Martha snapped out of her stare.
"Jack!" She exclaimed, swinging her arms around his neck for a hug. She felt tears stream down her cheeks as he gently held her tight, just like he used to do. Jack was caught in the moment, he was so happy to see Martha that he forgot about all of the pain she'd caused him when she walked out of Summer Bay 3 months ago. He was just so pleased to have her back in his arms again, where she belonged. However, their special moment was over quickly, as both of them almost simultaneously let go and stepped away from each other, desperately thinking of an excuse for their behaviour. After a long pause, they were both still bemused as to why they'd so easily forgotten the past few months of heartache, and had so willingly fallen back into each others arms. An awkward moment swept across them, until Jack asked the question that Martha had been dreading.
"Why are you crying?" he asked, taking in her upset expression. "You don't look too good." he added, looking her up and down. He was right; she didn't look good, not up to Martha's usually beautiful standards anyway. She'd drastically changed her hair. It wasn't as natural and beautiful as before, it had obviously been coloured a different shade of brown. It was also cut to her shoulders and straightened, giving her hair no life whatsoever. Her clothes were different from what she used to wear too. They were baggy and shapeless; her top was hanging from her shoulders, giving no definition to the beautiful figure Jack knew and imagined she had underneath. She looked pale and ill; her eyes were bloodshot from the tears that had been exhumed from deep inside her pain. Martha soon realised why Jack was staring at her, and quickly thought of something to say, to try to stop him from studying her messy appearance.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, looking towards the nursery. But she immediately wished she hadn't, as now her tears were re-forming, and as a result of their desperate bid to escape, a single tear trickled down from the corner of her eye. It slipped down her face, catching Jack's attention.
"Martha…" he said weakly, watching helplessly on as Martha began to get upset. "Please, tell me what's up." he begged. She simply looked away, wiping the tears roughly from her damp cheeks. After recollecting her breathing, and controlling her tears, she returned to meet Jack's gaze with two glassy eyes.
"Please, don't." She muttered. Jack sighed.
"Fine, but can we still talk?" Jack asked, wanting to find out what he'd done to force Martha to go away so suddenly. Martha thought for a moment. She'd been so lonely, and an offer like this had not come her way recently. Dr Free had been her only friend these last 3 months, and Martha couldn't help but think that it was merely because of sympathy. A bit of friendly conversation with the man she adored couldn't really cause any problems; as long as she didn't let anything slip...
"Fine." Martha nodded. A wide grin appeared on Jack's face.
"Good." He smiled, staring into her heavenly eyes. Even though her appearance was less than perfect, he still thought that she was the most beautiful woman in the room. Jack realised that he'd been smiling into Martha's eyes for too long and looked away, embarrassed.
"Erm, I'm just going to find Lara. My shift's over now anyway." He said, not making eye contact again, in fear that he wouldn't be able to break it. Martha nodded as he hurriedly walked off, in the direction of where he thought Lara would be. He was both excited and confused. It had been the first time he'd seen her since she had packed her bags and left her friends and family behind. The day had been stained into Jack's mind: the day where she had sent him a text, asking him to meet her on the beach. The day that she had broken up with him. Her only reasoning was that she "simply didn't love him." Jack's heart had ached for days, weeks, months, and was just beginning to mend. He'd never fully understood why she'd so suddenly realised that she didn't love him anymore. They'd been together for a year since the cyclone, and everything had been going great, so great that Jack had been planning to propose. He'd thought that him and Martha were meant to be together till the end, but he had obviously been mistaken.
Jack and Martha sat down in the hospital café, silently waiting for the other to talk.
"Well..?" She said, pushing Jack to begin the conversation. Jack looked at her, and watched her take a drink of water.
"You sure you don't want anything to eat? Muffin? Cake?" He asked, but Martha quickly shook her head.
"No! Thanks." She responded automatically. Jack lifted an eyebrow.
"Okay…" he mumbled. He stared at her for a moment, bringing himself to ask the question that somehow he was both desperate and afraid of finding the answer to. "Why did you go?" he asked through deep breathing. Martha sighed.
"I told you all! I just needed to get out of there, it bored me." she lied. Jack shook his head.
"Firstly, I know that's not true. You love that place; I know you do. And secondly; you loved me. What happened?" He asked. Martha looked at her hands; she couldn't look into his eyes when she was about to tell him a heartbreaking lie.
"Nothing happened, because I never did love you." She stated. Jack reached over for her hands. Her vision travelled up his arm, neck and face to then meet his eyes.
"No, Mac. Tell me the truth." he pleaded. Martha swallowed. She opened her mouth to repeat what she'd said before, but no sound came out.
"Look me in the eye and tell me you never loved me." He said. Martha froze, confirming Jack's thoughts.
"What did I do so wrong Martha?" He asked.
"You did nothing wrong." She mumbled.
"Then why did you leave! Give me the real reason this time…" He ordered.
"Jack, I don't want to bring this back up again." She began.
"But Martha-"
"I want to go back to the bay; to see Tash, Robbie and the others." She said. "I don't need to go with you; I can go on my own if you're going to carry on talking about this." She said. Jack sighed, frustrated and angry. He stood up and tucked his chair in.
"Fine." he said walking out of the door and following her to the car park; where they caught a taxi to the diner.
After Martha had settled in, and had greeted her friends and family, she went to Tasha and Robbie's apartment with Jack. She was so excited to see her best friend; she couldn't believe how much she had missed her these past 3 months. She'd desperately wanted her best friend around, to comfort her, and to cheer her up. But unfortunately Tasha hadn't been able to offer her a shoulder to cry on, as Tasha had never been near to witness Martha's tears.
"MAC!" Tasha screamed, practically jumping on Martha when she saw her at her door.
"Oh, hey hey!" Martha exclaimed, gently prising Tasha off her, and touching her belly. She suddenly felt a bit sick.
"You okay Mac?" Tasha and Jack both looked extremely worried as Martha had now turned very pale, and had both hands on her stomach.
"Yea, just feel a bit queasy, that's all." She said, forcing a smile. Jack looked on as Tasha and Martha happily walked off further into the apartment, giggling and chatting away. He'd decided to ignore Martha's strange behaviour, for now.
Tasha, Martha, Robbie and Jack were all sat in the living room, laughing and joking over empty bottles of beer; reminiscing about old times, and sharing new events that Martha had missed. She was really enjoying herself, spending time with her three best friends was everything she'd longed for during the past few lonely months, and now she was experiencing it in its full glory. She'd occasionally look over at Jack, hoping that he wouldn't be also looking in her direction, but unfortunately he always was. At first, they looked away instantly, embarrassed and confused, but after the third or fourth glance, Jack began to smile in return. Their eyes would lock, and they'd both drift off in their own thoughts, their own worlds that were filled with the happy moments they'd both shared. These wondrous, magical memories were usually interrupted by Robbie and Tasha, who misreading the stares for awkward, hate filled glares, would interrupt using jokes, or just different topics. However, on this occasion, there was another interruption. A baby crying.
"Oh, I'll get her!" Tasha squeaked excitedly. Martha looked around, confused.
"Was that a baby I just heard?" She asked. Jack and Robbie both looked at her concerned.
"Yea, of course. Tasha was pregnant before you left. 8 months pregnant." Robbie reminded her. Martha lifted her hand to her head.
"I'm so stupid." She mumbled. She heard the faint crying grow louder as Tasha carried the baby into the living room. She was soon in view, with the beautiful baby in her arms.
"Meet Michelle." She smiled, holding the precious 2 month old out for Martha to hold. Martha forced a sweet smile, but didn't reach out to hold her; instead she simply rubbed her own belly. She hadn't realised she was doing this; she'd got in to the habit of caressing or stroking her stomach absent-mindedly. Martha stared at the baby; the beautiful, cherub faced baby.
"Martha, are you okay?" Jack asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. Robbie and Tasha were also very concerned about her weird behaviour, but felt it was best not to make too much of a big deal. Martha snapped out of her daydream and sensed the worried look on her three friend's faces. She knew the only thing she could do to avoid suspicion was to blame it on lack of sleep, and hold Michelle. As Tasha passed her child over, Martha could feel the warmth radiating off its skin. The cute, tiny baby was asleep in her arms, only moving to fidget with her hands, or wiggle her toes. Martha giggled as she sat down with the baby, and held Michelle's hand tight.
"How small is her hand? It's teeny-weeny!" Martha laughed, rubbing Michelle's cheek. "Oh! And look at them cute itsy feet! Aren't they just adorable!" She laughed, stroking the tiny feet that were on the end of Michelle's chubby little legs. Jack, Tasha and Robbie all watched on as Martha bonded with Michelle. Jack loved to watch Martha smile, at least this way Martha wasn't looking up at him, making Jack feel both stupid and embarrassed that he'd been caught in the act of admiring her.
"You like her then?" Tasha smiled. Martha laughed.
"Like her! I love her! When I have a baby I…" Martha's sentence drifted off, her face instantly changing emotion. Martha's eyes began to fill up, and she could feel her throat aching as she tried to hold back the tears. She stood up with Michelle, and passed her over to Tasha. "I'm sorry." She excused herself, running to the bathroom. A moment of confused looks passed between Robbie, Tasha and Jack, and then Jack followed Martha to the bathroom. He knocked on the door.
"Martha, are you okay?" He asked, but he could hear her heaves from outside the door, giving the obvious answer. "Would you like a glass of water?" He offered.
"Please!" She managed to call out. Jack turned around to Robbie, who had already brought the glass of water.
"You're going to have to unlock the door first Martha." Jack called in. He heard Martha rush to the door and quickly unlock it, and then hurry back to the toilet.
"Just you Jack." She said. Jack closed the door quickly behind him, on a very worried Robbie and Tasha.