"How'd it go?" Jack asked as Kate entered the house.
She sighed. "He still can't remember anything, but besides that-" Kate began.
"I meant the appointment," Jack interuppted quietly.
"Oh! Fine," she replied quickly.
"No problems?" he asked shortly, avoiding her eyes.
"Everything checked out," she smiled.
"Okay." He paused. "I'm just going to go to bed. I had a long day".
Kate walked over to his standing figure, snaking her arm around his waist. "You sure you just want to go to bed?" she asked mischieviously.
"Kate," he shrugged her arm off gently. "I'm really tired, okay?"
"Oh," she replied, sounding wounded, "umm, alright then."
Looking at her eyes and seeing the hurt, Jack tried to make up for at least some of it, even if he was angry with her. "I lost a patient. Five year old kid with a tumor. I just really need this day to end."
"Okay," Kate replied, looking a little reassured. "Goodnight." She gave him a quick kiss before he went off to bed. "I'm sorry about your patient."
"Yeah, me too."
The drive to the hospital the next morning was even more quiet and tense than the morning before. This time, it was Kate sneaking glances at Jack, wondering what had gotten into him.
After an awkward goodbye, she stepped into Sawyer's room to find him scowling at his nurse.
"Come on, Juanita. There's nothin' to watch on here. I'm not an Oprah kind'a guy," he was complaining.
"Well, James, you're about to become one. Unless you prefer Doctor Phil?" she proposed, handing him the remote.
"Nah, Oprah's fine. Besides sometimes there's some hot chick on here talkin' 'bout how she overcame her eating disorder."
"You seem to know alot about the show. Maybe you're an Oprah kind of guy after all", she winked.
Sawyer scoffed. "Nah. Just had a lot of girls in my day. Speaking of which, come on in, Freckles."
For a second, Kate's heart stopped. Then she realized he was joking about having been with her and she cracked a smile.
"Well, I have other patients to see," began the nurse. "None of them quite as spirited as you, James."
"Bye then," he retorted. "And I hate bein' called James!" he yelled after her.
Looking over her shoulder, Sawyer's nurse smiled. "Oh, I know."
After she left, Sawyer sighed. "I think she's stayin' whether I like it or not."
"I think you're right", Kate replied. "So, anything coming back to you?"
"Nope", he replied, frusterated. "Nothin'".
She nodded, and he moved on to another subject. "So, Blondie said she was comin' in today."
"Claire?", Kate asked.
"Yeah," he clarified, "she seems pretty happy to see me, don't ya think?"
It felt good for someone else to voice her thoughts. "Yeah, it's wierd isn't it?"
"Yeah, who would ever be happy to see me out of a coma?" Sawyer retorted with a smirk. "So, the doc makin' his rounds?" he asked.
"Yeah. He has a few surgeries today," she replied, hoping they would move off the subject soon. She didn't want to think about why Jack was mad at her all of a sudden.
"So, you two are together then?" Sawyer asked, his voice losing its playful tone.
Kate nodded. She could at least be honest about this. "Yeah."
"I should'a known. It was only a matter of time. Big Shot must be thrilled, gettin' his money from Hatchy."
Kate laughed, thinking of Hurley and Desmond's bet. "Did everyone know but us?"
"Pretty much," Sawyer replied with a smirk.
Kate's grin suddenly faded. "Sawyer, Hurley told me they made that bet after we got back from the Others", she said quietly.
Sawyer's eyes widened, and he looked like he was straining himself to remember. "I don't remember anythin' else. I just know that they had a bet goin'."
Kate heartbeat started to go back to normal. "Oh."
"Damn it!" Sawyer exclaimed. "Of all the stuff I could remember, that's what pops into my head?"
"Don't worry. It'll come back." she reasurred him. "But would it be that horrible if it didn't?"
He stared at her in shock. "Freckles, how would you feel if you couldn't remember a year of your life? I don't even know what I did after the rescue!"
Kate nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry?"
Sawyer eyed her skeptically. "What's gotten into you, Freckles? You've seemed wierd ever since I woke up. Ya won't tell me who the kid's dad is, you're avoidin' my questions, and now you don't want me to remember?"
"I don't know what you're talking about", she told him, uncomfortable with the fact that he was catching on.
Sawyer scoffed. "Sure. So tell me, who went and knocked you up?"
As she frantically searched her brain, it seemed like she would finally have to tell him everything. That is, until a voice came through.
"Hey Sawyer, how are you? Oh, hi Kate!" Kate gave herself a mental note to thank Claire over and over again when they got out of here.
"Hey there little mama. Freckles was about to tell me who her baby's daddy is. Has she told you?" Kate's momentary relief vanished. She gave Claire a pleading look, hoping she would understand.
Luckily for Kate, she did. "Nope. She hasn't told anyone," Claire told him.
"You always were secretive," Sawyer smirked. "I just hope Jack-O don't care that you aren't tellin' him."
Kate forced a smile but didn't reply. One of the babies chose that time to take a well aimed kick at her stomach, so her smile turned to a grimace.
"You okay,Freckles?" Sawyer asked, worry written across his face.
She laughed and rubbed her stomach. "Someone's going to be a soccer player", she joked.
Claire laughed as well. "Aaron used to kick all the time."
Looking at her watch, Kate sighed. "I have class in an hour. I have to go." They exchanged their goodbyes, and Kate left.
Getting in her car, she turned around and went home. A little white lie never hurt anyone. When she arrived, she was suprised to see that Jack sitting on the couch, head in his hands.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
He slowly lifted his head. She could see from his worried gaze something was wrong. Slowly, he held up a hand.
"My hand was shaking. While I was in surgery, it started shaking. I had to stop, and a resident took over for me." He paused, gazing down at his arm. "I think it's a side effect from the gun shot. I don't know why it took this long, it never did it before."
Kate sat down next to him, putting her arm around his shoulder. "It'll be okay."
"No, Kate, it won't. If it doesn't stop, I can't perform surgery. I'll lose my job."
"Hey. Don't think that way", she said, pulling him closer. "It could be a one time thing. It's not doing it anymore", she pointed out, gazing at his steady hand. "And if the worst happens, we'll deal with it then, okay?"
He nodded. "Right", he replied, not sounding reasurred at all.
There was a moment of silence, until Kate spoke up. "He's starting to remember, you know. He told me about the bet between Hurley and Desmond."
Slowly, Jack turned his gaze to her. "Sawyer? You're talking about him again? I tell you that my career could be over, and all you can talk about is how Sawyer's getting his memory back?" His words were laced with anger, and Kate instantly regretted her timing of sharing the incident with him. "If you're really over him, why can't you just tell him? Is this about his feelings, Kate, or yours?" he snapped.
"Jack, I-" she began.
"Just don't," he replied. He walked away, and she could hear the door to their bedroom close. After some consideration, she walked out the front door and into her car. Starting the ignition, she headed back in the direction she had came from earlier.