Leonie hadn’t been able to catch a wink of sleep all night. She stayed up listening to music on her CD player. She decided to stop sitting on her ass and went to the hospital to see what she could do. She walked into the waiting room and was surprised to see Dan, Nadia, Ben, and Angi still there.
“Hey, where have you been?” Dan whispered as the other three slept. “We’ve been trying to get a hold of you all night.”
“I really don’t wanna hear the news. I know he’s dead,” Leonie replied, irritated.
“What? You haven’t heard?” Dan asked in surprise. “It’s quite the contrary. He’s alive and kicking. You can go up and see if you want.”
Leonie gave him a puzzled look. “I swear, if this is some kind of sick joke, I will kill you,” she warned.
“No! Come with me,” Dan told her and led her to Darren’s room. He pushed Leonie ahead of him so that she could see for herself.
“Leonie! What took you so long?” Darren asked.
She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Darren!” Leonie cried into his shoulder. “Oh, my God! I thought… with Jack crying… and everything else… Thank God you’re alive!”
“Good to see you too,” he awkwardly replied.
“I’m sorry about that. I’m just so relieved to see you alive and well,” she said as she wiped her tears away. “So, how do you feel? Are you okay? Is everything alright?”
“Leo, I’m fine. I’m going home today. I’m just not allowed near anymore pain killers for the rest of my life,” Darren answered.
“That’s so great. Jack will be so relieved when she finds out. She hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you. She cried for hours last night.”
“Where is she? I thought you guys went home.”
“I dropped her off at the house last night then went home myself.”
“She hasn’t picked up the phone for the last six hours.”
“Maybe she’s asleep. She was almost knocked out when I dropped her off.”
“According to Nadia, she’d be up by now with morning sickness.”
“Call her again.”
“Hey, Dan, could I borrow your phone?” Darren asked.
“I just tried. She’s still not answering,” Dan replied. He was beginning to get even more worried now.
“I think we’d better get going,” Leonie said as she darted towards the door. “I’m gonna go see if I can get you released early. I’ll be right back.” She ran out of the room towards the nurses’ station.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jack had awoken nearly two hours later, her stomach turning upside down every few minutes. After being in the bathroom for nearly an hour and a half. She finally emerged. There were several messaged on her machine, but she didn’t want to bother with them at the moment. With her mind still focused on Darren’s death and now the fight she had with Dan, she didn’t have the capacity for another surprise. She reached beneath the mattress and pulled out the picture of her and Darren.
“I miss you,” Jack whispered, holding the picture close to her chest. ‘Soon,’ she thought to herself. ‘Soon we’ll be together, you, me, and the baby.’
Jack walked out of her room with the picture still in her hands. She made her way down the stairs towards the kitchen. Opening one of the cabinets, she found a long, thick rope. She walked outside into the bright morning sunlight to the pond. Jack inspected each and every tree near the water’s edge until she found the perfect one, its branches thick and its trunk far enough away from the water so that she could easily fit a latter beneath the desired branch. She went into the garage and picked up a footstool instead, finding that it would be better than a ladder because she could easily kick it away.
Jack went back outside with the footstool and hung the rope from the tree, giving it just enough length to make a noose. She went back inside the house to begin writing her final words. It didn’t take her too long to write the note. She had very little to say to everyone, especially Dan. She barely wrote a word to him, just a simple goodbye and that was all.
“It’s not like you ever gave a shit about me,” Jack said, holding her tears back as she continued to write. She signed her name at the bottom and left it on the kitchen table along with the picture of her and Darren. It was time to carry out her plan.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Can’t we go any faster?” Darren asked, irritated, while Dan drove down the highway in his car. He knew what Jack was thinking at the moment, but didn’t dare tell anyone else fearing that even worse things could happen if they knew.
“Why are we rushing to get home?” Dan answered.
“Because, I wanna see Jack,” Darren said. He uneasily shifted his positing in his seat as Dan pulled onto an off ramp. ‘Come on. Come on. Come on,’ Darren kept thinking as the seconds ticked away slowly.
“Calm down, Daz,” Nadia replied from the back seat as she put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s only a few more minutes drive.”
‘A few minutes can mean life or death,’ Darren thought.
“Okay, we’re here,” Dan said as he pulled into the driveway.
Darren jumped out of the car before it even stopped. He ran into the house yelling, “Jack!” Ascending the stairs, he began looking through each of the rooms to see if she was there, but had no luck finding her.
Dan, Nadia, Ben, Angi, and Leonie headed straight for the kitchen. Dan was the first to see the note on the table. He picked it up and read it.
Everybody,
Seeing how my life has turned into a living nightmare in these last few days and has taken a toll on my mental and physical states, I can’t take it anymore! Everyone is blaming me for Darren’s death, so why not just go along with him and make everyone happy? Maybe then you’ll all feel better. Maybe then I can rest in peace. Did anyone stop to think even once about how this was going to affect me? Apparently not, otherwise I wouldn’t be hanging myself because of all this guilt I feel for causing everyone so much pain! I’m sorry! Do you feel better now? I hope you do. Goodbye everyone. Nice to know you.
Jack
PS: You’ll find me near the pond.
“Shit!” Dan yelled as he ran out the back of the house towards the pond. He found her at the farthest edge ready to kick the chair from beneath her feet. “Jack,” he panted.
She turned around at the sound of his voice. “Fuck!” Jack yelled. “Why is my timing always off?”
“Don’t do it,” he begged as he gasped for air.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t,” she spat. “On, that’s right, there are no good reasons. I’m nothing but a troublemaker who’s totally screwing up your career.”
“No, please,” he said as he put his hands on his knees and breath in deeply. “Darren is…”
“Darren’s dead. I already know that, okay? I don’t need the constant reminder,” Jack retorted.
“No,” Dan replied.
“Jack!” suddenly came a familiar voice from behind them
Jack looked up to see Darren running towards them. She had to blink several times in order to believe what she was seeing. “Darren,” she whispered. Completely forgetting that the noose was around her neck, she started to run of the stool. Suddenly she could feel the rope tighten around her neck as he legs flew into the air. Jack gasped for air as the circulation was slowly being cut off to her lungs. He feet desperately tried to reach the stool, but it had fallen away.
Darren ran as fast as his feet could carry him when he saw the horrific scene unfold before him. He could hear her gasps for air as she slowly began to lose consciousness. “I need a knife!” Darren yelled to Dan as he grabbed Jack’s feet to see if he could hold her up long enough to get the noose off her neck. But by the time he got there, she was already unconscious. Time seemed to slow down as Dan pulled a Swiss Army Knife out of his pocket and threw it to Darren. As if in slow motion, Darren cut the rope from the tree and Jack fell into his arms.