Quickie:
Umm…I think a note here would just slow the reading process. So. No note!
Oh wait…that's a note, isn't it…

Chapter 48

"It's definitely a red-head?"

"Yeah. Looks like a bitch. You sure that's her?"

Kate smiled. "Yeah. That's her."

"Should I let her in? 'Cause I could let her stay out there and rot if you'd like."

"No, it's all right. She's no harm."

"Fine. But you take a look at her first before I let her in."

She looked in the peep-hole and indeed saw Johanna, waiting impatiently. Her shoulders slumped. Her being here early couldn't mean anything good had happened.

"What's she doin' here? I thought you said it'd be a few weeks. Not one!"

"I thought so too! That's what she told me."

She started knocking again, startling them both.

"Lady sure can pound, I'll give her that."

Kate smiled. "I think it's safe to let her in now, Sawyer."

He hated when she could read his thoughts. He frowned slightly and let her in, while Kate tried to sit on the couch, comfortably.

"And you are?" Johanna said, looking at Sawyer with a glare.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you too," he said, letting her in.

"Kate! I'm so glad you're all right," she said, hugging her.

"Yeah," she hugged her back. "I'm hanging in there."

"Good to hear," she said, finally releasing her.

"So, uh, you're early!" she said, trying not to sound negative. "I thought you said it'd be a few weeks before you could get here?"

"Change of plans." She turned to Sawyer. "Sawyer, I presume?"

"Yeah," he said, clearly getting angry.

"What happened to Jack?" she turned back to Kate again.

Way to boost the level of tension, Kate thought. She snuck a glance at Sawyer and saw he wasn't too pleased with the question.

"He left me," she said, putting it as simple as she could.

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"It's fine," she said, trying not to notice Sawyer's scowl.

"So, I suppose we should just get right down to business, hmm?" Johanna suggested, looking at the both of them.

Kate glanced at Sawyer, then back at Johanna. "I guess so. Why don't we go into the kitchen?"

"All right," Kate said getting up to lead the way. "Did you want a drink or anything?"

"No, I'm all right." She turned around when Sawyer followed them in and gave him a condescending look.

"What?" he said, sneeringly.

"Oh, nothing. I just don't remember inviting you into this discussion," she said, with an edge.

Kate smiled. "Maybe you should go out for a while or something," she told Sawyer, before he was able to say anything regrettable.

"What? You're gonna kick me outta my own house!?"

"It's just for a little while," she reasoned.

"You really think I'm gonna leave you here alone with her?" he said, glaring at Johanna.

"Sawyer, stop acting like a baby. I'll be fine. We're just going to talk."

"Yeah, well whatever she's gotta say she can say in front of me."

Now she and Johanna were giving him the same disdainful look. That was an unfair advantage. Who were they to kick him out of his house!? He looked back and forth between them, and finally was caught in Kate's hypnotic gaze. He sighed and pulled his coat from the chair it was draped over.

"I'll be back in an hour," he said in a repressed voice.

"Take your time," Johanna said, as he left the kitchen.

He left, slamming the door. Both Kate and Johanna flinched.

"I'm guessing he's got some temper."

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"So, let's see…"

"Is that guy…is he out of the coma yet?" Kate asked hesitantly.

"No. And we have a name for him now. Coma-guy is David Simmons. According to the doctors, he's in stable condition but no one knows when and if he can wake up."

Kate sighed. "Things just seem to be getting worse and worse for me."

"That's life. What're you gonna do?" she said with a friendly smile.

Kate knew she was trying to make her feel better, but it wasn't working. She wanted to tell Johanna what she should've told Sawyer. But…was that the right thing to do? Or was it the right time?

"All right. Let's see…" she said.

Apparently not, Kate thought. Johanna started searching through her briefcase which was overflowing with papers. Then Kate thought of something.

"Any word on what they've got in mind if they caught me?"

Johanna looked up, surprised. She looked like she was about to say something but she didn't. Her expression turned into a nervous sadness.

"That bad, huh?" Kate said, looking away.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's all my doing anyway."

"But I'm going to help you. So we have to stay positive, okay?"

"Right," she said, with a weak smile and looked down.

"You know, I was kind of hoping Jack would still be here," she said, scanning a few papers for something she couldn't seem to find.

"What?" Kate said, looking up at her immediately. "I mean…why?"

"Well, it's inevitable that he's going to be a part of this case. Everyone already knows that he'd been with you on the island, and they're not going to forget it. It's just lucky that we got to him first before the prosecutors could turn him against you. Aha!" she said suddenly, pausing to pull a folder out. "Anyway, if he were here, it'd be easier to get his input on this and we could figure out his role in the case and what he'd say."

"How exactly did you know he was here?" Kate inquired.

"He called me a few times while he was here. Let me know you were all right."

"Wait," she said, her eyes narrowing, and eyebrows wrinkling. "You were talking to him all that time, instead of me?"

"There were a few things I had to get done before I could talk to you. Things you need not worry about right now," she said, quickly.

"Why wouldn't he tell me that though?" she said, starting to feel annoyed.

"I don't know. I thought he would've."

Johanna continued looking through her folder, and Kate remained quiet. Johanna finally seemed to find what she needed and pulled out a few papers that were stapled together. She placed them on the table in front of Kate, turning the papers around to face her.

"There you go."

Kate glanced down at it. "What is it?"

"A few testimonies of other people on the island with you. That's what I was busy with before I came here. And that's what Jack and I were talking about. He gave me a few names of people who he thought might help."

"You talked to the others?"

"Only a few." She took the papers back and looked through them. "Sayid Jarrah…Sun Soo-Kwon…Hugo Reyes…"

She handed the papers back to Kate and she looked through them. She read their statements slowly making sure she read every word. They were all really willing to help her?

Sawyer, meanwhile, was taking a long drive into town to buy a pack of cigarettes, since he couldn't find his now. He could only assume Kate had something to do with that. Just like she had something to do with getting rid of his alcohol, and inviting people into his house without his consent and somehow managing to actually kick him out of his house. What was going on? Was he really going to let her walk all over him like that? Was he going to sit back and watch her do everything she wanted until his house became a damn Barbie dream house? Well…that was a bit of a stretch. At least he knew she wouldn't do that.

But if she wanted to, why wouldn't she? There was nothing and no one to stop her. Evidently, Sawyer couldn't. She was capable of things he never would've guessed. And things he probably still didn't know of. She was certainly capable of keeping secrets. There were things he still didn't know, according to this morning. And it figured that just as she was going to tell him, something just happened to interrupt. Of course it had to be Johanna a few weeks early! Suddenly the world was just a big inconvenience to him.

When he finally made it to town, he got his cigarettes and a bottle of booze. He sat in his truck for a few minutes, drinking and smoking, waiting to let it all settle. It felt good, and familiar. He'd missed it for that week that he was forbidden. When he started to feel a little better, he started driving again, tucking the bottle into the glove compartment. He spent the ride home remembering Kate's good qualities, and reminding himself that she wasn't doing things in spite of him. He knew she loved him. And he loved her. And he wouldn't want it any other way. Even if this Johanna person was going to be there…things wouldn't change. And besides, she owed him a week of doing anything he wanted…