Author's Note: A long chapter to make up for the wait! I will officially be moving on the 18th. I've still got a ton of things to do so I can't promise another update before then, but we'll see what happens! Big thank yous to zeusfluff, Just a fan, Love-oncers, and wordsthinker for reviews!

Please read and review!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I have not acquired Lost between now and the last update.

Code Silver

Chapter 6

Rachel had lied. Well, kind of. She never actually said she felt better, but she implied it. Juliet was pretty sure that was the same as lying and she was not happy.

The day at the beach with Julian was Saturday. On Sunday Rachel seemed fine. She had no complaints and those were her words "I'm fine" said with a longer eye roll each time and a plea to quit asking.

However, now at one o'clock Monday morning Rachel was very clearly not fine. Juliet would be pissed if she weren't too busy worrying. She'd been woken up by a loud crash. That was Rachel knocking the lamp off the hall table during her mad dash to the bathroom. Juliet was up immediately. She peeked into Julian's room, thankful to find him still sleeping.

She went next to Rachel who was practically hugging the toilet bowl. She was sweating and trying not to shake. Juliet knelt down next to her. She brushed the hair out of her sister's face and after a few moments of silence she asked "Think you're done?" Rachel nodded and Juliet helped her up. "I'm calling the doctor first thing. Rachel nodded again.

They were lucky to get a Monday morning appointment. Juliet called off work. Sometimes being the head of the department had its perks.

She sat in the waiting room with Julian and was reminded of the last time Rachel was sick. They'd spent nearly a year constantly packing up baby Julian for family trips to the oncologist. Juliet would always go no matter what, as Rachel's support system and driver. They could have left Julian with a sitter, but if Rachel was going to die she wanted to spend as much time with her son as possible.

They all made it through and Julian had no memories of his mother as a sickly, bald cancer patient. Juliet wasn't sure they could get so lucky again.

The large waiting room was nearly empty. Juliet sat on one of the uncomfortable blue chairs, the odd geometric pattern on it and the rest of the furniture seemed somehow too cheerful for the office of a cancer doctor. Julian was shuffling through the books and magazines on a center table.

Juliet's eyes wandered around the room taking stock of all the things that had changed since their last visit. The walls seemed to be a slightly lighter shade of beige and there were a few new pictures on them. Eventually her eyes landed on a woman sitting across the room and she was met with a dirty stare in her direction. Juliet's brow furrowed. What could I have possibly done to warrant that? The woman's gaze shifted to Julian and Juliet understood.

Her nephew was dropping every piece of reading material he didn't want onto the floor. She watched as he picked up another issue of People Magazine and studied the cover before holding it out over the floor and letting it drop unceremoniously into a heap with the rest of the Peoples, Entertainment Weeklys, and children's books he found uninteresting.

"Julian." She whispered loudly.

He looked up at her, a brightly colored Dr. Seuss book hanging precariously by his fingertips over the pile on the floor.

"Pick those up." She told him. "That's not how we treat things."

He looked from his aunt to the pile on the floor and Juliet prayed he wouldn't argue with her. "But I'm trying to find a good one." He protested.

There were only a few books left on the table. "Pick one and then put the rest back before we read."

Julian nodded and promptly let go of the book in his hand. Juliet sighed. He looked through the ones left on the table and picked out a well-worn purple one. He raced to Juliet and placed it in her lap. "Pick the others up first." She reminded him.

He ran back and stacked them on the table as fast as he could. They weren't very neat, but she decided it was good enough. The other woman had gone back to staring at the wall.

Julian climbed into the chair next to Juliet and they read his chosen story.

They read about cows that could type, a mouse with a cookie, and were halfway through one about a lion with a headache when Rachel emerged from the door that led to the rest of the building.

Julian saw her first. He scrambled out of his chair and ran to greet her. She scooped him up and listened to him tell all about the books they read.

Juliet stayed frozen to her seat. Julian was under the impression that this was a regular doctor and his mother was here for a regular check-up. Rachel smiled at him and acted normal, but Juliet could see right through it. Juliet's heart sank as Rachel avoided meeting her gaze.

The sisters made small talk until they got home and Julian went down for a nap. Juliet caught Rachel in the living room after closing Julian's door. "What'd the doctor say?" She asked, afraid of the answer.

"He doesn't know what it is." Rachel's eyes filled with tears. "It could be nothing or it could be something bad." Juliet wrapped her sister in a hug and they both let the tears fall. "I don't want to be sick again." Rachel whispered against Juliet's shoulder.

"I know." Juliet smoothed her sister's hair before pulling back. "What else did he say? Did they run tests?'

Rachel sniffled and wiped at her eyes. She nodded. "They'll call with the results as soon as they get them."

Juliet's hands went to Rachel's face brushing the hair back and wiping the tears away. She tried to hold back her own tears that threatened to fall. Rachel was supposed to be the strong one. She'd gotten Juliet through her marriage and divorce. She'd believed in Juliet when Juliet didn't even believe in herself. And she'd been so positive the first two times she'd been sick.

Juliet wasn't sure she could be strong enough for the both of them. But she had to try. "You're gonna be ok." She told Rachel with the strongest voice she could muster. "And we're not gonna worry until we hear back from the doctor." Rachel nodded and Juliet pulled her in for another hug.

The next day Juliet went back to work. She sat at her desk and stared at the mountain of paperwork and computer screen filled with unopened emails. She knew the chances of getting test results back the day after the test was preformed would be slim to none, but she still kept her cell phone nearby and found herself looking at it every few seconds, sometimes pushing the button to make it light up just to be sure she hadn't missed anything.

Eventually she was able to keep herself distracted and busy. She had no patients to see and dove right into the paperwork after finishing the emails. She worked through lunch, afraid to stop and think for more than a second.

The day wore on and suddenly at around three o'clock her phone chirped. Juliet froze and stared down at the tiny screen. It was a message from Rachel. 'Got results. Call when you can.' Her heart raced and she dropped the pen from her hand, replacing it with the phone.

He hospital building had notoriously bad cell reception. Juliet had always been lucky sending and receiving text messages in her office, but actually speaking to someone over a phone that didn't belong to the hospital was almost unheard of. She quickly locked up the office and headed into the hall. If you wanted to be able to talk on your cell phone you had to go outside and Juliet knew the perfects spot.

She took the elevator to the sixth floor and then took the stairs up to the roof access door. The outgoing head of OB had showed her his trick to a quiet place to think when she started. If you jiggled the handle just right the door popped right open without a key.

Her heels clicked and clacked against the rock spread across the flat roof. She moved away from the door and over to the edge. The ledge of the building was tall enough for her to lean against and rest her elbows on. Despite the noise of the city she'd always found it peaceful and she'd never run into another person there. Perfect for a phone call she knew would result in tears.

Juliet took a deep breath and called her big sister.

James took the stairs to the roof two at a time. He was making rounds through the building and it was the only place he had left to check. He often saved it for last. It was the only place in the hospital that wasn't full of people and he enjoyed a break from the hustle and bustle every now and then. He'd been told past employees had been known to hide on the roof for smoke breaks, secret rendezvous with other employees of the opposite sex, and as a way to simply avoid working. James had never run into anyone up there or on the stairs. He was beginning to wonder if the stories were all just rumors.

James used his key on the roof door and slipped out into the fresh Florida air. The roof was populated by air conditioning units along with other machines and pipes that contributed to the inner workings of the building. It was surrounded on all sides by a ledge that was at least waist high. James turned the corner around an A/C unit and was shocked to find someone standing near the ledge. He was even more shocked to see that person was Juliet.

After their run in at the beach James made a decision. He promised himself he would ask her out the next time he saw her. He wasn't sure if a hotshot doctor could be interested in someone like him and he still wasn't sure if she were married or not, but when he looked at her he knew he was over Cassidy and he just had to try. He couldn't get Juliet out of his head and he hoped there was a chance she felt the same way.

He started towards her when he noticed the slight shaking of her shoulders and the hand held up by her ear. She was on the phone. And she was crying. James wanted to run back downstairs. He'd never known what to do with crying women and he knew he'd just stumbled into something very personal. But the desire to comfort her and make her feel better fought with the one to run and he became frozen in his spot.

"I'll see you when I get home. Love you." Juliet said through her tears.

James watched as she hung up her phone and rested her head in her hands. He stood there for another moment. His brain told him to hightail it in the opposite direction, but something in heart pulled him closer to her. "Juliet." He said carefully, using her real name for the first time.

Her head snapped up and she immediately began to brush the tears away while blinking rapidly in an attempt to keep new ones from coming. "Um…wh-, what are you doing here?" She asked trying to be casual.

James shrugged. "Gotta secure the roof, too."

"I know I'm not supposed to be up here. Sorry. I should go." The tears were gone, but her face was red and eyes puffy.

She moved to walk past him and back to the door, but he stopped her with a gentle hand on her elbow. "Hey." He said softly. "What's goin' on? You ok?"

Juliet shifted her gaze from the rocks at her feet to James' face. She let out a small laugh. "I'm great actually." And she smiled.

James was fairly certain he'd never been more confused in his life. "Coulda fooled me." He stated when he realized she wasn't going to say more.

She pushed some hair out of her face and laughed again. Then she turned serious. "I thought my sister's cancer came back. She said she got the results from the tests and to call her back. She's going to be ok! It's not cancer!" Juliet beamed. She wasn't sure what compelled her to tell this stranger something so personal, but something about James drew her to him.

His smile matched her own. "That's great!" He said.

They stood in silence for a moment before Juliet realized how she must look. "I'm sorry about all this." She gestured to her face. "I've never run into anyone up here before and I was so sure she'd give me bad news." She paused. "This all started as soon as the phone started ringing." She pointed to her eyes, indicating the tears. Her mouth seemed to be moving of its own accord. "Sorry." She said again before closing it quickly.

"It's alright." James assured her. Her makeup was ruined. The eyeliner she'd had around her eyes was beginning to make her resemble a raccoon, but he was still taken by her beauty. Her blue eyes shown through the redness, puffiness, and black of the makeup. He realized he was staring and quickly stopped. "How'd you get up here anyway?"

Juliet looked a little guilty. "The door." She said. "If you jiggle the handle right it'll open."

"Good to know." He stated.

"I'd better get back to the office." She said. "I'm sure I look like a mess."

She moved to pass him again, but he stopped her with his words this time. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you."

She stopped and looked at him expectantly.

He stopped himself from running a hand through is hair. "Do hotshot baby doctors ever go to dinner with security guys?" He managed to sound a lot more confident than he felt and relaxed when he saw her smile.

"I think they might if given the opportunity."

"You free tomorrow night?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

James' smile grew wide. "I've been told that Italian place down the street is pretty good."

She nodded again and smiled. "It's my favorite."

"Meet you there about seven?"

"Sounds good." She said.

"Good." He said awkwardly, ruining the air of confidence he'd been trying to put out. Had asking someone out ever been this difficult before? He didn't think so.

"I better get back to work." She said and this time he let her go back to the door and head down the stairs.