Chapter Sixty Three

Chapter Sixty Three

Jesse just stood there nailed to the ground staring at the man that once was her husband, who was just was sitting on the couch almost nervously. She watched him stand up and smile walking over to her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Jas-How, what” she could hardly string a sentence together, she felt like the wind had been knock out of her body.

Tears welled to her eyes, the grief she had battled to accept in the last six months, now once again just as raw as he stood before her. He looked just like her Jason, the dark rings under his eyes and the paleness of his skin gave away that his health hadn’t been the best.

“I have been a Prisoner of War Jesse, they thought I was dead as I was supposed to be where that explosion happened, and no one knew any less” he explained softly. “God I have missed you so much” he said wrapping his arms around her.

Jon just watched on in just as much shock as Jesse, the feeling that hit him hard in the heart wasn’t a good one when he watched Jason hug her. He couldn’t get jealous over that, he thought they were still married, Christ, this meant she was still married. How did the marines make such a stupid mistake? He wondered.


Jesse pulled away from Jason as she turned to Jon, Jon! Oh god what he must be thinking right now? What did she do? How did she tell Jason she had moved on?

Jason’s gaze flicked over to the man that stood in the doorway, he’d figured as soon as he’d seen him that he was with Jesse. So she’d moved on just like he’d asked if anything happened to him. It was one thing to say and mean it, it was another to actually be faced with that reality.

“Uh Jason, this is Jon, Jon, Jason” there was a sentence she never had dreamed about having to say.

Jon shook his hand in an amicable handshake “Nice to meet you Jason” he said politely.

Jason just nodded in reply. So many questions he wanted to ask but he couldn’t.

Jesse knew she had to tell Jason she was engaged to Jon, it wasn’t fair to Jon to at all and she could see how on edge Jon was, she couldn’t blame him.

“I think I need a drink” she said shakily as she walked to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. Two men that loved her more than life itself, two men that she adored, standing right here in the same room as her.

As she brought it to her lips the best if the moment flew by her.
“What the hell happened Jason? You were dead, how the fuck did they make that mistake?” she asked clearly angry as her hands clenched together.

Jason was taken aback at her tone, and so was Jon but Jon knew she was just in shock. Who the hell wouldn’t be?

She took a deep breath and centred herself “Sorry” was all she said as she waited for his reply.

“Jesse, please sit down so I can explain, and Jon” he said motioning to the couch. Jason watched as Jon put his arm around Jesse and whispered in her ear.

“Come on baby, lets find out what’s been going on, you have the right to know before, you know making a decision” he said, Jesse saw the pained look on his face. Her eyes grew wider; she thought he was just going to give up on them just like that?

“Jon” she began but he shook his head. “Jess, lets listen to him ok” he said as his hand rubbed the small of her back lightly. “I’ll be here” his reassuring gaze had her nodding and heading to the couch.

He knew he had to put her feelings and emotions first right and then deal with his own and what this all meant, she was in shock the normal confident radiant woman, was pale and shaky right now. They both settled on the couch, Jon opting just to sit next to her, it must be hard for Jason to see someone else all over his wife so his hands remained on his knees relaxed.

Jason began to explain that him and three others, a British and two Australian soldiers had been held for the last six months in a camp in a remote area outside Al Salman, it was off the beaten track and no one knew we were even there, they were all thought to be in the explosion that happened in Al Salman that evidently caused their deaths. But instead they had been captured and held for six months in isolation in a southern village. Because they were assumed dead no one went looking for them.

He told them how they finally were recognised by their accents funnily enough by a tourist that had been on an intrepid style journey in the area, who alerted the proper authorities.

Jesse knew what POW camps were like; she was surprised to see Jason in the decent condition he was in. She couldn’t believe it, he had been there all this time? While she grieved he was alive in some third world country to survive.
“Was it awful?” her voice soft and full of concern.

He nodded “At times it was Jesse, I’m not going to lie but I guess one thing that kept me going was I had to get out, and come home to see you” he said honestly. As it was true the only things that kept him sane while in the depths of the hell he had lived in was the hope that he’d see her again. Jason wasn’t stupid he knew it had been a long time and things had changed. He just wasn’t sure how much they had at this point.

She sucked in her breath, here he was fighting to stay alive for her and get home and her she was having the time of her life with another man she’d fallen in love with. God this was just a nightmare.

She shook her head still feeling the disbelief settle in her stomach.
“I can’t believe it, I know it’s not your fault but do you know how hard these last six months have been Jason, and I was a mess. I missed you like crazy, I wouldn’t go out, I let my work suffer at first, only recently have I found the strength in someone to do all that again” she admitted looking sideways at Jon.

Jon sat and listened to her, he wanted nothing more than to hold her and tell her everything was going to be ok. But in front of Jason now, that just felt oh so wrong.

This wasn’t exactly the homecoming he had envisioned all these months, he should have known being as beautiful as she was, it wouldn’t take her long to find another man. There was something familiar about Jon but right now he couldn’t place it. When she brushed her hair back from her face and let a exasperated sigh out he caught a glimmer a flash that wasn’t his engagement ring. She was engaged to him? Shit.

“I know Jesse, this isn’t easy and obviously things have changed, but aren’t you glad to see me?” he asked giving Jon a sideways glance.

She nodded “Of course I am” she took a long swig of the drink still firmly in her hand. She felt that Jason was just sitting there he probably expected her to leap into his arms all this time and just carry on, never expecting to come home to this. It wasn’t her fault but why did she feel like the worst person in the world right now. Tears welled to her eyes of the love lost that was no longer lost, and the love that she had found in recent months both sat in her lounge. What the hell did she do? She’d stopped, forced herself to finally fall out of love with Jason because he was gone, and fell in love with an amazing man. But now? They both were here.

Jon’s heart went out to her, this couldn’t be easy as he knew Jesse’s love for Jason ran deep, he learnt that patiently in the first few months of the relationship. But her love for him was something he wasn’t going to be willingly to give up on just like that. He couldn’t ask her, this was going to take time to work through and he knew he had to be patient. Taking a deep breath he forced himself to speak.
“I’m going to go, you two probably need to talk” he said looking at Jesse.