by Jeff Uribe
Agent Leo Jones, Team Zulu
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[In the ambulance, en route to Castle Rock Memorial Hospital]
Waves. That's all that Leo could think of as he struggled to break through the surface of consciousness. The pain he was feeling were breaking over him like the waves at Myrtle Beach, where he remembered taking Jenn and Andrea one June summer. He remembered how they walked along the beach as Andrea taunted the ocean to get her feet wet. The seashell collection that Andrea amassed when they were there, Jenn's brand new bathing suit, and the waves crashing on the beach... the waves.
"First nausea, now pain... hasn't this been a hell of a day?" Leo thought to himself as he swam towards the surface. As he got closer, he heard voices coming from the other side. As muted as it was, he could hear most of what was being said.
"Step on it. He's lost way too much blood to even be alive right now." Tom said, as he checked the monitors hooked up to Leo.
"If we get into an accident, it won't matter how much blood he's lost." Mark said in an irritated tone. "We'll all be dead. Let me do the driving and just keep him alive."
As Leo was about to break through to the surface, another wave, a much bigger one than the others swamped him once again and Leo lost consciousness. He hoped that it wasn't for the final time.
[Castle Rock Memorial Hospital, Operating Room]
Dr. Halloran looked at the X-ray as the nurses were putting the 2nd pint of blood into Leo.
"Mr. Jones, you're a lucky man. The bullet missed your spine completely, but it's now lodged next to your heart. This is not going to be easy."
"Doctor! His vitals are dropping, we're losing him!"
Leo managed to break through to a semi-conscious state for about 5 seconds. During this time, he saw that he was in some sort of Operating room, and that the doctor was saying something to himself while looking at an X-ray. All of a sudden, Leo felt himself being pulled under once again, the pain being almost unbearable. Before he drifted off into unconsciousness once again, Leo was able to hear one last thing.... the sound of his heart flatlining.
[Location : Unknown. Time : unknown]
When he regained consciousness once again, Leo found himself washed up on a beach somewhere. Coughing up some seawater, Leo dragged himself up further on the shore. It took most of his strength, but he managed to turn himself around and stare up at the clear blue sky. As he watched the clouds roll by, a shadow fell over his face, temporarily blocking the heat of the summer sun that was threatening to give him an awful sunburn. The next thing he knew, Andrea's face popped in above his with a grin.
"Daddy!" she squealed as she turned herself around and jumped into Leo's arms.
"no, don't." Leo said, fearing that the bullet wound in his back would reopen until he realized that his back was in one piece. No bullet wounds, no stitches, nothing. His back felt fine, it felt... whole.
His daughter's face took on a hurt look, "Aren't you glad to see me, daddy?"
Leo reached up and caressed the side of his daughter's face, brushing a stray strand of hair from her eyes. "I am, princess. It's just that I drank so much water, you wouldn't want daddy to puke all over you, would ya?" Leo said with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Ugh! Gross... Moooommmmm!" Andrea wiggled free from Leo's hug and ran off somewhere behind him.
To say that Leo was confused would have been an understatement. He had no idea what was going on here, and as he turned around, his confusion became total as he saw his daughter dragging his wife behind her. Seeing Jenn once again was almost too much for Leo to take. After all, it was over 2 years since that fateful day when he discovered their bodies. She was walking towards him wearing that one-piece she had bought for their trip to Myrtle Beach, her hair flowing out behind her, her eyes and grin bringing back his memories of what attracted him to her in the first place.
"Leo Jones, threatening to puke over your daughter isn't exactly what I would call a very warm welcome." Jenn said, tucking her hair behind her ear as she shook her head.
The blood seemed to drain from Leo's body as he heard his wife address him once again. For once in his life, he was at a loss for words, as his emotions threatened to override his senses.
Jenn stepped forward and took Leo into her arms and tried to soothe him as tears ran freely from his eyes. She stroked his hair and neck, and all that Leo could do was cry on her. With a wave of her hand, Jenn sent Andrea splashing off into the surf as she held Leo tightly against her.
Two years of being alone, two years without his loving wife and daughter, the loneliest two years of his life, and now Leo was back with his wife in his arms and his daughter playing in the surf. "Sssshhh... it's alright hon. It's okay dear." he heard her whispering into his ear. As his tears dried up, he pulled his head back and looked into Jenn's face once more. He saw the tears the fell from her eyes, making trails down her soft cheeks, her slightly upturned nose, her full lips.
"Am I ...." Leo started to ask when Jenn put her fingers to his lips. A moment later, she replaced her fingers with her lips as they stood on the beach and kissed like there was no tomorrow. As the kiss broke, Leo looked into his wife's eyes and said, "Oh god, Jenn. I've missed you so much, you and Andrea. You have no idea...." Leo turned to see Andrea picking up some of the more interesting looking seashells as she scoured the shoreline.
"Oh, I have some idea." Jenn said, as she stood next to Leo, one arm around his waist. "As for your other question, No. You're not dead, yet. but you're awfully close and that's why we can be together right now."
Leo looked at his daughter as she started back towards them. "Do I have a choice as to whether I can stay here or not?"
Jenn turned to look at Leo with a surprised look on her face. "What about Zenya?"
Leo turned back towards Jenn and looked at her. Before he could say anything, Andrea tugged on Leo's arm and asked, "Who's Zenya?"
"Um, she's someone that Daddy works with in the FBI, pumpkin." Leo said, with some trepidation. A twinge of guilt ran through his system, as though he had been caught in some sort of torrid affair, and he knew that Jenn saw this, although she showed no sign of it.
Andrea looked down at the shells in her hand and asked, "Do you like her?"
Leo looked at Jenn, then back at Andrea. Kneeling down before her, and taking her hands with the shells in his, he said, "I guess I do, at least a little."
Andrea then looked up with a pout and said, "I don't like her at all!"
Jenn looked at Andrea with a sad look and sternly said, "Andrea Jones. We had this talk before."
Andrea looked up at her mom and defiantly said, "Well. I don't. She talks funny and has a funny name!"
As much as her words tore through Leo's heart like a knife, he knew that by just feeling this way, it meant that he liked Zenya much more than just "a little". Reaching for Andrea's face, he turned it so that he could look into his daughter's eyes, seeing the hurt and anger in there. "Tell me the truth, princess. Is that the only reason why you don't like Zenya?"
"no." she said as tears started to trickle from her eyes, her voice sounding so small once again.
Leo brushed away the tears running down his daughter's face as best he could. "Tell me, dear. What's the real reason why you don't like Zenya?"
"Because... because..." she started as she looked down at the seashells she dropped into the sand. "If you like her, then you'll forget about mommy and me...and... and.. I don't want you to forget about us, daddy."
At this, she began to cry freely, her tears coming in streams as Leo held his daughter to him, feeling her hug him closely. Leo felt close to tears himself as he heard his worse fears coming from his daughter, the one reason why he never pursued anyone, the reason why he isolated himself from the rest of the world for over two years. As he rubbed his daughter's back, he told her, "Sssshhhhh, pumpkin. You know that I could never forget about you, or mommy. You'll always be my little princess, and mommy will always be the most beautiful queen in all the land. Even if I liked Zenya, there will always be a part of my heart that will hold you and mommy close forever and ever."
"Really?" Andrea sniffled, as she pulled back to see if Leo was lying.
"Of course, princess." Leo said, giving Andrea a kiss on her forehead.
"I love you, daddy!" Andrea said as she gave Leo one of her fierce bearhugs. "Forever and ever."
"I love you too princess." Leo said, as he looked up to see Jenn smile at the sight before her.
Jenn then helped Leo up and said, "Andrea, why don't you go back to the house. Daddy and I need to talk a little, ok?"
"Ok." Andrea said, as she picked up her seashells and headed back to the end of the beach. After a bit, Leo saw her round a curve in the beach and Andrea was no more.
"Leo, you know what I'm going to say, don't you?" Jenn said, as she took his hand into hers.
"You want me to go back," Leo said with a sigh. "Why?"
Jenn looked sideways at Leo and said, "You have unfinished business there, and there are people there who need you more than we do."
For a moment, a flash of anger erupted within Leo. Spinning towards his wife, Leo said, "What do you mean? Andrea still needs me, even if you don't."
All of a sudden, Leo was hit by the full force of Jenn's fury. As he saw the anger boil behind her eyes, he saw the tears fall as she said, "Leo Jones, that's not fair. Damn it, she's just 11 years old. She never faced death and she never developed the concept of moving on, not like you or me." Jenn pulled away from Leo who just stood there watching her. "And as much as I need you, at least I know that I don't have a choice in the matter. Be practical, Leo. Andrea and I are dead, dead and gone. That means forever, while you have the second chance that we never got."
Leo looked down at the sand beneath him and wished silently that he could just sink into it and disappear forever. Seeing the pain that he had caused his wife and child, Leo realized the source of why Jenn seemed so bitter. "You still blame me for what Docker did to you and Andrea, don't you?"
"No! This has nothing to do with ....." Jenn started before she broke down and cried. "No ... no... "
Leo gathered Jenn up into his arms and held her as she cried against him. "I am so sorry, Jenn. I should've been there to stop him."
Jenn cried for a few minutes more, then she tried to compose herself once again. "Leo, you have got to stop blaming yourself for what happened to us. I never blamed you. You had a job to do and you did it. Just like now, you have a job to do back in the land of the living, with people who need you as much as I do. Zenya needs you, whether she knows it or not, and your team needs you." Jenn reached up and caressed Leo's cheek. "I love you very much Leo, and that is why it's so hard for me to let go. But we'll always be here, love. We're not going anywhere and we'll be waiting for you when your time does come."
"Oh god, Jenn. I love you so much." Leo said as he kissed her once again. As their kiss went on, a strong wind began to whip up around Leo, tearing him away from Jenn's arms. Struggle as might, he was no match for the wind that lifted him up and away from his former wife. Before he was dumped back into the waves that gave him up, he saw on the beach his wife and child waving a sad goodbye for him. With a wave, Leo hit the water hard, passing out from the impact as the waters swallowed him whole.
[Castle Rock Memorial Hospital, later that day. Martin Reed's room]
> "Do you have a patient here by the name of Leo Jones?"
> "He's in the next room. Is he a friend of yours?"
> "I sure hope so... How is he?"
"Well, the doctor just upgraded his status from Critical to Serious. He hasn't woken up from the surgery yet. We'll know more when he wakes up."
"Thanks nurse Suzette."
"No problem," she said with a smile. "If there's anything else that you might need...." then she turned and walked out, but not before giving Martin a wink before closing the door.
[Castle Rock Memorial Hospital, Leo Jones' room]
For a man who seemed to have spent the past few hours floundering in some sort of ocean, Leo was extremely thirsty when he woke up in one of Castle Rock Memorial's beds. Sooner than he knew it, a cup of water was near his parched lips and Leo took several sips before the water was taken away. When Leo opened his eyes, for a moment he thought that he saw Jenn sitting next to the bed with a cup of water in her hands. As his eyes got a chance to focus, Leo saw that it was Zenya sitting there and putting the cup on the dresser beside his bed.
"Hey" she said, in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "How are you doing?"
Leo managed a weak smile, and as he took one of Zenya's hands in his, he said, "I'm much better now."