Helplessly; j.g.

Ten

Rome sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs, an awkward silence between her and Jack. Johnson was laying in his hospital bed, sound asleep. 

Jack's eyes were on his best friend's chest going up and down with each breath he took. Rome's eyes were on the floor as she messed with the hem of her shirt, trying to think of something to say.

What could she say? Jack was the one who'd exploded in her face when she was just trying to help.

"You know I can hear you mumbling to yourself," Jack finally spoke.

Rome lifted her head and looked at him, her eyebrows drawn together.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, freezing her hands while she waited for his answer. 

"You mumble to yourself whenever you're thinking about something really intently," Jack slightly explained. "I didn't mean to explode in your face, by the way. I was, and still am, really stressed out about Jack."

"I understand," Rome nodded with a trace of a smile on her face. "He's going to be fine. He has to be."

"That's what I've been telling myself for the past thirty minutes. So far, it's working," Jack mumbled. 

Rome giggled the slightest bit, shifting in her chair for the tenth time in the past minute. 

"They need better chairs here, don't they?" she asked, trying to keep talking to Jack. 

"They do," he agreed.

When he didn't say anything more, she sighed and stood, heading towards the hospital room door. Jack's eyes watched her walk all the way to the door, open it and then exit into the hallway, the door seeming to slam behind her.

He jumped a little, startled at what she'd done and also the noise. Jack wasn't sure if he was supposed to go after her or not. Maybe she was just going to the bathroom. Even if she was going somewhere else, he didn't want to leave Johnson--as selfish and dumb as that may seem.

Rome walked down the hall, turned the corner and slid down the wall until her butt touched the floor and she had her knees curled up to her chest. 

She buried her face in her hands, covering the tears that were starting to form and fall. Rome wasn't exactly sure why she was crying, but she was. 

It all revolved around Jack. Before Jack, she was a normally happy girl. She only knew Jack as 'the guy down the hall'. She didn't know what she thought of him now. But he had changed her outlook on life.

He made her see the realism side of things, not just the optimism. And she hated him a little for ripping open that part of her life that she never wanted to see. 

Maybe that's why she was crying; the reality of Johnson dying hit her like a truck full of bricks. 

Her head darted up as she heard footsteps running towards her. A doctor was running with two nurses behind him towards the hallway of Jack's room. 

She watched them enter his very room and she scrambled to her feet, racing over to the room she hated as Jack was pushed out, kicking and screaming of course. 

They closed the curtains and the door and Jack let out a string of curse words, kicking the wall and then regretting it as he bounced up and down, holding his right foot. 

Rome wiped the remaining tears from her face and watched him until he realized she was standing there.

"Did they say anything to you?" she asked, her voice soft.

Jack shook his head in reply. Rome slumped against the wall, facing the door which seemed to be the door to death.

Her heart was racing at 100 beats per minute--at least that's what it felt like. Jack sat down next to her, wiped a few tears from his own cheeks and grabbed her right hand, squeezing it.

This was going to be the breaking point for her, whether she liked it or not.

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word count // 656

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