Chasing Anne

A Dance

When Jackson returned to his suite on the second floor, Cindy was sitting in the window seat, gazing out at the sparkling waters of the Mississippi River. He set down the tray of breakfast Tracy, Ryan's cook, had made for her and then sat down across from her, drawing his knees up to his chest. Her eyes instantly shot to his and then his side, concern filling her eyes.

"I'm okay, Cindy," he insisted. "It wasn't a deep shot."

Cindy didn't look convinced, but picked up a piece of toast from the breakfast tray, biting into the crispy crust. The crunch resounded like a gong in the silence, making Jack wince at the noise. He picked up a glass of water and gulped half of it down to quench his dry throat. As he did, Cindy swallowed her bite of toast and turned her gaze to him, a smile on her face. "So, how are Mark and Anne?"

"Both are awake and on their way to a splendid recovery," Jackson replied, before taking another gulp of water.

"You sound worried," she pointed out, tilting her head to the side. "What's going on?"

Jackson shrugged. "Mark's worried about Anne and we just told him about Blaze, so I'm worried about him."

"That's funny. You're worried because he is."

Jackson tried to smile at the attempted joke, but he couldn't. "It's more than that, Cindy," he muttered. "Mark is scared that he's going to lose Anne, and I don't want that to be a reality. For once, it'd be nice to pretend as though none of this ever happened. Come to think of it, Mark and Anne would probably be planning their wedding right about now had Raymond not shot him in the back."

Cindy nodded and leaned back against the plush cushions of the window seat, turning her gaze to the outdoors once more. "Even if it was just one night that all of us could forget all of this, it'd be a wish come true. How long until the two can see each other?"

"A few days maybe. With how quickly Mark's been healing, it won't take him long to get back on his feet. Andrew's going to run a few X-ray's tomorrow to look at the broken humorous' condition. He's not sure what he should expect and I don't blame him."

"None of us really know what to expect these days," Cindy sighed. "Have you talked with Ryan at all?"

Jackson shook his head. "No, not really. I saw him at breakfast, but he didn't say much. He's worried about Mark just like the rest of us."

"I think it'll be a relief to all of us when Anne and Mark are back together."

"Yeah, me too," Jack agreed. "But how have you been feeling?"

Cindy shrugged. "Nothing wonderful, nothing terrible. I might as well get used to it," she said, laying a hand on her stomach.

Jackson scooted closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a squeeze. "Did Mitch, or Andrew come and see you recently?"

"Andrew came by yesterday. He just said I need to relax. All of the trauma from the past few days has been overwhelming to my body and at all cost, I need to rest. Any more of an overload could lead to serious fatigue and that's nothing good for the baby."

"Well, we're not going anywhere anytime soon, Cindy. Not until my side heals," he whispered, letting her lean back against him.

Cindy smiled, closing her eyes. "If it's always going to be like this here, I never want to leave."

Jackson laughed. "Just forget for a moment everything that's going on around us, Cindy. Pretend we're back in our home in Mississippi before all of this happened."

Cindy instantly started laughing. "No, let's go back to right after Mark lost Anne and he came in to find you sleeping on the couch with a magazine over top your head," she said, chuckling. "Other than the showdown between Bartholomew and Parr's gunman, that was a good day."