JACK AND ROSE: PRESENT TIME
Chapter Seventy-Three

Jack and Rose both looked up to see Tommy, standing there. With a gun in his hand, he dropped it to the ground as he slowly walked up to the man who had stabbed him. He looked at his now dead body with a smile. It was over.

Rose felt Jack pull her closer into his arms. She was finally safe. They both let out a sigh of relief.

Dominique, Alexia, and Fabrizio came running from the car. They saw Tommy shoot Tony...and they were shocked. Alexia ran up to Tommy, and he kissed her. Nothing else mattered anymore. This made them both realize how important love was.

Rose and Jack walked, hand in hand, up to their friends who were gathered around Tony. Tommy had just shot Jack's brother. "Good shot," Jack said with a smile on his face.

Soon, the police were there. They took Rose back in an ambulance, knowing how badly hurt she was. Jack, of course rode with her.

As they reached the hospital, they had Rose checked out immediately. Jack went with her. Rose got nervous when the doctor got out his clipboard and said, "You're going to have to answer a few questions for me, Rose."

Would she have to tell him about...

Jack squeezed her hand. She looked into his eyes and knew nothing mattered because know she and her friends were safe...for good. Tony was gone.

"Where did you get most of these bruises?" Doctor Beckerman asked.

Rose didn't even know if Jack knew what Tony had done to her. "Well," Rose muttered. "He hurt me a lot of times."

Suddenly, the pain hit Jack, hard. How could he let Rose go through so much pain? She was trembling and it didn't look like she was ever going to stop. He couldn't wait to get her home again.

"For instance?" The doctor asked.

"Well..." Rose replied. "He hit me a lot, and he pushed me a lot and he..."

Jack then realized what Rose was trying to get out. "Rose," Jack asked as she looked up at his face. "Did he rape you?"

Rose then burst into tears, not even needing to answer. Jack then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead. "Oh God, Rose...I'm so sorry..."

"Rose," The doctor interrupted. "I think you should take some tests taken."

Rose nodded. After a couple of minutes, Jack left the room and the doctor examined her. She couldn't believe what was happening. She just couldn't be pregnant by Tony. That would be the worst thing ever. What if Tony gave her a disease? Then what would happen?

"I'll be right back," the doctor said before leaving the room.

Rose hoped he was leaving to get Jack. That's what she needed. The only place she felt truly safe was when she was in Jack's arms. She smiled when she saw Jack race into the room with a worried face.

He came up to her and sat next to her, and he pulled her to him. "I'm so sorry for what that bustard did to you..."

Rose smiled. "Jack, it wasn't your fault."

Jack looked deep into her eyes. "I'll never forgive myself."

Did he even hear her? Rose didn't know. She knew inside that Jack would always feel guilty for what happened. But, she also knew that he knew it wasn't really his fault. He was just too hard on himself.

Just then, the doctor came into the room. "Rose, you're free to go home. I will call you soon with the results off all of the tests we took."

Before they left, Jack shook the doctor's hand and thanked him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks later...

Rose woke up early in Jack's arm's on the living room couch. She couldn't even remember what happened in the last couple of weeks. All she knew was that her mother got hysterical when she heard what had happened. Could Rose blame her? What she went through was horrible.

When Jack felt Rose move, he woke up. "Rose?" He muttered.

"Good morning, Jack," Rose said as she kissed him on the mouth.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jack asked.

Rose nodded. "Way better..."

Jack smiled and let her sink lower into his arms. When she was with him like this, he felt that he was protecting her from the rest of the world. That's how he always wanted it to be. That's how is should be.

Just then, the phone rang. Rose leaned over and picked it up fast. "Hello?"

Jack knew right away that it was the doctor. From the tone in Rose's voice, to the look on her face. He prayed it was good news.

He knew otherwise as he watched Rose drop the phone and run into the bathroom. Jack jumped up to run after her, but then noticed the doctor was still on the phone. He leaned over and picked it up.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"We got the test results back..." The doctor said.

Jack got impatient. "What did they say!?"

The doctor paused. This was the hardest part of his job. "We found out that Rose is HIV positive."

This time, Jack dropped the phone and rushed into the bathroom just in time to see Rose finish throwing up. Rose was hysterical. She had her hands over her face, and she had never looked so scared in her entire life.

Jack then burst into tears and ran to Rose and wrapped her in his arms. "Oh my gawd..." Jack muttered as he showed her with kisses.

Rose was too much in shock to say anything. How could this possibly be happening? She didn't know.

Rose, Ruth, and Jack went to talk to the doctor the very next day. He told them that they wanted to test her again, to make sure that they hadn't made a mistake, and to answer any questions they might have.

"So," Ruth said as she starred across the desk at the doctor. "What you're telling me is that there is nothing we can do?"

The doctor sighed. "If she is indeed, infected with the virus, there might not be any side effects until she has full blown AIDS."

"When will she get AIDS?" Ruth asked.

"It could be from five to ten years," the doctor said. "But, we won't worry about that until we are positive she is infected."

Rose started to cry. "Of course I am infected!"

Jack started to cry, too, and wrapped his arms around the women that he loved more than anything in the whole world.

Later that night...

Jack and Rose just laid down on Jack's bed and looked at the ceiling. They were both still in shock from everything. They were evening ignoring their friends, well, at least Rose was. Jack talked to Fabrizio that day and told him to tell everyone about what was going on. But, Jack told them not to come over until he called them.

"I'm going to die," Rose whispered. Everything was just now sinking in.

It sunk in for, Jack. Everything flashed before his very eyes. His parents dying, Tonya dying, Tommy being stabbed, him being shot, and now Tony was taking Rose away from him. This was his final revenge.

At that very moment...Jack completely lost it.

"How in the fuck can this be happening?" He asked, almost hysterical. "Rose...I can't let you leave me!"

Jack pulled Rose closer to him and he kissed her softly on the lips. "I can't let you go, Rosey. I just can't."

Rose tried to stop her tears, but she couldn't. She looked into Jack's eyes and saw how emotionally upset he must be. She didn't want to make it worse. But, she was terrified of dying.

"Where ever you go, I have to follow," Jack said. "We belong together."

Rose suddenly got even more upset. "Jack...what are you talking about?"

Jack smiled at her. "If we make love...maybe I can catch it...then we could..."

Rose held her hand up on Jack's mouth. "Jack, you're being crazy!"

Jack then wiped away her tears. "You jump, I jump, remember?"

Rose shut her eyes, trying to comprehend what was just said. Then, something flashed in her mind. Starring, into Jack's eyes as he promised her to never let go, the night that Tony shot him.

"Not this time," Rose said. "Jack, if I die...you have to move on," Rose sighed. "And let go."

Jack shook his head. "I could never do that!"

"Remember that day when we found Tommy in his basement?" Rose asked. "He was going to die just to be with Tonya. Remember how stupid he was?"

"But I love you," Jack whispered.

"I love you," Rose said. "But this is absurd!"

They smiled slightly at each other, trying to make the other one feel better. "Well...we're not even for sure that you have it," Jack said. "Maybe you don't."

Rose wanted to believe that, she really did. But it was hard to accept. Maybe there was a chance she didn't have it. Doctors make mistakes all the time. Maybe it was all a mistake. Because...this couldn't be happening.

Chapter Seventy-Four
Stories