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She woke to find herself handcuffed to the bedframe. Jack was sprawled out on the floor halfway beneath the bed. Tugging on the cuffs attached to the bedframe Kate knew she had to get to Jack.

“Jack? Can you hear me?”

Jack was out cold. Spotting a dish on the side table next to the bed, she saw needle, thread and a bunch of buttons in it. What were the odds of finding a needle to pick the lock of these handcuffs? Grabbing for it, Kate stuck the needle into the key hole and dug around until she heard a click. Rubbing her wrist once it was free she clumsily made her way to her feet. Padding towards Jack Kate leaned over him placing a warm hand up against his cheek.

“Jack come on. Wake up. It’s Kate.”

Kate swung her head out of the way to avoid Jack’s thrashing left hand. His eyes adjusting to the room around him, he stared up at Kate.

“Where?”

Putting a hand to his forehead Kate ran it over the thin sheen of sweat.

“We’re at the Dharma barracks. What did they give you?”

Half cradling him in her arms and half propping him up against the nightstand Kate looked into his eyes and tried to see his reaction.

“Horse tranquilizer. You ok? Let me see your wrist.”

Kate let Jack examine her wrist and winced as he probed it with his fingers.

“A little peroxide or some aloe it’ll be ok. I have a feeling they are keeping her in the infirmary. We might have to fight tooth and nail to get out of this house.”
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Juliet woke in a bed and saw Ben sitting in a chair across from her next to the bed. Struggling to sit upright she opted to stay lying down.

“Ben what do you want with me? Where are my kids?”

Trying again, she pushed herself from the bed. She was wearing a set of white pants and a shirt. But they weren’t hers. Refusing Ben’s offer for help she braced the wall molding in the hallway for support. Each move she made was agony, but it was a price to pay if she was ever going to see her children again. Not bothering to put shoes on, she opened up the front door to the house, which she noticed was Ben’s. Stepping out she found two armed guards out front. Ben pushed his way to the front and parted the guards.

“Let her pass gentlemen. I’m taking her to see her children.”

The two burly men at the door stepped aside and let Juliet pass. She didn’t give so much as an acknowledgement to either one of her former fellow neighbors as she passed. The pain grew worse as she made the long trek to the infirmary. A door to the right of her opened up, and out of the house came Jack. Juliet stopped and gave him some semblance of a smile but it was more of a grimace. Making his way towards her he spoke.

“Juliet you’re bleeding.”

Nodding she looked down by her feet then wearily made eye contact with Jack.

“I know. My sutures tore. No one warned me it would ever be this painful walking after giving birth.”

Jack reached out to steady Juliet and tried to sympathize with her.

“When we get to the infirmary I’ll put screens up for some privacy. You’ll need 8 sutures to fix the tear.”

Juliet gawked at Jack for a millisecond. He was kidding right?

“Eight? Was Andrew’s head really that big? Might as well have been a 12 pound bowling ball. That’s why he couldn’t fit?”

Nodding his head Jack kept his voice low. He didn’t want Ben hearing their conversation.

“Yes. What I don’t understand and can’t quite figure out is how his ankle got tangled in the umbilical cord. Don’t worry. I’ll give you some anesthetic before I start.”

Wincing Juliet pushed forward with Jack’s help. Entering the infirmary her eyes lit up as she saw Andrew and Cara each in a separate plastic basinet but next to each other.
Directing Juliet to a nearby bed, he pushed the clear plastic basinets on either side of the bed. Setting up screens around the bed, he heard Ben’s voice behind them.

“Is there anything else you need Jack?”

Jack didn’t like how deceptively calm Ben always was.

“Actually yeah there is. Could you please leave?”

Hearing footsteps leave the infirmary Jack double checked to make sure Ben had really gone. Sighing in relief he found there were only a couple of other people in the infirmary. The screens were the only things shielding them.
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“You should get some rest. I’ll come and check on you in a little while. No sudden movements got it?”

Juliet nodded but was too sleepy to answer. She had just fed both Cara and Andrew and they were fast asleep. She had to take advantage of that from now on. Jack kept the screens up as he stepped out from behind it. He felt he should give Juliet some privacy. He turned when he heard a familiar whimper come from the far side of the room. Hidden away behind another set of screens Jack found Megan in another plastic basinet. His eyes roved over the machines she was connected to. One measured her heart rate, blood pressure and a few other things he was sure weren’t relevant to her state of health. But what threw him off was the fact that she was attached to an iv line filled with the strange green substance him and Juliet tried to analyze just four months earlier. As he was about to remove the iv line from her arm a gun clicked behind him.

“You remove that and Kate dies.”

Shutting his eyes and taking a breath, Jack turned around and held his hands up in a submissive fashion. Facing Ben his nose flared with anger.

“Why are you doing this Ben? Why is my daughter special to you? To my ‘father’? Why don’t you put the gun down so we can talk huh?”

Kate wanted to reach for Megan but she knew better than to do such a thing with a gun pointed to her head.

“Please let me go Ben. I just want to see my baby.”

Ben held onto Kate’s arm tighter. Megan’s whining was turning into a cry. Kate wanted to soothe her crying, but most of all take whatever was in her arm out. Jack had no idea what was even in the substance flowing into their daughter’s arm and into her veins and he knew that there might be some side effects.

“You don’t get to make that choice for your daughter Kate Austen. She was brought here for a greater purpose.”

Megan’s crying became frantic and a machine began to beep. Jack was trying to counter-propose Ben.

“Keep your voice down Ben. Please put the gun down. I need to check on Megan. Tell me exactly what’s in that substance you’re giving her.”

Ben’s twisted smile curled and it made both parent’s sick to their stomach.

“I’ll tell you what I’ll let you examine your daughter.”

Jack had a suspicious feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He felt dizzy but forced himself to be calm. His eyes wandered to a light box with a set of x-rays. They were too small to be an adult’s. Creasing his brow he looked them over and frowned. Trying to keep from exploding with anger he turned to Ben looking as if his eyes were on fire.

“How long has she had this?”

Jack kept his eyes on Ben but pointed in the direction of the light box. Ben shrugged his shoulders almost indifferent to the situation.

“How should I know? I’m not a doctor Jack. You are.”

It wasn’t enough for Jack though. Ben had caused too much suffering for his family. Especially over the last 3 years alone.

“This island is supposed to make people better! Not make them sick.”

Everything was falling apart again. He would make Megan better. On the inside he felt his heart break and his soul began to weep.



To Be Continued…