1968

Chapter Thirty-Four: February 23rd, 1969

Hilda's point of view:

Jack was going to lose his leg. This only meant that his military career had come to an early end. I was waiting out of the medical tent while Jack was being operated on. We were lucky our base had anesthetic, or he'd be in an insurmountable amount of pain. I was sitting down and Lorelei was pacing the room.

"Lose his leg? No, that isn't possible. What is he going to do now?" She asked, worry on her face as her arms crossed around her chest. I honestly didn't know what to tell her. I didn't know anything right now. Jack was out of the force, he and I no longer worked together. I was still in the army, I still had twenty or so years before I could retire. What if I wasn't good on my own? My whole career I had Jack with me, leading me if I needed help.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen, Lorelei. Hopefully he'll be able to live his life properly with one leg. Until then, all we know is that his time in the army is done," I replied. Lorelei sighed and stopped pacing for a moment. She was at a loss for words, hurting just as much as her father was.

"So what will we do then? Keep going without him? That doesn't seem right," she replied. She was right, it didn't seem right at all. Without Jack, it didn't feel like we were a team anymore. It was like we had been separated and forced to go on like nothing abnormal was happening. But what else was there to do? Lorelei and I still had a job to do and it technically didn't matter if Jack was detained or not.

"I know you don't feel good about this, but we have to do it. It doesn't matter if your father is around or not. Looks like it's just you and me now," I replied. Lorelei didn't want to accept this, it would seem. I knew she was used to Jack mentoring her every move when it came to fighting. Jack taught her how to use a gun, how to run away from the enemies and fight them if she had to. I taught Jacob all that, since he didn't bond with his father as much as Lorelei did. I could understand how she would want her father to be there.

"Will we be able to do it without him?" She asked. I nodded my head and stood up. I took my hands in hers and stared into her eyes.

"I'm here, alright? I can do just as much as your father can, and you can as well. Don't worry, I want you to just calm down. We will get through this perfectly fine," I replied. She nodded and took deep breathes to calm herself down.

"I'm just worried about him. I know how this'll break his heart," she replied. Lorelei was right but Jack knew he had to live with it. At least his leg went out with honour. He could be dead as well, there were worse fates then losing one limb.

"Mrs. Horowitz, Jack is ready to see you," the nurse said to me after a few seconds. I smiled and nodded as I told Lorelei to wait outside. I went inside the hospital room and he was lying on his bed. He was silent and looking away from me as I examined him. I noticed under the covers was only one formation of a leg, all that was left of the left one was his thigh. He seemed to be exhausted and still getting over the anesthetic they had registered in him. I had never seen him so sedated. Not to mention, he had the most depressed look on his face.

"Jack?" I asked. His head turned on the bed and he stared at me. His eyes were so empty, unturned and melancholy. I hadn't seen him so sad for years. Just to see him upset made me want to cry.

"Hey, baby," he replied. His voice was husky and cracked, barely sounding his regular voice. I took a seat next to his bed, reaching for his hand and squeezing it tightly.

"How do you feel?" I asked. He sighed and shook his head slowly.

"Like shit. It's like---I know I don't have a leg but I still feel that it's there. Then I go to feel for it and it's all just bed sheet, bed sheet, Hilda," he replied. It looked like he was about to cry. I hated seeing him like this. To see a man like him in such a sorrowful mess was like pulling out every one of my teeth and showing me when they were out. Whenever Jack felt physical pain, I felt emotional agony.