The way of Seeming
I own nothing. All character's belong to someone with much more money than me.
Author's note: This is the (hopefully) fully corrected version.
If you find ANY mistakes PLEASE leave me a review saying where.
I was reading this story over and the number of mistakes I found drove me INSANE!
........And now it begins.
Don't forget to review. They make me happy. :)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The sterile white hallways were filled with the muffled sounds of doctors shouting to
each other, each endeavoring to be heard over the beeps and hums of various machines.
Will hated hospitals. It smelled like antiseptic and Jell-O, and they were entirely to
form-happy. If they could they would make you fill out a form to get one of those
horrendous stereotypical cups of the liquid that the hospital had the nerve to call coffee.
Will didn't need any coffee at the moment. If he were any more jittery he wouldn't
have the self-control needed to keep himself from killing the nurse that stood in front of
him at that moment. "Look," he said with an exasperated gasp, "I just want to find out
how my friend is. She was just brought in and-" The nurse cut him off just as he began to
break down again.
"I told you that I can only release information on patients to an immediate family
member."
Finally Will's brain started working again, and he realized that he hadn't even thought
to call Jack. He needed to know what was happening. He'd know what to do. Will turned
away from the nurse without a word and stumbled towards the phones, bypassing the
waiting room where Francie was still slumped in the chair she had fallen into when they
had arrived.
Will stared at the key pad banging the phone into his head as he mumbled to himself.
"Number, number, what the hell is his phone number?"
"If you continue to hit yourself in the head with that phone there could be brain
damage."
"Who asked you buddy?" Will slammed the phone down and spun around to face-
Jack Bristow. "What are you doing here?"
Jack's demeanor didn't change. "I got a call. It was a bad connection. Something
about St. Mary's hospital, so here I am. What are you doing here?"
Will's mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.
Jack's bland face slipped away leaving a concerned expression behind. "What's
wrong? Is it Sydney?"
The tears slipped unbidden to his eyes as he saw the scene flash in his mind once
again.
He took a deep shuddering breath, "We- Francie and I- came home- back to their
place- Oh God. She was just lying there. So still. Her hair was in her face, blue hair.
Sydney doesn't have blue hair. It's not Sydney, it can't be Sydney." Will dissolved into
incoherent babbling as he slipped down the wall, staring straight ahead, eyes unseeing.
Jack's eyes widened as he took in the babbling reporter. He spun around and headed at
a brisk pace towards the nurse's station.
The same rotund nurse that seems to work at every hospital in the world turned around
and flashed him a smile. "Can I help you sir?"
"I'm looking for my daughter. Her friends said she was brought in here."
"Her name?"
"Sydney Bristow."
"Let me check."
He had to stop himself as he noticed his fingers drumming on the desk as she typed
away at her computer. He was sure he could do it faster if she'd just get her pudgy little
fingers off the keys-"
"Here we are. Sydney Bristow. She was admitted about an hour ago. There's no status
listed. The doctors must be still evaluating her."
"Can I see her?"
"I'm afraid that won't be possible until the doctors are through with their
examination."
"If she's been here for an hour don't you think they should be done by now?" he said
through clenched teeth.
The nurse got an annoyed look on her face. "I am sure that the doctors are working as
quickly as they can. If you will go have a seat in the waiting room I can have the doctor
see you as soon as there's any news."
Her expression left no room for argument and Jack was suddenly to tired to try. What
had happened to Sydney? She'd been missing for over a week and then suddenly she
shows up on her front porch. And from Will's reaction she wasn't in good shape.
Khasinau must have captured her. There had been no word from her or Mr. Vaughn. God
knows what happened to him.
Jack walked up to the phones and saw Will still sitting there. He'd never been good at
the whole comforting thing. He walked over, pulled Will to his feet, and led him into the
waiting room. In the far corner was Sydney's other friend. What was her name?
Francesca, Frannie, Francie! That was it. Unfortunately, she seemed to be in near the
same condition as Will. He set Will down next to Francie and stood there looking at
them. Sydney must have been- No! They were civilians. Untrained, useless civilians that
couldn't possibly tell the difference between minor injuries that just looked bad and ones
that were- bad.
Jack carefully sat down in a chair across from the two most important people in
Sydney's life and slowly looked around the room. He counted at least two men from
security section. They must have been the ones to call him.
Note to self, he thought, mention to Sloane the need for better cell phones for security
section.
He stood up and walked past the nearest one, nodding to him, as he continued walking
towards the stairwell. A moment later he heard footsteps behind him. He entered the
stairwell side by side with the man, neither speaking. As the door clanged shut Jack
turned to the man. "What happened?"
The man looked at him suspiciously for a moment before speaking. "We lost track of
your daughter a week ago. Sloane ordered us to watch the house until she returned. I left
the car for ten minutes to get a drink. When I came back there was someone on the front
porch. Before I could investigate Miss Bristow's roommate and Mr. Tippin returned. By
their reaction I deduced it was Miss Bristow and placed a call to you and Sloane."
Jack winced inwardly. Sloane knew where Sydney was, and too many people at SD-6
seemed to know exactly who Will was.
"Her condition?"
"Unknown. The doctor's have yet to release anything."
Jack nodded and left the stairwell, pleased to note that the man did not follow directly
behind him. He grabbed three cups of that horrible hospital coffee and headed back
towards the waiting room. He sat back down in the same seat, placing his cup on the table
in front of him and handing the cups to Will and Francie who seemed to come back to
reality as the smell from the coffee penetrated their brains.
Francie accepted the cup and took a hesitant sip. "Thank you." Jack nodded and sat
back to drink his. Not the worst he had ever had. Definitely better than the stuff they
served in Cuba.
Francie sat there watching him as he drank the coffee, unable to find any emotion
portrayed on his face she finally came right out and asked, "Any word?"
Jack set down his coffee and sighed. "Not yet."
Francie sat back, coffee forgotten on the table beside his.
Will downed his cup in one gulp and reached for hers.
Seeing his hands shaking Jack reached out to stop him. "You don't need anymore
caffeine Will. I heard it can interact with other medications and cause them to stop
working." he said, silently telling him that any more coffee would cause all the pain
killers he was on to stop working. Or at the least all his jittery motions would cause him
to smack one of his many bruises against something.
Will apparently got the message because he left the coffee where it was and sat back
in his chair.
"Mr. Bristow?"
Jack turned around to see a tall man in a white lab coat standing by the door to the
waiting room with a clip board.
Jack, Will, and Francie all stood up and looked at him. Jack walked towards him, the
other two following close behind.
The doctor looked skeptical as the three moved toward him. "Mr. Bristow, I would
like to talk to you alone,"
Jack turned around, saw the devastated expressions on their faces, and turned back to
the doctor. "No. They deserve to know just as much as I do."
The doctor sighed and began to walk down the hallway, gesturing for them to follow.
Will, with a grateful look in his eye, grabbed Francie by the arm and they walked towards
the doctor, now standing at the door to his office. Taking a deep breath Jack followed
them into the room, shutting the door behind him.
Review, Review, Review. Reviwers make my day!
I own nothing. All character's belong to someone with much more money than me.
Author's note: This is the (hopefully) fully corrected version.
If you find ANY mistakes PLEASE leave me a review saying where.
I was reading this story over and the number of mistakes I found drove me INSANE!
........And now it begins.
Don't forget to review. They make me happy. :)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The sterile white hallways were filled with the muffled sounds of doctors shouting to
each other, each endeavoring to be heard over the beeps and hums of various machines.
Will hated hospitals. It smelled like antiseptic and Jell-O, and they were entirely to
form-happy. If they could they would make you fill out a form to get one of those
horrendous stereotypical cups of the liquid that the hospital had the nerve to call coffee.
Will didn't need any coffee at the moment. If he were any more jittery he wouldn't
have the self-control needed to keep himself from killing the nurse that stood in front of
him at that moment. "Look," he said with an exasperated gasp, "I just want to find out
how my friend is. She was just brought in and-" The nurse cut him off just as he began to
break down again.
"I told you that I can only release information on patients to an immediate family
member."
Finally Will's brain started working again, and he realized that he hadn't even thought
to call Jack. He needed to know what was happening. He'd know what to do. Will turned
away from the nurse without a word and stumbled towards the phones, bypassing the
waiting room where Francie was still slumped in the chair she had fallen into when they
had arrived.
Will stared at the key pad banging the phone into his head as he mumbled to himself.
"Number, number, what the hell is his phone number?"
"If you continue to hit yourself in the head with that phone there could be brain
damage."
"Who asked you buddy?" Will slammed the phone down and spun around to face-
Jack Bristow. "What are you doing here?"
Jack's demeanor didn't change. "I got a call. It was a bad connection. Something
about St. Mary's hospital, so here I am. What are you doing here?"
Will's mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.
Jack's bland face slipped away leaving a concerned expression behind. "What's
wrong? Is it Sydney?"
The tears slipped unbidden to his eyes as he saw the scene flash in his mind once
again.
He took a deep shuddering breath, "We- Francie and I- came home- back to their
place- Oh God. She was just lying there. So still. Her hair was in her face, blue hair.
Sydney doesn't have blue hair. It's not Sydney, it can't be Sydney." Will dissolved into
incoherent babbling as he slipped down the wall, staring straight ahead, eyes unseeing.
Jack's eyes widened as he took in the babbling reporter. He spun around and headed at
a brisk pace towards the nurse's station.
The same rotund nurse that seems to work at every hospital in the world turned around
and flashed him a smile. "Can I help you sir?"
"I'm looking for my daughter. Her friends said she was brought in here."
"Her name?"
"Sydney Bristow."
"Let me check."
He had to stop himself as he noticed his fingers drumming on the desk as she typed
away at her computer. He was sure he could do it faster if she'd just get her pudgy little
fingers off the keys-"
"Here we are. Sydney Bristow. She was admitted about an hour ago. There's no status
listed. The doctors must be still evaluating her."
"Can I see her?"
"I'm afraid that won't be possible until the doctors are through with their
examination."
"If she's been here for an hour don't you think they should be done by now?" he said
through clenched teeth.
The nurse got an annoyed look on her face. "I am sure that the doctors are working as
quickly as they can. If you will go have a seat in the waiting room I can have the doctor
see you as soon as there's any news."
Her expression left no room for argument and Jack was suddenly to tired to try. What
had happened to Sydney? She'd been missing for over a week and then suddenly she
shows up on her front porch. And from Will's reaction she wasn't in good shape.
Khasinau must have captured her. There had been no word from her or Mr. Vaughn. God
knows what happened to him.
Jack walked up to the phones and saw Will still sitting there. He'd never been good at
the whole comforting thing. He walked over, pulled Will to his feet, and led him into the
waiting room. In the far corner was Sydney's other friend. What was her name?
Francesca, Frannie, Francie! That was it. Unfortunately, she seemed to be in near the
same condition as Will. He set Will down next to Francie and stood there looking at
them. Sydney must have been- No! They were civilians. Untrained, useless civilians that
couldn't possibly tell the difference between minor injuries that just looked bad and ones
that were- bad.
Jack carefully sat down in a chair across from the two most important people in
Sydney's life and slowly looked around the room. He counted at least two men from
security section. They must have been the ones to call him.
Note to self, he thought, mention to Sloane the need for better cell phones for security
section.
He stood up and walked past the nearest one, nodding to him, as he continued walking
towards the stairwell. A moment later he heard footsteps behind him. He entered the
stairwell side by side with the man, neither speaking. As the door clanged shut Jack
turned to the man. "What happened?"
The man looked at him suspiciously for a moment before speaking. "We lost track of
your daughter a week ago. Sloane ordered us to watch the house until she returned. I left
the car for ten minutes to get a drink. When I came back there was someone on the front
porch. Before I could investigate Miss Bristow's roommate and Mr. Tippin returned. By
their reaction I deduced it was Miss Bristow and placed a call to you and Sloane."
Jack winced inwardly. Sloane knew where Sydney was, and too many people at SD-6
seemed to know exactly who Will was.
"Her condition?"
"Unknown. The doctor's have yet to release anything."
Jack nodded and left the stairwell, pleased to note that the man did not follow directly
behind him. He grabbed three cups of that horrible hospital coffee and headed back
towards the waiting room. He sat back down in the same seat, placing his cup on the table
in front of him and handing the cups to Will and Francie who seemed to come back to
reality as the smell from the coffee penetrated their brains.
Francie accepted the cup and took a hesitant sip. "Thank you." Jack nodded and sat
back to drink his. Not the worst he had ever had. Definitely better than the stuff they
served in Cuba.
Francie sat there watching him as he drank the coffee, unable to find any emotion
portrayed on his face she finally came right out and asked, "Any word?"
Jack set down his coffee and sighed. "Not yet."
Francie sat back, coffee forgotten on the table beside his.
Will downed his cup in one gulp and reached for hers.
Seeing his hands shaking Jack reached out to stop him. "You don't need anymore
caffeine Will. I heard it can interact with other medications and cause them to stop
working." he said, silently telling him that any more coffee would cause all the pain
killers he was on to stop working. Or at the least all his jittery motions would cause him
to smack one of his many bruises against something.
Will apparently got the message because he left the coffee where it was and sat back
in his chair.
"Mr. Bristow?"
Jack turned around to see a tall man in a white lab coat standing by the door to the
waiting room with a clip board.
Jack, Will, and Francie all stood up and looked at him. Jack walked towards him, the
other two following close behind.
The doctor looked skeptical as the three moved toward him. "Mr. Bristow, I would
like to talk to you alone,"
Jack turned around, saw the devastated expressions on their faces, and turned back to
the doctor. "No. They deserve to know just as much as I do."
The doctor sighed and began to walk down the hallway, gesturing for them to follow.
Will, with a grateful look in his eye, grabbed Francie by the arm and they walked towards
the doctor, now standing at the door to his office. Taking a deep breath Jack followed
them into the room, shutting the door behind him.
Review, Review, Review. Reviwers make my day!