A/N Thanks again for all the reviews! It's good to know that you guys still enjoy reading this story even when I leave you with cliffhangers :)

Hopefully this chapter makes up for the ending of the last one!

...

Somehow, Rosemary got me into her car and to the hospital. She stayed in the waiting room while I followed a nurse to the room that held Jack.

Charlotte met me outside the room. She had been the one to call me and let me know that he was injured. She let me go in by myself, knowing that I probably wanted some time alone with him.

He had gone to help search for someone who had gone missing after the storm. They found Jack pinned beneath a beam and covered with rubble. He was unconscious, and no one knew how long he had been trapped.

I gasped when I saw him. He had scrapes and bruises covering his whole body. Bandages peeked out from the neckline of his hospital gown, and a cast enclosed his right leg.

"Jack…" my voice cracked. I lowered myself into the chair beside the bed and carefully took his hand. "Jack, I'm here."

I sat in the quiet, the silence only broken by the beeping of machines. I stared at his face, looking for any sign that he was waking up. The doctor said it would likely be at least a few more hours before he regained consciousness; he had sustained a head injury, and his brain needed time to heal. They were hopeful that Jack would wake up, but they didn't know how much permanent damage may have occurred.

I awakened early in the morning, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. I was resting my head on the bed beside Jack. He hadn't moved since I fell asleep. I sat up and touched his cheek. "Jack, please. You have to get better."

I knew that I couldn't do anything to make him wake up quicker, but I was a little disappointed when he didn't stir at the sound of my voice. He looked so peaceful lying there, almost as if nothing had happened. Once he woke up, he would be hit with the pain of his injuries.

Charlotte spoke from behind me. I had almost forgotten she was there. "The doctor came by a little while ago. There's been no change."

I turned to face her, tears in my eyes. She reached out and took my hand.

"I have faith that he will be okay, Elizabeth. He's young, he's strong."

I nodded, brushing the tears from my cheeks.

Though I had had a restless night of sleep and my head throbbed, I was thinking much more clearly than when I first arrived at the hospital the evening before. I suddenly realized just how serious everything was. I could have lost him. Had he been discovered later or had the beam fallen just a few inches away… I couldn't even finish the thought.

I knew that his job could occasionally place him in dangerous situations, but he had never experienced anything like this in all the time that I knew him. Sure, he had been in serious situations, but he had never actually been hurt like this. When he had left for work the morning before, I never expected that he would be in harm's way.

The diamond on my finger caught my attention, briefly distracting me from the realities of the accident. Had it really only been a week since he took me to the meadow and asked me to marry him? He had to be okay.

Abigail stopped by and brought some food for me and Charlotte, knowing that we wouldn't have left Jack's side to eat.

The rest of the day passed with no change. The nurses were starting to look worried that Jack hadn't woken up yet. He hadn't even stirred since I arrived nearly 24 hours before.

Charlotte had gone to spend the night at Jack's house, needing some time away from the hospital. She offered to check in on Bronte and Rip, who were being watched by Rosemary and Lee until Jack and I returned home. I had promised to let Charlotte know if anything changed overnight.

The sun was fairly high in the sky when I woke the next morning. My hand was still grasping Jack's. There was a horrible crick in my neck from spending two nights in a hard hospital chair. I touched Jack's cheek. "Come on, Jack. Please wake up."

I felt his fingers tighten on my hand. I gasped.

"Jack? Can you hear me?"

His eyes squeezed tight with pain. "Beth." His voice sounded raw. "It hurts."

"Try not to move. I'll go get the doctor."

While the doctor checked him over, I called Charlotte to let her know that he had woken up.

I returned to the chair beside his bed as soon as the doctor left the room. "Your mom is on her way. She stayed at your house last night. You had us so worried."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize for doing your job. You couldn't have known what was going to happen."

"I love you. Thank you for being here." He gingerly held out his hand.

I linked my fingers in his. "I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else."

...

Jack stayed in the hospital for a couple more days. The doctors wanted to ensure that everything was healing properly before they allowed him to return home.

As far as anyone could tell, he hadn't sustained any permanent damage from his head injury. Given everything that had happened, he was doing very well. He would likely need to do some physical therapy once he got the cast off of his leg, but for now, he just needed to relax and let his body heal.

Charlotte dropped us off at Jack's house after he was discharged. She had decided to head back home now that she was certain that Jack would be okay. She assured me that she was more than comfortable leaving him in my care.

I let Jack lean on my shoulder as I helped him to his room. Though he was doing much better, the doctor had instructed him to stay in bed for a few days.

"Do you need anything? Water? A snack?"

"Elizabeth, I'm fine." He winced as he lowered himself onto the bed. "I wouldn't mind some company, though." He grinned and patted the spot beside him.

I curled up beside him. "Hey, I was thinking that it might be helpful for me to stay here for a few days." I took his hand. "In the guest room, of course."

He smirked at my clarification. "Okay. In the guest room."

"Would it be okay if I brought Bronte over here, too? I'm not sure how she'd do by herself overnight."

"Of course." He squeezed my hand.

I leaned in and kissed him. "I'm going to go pack a bag and get her. I'll be back soon."

"How's Jack?" Rosemary saw me from her porch as I stepped out of Jack's house. I went over to greet her.

"He's doing a lot better. The doctors want him to take it easy so I'm staying with him for a few days."

She raised her eyebrows. "A sleepover? That's unlike you."

I rolled my eyes. "Rosie, I'm staying in his guest room. I'm only there to help him out for a few days. He really shouldn't be getting up and walking around every time he needs something. Besides, this isn't the first time we've spent the night with each other…." My voice trailed off when I realized what I had just revealed.

"Elizabeth! What?!"

I shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. Nothing happened, Rosie. I hate storms, so I asked him to come over. We fell asleep on the couch. There's nothing more to tell."

"Well, I'm glad to hear he's doing better. If either of you needs anything, Lee and I are here."

"Thank you." I hugged her. "I need to get back over there. I promised him I wouldn't be long."

I quickly packed an overnight bag and headed back to Jack's house with Bronte. I dropped my bag in the guest room before going to check on him.

"Sorry that took so long. I ran into Rosemary."

"How did that go?"

"Well…" I sat on the bed and leaned my head on his shoulder. "I told her I was staying here for a few days, and I may have also mentioned that you stayed over at my house the other night."

He laughed quietly. "I bet she had a field day with that little bit of information."

"I told her that nothing happened and left it at that." I slipped my fingers between his.

He leaned in and kissed me. "Thank you for staying here."

...

"Elizabeth…" Jack groaned from his room, sounding a little panicked. "Elizabeth!"

I quietly made my way down the hall. "Jack?" He didn't acknowledge me, still asleep. "Jack." I nudged him gently.

He jerked awake and blinked a few times, confused. "Elizabeth?"

"Were you having a nightmare?"

He nodded, clearly still confused. I crawled into the bed beside him and put my arms around him. He touched my cheek. "How did you know?"

"You were saying my name. You sounded scared." I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He sighed. "It was about the accident. It was like I was there again, trapped under that beam." He absentmindedly played with my hair while he spoke. "All I could think about was getting back to you."

"Jack…"

He kissed my cheek. "You know, I've been thinking."

"About?"

"The wedding. I think we should get married sooner." His thumb brushed the ring on my left hand.

"You know, I've been thinking the same thing."

He pulled me closer. "I guess we have a lot to talk about then."

I woke a few hours later, still curled up beside Jack. I kissed his cheek and slid from his arms, returning to the guest room.

It took me a long time to fall back to sleep. I thought about going back to Jack's room, but I didn't want to disturb him. Plus, I knew that I would only be at his house for a few days, and I didn't want to get in the habit of sharing a bed with him. There would be plenty of time for that after we got married.

When I woke in the morning, Bronte was curled up on the foot of the bed, snoring lightly. I quietly padded down the hall and peeked into Jack's room. He was still sleeping soundly. Rip lay on the floor beside him.

I headed out into the kitchen to make breakfast for us, trying to keep quiet so I wouldn't wake him.

Ten minutes later, I walked back to his room with a tray holding two plates of food and two glasses of water.

He was just waking up. He must've forgotten about his injuries for a moment, because he winced as he stretched.

"How did you sleep?"

"Just okay. I slept much better when you were in here with me."

I set the tray in front of him before finding my place beside him. "If we're being honest, I slept better in here, too."

He touched his hand to my cheek before meeting my lips with his. "You know, you don't have to stay in the guest room."

"Yes, I do." I took his hand. "If I get in the habit of sleeping in the same bed as you, it's going to be difficult when I go back home in a few days. Besides, we agreed not to spend all night in the same bed until we're married."

"You're right." He lifted my hand and brushed his lips against my fingers. "Just a few more months, though."

He suddenly gasped and dropped my hand.

"What?"

"We're supposed to be visiting your parents right now."

I put my hand on his leg. "Don't worry about that. I called them when you were in the hospital. They said they send their love and that we're welcome to come visit whenever you're feeling better."

"Okay. Good. We should go soon, though. Especially since we've moved the wedding up."

I leaned in and kissed him gently. "Thank you, Jack. It really means a lot that you care about things like meeting my parents."

"I care about everything having to do with you, Beth." He rested his hand against my cheek. "You are my entire world."

...

"Elizabeth!"

I quietly made my way to his room, expecting to find him in the throes of a nightmare once again. Instead, he was wide awake, waiting for me.

I leaned against the door frame. "Do you need something?"

He nodded. "I need you to come lay here with me."

"Jack…" I wanted nothing more than to curl up beside him, but I had been so adamant about staying in separate rooms.

"Please? I know we agreed that you would stay in the guest room, but I can't sleep."

"Fine." I sank down beside him. "But only until you fall asleep. Then I'm going back to the other room."

He kissed the top of my head and pulled me close. "Thank you."

I was confused when I woke, until I remembered that Jack had asked me to stay in his room. Apparently, I had fallen asleep before I had the chance to move back to the guest room.

My head was on his chest, his fingers moving slowly through my hair.

"Good morning. Looks like someone decided not to go back to the guest room last night." He smirked.

"It was not intentional." I pulled myself up to kiss him. I didn't want to admit that I had slept better beside him than I had in a long time. "We really can't make this a habit."

"I know." He brushed a piece of hair from my face. "Maybe we should just move the wedding up even more." He raised his eyebrows, looking at me expectantly.

"If we move it up anymore, we aren't going to be able to get everything done in time. Unless we just want to elope. But do you really want to start out our marriage with your leg in a cast?"

"That is a very good point. Besides, I don't think our families would be very happy with us if we eloped." He kissed my temple. "And can you imagine how upset Rosemary would be?"

I smiled. "As it is, she's probably going to freak out when she finds out the wedding is in less than three months."

He laughed. "Yes, she is."