Chapter Three: Separating
"Hey Jack? You there?" Violet turned her head quickly to see Jack staring at Kate with wide eyes. The voice was coming from the satellite phone. Violet stood up and walked over. Maybe they weren't coming after all! She had to hope!
"Jack, are you there? Pick up man." The voice echoed. Jack finally picked up the sat phone and brought it up to his mouth.
"Yeah I'm here, what's up?" Jack asked.
"I need to talk to Naomi, can you put her on buddy?" The voice asked. Violet's heart leapt into her throat. Naomi was dead. What the hell were they going to do?
That was when they all instinctively turned to look at Naomi's dead body,
but there was no body.
Violet felt her stomach jump into her chest as she unconsciously grabbed Kate's arm, letting out a small gasp. Kate ignored her as she stared at Jack with wide eyes. Jack looked just as shocked as Violet felt. What were they going to tell this guy on the other end of the phone?
"Hello? Jack, you there?" Jack jumped as he stared at the phone. Kate looked at him, looking for some kind of explanation, but Jack was as clueless as the rest of them. He stared at the phone, quickly formulating a plan. Violet swallowed the lump in her throat, as she tried to run through all the possibilities. Naomi was dead...wasn't she? Locke chucked a knife in her back. She had gone down. How could her body just...disappear? Unless someone stole it. Or worse...what if she wasn't...dead... Violet felt sick.
"Yeah, I'm here, what's up?" Jack asked, finally talking into the phone. Violet was surprised at how calm he sounded. For someone who had just seen a dead body disappear, you'd never be able to tell by his steady voice.
Violet realized Kate had taken off. She must have gone to see if she could find out what happened to Naomi. Violet focused on Jack, who ignored her.
"Yeah Jack, I need to talk to Naomi, can you put her on? If I want to get a fix on your location, I need Naomi to change a setting on the sat phone. It'll only take a minute, and then we'll come and get you." The voice said. Jack swallowed hard, and blurted out the first lie that came to his mind.
"Yeah no problem, she just went into the woods to grab some firewood. I'll just get her to call you back when she gets back, alright?" He said. There was silence on the other end, and Violet immediately wondered if the people on the freighter were buying Jack's story. What would happen if they found out one of the Oceanic survivors killed one of their people? Would they decide against rescuing them? Oh please God...
"Alright, no problem Jack, just tell her to buzz us the second she gets back, okay?" The voice asked. Jack agreed and hung up the phone. He breathed out slowly, scrubbing the beads of sweat off his forehead. Violet felt herself breathe a sigh of relief. She looked up and saw Kate running up toward the two of them.
"Where the hell is she?" Jack asked, keeping his voice low, not wanting to alarm anybody. Nobody else had seemed to notice Naomi's missing body. Jack wanted to keep it that way, Violet could tell.
Kate exhaled.
"I found a trail of blood. I'm guessing Naomi must have somehow taken off when we weren't looking." She explained. Jack stared at her incredulously.
"Where could she have gone? She had a knife in her back!" He stated. Kate nodded.
"Well, then I guess she won't get very far." She pointed out. Violet swallowed, as Rousseau joined them.
"I found the girl's trail of blood heading East. If we hurry, we can catch up to her before she is badly hurt." She explained. Violet rolled her eyes.
"She has a knife sticking out of her back! I'm guessing she already is badly hurt!" Violet spat sarcastically. Rousseau just stared at her, but Violet ignored her.
"No, no, I already found the trail. It's headed South." Kate said, ignoring Violet's comment.
"Well, she can't have gone in two different directions." Jack said.
"Maybe she left a fake trail, to confuse us. If she thought Locke was with us, she won't want us following her." Kate pointed out.
"Kate, she's losing blood at a rapid speed. Last thing she's thinking about is leaving a dummy trail." Jack explained.
"We should head out, before it gets dark." Rousseau said finally.
"We'll split up, follow both trails." Kate pointed out. Jack shook his head.
"No, Kate. I need you to lead everyone back to the beach. The freighter people will need you all to be visible, especially if I can't get this phone to lock in our coordinates. With Naomi...well, without her, there's no chance they'll find us out here. We need to be fully visible. So take them to the beach, Kate. I'll go with Danielle and find Naomi." He said. Kate looked hurt, and Violet knew how she felt. She couldn't remember the number of times Kate ordered her to stay behind when she went running off into the jungle. Not that Violet ever listened to her anyway, but that was hardly the point right now.
Kate finally nodded.
"Alright, I'll get them back to the beach." She stared at Jack seriously, and Violet immediately felt uncomfortable. After the kiss between Jack and Juliet, and then Jack telling Kate that he loved her, Violet was quickly learning she wanted to be far away from these situations.
Kate closed in on Jack and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close. He held her too, and Violet wanted nothing more than to look away. She would never understand.
"Be careful, okay?" Kate asked, as she rubbed his back. Violet stared incredulously. She couldn't believe Kate was actually doing it!
She lifted the satellite phone off of Jack, while she was hugging him. Violet turned away.
"Yeah, you too." Jack replied, completely unaware of Kate's fast handwork. Violet didn't look at Jack as the two let go of each other. She wasn't about to say anything about what Kate had just done. She was sure Kate had a good reason.
Jack smiled at Kate and Violet before he turned to go talk to the rest of the survivors. Violet faintly heard him say something about heading back to the beach before he went to join Rousseau. Violet watched as Sun and Claire led the way with the rest of the survivors in tow, while Jack and Rousseau disappared into the jungle, pulling Ben along behind them. Violet turned and stared at Kate, who waited until Jack had disappeared into the jungle.
"Violet, I want you to go with them down to the beach. I'll be there soon." Kate looked too distracted for Violet to buy any of it. Violet crossed her arms, glaring with all the pent up rage she felt inside.
"If you think for a second I'm going with them, you're crazy! I know you took the phone, so I know you must believe Naomi went your way. You're going after her, fine, but I'm going with you. Do you think I'm just gonna let some boat show up and take me on it when you're not there? Sorry Kate, but I'm not going anywhere!" Violet said as confidently as she could. She waited with her arms crossed, still expecting Kate to ignore her comments and tell her to go to the beach anyway, but Kate seemed to genuinely be considering.
"Fine, but Violet, stay close and don't wander off, because I swear, I'll never let you hear the end of it." Kate replied, pulling Violet along toward the jungle. Violet breathed out, feeling a bit surprised that Kate had allowed it. She didn't know why, but Kate did. Kate promised Violet she would make sure things were okay if they got off the island. Kate knew she couldn't leave Violet now, not when they were this close.
As the sun went down, Violet watched the rest of the survivors head back to the beach, and she followed Kate into the dark jungle.
2006....part 2
"Thank you, you can keep the change." Violet said to the cab driver, as she handed him a handful of loose bills. He grunted something in response, as Violet got out of the cab, slamming the door behind her. She looked up at the facility in front of her as the cab drove off. This was it, The Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute.
She only knew since yesterday. She had picked up the newspaper, and Hurley was front page news already. He had been arrested after his run in with the law, and had been admitted to Santa Rosa shortly afterward. Violet sighed, she knew Hurley had been here once before, for reasons unknown, but it made her uncomfortable to be here.
Kate would freak out if she knew she were here. But Kate was with Duncan Forrester, her lawyer. Violet had come home from school to find the baby with Veronica, the nanny Kate had hired. Violet could have dismissed her, and taken care of the baby herself, but she took this as a prime opportunity to see Hurley, ask him what had happened. She simply told Veronica to tell Kate she had another soccer practice. That excuse would get old eventually, but it was Violet's best chance.
Violet walked into the facility, feeling uncomfortable by the white tile floors and the stark white walls. It reminded her too much of hospitals. She shivered.
"Can I help you, dear?" A receptionist asked. Violet stared at her, trying to breath.
"Yeah, I want to see Hurley." She replied. The receptionist puckered her brow.
"Who?" She inquired. Violet sighed. Right, not many people knew him as Hurley.
"Hugo. Hugo Reyes." She confirmed. The receptionist eyed her as she pulled out a nametag that said "Visitor."
"You're one of his friends from the crash, aren't you? You're one of the Oceanic Seven?" The receptionist asked politely, handing Violet the nametag. Violet swallowed, why had they plastered their names and pictures all over the news when they returned? It felt like everybody knew her, wherever she went. Violet cleared her throat.
"Can you just tell me where I can find him?" She stuttered.
The woman directed her through a corridor and up a flight of stairs into a games room of sorts. The doors were guarded by orderlies or something, and Violet had to show them her nametag before she was allowed in.
She scanned the room, seeing a wide assortment of individuals, garbed in housecoats and pajamas. Her heart was hammering against her chest when she finally saw him. Hurley. Forgetting all her curiosity as to why he was here, forgetting her nerves about the fact that he had run from the cops, she ran to him, throwing her arms around him.
"Woah!" Hurley yelled out in fear, not seeing her coming. Violet pulled away with a bit of a grin.
"Sorry Hurley, I couldn't help it." She replied. Hurley looked up.
"Hey dude, it's you!" He said with a smile. "What are you doing here?" Violet shrugged.
"I came to see you. I...I heard you were here. You're in the news." She said simply. Hurley sighed, as he looked around at all the people who were within earshot. Violet watched him as he looked around suspisciously. She jumped when he finally put his hand on her shoulder.
"Let's get out of here. It'll be more private." He said. Violet eyed him suspisciously.
"Hurley...you aren't really supposed to leave, are you?" She asked. Hurley stared at her.
"Dude, I'm not escaping. Geez, we're allowed outside!" He said defensively. Violet shrugged.
"Sorry, I didn't know." She stood up, grabbing her bag. "Lead the way." She said, as Hurley stood up and headed out the same door Violet came through. The orderlies let them pass. Violet wondered about that. Maybe some mental patients had priviledges, while others didn't. Well, Hurley is one of the Oceanic Seven. Maybe that makes him VIP or something. Violet thought to herself as she followed Hurley outside.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was warm enough to wear a T-shirt, but not too hot either.
Violet joined Hurley on a bench as far away from the facility as Hurley was allowed to venture. Violet was happy for the privacy. At least around Hurley, she didn't have to pretend. At least around Hurley, she didn't have to lie.
"Dude, you dyed your hair." Hurley broke the silence. Violet laughed.
"Yeah, just wanted a change, I guess." She replied. Hurley smiled.
"Black suits you." He pointed out.
"At least you think so. I don't think Kate was overly thrilled with the idea." Violet replied.
"Oh yeah, how are things going with that? You know, with Kate and the baby." Hurley asked. Violet sighed.
"Hurley, things are just insane. All I've been doing lately is taking care of that baby! Kate...she's always on the phone with her lawyer, or running out to meet him. But she won't tell me anything." Violet paused, breathing out quickly. "She still treats me like a kid sometimes." Hurley snorted.
"Dude, you are a kid. Don't grow up too fast man." He said.
"Hurley, that's not the point!" Violet snapped.
"Sorry man." Hurley sighed. "So, like, what do you think is up with the lawyer thing?"
"I don't know, but Kate seems worried. That's weird."
"Do you think it has anything to do with the, uh, guardianship thing? I mean, with you?" Hurley asked.
Violet felt uncomfortable. She had never thought about that. It wasn't like the guardianship thing was final. There wasn't any security there. Papers hadn't been signed or anything. They really could still take her away from Kate and the baby. Violet pushed the thought away.
"I don't know. I hope not. I don't know, I thought maybe it has something to do with what she did before the..." She lowered her voice. "Before the crash. Remember, she was a fugitive? I mean, I don't know what she did, but she was being transported back to LA by the U.S. Marshall. It was serious, whatever it was. Maybe it's got something to do with that."
"Maybe, but dude, don't worry. Kate's got it under control, I'm sure." Hurley replied. Violet nodded, feeling unsure, but wanting to talk about something else.
"So, how's school?" Hurley asked.
"Okay, I guess. I hate how everyone looks at me like I'm a celebrity. People are still asking for my autograph. People survive plane crashes everyday. They don't have to be so overbearing." Violet sighed. "At least I have soccer. Did I tell you I'm on the varsity team?"
"Dude, that's awesome!"
"Yeah, it's a lot of work, lots of practice, but it really helps." Violet paused, looking up seriously. "Anyway, it makes me feel better than the stupid therapist Kate's making me see."
"Kate's making you see a shrink?" Hurley asked.
"Yep. She thinks it's good for me. I think it's a mistake." Violet replied. Hurley was silent for a minute, as he considered Violet.
"Do you...do you still think about it? The island?" He whispered.
Violet's heart began hammering against her chest. She hated talking about it. In fact, that was precisely the reason why Kate had her in therapy. Because she wouldn't talk about it. Any of it. Not with Kate, not with anybody. Like I could tell a therapist anyway. Violet thought. We have to lie. I couldn't tell her anything.
"I don't know." Violet answered, noncommitedly. Hurley stared at her before looking around to make sure nobody was around. He leaned in close.
"I don't think we did the right thing, Violet." Violet was taken aback. She didn't expect this, but she knew where it was going.
"What?" She asked.
"I don't think we were supposed to leave the island." Hurley replied.
Violet sighed, and felt tears stinging her eyes. Violet knew she was the only one of the 7 of them who left the island who agreed with him. She swallowed.
"Me neither." She managed to say, but she immediately shook her head. "It was a mistake to leave, but we can't talk about it, Hurley. We can't." She hoped Hurley would assume it was because there were people around. Violet didn't care about the people, she was only thinking about herself. She couldn't think about the island. She couldn't think about the day she left. She couldn't think about any of it. It hurt too much.
"I saw Charlie." Hurley said suddenly.
Violet felt sick inside as she stared at Hurley. Could he actually be serious?
"W-what?" Violet asked.
"The other day. Right here." Hurley motioned to the bench. "He came to visit me."
Violet stared at him. There had to be a reason why he was admitted to the mental institution. This must be part of it.
"Hurley, you...you know that can't be possible. Charlie, he's-"
"I know, Violet, but I'm telling you, I saw him, right here! He talked to me. I know he's dead, okay, but he was right here. Okay, I don't know what he was, and I didn't believe him either, but he slapped me! I felt the pain, Violet, explain that!" Hurley said adamently.
Violet couldn't handle it. Charlie's death, the island, the horrible truth that life after the island was hell. Everybody was changing. She was changing. Nothing was the same. It would never be the same. it was too much. Violet struggled to force words out, as she stumbled to grab her bag.
"I-I gotta go, Hurley. Sorry." She was sure she heard Hurley yelling after her, but Violet was already running toward the front gate. She felt restricted, she felt trapped, she felt afraid. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she ran down the street, not even bothering to hail a taxi. As she ran, she quickly repressed everything she and Hurley had talked about. She couldn't deal with it, any of it.
She doubted she ever could.