. It's only a matter of time…

Jackson Rippner was no longer content to hang around the hospital. As a matter of fact, he escaped less than an hour later, with Lisa's baby in tow. It was his child as well… his leverage to getting back the only thing that mattered.

Lisa…

Author's Notes:

Okay, that's a very cliffie ending, but it'll lead into a new story. I don't know what it will be called it, but it will most likely be from Lisa's POV as she struggles with what he's done to her and fights to get her baby back. I know, I thought I'd kill Jackson off in this story, but that's for the next one. Thanks so much for all the reviews and encouragement!