Clear Line of Sight

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Chapter Ten

Present Day – 11pm

Blood-streaked and soaked to the bone, Lisa stumbled into the Emergency Room at the hospital closest to the shopping plaza. The news had mentioned the name of where the patients had been taken, though exact the name escaped her scattered thoughts at the moment.

Not that it mattered, because as soon as she saw the chaos, she knew she had the right hospital.

Her high heels clicked loudly as she raced to the triage nurse's desk. The harried looking woman glanced up when she saw noticed Lisa's wild-looking appearance. Her hair was soaked and frizzed and the bullet wound she had suffered was bleeding again. Not to mention the rips, blood, and grime that covered her ruined clothes.

"Miss, are you okay?"

"I need to know about Jackson Rippner. R-I-P-P-N-E-R. He was shot earlier today in the attack on the plaza. I need to find him!" Lisa cried out, trembling as she spoke.

"Miss, are you bleeding?"

"Where's Jackson! Where is he?!!" She knew she was hysterical, but she no longer cared. All that mattered at the moment was finding out about Jackson.

"Miss, what's your name?"

"Lisa, Lisa Reisert! WHERE'S JACKSON?!"

"I need you to calm down so that I can find that out. Now, are you related to him?"

"Yes, I'm—we're engaged!" she fibbed quickly. In the back of her mind she knew that hospitals had strict policies about patient confidentiality.

"Okay, now can you describe him?"

She froze for a moment. Describe him? Why would I do that? Is he a John Doe? Did they already send him to the morgue without a name? Oh God…

"He's got, umm, brown hair, blue eyes—very blue eyes…" she said quietly. Her head was spinning and she was suddenly feeling dizzy.

"Miss? Miss?" the nurse's concerned voice called out as she slipped towards the unforgiving floor.

"Ssh, Leese, I've got you now," a familiar voice called.

Present Day – Midnight

When her eyes fluttered open around an hour later, everything was still spinning and she felt lightheaded.

Her wounded shoulder and arm were bandaged carefully and there was an IV line dripping into her hand. Stark white sheets covered her battered body and she contemplated going back to sleep until she saw him.

Jackson was standing with his back to her as he stared out the window into the dark night. Only a sliver of moon was visible and all the stars were missing from the sky. She could see old scars criss-crossing on his bare back in the brief light. Any ordinary man would have died from the wounds he had suffered throughout his career or his life and they certainly would not still be alive following the wound he had suffered. He should not have even been alive, let alone standing in the same hospital room as her.

Quietly, Lisa sat up and slipped her weary body out from under the covers. She carefully untaped and removed her IV and shuffled across the room to him. He jumped when she touched his bare skin lightly with her fingertips and spun around to face her. White bandages covered the recent hole in his chest, but there were scars there as well.

"Hey," she whispered quietly; a faint smile crossing her face.

"You should be in bed," he responded; a hint of a scolding in his tone. But Jackson was smirking as he spoke.

"I could say the same thing about you."

Her legs started to give out and he quickly grabbed her. Lisa whimpered as he accidentally touched her wound.

"Ssh, it's okay now. You're okay—you're safe."

She leaned her head against his chest and he pulled her closer; barely sucking in his breath as she touched his own wound. The faint grimace of pain disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared. Tears began to fall from her moist green eyes.

"I thought—I thought you were dead!" Lisa sobbed.

"I'm not, Leese. I'm here, I'm still here. I won't leave you."

He titled her chin towards his face with a slender finger. She blinked the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath.

Jackson carefully wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I won't ever leave you again. I promise that, Lisa."

She nodded and a smile crossed his face before he bent his head down and she titled her head up to meet him. They kissed for a short moment and then he helped her back over to the bed and sat beside her with their hands entwined as they stared out the window into the unknown.

Author's Notes:

Kind of a sappy ending, I know, but I couldn't help myself. It's over though! I think I might cry now…

Thanks so very much for reading/reviewing! I'll hopefully be editing my mistakes in the next few weeks, so all the little typos will disappear.