My fourth and final drabble for Challenge 297 – Seconds at tw100. This one's a bit on the angsty side again. Also, spoilers for everything related to Jack's unique condition, and specifically vague ones for They Keep Killing Suzie and Dead Man Walking.
Summary: Jack, from death back to life.
Nothing exists in the dark place; not sound, not light. Not time. It’s oppressive, an absence of everything, even of self. It should feel suffocating but with no physical form, breathing isn’t required.
He’s nothing, surrounded by nothingness, existing (if something that is nothing can be said to exist) in a timeless no-place.
Frozen between heartbeats, he waits until…
With shocking suddenness he’s dragged from the dark, his first breath tearing his lungs, infinitely more painful than birth, and time re-starts; seconds ticking into minutes ticking into hours.
Death cannot hold him.
Jack’s never sure if he’s relieved or disappointed.
The End