All That You Can't Leave Behind

[beckyboo]

Two really great chapters

Update soon!!!!!!!!!

[Adia]

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! Thankies for your comments...

Macca is sort of good in this fic... but everyone's still against him for what he and Cassie did to Ric. Here's a small update anywhoo...

ChapterSixtyTwo:

Martha held on to Jack’s hand tightly. She prayed over and over in her head that Jack would be okay. She looked at his weak and wilting body and cried. “Jack you are not going to leave me” she whispered to him. “I need you Jack. I need you here with me…”

Tony walked in and put his hand on Martha’s shoulder. “You alright love?” he asked quietly. “Maybe you should go home and get some rest?”

“I can’t…” Martha sobbed. “I can’t leave him. I have to be here Tony.”

Tony nodded. He knew what she was going through and he felt insensitive for even suggesting such a thing. “You wont be alone Martha. I’ll be right here with you okay?” He wrapped his arms around her and held her as they both watched Jack breathing.

Rachel sifted through the files that were on her desk. She was exhausted, but Jack was her friend. She had to find away to help him. She got frustrated when she couldn’t find what she was looking for. She picked up the phone. “Hi Julie,” she said wearily. “You haven’t got Nina’s file at the desk have you? I was sure that I had it in my office, but I can’t seem to find it…? Okay well if you see it, can you get it to me right away? Thanks.” She scratched her head and tried to retrace her steps. The file was there before, where the hell could it have disappeared to? Her thoughts were interrupted by a frantic Tony who burst into her room.

“Rachel, come quick…” he panted. “I think Jack’s waking up…”

[Tasha]

Yay, Jacky is waking up Great chapter. Dont kill Jacky, please, Martha needs him, i'll miss him

Please update soon

[xsianx]

Jacks waking up

Sian killing spree:

Ash (only in this fic though, he's a loverly man )

Kelly.

Nina.

Johnny.

Nathan.

Jake.

McGrath.

^I'll be in prison a long time

[Adia]

Sian, that's naughty! But you will proably REALLY REALLy want to kill MR Ashton if i bring him back... but I might not bring him back, it's just an idea at the mo...

Don't worry Tasha, Jack's not dying, he's the hero remember! Jack will save Summer Bay!

Here's the next chapter. What happens after this will affect Jack and Martha's relationship later on, but kinda sorta in a good way.

ChapterSixtyThree:

“… then Cassie cheated on me with Macca and here I am today,” Ric said as he finished up his life story.

Nina smiled and laughed a little. “Well at least it’s been interesting, I mean… stuff like that would never happen to me in a million years.”

“Oh come on” Ric grinned. “Surely you have guys from all over knocking down your door to go out with you.”

She blushed and laughed nervously. “Actually it’s pretty much the opposite,” she said quietly. “At first I thought it was me, but then I realised most guys were scared of my brother.”

“He’s not going to hurt me is he?” Ric laughed.

“No, I’ll make sure he doesn’t.” Nina smiled. She didn’t have to look at him to know that he had been staring at her the whole night. She could FEEL it. She turned away from Ric for a minute and caught his eye. He was still sitting with Lee, trying to make her jealous.

“So you and Maddie seem really close, how long have you known each other,” Nina said tyring to ignore Johnny.

“Umm, well it’s been years now.” Ric thought back to when they had first met. “I had a few problems when we first started hanging out, but I mean everything that’s happened to me since then, it’s totally changed me. I can actually say that I’m a completely different person to who I was.”

“All that stuff with your Dad?” she asked.

“Yeah… how did you know?”

“Oh, ummm Maddie told me I guess.” She was feeling extremely uncomfortable and the room seemed to be closing in around her. “Listen Ric, umm, I just need to go and get some fresh air…” she wiped away the sweat that was forming on her forehead. “It’s getting kinda hot in here. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Will you be okay?” Ric asked worriedly.

“Yeah, I just need to get out of here for a minute.”

She breathed a huge sigh of relief when she got out into the cool crisp air. Ric handed her a bottle of water and they walked down the sand and sat down to watch the waves.

“Feeling better?” Ric asked her.

She nodded and smiled as politely as she could. There were so many thoughts running through her head… Jack, Rocco, Johnny. Her brother… Nathan… She felt like her whole life was crumbling down.

Ric saw how nervous and anxious she was. He reached over and grabbed her hand and held it in his. Her hands were cold and he did the best he could to warm them up. She was surprised by his actions but she clasped her other hand over his and bit her lip.

“Ric, you’re a really nice guy…” she whispered. “But…”

“But?”

“These kinds of things can’t be forced you know?” She rubbed his hands gently. “You just broke up with Cassie… and well… there’s your feelings for Matilda…”

Ric frowned at looked at her. “Oh god,” he said rubbing his forehead. “Am I that obvious?”

“No, I’m just very observant that’s all… something I’ve had to learn.”

“How did you know?” he gasped.

“Oh, I picked up on the little things. The looks, the body language. Things like that.” She said quietly. “So yeah, it actually was kind of obvious…”

Ric laughed. “I just hope that you were the only observant one there tonight.”

“Yeah, well… how do you feel about that… Rocco and Matilda I mean?” she asked him.

He sighed. “I really wanted to tell Maddie how I felt about her. Like it got to the stage where it was just bursting to come out of me. But when I found out about her and Rocco. I was shattered. I felt worse than when I caught Cassie and Macca together. It was like this realisation hit me that I may never truly fall in love again. I want to tell her, I really do, but Rocco...”

He wiped the small tears that started to build up in his eyes.

“Matilda is smiling. She’s happy,” Ric said sadly. “That’s all that I could ever want for her after all that she’s been through. I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t want to be the one that makes her cry again. I love her. I could never do that to her.”

“Maybe what you need is time on your own?” said Nina. “I mean, you’ve had one relationship after the other, maybe it’s time to get to know yourself again. Just be you for a while.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” said Ric. “It’s torture though you know? When you have these feelings inside of you just dying to get out… Have you ever felt like that? When try to deny yourself those kinds of feelings but they just end up getting stronger.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about.” She whispered.

Ric’s phone rang and he quickly answered it.

“That was Grandad,” he said flipping back into his pocket. “He needs some help to clean up. Will you be alright to get home?”

“I’ll be fine, yeah.” She nodded. “I should head off now anyway… I forgot that I actually have school in the morning…”

Ric laughed as they walked back up towards the surf club. “Thanks for tonight,” he said still holding her hand. “I wish… I wish that things could be different.”

She looked at him and slowly wiped the tear from his cheek. “I wish that things could be different too Ric. I really do.” Ric leaned in and kissed her gently before he hugged her tightly. “Thanks,” he smiled as he started walking away. She watched him walk into the club. She stood there for a while looking out towards the sea. All of the thoughts she had before came flooding back into her mind. Jack, Rocco, Nathan… While the guilt and sadness flowed through her, someone grabbed her from behind…

[Adia]

ChapterSixtyFour:

Jack tried his hardest open his eyes, but the light seemed incredibly blinding. He could hear Martha gasping and calling out his name and he soon felt her head on his chest. Someone grabbed his arm and he felt a sharp tingly pain for a second before he blacked out again.

Later when he woke, his eyes opened much more easily. Martha was there beaming at him. “Jack, you’re awake. You’re going to be okay!” she said happily.

“You’re going to be alright mate,” he heard Tony say. “Rachel’s given you the all clear. Thank god.”

“What happened?” Jack said still half out of it.

“Rachel thinks that you may have been drugged. That’s why you were vomiting…” said Martha.

“Do you remember anything dodgy from the bar?” Tony asked him. “They reckon that’s where you might’ve been drugged.”

“I… I don’t really know.” Jack stammered. “Everything seems so hazy right now.”

“Yeah, sorry mate,” said Tony realising what he was doing. “We’re just glad that you’re back with us.”

“You’re going to have to try a lot harder to get me to leave you guys behind,” Jack laughed as best that he could.

Rachel came in and Tony and Martha reluctantly left so that she could do a check up on him.

“Everything seems to be going back to normal,” Rachel said putting her stethoscope away. “You’re very lucky Jack.”

“What exactly happened?” he asked her.

She explained everything about the drugs and how it affected his liver. He leaned back in his bed and sighed. “Who would want to do something like that to me?” he asked. “I didn’t even know anyone at that bar.”

“Actually Jack, there is something that you need to know…” said Rachel. “I called Darren and told him about the situation, but him and this other Detective just brushed it off.”

“What happened?” Jack asked worried.

“Well, the drug in your system, it’s not a normal kind of party drug. In fact it’s mainly used in hospitals.” Rachel took a breath. “Nina Rogers had the same drugs in her system when we admitted her here.”

A thought rushed through Jack’s head. “The Detective, the one that was with McGrath. What was his name?” he asked her.

“Umm, Nathan I think. Why what’s wrong?” Rachel asked.

“Jake, I saw Nathan talking to Jake outside the bar…” Jack said trying to remember properly. “They’re all in on this together…”

[xsianx]

^ Scumbags, leave my Jack alone!

Sian, that's naughty! But you will proably REALLY REALLy want to kill MR Ashton if i bring him back... but I might not bring him back, it's just an idea at the mo...

Bring my Ashton back and then Jack can save me the job by killing him himself and then I only have like 6 other people to kill

Fntastic writing Adia!

[Tasha]

Yay, my Jacky baby is a wake, well Martha's Jacky baby, but who cares about that His awake, and im happy. And he knows about Nathan and Jake, mwahahaha. My Jacky is a smart cookie Great chapters.

More Please

[beckyboo]

Hes awake

Another great two chapters

Jack awake Jacks awake

update asap

[Adia]

Thanks guys, you are awesome.

I thought I'd get this chapter out of the way quickly so I can get back to the Jack stuff and concentrate on that. Although what happens here will eventually affect Jack and Martha. (Well hopefully ) But don't worry it is a really good thing. Well at least I think it's a good thing? I do have to do a warning though, there's a bit of a over the top romance feel to it and maybe some inappropriate language/situations between the characters. Kind of like a chapter out of a mills and boon I guess.

ChapterSixtyFive:

“Johnny…” Nina said pushing him off her. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Where’s lover boy gone?” Johnny asked her. She ignored him and started walking away. He followed behind her asking about Ric.

“You two were getting pretty cosy before,” he continued. “What happened?”

“None of your business,” she said angrily. “Were you spying on us or something?”

“I just happened to be passing by…” he said to her.

She turned around and looked at him. “Where’s your skank?” she asked him.

Johnny smiled. “Why? Are you jealous?”

She frowned and started to walk away but Johnny quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him. He held her close to him and looked deeply into her eyes. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said quietly. They were silent for a moment as they just stared at each other. Slowly, but surely, they were getting closer before Nina pushed him away.

“Give it up Johnny,” she yelled at him. “Just leave me alone…”

“See I would if you actually wanted me too, but you’re having just as much trouble with this than I am.”

“What? What do you mean?” she asked him.

“This… this has never happened to me before. Do you know how hard it is for me to stay away from you. I can’t get you out of my head and it’s driving me crazy…”

She frowned and shook her head. “You don’t even know me, and if you did, you wouldn’t feel like that. Trust me.”

“Then let me decide for myself then,” he shouted at her. “I know that you feel the same way, just stop denying it…”

She tried not to look at him but she couldn’t help it. He really was pleading his heart out to her and she couldn’t just ignore that. She wanted to, but deep down she was not that kind of person.

He walked over to her and held on to her arms. “Do you know how hard it is, to be in love with someone that hates your guts? That’s not what I want. I don’t want you to hate me anymore.”

She gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. “Why?” she asked. “Why me? Why not someone else?”

“I don’t want anyone else” he said quietly. “I want you. Just you.”

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply again. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him against one of the cars in the car park. He could feel the bones in back crack when she pushed him, but he didn’t care. He held onto her and kissed her, thanking god for every second that she kissed him back. She stopped suddenly, but not completely.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her. “You’re not gong to push me again are ya? Because I don’t think I could handle that.”

She smiled and kissed his cheek before whispering in his ear. “Your girlfriend’s back.”

Johnny turned around and saw Lee standing there with her mouth gaping open.

“What are you doing with her?” Lee shouted at him. “I thought WE were going to go home together?”

“Sorry, I was just keeping him warm for you,” Nina said sarcastically as she let him go. “Looks like someone already had shotgun on you. Maybe I’ll see you around Johnny.”

Johnny shook his head. “Hey, hang on minute alright?” he said trying to get her back, but she shook her head and started walking away.

He looked over at Lee. “Get lost, I was never going anywhere with you. You would’ve had to pay me a lot of money to do that.”

Lee started to get teary. “But I thought we were having a good time?” she said to him. “Look whatever I did wrong…”

“I said get lost. I was never interested… get a clue,” he snapped. Lee grabbed his arm but he shook her off and chased after Nina.

“You’re not leaving so soon are ya?” he asked when caught up with her. “Look, I don’t even know that chicks name, she was throwing herself at me, so I just used her to make you jealous.”

Nina smiled. “And you still chased after me even though you had someone throwing themselves at you?”

He grinned and kissed her. “She was nothing… nobody.”

She looked up into his eyes. “Do you want me Johnny? Do you really want me?” she whispered.

“How many times do I have to say it?” he told her.

“Then prove it,” she said seriously.

“Well what do I have to do?”

She was quiet for a minute. “Promise me… promise me that you’ll leave Rocco alone. Rocco, his friends, his girlfriend… anyone within six degrees of him. You and your mates don’t touch him.”

Johnny frowned. “Roc’s my brother… what’s he got to do with you?”

“Rocco is a good guy, and he just wants to live a normal life,” she told him. “I don’t want to see him get hurt again that’s all.”

“I don’t understand?” Johnny said confused.

“Put it this way… Rocco is your brother and you treat him like crap. How do I know that you won’t treat me the way that you treat him?”

“I’d never hurt you if that’s what your saying,” he argued.

“You want me?’ she asked him directly. “Then you’ll have to leave him alone. I’m not going to risk everything I have unless you swear to me that he’s going to be safe from now on.”

He thought about it for a minute. He wondered what she was really playing at.

He looked away and nodded. “I guess you’re worth it then?” he said to her. “Alright, I’ll leave him alone. You have my word.”