"Jack! How are you!" Kara screeched as soon as she saw who she had been called down to see. She ran to Jack and hugged him, then looked at me and smiled. She walked to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Mark! You look well! Have you been taking good care of my favorite patient?"

"Apparently not as well as I should be," I told her, pointing to Jack's bandaged head.

"Ohmigosh! What did you do this time?" she asked Jack, sitting on the end of his bed.

"I... wiped out on my skateboard. I was trying to to a trick jump and landed flat on me back, smacking my skull on the pavement." Our lie was becoming like second nature.

"Oh wow. You really need to be more careful," Kara said like a mother hen. "How many stitches this time?"

"Twenty two," Jack chuckled.

"But," Kara said, holding up a finger for emphasis, "as I recall, dudes dig scars, too. Am I right, Mark?" she said, and winked at me.

"Hell yeah, girl! I still get weak in the knees when I see the scar on Jack's belly," I confessed. I felt myself blush a little, but I didn't care. This woman literally brought Jack out of a coma. I felt I could say anything to her.

"I see something shiny on your left hand, boo. Is that what I think it is?" Kara asked, smiling and looking at my hand to see if I was wearing a similar band.

"We aren't married. Yet," Jack said, smiling and glancing over at me. "But we are engaged. It happened a few months ago."

"Oh, honey, I am so happy for you guys!" She leaned over and hugged Jack again, and gave me a wink. "So, when is the wedding?"

Jack looked at me, and I looked at him. Our eyes locked for a moment before I said "we haven't gotten that far in the planning process."

"I see. Well, you can't stay engaged forever. You at least need to set a date. Listen," Kara dug in her pocket and pulled out a small card. She took a pen from her other pocket and started scribbling something on the back of it. "Here is my card. It has my cell number as well as the number for the ICU floor that I work on. My sister is a wedding planner, and I can get her to give you two a great rate. She is really good, you won't have to worry about a thing." Kara handed the card to me.

"Thanks, Kara. Really. We appreciate it." I told her sincerely.

"One condition, though. You HAVE to invite me! I ADORE weddings!" She said, giggling.

"Absolutely!" Jack said, smiling like a madman. "Hey," Jack said to her in a whisper, "did you know Dr. O'Casey is gay?"

"No! He is? How did you find out?" She looked completely shocked.

"He let me stay while he stitched Jack up. He asked if I was family and I said no, but he saw Jack holding my hand then he lifted his sleeve to show me a gay pride tattoo he has on his left arm."

"Well, that explains why Dr. Sexy always turns down the female nurses when they come on to him!" Kara giggled. "He has shattered the self-esteem of at least 9 women in this hospital alone!" Jack and I both started laughing.

Kara looked at her watch and reluctantly said "I have to go, guys. I have rounds. It was really great to see you both! I am glad your other wounds healed so well! Too bad you have something new to deal with."

"You have NO idea," Jack said in a low voice as she stood up. She leaned down and hugged Jack, and I stood to hug her as well. "See you later, Kara. Thanks for stopping to visit!"

Kara waved as she opened the door, then she was gone.

I gathered up the few things we had there, my backpack, my phone and Jack's, his discharge and after care papers, and I helped him up so we could leave.

Mekiah was in the waiting room when we walked out of the ER, and she stood when she saw us come out. "That didn't take too long," she said. "Let's get Jack home so he can get some rest."

We piled in Mekiah's vehicle, Jack and I both sitting in the back so I could make sure he didn't fall asleep. How the hell do they expect to keep a person with a concussion awake after giving them opiate pain medications? I thought to myself.

"So, what the hell are we suppose to do now? I mean, about Sean and Sarah?" Mekiah inquired on the ride home.

"Well, we need to research how to rid a demon from a person that isn't actually possessed, and we also need to find Sarah. These things will take time, and Jack needs some time to recuperate," I said.

"Okay, I've been thinking," Mekiah huffed. "Since you two are the book experts, you can find the demon information. I'm sure between all the crap you have at your house and everything at the store you can find something. Also, do you remember the massive collection of books I have at my house? Well, I have a tome or two on demonology. I was planning on heading back home for the weekend to gather some of Sarah's personal belongings, and I was going to go on a psychic pilgrimage, if you will, to get more in-tune with my abilities. I may be able to track her easier. It will also give Jack an opportunity to heal up a little. I'm sure a week or two pouring over books will be better than pounding the streets looking for a dead girl. I plan on heading back toward your place after I go home, so I will drop the books off."

"Sounds like a plan," I said.

We got back to the house, and Mekiah followed us in to quickly gather up the few things she had there. We said goodbye and she promised she would be back on Sunday evening to drop off some books.

Jack plopped himself on the sofa, looking exhausted. "I'm really tired, Mark," he said to me.

"I know, baby, but you have to stay awake," I told him, sitting down next to him. I placed my hand on his face and ran my thumb down his cheek. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Mark?" Jack said quietly, looking rather shy.

"What's up, buttercup?" I asked playfully.

"I was thinking... about what Kara said. Maybe we should take a break from the Sean situation for a minute and focus on us for a little bit." Jack bit his bottom lip, looking worried.

"Jack? Is this bothering you? Are you really worried about it?" I shifted my position so I was sitting cross-legged, facing him. "We can talk about anything you want. I never want you to think you can't talk to me. I'm here for you always. I want to support you and comfort you in any way I can."

"Well," Jack started, then paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "It's just that we talked about getting married before, and when you finally proposed to me, I had a million thoughts. I was so happy, I couldn't stop thinking about what it will be like... I made plans in my head, thought of a million things, but every time I tried asking you about it, you just brushed it off and told me we have plenty of time to decide. We never even set a date. It's like you are avoiding it all together." Jack's eyes began to shine brightly from the tears welling up in his beautiful sapphire eyes.

"Jack... I..."

"No, Mark, I feel like you just gave me this ring to appease me, and you never had any intention of going through with it. Any mention of it from me or anyone else and the subject gets changed immediately. Are you just satisfied with what we have? I don't want to marry you if you aren't in this 100%." A tear spilled from Jack's left eye, and he quickly brushed it away.
I took his hand in mine and looked into his eyes. "Listen. There is nothing I want more than to commit myself to you forever. And I have! We are soulmates, remember? We don't need a piece of paper to tell us that, Jack."

"But this is exactly what I mean! Those words tell me you don't want to get married! I mean, we wouldn't have had to go through that whole deal at the hospital if we were! And we got lucky that the doctor was cool. If it were anyone else, I would have had to sit there alone, Mark! I don't want to do that!" Jack looked away from me and whispered, "If you don't want to marry me, just say so. We don't have to get married, but I don't want to live under the pretense that it will happen if it won't..."

I sighed deeply. "Jackaboy, I love you. More than anything. There is nothing that would make me happier than to be your husband. So, let's do this. We can talk about it. We can set a date. We can start making plans and lists and thinking of who we will invite. We can discuss where and when, the music and the menu, all of it. I'm all in, okay?" I put my fingers under his chin and turned his face toward mine. His eyes caught mine, and our eyes locked. "One condition, though..."

"What's the condition?" he asked, eyebrows scrunched.

"You have to take my name. Jack Fischbach. Deal?" I asked, still holding his chin in my fingers.

Jack smiled brighter than the sun. "Deal!"

I leaned in, slid my hand on the back of his neck, and kissed him.