Every second felt like an hour. And it made it even worse that he didn't know what hour or time of day it was. Jack hated this place. He never wanted to be in this situation again, but here he was in a concrete box.
Everything about this was disturbing. He wondered how could someone use their God given talent to build such a soulless and depressing room.
He felt less of himself as if he were some caged animal. He didn't get any kind of treatment like he was a human being, none of the inmates did. Yes, they knew they were all there for a bad reason, but prison was the punishment and that should be enough.
Jack sat up then got down off the top bunk and walked out into the pod where he seen inmates playing cards, working out, some just staring up into space like he does most of the time.
He started to take a seat at one of the metal tables in the middle of the pod, but the guy who's been staring at him for the past two days came up to him.
He was same height as Jack, but more intimidating with his dark eyes. He seemed familiar, but Jack couldn't put his finger on it.
"What are you in here for?"
Jack brows arched, confused as to why someone would randomly come up to him. "Assault." He muttered.
"How long you got?"
"Two months. Four Days."
"Mmm...Tough...This your first time?"
Jack inhaled deeply through his nose and glared at the guy next to him. "No, and it's none of your business in the first place."
He chuckled then stuck out his hand. "They call me slick." Jack stared at it, hoping he'd get the hint and leave him alone, but Slick only laughed again. "Just like him." He said under his breath.
Jack then asked, clearly annoyed with him, "Like who?"
"No one." Slick snickered.
Jack shook his head, realizing that Slick wasn't going to leave, so he walked over to the table where Deshawn and two other guys sat. He played two rounds of cards with them, only for fifteen minutes to slowly pass by.
"Mercer!" Officer McKenzie barked his name from the door. "You got a visitor, let's go."
Jack huffed then stood up from the table, not wanting to see anyone for right now, but he still followed McKenzie until he got to the booth and sat down.
After a week of avoiding him, he finally seen Selena. Her hair was in a messy bun and she wore a black turtleneck and she looked good, but he was beyond pissed at her.
Jack brought the phone to his ear and didn't hesitate to ask, "Where's Dyl And Nye?"
Selena smiled mischievously. "Well hello to you, honey." She sarcastically said.
"You know we're not okay, right?"
"Yep."
"And you know we're done after this, right?"
She shrugged loosely. "And that's fine with me."
There was a long silence, taking the ten minutes of time they had for granted. Jack didn't even know why she bothered to come, there was no point if she felt the way she did.
"I need to know if you're pregnant or not. Go to the doctor and get a second opinion, so we're sure."
"And what if I am?"
"I don't know, Selena. We'll try and work shit out I guess. I don't fucking know. You don't wanna be with me, so I don't know what you expect me to tell you. You're the one who thinks we're not supposed to be together."
Selena rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm not having this conversation right now."
"Oh, I'm sorry. When would be more fucking convenient for you?" Jack then scoffed and shook his head. "All these damn years we've been together and you have the Goddamn nerve to say I'm not the love of your life. Tell me who is then. Sean?" He asked, intentionally trying to make her upset.
"Oh, wow, fuck you."
"No, fuck someone else. That's what you wanna do anyways."
"Since we're talking about about fucking someone else, tell me why did Kiana come to visit you?"
"Someone has to. You didn't come for almost two weeks."
"I have to take care of the kids too Jack. And I also have my own job. Not everything revolves around you."
"It doesn't take a week to take fifteen minutes out of your day to come see me. If I find out you've been with someone else while we're still married, I swear to God, Selena."
"You're not gonna do anything about it."
"Try me." He warned her. "Go to the doctor's and bring my kids next time." He hung the phone up then got up from his chair and left without taking another look at her.
Selena sat on the bed at the clinic, anxiously waiting on the results if she was pregnant or not. She didn't know if she wanted to have another kid with him or what.
She also didn't know if she wanted them to get a divorce or not. It would break Dylan and Naomi's heart to see their parents split up. And of course she loved Jack, but sometimes she just thought she deserved better.
"Mrs. Mercer have you had any complications with your body lately?" Dr. Carson asked as he walked back into the room.
Selena looked for clarification, her eyes squinting a bit. "Such as?"
Dr. Carson looked over his clipboard as if he was reading off of it. "Such as arthritis, fatigue, rashes, inflammation, swelling, shortness of breath?"
Selena began to grow worried, not sure where the doctor was going with this. "Yes, everything, but rashes."
Dr. Carson nodded his head. "We're gonna do a blood count right quick." He pulled out an alcohol pad and asked Selena to roll up her sleeve.
She slowly did, fearing if something was going wrong then watched as he tied an elastic band on the inside of her elbow.
Dr. Carson wiped her skin with an alcohol pad then took the needle and inserted it into her arm. Being used to it, Selena watched as her blood was being pulled from the needle by the syringe to a vacuumed vial.
After he removed everything, he handed her a band-aid to put over her elbow. "I'll take this to the lab. I'll be right back."
Selena began to sweat. She started rub her hands on her thighs, nervous to what was going on with her body, praying to God she didn't have cancer or anything that could strongly effect her.
Dr. Carson came back empty handed. "You know how these things go. It's gonna take about forty five minutes. You can either come back or have us call you and let you know."
"Um, I'll come back. Thank you."
After picking the kids up from school and dropping them off at boxing and ballet, she drove around until an hour passed and went straight back to the clinic.
Dr. Carson came back with the test results in his hands. "Okay, Mrs. Mercer, so you're not pregnant and the CBC showed that you have low white blood cells and you said you're experiencing arthritis, inflammation, swelling and fatigue...And I'm sorry but, Mrs. Mercer you're suffering from lupus."
He went on to explain the medications to take, but Selena stopped listening. There was no cure. She has to live with this forever and she knows about this disease, and she can't believe how stupid she was to not see the signs.
Two days after she was diagnosed, she went back to the prison and seen Jack. Her nerves getting to her about how she was going to be able to tell him.
She watched as Jack sat down on the opposite side of the glass, the usual dry and tired look he had on ever since he got locked up.
"Hey." She quietly spoke into the phone, her voice hoarse from the crying she's been doing.
"Where are they?"
"They're at school."
"You didn't do what I asked. I asked two things from you and that's it. I need to see them."
"You can call." She suggested, saying it as if it was obvious.
"Why would I do that?" His brows rising. "You won't pick up unless you know it's for you and I'm not calling for you."
"That's not true. If you call, then I will let them speak to you, but they will not see you behind this glass like you're some kind of animal. You can call and you can write."
"Okay, fine, whatever."
Selena shook her head. "Jesus, Jack. Why do you hate me so much?"
Annoyance grasped his aura and he tsk'ed. "Oh, c'mon Selena. You know I don't hate you. If anything I fucking love you, but after what you said and after you not visiting like you're supposed to, I see how selfish you're acting. Trust me, I don't want us to end, but what you said fucking killed me whether you wanna know it or not."
"Really?" She scowled, wondering how he has any right to say that to her. "After everything you've done to me, you're surprised when I realize I need better for myself?
"Why are you acting like you never fucked up?"
"I haven't. That one time I did was cause I slipped up, yeah fine, but other than that I haven't. I slept with two other guys beside you. You slept with half of Detroit and I'm pretty sure all those times you were on tour, you slept with a different girl every other night if not every night."
"That's your problem, you start assuming then get pissed at me over some false scenario that you made up in your head."
"So, you never slept with anyone besides me when we were together?"
Jack answered without hesitation and didn't even show a tell as if it was that simple to lie to her. "No."
"You're a liar. You slept with Kiana and Kylie."
"No. I slept with Kylie when we broke up. I slept with Kiana when we were separated, so no I didn't cheat."
She gave up and shrugged, not letting his words tell her different then what she already knows. "If that's what helps you sleep at night...Do you even love me?"
"I just told you that I did and it's funny that you're asking me that after what you said. And it doesn't even matter if I do or if I don't. If you have to ask then you obviously don't think I do."
"Okay."
Jack huffed into the phone then rubbed his face with his hand. "Did you go to the doctor or what?"
"Yeah, and he said that yeah, I am pregnant."
Listen, I believe in jinx and was gonna diagnosis Selena with something LONG before I knew she had lupus. I was gonna guve her cancer and since I believe in jinx I ain't wanna give her cancer cause then it feels like I'm wishing that upon her, so yeah I'm gonna bring a little bit of her life into my story if that's cool with y'all.