So a lazy evening had me on ffn browsing for something to read... on a whim, I clicked on my own story (this one) and saw that my POV breaks were not being carried through to the final work on the reader's end. I've tried something different with this chapter (#####) and made sure to include extra spacing as well. I will go back and edit the previous chapters and please accept my apologies for how those chapters must have read rather confusingly without the proper breaks. As always, I don't own the characters or show and intend no harm by using them in this work of fiction. Thank you for reading, Scarlet.

Chapter Five

Michelle had left shortly after the nurse had finished her ministrations with a promise to return again the following day. She had also left cold pizza in the fridge that she had ordered while Kate had slept which Kate was grateful for as it was nearly the only food left in her house.

Jack had slept through the night thankfully. Nurse Janet had given him Gravol after the IV fluids and the medication had worked to settle his stomach and afford him some true rest. Kate had even managed a few hours herself although for the first half of the night, she had maintained a vigil at his bedside, waiting for his tremors and nausea to return. Once it was apparent that he seemed to be good for the night, she had crawled into the bed next to him and closed her tired eyes for a few hours.

She had slept fitfully despite her tired state and woke before dawn. She resumed her vigil in the chair at Jack's side of the bed. His face looked so much more relaxed than it had when she had first taken up her seat a day and a half earlier. The creases seemed to have lessened, the circles beneath his eyes a little lighter and some of the colour had returned to his cheeks. Clearly, the brief treatment the nurse had administered had done him a world of good. Probably much more than the hours she had spent with cold cloths and a water glass.

She should have called for help hours earlier – or called a nurse herself rather than trouble Michelle. She had thought she was protecting Jack, his privacy, his career, his integrity. She hadn't been or hadn't needed to worry about any of those - just the man himself. She brushed the back of her fingers along his temple and whispered her apology.

'How am I going to take care of a baby?' she thought defeatedly. Clearly, her instincts had failed her in her care of Jack. Michelle had arrived and within minutes had known what to do. How could she assume the responsibility for an entire lifetime of care? She had barely managed satisfactory care for an entire day.

She shook herself mentally and rose from her seat. With the thought of the baby, she was reminded that she should be taking better care of it as well. She went to the kitchen in search of some breakfast, her thoughts in even more turmoil.

Had she really decided that she was going to have Jack's baby? Was Michelle correct in her observation? Had she made that choice weeks ago and had only spent the past month searching for some sort of justification for her decision?

Her hand dropped to the slight curve of her stomach, stroking it slowly.

Suddenly, she felt a warmth seemingly fill her from the inside out. She closed her eyes and embraced it. Was this what it felt like when you were happy to find out you were pregnant? When a baby was something you wanted right from the beginning or even longer?

She thought of the man lying in her bedroom. How would he react when she told him? She wasn't sure, but she did know that regardless of how he felt or reacted, she had made her choice. She was having a baby. She would care for it on her own if needed and she would do okay. She would have more time to prepare for this little one's needs than she had for Jack's sudden incapacitation, after all.

She was contemplating relatively healthy whole grain toast versus the leftover pizza courtesy of Michelle when her doorbell had chimed. Confused by the early caller, she made an internal check of her attire before heading to answer the door. She saw Michelle's petite form through the sidelight window as she approached. Opening the door, she found a much more professional Michelle than had arrived the day prior waiting for her on the other side. She was dressed in dark jeans, a white blouse and brown blazer and her hair was tamed into a low pony tail. She held a brown paper bag perched against her hip.

"Michelle, I wasn't expecting you back until later today," Kate said by way of greeting and almost kicked herself. Her lack of sleep was clearly catching up to her.

"I picked up a few groceries for you on my way home last night," Michelle explained, seemingly unaffected by Kate's rude greeting. "I wanted to drop them off before I went to the prison to visit with Tony."

"Oh, Michelle, you didn't have to do that," Kate said, taking the bag that her friend had held out to her, her heart warmed by the kind gesture.

"It's really not much," Michelle explained. "Some basics like eggs, pasta, a jar of sauce and some fruits and veggies."

"It's perfect," Kate assured. "I was literally just debating between cold pizza or keeping it healthier and eating toast once again."

"I knew you would be. I saw your fridge, remember?" Michelle replied with a little smirk. "You have yourself, a baby and Jack to take care of; takeout and toast is not going to cut it anymore."

Kate deposited the bag on the hall table and embraced the petite woman impulsively. She wasn't sure how she had earned a friend like Michelle but she was so thankful to have her by her side. She was especially overwhelmed with her friend's support given all that she had going on in her own life.

"Did John's office call you yet?" Kate asked after straightening from the sudden embrace.

She had left a message with the lawyer that her father had retained for her sister's defence. Even though Marie's trial had already occurred – and of course she had been found guilty – her father had kept the lawyer on retainer. He still held hope that Marie would recount her belief that her crimes had been justified and if that happened, her father planned to appeal the life sentence. She offered the lawyer's advice (at the very least but she hoped she would be able to convince her father to offer his services as well) to Michelle in order to discuss options for Tony's situation. She still found it hard to believe that the man she had come to consider as a friend was sitting in a maximum security prison facing a charge of treason.

"No, not yet, but you did leave my cell phone so I'm hoping he calls before I get to the prison."

"Give me a call before you go into the prison if he hasn't. I'll call his office again. At least, by then I will be able to speak to someone in person."

Michelle smiled slightly and reached out and grasped Kate's hand. "Thank you," she said simply but Kate felt the warmth in her words and in her grip on her hand.

With that, Michelle left and Kate brought the groceries into the kitchen. She put them away quickly, leaving the eggs and shredded mozzarella cheese (a happy surprise that Michelle hadn't mentioned) on the counter for her breakfast. Before she began, she went and checked on Jack who was still sleeping soundly. She wasn't sure if he would be ready to eat when he finally woke, but decided to make enough for the both of them in hopes that he was. At this point, she wasn't certain, but felt that he might be well past the two day mark since his last meal.

#####

A gentle caress along his temple pulled him from the last grasp of sleep. His eyes felt heavy as he blinked them open, as if he hadn't opened them in a long time and he wondered how long he had been asleep. A soft light filled the room and he took in the slumped figure before him. Her normally bright eyes looked dulled with fatigue but a slight smile greeted him as she said his name.

"Kate," his voice rasped and broke on her name. He cleared his throat and tried again. This time he was able to say her name a little more clearly but his voice was still just barely more than a whisper. His throat ached and he had vague recollection of hours spent over her toilet.

"Here, have some water," she said, straightening and removing her fingers from his hair to retrieve the cup at his bedside table. He immediately missed the warmth of her touch.

She had moved to cup his head and tip the glass to his lips before he could shift himself to a more upright position. He pushed the cup away gently and rose until his back leaned against the pillow and headboard. His body ached all over and he felt as though he had been in a car wreck or one of his worst days at basic training but he ignored the pain and reached out to take the water from her with a slightly trembling hand. He focused his attention until his tremors stilled and drank from the cup. The cool liquid was a soothing balm to his abused throat and he drank heartily.

"Not too much," she cautioned and he handed the glass back to her, still half full despite the fact that he felt as though he could have drank it all. She had seemed so adept and accepting of the thought of helping him to a simple drink of water that he wondered how many other times she had done the act already. He reached over and covered her hand with his, rubbing his thumb across it slowly.

She closed her eyes and he noted the dark circles beneath them. The night had clearly been exhausting for her and she must not have gotten as much sleep as he did. She tipped her head to the side, seeming to stretch her neck, but it angled her face toward him more fully and that was when he noticed the bruise above her right eyebrow. A single fabric strip covered a slight gash at the centre of the bruise.

He reached out and his fingers hovered over the injury. He had a sudden flash of memory of pulling his fingers away from her temple, reddened with her blood. The call of the drugs had been so strong that he had almost walked away from her despite the injury, the injury he had caused. He closed his eyes as flashes of struggling and yelling burst forth from his memory. He opened his eyes back up again to find her eyes looking on him with concern.

'How can she be worried for me after everything I put her through?'

"Oh god, Kate, I'm so sorry," he said and this time his voice rasped with emotion instead of disuse. He let his fingertips brush gently against her wound and then dropped his hand to his lap. He pulled his other hand away from her hand as well. "I should go. I should have never come. I should have never put this on you."

He shifted and turned until he was sitting with his legs hanging over the edge of the bed. For the first time, he realized that he was nearly naked.

'What happened to my clothes?' he thought but didn't speak the question aloud.

"Jack, what are you doing?" she asked as she stood as if she meant to block his exit from her bed.

"I'm going home," he replied. "One sleepless night is enough to ask. Too much really, never mind the fact that I hurt you too. Where did you put my clothes?"

He added the last as he stood, ignoring her clear intent to stop him. The room spun slightly but just briefly before he was able to get his sorts about him. He felt battered, weak and even a little hungry, but he could handle it. He had endured worse and he knew he couldn't ask Kate to endure any more than she already had.

"You're not leaving, Jack."

She said it firmly and had taken a step to stand directly in front of him. The tone of her voice suggested that she might put her hands on her hips, but instead she held them slightly away from her sides, her knees ever so slightly bent. It was a stance that allowed for quick reaction and movement which he was sure had become naturally ingrained after her martial arts training; she was clearly prepared to physically prevent him from leaving.

A brief flash of her blocking his access to and shoving him away from the bedroom door entered his mind. Was that when he had hurt her or had there been another time? He wasn't sure. The memories were all jumbled together.

"Kate, I don't want to hurt you and I've already hurt you too much," he explained. "I'm not going to use, I promise, but I can't keep asking you to take care of me. Look at what just one day has done."

"Jack, it's been two days."

"What?"

He sat back on the bed. He had been here for two days, not one? It was no wonder Kate looked as tired as she did. What had the past two days been like for her? He looked around the room and seemed to take in his surroundings for the first time. A pile of towels and wash cloths sat in the corner next to his nightstand. He noticed the bag from his SUV but there was no other sign of any of his belongings.

"The first night you were either in bed or next to the toilet," she explained. "And most of the next day you were on the bathroom floor. I didn't do a very good job of keeping you hydrated, I'm afraid. By the middle of the day, you weren't really coherent and I couldn't get you off the floor until Michelle came to help me."

"Michelle was here?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't know who else to call. I thought she would bring Tony with her to help, not knowing that he had been arrested at the time of my call. But we still managed to get you in bed," she added.

"Have there been any updates on the charges against Tony?" he asked, feeling more than a little guilty that he couldn't be there for his friend. Other than a single call to David Palmer, he hadn't done anything else to help the man who he had leaned on so heavily, especially over the past year.

"I don't think so," Kate answered, "but Michelle is coming here after she meets with Tony today. Maybe she'll have some new information then."

"Okay," he said, not sure of what else he could or should say. His mind was still reeling with the time he seemed to have lost. He had been so helpless that Kate had needed help to get him off the bathroom floor and back into bed. And, he didn't remember any of it.

His stomach rumbled audibly and Kate gave him a slight half smile, clearly having heard it as well.

"I'll make you an omelette," she said. "Just get comfortable in the bed and I'll be back in a few minutes."

Jack watched Kate leave the room and instead of settling back in the bed, he stood up and walked over to the table where his bag sat open. He pulled on a t-shirt but noticed that the only pants he had in it were jeans. He opted to leave those for later when Michelle arrived although he wondered what state of dress he had been in the last time she had seen him.

He settled back in the bed, the covers pulled up to his waist and his back resting against the headboard. His mind still turned with thoughts about what had happened over the past two days. Even though he hated that he put Kate through hell, he was thankful that he had found himself on her doorstep. He wasn't sure if there was another single soul in his life who would have been able to take him to this point in his recovery. The fleeting and vague memories that he did have proved it to him. Moments of soft caresses and soothing words contrasted with visions of flashing eyes filled with fierce determination. He wasn't sure that there was anyone else he knew who cared enough about him to do so much. Maybe Kim, but he wasn't sure if she was ready to take on that kind of responsibility and regardless if she was, he never would want to put something like this on his daughter. He felt bad enough for having done this to Kate.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, his mind and body tired already despite the small amount of time he had actually been awake. He tried to calm his swirling mind while he waited for the woman who had already done so much for him to bring him breakfast in bed.

thank you for reading and, if you feel obliged, for leaving a review. SS.