By Audra Beberman
Chapter Twelve
Bobbie watched as the three tall, bold men filed into Jerry's room. She and Jane would wait in the lounge with the children, watching for any nurses who might try to expel the threesome from Jerry's room. Jerry clearly had something he needed to tell them; she only hoped he wouldn't injure himself with the effort. But she also knew she couldn't stop him - something was happening and now they were all involved, like it or not. If it was what Jerry knew that could stop the deaths and the kidnappings and the sorrow, he had to try to help. There would be no stopping him.
Jane was speaking with Dr. James in the lounge when Bobbie sat down. Bobbie liked Dr. James, she was honest and compassionate, but Bobbie couldn't help but think that the doctor sounded like one of the reference books that she had read in the hospital library as she spoke quietly to Jane.
"Most patients who survive ARDS have a remarkable degree of recovery of lung function, even given the severity of your son's initial injury. Recovery time for each patient is variable. Patients recover at different rates and have different end points. However, most patients recover the great majority of lung function in the first three to six months and then recovery levels off up to a year and beyond. Only a few patients have decreased lung function forever."
"Well, that sounds promising, doesn't it?" Jane asked as she turned to gauge Bobbie's reaction to what the doctor said.
"Yes. Yes it does. It's going to take some time for his burns to heal properly, and even then he will probably need skin grafts," Bobbie said evenly. Jane didn't need to know what the past week had actually been like for Jax and her, not to mention Jerry's gruesome week.
"But he is alive. That's all that really matters," Jane said with conviction.
This time the doctor answered, "It was Mrs. Jacks and Mr. Jacks' brother that got him through the worst of it. They talked to him while he was comatose, as if he could hear them. He must have felt the love and the worry. He came back for them. I can't really explain his remarkable recovery any other way. I may be a woman of science, but this time my head tells me it wasn't science that saved my patient. It was love. Pure and simple."
Jane looked at Bobbie with a mixture of affection and gratitude. Affection for the daughter she never thought she'd have again, after Brenda died, and gratitude that this woman loved her eldest son enough to stand by him no matter how many mistakes he made or how much trouble he got himself into. Bobbie returned her smile with one of her own. They were both thankful there was something about which to smile. Jerry once described Bobbie as a woman of rare courage. At the time, Jane Jacks had agreed with her son wholeheartedly in his assessment and now added to herself that Bobbie was a woman of rare dignity as well.
Dr. James left the women to talk and watch the children. Lucas had Candy on the rug playing with her blocks. He'd build them up and Candy would knock them over with an uncoordinated swing of her chubby fist. The children's laughter rang like the clear peal of church bells. The women beamed down at them and then continued their conversation.
"He really will be okay, won't he Bobbie?" Jane asked, mother to nurse this time.
"I'm fairly certain he will be. But it's still a long road. The burns have really healed quickly. I think the doctors are just keeping them covered so he doesn't get too upset. He has to stay calm in order for his lungs to heal as well. If I know Jerry he'd get anxious and upset at the sight, then his vanity would set in," she paused and bit her lip, "he's going to have some scars, but they will be able to be fixed with skin grafts, just not quite yet. They cannot do surgery until his lungs are working properly all on their own."
"Oh." Jane sighed. It certainly would be a while before Jerry was back to his old self. Hopefully, John, Jax and Luke weren't pushing him. No matter how much they needed the information inside his head.
Jax stuck his head out of Jerry's room and called to Lucas, "Hey, Lucas, we need your expert help in here."
Bobbie watched her son jump up, excited and proud that all four of his heroes needed his help. He puffed out his little chest and tried not to run as he sauntered towards the door of his father's room. She knew her son well, and she knew that all he ever wanted to do was go off with Jerry or Jerry and Jax or Jerry and Luke on one of their adventures. Now he was getting the opportunity to keep his promise to Jerry about looking after Candace and help him as well. Bobbie and Jane looked at one another and laughed, and then Jane decided to fill Bobbie in on what had really happened in New Zealand.
John was describing the game to Jax and Luke, with apparent frustration. Finally Jerry could stand no more. "Get Lucas...show them," he said in a voice that sounded like rough sandpaper. He coughed and Jax grabbed the bucket of ice chips.
Luke and John said "Shhhh..." simultaneously. Jax handed the ice to John and went to call Lucas into the room. Jerry's son ambled into the room mimicking what Jerry recognized to be his own cock-sure swagger. His uncles, grandfather and father suppressed ironic smiles.
"Well, my brilliant nephew," Jax said as he scooped Lucas up in his powerful arms and placed him at the foot of Jerry's bed. The computer was on the rolling bedside tray and it was plugged into a socket that had most recently been used to run the ventilator that had kept Jerry breathing. "We really need your help."
"You do?" Lucas asked. Then he said slyly to Jerry, "I knew you would -- some day." The men laughed at his bravado. He was becoming a little clone of his stepfather. Now Jerry really heard the change in Lucas' speech pattern that Bobbie had pointed out earlier. It was evident that to Lucas, becoming a Jacks meant sounding like one too. Jerry hoped Candace sounded more like Bobbie. Well, maybe not. Bobbie's sexy, smoky voice drove him wild. If Candy wound up sounding like that he'd have to build a tower and lock her away until she reached her majority.
Jerry thought about how Bobbie used her voice to charm him into most anything she wanted him to do. Most of the time it was unintentional, but sometimes he was sure it wasn't. From the complicated, like him learning how to be honest, to the expensive: J & J Jacks of Alaska underwriting the Nurses' Ball. From the mundane: taking out the trash, to the frightening: falling madly in love. From the exciting, like making love in the most imaginative places, to the very simple like taking a trip... her wishes suddenly became his own as soon as he heard her talking about whatever it was she fantasized about. Not that he wouldn't have given into her desires in any case; he knew he lavished her and spoiled her, as was his right, but her voice only made him behave more like her love slave. A slave that didn't yearn to be freed. Which got him thinking about silk scarves and four-poster beds and their honeymoon tucked away in the hills of Tuscany... Luke suddenly interrupted what was becoming an erotic daydream about Bobbie. Even if she wasn't physically in his presence, he lost all sense of time and reality when he thought about how much he adored his beautiful wife. Jerry shifted uncomfortably under the thin hospital sheets and reluctantly redirected his attention to Luke.
Luke walked towards them and said, "What are you doing to my nephew? Got him talking like some wallaby from down under?" Again the men laughed and Lucas cocked his head to one side, unsure if they were laughing at him or his Uncle Luke. His mimicking Jerry, Jax and John was purely subconscious. He didn't realize he even did it at all.
John turned to Lucas and said, "I want you to explain how 'The Keeper' works to your uncles. They may want to play the game that Jerry invented."
"Okay Grandpa, no problem."
As Lucas played, John explained what the other two men were looking at, using euphemisms to keep Lucas unaware that the game had potential to be real and not just some story that Jerry made up for his son's entertainment. He needn't have worried. Lucas was not paying a whit of attention to the adults around him; he was too involved in the game. Occasionally John glanced at Jerry to make sure that the pieces of the puzzle he uncovered were exactly what Jerry intended him to find. He saw his son's brows furrowed in concentration as he watched Lucas play. When John caught his eye, Jerry's relief at the truth coming out was evident. Once, Lucas' character died in the fifth round and he had to start again. It was at that moment that Bobbie poked her head in to tell them that she and Jane and Candace were headed to the cafeteria for lunch. After promising to bring back some lunch for them as well, Bobbie left and Lucas continued uninterrupted. The story unfolding was eerily familiar to Luke and Jax. They took an opportunity to glance at Jerry and then at each other in amazement and admiration for him. Damn, I wish I'd taken him seriously all those months ago, Luke thought, and chided himself for his recent problem with alcohol. Jerry was onto something. And as Lucas completed level six, Luke turned back towards the screen. The computer's hard drive was whirring, reading the files for the next level of play. He could see the charm: Angel; the spell: for fire; and the tool: a key. He was momentarily puzzled and Jax let out a quiet gasp and drew his key ring from his pants pocket. Jax held up the real key and Jerry nodded. Then he gestured back towards the computer screen. The words loomed large on the tiny screen of the laptop, and Luke could hardly believe what it said, Level Seven: Lucky's Escape.
Bobbie came back with some lunch for Lucas, so he put the game on pause and ran to his mother. From the tension in the air, Bobbie knew something was amiss, for that reason she discretely left a tray of sandwiches and drinks on the table by the door and retreated with Lucas in tow. As they left, Luke rounded on Jerry as complete understanding hit him. Jax didn't have the same reaction that Luke did in that moment, but he also didn't have the same history. Luke was recalling a long-ago conversation with Jerry regarding the whole scenario; the revelation of that conversation rocked him now. Luke also didn't need to see the last level, The Dungeon at Angel Fire, to completely comprehend. His fury erupted quickly.
"You bastard!" Luke yelled. "Why didn't you tell me?" He went to grab Jerry by his hospital gown, but Jax stopped him.
"I tried." Jerry rasped.
"Well not damn hard enough."
John stood by and watched the exchange. His suspicions had been correct. "Are you going to tell them or shall I?" he asked his eldest son.
Jax, still restraining Luke, was also still quite puzzled. "Tell us what?" he asked in exasperation. With a shrug and a nod Jerry gestured to his father.
Luke and Jax turned as one to listen to John. "Brenda, Lucky, Tony, and some of our more distant cousins, and now Chloe as well, were pawns in a very devious game." He paused.
Jax said, "Yes, clearly it was a pattern, I could see that much after the first few levels of the game. What else is there?"
"What your father is avoiding, and what Jerry has been hiding all of this time is the fact that all of these dead people are very much.... alive." Luke wrestled himself away from Jax, as Jax' grip loosened at the startling news. Jax turned to Jerry.
"Is this true?"
"Yes." Came the ragged reply.
Jax fell into the chair, shocked beyond comprehension. "Why didn't you tell me? Why?"
Jerry swallowed with some difficulty and said quietly, "I only knew for sure about Lucky about three months ago. Luke was barely alive himself, clinging to the nearest bottle of bourbon. You had Chloe, and had moved on. I didn't want to pull another 'Miranda' on you until I was certain. And as for Tony and the others, I was guessing, but I believe I am right." The speech exhausted him, he closed his eyes and his head fell back against the pillow as the pain of speaking for so long over took him for a moment. He opened his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I thought I could have all of the answers before I had to tell anyone, maybe even have gotten them all out by myself. Evidently the Keeper is aware that I exist, maybe even that I am still alive, he knew I was closing in and tried to stop me. Now he's probably even more angry and ready to strike. Thus he chose Chloe. Except he didn't count on the fact that I'd survive and tell you what I know. So, now that you're all here, you're going to have to do what I cannot. Rescue these people from the grips of a monster."
They all sat silently for a moment, each lost in his own thoughts and hopes and fears. Luke suddenly sat up in his chair. "Ok, we now know the where and the what, but can you tell us who this monster is and why he's doing this?"
After Lucas had his sandwich, he decided he needed red Jell-O.
"What if daddy and grandpa need you?" Bobbie asked in a tone that imitated Lucas'.
"Grandpa knows the game...It'll only take a few minutes! Pleeeease?"
Bobbie gave in because she felt bad about leaving her children in such an abrupt way the previous week, and Lucas, as a diabetic, knew he'd find sugar-free Jell-O in a hospital. They reached the cafeteria quickly and Lucas ran directly over to the dessert table. Bobbie had just gotten him settled at the table with Jane and Candy when an orderly came over to them.
"Mrs. Jacks?"
"Yes?" Bobbie and Jane replied in unison. The orderly looked perplexed and the women giggled girlishly. He looked from one to the other and then at the children.
"The Mrs. Jacks whose husband is in ICU?"
Bobbie and Jane grinned at each other, technically both of their husbands were in ICU, but they decided silently not to tease the poor confused orderly anymore. Bobbie said, "That would be me."
The orderly smiled in relief. "The doctor has decided to move your husband and Mr. Jacks is asking for you. Would you like to follow me?"
"Yes. Thank you." Bobbie turned to Jane and the children. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Let Lucas finish his Jell-O and then I'll come get you and show you where the new room is." She grabbed her purse from the table and stood.
Jane nodded. "Alright. That's fine. Candy, wave bye-bye to Mommy." Jane pulled her granddaughter's chubby hand from her bottle and waved it towards Bobbie's retreating figure.
Bobbie got on to the elevator with the orderly. The doors slid closed and the airbrakes released. He promptly placed a handkerchief soaked with chloroform over her nose and mouth. Bobbie's last coherent thought was for Jerry's health and the children's safety.
Jerry's hospital room had begun to take on the look of the White House war room when a terrorist attack threatened American shores, or an assault on enemy forces was imminent. Trays of food, some eaten, some not, empty soda and juice cans were strewn here and there. The hospital housekeeping staff would have a fit when they came to clean. If not for the oxygen tanks, Luke would have lit the cheroot clenched between his teeth.
Maps and aerial photos along with heat-sensor satellite images sent from Los Alamos to New Zealand and hand-carried back to New Mexico were pinned on the walls. John and Luke studied them for what seemed an eternity. Agreeing and then disagreeing over the possible dungeon locations and trying to rule out other locations entirely.
Jax was in contact with Addie in New York and V in Port Charles. They were faxing information faster than he could read it, so he spread a lot of the information out in front of Jerry so that the two of them could read what was coming to them on Jax' mobile fax. Addie had pressed several Senators that owed Jasper Jacks for financial support of their campaigns, not the type of favor Jax would ordinarily trade on, but desperate times... V was working with Mac Scorpio and the WSB... information on all known kidnappers, felons and general troublemakers in the Taos/Angel Fire area that had been requested was in their possession.
Jerry had in his lap a confidential government report on several of the government's most wanted criminals. Two entries in the report caught his eye. Seems a Green Beret went a little off his rocker and decided to become a professional bounty hunter. A large "no-no" when you've been trained by the US military. They don't like to train people to become civilian death machines. The man in question had served in Vietnam and the Gulf War before calling it quits. He had been discharged honorably and then disappeared. Rumors swirled that he'd moved to New Mexico and worked for a recluse in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Rumor also had it that this recluse, as yet unnamed, had also served in the Army during Vietnam. A Captain to the bounty hunter's Sergeant. Oddly enough, neither man had a clear photo with his "bio" and even more curious, they had been in charge of an internment camp during the Vietnam "action." His men had called the Captain " The Keeper. " Jerry scowled as he wondered about the state of his intuition and his occasionally over-active imagination. Maybe the Keeper was not who he imagined or feared he was.
"Look..." Jerry said as loudly as he was able. He pointed to his lap and Jax grabbed the papers. John and Luke read along over each of his shoulders. Jerry watched the three of them absorb what they were reading. He had known a bit of this information previously, and assumed some too, but now he was glad he hadn't known before what he was really up against when he decided to come to New Mexico. He wasn't trained as a military man. He barely went to the gym anymore. He was still in good physical condition, but not anything like the training he'd received before he dropped out of the WSB academy.
When his father had called to bring him to America and into the fledgling family business, Jerry had been all of nineteen. At eighteen he already had the itch to roam, and he'd thought that in the WSB he'd have an opportunity to travel and support Jax and Lady Jane if anything happened to John in Alaska. The WSB trained him in Australia, and he had learned his lessons quickly and well - but that had been just over twenty years ago... a long time to keep a secret, Jerry thought, and a long time to not forget the intensive psychological testing and training.
But life had led him another way, he'd traveled alright - down a lot of different roads; only to find the most meaningful moments happened to him when he stood still long enough to appreciate them. When he'd found his home. A real home for the first time in his life. A home -- not the back seat of a beaten up station wagon, nor some anonymous suite in a five-star hotel; but a warm, cozy brownstone in a small port city in rural New York state. Sometimes he couldn't believe where he'd ended up... some days he couldn't believe his luck. And no matter what he faced on those roads he'd traveled, Jerry had not looked back with regret until this whole "Keeper" escapade had begun. Jerry Jacks was a man who did not usually waste his energy on lamentation.
He was, of course, remorseful about his involvement with the "Organization" and for the things he'd done to make money in the past; but his life was now a clean slate, a tabula rasa from the moment Bobbie forgave him and they started over -- together. She even knew about his brief foray into the WSB, but she didn't know that the memories and the regret of not finishing still kept him awake at night -- on occasion. But the past was past. He would not let her or their family down now.
Jax finished reading first and whistled. "Could be just the person we're looking for."
Luke finished and agreed with Jax' assessment. "I wish the picture had been a little more clear, though. It's gonna be tough trying to show this around and get a feel if the town knows this guy, or his little beret buddy." Luke was already stomping around the room, gathering his belongings and then taking the fax right out of John's hands.
John removed his glasses and spoke firmly. "That's the last thing we should do. We can't tip him that we have even this much information. Luke, you're a card player, you should know better."
Jerry raised one eyebrow and smirked, as Luke shot back sarcastically, "Yeah, well Dad, what do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest you lose your attitude, and work on the team for a change Luke. If I didn't love my daughter-in-law quite so much, I'd punch you here and now for your thoughtlessness and selfishness. No to mention your complete disregard to the fact that Jerry risked his life as he tried to do something good, and although the outcome wasn't what he expected, he was doing if for us. All of us. You included. Now... Anything else snide or cutting you'd like to get out of the way before we continue?" Jerry and Jax smirked at each other; one was never too old to remember being yelled at by a parent as being a horrible moment in time. Luke Spencer just experienced a tiny measure of the worst that John Jacks could deliver.
Luke must have realized he'd overstepped. And so he said from around his cigar, "Sorry John, I'm just frustrated with everything right now."
"I know, my friend. But we have to keep it together - that's more important now than ever before."
The three tall men huddled around Jerry's bed as a plan came together.
Bobbie stood with her back to the door of her prison chamber. Oddly, this was not at all how she pictured being held captive. In her mind's eye, she recalled the myriad problems of her former sisters-in-law, Laura Cassadine and, twice over, Alexis Davis. She thought too about the many deaths and reincarnations of women like Lucy Coe, Laura (again!), Holly Scorpio, Katherine Bell, and Lesley Webber. Never once during all of the times these women were kidnapped, "murdered," missing or what have you, did she envision them trapped in a room that so resembled a surgical theater. In fact, if she pictured anything at all, it was funerals and flowers, tears and trauma, relief and reunion.
Now here she stood - the much-married Barbara Jean Spencer Jacks in the midst of her own abduction. Confident that her husband would be, by turns, worried, frightened, lethally angry and lastly but most importantly, heroic. Not to mention the anger and heroism of her brother-in-law, father-in-law and her own brother. She had supreme faith in both Jerry's love and his incredible intelligence. Unfortunately his health was precarious at best, so she had to depend on his brains and the brawn of three other men she loved. She walked the room, inspecting the well-styled, yet cold and modern furniture... a far cry from the warmth of the Brownstone.
She gazed curiously at the books on the shelves and the musical selections near a state-of-the-art CD player. All seemingly picked to her specific taste. She wasn't surprised then, to find clothing her size and preferred colors in the drawers and wardrobe, as well as her brand of toothpaste in the adjoining bathroom. Bobbie's more emotional side was looking for ways to escape, but her practical side served her well again, she knew it would be impossible, simply from the look of the place. No windows, one door. Seamless walls and floor. It would be useless to waste her precious energy trying to escape. Better to outmaneuver. And even though her manipulation skills were a little rusty from years of disuse, she had always been a master at the game. Now she had to figure out just who her opponent was.
She heard the door hiss behind her as it slid open. She turned cautiously, unsure of what might await her eyes. Confused, she blinked uncomprehendingly for a moment. The person who stood before her was oddly familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.
"Welcome home, Barbara Jean," said the Keeper solemnly.
The light of recognition dawned on her face once her brain and ears and eyes all reconciled the specter before her. For a moment she was fascinated, then suddenly appalled and afraid.
"You?" she whispered and stepped back from him. "You did this? All the sorrow and anger and hurt? This is all because of you?"
The Keeper smiled. He had practiced often in the mirror for this moment of recognition and confrontation. Still the smile looked like some sort of childish attempt at painting a Chagall.
"Yes, Barbara... all because of, for the benefit of, and the sheer pleasure of... me."
Jane walked into Jerry's room with a confused expression. Candace was in her stroller and Lucas was at her side.
"Hello?" she interrupted the men in their discussion.
"Hello dear," John said. "Where's Bobbie?"
Jane looked from one to the other of them. "She's not here?"
"No. Isn't she with you?" Jax asked, puzzled.
"No. An orderly came to the cafeteria and said they were changing your room," she said as she looked at Jerry. "That was well over an hour ago. She said she'd come get us and show us to the new room, but the children were getting restless. I came back to see if they could tell me where you'd been moved."
"Moved?!" Jerry croaked.
Jax supplied, "Mum, he was never moved. Nor was he going to be. The doctor said Jerry needed to be in ICU for at least another day or two." Jax glanced back at his brother and saw as the understanding and anger replaced frustration and bafflement.
"He has her..." Jerry managed to say.
"Damn it!" Luke shouted. Lucas cringed and Candy whimpered at the explosion of Luke's temper. "Jax. John. Lets search the hospital before we make any other decisions."
John agreed that impulse would be their downfall. "I'll take the roof and the three floors below that, Jax take the next five down and the stairwells, Luke take the lobby, the morgue and the outer areas of the main floor." John organized like a United States Marine. He gauged each person's strengths and weakness and positioned them so their strengths were highlighted and the weaknesses hidden. Jax could take the staircases far better than Luke's middle-aged bones, and still better than John's weakened heart and even older bones. Luke's skill with wheedling information needed to be used where there were people to encounter - people who might have information.
"I'm on it." Luke said. He thought that he'd try to speak to the visitors milling in the lobby as he searched, quietly proving John's management theories correct. Jax bounded out the door with a quick glance at his brother, he saw aggravation apparent on his face. Behind the visage, Jerry's mind was working at top speed. The game was definitely picking up velocity. Chloe yesterday and Bobbie today. Now they had to catch the Keeper when he was moving quickly, and hopefully making a misstep. Before the unthinkable occurred.
Jane moved to follow John and then remembered the children. Jerry looked at his mother who was clearly torn between staying with her son and grandchildren, or watching after her husband.
"Leave them. We'll be ok. He'd be stupid to try anything here." Jerry took a chip of ice gingerly in his gauze wrapped fingers, finding the pain wasn't unbearable. He put the ice in his mouth. Jane hesitated and then detached Candace, as usual, still in her car seat, from her stroller and placed her beside Jerry on the bed. Then she hurried to catch John at the stairs to the roof. Lucas hopped up on the end of Jerry's bed and took the game on the computer screen off of pause. He promptly got lost in Jerry's not-so-imaginary world of The Keeper.
With the room silent except for the chirps from the computer, Candace sleeping and Lucas otherwise engaged, Jerry had an idea. He slowly pulled at the gauze on his right hand with his teeth. An edge came loose, and Jerry slowly and quietly unwound the gauze, as if he was a mummy come to back to life. He swallowed hard as he saw the first hint of his discolored fingertips. There was practically no pain as he wiggled each finger on his right hand in turn. Slowly, the rest of the gauze peeled away leaving his hand exposed from the fingertips to the elbow for the first time in over a week. There were compression bandages at intervals along his arm, to reduce the swelling associated with his severe burns. The healing had been pretty quick to this point. Dr. James said it would progress more slowly now. The air felt strange on his discolored and now hairless arm. The burns were ugly, no doubt, but they were bearable. And if he at least had use of his fingers he'd feel more proactive. Lucas looked up at Jerry as Jerry studied his damaged limb.
"Dad?" Lucas looked at him with an expression somewhere between abject horror and boyish fascination with the grotesque.
"It's ok, sport. Come here." Lucas crawled closer to Jerry at the head of the bed and together they inspected the burns on his fingers and wrist and forearms. All together it was scary to look at, but it really didn't hurt. Maybe due to the painkillers he was receiving four times a day, maybe due to the fact that his nerve endings were numb. Jerry didn't care at the moment about the why, just the fact that he might be able to regain some function. He got Lucas to quickly help him unwrap his other arm and then told him to pull the computer closer. With Lucas on his right and Candace on his left, Jerry Jacks dipped his fingers to his keyboard. After a few near misses due to his lessened sensation, he was able to reboot the computer and access the WSB via a few special commands before the regular operating system loaded.
Lucas watched silently and Candy stirred in her baby-dreamland. She smiled in her sleep and Jerry was reminded once again of his situation. Unable to get out of bed and fight, he had to use the one tool he had at his disposal to trap the Keeper and save his wife. The gray matter in his skull.
