Realization
By Lovova
Authors Note: During the final episode of Lost, I realized something that I hadn't before.
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"I'm going to miss you."
Doctor Shepherd Jr. jumped, looking up from his clipboard to see a young woman standing in the door way of his office. He had been just looking of John Locke's files, familiarizing himself in advance with Mr. Locke's anatomy before surgery tomorrow. It was, of course, impossible for a Doctor to insist that he not be bothered during any time of the day, as emergencies happened frequently in the hospital, but he was still a little annoyed to be interrupted in something that still felt so oddly personal, so he asked with some tired impatience, "What?"
Rather then be offended with his shortness, the young woman smiled, leaning on the doorway, just looking at him for a moment before continuing, "I didn't think I would, you know; you were hardly my favorite. I hadn't given you any thought at all, really; there was always something more…important, or dramatic, or interesting going on then you…but it really was all about you. The whole time, they were all connected through you. And now that it's over, I realize you're the one I'm going to miss most."
Jack stared at her in shock as he realized that in this completely unfamiliar girls gaze, her eyes had started to grow wet with tears. She laughed at his expression, semi-self consciously wiping the tears away as she continued, "I don't know, I guess I just wanted you to know that. Stuff like that…love and…loss" the girl grinned to herself in a tired sort of way before turning her red-rimmed eyes back to him "Even if it isn't real, if someone honestly made you feel, then you should tell them, even if its in an equally unreal fashion…don't you think so, Jack?"
The way she said his name, in a way far to intimate and familiar for the lips of a perfect stranger, made the Doctor pause. Finally Jack replied, hesitantly, "I'm sorry miss…do I know you?"
The young woman smiled, but shook her head, "Not at all. Just think of me as another unanswered question. This world is full of them…and, you know what…that's probably how it should be."
The girl laughed again, light, friendly tears running down her face, in a way that both reminded Jack of mother's crying over newborn children and children crying over freshly dead parents, and as he reached out to comfort this girl, she disappeared.
Jack forgot the entire thing happened the instant she left, but for some reason found himself just standing in the middle of the room, John Locke's clipboard in hand. After a moment of confusion over how he had gotten to the other side of the room, shrugged it off to continue his work.
One of the girl's tears was still on the carpet of Jack's feet when he turned away, but of course he never knew of it, and it didn't matter anyway. In this world, all that mattered was the surgery, his father's coffin, the church…and all the people he would find inside it.
I'll miss you, Jack.
The End