She had a very bad feeling, and that was something that had only been intensifying since she'd arrived back at home. Driving to the cabin was absolutely the right thing to do, and finding some of Jack's gear at the cabin, but with no sign of him, really concerned her. He was a creature of habit at the cabin; she knew his behavior. She'd been coming here with him for the last 12 years and had become a decent fly-fisherman herself. She cherished these trips to the cabin, the solitude with Jack just being what was needed with so much chaos at home.

Prior to her Istanbul trip, they'd made plans for another getaway, not to the cabin, but a vacation for themselves, something she now regretted cancelling and pushing to the back burner. Their time together was precious, and she'd just dismissed that with her trip to take care of Evelyn. It was SO hard. Why did cancelling a much-needed vacation with Jack trump just up and leaving to take care of her aunt? She was just too committed to family, to making sure everyone was always taken care of, and when her sick aunt had asked for her help, of course, she'd done whatever needed to happen to get to her, even if that meant cancelling a much-needed vacation. No, now that she was home, they were going to take that trip to Emerald Lake. It was going to happen. Jack had been so excited, and most trips didn't excite him. She could still see the two of them in the kitchen, Lisa showing Jack the email confirmation on her computer about the trip. Jack was excited about a vacation, and that didn't happen often. She'd been stupid to push that, something she had wanted to do with her husband. This was going to have been perfect, and Lisa wanted to kick herself for just dismissing it like it wasn't important. She'd booked them a week at the Emerald Lake Lodge, an entire WEEK. A week of nothing but just relaxing, spending time together, no work responsibilities for either of them, no Tim to hassle them, no grandkids needing things, no great-grandkids to watch and care for, just a week of nothing but relaxing with each other, taking long walks, eating good food, sleeping in and not working ranching hours, just time to enjoy the solitude. Even with their significant age difference, with her now 54 and Jack 79, they'd managed to find a lot of things in common, simple trips like this now to be one of them. It surprised Lisa that she'd now much rather go off into the solitude with Jack than to spend a week on the streets of Paris sightseeing, but it was true. She loved her old cowboy, and that had surprised her over the years, the way she'd changed, but right now, she'd do anything to be alone at a lodge with Jack, just spending time with him. That's all she'd wanted over the years as they'd dated and argued about trips and all. She just wanted to spend time with him. Sitting and talking over a cup of coffee-if it was morning or a glass of wine-if it was afternoon or evening, was all she wanted out of her life now. It seemed silly, but it was true. She absolutely adored this man, this much older man that seemed to be opposite anything she'd ever want, but he'd swept her off her feet hard, even if he hadn't realized it. She'd fallen hard and fast for Jack all those years ago, surprising herself, and right now, she needed to put eyes on her cowboy. She felt deep in her gut something was seriously wrong.

But, her mind kept wandering to the trip she'd cancelled to just go off and take care of Evelyn. At the time, she'd just dismissed it and hated herself now for that. They would go on this trip. They'd fish, they'd eat, they'd talk, and they would definitely need to reconnect because she'd just about ruined things with their lovely marriage just taking off like she had. She knew that Jack had to be feeling it, and right now, she just had this bad feeling looking around the fishing cabin property trying to find him. Something was wrong. She felt it in the pit of her stomach. She had to find Jack. They had to find Jack. Tim was off in one direction; she was off in another, but Jack was nowhere to be seen. This couldn't end badly. She hadn't traveled all this way home back to him for something to be wrong. They had to find Jack. She had no idea the state he would be in.

Where was he? Lisa was in panic mode, and she was really glad Tim was there to help. Why couldn't they find Jack? He would only be on the river, and they'd both been scouring it. She knew this property now like the back of her hand; Lisa had been coming here for 12 years, the first trip to the cabin still her favorite memory.

"Lisa, over here!" Lisa's eyes flew open, and she took off running toward Tim's voice. What had he found? Jack-he had to be okay, and as Lisa came running through the brush around the corner, her heart almost sunk seeing Tim trying to stand up Jack and walk him toward the cabin. What had happened? Jack looked like he'd been propped up against a tree. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, her eyes only focused on Jack, the man she loved more than life itself. Lisa flung herself at Jack, pressing her lips to his, the weight of her kiss trying to convey the last three months she hadn't been in his arms. He was wet, soaked to the bone, shivering, and she wasn't sure he was even registering she was there in his arms.

"Jack," she tried to meet his gaze, looking him in the eye, "I'm here. I'm here." Lisa locked eyes with him, and finally, she saw the light in his eyes, but at the same time, she saw the confusion, the hurt, the questioning. Before she could do or say more, Tim sprang into action.

"Lisa, we need to get him to the cabin. He's freezing. Looks like he fell in the water. No telling how long he's been propped up here at this tree. I'm having trouble getting him to communicate. Look at his head," he gestured toward Jack and looked at Lisa. "Looks like he fell."

Lisa nodded in agreement, noting the blood and deep scrape marks on his head, and the two started to walk Jack toward the cabin, Lisa trying to process all that was happening. Jack's weight rested heavily on her even with Tim there. It was like Jack wanted her, but she was so very grateful to have Tim there. She never would have been able to get Jack back to the cabin herself, not with his weight compared to hers and in the state he was in, confused, wet, cold. Yes, it was truly a blessing Tim had come with her, and in all of the scenarios playing through her mind, she hadn't banked on Jack falling in the water, apparently hitting his head, now being slightly disoriented, and chilled to the bone. Yes, they had to get him to the cabin, had to get him warmed up, and they'd have to get him to the doctor and see what was going on.

"Lisa," Jack said through chattered teeth as they walked. "Are you really here?"

"I'm here, Honey," she patted his chest as they walked. "Tim and I found you. Looks like you fell in the river. Nasty bump on your head, eeeh."

"Will was here," he offered, and at that Lisa looked to Tim, and both frowned.

"Will passed away, Jack," Lisa reminded him. "Tim has been filling me in on what happened while I've been away. I'm home now, home from taking care of Evelyn in Istanbul. I'm back, Jack. All I wanted to do was get back to you. We found you, and we're almost to the cabin."

"Do you know if he has clothing here or with him? I don't remember him packing much of anything, except his flies," Tim looked over at Lisa as the two walked Jack to the cabin. It was now in sight, and she shook her head, not sure either.

"I know there are blankets here. If you want to get a fire going, we need to warm him up before anything. I can take him inside and see what I can find for him to wear. He can't sit around in these sopping wet clothes."

"No, he can't," Tim nodded in agreement. "I'll get a fire going over there at the fire pit. Looks like he had one earlier. Still some wood over there. Are you sure you can get him the rest of the way to the cabin?"

"I'm fine," she nodded, taking more of the weight of Jack from Tim as she nodded toward the fire pit. "You get that going. I'll get him inside. Even if we just get him wrapped in all the blankets, that's a start. I'll get you all of his wet clothes to put around the fire. I'm not sure they will dry out, but we need to do something."

The two went their separate ways then, Tim to start the fire, and Lisa, with Jack propped on her, walking toward the cabin. Lisa looked up at Jack, and he was just staring at her, almost unsure if she was really there in his presence.

"You're here?" Jack asked again, visibly confused, and Lisa reached up to squeeze his hand.

"I'm here, and I'm not leaving," she said with an affirmative nod. "Let's get you out of these wet clothes, okay? We're back at the cabin. Tim is not going to bother us. I'm going to see what you brought with you, but we're going to get you out of this mess, okay? I'll get you into the bed to take a look at that nasty bump on your head."

"Not the homecoming I expected," Jack said with a slight chuckle, Lisa's eyes widening at his attempt at humor. That was the most normal he'd sounded to her, and she smiled at that. "Undressing me and getting me into bed." Lisa grinned at him, the first she'd felt she had her Jack back, but he still looked awful and was still somewhat disoriented.

"I've been gone three months, Cowboy. I suspect we can wait it out another day or so, ehh? Just be glad I'm the one taking care of you. I could have Tim here undressing you. Your choice?"

Jack actually smiled, and Lisa was so glad to see some of the life coming back to him now. The coloring in his face was better than it had been just a few minutes ago, and the fact he was flirting with her while a freezing mess was reassuring to her. She opened the door to the cabin, and she helped him inside. Lisa quickly made work of getting Jack out of his wet clothing, Jack still somewhat disoriented, just standing there and allowing Lisa to pry the sopping wet clothing off of him.

"Oh, Jack," she sighed, getting him out of his fishing vest and shirt. "You really hurt yourself," she said, examining his shoulder where he also had a huge bruise now forming. Jack slowly glanced her way, his movements very slow and out of his normal character. Lisa pulled one of the blankets from the bed and wrapped it around his shoulders and arms, rubbing them to warm him up. She finished getting him out of his wet clothing, and she helped him over to the bed, sitting him down first, and then propping the pillows to lean him back, covering him with more of the blankets. He was still shivering, and she turned to the stovetop to start some hot water for coffee. As she got the water boiling, Tim knocked on the door and opened it gingerly.

"How's he doing?" Tim glanced to the bed where Jack had his head back, eyes closed, and was still shivering. Lisa nodded her head.

"He's got a huge bruise on his arm, looking like where he fell there by his head. We need to get him checked out. I'm worried he has a concussion, maybe worse. He's not favoring that shoulder, but I want it checked out too. He's almost too out of it still to register what is hurting and what isn't. His clothes there," she nodded to the pile she's put on a chair, "are sopping wet, as we knew."

He nodded, "I'll put them out by the fire to see if we can dry them out. Find anything else for him to wear?"

She shook her head, "Haven't looked yet. I'll get this coffee going for all of us."

Tim picked up the pile of wet clothes and gave her a nod as he walked back outside. Lisa turned her attention back toward Jack who was still there, resting, his eyes closed. She started looking around the cabin, spotting his overnight bag, and with a welcome sigh, she started to dig through it. She found his basic toiletries, and in seeing that, she carried the bag to the bed and sat down next to Jack. That movement had him open his eyes again, and she gave him a warm smile as she patted at his hand.

"Let's see if we can get you warmed up, Cowboy."

"You came home," he uttered, his eyes meeting hers, and she could see the pain and the fear behind them. It was an odd situation. Jack was disoriented, but at the same time, he was very lucid about other things, slipping between the disorientation and the lucid comments almost effortlessly.

"Of course I came home," she said, her eyes now tearing up, realizing just how much she'd worried Jack. She squeezed his cold hands and looked into his eyes, "Jack, this was never about leaving. It was about helping Evelyn, and I'm home, and I'm sorry I was gone so long, but I love you more than life itself and realize that I have a lot of work to do to repair things. I'm so sorry I was gone so long, and I hate that you are questioning anything. We can talk more about this all later, but I'm here," she said with a heartwarming smile, "and I love you, and we are going to get you warmed up, checked out, and home, okay?" She leaned over and kissed him again, Jack wrapping his arms around her as she did the same. She brushed hair out of his face, and then she turned her attention to his toiletry bag, first brushing his wet hair and then digging out some ointment for his scrapes and wounds. After that, she found some warm socks in a drawer and some fresh undergarments for Jack. She helped dress him in that, now at least with socks, underwear, and and undershirt. She found an old flannel shirt too, and with all of that on, no extra pants for now, he was warmer than he had been. She left his side to fix a strong cup of coffee, and with that in hand, she helped Jack start to sip on that.

"Hits the spot," he said, nodding as he sipped at it. "Thank you."

"Do you bring any other food with you?"

"Some muffins in the bag, Lou made," he told her, and at that, Lisa started digging around, found the muffins, and she also found a banana in the bag. She brought it back to him.

"Any idea how long you were out there? It's mid-afternoon now, Jack."

He shook his head, "I was fishing most of the morning. I found a duck."

She gave him a quizzical glance, "You found a duck? You told Tim and me earlier you were here with Will. He's gone, Jack. I'm not sure you are thinking clearly."

He shook his head, "I think I was dreaming it, about Will. I remember fishing, catching and releasing one, and as I did, I heard a duck. It was all caught up in some netting. I freed it, and I think that's when I fell. I remember slipping, and that's it. The rest of the day, I was talking to Will. Will told me to get out of the water."

Lisa's eyes teared up listening to Jack as she nodded. It was clear he'd had a conversation with his friend while in the water, and she started crying, realizing just how close she came to losing him. It sounded like he could have drowned there in the shallow, frigid water, and she almost couldn't believe she'd lost him from the little details she was getting from him.

"Lisa," she turned when Tim walked back inside, and she wiped her eye as she looked over at him. She could see the concern on Tim's face too. "That fire is hot out there if you want to get him there and warmed up. Looks like you found some clothing for him."

"Some," she nodded with a small smile. "No pants, but otherwise, he's warmer. It would help to get him around that fire. There's hot coffee," she nodded to the stove. "Please help yourself. I know you have to be cold too. I am."

Tim made quick movements toward the stove and poured a cup of coffee there, drinking it down quickly, none of them noticing how hot the coffee was with how much of a chill they were all feeling in the air.

"His boots are wet," Tim told her, "so we'll have to watch walking him out there in dry socks."

They both turned their attention back to Jack who was still sitting there almost dazed. Lisa walked back to him and noted he hadn't touched the food she'd left. She peeled the banana and sat down next to him.

"Come on, Honey, you need to eat something," and with that, Jack's attention snapped to the banana she was holding out to him. He gingerly took it, his hand still shaking, and Lisa helped him with steadying his hand. He quickly ate the banana, and Lisa glanced to Tim, both thinking about how long Jack must have been outside.

"Jack, what time did you go fishing?"

"Early," Jack shrugged. "Not sure the time."

"Lisa, is there other food for him? He probably hasn't eaten all day."

"Muffins here," she held up the container and turned to Tim. "Plenty here, Tim. Lou made them, so help yourself. I don't think any of us have overeaten today."

The three of them spent the next few minutes renourishing themselves, all eyes on Jack as he worked his way back to the land of the living. Lisa looked up at Tim.

"What's the plan?"

"Let's get him outside and around that fire. His clothes are drying, but you know they were wet. I think the best thing would be to close this place up while he warms up. You take my truck back to town. We can get Tricia on the phone at the clinic. It's closer than any hospital, and I think she'll be best to take a look at him. You and I both know it doesn't matter what time we get him there. Tricia will take care of him."

"Yes, I agree," Lisa nodded.

"You take my truck though because we can recline that passenger seat. Jack's truck doesn't have that, and I'll drive the hunk of junk home. I can follow you to the clinic if you like."

"No," she shook her head. "I can get him there, but thank you," she said, making eye contact with him. "Probably best if I just take him. You can get back to the ranch and let everyone know he'll be alright. I'm mostly worried about a concussion, but I do want to make sure he hasn't broken or dislocated anything."

"Sounds good," Tim nodded. He walked around to the side of the bed, "Let's go, Old Man. Let's get you out to the fire. Keep those blankets on your legs," he gestured to Jack with a smirk and a wink at Lisa. "No need for me to see anything that will make me sick to my stomach. Besides, it's cold, and you need to stay as warm as possible."

The two helped Jack to the door, both getting him outside, and Lisa was pleased to see Tim had made a very nice fire and had a chair right by it for Jack. His clothing was propped up around it, drying as best as it could. They hobbled Jack to the fire, making sure to keep him as dry as possible. Once they sat him in the chair, Lisa rearranged the blankets to keep his legs warm and then wrapped another around his arms. She bent down and looked him in the eye.

"Are you okay right now?"

"Fine," he sighed. "Making too big of an issue about this. I'm fine, Lise."

"You're not fine. You sit here. Tim and I are going to get the cabin squared away and get going soon. Don't move. Your wet clothes are drying. You are sitting. Next stop for you will be a warm truck. Just rest here, okay?" She kissed his head and met his gaze before she stepped away.

He nodded, and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. Lisa was sure he had a concussion, and with that in mind, she knew she'd have to keep him awake and talking as best as she could back to town.

Another half hour later, with the cabin closed up, Jack's things loaded into the truck, Lisa and Tim warmed up both trucks as they finished getting everything ready to leave. Jack hadn't moved from his spot in front of the fire. Tim walked Jack to the passenger door of his truck and helped him get in, of course with the protest of Jack.

"I can ride back home in my truck," he tried waving off Tim.

"Oh, no you aren't. Lisa and I decided this. You're going home in my truck. Seat reclines, and with that nasty bump on your head, you need to recline."

"You're driving my truck?" Jack glanced at him.

Tim patted Jack's shoulder, "Don't get too excited. It's either me or Lisa, and I am guessing you'd rather ride home with her. She's taking you to get checked out with Tricia. I already called her, and she's expecting you two. Now, get in, don't complain, and try to enjoy spending a little time with your wife after her three-month hiatus from you. I'm sure you can find something to talk about."

Jack nodded, a moment of clarity hitting him again, "Thanks, Tim. Take care of my truck."

Tim chuckled, patting Jack's shoulder again, "With all the scrapes, rust, and mess on that truck, I think it will be just fine."

"All set?" Lisa walked up, more blankets in hand. She walked around to where they were talking, and she put more blankets around Jack.

"I'm fine, Lise," he sighed.

"You're still shivering so no you aren't," she said with a sigh and a shake of the head at Tim.

"I'll stay and put out that fire," Tim gestured to the fire pit. "You two go on ahead, and Lisa," he gave her a nod, "if you have any problems, I'm behind you."

"Thanks," she said. She handed Jack another cup of coffee. "Drink this while I drive us home. Let's get going."

The trio went their ways, Tim back to the fire, and Lisa got into the driver's seat of Tim's truck. With a glance at Jack to make sure he was comfortable, she started the drive back toward home. The two were silent as she got back out of the woods and onto the main dirt road. She'd be on that a short while before hitting the highway. It was a two-hour drive home, with a stop at the clinic before that. It would be dark before getting to the clinic, and Lisa just hoped that by tomorrow, Jack was on the mend.

"I can't believe you're here," Jack finally broke the silence, and Lisa glanced over at him, seeing Jack just studying here, almost unsure if she was real.

She reached for his hand and clasped it in hers, "I'm really here. I'm home, and I'm sorry."

"I've had times at the cabin where I feel like I'm talking to people who are really gone-Lyndy, now Will-"

"I'm real," she tugged at his hand, giving him a small, soft smile. "You're alive. I'm alive, and we are going to get things back on track. I love you," she told him again, not sure she could say it enough to reassure him, but she was going to do her best to try.

"My head is killing me," he groaned, and he learned back.

"You rest," she patted his hand. "I'll keep talking to you, but just rest. We put you in Tim's truck to be comfortable. Rest, and we'll get you checked out. I'm not about to lose you, Cowboy."

"Just don't leave me, Lise," he told her, and at that surprising comment, Lisa's eyes widened. "I need you more than you know."

At that, Jack closed his eyes, and Lisa bit back her tears, knowing she had so much to make up for with Jack, and she hated that she'd brought him to this dark place.