Chapter 12

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Jack stared at Lucy, tight lipped. He wanted to tell her she was mistaken, but he knew Lucy would know he was lying. He dipped his head and slowly closed his eyes.

"Luce…" He began. Lucy walked toward him, her arms folded, eyebrow arched.

"Jackson…" She said accusingly.

"You and I both know it's not that simple. Sue and I are friends." Jack began.

"Excuses…" Lucy teased.

"Lucy, she and I can't be more… you know that." Jack said, barely a whisper. "There's a policy in place for a reason."

"More excuses." Lucy retorted. "Weren't you the one who was just telling me that you hadn't thought about work at all today? Doesn't that tell you something? Maybe it's time you start thinking about something more than just work." She paused. "Didn't this whole thing with Sue teach you anything? Jack, do something before you lose her." Lucy encouraged.

"I- I" Jack began when he spotted Anne walking toward them. Jack walked past Lucy, up to Anne. "Everything OK?" He asked nervously.

"Relax, she's fine. I was just coming to see if you two wanted to see her." Anne said.

"Is she awake?" Lucy asked.

"Not yet, but she's settled in her own room. You two can go in now." She answered.

When they entered her room, she was lying still. The sun was shining in on her. Her two best friends pulled chairs up alongside of her bed. Jack instinctively took her hand in his. Lucy brushed her hair back from her face. Neither said a word, they simply sat in silence for a long while.

Nearly an hour had passed when Anne walked back through the door. She smiled at both of them.

"How are you guys holding up? Have either of you eaten?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks. I think we're doing ok." Lucy said.

"Does she have a nurse lined up once she gets home?" She asked.

"Yeah. We're going to help her with the day to day chores, but there's a nurse coming in to change the bandage and clean the drains." Jack explained.

"That's good." Anne said. "She's really going to need her two best friends right now. She probably won't admit to that, but she's going to need your support. There are steps to this surgery, post-surgery account for most of them." Anne explained.

"What steps?" Lucy asked.

"Don't be surprised if she breaks down, or becomes angry over the circumstances." Anne explained.

"It sounds like you're talking about grief." Jack said.

"I am. She needs to grieve the loss of her breast. Some women get through it pretty quickly, others dwell. Don't let her dwell." Anne suggested. "Make sure she takes her pain meds, don't let her be a hero in that department, she's going to need them. Exercises are important too. We'll start her on them tomorrow, but you're going to have to force her to do them at home." She said. "I'll give you an exercise routine to do with her."

"She'll do them." Lucy assured her.

"She'll want to do them, but you're going to have to be on her about it. It's going to hurt like a bugger, and she'll want to give up, don't let her." Anne began. "If she doesn't work that arm, she'll lose use of it, and her career with the FBI will be over."

"Not Sue. She's had to face adversity her whole life, this won't be anything new. She's a fighter." Jack said proudly.

Anne smiled and left the room. Lucy stood up and stretched once again. Another hour passed when Lucy's phone rang. She looked at it and smiled.

"My mom." She said. "I'll take this in the hall." She walked out of the room, leaving Jack alone with Sue.

Jack gently stroked Sue's hair, allowing his hand to travel down her arm, once again taking her hand in his. He leaned down and softly kissed her fingertips.

"Come on Sue, you've got to wake up. The sooner you wake up, the better off you'll be." He said. "Well, probably not. I guess when you wake up, the fear you had of everything becomes reality." Jack said choking back tears. "Sue, I know you can't hear me, but I'm hoping somehow you'll know I'm talking to you…" Jack said as his tears spilled onto his cheek. He grabbed for a tissue and wiped his face and eyes dry. He sniffled and realized it sounded like he'd been crying. He laughed at himself and snuck into the bathroom to wash his face with cold water. He made his way back to her bedside, taking her hand in his again.

Lucy came back in holding a tray with two coffees and a baggie of cookies.

"I thought you might want a snack, you didn't eat much today." She said handing him the goodies.

"You're a regular little mother hen, aren't you?" He asked teasing her. "Thank you."

"How is she?" Lucy asked nodding toward Sue.

"The same." Jack answered.

"You OK?" She asked. Jack nodded. "Liar" She said smiling at him. He closed his eyes slowly and shrugged, admitting he wasn't doing so well. The friends sat together keeping watch over Sue while making small talk. Another hour passed when Jack felt Sue's hand move in his.

A soft moan was all they heard come from her frail body. Both friends jumped to see if she was waking up.

"Uhhmmm…" was the only sound that came from Sue's mouth, but it sounded like Heaven to the pair. Jack pushed the button for Anne, and he squeezed her hand a bit. "Uhhggg" was again, the only think that escaped from Sue's lips. She tried to open her eyes as Jack brushed her cheek and squeezed her hand some more. He gently rubbed her arm, and then took her hand once more. Her eyes fluttered open, and closed just as quickly. She licked her lips, opening her mouth a little bit.

"Come on Sue, open your eyes." Jack urged as he rubbed her hand.

"Well, what do we have here? You all having a party and not inviting the nursing staff?" Anne joked.

"Something like that." Lucy answered.

"She's not waking up, keeps falling back to sleep." Jack said, nervously.

"It's normal. Give her a little time. Keep disturbing her, piss her off a little bit. It sounds mean, but it'll wake her up faster." She laughed, leaving Lucy and Jack with jaws dropped. "Usually, just the sound of my voice does it… little harder with Suzie here." Anne said.

"Yeah, yelling doesn't do much good with her." Jack commented.

"Positive side of being deaf I guess, loud noises don't bother you." Anne agreed.

"Yeah, makes it easy to live above a bowling alley!" Lucy teased.

"I take it that's a true story?" Anne asked. Both Jack and Lucy nodded.

"Jk.." Sue mumbled.

"I think she wants you." Anne said.

"In more ways than one." Lucy agreed laughing, enjoying Jack becoming uncomfortable and beaming pink.

"Alright you two." Jack scolded.

Anne leaned into Lucy, "You've picked up on that have you?" Anne said with a wink. Jack didn't even bother responding.

"Come on Sue." Jack said, he continued to brush her face with the back of his fingers and rub her hand.

"Squeeze her hand, her fingers, like you're a kid playing one up." Anne said.

"Like what?" Jack asked.

"You know. Ugh! Didn't you ever play 'uncle' when you were a kid?" Anne asked. "Make it hurt just a bit… get her attention."

"Ahh." Jack said and squeezed Sue's hand a bit harder. She winced like she felt it, but her eyes didn't flutter again. She simply groaned. Jack leaned toward her and kissed her on the forehead. "Come on Sue." He said very close to her.

Her eyes fluttered open, and then closed once more. He kissed her again, this time on the temple. Her eyes fought to open.

"There ya go." Anne said. "Aim for her lips, I bet that'll get her attention." She teased.

"It would get mine too!" Lucy agreed. Jack kissed her cheek, and kept his face next to hers. Her eyes fluttered and fought.

She moaned once more, moving her head to the side, facing Jack. She moved her hand with her pinky sticking out, swooping it a bit, and then crossed her thumb over her middle and index fingers.

"What's she doing?" Anne asked.

"Sign… she's signing." Lucy said excited. Lucy repeated the signs that Sue had made. "J…K" She said. "She made a J and K… Jack! She's signing Jack!" Lucy said excitedly.

Jack curled her hand into a fist and shook it. A peaceful smile graced her face. Jack took her hand and signed "OK" and poked her softly in the shoulder. This time Sue shook her hand on her own.

Anne looked confused at the scene before her.

"Jack asked her if she was OK, she said yes." Lucy explained.

"Ahh. Jack? Ask her if she's in any pain." Anne instructed. Jack's brow furrowed. Once again, he took her hand and formed the letters 'P' and 'N' and touched her shoulder. She turned her head to one side then slowly to the other.

"Good." Anne said patting her on the arm. "Let me know if she wakes up fully and needs something." With that, Anne left the room.

Sue tried to open her eyes, but lost the fight and fell back asleep. Lucy rubbed Jack's shoulder. She leaned to him and said "She's going to be fine." Jack smiled as he took Sue's hand in his again, entwining their fingers.

A lab tech came in the room with a tray full of tubes and needles.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I'm going to need that hand for a few minutes." She said with a smile. She wrapped Sue's arm with a rubber tie and drew out two tubes of blood. As she was taking the samples, Anne poked her head back in the door.

"Agent Hudson?" She asked. Jack turned toward her. "There someone here to see you." She said.

Jack got up. "Luce, I'll be right back." He said as he walked out the door and into the waiting area where he found Sue's parents anxiously waiting for some word on their daughter.