Well, here we are with the latest installment in this little foray into the 24 universe. Michelle makes a little cameo here but the story is really all Jack and Kate. Hopefully, Michelle's portrayal seems in character, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated. This chapter is all in Kate's POV (really out of necessity more than anything else) but future chapters will have Jack's voice return. As always, I don't own the characters, etc so please don't sue. No harm is intended. Thank you for reading and please drop a note if you have any thoughts or opinions about my work. SS.

It was hours later although it felt like days had passed when she finally recognized that she needed help. She probably should have called someone much earlier, but now there was no choice. She looked at his figure sprawled on the bathroom floor, now wearing only a pair of boxers that she had retrieved from his truck. The incident that had led to her stripping him and the bed should have been the indication that she couldn't do this on her own. But, she had felt for him and knew that if she were in his condition – so out of control of his body that he had soiled himself and the bed – she would want as much privacy as possible. So, she had continued on, alone.

She picked up the phone with a shaking hand and called the only person she felt she could call.

"Dessler."

A single word from a familiar voice and she almost cried out in relief. It wasn't until that moment that she realized how isolated she had felt. She had emailed her father to say she would be working from home for the rest of the week and had done the same with her assistant, adding a request that she make sure that anything that might need immediate response be deferred until Monday. So, until this call to Michelle she hadn't had contact with another person for well over twenty-four nightmarish hours.

"Michelle, I'm sorry to bother you but I need help," she said, trying to quell the shakiness of her voice.

"Kate, what's wrong?"

The soft tone of her friend's voice brought fresh tears to her eyes. "Jack is here and I thought I could do this alone, but I can't." Her voice broke on her last word and she took a deep breath, swallowed and took another steadying breath. "I didn't know who else to call."

There was a brief moment of silence on the other end of the line and then relief washed over her with Michelle's "I'll be right there."

She ended the call and dropped the phone on the dresser before returning to the doorway of the ensuite. She thought about trying to wake him again, but then realized she should make the bed before she did, in the event that he actually did get up this time. Getting that done, she returned to his side, kneeling next to him and placing her hand on his shoulder. He stirred slightly with her touch.

"Jack, honey, can you get up?" she asked, pulling gently on his arm, trying to help him even to a seated position. All her efforts at increasing her strength and here she was still lacking in any real ability where it counted.

"m okay," came his sleepy reply.

She bit her lip. She knew herself that in the worst days of her nausea, the cool tile floor had been a boon to the churning of her stomach and the spinning of her mind, but that had only been for brief stints of time. He had been sleeping on the bathroom floor for the better part of two hours now and without clothes as well. She laid her hand against the back of his neck, the side of his forehead, the smooth of his stomach. All were cool to the touch, but not cold so she decided not to force it any longer, at least until Tony and Michelle arrived.

She went to the bedroom to retrieve the half full cup of water from his bedside table. Kneeling at his side once again, she roused him awake.

"C'mon, Jack, sit up a little for me, please. I need you to take a drink."

"Nnnno," came his muffled reply.

She shifted until she cradled his head in one arm and was able to angle it so she could tip the cup slightly, wetting his chapped and cracked lips. "Just a little sip," she coaxed, carefully holding the cup so that just a dribble of water flowed. The last time she had poured too much and he had coughed and sputtered until she was sure more ended up on her and the floor than in his mouth. She straightened the cup, waited and then tipped it again. He took the liquid well and she tried for a third time before laying him back to rest on the floor, not wanting to push her luck by giving him too much too fast.

'There's no good in getting it down only to have it come back up again.'

The doorbell sounded and it was the pure relief at knowing there was someone on the other side of the door waiting to help her that allowed her to quickly get to her feet. She opened the door and found a surprisingly less than put together Michelle on the other side. Her hair was pulled into a slightly disheveled ponytail and Kate also noticed that she was wearing a plain tee and yoga pants despite the fact that it was a workday. These observations passed quickly through her tired mind, barely registering as she stepped back to offer the woman entrance.

As Michelle walked past her, Kate leaned further out the door, looking past the porch and up the street, seeking a familiar dark head and broad shoulders. He wasn't anywhere to be found. She closed the door and turned to her friend.

"Tony didn't come with you?"

Michelle's face scrunched up in confusion. "Jack didn't tell you?" she asked. Kate's expression must have betrayed her confusion because Michelle continued: "Tony's been arrested."

"Arrested? What? Oh my god, I didn't know."

Michelle's face crumbled slightly as she fought off tears. Kate couldn't imagine what her friend was going through and loved her all the more for answering her call. She leaned forward and pulled her friend into a hug and found she needed the support and comfort as much if not more than the woman she was giving hers to.

"Michelle, I'm sorry. I wouldn't have called you. You should go. I can handle this myself."

"No, Kate, I'm here and…" she smiled slightly and brushed a hand over Kate's hair and Kate thought about what a mess she must be. "…clearly you can't keep doing this by yourself."

Kate didn't know what to say, so overwhelmed with gratitude that she just stood there for a moment unable to speak or act.

"Where is he and what can I do?" Michelle said, breaking the momentary silence and spurring Kate back into action.

"He's on the floor in my bathroom," she said, leading Michelle down the hallway to her room. "I can't get him back into bed and I don't know if he's too weak to help me or if he's just too tired, but I don't think we should leave him there much longer. It's been two hours already."

They arrived at the bathroom finding Jack once again curled into a fetal position, his arms wrapped around his legs and Kate noted that the tremors and twitches had returned. She knelt next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her other hand ran through his damp hair and she leaned close to his ear, softly whispering nonsense words and sounds of comfort. A few minutes passed and eventually his body stilled.

"Okay, Jack, we're going to get you up now," she said softly, not giving him an opportunity to reply before she began shifting his weight, raising him up from the floor slightly. She angled herself behind him and somehow leveraged her weight until she had him in an almost fully upright seated position. Michelle's hands were next to hers then and between the two of them, they were able to each grab an arm and shift it over their shoulder and using their legs for leverage, they straightened until he was vertical between them. Michelle led the way, shuffling toward the door and backing out of the room.

Jack seemed to revive a bit as they crossed the short distance. Not so much so that he stood and walked on his own, but enough so that he wasn't being dragged between them.

"Here, Kate, let me hold him," Michelle said, pulling and shifting until Jack leaned against her and she fully supported his weight. "You pull back the blankets and then help his legs after I back him onto the bed."

The pair of them quickly had him comfortably in the bed and covered and Kate sat beside him, stroking his head and cheek once again. His eyes fluttered briefly but that was the only movement before he succumbed to his exhaustion once again.

"I'm worried that he's dehydrated – or that he will be," Kate said, looking over to the woman standing at her side.

"He hasn't been taking in any fluids?" Michelle asked and Kate could see a hint of the leader she knew the woman portrayed at work. A leader she, herself, usually portrayed as well but couldn't seem to find right now.

"No, barely half a glass since he's been here and he's lost plenty," she answered, thinking of the multiple rounds of vomiting as well as the diarrhea that had led to him being on the floor of her bathroom.

"Okay, I'm going to call Chloe and get her to find us a nurse who can help us without asking too many questions."

"Chloe? Oh, I don't know. I don't think Jack would want anyone at CTU to know about his problem."

"Chloe knows already. Kim knows too and so does Chase. I think he might have known the longest. And, they're not the only people at CTU that know."

Kate was stunned. She had assumed that almost no one knew about Jack's addiction which had been why he had turned to her. Clearly, there were quite a few other people that he could have turned to along with the option to choose a detox center without worrying about work finding out.

Michelle pulled out her cellphone and was quickly passing along her request to Chloe. She ended the call and turned back to Kate.

"Okay, Kate, now it's time to get you cleaned up and then you need to get some sleep."

"No, I'm okay," Kate answered, but Michelle was already shaking her head.

"No, you're not and you're not going to be able to help him much longer if you don't take a little time to take care of yourself."

Kate opened her mouth to respond but Michelle just held up a silencing hand. She turned her around and walked her back into the ensuite bath, standing her in front of the sink. For what felt like the first time in days, Kate looked at herself and was shocked at the reflection she found in the mirror. Yes, her hair was a mess, but that really wasn't the worst part of her appearance. There was dried blood in patches from the corner of her eyebrow, in her hair and on her cheek and neck. A slight bruise had started to form where her right eye had connected with the edge of the door. Dark smudges lay beneath her eyes, accenting their redness despite the fact that they were half-hidden by her heavy, purple eyelids. Her t-shirt was stained with vomit and possibly traces of feces as well although she knew better than to investigate that fact too much. It would soon be in the trash anyway.

"Maybe I should take a shower," she admitted and managed a half-grin as she met her friend's concerned gaze in the mirror.

"I would say that's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Michelle answered with a smirk of her own. "Let me look at that cut first to make sure it's not going to start bleeding again. Where's your first aid kit?"

Kate pulled a small box out of the vanity along with a facecloth and handed both over. She walked over to the edge of the bathtub and sat on it, bringing her cut to an easier height for the petite woman to examine.

"How did you do this?"

Michelle's eyes were focused on the injured area as she dabbed carefully at the dried blood, but they glanced over and caught her eyes briefly and Kate saw the concern in them.

"I hit it on the door," she replied and some part of her exhausted mind saw the irony in her answer. "I was fighting Jack for the keys to his truck and he shoved me away. I tripped and fell and caught the edge of the door."

"Kate…"

Michelle kept dabbing at the blood, wiping a little more surely now but said nothing more.

"I think it was the cut and the blood that stopped him from leaving, or at least going out to his truck and shooting up. He must have drugs in there somewhere. I checked his bag and there's nothing there, but maybe you could check his truck for me."

"Of course I can," she answered, still focused on the cut. "I don't think you need it for sure, but just in case, I'm going to put a suture to keep it closed."

"He would have gotten away from me that time I think. The next time he tried, I had already hidden the keys and blocked him from leaving the room."

Kate's mind thought about that last time. She had slammed the bedroom door and stood in front of it, braced with her knees apart and arms wide, weight balanced so he couldn't shove her aside. She had had to actually shove him back a few times until finally, he had sunk to his knees, his arms clenched around his waist and he had begged her to let him go. Promised her that he would just take a little hit. Just a little something to ease the pain. Just a little something to take the edge off. He had been in tears at her feet and she dropped to her knees and wrapped him in her arms again. To comfort him but to also put an end to his pleas because she was worried that this time she would give in to him.

Michelle finished up and then told Kate that she would sit with Jack while she cleaned herself up. Kate quickly shed her clothes and entered the shower, letting the hot stream wash over her and ease some of the tension from her shoulders. She stayed in the shower longer than was typical for her and was grateful that Michelle had insisted she take the time to clean herself up. The water refreshed her and made her feel a little more human again. She left the shower, toweled dry and then wrapped the towel around herself and left the steamy room. She crossed the bedroom, glancing over to Jack's sleeping form before entering the walk-in closet to get dressed.

She returned to her bedroom, dressed in sweats and a thin sweater, as Michelle walked into the room from the hallway at the same time.

"Chloe just called," she said. "She found a nurse who can help us. She's a home nurse and has experience with detox patients. She'll be here in a couple of hours."

"Thanks," Kate said as she moved to take a seat in the chair next to Jack.

"Oh no," Michelle stopped her. "You're getting some sleep. I'll sit here with Jack."

Kate was going to argue but then she remembered how helpless and alone she had felt just a little over an hour earlier. Instead, she gave Michelle what she hoped was a grateful smile and brushed a hand lightly over Jack's head. The light touch didn't wake him, but he shifted slightly and she bent over to place a quick kiss on his temple.

"If I'm still sleeping when the nurse comes, can you wake me up?" Michelle nodded her agreement. "Help yourself to anything you want," she added. "There's not much in the kitchen though, I'm overdue for grocery shopping," she said by way of apology.

She left her bedroom then and went to crawl beneath the covers in the spare bedroom finding it ironic that a day earlier she had convinced Jack to sleep in her room instead of this room and now here she was. She lay against the mattress and her body seemed to sink into its softness as the entirety of her exhaustion hit her. She closed her eyes and quickly succumbed to her need for sleep.

A few hours later, she woke, confused at first about where she was and why she had felt the need to waken despite still feeling tired. Then it all came to her – the hours of fear and helplessness, just watching Jack suffer, powerless to ease his suffering in any way.

Then she remembered, the nurse was coming soon.

She rose from the bed and went to check on Jack. Michelle told her that he had only woken once while she had slept but he had been barely coherent or aware of his surroundings. The doorbell sounded then and Michelle left to answer it, leaving Kate to sit at Jack's side once again. He looked pale, possibly paler than he had just a few hours earlier. She was happy that Michelle had decided to call in some medical help.

The nurse walked ahead of Michelle as she entered the room. Nurse Janet was tiny but carried a large presence. Kate estimated that the woman was in her mid-fifties and noted her business-like approach. She had short dark hair, cropped close to her head and piercing dark eyes that captured your attention.

"How long has it been since he took his last shot of heroin?" she asked after introductions were made.

"I, uh, I'm not sure," Kate answered honestly, looking to Michelle who offered a shrug in answer. "He came here yesterday around four but I…"

She trailed off, not wanting to admit to this woman that she hadn't seen him in nearly two months.

"You were not present the last time he used and he didn't tell you when that was?" Nurse Janet confirmed. "Okay, when did his symptoms first appear?"

"I think he was already in some pain when he got here," Kate answered, recalling the image of him on her sofa with his arms clasped around his waist.

"Alright, so depending on how frequently he used, we can assume it had been at least eight hours if not longer."

"I work with Jack," Michelle spoke up then. "I would say it has been longer."

The nurse nodded and then proceeded to ask further questions which Kate answered readily. She laid out the hours that she had spent taking care of Jack and couldn't help but notice the expression of sympathy on Michelle's face. Janet then proceeded to check Jack's condition, rousing him slightly and checking his blood pressure.

"He seems to be faring well but he is dehydrated," she said. "Heroin is a tough drug to kick without medication but now that he's getting close to the forty-eight hour mark, I would recommend that he continue to fight it cold turkey."

Kate breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing how much she needed to hear the reassurance from the woman.

"I'm going out to my car to get some supplies," Janet continued. "I'm going to set him up with an IV to help replenish his fluids."

Kate went to Jack's side and stroked his head, noting that he seemed to lean ever-so-slightly into her caress. The nurse returned and sent both women out of the room while she set to work. Kate followed Michelle into the kitchen and began to make some tea.

"Kate," Michelle said, coming over to stand next to her. "We need to talk."

Kate looked over at her friend, confused. Of course, there was so much to do and talk about, but there was a tone to Michelle's voice that seemed to imply something more. Her confusion must have been clear on her face.

"You know what I mean," Michelle said. Then, instead of elaborating, she turned and walked into the living room and returned, placing a bottle of pills on the counter in front of Kate. Her eyes dropped to the label and then she closed them. She opened them again to find Michelle looking at her sadly.

"Does Jack know?"

Kate walked around the kitchen island and slumped on one of the chairs. She dropped her head in her hands. "I don't want to tell him anything until I decide what I'm going to do."

She looked over to Michelle reading the confusion in her expression.

"I just don't know. My doctor said I have until next week to decide if I don't want to go through with the pregnancy. After that, it will be too late."

Michelle placed a hand on her shoulder and then took the chair next to her. "Kate, I think you already made your decision."

"It was already a complicated situation," Kate countered. "Now, it's so much more. I can't even find the time or energy to think about what I want."

"Kate, I think you know what you want, but are just afraid to admit it. I think you are waiting to admit it because you are too worried about what everyone else might think or want." Kate met her friend's dark gaze. "You're taking prenatal vitamins. You're waiting until it's almost too late to make a choice. You've made your decision, Kate. You just haven't found a way to explain it yet."

Michelle patted her shoulder and then stood up and walked around the island and fixed them both a cup of tea. Kate watched her, her mind swirling as she turned her friend's words over and over again. Had she subconsciously already chosen to have this baby? Had she already decided that she wanted to keep this gift no matter how much upheaval it might create in her life? She reached over and held the prenatal vitamins for a moment as if they would give her the answer. She had never missed a single one of these pills.

Maybe that in itself was an answer.

Well, there you have it. Chapter Four. I would love if you would drop me a line with any thoughts, or even just to let me know that you're interested. A couple more chapters remain and then an epilogue to wrap it all up. Thanks for reading. Scarlet.