A/N: I promised a quick update, and I'm keeping my promise! :) This chapter didn't exactly turn out the way I imagined, but I hope you are going to enjoy it anyway. :) So, enjoy... and Happy New Year, everyone! :)
Jack woke up with a gasp, sitting straight in his chair, his heart thundering in his chest. The dream he just had was so real; he could still see all the images in front of his eyes, while the voice of the paramedic, telling him that he's sorry but it's too late to help Sue was still ringing in his ears. Now it was slowly replaced with sounds of all the machines around him, the regular beeping of one being the most wonderful sound he could think about hearing. The one showing her heartbeat, the best evidence that it was just a nightmare and she was there, in the bed in front of him, very much alive.
He sighed, the grip of his hand on hers tightening, while his other one moved to caress her cheek very gently. His eyes moved to her face, and his heart clenched the same way it did every time he glanced at her. She looked horribly; there was a bandage on her head, covering the wound on her forehead, and the rest of her face was bruised, swollen and scratched. Other than a gunshot wound, she had a broken rib and a lot of more bruises on her body. Still, as much as it was possible in such a situation, she was lucky. The bullet didn't do a lot of harm when it came to her internal organs.
He felt guilty. It didn't matter that he wasn't directly responsible for what happened, but it was still in a way his fault. Something like this would have never happened to her if she wasn't his wife, if they weren't together, because their general aim was to hurt him. They knew, of course, that there was no better way to do that than harming those, who were the most important to him, so back then they chose Emily, and now Sue. He would have never forgiven himself, if it all hadn't turned out the way it did, if Sue hadn't survived. He couldn't even think about such a scenario, it was painful just being somewhere in the back of his mind.
He awkwardly stretched himself, never letting go of her hand. His back was hurting from sitting on this chair for a few hours now, but he wasn't going anywhere. He wasn't going to leave her side, no matter what; not until she woke up. He knew that in few hours, in the morning, someone from his family will come, to try to take his place so he could rest a little. His own heart was divided if he should fight this person or not; a part of him wanted to remain with Sue, while the other one knew, that he should go to Emily. She didn't see anything what happened until Caroline and Timothy arrived, and found her in the basement, shaking, clinging to Levi and sobbing. There was no doubts she was terrified – she would be scared to be in the basement even if the circumstances were different, especially without a light, and he was sure it was one of the reasons why Sue left Levi to keep Emy company. She could hear everything, what was happening in the house, and later she could also see her mom in her dad's arms, lying unconscious and bleeding. Yes, the sight of her parents like that was stuck in her memory; something was very wrong with her mom, and her dad, who she came to believe was one of the strongest people in the world – just like a lot of young children do – seemed so weak, so vulnerable, unable to help her. And even though her uncle and aunt were assuring her every moment that everything was fine, she was still scared. His family believed, that she would feel better if it was him to even give her a hug, to tell her that everything was going to be okay, and he was pretty sure Sue would want him to go to her as well.
It was surely one of the longest nights in his life, but he felt relieved when he saw the dawn breaking. The doctor said that the next hours, what practically meant the night, was going to be deciding and nothing wrong happened. The one thing, that didn't happen was her waking up, but it soon changed, too.
Jack almost fell off the chair, when he felt her fingers close around his hand, giving him a gentle squeeze. He stood up, leaning even closer to her. He had no idea how to substitute telling her to wake up, but he squeezed her hand tighter and just kept caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. He was just about to reach out his other hand to caress her face as well, but afraid he might hurt her, he decided to place very gentle kisses on it, instead. He heard her moan, which made him squeeze her hand tighter again.
"Jack…" she said hoarsely a moment later, and groaned in pain.
He moved away a little to gaze into her eyes, which very quickly filled with tears.
"Oh, Sue… Thank God…" he whispered, the tears falling down his cheeks, his knees giving in.
He sat back on the chair, carefully resting his forehead on her side, the one without the gunshot wound. She could see and feel his body shake, and she had no doubts he was sobbing. All the emotions inside him were overwhelming; he felt so happy, so relieved she woke up, his worries slowly fading away. He knew everything should be fine now, even though there was still a long way for it be the same way it was just twenty-four hours earlier. It definitely wasn't going to be an easy period for her, and he was sure he was going to have to watch her carefully so she wasn't going to strain her body. Yet, he was going to be there, taking care of her, helping her as much as it was possible, and as she was going to allow him.
Despite the pain she felt, when she raised her arm, she clumsily reached to his head, her fingers moving through his thick dark hair in a comforting gesture. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, but they had to wait. It was absolutely obvious that he was suffering during the past hours, and she was glad something in him snapped, allowed him to simply throw it out, and simply waiting for him to calm down, while stroking his hair.
"I'm so glad you're okay…" he said, when he finally raised his head and looked at her. She could see everything in his eyes and just smiled slightly. "I'm so sorry…"
"Don't be, Jack. It wasn't your fault." even in a hospital bed, she was able to give him the look, telling him that he shouldn't fight with her and he just nodded his head.
"I love you so much, Sue."
"I love you, too."
It was when the doctors walked in on their daily morning round. They asked Jack to leave, and remembering how difficult it was to convince them to allow him to spend the night in her room, he stood up from his place and walked out of the room. He really didn't want to fight with them again; he was pretty sure half of the hospital heard how adamant he was to stay with her – and he couldn't understand why they didn't want to let him do that, while in another hospital they definitely wouldn't see a problem with it. He sat on one of the chairs in the corridor, and sighed heavily. Even before the doctors went out, he was joined by Caroline. He was a little surprised to see his sister-in-law there, knowing that Timothy was most probably at work. She explained, that the kids were with his mother, who believed that out of the two of them, it was better for her to come, because they were closer with Sue. Jack nodded his head; it definitely sounded like his mom.
"I'll go get some coffee, I'll be back in a moment." she said after a round of casual questions about the news from the doctor and how Sue felt.
After listening to the head of the ward, who informed him that he didn't see a lot of reasons to worry now, because Sue's condition was relatively good. She was weak and in pain, which they already gave her the painkillers for, her body was going to need time to heal and there was a difficult time in front of her, but he was pretty sure that with some strength and stubbornness, she was going to fully recover.
"How's Emy?" was the first thing she said, when he was back at her side.
"Caroline says she feels scared, but physically she's perfectly fine. She's with my parents now, I'm sure along with my grandpa, Ty and Brian, they are trying to make her feel better."
Right as if on cue, Caroline walked into the room, holding two cups of coffee. It was just a matter of time before he was kicked out of the room by the two women, both ordering him to go home, get some rest and take care of his daughter. He didn't have another choice but to obey them, and soon found himself fast asleep in his bedroom at his parents' house, with Emily cuddled to his side. She ran to him the moment he stepped inside and didn't want to let him go, even to allow him to go to the toilet. According to his sister-in-law, she almost didn't sleep at night, but now was resting allow with her father. A small smile appeared on Elisabeth's face, when she walked into her younger son's bedroom and saw the two on the bed. They dozed off immediately upon lying down, the blanket she gave them practically untouched in the legs of the bed and she covered them with it, tucking them in, her mind immediately going to the time when she was doing that just for a little Jack.
She was reminded of that time whenever she was taking care of her granddaughter, who was so much like her father in so many aspects. Yet, now that she knew her and Sue much better, she could see glimpses of the woman in the little girl, too, even if they were hiding behind so many Jack's traits. Just like she thought, Jack was all she needed to feel better. Of course, she wasn't going to just forget what happened, but it was obvious how much more effect Jack's reassurance, that it was going to be fine, had than theirs.
Elisabeth left the room and joined the rest of her family, which was gathered in the living room. They all looked at her and just a small smile from her was enough for them to know, that Jack and Emily were asleep, so they should be as quiet as possible and let them rest. Everybody felt relieved that everything turned out like that in the end. There was still a long time before they would be able to say that it was completely fine, but it was all on the good way. Neither of them could imagine, that it could go any other way, especially the worst. During the past year they all got to know Sue and Emily better, as well as see their relationship, bond with Jack and they couldn't imagine that she could be gone. Her husband and daughter needed her to live, to be with them, and they all felt happy she was going to be there.