Was anyone else scratching their heads when Bob showed up at Brad's dr? Last time I saw him onscreen, he was just out of surgery. Has he even been mentioned since then. What an amazing recovery!
Found this:
The reason for Jack's road trip is that he wants to find someone to take Brad's place in Katie's life. That's why he goes looking for Mike and for Simon. He's not making sense and thinking straight, but it's he feels like he has to do something. Eventually Simon goes to Oakdale to see Katie, but they realize he's just a baid-aid, not the solution.
Jack leaves Oakdale after finding out Katie has named the baby Jacob after Jack and that
Brad felt that Jack was his hero his whole life.

It's just too much for him to take. Eventually, Carly is the one who gets him to come back to Oakdale. In fact, she's the only one who can reach him and get him to come home.
CG says this is a romance story as well, that they are listening to the fans and that they know people want to see Jack and Carly back together. But he says this won't be the same old same old. Jack can't be judgmental anymore and Carly can't be devil may care. It won't be easy and they have a lot of obstacles and it's not going to happen instantly.