And So She Slept

At Last, My Love

"You have arrived at your destination. Power save mode enabled in fifteen minutes."

The voice shook Sadie awake and she hesitated before looking out the window, silently praying that the address wouldn't be another golden plate. Glad to see what appeared to be a small single family smart home, she held her breath in hopes that all was as it seemed from the outside. Letting the car door close behind her, she walked slowly to the front door and pressed her thumb onto the green button.

Listening closely she heard a male voice and footsteps coming toward the door. The moment the door opened, she gasped when she saw a young Jack standing in the entrance. Both looking as if they'd seen a ghost, Sadie impulsively leaped into his arms and clung to his chest as tightly as she could, crying tears of relief.

The overflow of emotions pushed her to try to kiss him out of sheer happiness. As she attempted to kiss the man she'd missed for so long, without even knowing it, she was surprised when he put his hands on her shoulders to pry her off of his body. Looking into his eyes, she instantly noticed something she'd failed to see before - brown eyes.

"Jack?" she asked.

"Oh my god. You're Sadie, aren't you? It's really you," he answered, visibly just as confused.

"Are you...Jack?"

"I'm his son. I'm Adam. And you're her. You're Sadie," he repeated as he continued to stare at her.

"I'm so sorry. I thought...you look just like him," she said. She marveled at his appearance. He had his father's athletic physique, dark hair, and jawline.

Following Adam's lead, Sadie walked into the living room and sat on the cozy navy blue recliner. Framed photos lined the walls and cluttered the mantle, as if the house refused to conform to modern decor. As she sat down, she could feel Adam's eyes on her as if she were a walking museum exhibit. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"My father always talked about you, you know. He always told me that one day you'd come walking through that door. I just didn't think it would ever happen."

"He did?"

"Almost everyday...even took me to that place to see you after he and mom got divorced. He never stopped talking about you," Adam mentioned.

"Is your father, Jack...is he alive?" she wondered out loud, almost not wanting to know the truth.

"He's alive, but he's been in hospice care for about two months now. I almost lost him a week ago, so I moved in to take care of him for now. They told me this is it," Adam said, bowing his head.

"I'm so sorry," Sadie apologized, half to Adam and half out loud to the memory of his father. "Is it something we can cure? If money is an issue I can help. I at least owe him that. I owe him everything."

"We had the chance to try a procedure about a year ago. It didn't have a high enough success rate, and it would leave him disabled for the rest of his life. He chose to let it take its course. I tried to talk him out of it, but you know him. He was set on what he wanted."

"If there's anything I can do...I should have been there," Sadie lamented. Trying to hide the tearful regret, she let her head rest in her hands. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she felt chills dance up her spine. His touch felt like Jack enough that she had to remind herself that it wasn't.

"I think he'd like seeing you again. Do you want to see him?" Adam asked, already knowing the answer. Sadie looked up with wide eyes and nodded her head. "Come on, he's down the hall on the right."

Standing slowly, as not to make her sea legs obvious, Sadie followed the shadow of someone she used to know to the open door at the end of the dimly lit hallway. She allowed Adam to enter first, hearing a muffled grumble from a familiar voice. Leaning on the wall outside the door, her heart beat harder and harder while she waited for Adam to give her permission to enter. Knowing the long awaited moment had arrived, she tried to hold back the amount of emotion that begged to pour out of her.

With a shuffle of feet and a few beeps from the room's medical equipment, Adam came back out to the hallway to walk Sadie into the room. Taking her by the hand, they walked into the softly-lit room together and stood next to the hospital bed in the center. As the old man looked up into Sadie's eyes, he smiled in a way Adam had never seen.

"You see, son. I told you she'd come."