Second Chances

back to the hospital

A few months ago, a day after Alanna saw Jack intubated, he was taken off the machine. Jack didn't wake up for another day. When he finally woke up, he was shocked to find Susan next to his bed instead of Alanna. Jack opened his eyes and saw Susan on the phone. He looked around the room looking for any familiar faces but there were only two nurses and Susan. One nurse was taking his vitals and the other changing his IV. Jack looked at Susan disappointed.

He hadn't talked to Susan for a long time. She had been calling him and leaving messages about needing to speak with him. However, Jack ignored them. One day, she went looking for him at his house very early in the morning before Jack left to work out with Alanna. Jack came out of the shower and found Susan sitting on his bed. Jack questions Susan, and she tells him that Jackie let her in. He demanded her to leave his house. Susan left upset. After that incident, Jack didn’t hear about her until he woke up from his surgery. He was expecting to see Alanna. Jack remembers Alanna telling him, “I love you” after saving his life. Jack thought that Alanna wanted to be with him as much as he wanted her back. He clears his throat a few times and asks Susan with a creaky voice, “What are you doing here? Where is Alanna?”

Susan put her phone down and looked at him. At that precise moment, Jack’s mother and Jackie walked into the door. Jackie saw her father awake and ran to him smiling. Jackie called, “Dad you are awake.” Then she turned to Susan and asked, “When did he wake up?” Susan smiled and replied, caressing his face, “He just did.” Jack frowned and, tried to lift his hands to push her hand away, but both of his hands were connected to machines.

Jack looked at Jackie and asked, “sweety, where is Alanna?” Jack’s mother interrupted, “forget about that woman.” Jack looked at his mother and told her, “mom, do you know that Alanna saved my life?” Jack’s mother walked next to his bed and grabbed his hand. Jackie turned away as her grandmother told Jack, “She hasn’t been around here. I was surprised, but I guess I was right. That woman never loved you, Jack.” Jack looked at his mother and thought about what happened, “I didn’t get to talk to her before that boy shot me. Maybe she is still upset, but she kissed me and said she loves me. She maybe hasn’t had a chance to come.” Jack decided to give her time. He knew that Alanna loved him and hoped that she would come.

Susan interrupted his thoughts by grabbing his other hand. He looked at her frowning again and his mother caressed his chest, telling him, “but Susan has been here all this time, worried about you. She hasn’t left your side.” Jack stopped frowning and looked at Jackie in the back, staring at him with teary eyes. He stretched his hand to her and called her over. Jackie ran to him and laid her head on his chest crying, “Daddy, I’m so happy that you are okay. We thought you were not going to make it.” Jack gently stroked Jackie's hair and told her, "I'm not planning to leave you until I'm so old that you have to change my diaper." They all laughed, and a nurse interrupted them asking her to leave because she needed to change his bedding. Jack whispered to Jackie, raising his eyebrows and smiling, “ Go, it is time for my sponge bath.”

Susan wrapped her arm around Jack’s mother and grabbed Jackie’s hand. They walked out of the room and the Lieutenant sneaked into the room. He had been waiting for Susan to leave the room, so he could see Jack alone. The Lieutenant walks in and a nurse stops him, “excuse me, sir, you need to come back in a few minutes. We are changing the patient’s bed.” Jack asked the nurse to let him in for a second. The Lieutenant rushed to him and without pause he told Jack, “I’m happy to find you awake. Quick! I have reasons to believe that the attempt on your life was planned by Susan. I must find the other gunman before moving forward because the young man that was shot by you, succumbs to his wounds. However, before he died, he was able to tell me that a barbie-looking woman paid them to kill her ex.” Jack was furious. The nurses grabbed the Lieutenant and politely escorted him out of the room, explaining that they needed to do their job. Jack was just going to ask the Lieutenant if he had seen Alanna, but the nurse had already taken him out of the room. Jack was left to digest this information alone. He started to think about Susan being there. Her caring wife act finally made sense to him.

Jack asked the nurses, “Have you been taking care of me since my surgery?” one of the nurses said, “I have been here since you arrived.” Jack smiled and asked, “The blond woman that just left...was she here since I arrived?” The young nurse looked at her coworker. Her coworker shook his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. The nurse got closer to Jack and said to him in a low voice, “I’m sorry to tell you this but your wife doesn’t seem to care much for you. People have come in and out of this room crying and sad to see you in your condition, but she didn’t even fake it. All she did was sit there on her phone. Then she acts like she cares when your mother or daughter is around. I heard the doctors talking about her asking to sign a DNR form when it wasn’t even offered to her yet.” Jack made a fist, and his blood pressure went up. The nurse grabbed his arm and apologized, “I’m sorry, I just thought you should know.” Jack looked at the nurse and smiled, “no don’t feel bad, I needed that information. Thank you.”

The nurses finished and they left. Then Susan, Hanna, and Jackie went back into Jack's room. Jack decided to play along with Susan to keep her close and find evidence that incriminated her in the attempt against his life. If they could prove that Susan tried to kill him, she would be out of his life forever. He could finally be with Alanna. Jack played alone and when Susan suggested that he would stay at his house, where she was staying. For his recovery, he happily agreed. However, he asked for the nurse that told him about Susan to be his nurse at home. Susan had no other option than to accept, and Jack had another set of eyes and an ally in his house.

As Jack began to recover, he tried to get in contact with Alanna to explain what was happening. He used the nurse's phone to leave her a message, but Alanna had changed her phone by then. It took him a few months of bed rest then therapy to fully recover, but once he was able to walk, he went back to work. He was left with a limp that the physical therapist promised would go away after more therapy.

At work, all Jack did was spend his time following leads on the young man that shot him. They finally had a name and knew what he looked like, but he was in hiding. Jack knew he was a junkie, so he went to the streets, and every day he busted two or three crack houses.

At home, Jack played his part as a good husband and father. He felt bad for Jackie. She seemed to enjoy seeing her parents together again, but he couldn’t risk telling her anything. Susan behaved as if nothing happened. She was back to being a good homemaker and taking care of Jack as she did when they were together. For a while, Jack started to doubt his suspicions. He wonders if Susan was really capable of doing something so horrible to the man she had been sleeping with and treating as a king for the last month.

One night, Jack had a little too much wine for dinner. Susan took advantage of his state. After Jack went to bed, she took her close off and got into bed naked. Jack had been so long without having s****l relationships that he became aroused just by Susan touching him. Jack was so out of it that he didn't realize what was happening. He closed his eyes and moaned as he felt his erection entering Susan's warmth. Susan slid Jack inside and rode him fast. She looked at his face as he moaned with his eyes closed. Then Jack took a deep breath and smelled, "Alanna!" Susan smacked his chest and climbed off of him. She walked to the bathroom mumbling, "even drunk you, mention her." Jack turned to his side hugging his pillow.

The next morning, Jack is walking out the door and Susan kisses him goodbye. Jackie saw them and smiled. Jack went to his car and sat there thinking. Suddenly, he had a flashback of what happened the night before. He realized that he was getting too used to the married life and began to forget the reason he was there. Alanna came to his mind and he felt helpless. He wonders how he was able to have s*x with Susan. Jack hit starring weal and growls. He missed Alanna so much and needed her, but Susan could never substitute her. Jack hears rumors that Alanna is dating again, but he refuses to believe them. He knew that there were always rumors and they were never true. He hated not being able to communicate with Alanna and having to live with Susan, but he was hoping that in the end things would work out. He wanted to believe that their love was stronger than anything and they would be able to move forward after he got rid of Susan.

Jack’s phone rang. It was the Lieutenant, “Jack we have intel on our guy. Come quickly. We are heading to the location where he was seen a few minutes ago, as we spoke.” Jack replied excited, “Great! text me the address. I’ll meet you guys there.”

Jack arrives at an abandoned old office building. There were already two other officers and the Lieutenant at the site. They provided Jack with a bulletproof vest. Jack rushed to put it on and drew out his weapon. He led the two officers to the building. He asked one to go to the back and another to guard the front entrance. Jack walks inside with a flashlight next to his gun, pointing it in front of him. There was a little light, but he knew that it was definitely a crack house because of the strong human excrement smell and the drug paraphernalia lying around the messy floors. Jack walks into an office and finds two men sleeping on top of cardboard on the floor. The man woke up and ran out scared. Jack called on the radio to alert the officer outside about the guys that were running out of the building. Then he walks into another office space. There were around ten people. They began throwing things at him and screaming, "police", alerting the other people in the building of Jack's presence.

People started running out of the building. The officers at the entrance had to call for backup. The Lieutenant had to help control the crowd outside. Jack began to run around the hallways looking for the young man who had shot him. Then he heard a loud cry, "Please someone help me." Jack put his gun down and ran towards the cry for help. He ran to a room full of mattresses on the floor and found a young woman kneeling in front of a big mattress surrounded by bags. He walked toward the young lady and to his surprise, on the mattress surrounded by bags, he found the young man that shot him. The young man was violently shaking, and bubbles were coming out of his mouth. The young woman grabs Jack's hand and asks, "please help my boyfriend." Jack knew that he was suffering from an overdose.

Jack put his gun away and called for an ambulance. Jack couldn't let him die. He needed to make sure that he stayed alive. He needed him to find out the truth. Suddenly, the young man stopped shaking. The girl," screams, "he is not breathing." Jack drops his radio. He couldn't believe his luck. He finally found him, and he died right in front of him. He looked at the young man's lifeless face. His lips were purple and his eyes semi-open.