It was nearly six in the morning, and Jack was already awake. He watched Kate asleep. It was one of the few moments when her face relaxed, her heart quieted, and she seemed calm. Her head rested on Jack's chest, and one of her legs was over his leg.
Jack folded the pillow behind his head and settled on it to stay a little steeper. He also arranged for Kate to continue sleeping comfortably despite the fever. He noticed that now her eyes were moving underneath her eyelids, she was dreaming. Kate stirred a little, and Jack pressed her hard against his body. "Shhh." Her breathing began to accelerate and she woke with a jump. She noticed that Jack was there and looked at him, startled.
"Jack, I ... I ..." She started.
"Did you have a nightmare?" He made her lie down again, as she was before, and kissed her head.
"I did," she replied, almost crying.
Jack snuggled her into his arms. "It's over, sweetie, it's over."
"When will this really end, Jack? When will I stop having these nightmares?" She had a tearful voice.
Jack knew that to stop it, Kate needed to be treated. He did not know if she would need any sleeping pills, but she needed to talk to a professional at the very least, and he could tell her what to do.
"Honey." Jack paused a little to pick the words out. "Remember yesterday when we told you about the psychologist?"
Kate started to cry. She got up and sat on the bed. "Jack, I do not want to, please .."
He sat down, too, and took Kate's hands.
"Can I ask why you do not want to, Katie?" Jack tried to be as understanding as possible,
"Because I'm scared." She cried.
"He's a doctor, honey." He stroked her face. "He is not going to hurt you."
"I'm not afraid of him, Jack. I'm afraid of what he can say to me." Kate let it out.
"What do you think he's going to tell you?" Jack wanted to understand what was going on in her mind.
"I do not know, that I'm going to live like this forever, that he can not help me."
Jack finally understood. "Katie, come here." She came closer to Jack and he hugged her. "I'm sure he will not tell you any of this."
"How do you know?" She was still in tears.
"I know because I'm a doctor, we know when someone can get over a problem, and you sweetie ..." He touched the tip of Kate's nose. "... you definitely will not be like this forever." He smiled.
"Are you sure?" She sniffed. Kate blindly trusted Jack.
"Yes I'm sure." Jack was still smiling at her, he wanted to calm her down.
Kate lay on his chest and closed her eyes. Jack put his arms around her. "I love you, Katie." He whispered in her ear.
She was already sleepy, and did not quite understand the meaning of the words that Jack had just said, but she answered.
"I love you, Jack."
Jack woke up with a knock on the door. It was Juliet, who opened the door quietly.
"Oh, I'm sorry I woke you up."
"No problem." Jack stretched. "What time is it?"
"It's almost nine." She said. "Kate's appointment with Dr. Scott is half past nine. Do you think I'll call him to cancel?"
"No, she is coming." Jack smiled.
Juliet looked at Jack suspiciously. "What?"
"That's what you heard." He was still smiling.
"Jack, that's great!" She smiled with him. "You guys should get up for breakfast, Sawyer is already there."
"Sure, thank you for letting us know, Juliet. Just let me wake up Kate and in a minute we'll be there."
"OK." She smiled and closed the door.
Jack kissed Kate's forehead and shook her a little. "It's time to get up, baby." He ran his hand over her face.
Kate slowly opened her eyes, and smiled when she saw Jack looking at her. "Hi..."
"Good morning, sweetie." He kissed her forehead again. "Juliet's calling us for breakfast."
Kate closed her eyes again. "Just five more minutes." She asked, snuggling into Jack again.
"I wish I could have another five minutes holding you like this, but we have to get up, okay?" He made her sit down.
Kate rubbed her eyes. "I'm still tired, Jack." She complained.
"You can sleep more when we get back, okay, baby?" He stood and gave her a hand to hold.
Kate held Jack's hand but leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked into the kitchen. Jack wrapped his arm around her, gripping her waist.
"Look who showed up." Sawyer spoke in his playful playful voice. "Good morning, Freckles." Good morning, Doc. "Jack nodded to Sawyer, but Kate did not respond," There's someone who's still sleeping here at the table "
Kate ignored the comment and sat down. She was not exactly in the mood for jokes.
"Yeah, she's still sleepy." Jack said smiling at Kate.
Juliet had made creamed eggs on toast. They served each other when she decided to tell them.
"Ben wants to see you tonight. He'll probably apologize for what happened." Juliet said. "I do not think it will be long."
"Do we need to find him somewhere?" Jack asked as he pouted the food.
"No, he'll come here." Juliet explained.
They heard the phone ring. The owner of the house answered. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer could hear some of the conversation.
"Hello" ... "Yes, everything is fine here." ... "Oh, that was very kind of you. I'll give her the message." ... "OK Bye."
Juliet came back to sit down at the table.
"It was Dr. Scott. He said he's very anxious to meet you, Kate, and he's prepared something for you." She was smiling.
Kate looked at Jack, a little concerned that she was really going to that appointment.
"I think you'll like him, my dear." Juliet finished, realizing that Kate did not want to talk about it.
Sawyer was only analyzing the situation. He was holding himself on to make no remarks that would hurt Kate.
"Let's go then? In a few minutes, it's your medical appointment, sweetheart." Jack glanced at his watch on the refrigerator.
"I ... I do not have any clean clothes to wear." Kate spoke, hoping they would let her postpone the appointment.
"You can use mine, darling." She heard Juliet say. "They're in the closet, you can get whatever you want."
Kate had no way out.
"Do you need help getting changed, Katie?" Jack asked her. She nodded.
He helped her up and led her into the bedroom. Closed the door.
"Jack, I'm not ready for this, please, let's set it up for another day." She begged, tears in her eyes.
Jack bent down to speak to Kate, who was sitting on the bed. "Honey, the sooner you go, the sooner it's over. Just relax, okay?" He stroked her face. "Come on, let's choose a outfit."
Kate changed her clothes and she and Jack went outside.
"Are you sure I do not have to go along to show you the way?" Juliet asked.
"It's all right, Juliet, it's not a very big village." He joked.
"OK good luck." She wished.
Jack was right, it was not too difficult to find Dr. Scott's office, they had been walking for less than five minutes when they spotted the sign that read "Dr. Erik Scott - Psychology."
Kate was very nervous when she and Jack sat at the reception waiting to be called. She was breathing in an uncoordinated way, her hands clasped together. Jack hugged her. "It's okay, sweetie."
A door in the back of the room opened and a skin, gray-haired, tall man at about the age of fifty walked toward Jack and Kate.
He crouched in front of her. "So you're Kate Austen?" The smile with the teeth a little yellowish and dry lips. "Juliet told me so much about you." He turned to Jack. "And you must be Jack, right?
He looked nice, there was no denying it. But the fear of talking about her life to an unknown person, the fear of being judged was still there.
"So let's go in. My room is right up there." He stood up and pointed to the open door.
Kate froze. She held tight to Jack's hand. She did not want to go. Jack helped her to her feet.
"Are you ready, baby?" He asked.
Kate shook her head. She began to cry with nervousness. Jack lifted her head with one hand on her chin, gently. "Hey, it's okay." She did not stop crying, so Jack hugged her. "I'm sorry, Doctor." He told Dr. Scott.
"Do not worry, it's completely normal." He stroked Kate's hair. "It's all new to her, we're afraid of the unknown." Dr. Scott ducked to the height of Kate, who hugged Jack and wept big tears, and spoke softly. "If you feel more comfortable, you can take him with you, no problem." He pointed at Jack.
"Can I?" She began to calm down, and wiped her own eyes.
"Sure, Kate, why not?" He still kept smiling. "Come on, I have something to you, missie ."
Jack walked with Kate into the room the doctor had pointed out. It was a reasonably large room, very bright. The windows had large pearly curtains that almost touched the floor, which was all covered by a very thick carpet. In one corner of the room, an office desk filled with note papers. In the other corner, there was an armchair and a larger sofa, both dark with some pillows on top. Beside the armchair was a small table with a lamp and a small box with a red ribbon bow.
"You can sit there." Dr Scott showed the couches. "Feel at home."
Jack led Kate to the sofa, holding her waist. She was still nervous, and squeezed Jack's arm tightly. They sat down and Jack put his arm around her.
Dr. Scott took some papers on the table and a pen, and sat down in the armchair, facing them.
"So, Kate, Jack ..." He rolled his eyes from one to the other. "This is going to be just a conversation, okay? I'm going to ask you a few questions, young lady, and if you do not feel good to respond, just say: Dr. Scott, I do not want to talk about it or I'm not ready for it. So we do not talk about it anymore, okay? "
Kate nodded. He did not seem to be the type to judge her, but she still did not feel comfortable talking about her life to him. She laid her head on Jack's shoulder.
"Perfect." He took the box with a red bow that was on the table and left in his hands. "Kate, I heard some nightmares are bothering you .. is it true, dear?"
"Yes .." She spoke softly.
"Is it always the same nightmare?" He asked.
"Sometimes .. but almost always different."
"And when you wake up, what's the feeling you have?" Dr. Scott was making some notes.
"I'm afraid .. because they're very real." Kate spoke almost whispering.
"Do you do anything to try to stop them from happening, Kate?"
"Yes." Her eyes went wet. "I try not to think about it and I ask Jack to sleep with me, but they keep coming back." Jack slid a hand down her arm to stroke her.
"I have something for you to try, maybe it will help." He handed the gift box to Kate. She picked it up and stared. "You can open it, it's yours." He encouraged.
Kate pulled the ribbon from her bow and opened the box. Inside was a kind of amulet. It was a circle with several threads running through it, and a feather hanging from the end.
"Do you know what this is?" He smiled.
"A dreamcatcher?" Kate asked.
"Perfect! Do you know how it works?" Dr. Scott quietly crouched in front of Kate.
"Not exactly ..." Kate was not the kind of person to believe in such things.
"A dreamcatcher serves to confuse dreams." He was looking at Kate. "You know the night air is full of them, there are good dreams and the bad ones." When a dream tries to get into someone, and there is a dreamcatcher in the room, he is automatically attracted to it. Scott showed with his fingers. "They make dreams confuse a little, good dreams can pass and descend through the feather to the dreamer's head, but the bad dreams, well, they are kind of dummies, so they become trapped and disappear in the light of day."
"This is for real?" Kate wanted it to really work, but it sounded pretty fanciful to her.
"If you believe it works, it really works, Kate." He smiled at her and sat down in his armchair.
Kate kept looking at the dreamcatcher she had just won.
"About your nightmares, my dear, what scares you the most about them?" The psychologist asked again.
"Hmm .." Kate put the dreamcatcher in the little box. "..the people who are in them."
"Can you tell me who they are?"
"Danny, Wayne and my mother." Kate was no longer willing to answer any questions, but Jack was there. She did not want him to find her weak because she could not reach a doctor. Her eyes filled with tears again.
"Why do they scare you, Kate? What do they do during your nightmare?" Dr. Scott knew that maybe Kate would not answer these questions in the first session. But he needed to know her edge.
"Because .." A tear trickled down. Kate looked at Jack for help. "... my mother .. I ask her for help but she ignores me and .." Jack was looking at Kate encouraging her to continue, but it was really difficult for her to talk about those things. "..Wayne and Danny, they .." Kate's breath quickened, it was apparent she was not well. "... they hurt me in various ways." She tried to continue, tried to be strong, but it hurt so much, talk about her past, her present. Kate was shaking.
Kate could not do it anymore. She began to cry wildly.
Jack pulled her closer and kissed her head. "Shh Katie, it's just a few questions. I know it's hard, but it's okay. It's okay, sweetie."
"I wanna go home." She spoke softly through her sobs.
"Hey baby," Jack tried to wipe away her tears, but they kept falling. "... will not you finish talking to the doctor?"
"Please, I want to go home ..." she demanded, hiding her face in Jack's chest.
Dr. Scott knew it was time to stop, maybe he'd gone a little further than he should.
"It's okay, let's not push her anymore. It's enough for today." Dr. Scott set his notes aside. "But she was great. She did exactly what she needed to do. That's the purpose of talking about what happened, Kate. At first, it hurts like it's happening again, right? But as time goes by, talking about it here will not hurt you anymore, my dear. But do not worry, everyone has their own time, and we will respect yours. "
"Do you think it'll be long until she's all right?" Jack lifted Kate and placed her on his lap, still in tears.
"She's doing great considering everything that happened." He really thought she was doing very well. "There are cases you would not believe, my friend. Some people can not even get out of bed. It's pretty sad, you know."
"Well, I'm so glad she's doing well." Jack smiled, and straightened Kate in his arms. "Hmm, doctor, is there anything we can do to help her even more?" He wanted Kate so much better soon.
"Jack, I think she needs to get distracted by doing things she likes, she needs to relax. And for you people who live with her, just do not force her to do anything unless it's extremely necessary. She's having a fever, or shortness of breath when is it in crisis? "
"Fever." Jack answered.
"Emotional Fever." He realized. "I'm going to give Kate these pills, it's a very mild tranquilizer, but just give it to her when she can not calm down any other way. I'm not going to prescribe anxiety pills because I believe she can deal with it only with our help."
"Okay, great. Thank you very much, Dr. Scott." Jack got up, and continued to hold Kate in his lap. She still had her face hidden in Jack. She had listened to all this talk despite crying. If they thought she would go back there, they were very wrong.
"You're welcome." He squeezed Jack's hand to say goodbye. "And I'm sorry, little lady. I promise this will all be beneficial, okay?" He stroked Kate's hair, since she had not looked at him. "Do not forget your gift." He handed the box with the dreamcatcher to Jack.
He went out with Kate from doctor's office. She still had her face buried in Jack.
"Did you hear what he said, Katie?" Jack was trying to start a conversation. "He said you look great. I told you, baby."
"I do not want to go back, Jack." He heard Kate's muffled voice answer.
Jack stopped walking. "But ... Kate." He set her down on the floor and gently took her head with her hands, so that she would look at him. "Look at me honey, he'll help you."
"If he said I'm okay why do I have to go back there?" She sobbed.
"Because you can get even better, sweetie. You'll feel good climbing the trees again, picking fruit, not depending on anyone, you will not be afraid all the time anymore." He tried to explain to her.
"You want me to be good so I can do things on my own and you spend time with Juliet again, right?" The tears kept falling.
"Kate, baby." He tried to hug her and Kate tried to get out of the hug, but Jack was stronger. "Hey, I love spending time with you, but I want you to have the freedom to choose whether you want to do things by yourself or with me or any other ." He looked into her large green eyes, already red from crying. "I want you to have the chance to choose, Katie. You don't have it now."
She was still staring at him, crying but saying nothing.
"Awn, come here." He lifted her and rested her buttocks on one of his arms. Kate hugged his neck and put her legs around him. "I just can't see you sad like that, Katie, that's all."
Kate was emotionally exhausted.
Jack looked up at the sky and saw that it was dark. Suddenly it started to rain. It was thin and weak, but it was enough to wet them. Jack ran with Kate home before they were flooded. After a few minutes they finally arrived.
Sawyer was lying on his back fixing the sink that was clogged, while Juliet was standing beside him, reaching for the necessary tools.
"Oh, they came back." Juliet smiled. "How was it?"
"I'll tell you later, Juliet." Jack motioned to her that it had not been very good. "I'm going to take Kate to bed."
"OK." Juliet was a bit worried.
Jack went into the bedroom with Kate in his arms. He sat with her on the bed.
"Let's take off those wet clothes, baby?" He said close to her ear. Jack tried to be as caring as possible.
She had her head on his shoulder, sleepy. Jack took off her cardigan, pants and shoes one by one and helped her to put a dry shirt and a sleeping shorts. Gently laid her on the bed. He pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat there as he covered her. "Are you comfortable, Katie?" He caressed her face.
Kate nodded.
"Jack .." She spoke softly.
"I'm here."
"Can you hang the dreamcatcher here next to me?" She asked.
Jack was surprised. From Kate's reaction, he thought she hated everything related to that query, but he did what she have asked him.
"Of course baby." He picked up the dreamcatcher and tied it to a nail that was already there on the wall.
"Thanks." She snuggled in the bed.
Jack kissed Kate's cheek and stood there, stroking her back until she fell asleep.
Jack slowly closed the room's door to make no noise and went to the kitchen."She is sleeping." He sat at the table. Juliet and Sawyer were drinking juice.
"So, how was the consultation?" Juliet wanted to know.
"It started well, but when he began to delve into the questions, she panicked." Jack picked up a glass and poured himself juice. He took a sip. "Now she does not want to come back."
"Stubborn, that's what I said." Sawyer commented, laughing.
"James, it's not funny." Juliet returned it. "She needs to get back."
"Dr. Scott said she's not so bad because of everything that happened." Jack completed. "But yes, it would be great if she had medical follow-up."
"Is not she so bad?" Sawyer was outraged. "He saw her as she was before? She is not well, she is far from being well."
"James, please speak lower." Juliet did not want Kate to wake up while they talked about her.
"I'm sorry, but ..." He almost forgot to lower his voice. "..but she's not okay." Suddenly they heard the door open. It was Kate. She was standing in the hallway, in tears, but not moving or making a sound. Jack ran to her and hugged her. She was all wet.
"What happened, baby?"
Juliet and Sawyer looked startled at Kate.
"Someone ... went into the room." She was paralyzed.
"What?"
Sawyer ran to the bedroom, Juliet was right behind him. They saw that the window was open, the rain pouring into the room and wetting the bed where Kate was. Dirty sheets with earthen tracks that came down to the floor. But nobody was there.
"Did you see who it was, Freckles?" Sawyer asked.