Chapter Thirty-Four

Jess drifted in and out of sleep but eventually her eyes flicked open and all her senses kicked in at once. The sound of the constant bleep, bleep, bleep of the monitor, the smell of antiseptic, the bright lights that filled the room and the feel of crisp, white cotton sheets beneath her face made her remember where she was.

She wanted nothing more than to sleep. Sleep was good; at least when she slept the fear went away. But then she felt guilty for relaxing, especially while Jack was hanging onto life by a thread. Right through the night she’d kept snapping her eyes open and, each time she did, she realised where she was and the memory of the night before flooded back: Bandit and the paramedics hovering over Jack’s body, Jack fading away and her begging him to live. It all came back, along with the palpitations that relentlessly took over her body.

She looked at where Jack still slept, looked at the green line that jumped up and down on the monitor screen, then back to where his right leg was raised and covered in plaster. She still had no idea how he’d managed to drag himself so far, not with the injuries he’d sustained. The surgeon had said he’d never worked on someone who’d not only snapped his Achilles, but had also broken both his leg and his ankle so badly and in so many places. He’d lost far too much blood, he’d gone into shock and with the added exertion of dragging himself through the woods, his whole body had shut down in the most dramatic way. If Bandit hadn’t been there, if he hadn’t given him the first aid he’d needed, if he hadn’t kept going when others might have stopped, then Jack would have died and the night may well have ended in a very different way.

She took in a deep breath, and then wished she hadn’t, as the smell of the hospital antiseptic once again filled her nostrils. Her stomach turned, just as it had most mornings since her pregnancy and she jumped up quickly, ran to the sink and retched. She stared into the mirror and noticed the dark circles around her eyes, and grabbed a glass, ran the water and poured herself a drink.

Gulping down the water, she turned. Jack was looking at her. ‘I’m so … so … sorry,’ he whispered, making Jess run back to the side of the bed.

‘Oh, Jack. You’re awake.’ The tears that she’d held onto since the night before began flooding down her face. ‘I’ve … I’ve been so scared.’

His hand reached out to touch her face. ‘I’m so sorry, I wasn’t … I wasn’t there for you … for the scan.’

‘Don’t … don’t you dare be sorry. Oh my God, do you know what you did?’ She grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers. ‘Shall I get a nurse? Are you okay, do you hurt anywhere?’

Jack shook his head. ‘No, don’t. I … I just want to … Lily, is she safe?’

Jess smiled. ‘Lily is safe, don’t worry.’ Her eyes searched his face. ‘Jack, I love you so much.’

‘I tried, I tried to get … Oh, Jess, I didn’t get to the Hall, did I?’ He tried to lift his head from the pillow, but immediately dropped it back down. ‘Ouch!’ he yelled. ‘Damn, that hurts.’

Jess shook her head. ‘Don’t, don’t move. And, no, you didn’t get to the Hall. But I promise you, Nomsa and Bastion haven’t let Lily out of their sight, not for a minute since last night.’

‘But …’ Jack began to cough.

‘Wait, I’ll get you some water.’ Jess returned to the sink, picked up the water and came back to hold it to Jack’s lips. ‘Not too much,’ she said as the water wet his lips.

‘I was at the farmhouse, in the cellar, and they were there, Lily’s mother Annie and some thug named Griff. I heard what they were going to do, they said … said something about taking her, about selling her …’ He coughed and took another sip of water. ‘When they left I rushed up the steps … they collapsed … I couldn’t move, my leg was trapped and … What if …’ It was obvious that Jack was struggling to speak, and Jess picked up the alarm, wondering if she should press it and alert the nurse. ‘Jess, what if they’d got Lily?’

Jess didn’t know what to say. ‘The police, they’re looking for them …’ She lied with the need to calm Jack down, wanting him to relax, but it occurred to her that no one had known what Jack had meant when he’d said that Lily had been in danger. Jess quickly searched for her phone; she needed to get hold of Bastion, tell him that Jack was awake, and what he’d said and made an excuse to leave the room momentarily. ‘I’ll be two minutes,’ she explained as she lifted the phone to her ear, ‘I just need to speak to Maddie.’

Jack looked satisfied with the explanation and closed his eyes. The medication was almost certainly making him tired. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the scan.’ He sighed. ‘I really, really wanted to go to the scan.’

Jess allowed another tear to fall down her face as she completed the call and the quickly made her way back to Jack, where she leaned forward to rummage in her bag. ‘Here, it’s here, Jack. The scan, it’s here.’ She held up the picture. ‘Meet our baby.’ She watched as he opened his eyes and welled up as he fixed on the picture. ‘Isn’t it just the most beautiful thing?’

Jack once again tried to sit up, but couldn’t.

Jess nodded. ‘It’s so beautiful, Jack. Can you imagine, a tiny little baby, our baby?’ She paused and looked thoughtful. ‘You’ll be the best and most protective daddy, ever,’ Jess said as she flicked her hair back from her face and locked eyes with the man she loved. There was no doubt in her mind that she and Jack would be happy, and that they’d have their happy ever after, but what she didn’t understand was … ‘Jack, what were you doing at the farmhouse?’

Jack shook his head from side to side. ‘Oh Jess, it’s a long, long story. But in short, it’s ours. The farmhouse is ours. Emily left it to us.’

Jess sat back in her chair. ‘What? Why … I mean … oh my God, we have a house.’ The words were more of a question than a statement. She blinked and stared into Jack’s face. ‘Are you sure?’

Jack tried to look around the room. ‘My trousers, where are they?’ He slumped back against the pillows.

‘The paramedics, they cut them off.’ Jess took hold of his hand. ‘Why?’

‘The letter, the letter that Emily wrote, it explains it all. You have to read it.’ Jack closed his eyes and Jess heard his breathing change as he fell back into a deep sleep.

Letting go of his hand Jess walked across and picked up the clear plastic bag that the paramedics had given her. It contained Jack’s other clothes along with the contents of what had been in his pockets. She immediately spotted the letter that Emily had written and pulled it out of the bag and began to read.