49
Jack didn’t go far.
He stormed straight into the waiting room, his insides burning with unrequited love, hands shaking with energy that had nowhere to go. The room had mostly cleared, but Noah still stood near the windows, phone in hand, sending messages.
Jack stopped in front of him.
“We need to talk,” Jack said flatly.
Noah looked up once.
One glance at Jack’s face told him everything.
Red eyes. Determination. That hollowed out look men get when something important didn’t go their way. He looked like a man who had been rejected.
“Not here,” Noah replied calmly.
Jack jerked his head toward the exit. “Outside,” he said.
They didn’t speak again.
They walked out, side by side, past security, past glass doors, into the cool Auckland evening. The hospital lights cast everything in a sterile white causing shadows to dance on the pavement.
The second they got far enough away, Jack swung.
It was wild. Sloppy. All emotion and no precision. Noah didn’t even duck or deflect, taking the punch proudly.
“What did you do to her?” Jack yelled.
“Jack,” Noah warned, hands raised but not clenched. He used Jack’s real name. No nickname. Just filled with understanding. “You’re hurt. Don’t do this.”
Jack laughed harshly. “She chose you.”
Noah didn’t answer.
Jack charged again, throwing another punch that Noah caught easily, gripping Jack’s wrist and twisting just enough to redirect the momentum instead of breaking anything.
“You don’t want to fight me,” Noah said quietly. “You just want to hit something.”
Jack ripped his arm free and shoved Noah in the chest. “Don’t patronize me, Captain.” Spitting the last word like poison.
“You just got your heart handed back to you,” Noah said evenly. “It happens to all of us.”
Jack’s breathing was ragged now. “I told her I loved her.”
Noah froze for half a second.
“And she said no,” Jack continued, voice cracking with fury and humiliation. “So yeah. I need to hit someone.”
He swung again.
Noah blocked it, absorbing the impact with his forearm. He could have easily dropped Jack. But he didn’t.
Instead, Noah stepped forward and pushed Jack back hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Not to hurt him, just to stop the spiral.
Jack stumbled, catching himself on a cement paver bench circling a tree.
“Enough,” Noah said firmly.
Jack coughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes burning. “Why you?”
Noah swallowed. “I don’t know if she’ll choose me. I just know I’m not going to fight you for her like she’s a trophy.”
Jack sagged slightly against the rail in exhaustion. “You told me I wasn’t allowed to pursue her. That she’s staff.”
“I know…” Noah said.
“You were together the whole time,” he tried to stand, “behind my back! Making me look like a loser!”
“You know that wasn’t our intention,” Noah tried to explain. “Jack, I don’t even know if she loves me back.”
The anger drained fast once the adrenaline burned off. What replaced it was worse. Quiet devastation.
“I thought… if I said it out loud, it would change things,” Jack muttered.
Noah stepped closer, voice low, and put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “It’ll be ok, mate.”
Silence hung between them.
Finally, Jack exhaled shakily and looked at Noah who joined him sitting calmly on the paver bench. “You didn’t even hit me back.”
“Nah,” Noah said. “You’re already down.”
Jack gave a weak, humorless laugh. “You’re annoying.”
“Yeah, I know,” Noah said gently. “Sorry.”
There was silence. Jack saw a little stone on the ground, and he nudged it with his foot.
“When did you even start liking her anyways?” Jack calmly asked.
“It doesn’t matter, mate, probably since that day you pretended to wipe out for attention.” Noah couldn’t bear to look at Jack, couldn’t admit that in a way, he liked Claire from the beginning.
Jack pursed his lips and then sighed. “It’ll be fine.”
“Now go ice your ribs. Drink water. Be miserable like a normal person.”
Jack nodded once in defeat. “Take care of her.”
Noah met his eyes but only winced at the statement. Then he stood and walked back toward the entrance slowly.
Jack stayed outside a moment longer, staring up at the hospital windows, at the one room where Claire lay.