Status: Oneshot.
I Settle for Long Distance Calls
1/1
I flew up into a sitting position in my bed, tears streaming down my face, Jack's screams still echoing through my mind. My fingers moved across the empty, tousled sheets surrounding me and came across nothing. No Jack.
There had been no Jack in this bed for the past 6 years.
That thought, as usual, propelled me out of bed and into the bathroom where my phone was charging. Again, as usual, I called Jack's cell phone number as I tried to calm down and stop the tears steadily pouring down my face. A lot of times Jack couldn't answer because he was busy (you don't have a lot of free time as a soldier in Iraq), but just hearing his voice on the answering machine calmed me down most times.
This was not one of those times.
Luckily, Jack answered after a few rings. "Alex? Baby? You alright?" Jack said. He sounded calm, but I could hear fear underneath it. He always sounded like that when I called around -I looked at the clock- 4 o'clock in the morning.
"Y-yeah, I just. I had the dream again. The one where you get shot and... and die. It seemed more real this time so I had to call. I had to make sure you were okay," I said, my words tripping over one another.
"It's alright, Lex, I'm okay. I told you, I'm coming back to you. I'm not leaving you alone, not forever. Six years is already too much time away from you." Jack said soothingly.
I nodded, even though he couldn't see. Then I realized that for the first time in a long time the background noise that was always present on Jack's end was absent. Usually I could hear the horrific sounds of war, but now it was quiet.
"Jack? Why is everything quiet? Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, everyone's just... sleeping." Jack answered nervously.
I raised my eyebrows but didn't say anything further, mostly because at that moment I heard the door to our apartment being knocked on.
Who would be knocking at this hour? "Uh... Jack? Someone just knocked on the door."
"At this hour? Who is it?"
"I'm not sure," I said quietly. "Do you think I should answer it?"
"Probably, yeah," Jack answered. "It must be important if someone's knocking at this time of night."
"But... What if it's a murderer or something?" I asked, hesitant to just open my door to some possible stranger at 4 in the morning. Suddenly I regretted not getting a peep hole installed in the door when we moved in.
"Oh, come on, Lex. Do you really think murderers knock on your door before they kill you? Its alright, I'm right here with you. Just go." I could hear the smile in his voice and, for the millionth time in the past 6 years, I wished he was here by my side.
"Alright, fine," I said, walking quietly to the door. I sighed as I set my hand on the doorknob and Jack stayed silent on the other end.
I slowly opened the front door, and when I saw whose face -a face I didn't know I would ever see again- was staring back at mine with a phone pressed against his ear, my own phone slipped from my grasp and clattered to the floor.
"Jack!"
There had been no Jack in this bed for the past 6 years.
That thought, as usual, propelled me out of bed and into the bathroom where my phone was charging. Again, as usual, I called Jack's cell phone number as I tried to calm down and stop the tears steadily pouring down my face. A lot of times Jack couldn't answer because he was busy (you don't have a lot of free time as a soldier in Iraq), but just hearing his voice on the answering machine calmed me down most times.
This was not one of those times.
Luckily, Jack answered after a few rings. "Alex? Baby? You alright?" Jack said. He sounded calm, but I could hear fear underneath it. He always sounded like that when I called around -I looked at the clock- 4 o'clock in the morning.
"Y-yeah, I just. I had the dream again. The one where you get shot and... and die. It seemed more real this time so I had to call. I had to make sure you were okay," I said, my words tripping over one another.
"It's alright, Lex, I'm okay. I told you, I'm coming back to you. I'm not leaving you alone, not forever. Six years is already too much time away from you." Jack said soothingly.
I nodded, even though he couldn't see. Then I realized that for the first time in a long time the background noise that was always present on Jack's end was absent. Usually I could hear the horrific sounds of war, but now it was quiet.
"Jack? Why is everything quiet? Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, everyone's just... sleeping." Jack answered nervously.
I raised my eyebrows but didn't say anything further, mostly because at that moment I heard the door to our apartment being knocked on.
Who would be knocking at this hour? "Uh... Jack? Someone just knocked on the door."
"At this hour? Who is it?"
"I'm not sure," I said quietly. "Do you think I should answer it?"
"Probably, yeah," Jack answered. "It must be important if someone's knocking at this time of night."
"But... What if it's a murderer or something?" I asked, hesitant to just open my door to some possible stranger at 4 in the morning. Suddenly I regretted not getting a peep hole installed in the door when we moved in.
"Oh, come on, Lex. Do you really think murderers knock on your door before they kill you? Its alright, I'm right here with you. Just go." I could hear the smile in his voice and, for the millionth time in the past 6 years, I wished he was here by my side.
"Alright, fine," I said, walking quietly to the door. I sighed as I set my hand on the doorknob and Jack stayed silent on the other end.
I slowly opened the front door, and when I saw whose face -a face I didn't know I would ever see again- was staring back at mine with a phone pressed against his ear, my own phone slipped from my grasp and clattered to the floor.
"Jack!"
♠ ♠ ♠
Hey guys. This is my second one shot and I like this one more than my first, I think. I wrote this in less than an hour and I didn't really edit much, so my apologies for any errors. Thank you for reading and any feedback would be much appreciated!