Chapter 7.
The next morning, neither woman mentions the events of the previous evening. Juliet wonders sadly if it was just a one off thing, caught up in the sunset in this crazy place. Kate wonders if it was all just a dream.
Over breakfast Juliet announces her plans for the day. "I need to get some supplies from the lab, to run some tests. You'll be ok for an hour or so?"
Kate rolls her eyes in response, the way she always does when Juliet makes a similar comment. "I'm pretty sure I'll survive." She replies in an irritated tone. Yet somewhere, deep down, it feels good to Kate that someone cares about her. Juliet must have known it, somehow known that Kate was a tiny bit grateful for the concern, because she made the same remark every day, never once put off by Kate's unfriendly reply. Either that or she did it deliberately to irritate Kate.
Just when Kate had convinced herself that the last night didn't happen, she is caught off guard as Juliet leans in and kisses her. "See you soon." Juliet whispers.
"Yeah, Bye." Is all Kate can manage to respond.
Truthfully, Kate was more than capable of navigating the small house without Juliet's assistance. But she never let on, enjoying somehow the way Juliet led her around by the hand. Thinking that Juliet somehow enjoyed it too, That she felt somehow useful. Enjoying too the way Juliet would describe the things she was seeing. The sunset. The trees. The clouds in the sky. Juliet's words painted such a picture that it was as if Kate was seeing it all for herself. The pictures in her mind more vivid than Kate had ever remembered the world. She wondered if that was what it looked like through Juliet's eyes?
The glimmers of light in Kate's peripheral vision had become more frequent. Things are shifting sharply into focus. Kate still doesn't breathe a word of this to Juliet, somehow afraid that if her vision returns it will mark the end of this idyllic life they have made for themselves. Kate is careful to keep her head turned slightly away from Juliet when Juliet speaks to her, afraid that she might suddenly be able to see the woman's face one day. Afraid that she won't be able to stop staring, and the game would be up. Without the blindness there was no reason for the two of them to be living alone here. Juliet would want them to go back to the beach. And no way in hell was Kate ready to give this life up.
When Kate is sure that Juliet has left for the lab, she stands to her feet, slowly making her way into the study. It is the room where Juliet works tirelessly on finding some sort of cure for the blindness. Kate feels a momentary stab of guilt at the thought of Juliet working so hard on a cure when her vision seemed to be improving each and every day on it's own. Kate pulls the curtains open, squinting from the bright sunlight. For a moment all she can see is flashes of white, then suddenly, for the first time, things shift into focus.
Kate isn't sure what she had been expecting. Microscopes maybe? Test tubes? Books? There is nothing. An almost vacant desk, only an empty coffee mug and solitary book that Kate couldn't make out the title, but which seemed to be some sort of paperback novel.
So that's what Juliet had been doing down here? Drinking coffee and reading a novel? All the while she pretended to work so hard on this "cure"? All the while she was lying through her teeth? And Kate, fool that she was, had fallen for the act. Again. Juliet had lured her here under false pretences. And lied to her every single day since they arrived.
It comes naturally to Kate to assume the worst concerning Juliet's motives. Life had taught her that people usually deserve harsh judgment. The bitter sting of betrayal is familiar to Kate, it's almost comforting. And she consoles herself that she had been right all along-- trust no one.
Her vision improving by the minute, Kate makes her way outside, squinting at the blurry objects. Slowly things shift into focus, she is able to make out trees, houses. It's more than she has been able to see in the past two weeks. She lifts her hand in front of her face and can at last make out the blurry shapes of her own fingers. For a moment, she has forgotten Juliet's betrayal, for a moment she has forgotten that blindness is the thing that has given her this peaceful life, for a moment all she wants is to scream Juliet's name, to run into her arms and tell her that she could see. To look at Juliet's face, to look her straight in the eyes as Juliet whispered that she was beautiful. But she pushes that foolish fantasy aside.
The morning is eerily still and silent. As Kate rounds the corner, she catches sight of the lab. Or more correctly, what is left of the lab. Kate sees now that it had been all but burned to the ground by the others before they had left. There couldn't possibly be anything of use left in there. So why did Juliet disappear for an hour every day under the pretence of "getting supplies from the lab" or "running tests at the lab" ? More lies.
Kate has never been one to give another human being the benefit of the doubt, and she wasn't going to start now. Not with someone who had messed with her heart like that. Instantly she convicts Juliet in her mind as a liar, an "other", a dangerous and deceitful woman. The woman really was cruel, cold, calculating, heartless. She really was just a good actress. Kate laughs aloud to herself as bitter tears threaten to fall from her eyes. She had been completely insane to picture this caring, compassionate, saviour Juliet. That was a delusion. She must have hit her head EXTREMELY hard on that rock.
Yet against all her common sense, Kate had trusted Juliet, Kate had loved her. Juliet betrayed that fragile trust. And it was the first and last chance Juliet was going to get. Kate was through giving people chances. How many times had she wanted to kill Wayne and talked herself out of it? Telling herself maybe tomorrow will be better, maybe he'll change. How many times had she gone pathetically to her mother desperate for acceptance and forgiveness, giving her endless opportunities to slam that door shut in her face? How many times had she looked to Jack, waiting for him to save the day, wanting him to look at her and for once not have that judgement in his stare? People never change, and you can't trust anyone, Kate reminds herself. One chance was more than enough. That's all anyone was going to get from her from now on. And Juliet Burke had just blown hers.