The Days Without You...

“Jackie?” Bobby choked out.
“Hey Bobby,” Jack stood up from the bed and gave his brother a gentle smile.
Bobby moved past me and pulled Jack to him in a bone crushing hug. “God. Jack how are you... How are you alive?!” Bobby didn’t let go until Jack told him he couldn’t breathe.
“Well,” Jack started, but Bobby cut him off.
“ANGEL! JeRRY!” he yelled out, calling his other brothers. Angel and Jerry ran the short distance to Jack’s/My room with their respective partners with them. When Camille caught sight of Jack her hand flew to her mouth as she stared at him. “Mi Dios…” Sofie breathed out, clutching to Angel’s arm.
“Jack.” Angel’s eyes were wide like he was seeing a ghost. Jerry paled till he was nearly as white as me, and that’s saying something since I was pretty damn pale. Jack moved forward and enveloped his brothers into a hug, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
This dream was pretty damn depressing…

“How are you alive Jack?” Angel spoke up, repeating Bobby’s question.
Jack looked at me, but didn’t move forward. He knew I would just back away. It would hurt more when I wake up if I let myself be held by him. “One of Victor’s guys drove the ambulance that I was in.” Jack began, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. His hand moved to his chest, covering where Bobby had told he was first shot. “He told everyone I had died, but evidently my heart was still beating. It was just so slow no one noticed. He drove up to someplace, I don’t remember where…” Jack shook his head. “and dumped me there. Some guy drove by and saw me there; he brought me to the local hospital. When I woke up the doctors told me they induced a medical coma because the damage was so bad that I wouldn’t have made it if I was awake. After I woke up I couldn’t walk,” Jack looked up and after seeing the confused looks on all our faces he explained. “The shots to the back of legs.”
“Anyway, I had to go through physical therapy and shit. They finally let me go about a week ago.” He looked at me. “I went home to see Kandy… but she wasn’t there. The neighbors said she moved and no one knew where. So I came here.”
“We buried you though,” Jerry, the voice of reason in this fucked up dream, said.
Jack shook his head. “You buried ashes, right?” Jerry said yes. “Not mine. Victor’s guy must have put some fake ashes in there and gave it to you.”
Everyone seemed to think about it, and eventually accepted it. Even Jerry.
So much for him being the voice of reason.

”Why didn’t you call, you asshole! Tell us you were okay.” Bobby smacked his little brother’s arm.
Jack smiled a bit, happy to have that sense of familiarity again. “I tried. No one answered Kandy and I’s phone and the number here said it was disconnected.”
Angel frowned. “We had it shut off about 2 months ago to save some money since we all had cell phones and no one used the house phone.”
“And I couldn’t remember anyone’s cell numbers.” Jack nodded. “It was always stored in mine.”
By this time tears were streaming down my face in a steady flow. All of this seemed to fit together so perfectly. Everything led me to believe that my Jack was still alive.
I took a hesitant step forward, and another and another until I was right in front of Jack. He looked up at me, begging me with his eyes. I swallowed slowly and reached down, grabbing the bottom of his shirt. I pulled it up slowly.
“Oh come on! Kandice can’t you do this some other time! Like when we aren’t in the room. I don’t want to see you fucking my brother!” Bobby complained.
“Shut the hell up,” I told him. I pushed Jack’s shirt up the short distance, ignoring Bobby. My breath caught when I noticed the jagged scar, disorienting the tattoo that was there.
In all my dreams Jack’s tattoos were perfect. No matter what damaged was caused to them they were never messed up.
“Jack!” I dropped his shirt and hugged him tightly, crying into his shoulder.

Jack’s alive. He’s really alive, it wasn’t a dream.