Lady-josie: I'm thrilled to know that. I'm glad you liked the conversation with Irina and Vaughn. Thank you very much for thinking I'm good at portraying Sloane. *blush* Yeah, Sloane is one sick bastard and it's my full intension to make him that way as much as possible. But will Nadia learn the truth and will Sloane? - time will tell. Thank you very much. :-)
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Chapter 11
The next day Jack was sitting by Nadia talking about what was going on in his life. Not that there really was anything going on much other than work. He did however go on and on about Isabelle, and how much he loved spending time with her. There was no mistaken that Jack was smitten with his granddaughter. His phone rang.
"Bristow."
"Jack, it's Peter."
"Why are you calling? Aren't you here?"
"Yes, I am, but I was just informed that Sloane's been spotted on the security cameras entering the hospital. I just wanted to warn you in case you're holding Nadia's hand or something. Sloane might get suspicious of you."
"Thank you for letting me know."
"Sure thing. I'm on my way down. I'll be there shortly."
"Okay." Jack sighed deeply. He didn't want to be here when Sloane was visiting Nadia, but he also didn't want to leave Nadia alone. Not after what Irina had told him. He was disgusted by Sloane.
He stood up and kissed her forehead, then pushed his chair back, and picked up a book. That way it would look like he was reading to her, which was something he used to do anyway, but that no one knew about.
Moments later Sloane walked in.
"Jack, what are you doing here?"
"Just looking in on Nadia, for Sydney. She's taken Isabelle to her check-up, and asked if I would bring some flowers to Nadia." He pointed to the flowers that in reality were from him.
"We fathers will do anything for our daughters, won't we Jack?" Jack simply gave Sloane a small nod. "And speaking of gifts, I've found the most important gift for my daughter. I found her cure, Jack. My little girl is going to be alright again." He smiled his little triumphantly smirked at Jack, which made Jack sick to his stomach.
"That sounds wonderful, Arvin, but are you sure the cure will work?"
"Of course I'm sure, Jack. I'm her father, I know best."
"How did you get it?"
Sloane was irritated by Jack's question. All he wanted to do was give Nadia the cure, so that he could start to take care of her, so that it would eventually lead her to join him in his quest for Rambaldi's greatest work. But he remained his calm.
"Jack, you know I can't reveal my contacts. It is guaranteed to work."
Jack was happy if Sloane had indeed been successful in getting a cure for Nadia. He also feared if it turned out not to work, but even more if it did. He didn't know if he was ready to tell Nadia the truth yet. He was afraid how she would react. All thoughts were pushed to the side when Peter walked in.
"Hello Mr. Sloane. It's good to see you again." He lied. He couldn't stand the man.
"Dr. Blake, just the man I wanted to see. I've found Nadia's cure." He pulled out a small bottle containing a yellow liquid, and handed it to him.
Peter eyed the bottle.
"Are you sure this is the right cure?"
Sloane got annoyed again. He didn't need yet another one questioning him. He could allow himself to be a bit harsh with the doctor, and allowed to let his irritation be notable in his voice.
"Of course I'm sure. I'm Nadia's father. I know what's best for my daughter. You can go ahead and give her the cure right now."
Peter didn't let Sloane get to him.
"As her doctor, I'm not going to just give her this without testing it first. You'll have the results in a few hours."
Sloane was anything but happy.
"I'm telling you it will work. You're endangering her life if you don't give her that right away."
"And I might be endangering her life if I just go ahead and give it to her. I'm in charge and I make the call. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take this to the lab." He gave Jack a nod, but didn't bother paying anymore attention to Sloane.
Sloane was seething with anger. He hated being questioned. Jack didn't pay any attention to Sloane. He looked at Nadia, and wanted nothing more than to take her by the hand, and tell that she would soon meet her niece. But he knew he couldn't with Sloane there.
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Jack had stayed for a little while longer, but couldn't stand being in the same room with Sloane any longer. He had excused himself telling him he had work to do, but that he would be back later. On his way out, he told Peter to call him when they were done testing the cure.
He rang the bell at Sydney's, and Eric answered the door.
"Hey Jack, come in."
"Thank you. Where's Sydney?"
"Right here, dad." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and Isabelle was waving her little arm in the air. "I think someone wants to say hello to her grandpa." She handed her to Jack, who happily accepted her, and planted a kiss on her head.
"Hello sweetheart. Look at you, don't you look beautiful. And if I'm not mistaken you've grown since I saw you last."
"No, she hasn't, dad. You just saw her last night."
Jack shook her head at Isabelle.
"Your mother is being really silly. I'm your grandpa, and I'm always right."
"Dad, don't tell her that." She wasn't mad, but laughed at his comment.
"As her grandpa, it's my right to inform her of such things." He flashed Sydney a grin.
"Very funny, dad. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." She was grinning. It was wonderful to see her father act like this. Eric just stood observing them, a little stunned by Jack's behavior, but glad nonetheless. "So are you here for any particular reason, or did you just drop by to tease me?" She could see that her father got serious, and became a little alarmed.
"It's about Nadia."
"What about her?" Eric was immediately worried, and it was noticeable in his voice.
"Sloane found a cure for her."
"Really?" His voice went up a few octaves. He was relieved too. "That's great news. I mean the cure will work right?"
"Sloane says it works, but it's being tested as we speak."
"Tested. That's good. Best to be sure. I mean, of course it has to be tested. You can hardly take Sloane's word for anything. I'm sorry, I know he's Nadia's dad, but still…." It was obvious that Sloane wasn't one of Eric's favorite people. Jack and Sydney looked at each other as Eric had said that. Sydney had wanted to tell Eric more than anything that Jack was her father. Now she was happy that she would be able to do so, but she couldn't quite figure out the expression in her father's eyes. "When will we know for sure if the cure will work?"
"It should be ready in a few hours."
"Good, then I can go home and take a shower and a change of clothes. You think it would be alright for me to be there when she wakes up?"
"Of course it'll be alright." Eric looked at Jack. He would've expected Sydney to tell him it was alright, not Jack. He kept looking a little at Jack, puzzled that he had spoken, but quickly forgot about it.
"Okay great. Could one of you call me when the test is done?"
"Sure Eric." This time Sydney had spoken first. Having seen Eric's curious look at her father, she thought it was best to beat him to it.
"Thank you. I'll see you later then." He kissed Sydney on the cheek, Isabelle on her head, and gave Jack's arm a squeeze. He was thrilled that Nadia would wake up again.
Jack and Sydney walked into the living room, with him still holding Isabelle. He looked around the place, and Sydney knew what he was looking for.
"Rachel's at APO." Jack nodded. "It's wonderful news about Nadia. I know that maybe we shouldn't trust Sloane, but I really think that the cure will work. It has to work."
"I'm pretty sure it will, Sydney."
"So how did he get it?"
"He wouldn't tell me." She looked at him suspiciously. "I don't like it either, but like you said, I think the cure will work." She agreed with him.
"So we can finally tell Nadia that you're her father." Her happiness was evident.
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
She couldn't believe what he'd just said.
"Dad, why not? Sloane has provided the cure believing he's her father, and we've kept up appearances for her sake. We can finally stop pretending."
"I don't need to spring the news on her, right after she wakes up from being in a coma for months. Maybe she won't like that I'm her father. I don't want her to go through anymore pain."
"I can't believe you." She was mad and hurt. "Of course Nadia will like that you're her father. She'll be thrilled. Don't sell yourself short. The best way for Nadia to get better is to have her family around her. You're her family, not Sloane."
"I know Sydney, but it's not exactly easy for me to tell. What am I supposed to do? Just walk up to her and say 'Hi Nadia. You needed DNA at one time, and when it turned out that Sloane didn't share your DNA, mine was tested. So hey guess what, I'm your father?'"
"Yeah dad, exactly."
"It's not that simple, Sydney."
"The hell it is." She was raising her voice more and more and Isabelle started to fuss.
"Sydney please keep your voice down. You're scaring Isabelle."
"Don't lecture me on parenting." She could tell that hurt him, and she felt bad. "Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
"It's okay Sydney. I deserved it. Sweetheart, please understand how hard it is for me. I'll tell her soon, I promise. And I'll tell everyone else, but please let me do it on my own time."
She still didn't like the idea, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"Okay dad. We'll do it your way."
TBC
