Chapter 2 — Amy

"Amy, just so you know, there's a flying pig in the bathroom."

Amy blinks away from the page she's been staring at for at least ten minutes, "What did you say, Dr. Rothschild?"

"I wanted to make sure you hadn't gone catatonic. What's going on with you?

"Frank and I, you know."

"Must have been a helluva a reason to ditch Dr. Reynolds?"

"Well, let's just say it wasn't what I expected when I got home." Amy blushed.

"Girl, you are such a wreck."

"I know." Amy reached over to grab her coffee mug.

"Well, make sure you get some rest. The baby doesn't need to have its mother stressing out. 

"Ok."

"Don't worry about anything. Frank will put a ring on that finger one of these days," Dr. Rothschild said walking away.

"I hope not," Amy murmured.

"I heard that young lady," Dr. Rothschild said surprising Amy.

* * *

Amy's baby daddy, Frank has been out of town for work for the last week and Amy since bailing out on Jack's research has been dodging him. She spotted him once walking down the corridor and hid behind a patient's room. 

When she went back to her desk, she scribbled notes on one of her doctor's requests, recalling the scene when she left the restroom and saw the woman who came to meet with Jack's wife. Amy couldn't understand why Jack's wife would be with her, minutes after having dinner with him. 

Amy just can't figure it out and for the rest of the days before Christmas break, kept away from that lab room. She knew better than to go there but a new fantasy sprang up; she and Jack sitting cheek-to-cheek in Margaret's bar and later ended up having sex in the restroom. Amy gasped out Jack's name as she came over and over again. 

"No! No! not again," Amy said getting up throughout the day and washing her privates in the bathroom.

* * *

Amy is still hamstrung over Jack but it's been now ten days since the lab episode. At dinner after a long day of returning from his travels, Amy's fiancé Frank said, "Amy? I need to talk to you about something."

Amy stared at her plate hoping for the worse. "Yes, what is it, sweetheart?"

"I'm thinking about spending the holidays with my old man before the baby comes."

"Oh, okay. Have a nice time."

"Won't you come along?" Frank said. "I'd hate to tell you but you'll have to buy your plane ticket. You know we're pinching pennies for the baby."

"No, no. Doctor's orders that us pregnant women don't fly. I'll stay put right here."

"Baby, you're only two months pregnant. You shouldn't be alone for Christmas?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Go see Papa and give him my regards."

"I don't want you sitting at home by yourself reading A Christmas Carol over and over," Frank said making Amy chuckle. "Are they still having the Christmas party at the university this year?"

"Yes, honey."

"Oh, that's fantastic! I'm sure you'll have lots of fun." Frank said being sarcastic as usual. "Who knows? You might even meet some new people there."

"I've already met all the people I work with." Amy recognized his sarcasm but didn't feel like arguing.

"Really? Everybody on the whole campus? I doubt that."

"Sweetheart, go see Papa and let me manage this being-at home-alone-Christmas-thing myself. Love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

On the morning of Frank's departure, he and Amy loaded his luggage into the Uber and Frank left for the airport. Amy stayed behind and readied herself for the Christmas Party swearing to herself over and over that if Jack's there with his wife, she'll kill herself.

Tables were cleared from the middle of the university's cafeteria and red and green streamers were taped to the walls. Someone brought in a radio and set it to playing Christmas tunes that are nearly drowned out by attendees' conversations. Amy went straight for a punch bowl and poured herself a cup. The burn of alcohol makes her nauseous. She cradled the cup to her midsection and commenced looking around, trying to project an aura of poise.

As the evening goes on, Amy managed to hold a conversation or two with co-workers she was close with. In between chats, she sipped her drink finding the punch has somehow increased in alcohol. The fruit juice almost went up to her nose when she spotted Mr. Jack standing a few feet inside the cafeteria, with his suit and cane, and without Kate.

Amy can hardly believe what she's seeing. Jack without his wife? Powered by alcohol and indignation, Amy finished her drink and marched across the cafeteria to good ole Jack.

"Merry Christmas, Jack!"

"Thanks, Merry Christmas to you as well!"

Amy kicks herself for not thinking of something to say before she walked over here. "Your son Mark, did he find The Odyssey?"

"Oh yes, he finished reading it last week."

"Did he like it?"

"Very much. His favorite character was Ulysses."

Amy deeply wished she had another drink to hide behind as memories of Exam Room Five fill her unwilling mind.

"It's quite a good story. You wouldn't expect a kid from Generation Z to like something so old. Hey, who's knows? He might read The Aeneid next, but perhaps that would be a bit more advanced."

"Mark could benefit from the challenge."

"Oh, Mark is such a sweet boy. I remember when he came to the library," Amy slurred knowing she's talking too much.

"Thank you, he is. I don't know from whom he gets it from."

"I do."

Jack raises his eyebrows as Amy tries to figure out who said that because it couldn't possibly have been her. 

"Let's dance?" Amy said steering away from the conversation.

"What did you say?"

"I said let's dance. Come on, it's Christmas."

Jack knows Amy is drunk. "I don't really—I don't dance. Can't." He lifted his cane a few inches and then let it drop.

"I think you can," Amy reached out her right hand to Jack's elbow and led him through the crowd and over to the radio.

Her hand trailed down to his and wrapped around it, lifting them up to shoulder height. Her left covered his on the cane, and she set a simple swaying rhythm that Jack falls into easily. Jack stares at her like Amy's some kind of magical being, and she can only bite her lip to temper a blinding smile. This feels right, she knows it. No matter how wrong it is, it's still right.

"I didn't think you'd speak to me after what I did," Jack said.

"What do you mean?"

"I scared you. I'm so sorry."

Amy shook her head, "You didn't scare me. Or, well, I was already scared. You didn't help, but you did... um, help." She closed her eyes briefly in an attempt to clear some of the haze. "You helped me not be in a position to be scared anymore."

"Regardless, I don't know what came over me."

So soon the song is ending and Jack steps away. Everything in Amy begs her not to let this become another memory she'll fantasize about. Once again, her heart takes control and words come out of her mouth, "Take me home, Jack."

"Amy..."

"I'm tired, Jack. I want to go home, I took an Uber here. I'm wasted and don't want to go alone."

"Come on, I'll drive you."

* * *

Both ignore the stares that follow them as they exit the cafeteria and walk to Jack's car. Amy's heart thuds as Jack opened the passenger door for her and she sits in. Her mind demanded to know what Amy thinks she's doing, but she has no answer for it. She just sat there and tried not to stare at Jack for more than three seconds at a time while she gave him directions. Jack Reynold's such a mystery to her, for all that she feels like she knows him so well. "May I ask what happened to your leg?" Amy sighed, "I mean, um, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it."

"I was drafted in '04," Jack said, his eyes fixed on the road. "So, I went to basic training, and…well, then..."

"An accident?"

"No. No, there wasn't an accident. I got a call from my wife and she told me she was pregnant. At that moment... nothing else mattered. The only thing that mattered was that I came straight home. My father abandoned me when I was little. I couldn't—I could never do that to my son. Nothing would make me do that. Even if it meant…so, I left the office where soldiers took calls from outside, and kept walking, and didn't stop until a jeep ran over my foot."

"Oh my God, Jack!"

"I was discharged in hours, of course. Most of the bones healed, but not all. Now you know." He glanced over at her.

"Well, Mark has his father. Turn here, it's the second house on the right."

Jack parked and then opened the passenger door for Amy. They walked to her house and Amy's feeling woozy. "At Margaret's, was the woman you were with, your wife?"

"Yes."

"But—I saw her with someone else." 

"Well, yeah. Kate's lover means more to her than I do."

Amy stopped watching Jack languish. Her mind is blank when she stepped forward and wrapped her hand around the back of Jack's head. His mouth landed on hers.

The kiss was only for a moment, then Jack pulled away. "I'm sorry," he gasped.

Amy can hardly hear him through the blood pounding in her veins. Jack's lips are parted and wet, and all Amy does is smile.

"I'm not sorry," Amy said, closing the distance between them.

Amy clung to Jack's head and shoulder as the heat roared through her, stroking her tongue over his and scraping his lower lip with her teeth when he retreats. A growl rolled from his throat into her mouth and Jack kissed her harder. Amy's nails dig deep into his scalp and coat causing them to stumble. Her back hit the wall beside the front door.

"Wow!"

"I'm yours," Amy said, her voice low and desperate, "You know that, don't you?"

"I do."

Amy moaned and her leg has loosely hooked itself over Jack's and she pressed up against him in a way she's only done in her most fevered fantasies. She'd rather die than stop, realizing with something between elation and panic that they don't have to. Her boyfriend, Frank is likely halfway to Maine right now and the house is empty. Amy can pull Jack inside and finally take what she wanted for a long time.

She wanted to get to the door first, and can't make herself loosen her grip on Jack. She managed to inch closer to it, but then he ducked his head and started sucking on her neck. Her arm dropped and elbow hit the doorbell, sending a chime through the empty row home. A second later, lights came on inside.

"Christ!" Amy hollered and shoved Jack away.

Jack blinked, looking up at the windows, "Who's that?"

"Bloody Frank, I thought he was gone!" Amy said.

"Damn it," Jack moved back, but Amy grabbed his hand and pulled him closer.

"There's a hotel. Hollytree, on Stanmore. Meet me there tomorrow night at ten o'clock."

"Are you sure?"

"I am. Now, hurry."

"I'll be there." He stole one last kiss, then spun around, scooped his cane off the ground, and hurried to his car.

Amy put her hand over her mouth and grabbed her key and opened the door, Frank was dressed in a housecoat standing on the stairs.

"Amy, there you are, sweetheart. Would you believe it? There was engine trouble on the plane, so my flight was canceled until tomorrow. Hey, why did you ring the doorbell?"

"My elbow slipped, good night," Amy said bolting up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Oh my God! she whispered sitting on the toilet. I almost got caught. Shit!