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Jacob had answered some of Jack’s questions. More precisely, he answered only one of the questions Jack had asked of him. Was Kate who she said she was? Jack had settled himself on the bed and watched both his girls with a grin. It disappeared from his face when fear gripped Kate’s voice.

“Jack come here.”

Hair prickling on his forearms he scooted towards the end of the bed and glanced at Kate.

“What’s wrong?”

Megan’s tiny arms flailed as she cried. Jack assessed the situation carefully trying to drown out the crashing waves as he listened to Megan’s breathing for a minute. A sigh of frustration left his mouth as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

“Damn it. Why didn’t I see this before?”

All Kate could stare at was Megan’s tiny lips; they were turning a strange tint of blue.

“See what Jack? What’s going on, and why are Megan’s lips turning blue?”

Jack grew serious as he ran a hand through his hair a second time. Everything he’d done for Megan seemed like a total waste. He cradled the infant in his arms as if she were more delicate than crystal and tried to hide a single tear that was forming in his left eye.

“Megan has a congenital heart defect. Only correctible by surgery and a new heart. Of course, the only way to diagnose this is to listen to her heart and get an ultrasound.”

Jack saw Kate’s lip begin to tremble. He tucked Megan into her arms and Kate tried to soothe her cries.

“Juliet can do something right? She can do the surgery?”

Megan’s cries continued as Jack ran a thumb over her left foot to try to calm her. It only made her angry.

“I can talk to her about it Kate. But neither of us are cardiac specialists. I’m just a spinal surgeon and Juliet is a fertility doctor. I wouldn’t even know where to start. I’m not even sure if she’s had any experience in dealing with infants with this specific congenital defect.”

Continuing to run his thumb over Megan’s foot Jack tried to calm the fussy little girl in Kate’s arms.

“Hey. It’s ok. Daddy will make you all better. I’m going to get you off this island if it’s the last thing I do.”

Kate rocked Megan hoping that she would soon fall asleep comfortable in her arms.

“Shh baby its ok. Mommy’s got you.”



To Be Continued…