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Take a Breath, Say Goodbye

Chapter Four

Jack had faith that Lisa would tell Alex that she was pregnant, and there was a small, selfish, hateful part of him that hoped Alex would freak out and leave her. But only a small part of him, he was a pretty good guy most of the time. He hoped. He shrugged off that little part of him and stared at his phone a little longer. He’s been sat next to it for the last two hours, since they’d left Alex and Lisa at around 8:30 and he’d gotten home ten minutes later. Every time he’d gotten a twitter notification, or a text he’d leap forward and grab his phone (once too enthusiastically and had thrown his phone across the room and then squealed in worry that it would break and he wouldn’t get to speak to Alex at all) but when the phone finally did ring. Finally. Jack wouldn’t answer it. Didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to say. On the fifth ring, he finally picked up and he instantly relaxed when he heard Alex say “Yo man” on the other side of the phone.
“Hey buddy, much happening?”
“Lisa told me… thanks for asking her to tell me Jack, that was real good of you man”
“What are friends for man, I’m happy for you both! What you gonna name the tike then?”
“I told Lis we were calling it Frodo, male or female, and she hit me with a whisk so I’m guessing that’s out”
“Dude…. That’s like domestic abuse, you could get her jailed!” Alex let out one of those raucous laughs that turned Jack into a puddle and he clenched his stomach, squinting so he wouldn’t let out a noise.
“I don’t wanna kill the mood Jack, but what are we gonna do about Rian?”
“Don’t worry Alex, we’ll figure something out I promise, friends always do manage in the end” Jack could practically feel Alex beaming on the other side of the line and mentally told himself that he would snap his own neck if he ever broke that promise.
Back at work on Monday, Jack wanted to cry into his keyboard. As enjoyable as organising meetings between the twenty unsigned bands he was in contact with and the ridiculous amount of record companies he knew was, he just wanted to speak to Alex. Plus Zack wasn’t in. He had no idea why. But sitting alone in the PR tower was enough to drive Jack insane. Gavin bursting in at irregular intervals and scaring the bejesus out of him wasn’t helping him settle down either. At this particular moment of thought, who other than Gavin burst would burst through the door.
“Zack’s in hospital”

“Fucking wait what?!” Jack felt something twist in his stomach, maybe he’d strained a kidney or something, but he smashed the power button on the computer, grabbed his bag and followed Gavin down to the parking lot.
“Gavin what the fuck happened? Did he have an accident?”
“His mom didn’t say, she called to say he was sick and wouldn’t be at work, then frantically called back two hours later saying could we come to the hospital Jack”
“But… he was fine on Saturday, Gavin what the hell can put you in hospital in the genuine space of maybe 34 hours?”
“Zack’s mom said the Doctors didn’t know, but he wasn’t the first person with those symptoms to get admitted”
“Oh, so it’s like a virus? Is it safe?”
“Well… I guess we’ll find out Jack” Gavin finished as he pulled the car to a stop outside of the city’s general hospital.
What the two were not expecting, was the absolute chaos that had taken over the hospital. Nurses and Doctors were running left right and centre shouting orders, receptionists were being hassled for news and a big sign above the entrance to the wards had been pinned up that said “NO ENTRY, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE”. Jack spotted Zack’s mom Carla sitting in a chair in the waiting area, the calm in the middle of the storm, she was simply sitting still, biting the skin on her thumb. Jack sat down next to her and she enveloped him in a hug.
“They won’t let us in Jack, apparently it’s contagious” She said it quietly, but it hit Jack like a train. Something was seriously wrong. Paramedics burst through the doors in full protective gear carrying a girl with waist length brown hair. Nothing registered for Jack until he realised who was fighting with the paramedics to follow the girl into the wards.
“Shit, Gavin, Alex is here too, they just took Lisa in” Jack sounded distant to himself, as if someone far away had said the words and he’d overheard them. Jack intervened as two hefty security guards picked Alex up by his underarms and began carrying him towards the exit.
“Heeeeeeeeey guys, I can take it from here, I’ll make sure he doesn’t cause anymore fuss”
“You better, or you’re both out” Jack nodded and then pulled Alex towards where Gavin and Carla were seated.
“Bro, what happened?” Jack wasn’t holding out for a coherent answer. Alex was shaking like he’d been trapped in ice for the last three days, and Jack could swear he could see the other man’s heart physically making his body shake because it was beating so hard.
“She.. she just collapsed Jack, started vomming blood everywhere, I was freaking out so hard I didn’t call an ambulance for like ten minutes, what if that means she dies?”
“Did you say vomiting blood?” Carla appeared next to Jack and rested her hand on Alex’s back, “That’s what happened to Zack too, they must have the same thing, apparently it’s not terrible, but it might be contagious, you look alright though, perk up” She smiled and sat back down next to Gavin and if she wasn’t Zack’s mom and Alex wasn’t there to be looked after Jack would’ve actually gotten up and made out with her in front of the whole hospital because he felt Alex relax against him and a smile even appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“See Al? It’s gonna be alright man”
Alex put on a brave face because he knew Jack would just get stressed. It amazed him how close the two had come, they’d only known each other a week. But he knew it was bad, there’s only so big a puddle of blood can get before you’re in deep shit, and Alex was gonna need a new carpet. He knew it wasn’t his fault he’d frozen, hadn’t known what to do, but he’d continue to blame himself anyway. That was just what you did when you were the survivor.
“All citizens in the waiting rooms should leave the building immediately” Alex was pulled from his stupor by the announcement. The room was quiet for 4 milliseconds before absolute mayhem was set loose. People were shouting everywhere Alex looked and from the looks of it, a lot of the Doctors were seconds away from being punched if they didn’t explain what was going on. Jack had cornered a receptionist who had been panicking and had sat her down with a cup of water. Alex smiled, despite the situation, at the careful way Jack placed his hand over hers to ensure she’d calmed down before he asked what was going on. Jack tensed at her answer and thanked her in a monotone. The man stood up and Alex tensed up again at the rigid way Jack came towards him. As he came closer, Alex noticed the tears threatening to fall from his eyes and he realised he had no desire, at all, to hear what Jack was about to say.
“Alex-“
“No. NO.”
“Alex, we have to go, we-“
“No Jack, WE don’t have to go anywhere, you can leave if you want, I am not leaving my girlfriend and my child!”
“Alex you don’t get-“
“No Jack, listen to me, you don’t fucking get it, I know where my place is”
“Alex I’m being serious, if you ever cared about Lisa, you would follow me out of that door right now”
“Fucking, Jack, no what are you talking about?”
“Look, I loved Zack and you loved Lisa and they’d want us to leave, right now”
“Jack what- why are you talking about them in the past tense?!”
“They’re gone Alex. They’re all gone”
“Don’t be fucking stupid Jack- that’s not- don’t”
“They’re gone Alex, the receptionist- she’s called Emily, she says the Doctors want everyone to leave right now, they’re terrified, all of the patients- they just died, all at the same time, they-” Jack choked on whatever he was going to say. Alex could feel the tears streaming silently down his face, but he wouldn’t shout, because Jack was lying, Jack couldn’t be telling the truth, but the redness of Jack’s face, the tear cutting a path down his left cheek told him it was all real.

Alex just let Jack take him by the hand and followed the man wherever he was pulling him. His legs were barely holding him up and he could feel his knees wobble something horrible with every step he took. It was all gone, just as it was about to start. He dipped a shaking hand in his pocket as Jack came to a stop and Alex walked straight into his back.
“C’mon Alex, let’s go to the ocean” Alex just nodded. The ocean seemed like a nice place to say goodbye. Fields of green and skies of grey blurred past the window, but Alex didn’t pay any attention, all he could see in his head was the blue and pink paint swatches he and Lisa had been looking at, the eBay auction for the furniture in the study they were going to turn into a nursery. They arrived in what felt like seconds, but Alex knew the beach was at least a half hour away. Jack looked over at him before he got out of the car and dropped his head forward onto the steering wheel for a few seconds. Jack put a hand on his knee and squeezed. Jack looked up, smiled as much as he could and Alex returned it. They both got out and slammed the doors simultaneously. Jack jumped down the dune rather than walking the precarious path Alex had decided to take. By the time Alex got to the bottom, having received some scratches from the sharp grass lining the dune, Jack was lying with face to the sky, arms and legs splayed, not moving. He sat up as Alex passed and watched as the brown haired boy made his way towards the open expanse of ocean. Dipping his hand in his pocket again, Alex pulled out a red velvet box and Jack leapt up to run after him, realising what he’d pulled out of his pocket. Alex pulled back his arm to throw – but Jack caught it before he could swing forward again.
“Don’t throw away what could’ve been Alex, I- I know it hurts, but don’t throw away the future”
“Don’t tell me how to handle this Jack, I know what I’m doing”
“I know, Alex, I’m just saying, don’t give her up just because she’s gone, it might hurt now, but you might regret it, you still love her man, don’t throw her away”
“Don’t fucking talk to me about hurt, and regret, and love Jack. Just don’t. Don’t ever do it to yourself, just stay the fuck away from everyone and anything that could ever hurt you, because nobody in the world is worth what I’m feeling right now” Alex wrenched his arm out of Jack’s grip and smashed the box into the wet sand at his feet. He turned away from Jack and walked back up the beach.

Jack wanted to shout after him, tell him that there was someone in the world that was worth what he was feeling. But love confessions could wait. Right now, Alex needed a hug, a hot dog and some friends. Jack put a shaking hand into his pocket and called Rian to meet them. It was time for action. Jack was going to help Alex, and he was going to help Rian. He’d help himself later.

Comments

This fic is cool, update please :D
MayaBenn MayaBenn
3/30/13
OMFG
ZOMBIES WHAAAAAT
ZACK IS A ZOMBIE? I WANT TO DIE, HE DIDNT DESERVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
but ignoring the pain of knowing zack is a freaking zombie, i loved the context haha i would freak out and cry like a little baby or try to escape but then a zombie would probably bite me and i die
they will run away???? for where??????
@SaraBethGaskarth
Legit!
alxgskrth alxgskrth
3/8/13
well that escalated quickly O_O
@alxgskrth
WHAAAAAAAAAT
WHO THE FUCK IS THIS SHITTY PERSON? TELL ME
OR UPDATE TODAY
I NEED TO KNOW