I felt his words in the pit of my tummy, the same feeling as hitting the high point on a rollercoaster right before the fall. I felt Jack’s finger on my spine, tracing the path from the middle of my back down through the crack of my ass.

Jack’s other hand positioned himself at my slick opening and I was startled at the strength that he slammed into me. “Aagh,” I cried out, more startled than in pain.

“You okay, baby?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t expect that and I wasn’t ready for it.”

Jack eased out a little and rotated his hips, stretching me wide. A few tender strokes and then: “You ready for me yet, baby?”

“Yes, I’m good.” I barely finished the three little words when Jack was already slamming back inside of me. He growled on a particularly deep thrust forward and found his rhythm. Each thrust was hard, almost punishing, and his pace was fast and furious. I’d never felt Jack react that way before. It was as if he needed to conquer me. It was exquisite and I wanted nothing more than for him to take me. Conquer me. Make me fully his.

“Syd!” Jack cried out as he spilled into me. The heat from his orgasm detonated my own unexpectedly. We both cried out together before we collapsed into a heaping pile of bones.

“Wow,” I said, when I was finally able to breathe again. “That was amazing.”

We lay on our sides, and Jack pulled me close against his body, my back glued to his front. We were both covered in sweat and I could smell my arousal in the air, thick around us.

“Definitely not a loss.” Jack kissed my shoulder blade from behind.

***

I don’t know when we fell asleep, I only knew there was a phone somewhere that needed to stop ringing or I might hunt it down and trample it. I was physically and emotionally spent. I had no idea if we had slept two hours or twenty hours, but I was not ready to be awoken yet. The phone finally stopped ringing, and I had began to slip back into dreamland, when the ringing started again a few minutes later.

I felt Jack’s arm leave my side and then the ringing stopped.

“Hello?” I was not happy that he had answered it. Whoever it was could wait.

I felt Jack’s body go tense. I couldn’t hear the person on the other end of the phone, but it sounded like a woman, which instantly brought me out of my slumber.

“When?”

I heard the woman on the other end speak, but couldn’t make out the words.

“Where is he?”

More mumbling from the unknown woman.

“Okay, thanks, Betty.”

Betty? It took me a minute to sort through my mental rolodex and recall who Betty was — Jack’s father’s longtime assistant.

“Yes … I will.” Then Jack hung up.

Jack sat up in bed, his feet on the floor, elbows on his knees, hands holding his dropped head as he spoke. “My father had a massive heart attack.” His words were so quiet I struggled to hear them.

Jack turned to face me. I could see he was struggling with whatever he felt and it broke my heart. “I’ll get dressed.” I jumped out of bed and headed for the closet, but I noticed that Jack hadn’t moved yet. I turned back and looked at his eyes, which were still looking in my direction but not quite focused.

“Jack?”

Jack’s eyes came back to mine and I could see he was searching for something. Eventually he nodded in silence.

***

The cab ride to the hospital was quick since rush hour hadn’t started yet. Jack was quiet the whole way, and I wasn’t sure what to say, so I held his hand in silent support.

The front desk told us that Jack’s dad was in ICU and we followed directions through a series of hallways, which eventually led to an elevator bank. Outside the elevator on the 11th floor, a nurse’s station with a curtain did little to hide the dozen patients in beds and the sounds of beeping monitors.

Jack was the type of man who took the lead wherever we went. It was just who he was. At a restaurant he would give the name to the hostess, at a bar he ordered our drinks from the bartender, in a store he paid the cashier and left her with a flirtatious smile without trying. So I knew he was struggling when we walked up to the nurse’s station and she asked us for the name and he didn’t respond.

“Are you family?” The nurse looked to both of us questioning.

“Yes, I’m his daughter in law and Jack is his son.” I squeezed Jack’s hand as I spoke, hoping he would recognize my need to lie so that they would let us both in.

The nurse pointed to the far corner of the room, where two women were working on a man and we began to walk in that direction.

“Mrs. Heston?” It took me a minute to realize that the nurse was calling after me. I turned back to the nurse.

Her voice was low and full of empathy as she spoke. “The doctor just left. He will be back in a few hours, but I should warn you….” The nurse hesitated and it looked as if she was carefully choosing the right words. “Your father in law’s heart has been very badly damaged, and he is on life support. The machines are breathing for him now.”

What was the nurse trying to tell me? Was Jack’s father going to die? People had heart attacks all the time and survived. I suddenly felt a wave of nausea and the room began to spin.

“Mrs. Heston, are you alright?” The nurse’s voice was full of concern as she took a quick step towards me.

Jack seemed to snap out of his fog and I heard panic in his voice when he spoke. “Syd, are you okay?” He turned to stand in front of me, grabbing my shoulders to steady me.

I took a deep breath in and struggled to regain my composure. I was supposed to be there supporting Jack, not the other way around. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. Sorry, hospitals sometimes make me queasy.” I feigned a small smile.

Jack watched me for a moment and then nodded, seemingly satisfied at my answer. We walked over to Mr. Heston’s bed and the sight startled me. The usually tan, vibrant man was pale and hollow-looking. There were machines moving up and down and monitors flashing numbers, all feeding from wires draped loosely from his lifeless body.

Jack stood looking at his father for a long time without saying a word. Long minutes passed as my heart ached, watching the man I loved looking lost as he stared down at the lifeless body before him. Eventually, I pulled two chairs from the foot of the bed over to the side so that we could sit next to him together. The man that lay before me looked so helpless and lonely. I knew how Jack felt about him, but it still broke my heart to see him that way. I couldn’t imagine what Jack must have been feeling.