Notes: Again, thanks for the reviews. I love them, keep them coming. Love the speculation chatter about where this story will go. Hope you like the way that it ends up. I started this story with an idea of how I wanted to start and how I wanted to end, how to get there I hadn't decided.
Chapter 7
From across the room he sees the crowd gathering around a woman on the floor.
"I'm a doctor, let me through", he says pushing his way through the group.
He crouches down beside her, sliding his fingers into the crook of her neck, feeling for her pulse. He is relieved to feel she has a strong bounding pulse. He surmises that she has just fainted.
With his other hand, he brushes her blonde hair off of her face and a look of surprise crosses his face. "I know this woman", he thinks to himself. "But how"
He glances up at the television and sees the headlines crossing the screen. "Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 feared lost over the ocean. . ." His heart sinks. He was supposed to have been on that plane. .
He returns his attention to the woman who had still not regained consciousness. The hotel manager approaches. "Her name is Dr. Burke, let's take her up to her room. She'll be more comfortable there"
The doctor scoops the woman up into his arms. Her head rests against him. "So you are a Doctor too", he says aloud, talking to her despite the fact she was still unconscious. "That must be how I know you"
He follows the hotel manager to the service elevators, and they make their way to Juliet's room. Once inside, he lays her gently on the couch.
"Thank you for your help doctor", the hotel manager starts. "But our hotel doctor is on his way up right now. You can be on your way", he tells the doctor.
The man shakes his hand. "You can tell him to save the trip. I'm staying with this woman until she wakes up" he says stubbornly.
"But sir", he starts.
"No buts", replies the man. "I know Dr. Burke, I'm sure she will be more comfortable with me here when she wakes sup", he lies.
The manager shakes his head. ."This just isn't how we normally do things", he starts, "but I will go call the desk and stop the doctor from coming for now. Excuse me", he says stepping away from the man and Juliet.
Once he is disappears from the room, the doctor notices Juliet starting to stir. He moves over to her.
Juliet is aware of only her pounding head when she starts to wake up. She rubs her hand along her forehead and tentatively opens her eyes. . "Oww", she says moving her hand along her forehead attempting to sit up. As she does, she remembers the headlines that had streamed across the television. "Oh God, James. . ", she trails off.
He approaches her, placing a hand on her arm. "Shh", he says. "You are okay Miss. . "
Juliet turns her head at the sound of the man's voice. "Son of a . . ", she starts.
"Jack?", she asks questioningly.
This time it was Jack's turn to feel faint. As she says his name, flashes of memories fly though his head.
***Flashback***
"What is it you do Jack? What is your profession?"
"I'm a repo-man, you know when people don't pay their bills, I go into the bank and collect their possessions. I'm a people person, so I really love it"
"The drugs we gave you when we brought you here, they have fairly serious side effects. Dehydration, your head is probably sore, your throat raw, and if you don't eat or drink something soon you are going to start hallucinating"
"So you're a doctor?"
"No, I'm a repo-woman"
******
"Juliet", he says barely above a whisper. Every moment new memories of the island were pushing out the more recent memories of the past six years.
Tears spring to her eyes. "You remember"
"But how", he says still in disbelief. "How do I remember?"
Juliet pushes herself to a sitting position on the couch Jack takes a position next to her. "I don't know how we remember. I only know that two weeks ago I woke up in Miami. Rachael, my sister was standing in my bedroom asking me why I missed our shopping trip. As my mind cleared suddenly I had two pasts. I remembered everything that happened on the island as well as everything that had happened in my life in Miami from 2001 till now."
Jack shakes his head. "This is crazy, it makes no sense"
"Welcome to the life I have been living for the past two week. . ", Juliet trails off.
"The plane", Jack says, remember what he had seen right before helping Juliet down at the bar.
"You saw the headlines on the television, is that why you fainted?", he asks.
She nods, tears again overflowing her eyes. "I tried", she says her voice trembling
"I tried to stop him from getting on the plane. But he doesn't remember. . "
Jack looks at her sympathetically. "Sawyer"
He pulls her into his arms.
When her tears subsided he continues to ask her questions.
"How did you survive Juliet? You fell into that pit. Kate and I pulled Sawyer off of there he would have come down right after you. . "
She lets go of the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and closes her eyes. Those memories of their last moments together were so vivid and so heartbreaking for her.
"I don't know how I survived. Some cruel island karma I guess. . ", she says without much emotion. "When I opened my eyes at the bottom of that shaft, and realized I was alive, I wished I was dead. . "
She shutters at the memory.
"It felt like my entire body was broken the pain was intense but when I looked beside me I saw the bomb you dropped laying there taunting me"
"There was a rock, and I was able to reach it. I hit the bomb, it took a few times but then everything went white and then it was only darkness."
"When I woke up again, I was in my bed in Miami."
She turns over her wrists, showing him the faint bruises that were still evident from James holding onto her and lifts her shirt slightly, showing him where the chains had tightened around her.
"These are how I knew it was true. This is how I knew that it happened"
This time it was Jack's turn to let go of the breath he'd been holding.
"I'm sorry Juliet. This is my fault."
His fingers brush across the healing bruises on her wrist.
"I was so certain that Dan was right, that blowing up that hydrogen bomb was the right thing to do. That that was our destiny"
"What do we do now?" she asks.
"It looks like we didn't stop anything. Flight 815 is gone, disappeared, just like it did on the other September 22, 2004"
Jack takes a moment to think this through. "Obviously some things have changed Juliet. You aren't on the island and I never got onto that plane"
"I assumed that we stopped the incident. I was able to deliver babies in 1977, so whatever happened to cause the pregnancy problem I figure happened with the incident. If we stopped the incident than we stopped whatever it was that caused the problem. I figure, my presence on the island just wasn't needed"
Jack remains silent, contemplating what she had just said. It seemed plausible enough.
"Why didn't you get on the plane Jack? "
"Same reason that I almost didn't make it on the last time", he replies. "On the first time around, they weren't going to let my father's casket on the plane because I didn't have the right paperwork. I talked them into it. This time, there was no talking them into it. I came to Sydney to accompany my father's body back to Los Angeles, and I stayed because they wouldn't let him on Flight 815. I have the correct paperwork now and my flight leaves in the morning"
"What happens for you now?" he asks.
"I have to find James" she starts and then clarifies. "I need to find James. My heart feels like it is broken, I need to find him. If Flight 815 crashed that means finding the island."
"Juliet, are you really listening to yourself. You want to go back there? You want to leave your sister and your nephew and go back to that hell"
"It wasn't all hell Jack, not all of it anyways. James is the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't feel complete anymore. Besides", she pauses.
"Don't you want to find her don't you want to find Kate?"
Jack sighs, "Kate and I, we . . " he trails off.
"We have been given a second chance Jack. We remembered when we weren't supposed too. There has to be a reason for that."
"Please", she begs, placing a hand over his. "Please help me find them"
He is silent for a few moments and then gives her hand a squeeze. "Alright", he finally says. "But first, you have to come back to LA with me. I need to take my father home"
It was her turn for silence. Finally she nods.
"I'll call Rachael and tell her of my change of plans, then change my flight", she trails off.
For the first time in almost two weeks she was feeling hopeful.