(Jack's P.O.V.)


I sigh, walking into room 209 quietly. I close the door behind me and when I turn around I can't help but smile. 

"Hey." Mark says, his voice softer and a bit raspy. I chuckle. 

"Hi. How're you?" I ask, walking over. I put my bag on one chair, sitting down in the other chair. Then I scoot closer to the bed until my knees are under the bed railing. He sighs, running his hand through his hair. 

"Eh. I'm alive." He smiles. I nod. 

"And I'm so happy about that." I say. He chuckles, nodding. I take a minute to observe how he looks. He has an IV in his arm, which is expected, and he's still hooked up to many, many machines. But my sight really lands on the two tubes going to his nose. He chuckles and points to one. 

"This one is a nasal cannula since I can't easily breath on my own yet and this one is an NG tube that'll give me nutrients and stuff." He says, tiredness laced in his voice though I can tell that he is happy to see me. Or maybe that's just me being hopeful and needy. 

"Okay. I just got kind of confused." I chuckle and he smiles. It's silent for a second but I quickly break it. "How long have you been awake?" I ask. He chuckles. 

"Uh... Two hours? Maybe only one and a half? Can't really tell. It's been a while. When I woke up it was interesting though." He says. I tilt my head to the side, asking without words what happened. So he explains. 

"When I first woke up I had a bit of a panic attack since the last thing I remembered seeing was Peter coming at me with a knife. My panicking resumed especially when I realized I was in a hospital and there were, like, four nurses and a doctor surrounding me. Long story short they sedated me and I woke up tired, hooked up to machines, and with Tom and Ann over there." He says, nodding towards the chair my bag is on. I nod, understanding. I can only imagine what that's like, never having to actually experience it myself. Wait... 

"You said last thing you remembered seeing. As in, you remember something after Peter stabbing you." I say. He nods a bit and looks at me. 

"I don't remember seeing anything or feeling anything but I heard you." He says with a slight smile. My eyes go wide. 

"You... You heard me?" I ask softly. He nods. 

"I heard you saying my name. I heard you talking to 911. And I guess I really lost consciousness for good after you hung up." He says. Oh. So he didn't feel me carry him or hear anything in the nurses office. Okay. But still... He heard me? I notice now that he's smiling. 

"Why are you smiling? You've been through hell." I say. He looks at me and sighs softly. 

"Because you're here." He says it quietly. I can't help but blush a bit, but I don't hide my face even though I really, really want too. Mark waves it off a bit. "But anyways, enough about me. What happened to you?" He asks, frowning now. I look at myself. Oh yeah. I look like I got run over by a bus. I sigh. No reason to lie. I look at him. 

"I haven't been doing the best. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't focus, couldn't really pay attention to even getting myself dressed in the morning. I was so worried about you." I say. Mark smiles a small bit and lifts his hand, putting his hand on my cheek. I close my eyes, smiling as well. 

"You don't have to worry about me." He says suddenly and I open my eyes again, looking at him. "Cause I'm not going anywhere." He says with a smile and I chuckle, shaking my head a bit. 

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" I ask jokingly, making him laugh a bit, but not much. I assume it must hurt a bit to laugh. We continue talking, chatting as if nothing happened but only one thing runs through my mind and one thing only. Thank god Mark's alright because I love him to much to live without him.