Chapter 12

Sue wrapped her limp arms around Jack's body as he pulled her in. She put her head into his neck and cried. She could feel him rubbing her bare back with his hand. He had his other hand supporting her lower back.

It seemed that they were attached for hours before she felt someone prying them apart. She looked up to see Bobby and Myles helping Sue up. The paramedics were behind them setting up a stretcher. Jack grabbed Sue's middle and helped her stand.

Sue immediately felt woozy and began to fall over. She couldn't hear the words of panic as everything began to swirl around her. She could feel them putting her on a stretcher. As the stretcher began to move, she felt someone grab her hand.

Sue squeezed it weakly knowing it was Jack and everything went black.

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Jack rubbed his head and sank further into his chair. He and Lucy were the only ones left waiting for Sue to get out of the operating room. He had ordered everyone to go home and get some sleep. Lucy demanded to stay so he had no choice but to let her stay. He took a look at his watch to see it was past 3 in the morning. He looked to his right to see Lucy had fallen asleep in her chair.

Jack looked up to see the doctor come out from behind large doors that led to the emergency operating rooms.

"Is she okay?" he asked. Lucy immediately sat up at these words and began to rub her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked fastly. Jack stood from his chair.

"Doctor?" asked Jack. The doctor quickly cleared his throat.

"Yes, yes." He said. "The surgery went very well. She had internal bleeding in the stomach. We have repaired it. She fractured a bone in her tarsus, that should heal quickly." He shook his head. "She took a beating that's for sure. Intensive bruises on her stomach, head, arms, legs, and a bit on her back. Nothing but some time can heal." He took a deep breath. Jack looked down and then back at the doctor.

"She didn't… she wasn't…" said Jack. The words just couldn't come out of his mouth, but the doctor knew he would ask the question.

"We did a rape exam right after the surgery." Said the doctor. Lucy put a hand to her mouth.

"We did not find any evidence of rape." Said the doctor. Both Lucy and Jack exhaled slowly.

"Thank god." Said Lucy. The doctor smiled.

"It seems you got her right in time." Said the doctor. He turned to go back inside the room.

"Doctor, can we see her?" asked Jack. The doctor stopped and turned back around.

"I'm afraid not, for the next few hours she's in the ICU, just to make sure there is no more internal bleeding. We don't let anyone in there unless they are immediate family." Jack nodded.

"Thank you." Said Jack. The doctor nodded.

"I suggest you two get some rest." He said and with that he left the room. Jack inhaled and plopped himself back in his chair. He looked over at Lucy who was still standing.

"Luce, you should go home." Said Jack tiredly. Lucy looked at him.

"What about you?" asked Lucy.

"I'm going to stay here." Said Jack. Lucy opened her mouth to protest but Jack put his hand up.

"You heard the doctor, no one can visit her for a few hours anyway." Said Jack. "Go home, take care of Levi, and get some sleep. I'll stay here to make sure she is okay." Lucy nodded. She picked up her coat from the chair and made her way over to Jack. She bent down and gave him a hug.

"Night Jack." Said Lucy. She stood tall and Jack smiled to her.

"Night Lucy." Said Jack. She turned to leave.

"Hey Lucy, make sure to call Sue's parents in the morning." Said Jack. Lucy gave him a nod.

"I will." Said Lucy. "See you tomorrow."

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"Sir?" Jack opened his eyes slowly and jumped as he saw a figure standing in front of him.

"Hi there." He said. The man smiled. He was in scrubs and he was holding a clip board in his hand.

"Are you a relative of Sue Thomas?" asked the man. Jack shook his head.

"No, I work with her." He said. He instantly sat up.

"Is she out of the ICU?" He quickly checked his watch, it was 9:00 in the morning.

"Yes, she's in recovery." Said the man. He looked down at his clipboard.

"Will you be able to fill this out?" he asked. Jack took the clipboard.

"Yes." Said Jack. "Can I go see her?" The man nodded.

"Yes, a few of your co-workers came by earlier, but she was still sleeping at the time." Said the man. "I'll lead you to her room." Jack got up off his chair and followed the doctor down a narrow hallway. They stopped outside a room. The doctor turned to him before he let Jack in.

"Be careful, she should be in a bit of pain and she will be very sore." Said the doctor. Jack nodded and turned the handle of the door. He looked back to see the doctor was already headed in the other direction. He took a deep breath and entered the room.

Sue was lying down on a bed in the right corner and was hooked up to a monitor. It was beeping regularly as Sue slept. Jack pulled a chair over from the wall and sat down right beside her bed. He looked at her face which was silent as she was sleeping. He reached forward hesitantly and grabbed her hand. He could feel her body tense for a few moments but it quickly faded away.

"Hey Sue." Jack said. He looked at her face again to see her eyes were still closed.

"Of course," he said, "You can't hear me." He reached up and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. He began to trace circles on the back of her hand as he looked down at his own fingers.

"I was worried about you," he said, "well we all were worried. I'm happy your okay thou." Jack gave a sigh. He hated to see her like this.

"Everyone came to see you this morning," said Jack. "I kind of slept in. I didn't mean to of course." He added stealing a look at her face. He then focused on his hand which was still tracing circles on the back of her hand.

"I slept in the waiting room. Lucy was there too." Said Jack. "I made her go home. She needed sleep." He sighed again and shifted his position on his chair by leaning forward a bit. He closed his eyes and clutched onto her hand. He could feel emotion burning through him as he held onto her hand. Tears were stinging the back of his eyes.

"I'm sorry Sue. I was just…" He paused for a moment. "I was scared." He sniffed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I just wish I could have told you how I really felt, a long time ago." He sniffed again and sat back in his chair taking a deep breath. He then felt a squeeze. He looked up to see Sue staring right at him.

"Sue?" asked Jack. Sue blinked and attempted to smile.

"Hi Jack." Said Sue. Jack smiled and gave Sue's hand a squeeze.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"Okay I suppose." She answered slowly. "I feel sore all over thou." Jack nodded.

"I figured as much. You took quite a beating." Said Jack. He looked down as he remembered the tape.

"You saw the tape." Said Sue. Jack looked back up at her and nodded.

"Yeah." He said. "It was painful just watching. So painful I couldn't watch." Jack squeezed her hand.

"Thank you Jack." Whispered Sue. Jack squinted his eyes.

"Thank you?" he asked. Sue smiled.

"For coming for me." Said Sue. "It means a lot to me." Jack smiled and put his other hand over top of Sue's.

"I couldn't leave you out there." Said Jack. "So technically I had no choice but to come after you." Sue gave a small smile. Her eyes were starting to drop. Jack could tell she was tired.

"When can I go home?" asked Sue slowly. She opened one eye and looked at Jack awaiting his answer. He shook his head.

"I don't know Sue." Said Jack. "But whenever that is, I'll be there no matter-" He stopped in mid sentence as he looked down at his pager. It was going off. He looked back up at Sue.

"Go." She whispered. Jack gave a smile and stood. He gave her and a final squeeze.

"I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise." Said Jack. Sue smiled and blinked slowly.

"K." she said. Jack took a deep breath and leaned forward giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams." He said. He smiled as he saw her eyes were closed and her head was turned away from him. He then turned around and left the room, on his way back to the bullpen.

Look out for the next part of the story!