A SIMPLE SOLUTION
Chapter Eighteen

"Is he…" Jack's urgent question was cut short when he saw her slumped next to Fabrizio's body. Had Sven hurt her? Had he woken up and…

But those questions were stopped when he saw that Sven was still unconscious.

"Rose!" He nearly flew to her, not sure who he should help first. She was losing blood, rapidly, he could see that just by looking at her face and then at her beautiful dress, stained with that horrid color. Her hair was tangled around her face and he gently moved it so that he could see her eyes more clearly.

"Rose…please wake up," he whispered softly as he tried to move her body so that she wasn't in such an awkward position.

He had never seen her face so still, so motionless before, only small breaths of air were let through her half-open mouth, her lips were almost the same color as her cheeks, gray and lifeless and he felt nauseous, thinking that she might never open her eyes again.

"Fabri…I gotta help him," he told himself softly, tearing his eyes away from Rose. He started wrapping the towel around the injured stomach, not sure if it was helping. Then he pressed down on it, hoping to stop the blood flow somehow.

"Helga!" he yelled again, cursing under his breath when no one came.

"Come on, Fabri, stay with me, you can't leave us now. You can't," he whispered softly, having given up on Helga. "Remember the time when we were passing through France and…you…met that girl? Remember? She sure as hell didn't like you, but you kept on persisting."

Jack smiled, wishing that his best friend would open his eyes again.

"And remember when she finally let you kiss her? I can still see her expression. She was so angry…and she said your kisses were awful. But…Helga loves you, Fabri. I've never seen you this happy. So…please don't…don't leave her like this."

Jack fought tears, looking at Fabrizio's face. The fever was returning now. It had obviously gone down during the evening, but now it was returning and with it came the rash that said that it was measles.

"You sure have it all, don't ya?" Jack whispered. "Measles and a gunshot wound. You couldn't settle for one of them?"

Fabrizio's eyelids moved and he smiled weakly up at his friend.

"Tell Helga I…I love her. Go to Rose instead. She needs you." Each word was as faint as a whisper in a hurricane, but Jack listened and then reached out for Fabrizio's hand.

"She's fine," he said, even though he worried that it wasn't true. "She told me to take care of you. You need it, Fabri, don't go playing the hero here."

Fabrizio's eyes closed again and he coughed violently. For the second time that evening, the sight of blood made Jack's skin crawl. He reached out to hold his friend, so that the coughs would be easier, but the violent vibrations made Fabrizio close his eyes again and Jack feared that his breathing was even fainter.

"Jack?"

He turned around, still keeping one hand on the towel over Fabrizio.

Rose had opened her eyes now and he saw her trying to wet her dry lips, but her muscles wouldn't work and she could just lay there.

"Jack…what happened…" Her voice was tiny and she closed her eyes again, pressing one hand to her stomach lightly.

"You must have passed out," he whispered, wanting so badly to touch her. She nodded slowly and then she was quiet again.

"He's moving," she whispered, just as sirens were audible in the distance. Thank God, Helga managed to call them, whirled through Jack's mind before her words had registered.

"Are you sure it's a he?" he asked, smiling, desperate to keep the tone at a normal and calm level.

"Yes," she replied, her voice trailing off into a sigh. She looked at him, trying to smile to erase the worry that darkened his face.

"Is he okay?" she asked, raising her head slightly, only to fall back again, feeling blackness once again fill her world. The last thing she heard was Jack crying out her name, his voice desperate.

*****

A small fist moved against Rose inside her, slowly waking her up. It stopped and she licked her lips nervously. There was someone holding her hand tightly and she thought she felt someone sitting next to her on her other side.

"She's going to be fine, Jack, don't you worry about her."

"She was bleeding and…I don't…I don't think I've ever seen her that pale before. I should have…made sure she stayed still, didn't worry. She told me sometimes when she was in pain, but she always made it seem…like it was fine, nothing to worry about and I…didn't want anything else to be true, so I believed her."

Rose's heart broke a bit at that and she tried to open her eyes to look at him.

"The doctor told us it was a risky pregnancy and…she was told to stay in bed most of the day. I should have made sure she did." Jack's voice trailed off into what sounded a lot like a sob.

"Jack, she's Rose Dawson. Have you ever known her to follow orders? Have you?"

Jack chuckled softly, but she heard the tears in that melodic sound and tried again to push herself to open her eyes.

"I guess not." His voice sounded less worried now and more amused.

"You're damn right about that," Rose managed to breathe as she forced her heavy eyelids open. She smiled vaguely at him, squeezing his hand tightly.

"Rose? How are you feeling?" Jack asked in breathless anticipation, leaning close to her, scarcely allowing himself to touch her face.

"I feel okay," she whispered, managing another tiny smile, as she moved his hand closer to her. He smiled softly as his hand touched her cheek and she closed her eyes in contentment. But it didn't last long. Suddenly her eyes were wide-open and she swallowed hard.

"Is the baby safe?" she asked, her voice strained now and she licked her lips again.

"It's fine," Jack whispered, relief spreading its happy face over both of them. "But you're gonna have to stay in bed for the next few days, possibly weeks. Doctor's orders."

Rose sighed, leaning her head back in the pillow before facing him again, now noticing the dried tears on his cheeks and the dark circles under his eyes.

"Jack, are you okay? Didn't you get any sleep?" she asked softly, touching his face gently, her hand trembling at sensing the familiar skin.

"No, I didn't…" he admitted, smiling crookedly. Rose looked at him sternly, making him laugh.

"I went with Fabrizio to the hospital and…Helga, she fainted, it wasn't easy to get her to wake up. She was hysterical when she did and they are both in the hospital." Jack took a deep breath, rubbing his face softly. "I…came back here around three AM…"

"And sat next to you until now." Molly smiled at the surprised look in Rose's eyes when she turned her head to look at Molly.

"Molly," she exclaimed quietly, grinning at the woman.

"I called her when the ambulance came and the doctor had a look at you. He...stayed with you until Molly came. I hated to leave you, Rose, but…"

"Fabri needed you more," she filled in, smiling. "I told you I was okay. The doctor probably said that, too, right?"

Molly's smile faded and she looked seriously at Rose. Jack's eyes darkened, too and Rose breathed hard, trying to make their expressions disappear.

"Right? I've had that pain before. All the time. And sometimes…only twice or so, I've bled like that since Fabrizio got sick. I'm sorry I never told you, Jack." Jack's face tensed, but when he saw her pleading look, he smiled, moving his hand over her hair softly. "But…I feel fine, really."

Molly took Rose's hand slowly, looking her in the eye.

"Rose, they told you and Jack that this was a dangerous pregnancy, didn't they? Apparently, it's been tougher than the doctor thought and…he said you have to, you can't just try anymore, you have to take it easy and not worry. I know you hate to take it easy and…it's horribly boring to stay in bed all day, but if you don't…"

Jack touched Rose's hair softly, trying to calm her, but he couldn't help the words that escaped his mouth. She had to know. "You might die," he whispered.

Molly nodded briefly, knowing that Rose had to understand what the situation was like. "The doctor's not sure what's wrong, Rose. He just knows that this pregnancy is not good for your health."

Rose closed her eyes, feeling tears escaping them slowly. "I don't…I…I didn't feel sick. I don't. I…I love this baby, Jack…and I…I'll be more careful." She looked at him tearfully and without a word, he wrapped his arms around her, making her sobs melt away.

"Hey, you two kids, I'm gonna go make us three some dinner…Helga could be coming home today, too, so I better fix something for then, too. I doubt that you two will be cooking, huh Jack?" Jack grinned, shrugging as he once again inched closer to Rose on the bed. "I'm sure you have things to talk about."

Rose watched as Molly left the room and then she looked up at Jack, her eyes serious.

"I'm sorry about…everything, Jack. I…"

"Shh, you have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing. You were just being your usual helping self."

"But…Jack…I…saw the look in your eyes. I scared you so bad, I'm sorry." She was whispering, not looking at him. He softly turned her head towards him again.

"It's okay. I mean, it's not okay, but it will be. Things are looking better now. Molly has an idea how you can get a job without having to do heavy stuff and Helga…Helga is going to help more, too."

He stopped speaking for a while, leaning his face in his hands.

"Jack? Is Fabrizio…is he okay?"

"He's not doing too good. The bullet hit him in the stomach, but they removed it and it looks like he could…could make it, but…he's real sick. The measles developed into some kind of other disease because of the injury and…to make a long story short, the Doc says he's…he's probably gonna die."

"Oh no," Rose whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I wish…I wish there was something I could do. I…care about him so much."

"I know, Rose. I know. He's my best friend." Jack looked up, plastering a smile to his pale face. "But don't…don't think about that now. Just concentrate on the baby. I'll bring you dinner here in bed and you won't have to worry about a thing, I'll wait on you hand and foot."

Rose smiled, the sadness starting to leave her face.

"Oh Jack…I love you so much. I can't wait until we have our baby…it…all of this, it will be worth it."

"Of course it will be, Rose…of course…just as long as you stay in bed for a while now and don't think about anything bad."

She laughed softly.

"Okay, I won't."

"Good," he whispered, leaning closer, kissing her softly on the mouth. "Because I can't live without you, Rosie…I just can't."

Tears came to her eyes and she touched his face gently, wiping away stray tears.

"I can't live without you either, Jack. So don't go getting shot or anything."

"I won't."

They smiled and then kissed again, engrossed in the deep love they felt, unaware that more trouble was on the way.

*****

Helga lay still on the couch next to Fabrizio. They had had to move that in because she had refused to be away from him. He had saved her life. Sven had been about to shoot her when she had told him that she wasn't coming back with him, that Fabrizio was her fiancé now…when Fabrizio had staggered into the room, pale and weak, but he hadn't let that stop him, he had thrown himself in front of the bullet, pushing Helga to the side.

Now, he was dying and Helga was safe. Sven was in prison and Rose had almost lost the baby. No wonder Jack didn't speak to her.

"Jack? I need that book I was reading! Jack?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I can't believe you hated being in bed a few days ago!"

"I still hate it! I just have to make you unhappy, too!"

Laughter and soft murmurs were heard now and Helga swallowed hard, staring into Fabrizio's closed eyes.

"Fabri…please…come back to me," she whispered. "Don't die. I can't…I'll die without you. I have to…tell you I'm sorry. I…it's all my fault…all my fault."

Chapter Nineteen
Stories