Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All rights go to the actors, writers and creators of the show "When Calls The Heart".

Second chapter for today … make sure you didn't miss Ch 35!

(3/9/2018)

CHAPTER 36

Recap …

"Don't you dare leave this house!" he said slamming his fork down on the table.

Elizabeth was shocked at his tone. "What does that mean?!"

"You heard me, Elizabeth. I can't protect you if I'm not there!"

"I still got hit when you were there."

It slipped out, but Elizabeth knew that was a bit of a low blow.

"You don't need to remind me! All the more reason for you to stay at home."

"Jack, you can't stop me from going" she said turning back to the sink to pull the plug out of the water. When she turned back around, Jack was in her face.

"Yes, I can. My decision is final. You're not going."

Continued …

Elizabeth stood up straighter, staring back at him, her eyes narrowed. "I'm not your daughter. We decide things together. We're a team."

He stood there staring down at her. She hadn't ever seen his eyes look that cold before.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, trying to think. Jack didn't talk to her like that. Sometimes she got so caught up, she would forget about Jack's brain injury.

Everything had been going smoothly until the previous Friday night and now this. Elizabeth knew what the doctor had said. Jack would sometimes struggle with reasoning. Right now he was exhausted as well so his reasoning skills were most likely further impaired.

"Jack just think about this for a moment. I was invited to a casual dinner at a little restaurant on the other side of the lake. There will be about ten women there, all teachers. One of the other teachers will be picking me up and driving me there. I will have someone walking with me from the car into the restaurant and back again. Dinner is early so I will be home again before its even late. Now tell me what your problem with it is."

Elizabeth could see his features were softening marginally.

"I don't want you getting hurt again."

"I won't get hurt. I won't be alone."

"You weren't alone last time."

"That was a horrible accident. It is not likely to ever happen again. You know that deep down. It has never happened before and is unlikely to happen again. What else is the matter?"

"I miss you. I don't want to be apart from you" he said quietly, looking down at his feet.

Elizabeth stepped in, putting her arms around his neck, pulling him in close to her and holding him tightly.

"I will spend time with you now and I won't be late tomorrow. I will spend more time with you when I get home and then we have all weekend together to do whatever you want" she spoke into his ear, still holding him tightly.

"Does that include sleeping?" he breathed into her ear.

"Definitely" she said with a giggle before pulling back. "I'm worried about you, Jack. You need to tell Frank it has been too much too soon."

"I don't want to seem weak" he said sadly.

"Jack, you had a head injury. You're not weak, but you need to be honest with him otherwise it could cause more harm than good by pushing yourself so hard. Promise me that you will tell him."

"I promise. I know what will make me feel better though?"

"What's that?"

"Those lips of yours. I've missed them so much" he said leaning in to kiss her.

"So will you be okay if I go tomorrow night?"

"As long as you are very careful and you stay with someone all the time."

"Fine, Jack."

"And one more condition?" he said seriously.

Elizabeth sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Fine, what?"

"You need to come upstairs with me right now so I can show you how much I miss you."

Elizabeth giggled again and with that Jack pulled her hand, dragging her from the kitchen, turning the lights out as he went.

Jack met up with Frank for his second appointment of the week. On Monday he had seen him but had really only told Frank about what had happened on Friday night. Jack's concerns for the week had been vaguely brushed over, his nerves getting the better of him so he didn't bring it up. But today, he knew that Elizabeth was right.

After another brutal training session that morning, Jack was able to keep up but the exhaustion had set in for the remainder of the day and he had trouble concentrating from the back of the room when he attended the lectures with Perkins.

Jack sat down outside Frank's office just after lunch and was due to see Gowan immediately afterwards. Frank greeted him pleasantly and Jack sat down in the chair opposite him.

"So Jack, how was your first week back?"

"Honestly?"

"Of course."

"It's been exhausting. I think I'm going home tonight to sleep for the entire weekend."

"That bad?"

"Yeah. I'm not used to the early starts and the concentration is just … impossible. I'm mentally and physically fatigued. I fell asleep behind the steering wheel on Wednesday night …"

Frank gave him an alarming look.

"Luckily I had just parked the car out the front of the house before I dozed off. Elizabeth found me."

"Jack, that's not good. I was worried we were pushing you too hard, too quickly. I am going to recommend that you drop back to half days for the whole of next week and then we will re-assess things. Do you think that would help?"

"I think that would be much better. Gives me a chance to get used to the early starts that way and hopefully help with physical recovery from the morning sessions."

"Exactly. I wish you had spoken to me sooner."

"I'm usually a suffer in silence type" Jack said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I know. Most military men are. Elizabeth told you to speak up, didn't she?"

"Yes" Jack admitted.

Frank grinned. "I'm glad you have someone to look out for you. You're very lucky. When do you see Gowan next?"

"I'm on my way there now."

"I have a break now so how about I come with you" Frank said standing.

Jack followed his lead, heading to the door. They walked towards Gowan's office, Frank asking him about how he was coping with everything else during the week. Jack would have coped with everything fine except for the fatigue.

"Anything coming back from the classes that you have been taking?"

"Not coming back as such, but I have remembered a lot of it. Whether that was from before the accident or buried deep in my subconscious I'm not sure but everything is familiar."

"That's good progress, Jack. When is your next neurofeedback session at the hospital?"

"Next Tuesday afternoon. I wasn't sure who to speak to about getting away for it."

"We'll sort that out with Gowan now as well."

Frank and Jack took a seat in the waiting room until Gowan was ready to see them.

"Jack. Frank. Come on in" he called out to them a short while later.

Frank led the way again and Jack stepped in to the office behind him, closing the door.

"Jack. I heard you have been keeping up with everything so far."

"Yes. Just."

"That doesn't sound good."

"I've just been struggling with fatigue quite a bit. I'm capable of doing everything and I was just telling Frank that I have remembered most of the class content that I have been sitting in on but the physical and mental exhaustion has been … well … a bit overwhelming" Jack couldn't find any other word to explain the extent of his tiredness.

"That seems reasonable. We did push you a bit harder than we would have pushed someone else. You have always been a lot stronger than other officers. What are you going to recommend Frank?" Gowan turned to Frank expectantly.

"Maybe just cut back to half days for the next week until he gets used to the early starts and physical exhaustion from training."

"Sounds fine to me. I'm glad that you've remembered some things, Jack. That does sound promising."

Jack went home early that day, glad that he had spoken up. The relief from their decision to have him doing half days the following week was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He hurried home in the hope that he could spend some quality time with Elizabeth and the girls which he hadn't managed to do much of all week.

Elizabeth had already showered all the girls and had them in their pyjamas sitting at the table eating an early dinner when Jack came in. He went around kissing each of his daughters on the head as they sat eating their chicken nuggets and vegetables.

"You're home early, Jack?" Elizabeth said as she rushed in, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. She went to move away again, but Jack pulled away her back to him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I have to get ready, Jack" she said. "Cassie will be here in thirty minutes."

"Who's Cassie?"

"My job share partner at school."

"Okay, but you need to give me a better kiss than that if you want me to let you go."

"Jack" she whined with a laugh before leaning in to kiss him on the lips. When she pulled back, he still wouldn't let go.

"Uh uh. You can do better than that."

"I don't have a lot of time" she laughed at him.

"Make it a good one then" he said with a grin.

Elizabeth put her hands around his neck, pulling him down to her, her lips catching his and drawing him in. She ran her tongue over his top lip, tasting and sucking on him. She ran her hands through his hair, holding him as close as possible and her tongue slipped into his mouth, dancing with his, before she finally pulled back leaving him breathless.

Elizabeth was worried for a moment, forgetting that the girls were still in the room but they were too busy eating and not paying any attention to their parents.

"Now can I go?"

Jack glanced over at his daughters. "I'm just going to go help Mommy get ready. Keep eating. I will be back in a moment."

Elizabeth laughed to herself as she left the kitchen hurrying up the stairs to their bedroom and she heard Jack right behind her.

As soon as they were in the bedroom, Jack was pressing her up against the wall and finishing off the kiss that she had just started, his lips colliding with hers. The desire in his kiss fuelling the passion between them and Elizabeth was pulling at his hair, his hands pulling her hips close to him so there was no gap between them. He left a trail of kisses down her neck and she giggled as he reached a ticklish spot, pulling her out of the trance she had just been under.

"Jack. I have to get ready. We can finish this off when I get home" she said, but his warm lips still wandered over her skin.

"You want me to wait almost three hours? Three hours?" he said, looking at her with a frustrated expression on his face.

"The girls are awake anyway so you would have to wait for that long anyway." Elizabeth leaned in, pressing her lips gently against his. "I promise I will make it up to you" she whispered in his ear.

She saw his eyes twinkle at her suggestion.

"Alright, but I'm going to hold you to it."

Elizabeth pulled away. She wouldn't have time for a shower now so she went to her wardrobe and found a loose fitting plain dress and sandals and slipped them on. When she emerged, Jack had gone so she went into the bathroom to freshen up her hair and makeup, taking extra care to ensure it didn't look like she'd been passionately kissing her husband only five minutes before. When she was satisfied, she hurried out of the bedroom just as she heard a knock downstairs.

She walked down stairs as Jack answered the door.

"Hi. You must be Jack."

"Yes. Cassie?"

"That's me."

"Come in for a moment. Elizabeth is just finishing off getting ready."

Jack turned to show Cassie in just as Elizabeth appeared.

"I'm ready. I will just say goodnight to the girls. I won't be a minute."

Elizabeth rushed into the kitchen to see the girls had already finished their dinner. She heard them in the lounge room so hurried in to give each of them a kiss.

"Be good for Daddy. Please go to bed easily for him tonight. Remember he hasn't done it on his own for a while."

"Yes, Mommy" all three girls said in a chorus.

Elizabeth smiled. They were such beautiful girls. Her and Jack had been very blessed.

Elizabeth walked back out to the foyer to hear Jack and Cassie making small talk.

"Alright Jack, I will see you later. Probably about 9, I guess."

"Sounds good" he said with a dazzling grin. Elizabeth knew exactly what he was thinking and couldn't help but smile back. Elizabeth leant in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You look beautiful, by the way" he whispered to her.

Elizabeth pulled back. "Bye, Jack."

"Bye, Beth."

Elizabeth walked out of the house beside Cassie and went to the passenger door. Jack still stood there and as Cassie backed out of the drive, Jack waved. Elizabeth waved back.

"Aww your husband is so cute."

Elizabeth glanced over at Cassie not sure what to say.

"What I would do for a man to look at me like he looks at you? And he stayed there to wave goodbye to you. He will probably be waiting for you at the door when you come back in too."

"I don't know about that" Elizabeth smiled. "He is a very loving man though. I'm glad that part hasn't changed."

"What do you mean?"

Elizabeth hadn't realised that she had led Cassie to ask about his injury. "When he was hurt, he forgot the last ten years of our life together."

"You're kidding!"

"No. He forgot me and the girls. I met him just over nine years ago so I was essentially erased from his life on the day of his accident as were any friends or people he had met since then."

"Wow! But he remembers you now?"

"Kind of. He has had a few memories come back but we basically had to start again. Kind of like that movie 50 First Dates, you know. I had to get him to fall in love with me again, although he had some memories to help him along a bit."

"My goodness. You must have the patience of a saint!"

"Not all the time. Sometimes it was difficult to stay patient with him. I missed my husband terribly. He's the same man in many ways but there are some differences that are worsened by his injury. But we will get there. I have faith."

"So is that why he was particularly attentive? Because he treats you like a new girlfriend?"

"Oh no. We're closer than that. We got remarried three weeks ago on our anniversary" she said smiling at the recollection. "No, Jack was always like that. He's my soulmate. Nothing will ever change that."

"You're so lucky to have found him and for him to have found you. That is the type of love that everyone dreams of."

Elizabeth smiled. Cassie was right.

Jack and Elizabeth found each other once and they found their way back to one another for a second time. They were meant to be together – always.