Chapter 26– Memories

The next week passed quietly. Both James and Juliet reluctantly went back to their jobs. Despite the fact that they'd spend the last several days just being together, the world around them had continued to move on. With the knowledge that each of them now had of the island, life was both weird and wonderful at the same time. It wasn't everyday that one suddenly had two separate lives merge into one and it was taking a period of readjustment for each of them.

James had subletted his apartment and moved in with Juliet. That was the first obvious step in their new lives. Neither could stand to be away from the other for very long. Despite moving out of the apartment he'd kept his job as handyman in addition to beginning his job as mall security. It kept him busy but he loved feeling useful. There was always time at the end of the day for Juliet and Clem.

Juliet hadn't felt ready emotionally or physically to fully go back to her practice and for the first week instead chose only to see patients in her clinic in the morning. The afternoons were spent with Rachael, the kids and planning her wedding.

Today she'd just seen her last patient and was settling back in her office to finish up her charts. She was interrupted from her work by a knock on the door, and her secretary poking her head in.

"Do you think you can see one more patient?" her secretary asks.

"I thought we were done?" she asks her.

"Last minute add on" her secretary says shrugging her shoulders.

"I guess its fine", Juliet says closing the chart. "Just put her in the exam room, I'll be just a few minutes"

Juliet tosses the chart onto the growing pile on her desk and gets up and puts her lab coat back on and heads to her exam room. She is surprised that her nurse hadn't put the newest chart outside the door, and oddly both her secretary and her nurse seemed to have both disappeared.

"Oh well" she says shrugging her shoulders and knocking on the door to announce her arrival. She opens the door and sees James sitting on the table.

She can't help but laugh, "What are you doing here? You don't exactly fit into my usual patient population"

"Tell me about it" he laughs sliding down off the table and approaching her. He wraps his arms around her and kisses her, pulling back he laughs, "it took all my conman expertise to get your secretary to play along with me"

She drapes her arms around him, "so what do I owe this visit? I was just getting ready to pack it in and go home."

He holds up the hand that had been sutured the night they gotten their memories back. "I was hoping you'd take these things out" he tells her. "They are itching like a fiend"

Juliet takes his hand, looking at the angry looking red line along the sutures. He'd kept his hand bandaged since that night, rarely speaking about it, let alone letting Juliet see the injury. "James they are infected" she says, looking away from his hand and up at his face. "Why did you wait so long?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I was gonna get you to take them out tonight. It wasn't bothering me till after I went to work this morning."

She shakes her head. "Just as stubborn as always I see" She counts back in her head to that night, it had been almost ten days since then. She gestures towards the table, "Climb back up there". Still shaking her head she moves to the other side of the room collecting what she needed and then returns to him.

She cleans the wound and goes to work taking the sutures out.

"Ouch" he says tugging his hand away from her.

She immediately feels bad for causing him anymore pain, but couldn't help but be slightly annoyed that he'd stubbornly let the wound get infected instead rather than letting her see it before this. "I'm sorry", she says softly, "but I can't believe you, if you hadn't waited so long maybe it wouldn't have gotten infected like this" she tells him.

He looks away from her, "I. . " he can't explain it to her. That night at the hospital, despite knowing it was the night they both finally remembered, he wanted to forget it. It was bad enough remembering losing her. But thoughts of that night only make him realize just how close he was to losing her a second time.

She shakes her head at him "I'm sorry", she says again seeing the look on his face, "Are you sure you want me to do this, I could call someone else to come up and do this if you want? I don't want to hurt you"

He places his hand back in front of her, "I don't want anyone else" he tells her, But please just be quick about it, okay?"

She nods her head and goes back to work. It's not the first time she'd taken sutures out of him. Once back on the island he'd sliced his leg while out on a mission with Miles. He'd come home to find her instead of visiting the infirmary, saying he didn't trust the Dharma doctor, only her. The Dharmaville memories cause a smile to spread across her face.

**Flashback**

It was August 1976, her and James had been living together for almost a year now and she had loved every minute of it. Sure they had their ups and downs like every couple did, but for the first time she felt like she belonged somewhere, belonged with someone.

It was after 5 and she said goodnight to the guys in the motor pool and headed home. She wondered if James was home yet, him and Miles had headed out to the north point today after there was a report of hostiles in the Dharma territory. As she approaches the front steps of their home she feels something isn't quite right. Getting to the steps she notices something was covering the steps. While it was drying she recognizes the smell immediately. She throws open the front door, "James?" she calls out rushing through the small house to find him.

She finds him in the bathroom, his leg stretched into the bathtub, a blood soaked towel wrapped around it. Sweat dripping down his face.

"Hey" she says rushing over to him and brushing her fingers through his hair. "What happened?"

"Hurt myself" he says stating the obvious.

"I can see that James" she says getting up to get a wash cloth. She wets the wash cloth and runs it over his forehead wiping away the sweat. Whatever he'd done she could tell he was hurting.

"Miles and I were headed home from the North point. I got caught on hostile trap, sliced my leg pretty good"

She could tell that was an understatement. Between the blood on the steps and what had soaked through the towel it looked like it was more than a simple cut. "Why didn't you go to the infirmary?"

"Don't trust that damn DI doctor. Don't think he has a clue what he's doing. I wanted you to look at it first"

"Miles just left you here bleeding?" she asks.

"I told him to go home" he says through gritted teeth. "He was driving me crazy trying to get me to go to the infirmary"

"You should have listened to him James. What if I had been late, how would you have gotten over there"

"You ain't getting my point Blondie I'm not going over there. I want you to take care of this"

She pulls back, "James, we had an agreement. I'm not a doctor anymore. Besides I'm a fertility doctor"

"Well I ain't going to the infirmary" he says stubbornly. "So unless you want me to bleed to death sitting here in the tub, then I suggest you help me out"

She shakes her head, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Fix me up and put me to bed?" he asks with the biggest grin he could muster under the circumstances.

"Oh James" she says leaning forward and kissing his forehead. She steps back and looks towards his leg. "I need to see under there and then I'll decide whether I can fix this or whether you need to go to the infirmary"

He nods, conceding to her plan. He grimaces as she peels back the bloody towel from his leg. On second glance it was worse than he'd first thought.

She peels back the towel as carefully as she can. Seeing the beads of sweat forming on his forehead again she knows it hurts more than he's letting on. Under the towel was a three inch gash which was probably another half to an inch deep. "You did a good job" she tells him, looking away from his wound and towards his face.

"You don't have to tell me that. What's the damage?" he asks.

"It's going to take quite a few stitches but I think you'll live" She pulls a clean towel from the rack and rewraps it around his leg. "I'm going to have to run to the infirmary and get supplies. Will you be okay here?" she asks.

"Mmhmm"

She takes the washcloth back from him, wets it with cool water again and puts it back against his forehead. "I'll be right back."

She leaves him sitting on the edge of the tub and goes over to the infirmary. The doctor had gone home for the night. Using her best 'other skills' she's able to convince the nurse on duty that she just needs a few supplies because James had injured himself at work but it didn't require the doctor she was able to manage it. The nurse let her collect what she needed and was oblivious when Juliet had stuck a suture kit into her box of supplies. She rushed back to their house and found James in the exact spot she'd left him. "Let's get you to the bed, I think this will be easier to do in there", not to mention the fact that he looked like he might pass out from the pain and she wasn't going to be able to carry him to bed.

**End Flashback**

"What, are you gettin' pleasure out of my misery Blondie?" he says seeing her lost in thought with a smile on her face.

Snapping out of her memories, she looks up and meets his eyes, "Just remembering that time on the island when I had to suture up your leg. You were much tougher then" she teases. "I think the real world has caused you to soften a bit"

"Hhrmph" he mumbles under his breath.

This again causes her to laugh. Catching the look on his face she stifles it and goes back to work. "There" she finally says. She picks up his hand and bringing it to her lips kissing him. "All done"

"Will I live?" he asks jokingly.

She plays along, "Possibly" she tells him. "If you listen to your finance and take care of yourself"

"Is that a doctor's order?" he asks.

"Absolutely", she says back to him. She goes over to the counter and pulls out her prescription pad. She writes out a script for antibiotics and hands it to him, "You'll still need these"

"Seriously?" he asks her as he takes the piece of paper and folds it up sticking it in his pocket.

She nods, and gets more serious for a moment "you still have an infection in your hand. I'm not taking any chances with you before our wedding. Not with the luck we have"

He laughs, "You got a point there Blondie. I'll fill it on the way home." He slides down off the table and pulls her into his arms, kissing her passionately. "Does that cover my bill?" he mumbles against her, not wanting to pull his lips from hers.

She pulls back from him just slightly, looking in his eyes. "Well it's a start" she says with a wink. "I think I'll wait till later to cash in on the rest of your debt."

He lets out a low growl, "Jeez Jules, you ain't making it easy to go back to work"

She laughs, "So what are your plans for the rest of the day? Are you going to the apartment or back to the mall?"

He eyes her, "Way to change the subject Blondie"

She shrugs her shoulders and smiles, "Sorry just curious about your plans for the rest of the day. I'd like to tell you to take the rest of the day off but I know that isn't possible."

"I'm at the Mall till three and then I need to check in at the apartment building. If all goes well I'm home by four, if not I'm not sure when I'll be home."

"Well then, I hope there is no major catastrophe awaiting you at the apartment building"

He smiles, "Thanks for fixing me up again Blondie I'll see you at home later". He leans in and kisses her one last time and then leaves to head back to work.

She watches as he heads out of her office. When he's gone she gathers her things and goes to pick up the children.

Okay, so I know I said this was going to be the last chapter but I'm sure now you figured out it isn't! I'm procrastinating ending this story. After the finale I was in the mood for a fluff chapter and this is it. I wish I could say that I loved the finale, but I can't. . the majority of it was good. . I freaking loved the Suliet reunion but to be honest, I totally hated the ending. Anyways. . that has nothing to do with the story. . just had to put that out there LOL. Hope you enjoy the fluff chapter. The next chapter might be the end. Just depends on what kinda mood I'm in ;)...