Chapter 2 – Now What?
A/N: this story is going in a COMPLETELY different direction than I thought, but I really wanted to continue and thanks to eyeon for inspiration, this is what I came up with! Enjoy!
ISLAND
When I woke up, everything was blurry again. I was, however, very glad my ears had stopped ringing. I heard rushing water and immediately looked around for James.
He was standing a few feet away, leaning against a tree, rubbing his neck. I tried standing but every muscle in my body screamed in protest.
"James… are we alright?" I croaked. He glanced at me like he hadn't known I was awake.
"Yeah, we'll be alright. You stopped bleedin', or at least, stopped bleedin' a lot."
"I remember passing out… I checked on you and then I just got really light-headed… I guess it was from blood loss."
"Yeah. I tied part of my shirt on your leg and that seemed to help. I just… I got this damn headache… I tried looking for the others but I couldn't get far without gettin' all dizzy and shit…" He sounded really frustrated. Though I felt like I was being stabbed by tiny little needles all over my body, I hoisted myself up on a nearby rock.
"James you could have a concussion. I should check you over… can you come here?" I rubbed the back of my neck and did a few shoulder rolls. I couldn't believe we had survived a freakin' bomb. This damn island, I swear…
Needless to say, James sauntered over, and I checked his pupils as best as I could without a light. I felt around his head and came to the conclusion that he must have hit his head on a rock when we were thrown from the blast.
James sat next to me on the rockbed by the creek. We sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to take everything in. I had so many questions swimming around in my head. Where were the others? What time were we in? Did it work? Are we dead? Are the others dead? James and I glanced at each other simultaneously.
"We need to find everyone, see if they're okay," James said forcefully.
"I agree. I just… I think I need help walking. Those chains almost ripped me in half and I'm not sure how well I can stand…" I almost whispered. I felt so stupid for complaining after what just happened but I really couldn't stand on my own, let alone walk.
James nodded and slipped his arm around my back. I put my arm across his shoulders and he hoisted me up. Slowly, we walked east.
We called out for the others but no one answered. Within minutes we arrived at the Swan site. But it wasn't the same.
"Well hot damn. That's the damn hatch after Desmond blew it up!" James exclaimed, in shock. "That means we're finally in the right time! No more fuckin' 70s, baby!" He smiled at me as his eyes lit up with joy. My heart was pounding. Hope… I finally got some damn hope back. After six years of living on this horrible island… I just may be able to see my sister again. My heart filled with the warmth of utter joy as I let out an excited chuckle.
Then James's smile faded. "Wait a sec… Jules. That bomb may have put us in the right time… but we're still here… it didn't work like the doc said…" I glanced toward the sky as James shook his head. "God… Jules, I'm sorry…" I looked at him in confusion.
"Sorry? For what?"
"For this! You wanted the bomb to go off so that my plane never crashed… and so neither of us ever had to come to this godforsaken place…" I could almost feel his pain from his struggling voice. I felt horrible. I hadn't thought this would happen. I thought everything would work like Jack said and that I'd finally be with Rachel again.
"James, it's not your fault, I have to tell you something… I—"
"Sawyer! Juliet! Over here!" Kate called from the other side of the massive ditch. She had just stepped through the trees with a very relieved looking Jack.
"Hey! Are y'all alright?" James yelled back, walking towards them. I tried to stifle my pang of jealousy as I followed.
"Yeah we're okay… We got thrown several feet back. I found Kate first, stuck up in a tree. And now you two. Now we just need to get to the van… hopefully Hurley and them are okay…" Jack said. Blood stained his face and jumpsuit but otherwise both him and Kate looked fine.
"Well let's go find 'em then, doc… oh, and BY the way, your plan didn't work!" His tone was soaked with sarcasm but Jack trudged on, up the hill.
"Yeah Sawyer, I can see that. At least we're in our own time now."
"Yeah but we ain't HOME like you said we was gonna be!" he yelled. Kate and I stayed quiet, trying to stay out of it. It was a long hike back up to where the van was, at least a quarter of a mile. When we got there, all dripping with sweat, we were bombarded with questions.
The first thing I noticed was Sayid, bleeding very badly, in Hurley's lap. Miles was sitting in the passenger seat of the van, and Jin was leaning up against it. They all looked extremely worried, exhausted, and even scared.
"Dude, what WAS that? We saw some weird flash thing, and like, next thing we know it's either sunrise or… maybe sunset? I dunno, but what happened?" Hurley exclaimed. Sayid started coughing up blood which startled us all. Jack started working on him right away, seeing if he could get the bullet out. Kate told the story about the magnetic force, the snake-like chains around my body and how something hit the bomb after I was cut free. Then the flash, waking up, ringing ears, realizing we were in the right time.
"Dude, that's insane… But good right? Cuz I mean, now there's no more time jumping, right?" We all glanced around at each other.
"We certainly hope so, Hurley," I said quietly.
Everyone was silent except for Jack, who was talking to Sayid, trying to keep him awake.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, James speaks up.
"Well this little adventure has been fun and all, but Juliet and I had a life here before you heroes showed up, and I ain't got no more time to be runnin' around the jungle with you. I'm headin' back to Dharmaville." He then turned around and stared at me pleadingly. "Blondie… ya still got my back? I'd really like it if you came with me…" I glanced around at all the faces staring back at me. Miles and Jin, who had been such great friends to us over the past three years. Hurley and Kate, who I had just started really getting to know, but who really hadn't done anything wrong to me. And then James… the man I loved with all my heart. The man I was so scared to lose. The man I would have literally died for, had it not been for Kate cutting me free.
"Yes James… I'll go with you." He smiled. And suddenly, all my fears of not being the one he was waiting for melted away. He did pick me. Even though she was right here, he wanted me. I felt really stupid for even considering that the past few years hadn't meant anything.
"We're gonna find a way off this rock… if anyone needs us, you know where to find us." And with that, he slipped his arm under me once more and we turned around, hoping to never have to look back.
After several miles of not speaking, I was growing restless. "James, why did we really leave?" I blurted out with such force that James actually flinched a little.
"Juliet, I'm no superman. They got all the help they need to save the world, or save the island, or whatever. I just wanna be with you and figure all this shit out and I wanna get you off this island. I told you I would, and I'm the reason you're still here." He sounded sad, and I knew he must have felt bad about asking me to stay so many years ago.
"James, it's ok. You can't beat yourself over stuff like that anymore. I chose to stay. You were right… I had nothing to go to. But, I did have something to fight for. And you know… that's what matters. These past few years have been some of the happiest years of my entire life and they wouldn't have happened if I had left." I took a deep breath and glanced up at him. He was grinning, but said nothing. We kept on walking, and in another hour we were finally past the fence and into Dharmaville, as James calls it.
Needless to say, I was extremely exhausted. I hurt all over my body, I was nauseous from the heat, and probably the pregnancy, and was simply warn out from the trekking. James must have sensed this because he kept repeating that we were "almost home."
Home… heh. Funny thing about home… I don't even think I could call my tiny yellow island house a home. The island has been my home for six years but it still doesn't really feel like home. I guess at this point all I could say about home is that classic little phrase: Home is where the heart is. James has my heart, so wherever he is, home is.
Finally, after what seemed like the longest walk of my life, we reached the run down, little-yellow-houses town. Ours was nothing like we had left it, probably because there had been new tenants after we left it in 1977. But besides some rearranging and some modern paintings hung up, the place was very much the same. Thankfully no family pictures were hanging around from whoever lived here last.
I really wasn't sure what James intended on doing back here. I really needed to clean and attempt to stitch my leg and James really needed to keep himself awake due to the concussion. I also wasn't sure how he intended on getting us off this island if we were just hanging out here in dharmaville.
After we entered the house, James sat me down on the living room couch and fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom. I loved these moments where I felt like he was almost reading my mind. It reminded me how much we had been through together and how he was my best friend, and has been the only one I've been able to lean on for three whole years.
"How's the hip, Blondie?" he asked as he sat down next to me. I noticed the ice pack in his hand.
"It hurts. It needs stitches but I don't think I can do them myself. Thankfully the cuts aren't too deep, so I might just be able to bandage them. It will take longer for them to heal, but I'm sure they'll be alright…" I sighed. I couldn't believe how much we had been through in the past few hours. I just wanted to sleep.
He put the ice pack on the back of his head, and closed his eyes.
"James! Don't fall asleep! If you really do have a concussion, then falling asleep can be dangerous…"
He rolled his eyes. "I'll be fiiine…"
"I'm serious." I shot him my best Others face, and he quickly sat up straighter and muttered a "fine."
"Well since I can't sleep, I can only think a' one more thing I can do."
"Oh my god James, you can't possibly think that's going to happen right now!"
"What? OH. No, not that. I mean, that'd be nice, but no that ain't what I meant…" He pulled something from his jeans pocket but I didn't really see it at first. I was currently flinching and groaning as I tended to my cuts with an antiseptic solution. I didn't even notice him pull something out of the tiny box and I certainly didn't think much of him taking my free left hand in his.
"Jules, I got this a few months ago and I was too afraid to give it to ya, thinkin' you'd say no. But since I almost lost you… Well I would hate myself if you had gone and I hadn't given this to ya yet." I glanced up, confused. At least, until I saw the diamond engagement ring in his hand. I gasped and my saline covered hand flew to my mouth.
"James! Oh my god… oh my god… are you…? Are you really…?" I stuttered.
He grinned and let out the low chuckle that always makes my heart skip a beat. "Yeah, baby. I am." He cleared his throat. "Juliet Carlson Burke, the past few years with you have been the best of my life. I was a shitty man, my whole life. I don't know what I done to deserve you, angel, but somehow you decided to stay here with me. When you were hangin' into that pit… well I thought I was the one about to die. Cuz lemme tell ya somethin' Blondie… if you had fallen, I'd have died along with you. I can't imagine not havin' you… who would get my back? Who would read books with me at night? Who would be my best friend?" He paused. "I know it ain't much, cuz I mean after all, I got it in the 70s on a Dharmaman paycheck… but honey, I need you. And when we get off this damn rock, I wanna make you my girl forever. Will you marry me?"
Needless to say I was bawling. I felt so overwhelmed with happiness (maybe it was kinda the hormones' fault...) that I just threw my arms around him. I didn't get the chance to say yes before the ring was on my finger and he was kissing me like we were a couple of teenagers.
When I needed air, I pulled away and wiped my tears away. He was grinning at me and I just laughed.
"I'm so glad you said yes, Jules. I've been waitin' to do this for a long time."
"I just can't believe you picked the most ridiculous moment to do it!"
"Well considering I just watched you almost die, I'd say any moment from here on out is a good one."
"True… but hey listen… It's not because of the baby, is it? Cuz I mean… I don't know what is gonna happen. I can't have the baby here and we both know why. I know you've had the ring for months but… I don't wanna feel like I've tricked you into anything…" I glanced down at my stomach and all the worry from earlier today bit me all over again. This time the silly Kate stuff was long-gone. I guess it was the hormones, but I couldn't believe I had actually thought there was still something there between them.
James then took my face between his strong, but gentle hands, and looked me right in the eyes. "Juliet. I've been wanting to marry you for over a year. It just… it took me a while to get the ring. This baby is just an added bonus. It's still early, or else I woulda noticed. That means we got some time to figure all this out. Let's just do what we can and figure the rest out when we get there, okay?" His voice was so reassuring. I just nodded. After wrapping some gauze around my body to cover the stinging cuts along my hip, I did my best to walk over to the book case to grab a book. I sat down next to James, and without any more words, we read together.
A/N: So whatcha think? Reviews make my day! :)