Morocco 2001

Gazing out the cockpit window of the Cirrus SR20, Jarod exhaled a sigh of relief when he observed Miss Parker exiting the aircraft. He'd feared for several tense moments that he'd have to leave the safety of the jet he'd commandeered and return to save her from certain death but Miss Parker, thus far, had found a way to survive, and once again, she'd proved it by abandoning the jet before it exploded.

Taxiing along an adjacent runway, Jarod sent up a silent wish and hoped that Parker's survival instincts wouldn't fail her in the future, that the inner sense would guide her and perhaps she'd eventually make the correct choices. He couldn't stay. He'd tried everything to help her, to make her see the truth, hell, he had all but confessed his undying love to her and even after the revelations on the Isle, all that she had learned and witnessed, she'd still chosen Mr. Parker, she'd chosen the Centre.

Scotland

The next afternoon

"I was told that any injured evacuees from the storm in Carthis would have been brought to this hospital."
"Yes, Mister?" The young woman behind the desk asked.
"Doctor." Jarod corrected her. "Doctor Carnegie."
"Oh, you're a doctor? Nurse James will be so relieved. Please, come with me."
"There were two critical patients." She said, then entered a room. "In here."
Jarod cautiously followed. He chose the curtain on the left and bursting with anticipation, opened it.
In apparent bemusement, Jarod gazed down at the bare mattress. "Where is the patient?"

"She died, I'm afraid."
"Oh God." He sank to the mattress.
"Doctor Carnegie?"
"Where is her body?" He whispered.
"Down in the morgue, of course."
"I have to go to her." Jarod stood, rushed towards the door. He had to move her body, give her a proper burial. And he had to hurry before the Centre hounds came sniffing after him.

"Dr. Carnegie, I assure you that the mortuary is fully staffed. It's our live patients that need your help." The young woman admonished.
Jarod was already leaving the room when he heard sobbing and the words "Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me. Forgive me, Lord. Please forgive me." Jarod suddenly stopped and whirled around.
"The other patient- How did she die?" He asked the young clerk as he walked towards the other curtain in the room.
"One of the rescue boats was overcrowded and the poor woman fell off. It was the curse of the island, I tell you."
"And this patient." Jarod grabbed the chart, flipped through it. "She was... shot." He took a deep breath and slowly opened the curtain.
"Mom." He whispered tearfully.

"Dr. Carnegie? Aren't you going to examine her?"
"I don't have to. It's obvious that she has to be moved now that she's stable."
"It is?"
"Yes. There's a potential outbreak." He lied. "A deadly virus. The island curse." He didn't know how else to get it through the clerk's mind, so 'When in Rome'...
"That's why I'm here. It's why the C.D.C. sent me."
"Oh my! An outbreak?" The clerk exclaimed.
"Oh no, it's only dangerous to her. " Jarod assured the woman, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You see, it, uh, it weakens the immune system of those it infects... it's weakened her immune system." Jarod realized by the flabbergasted expression on the clerk's face that he needed to forgo the chit chat and get his mother the hell out of Scotland. "I need transport here A.S.A.P. and I'll radio ahead to the C.D.C. for further instructions."
"I'll get transport now." The clerk raced out of the room.

Jarod returned his gaze to his mother's face.
"Mom. It's alright now. It's me. It's Jarod."
"Jarod. Forgive me, son."
"Shh, rest now."

"Oh, Jarod. That woman..the woman in the chapel. I saw the two of you together on the shore. Catherine Parker's daughter, Jarod -"
"Relax mom, please. Miss Parker told me everything, she said you were panicked. You were frightened because you'd been shot."
"No, son. It's her. The Parkers are evil, Jarod. She was going to kill me, I just know it. I know it!"
"Mom, if her intention had been to harm you, she would have done so."
"She is the Parker curse, she carries it in her blood. The Parkers must be defeated Jarod, all of them."
"Just rest, mom." Jarod whispered. "I won't let her hurt you, I won't let anyone hurt you." He vowed. Jarod would discuss the so called 'curse' later, when they were safe.

TBC