Jack Rose

When I opened my eyes. Jack was gone.

I stood in the middle of the room awkwardly for a few seconds before I saw that he had left with my clothes but left his shirt behind instead.

I moved closer to the big white shirt that was destined to swallow me and I ran my hands through it.

I left a little trace of dirt on it before I stopped.

I needed to take a shower before putting it on.

I opened the door just behind me and thankfully, it was a bathroom.

I stepped inside it and turned on the shower and I allowed the water to soak me.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, I sat down on the floor, the sound of the shower drowned my overwhelming sadness.

The accident replayed in my head over and over and over again.

It didn't matter how many times I blinked. It just kept coming.

The cold river.

Feeling my daughter slipped out of me and searching for her by tracing the cold umbilical cord until I found her wedged against the car petals.

The little cry I let out when I tried to break the car window with my hands and head just to get her out before it was too late.

It was too late anyway.

Everything came all at once and I was helpless to do anything about it.

It came instantly.

This sob that took everything from me.

I press my hand to my mouth to hold it in.

If Jack can disappear in seconds and has perfect eyesight in a dark room, he must surely have perfect hearing.

But it didn't matter how many times I urged myself to be still…my grief shook my core.

So, when the door opened and he walked inside the bathroom, I wasn't a little bit surprised.

Shocked…yeah.

Surprised…no.

Maybe he changed his mind about fucking me after all.

"Katie"

I stared at him and he returned the favor.

Neither of us moved a muscle.

I wanted to hold in my grief, minimize it but it was out of control.

I started sobbing again.

I fully expected him to turn around and walk away but instead he walked right into the shower and picked me up.

I didn't fight him.

I simply did quite the opposite.

I clung to him as he walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom we were standing in before.

I thought he would stop.

He didn't. He opened the door, walked right into his gigantic living room, up the stairs till we got to a door again.

I was soaking wet and dripping water all over him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry" I must have said a thousand times.

"Hush, sweetheart. You are alright"

His voice was kind and so, I cried harder.

I felt the kiss he placed on my forehead.

I looked at him…tears streaming down my face before I choked out.

"He took my baby. Lucious took my baby" I told him.

"Jack, who's that?"

It was a girl's voice.

If I wasn't too occupied sobbing in my new husband's arm, I would be curious to know who it belonged to.

She had this look on her face like she drank something with a sour taste.

It seemed like my presence was nauseating to her.

She wasn't the only one by the door. There were others.

Four people wearing outfits resembling uniforms, all staring at their feet like it was mandated or something, all except the pissy red hair.

"Jack, I said…"

"Fetch a first aid box and run a warm bath. Tell the physician if he doesn't get here in thirty minutes, he will find himself in need of a new heart" Then he looked at me. "You will eat, won't you my wife?" He asked me.

"Your wife?!" The pissy red hair seemed to be pouring out fire from her mouth now.

She was a shifter but not a wolf.

If I didn't know better, I would think she was a fox.

"Go home, Avery" Jack told her.

"Where the fuck did you pick her from?!" Avery asked him. "I suggest you return her to the pit of hell you found her from before I lose my shit!"

"Bring me food!" He ordered one of the four people standing there and she scurried off.

Avery wasn't happy that she was ignored. She grabbed his hand.

"Jack!" She said through her gritted teeth as her hands dug into his skin drawing blood.

I simply reacted.

"You are hurting him!" I screamed as I shoved her so hard, for a moment I thought I actually shifted for the first time in my life.

I could see the surprise on Jack's face and the look of horror on Avery's.

The urge to protect him was sudden. It was unplanned….it was unnecessary.

"Who are you? You are interrupting my grief!"

"I'm his fiancee, bitch!" Avery spat out.

I paused. "You are engaged?"

He walked past them and kept walking without talking.

"I will bring them to the guest room, Master Jack" the maid told him.

He stopped temporarily.

"She won't be there. Bring them to my room, Avery"

"Your room?!" Avery sounded like she was going to blow. "You won't dare, Jack Travis Rose! You have no idea who you are dealing with!"

He didn't reply her, instead he turned to the only other girl in the gigantic hallway and said

"There better be a hot bath waiting for us before I get to my room, Ms. Ricardo"

When we got into his bedroom, he went straight into the huge bathroom and placed me inside the huge tub of warm water.

It was a comfort I accepted freely.

"Better?" He asked me with a smile.

I nodded but didn't say much else.

"Do you want me to go out and shoot your ex?" He asked me.

"No" I rubbed my palm across my nose.

"You have questions, I see"

"Your name is Jack Rose?" I asked him.

He chuckled.

I bet it wasn't the question he was expecting after the encounter with Ms. Fiancee in the hallway.

"Yeah, It doesn't really inspire fear like Jack Midnight or Mr. Midnight as you so fondly call me, sweetheart" he pushed my hair to the back "Do you have any more questions for me, Bambina?"

"Do you intend to fall hopelessly in love with me in the near future?" I asked him.

"No"

"Do you love Avery?" I asked him.

"Yes" he answered.

I wasn't expecting that answer from him.

"Do you plan to divorce me before I had a chance to carry out my revenge plans?" I asked him.

"No"

I was quiet for a few seconds.

"Do you want me to find out where he buried your daughter?" he asked me.

I paused and looked at him.

"He buried her already?" I could hear the shock in my own voice.

Jack nodded.

I stared at the ceiling as a fresh batch of tears emerged. I could still hear Avery's voice outside as she swore revenge yet all I thought about was my cold little daughter.

I must have stared at the ceiling for a very long before dozing off because when I woke up, Jack was fully dressed and I was in his bed dressed in one of his shirts.

"Hey" I whispered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you" he said.

"Are you going out?" I asked him.

He smiled and came to sit by me. He ran his hand through my hair like I was his favorite pet.

"I'm..." There was a little pause "... leaving" he completed.

"When are you coming back?" I asked him.

"I'm not" he said.

I think he waited for a big reaction but he got nothing from me. Maybe he decided marry me was a mistake and he was going to be with his beloved Avery.

"I'm not going with Avery"

"What are you? A mind reader?" I asked him.

He chuckled like he was the happiest person to walk on earth. It must be nice living in his head.

He took the notepad and pencil on the table by the bed and scribble something.

"Here, take this" he handed it over to me. "Call me if you need me, Katie-" I wanted to take it but he withheld it.

"It's for emergency only. The world better be on fire before you call me, Bambina"

I took it from him.

"And my revenge?" I asked him.

If this is the part I cry after him and beg him to stay then he is going to be disappointed.

He stood up and kissed my forehead before clutching his briefcase tighter.

"You will have everything you need. I wouldn't be a good fairy god husband if I didn't do that" he said and walked out.

"Goodbye, Jack"