CHAPTER THREE: TEARS IN HEAVEN

Lauren lay on the hood of Bobby's car, reading a book for school, long hair draped over her bare shoulders. She had decided to capture the peace and quiet of the early afternoon by sunbathing. Bobby's car was the perfect sun-magnet, its black paint attracting the cancerous rays like ants at a picnic. She was so enthralled in her book, Of Mice and Men, that she didn't notice Jack. He approached his older brother's car with caution, a towel around his naked shoulders and his bathing suit dangerously low on his narrow hips. The lean figure of the object of his affection lay serenely on the car. He climbed up on the hood next to her, leaning his back against the lukewarm glass of the windshield. She glanced over at him, flashing him an appreciative smile.

"Hello Lauren," he mumbled.

"My hero, Jack Mercer," she whispered, reaching over and resting her hand on top of his. "Thank you for what you did today."

He smiled, turning his hand over to grip her own. "There was nothing else to do. I know you don't like me much but I couldn't just let those guys..." He trailed off, eyeing the bruises around her neck.

Lauren closed her book. "Jack, I like you."

"Never in the way I like you," he sighed, looking into his lap.

"Is this because of what I said that day at the sandbox?" she asked.

"Sort of. Plus you never really talk to me when I sit with you at lunch," he replied.

She laughed. "You sit as far away from me as possible! And you brood, so I just leave you to it. I thought we had a quiet understanding."

"Are things going to change for us now? I mean, you know how I feel about you and you don't feel the same. So does-" Lauren rolled onto her side and pressed her lips against his.

HIs arms slid around her waist and she fit perfectly against his lithe body. He had been waiting for the chance to hold her in his arms since their first day of high school and he wasn't about to let her go. She pulled away from him, losing herself in the elation sparkling in his blue eyes. Lauren smiled as she stroked his cheek with the pad of her thumb.

"Does that answer your question?" she asked.

"A little bit. Does this mean you're my girlfriend now?" he inquired.

"Are you asking me to be?" she countered.

"Yes. I wanna be your boyfriend and protect you from every ounce of danger in your life," he confessed, squeezing her close against his body.

"Well I can live with that. I would love to be your girlfriend Jack Mercer," she sighed, relaxing against his warmth. "You really are my hero Jackie."

"Forever and always," he grinned, plucking the book from her lap. "So what's this?"

"A book. My favourite book, actually. I have to do a book report and I chose this book," she explained.

"They still do book reports? Wait, didn't they make a movie out of this?" Jack asked.

"Yeah with Gary Sinise and John Malkovitch. Movie geek," she teased.

"Hey you're the one who named names. So is it a good book?"

"Why don't you read it blockhead? she laughed, snatching the book and sitting up. "I have to get back to it, so go away while I read."

"Well this is an excellent start to our relationship. If you're still out here at five thirty, come inside and have dinner with us," he said, shoving her over and climbing off the car.

"Alrighty. Until then."

He squeezed her hand. "Until then."

(present time)

Six of her ribs were broken. Her femur had cracked in two places, while her tibia had pierced her smooth, sunkissed skin. One of her broken ribs had punctured her left lung. The doctors removed her ruptured spleen, set her broken bones and stopped the internal bleeding. Stablized, the doctors placed her in the ICU under round the clock watch. Jack sat beside her bed, the shrill beep of her heart monitor keeping his eyes from closing. It had been his post for the past one hundred and sixty eight hours. His eyelids grew heavy as he read his book, and he fought to keep them up so he could watch Lauren's comatose figure. A delicate hand on his shoulder jolted him from his comforting drowziness and he silently thanked Shane for keeping him awake.

"How long have you been awake Jack?" she asked, peering into his bloodshot blue eyes.

"I don't know, eighteen hours maybe?" he shrugged, rubbing his burning eyes.

"Honey you should get some rest. Go home and get some sleep, Jack. I'll call you if she wakes up," Shane explained.

"I'm not leaving her side. I-no. I'm staying here. If she-I don't want her to die alone," he stated.

"Don't think like that Jack. She's not going to die. Lauren is going pull through this."

"She had a fucking punctured lung and they had to remove her spleen, Shane," Jack spat. "There isn't a good chance she'll pull through."

"Not with that attitude she won't. She's held on for a week Jack. you can't give up on her now," Shane snapped.

"Don't accuse me of giving up on her! I've been sitting her by her side for seven days and nothing has changed Shane!" Jack cried. "She's still in a coma and she's still not responding!"

With that final cry, Jack collapsed into a disgruntled heap on the floor. His body shook with a week's worth of bottled up sobs. He had held his tears back for seven days, and now they bombarded him. Shane hurried over to his trembling figure to comfort him, but the room erupted into a hail of rapid beeps. Jack looked up through eyes tattooed with sadness at the monitors around him. It was Lauren's heart monitor causing the chaos, sounding the cry of defeat. Doctors and nurses rushed into the room, pushing Jack away from the bed.

"OK, she crashing! Get her down to the ER and prep her, stat! We need to find out where this is coming from!" a tall lanky doctor shouted. Jack recognized him as Dr. Wylde.

"More internal bleeding, most likely. Did anyone send her for a CAT scan like I asked?" an older doctor with salt and pepper hair demanded.

"Yes sir, we sent her earlier this afternoon. We're still waiting on her results," replied the nurse Jack had confronted the day Lauren had been hit.

"Call down there now and get them. They should have been brought to me immediately! She may have intercranial bleeding we need to reverse!" the older doctor barked at the nurse. "Get her to the OR!"

As they began to wheel her from the room, Jack jumped up and grabbed the doctor's coat. "What's going on?"

The doctor shrugged him off and ran after the bed, while a nurse placed her hand on Jack's shoulder. "They have to operate on her. Please, go into the waiting room and wait for us. We'll let you know as soon as we're finished."

"Is she dying?" Jack demanded as she pushed him into the hall.

"Jack don't do this to yourself. Let's just go wait while they fix her," Shane pleaded.

"I'm losing her," he whispered. "I'm losing her!"

"No you're not Jack. You aren't going to lose her. This is a good hospital, with excellent doctors," Shane explained, forcing him into a chair.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "If she dies, I'll die. I can't live without her."

"Chill out Romeo. Your Juliet will be fine. She's strong, she's a fighter. We both know that. Now just sit here and read your book, for the twelfth time," Shane demanded.

"I told her I'd read it. I promised her I would, the day we started dating, because it's her favourite book. It's a good book," he snapped. "I've been reading it to her all week, hoping she would wake up."

She smiled. "Well, maybe it will help her pull through. Your voice could have, ya know, kept her with us. So, your voice reading her favourite book could actually have helped keep her alive. Statistics say-"

"Oh fuck statistics Shane. If she lives, it will be because she's strong. Not because I read her some stupid words from a stupid book," Jack grumbled.

"Have it your way Jack. Didn't Evelyn ever teach you about miracles? Just have a little faith in your love for once you big baby. And stop taking your anger out on me! I'm just as scared of losing her as you are," Shane snapped, dropping into the chair across from him and folding her arms over her chest.

He glared at her, but said nothing. He was too exhausted to continue their arguement. Plus he knew she was right. He was being an asshole to her for something that was neither her fault nor did she have control over. But he glared none the less, ignoring his fatigue. After an hour of glaring, his eyes finally closed and he fell into a much needed sleep. He dreamt of Lauren, reading books to him while he rested his head on her stomach, eyes closed in bliss. The two hadn't done it since high school and he realized how much he missed it. Her voice had always been full of an exuberant joy she kept locked away from the world. And he took pride in knowing that he was the only one who would ever know just how happy with her life she was. It pained him now to think that he would never get to hear that lust for life in her words again. As he slept in the awkward plastic chair, tears rolled down his cheeks each time, in his dream, Lauren stopped reading.