Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to a very special group of people...they know who they are :)

True North
By Jaclyn Parker

Jealousy is that pain which a man feels from the apprehension that he is not equally beloved by the person whom he entirely loves."
-Joseph Addison
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When Parker walked in to the makeshift exam room, Carly was sitting up on the gurney where a doctor in a long white lab coat was shining a flashlight in her eyes. Her gaze turned to Parker and the doctor made a disgruntled noise.

"Ms. Tenney, focus." His voice was tinged with an Australian accent and when Parker came around to stand by J.J. on Carly's other side, the man looked up to acknowledge him. "You must be Parker."

Parker frowned and looked confused, but the doctor just smiled.

"I had to ask your mom a series of questions for a quick diagnostics test. You happened to be one of the answers." The doctor said and held out his hand. "My name's Dr. Liam Reynolds, but you can call me Lee."

Parker opened his mouth to protest but Lee raised his eyebrow at him. "If you call me Dr. Reynolds, I swear I will give you a tetanus shot whether you need one or not."

Parker hid a smile and nodded, finally accepting the man's handshake. As he did, Parker quickly took in the man's appearance. He had dark wavy brown hair and eyes that were almost as green as his mom's were blue. Parker couldn't begin to guess how old he was, but he seemed to fit in around his parent's ages. Yet there was an energy that came off of him that made him seem years younger, a lot like his Uncle Brad.

"So how's my mom?" Parker asked and Lee turned back to Carly.

"Well, she didn't break anything, which is a complete miracle from the way your brother describes her position at the bottom of the stairs. Her left wrist is sprained and she has a slight concussion." Lee said, holding Carly's chart to his chest.

"So she needs to stay awake tonight?" Parker asked and Lee looked at him curiously causing Parker to answer his unspoken question. "She's had one before."

Lee frowned and took another look at Carly's chart. He read through her past 5 years of medical history again and nodded. "Okay, I see here that not only have you had a concussion in the past 5 years but you have also had recent brain treatment."

Carly looked down at her hands, not able to look either of her sons in the face at the reminder of last fall. No matter what other people believed, that had been one of the scariest periods in her life. Just the thought of not being able to watch her children grow still made Carly feel nauseous. And while she knew that they had forgiven her for not telling them sooner about her misdiagnosis, she hadn't fully forgiven herself. As for Jack, well, those consequences spoke very loudly every time she looked down at her bare left ring finger.

"…in about a half hour?" Lee's voice broke into her thoughts and she looked up, blinking in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" Carly asked and Lee smiled before opening his mouth to speak again. However he never got the chance to repeat his words as the curtain to the exam room was yanked open.

"Mommy!" Sage cried, still in full dance gear, and threw herself at Carly. She held her daughter to her waist, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

Needless to say, a breathless and panicked Jack was right behind her. He practically skidded to a stop as he took in the whole scene before him, his heart pounding away in his chest. His body began to relax when he saw Carly completely awake and unbandaged except for a wrapped wrist, which she held carefully as she hugged their daughter to her.

"I'm okay, Sage." Carly said and when Sage looked over to her brothers for confirmation they nodded.

Carly couldn't help but smile at the large sigh of relief that came out of such a little girl.

"You're really okay?" Jack asked, his eyes taking in every inch of her body. They lingered on her bandaged wrist and then flew to her face.

"Well, you can ask the doctor." Carly said and, for the first time, Jack noticed Lee standing there waiting patiently. Lee looked to Carly for permission to discuss her case and she smiled at him. "It's okay. He's my ex-husband."

Jack's eyes narrowed at the spark of something he saw in the other man's eyes when Carly introduced him as the ex-husband, but soon focused on the doctor's words.

"Well, Carly has a sprained left wrist and a slight concussion." Lee said, reiterating what he had momentarily ago told the others. "However, I was just telling her that since this was not her first head trauma, I would like to schedule her for a CT scan, just to make sure there was no significant damage."

Jack nodded and looked over at Carly and the kids. "How long would that take?"

"If I move now, I can probably set one up within a half hour." Lee said and also looked at Carly, who nodded her agreement. "Okay, then let me see what I can do."

Lee excused himself and despite the buzzing of people around them in the ER there was silence among those in Carly's room. Finally it was Carly who spoke up first.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" She asked curiously, playing with the long strands of Sage's hair as the little girl leaned against her. Carly could feel the tension and worry that still plagued her youngest child begin to leave as she continued the comforting motions.

"Well, Parker called me to pick up Sage from dance. When I heard you were in the hospital, of course I came here." Jack said and Carly frowned, looking over at Parker.

"Lily didn't pick up the phone and I knew we couldn't leave Sage at dance any longer." Parker said shrugging and stiffened as Carly quirked an eyebrow at him. Then he relaxed when she smiled a thank you, before turning back to Jack. She was about to speak when Lee re-entered the room.

"Well, you're all set." Lee said. Carly smiled at him, and then turned to Jack.

"Okay, why don't you take the kids to the farm and…" Carly barely got the beginning of her sentence out before the protests started.

"No way, Mom!"

"Mom, are you kidding?"

"No, Mommy, I wanna stay with you!"

"Carly, you can't be serious?"

Carly held up her hands at the onslaught of voices and blinked rapidly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Okay, guys, relax."

They all quieted down and Carly took the opportunity to address Lee. "How long will everything take?"

"Well, since there happened to be an opening, I have you scheduled for a CT scan in 20 minutes. So I would say that we could have you out of here within two to two and a half hours."

"Guys," Carly tried again but Parker cut her off.

"Mom, we're staying."

Seeing the stubborn expressions on all of their faces, Carly just sighed in resignation. She wondered why she bothered arguing knowing that they came by their stubbornness honestly, being raised by her and Jack as parents.

"It's only a couple hours, Carly, and then I can drive you and the kids home."

"Fine," Carly sighed again and then raised an eyebrow at him when he just stood there.

"Well in that case, Jack, don't you think you should call someone to let them know where you are?" Carly said and for a moment, Jack was completely confused. Carly lifted her left hand slowly, the pain medication dulling the ache enough for her to wiggle her ring finger at him. Immediately it caused a look of realization to cross his face.

"Oh, yeah. I'll be right back, guys." Jack said and slipped out of the room, his phone already out of his pocket.

Lee had watched their interaction with interest, admittedly much more than just professional. He could tell instantly that there was a deep bond between his patient and her ex-husband and yet there was something else there too. A certain cautious nature, as if at any time one might say or do the wrong thing and it would all become incredibly uncomfortable. He also had to admit that when Carly had wiggled her ring finger at Jack, he had felt relief to know that the other man had some one else in his life. Not seeing a wedding band, he assumed it was a girlfriend or more likely yet, a fiancée.

"Is this gonna hurt my mom?" Sage asked and Lee noticed she was speaking directly to him.

"The actual CT scan won't hurt her a bit, but we do have to give her a shot and that is probably going to feel a little unpleasant." Lee said, who already could see that the girl wasn't going to take any cotton fluff answer. From what he could tell, she clearly inherited the trait from both of her parents.

"Why do you have to give her a shot?" Sage asked, leaning closer to Carly at even the thought of a needle in her immediate vicinity.

"Well, there's dye in the needle and we need it to go through your mom's veins to get a better picture of inside her head. Kind of like dying a human Easter egg." Lee told her and Sage's eyes widened.

"Will her skin turn colors?" Sage asked, her voice low in awe.

"No, but that would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?" Lee said and chuckled when Sage grinned and nodded at him. He lifted his left arm above his head, to shake his sleeve down in order to glance at his watch.

As he did, a tattoo on the inside of the doctor's forearm caught their eyes.

"Eleanor?" Carly asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Your wife?"

"No, not at all." Lee said and nonchalantly rolled up his sleeve to show them all the inked design which totaled maybe 3 inches in length. "I'm sure your boys know what it is."

"Wow, is that a Mustang underneath the name?" J.J. asked, his eyes widening. At 14, if that tattoo meant what he thought it meant, he was definitely impressed.

"Yep, she's my pride and joy." Lee said and even Parker was showing signs of interest.

"You own a horse?" Carly asked, trying to follow the non-existent parts of the conversation.

"Mom!" J.J. said, clearly exasperated by her lack of knowledge. "It's a car; a 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500! It's from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds. Remember? We made you watch it like 5 times."

"Oh, yeah," Carly said and began to vaguely remember. "But, actually, I think it was only twice and both times I was wondering why Angelina Jolie had blonde dreadlocks and ridiculously ugly clothes."

"Yeah, cause that's exactly what we guys focus on when we watch the movie." Lee said, rolling his eyes and both Parker and J.J. snickered. Carly glared at them but her lips twitched in an upward smile.

"So you own one?" Carly asked, bringing the topic back to the car and he nodded.

"Yep, I finished restoring her about 3 years ago. I'm working on a 1969 Chevy Camaro Z28 now." Lee said, pride filling his voice and both boys let out a low whistle.

"And where are you doing all of this?" Carly asked, trying to sound casual but when Lee looked at her she knew she hadn't succeeded.

"I bought the Thompson place a couple months ago but just moved in last week."

"Oh, I had heard they had sold it. Nice place; a lot of room." Carly said, thinking about the 25 acres of land that was actually pretty close to the Snyder farm.

"Yep, thinking of putting in a small dirt track, just to keep things fun. It won't cut into the pasture either, so the horses will be fine." Lee said and now Sage's attention was caught.

"You have horses?" She asked, another grin splitting her face.

"Well, only one at the moment, but I am looking to buy another one real soon." Lee said, smiling down at her.

"What's your horse's name?" Sage asked and Lee's eyes twinkled.

"Let me guess," Carly said and smirked at him. "Eleanor?"

"Haha, nope." Lee said and then grinned at Sage in particular. "Spanky."

"Spanky?" Sage cried, a giggle rising in her.

"Well her full name is Sir Spanky Pants of the North, but that's just too much for one poor horse." Lee said, waiting for the inevitable reaction.

"Her?" J.J. exclaimed.

"What can I say? My friend's daughter named her when she was born. Allie was only 4 at the time and very excited about naming her first horse. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was a girl horse. So she became Sir Spanky Pants of the North." Less shrugged, trying to keep a straight face.

They all looked at each other before bursting out laughing, including Parker and J.J. That was how Jack found them when he came back in the room. He looked around at them all, a strange feeling stirring in his stomach as he took in the scene.

"What did I miss?" Jack asked and they all turned to look at him, still chuckling.

"Nothing, Jack." Carly answered for all of them and before Jack could ask again, a page went off on the PA system for Dr. Liam Reynolds.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back and then we'll head up to turn your mom into an Easter egg." Lee said and winked at Sage, who dissolved into giggles again as he left.

Jack watched Lee go with an unreadable expression before turning back to Carly and the kids.

"Jack, are you sure you don't want to take them to the farm? What about Faith and Natalie coming over?" Carly said, resting her chin on Sage's head and looking at Jack.

He just waved a hand and smiled. "It's okay. I spoke with Lily and we'll reschedule. In fact, let's just reschedule the weekend. They're going to be staying with me for Thanksgiving and then through the engagement party weekend anyway. Besides, I think the kids would feel better if they stayed with you."

"Jack," Carly started to protest again but he waved her off…again.

"It's fine, Carly. I can catch up on some paperwork this weekend at the office, that way I can truly enjoy my days off after the holiday."

'Thank you' Carly mouthed and turned to their daughter, who was rapidly becoming more animated in trying to get her attention.

Sage began talking to her mom about her dance class and J.J. and Parker were deep in conversation about some girl named "Eleanor". For the first time in a long time, Jack felt like an outsider and it was definitely not a welcome feeling.

"So," Jack said, a little too loudly as they all stopped to stare at him. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I figured while you were getting your scan done we'd go to the cafeteria and grab dinner."

"Jack, why don't you go across the street to that pizza and arcade? It's still close by and then you guys won't have to eat hospital food." Carly said and looked down into Sage's face, rubbing noses with her as she made a mock disgusted face.

"Are you sure?" Jack said and Carly looked up at him, tucking her blonde curls behind her ears as she nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. By the time you guys get done, I should be getting my results and just about ready to go." Carly answered then grinned at her kids. "Try not to completely embarrass your dad at the arcade games, okay guys?"

"Ha, no promises, Mom!" J.J. said and she laughed, making a move to ruffle his hair but he ducked out of her reach only to be caught in a playful headlock by Jack.

Sage and Carly laughed, but Carly's ever observant eyes noticed that Parker had become quiet again as he stood to the side with his hands deep in his jean pockets. His expression was somber as he watched Jack, J.J. and Sage mildly horse around.

Looking at the clock on the wall, Carly knew that Lee would be back any moment. Calling a halt to the funny business, she agreed to send Jack a text message when she was done and waiting for the results. Soon she was getting hugs goodbye, even from Parker and J.J.

Hugging Parker just a little bit longer she whispered into his ear, "Please go easy on your dad. For me."

Pulling back, Parker met her eye and sighed before giving her a small, nearly imperceptible nod.

Lee suddenly reappeared with a wheelchair, causing everyone to pause and Carly to cringe.

"Do I have to ride in that thing?" Carly asked, eyeing it with loathing.

"Hospital rule, but I promise to pop a few wheelies as I push." Lee joked and Carly smiled. The kids saw that everything was fine and began to walk again, with Jack slowly following behind. At his pace he couldn't help but overhear Carly and Lee talking as he settled her into the wheelchair.

"So how about those wheelies, Doc?"

"You daredevil, you!" Lee jokingly exclaimed and Carly's laugh floated back to Jack as she disappeared around the corner with Lee.

Jack felt his stomach turn and again he couldn't put a finger on the feeling that was coursing through his body. A tug on his hand caused him to focus on his surroundings and he found himself looking down into his daughter's face.

"Daddy? We're hungry." Sage said and Jack looked up to where Parker and J.J. stood watching and waiting for him.

"Yeah?" Jack said and shook off whatever it was that had rooted him in the spot moments before. He bent down and hefted her up into a low slung football hold, making her laugh. "Tell me something new. You guys are always hungry!"

Parker and J.J. just rolled their eyes, but smiled before leading the way out of the hospital and to the family friendly pizza arcade across the way.