Fic: After Life 2/8 - J/S; Post Series Finale AU - Rated PG13 for Angst
Chapter 2: Heart To Heart
Sydney first washed away the last of the dirt, tears, sweat, and grime she changed into the scrubs the nurse had given her. As she immerged from the small changing room, Lieutenant Leahy was waiting to ask, “Ready?”
Sydney nodded, “Yeah.”
The nurse led her inside the infirmary where several empty beds were waiting for occupants, and she kept going to a more isolated part of infirmary to what Sydney could only assume was their version of an ICU ward. Leahy finally stopped outside of an open door that led into a small room, and she turned to look at Sydney again.
“Your father is inside, Agent Bristow. He’s most likely asleep right now,” she said.
Sydney nodded, “I just need to see him right now.” Tears were already flooding her eyes but were not brimming over yet.
“Of course,” the nurse said, “There’s a chair inside the room and I’ll be back a little later to check on your father’s vitals but if you need anything else just let one of the passing crewmembers know.”
“All right, thank you,” Sydney said, take a deep breathe before she stepped forward to enter the room.
Jack laid in the midst of a hospital bed hooked up on what seemed to be dozens of different monitoring machines as Sydney counted wire after wire protruding from him. Her breathe caught in her throat as she saw how he was so much paler than the stark white sheet they had pulled up loosely over him. The tears she had manage to keep at bay finally flooded the brims of her eyes as Sydney moved forward to take the chair at the bed’s side.
With gentle care she took Jack’s hand in hers, and wiping away the tears from her free hand she said quietly, “Dad, you have got to stop scaring me like this.” She remembered so easily last year when Jack had been dying of radiation poisoning. She had never seen him so helpless and vulnerable up until that moment, or until now. She had been so afraid he would die then and she had the same fear now.
“I can’t lose you, because I still need you. I know Vaughn is back in my life and I know you may think that means I don’t need you now but I do. Just because I’m going to be getting be married soon but that does not mean that I still don’t need my father in my life. I want you to be at my wedding, Dad, I want you there more than I can say.”
She laughed wiping away more tears, “For years I have imagined what my perfect wedding would be. I’ve dreamed about it for so long and in those dreams my perfect wedding always included my father walking me down the aisle. Even after we grew apart those dreams never really changed as I think I still had hope we would finally reconcile.”
Sydney paused again, her eyes searching the room for some sort of tissue dispenser. She was thankful that it was one of the few items included in the small room and was in reach of her free hand so that she didn’t have to release Jack’s hand in order to retrieve it. After she wiped her face, she returned her attention to Jack.
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, “Where was I?” She thought for a second before resuming, “Even after Danny told me what you had said to him… and by the way, Dad, that really was horrible what you said to him.”
Sydney strangely smiled at the memory she had of Danny’s recounting everything Jack had said to him word for word. She smiled because the memory illustrated so clearly how much her father had changed. She sobered before she continued, “Even after what Danny told me, there was something inside of me that still wanted you to be a part of our wedding, though I am pretty sure Danny wouldn’t have been crazy with the idea.”
She sniffled again, wiping away more tears that fell from her eyes, “And besides the fact having you there when I marry Vaughn, I want you to be in Isabel’s life. She deserves so much to know her grandfather. I want her to know your love firsthand, Dad, and just not through stories I might could tell her about you.”
Sydney opened her mouth to continue but at that moment Lieutenant Leahy entered to check on Jack’s vitals. She apologized before she set about taking his pulse and blood pressure. She was efficient, trying not to take up anymore time then needed. Before she left she turned to Sydney and spoke in a voice as soft as a breeze, “Agent Bristow -”
“Please, call me Sydney.”
The nurse nodded, “Call me Tanya then. I wanted to tell you we’ve assigned you one of the crew cabins for your use while you’re here with your father.”
“Thank you but-”
“Dr. Robinson thought it would be a good idea for you to have a place where you can rest so you don’t exhaust yourself while staying with your father,” she explained.
“All right, thank you.”
Tanya turned to leave and stopped, “One last thing, Sydney, I know you probably would like something to sleep in besides scrubs. I asked them to leave you some t-shirts, sweat pants and shorts in the cabin.”
Sydney nodded, “Thank you, Tanya.” The nurse finally left and Sydney returned her attention to Jack. Instead of resuming where she had left off, Sydney stood up still holding onto Jack’s hand, and leaned forward to kiss his brow lightly.
“Get better, Dad, because I want the chance to get to know you in a way that doesn’t include work in any way, shape or form. I want to get to know you for who are outside Jack Bristow, Master Spy Extraordinaire. I want to know you as a person, Dad, and I want you to get the chance to know me.”
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Author’s Note: I have no idea what this part of an aircraft carrier would look like so please accept my apologies for any and all inaccuracies!