The hospital loomed ahead of the five people in the helicopter, ten minutes later and it landed on the helipad and Jack, Irina, Sydney and Vaughn got out, and ducking under the still spinning rotors made their way to the roof access into the hospital. The men and women of the beta team would be arriving shortly and they would inconspicuously guard the exits, stopping Irina from attempting escape and to make sure Sloane or Sark did not try to enter. It was not likely that they would risk it but stranger things had happened and the CIA agents were to keep an eye out for them as a precaution. They were seen to immediately, Jack was taken to a separate treatment room and before he left he made sure Sydney and Vaughn watched his wife, he was uneasy letting her out of his site but if he started to refuse help himself or asked the Doctor to wait questions would be asked that he wasn't allowed to answer. Originally they were just going to get Jack's wound seen to but after Irina's collapse it seemed prudent to wait a while, if it happened again they did not want to be in mid air with no clue what to do.
The time ticked by far too slowly for Jack's liking, he alternated between watching the black haired intern clean and then stitch his wound to the clock on the wall behind him; he ignored her when she told him to sit still every time he craned his neck to check the time. It felt longer than five minutes. Before entering the hospital a change of clothes had been issued, it would cause too much unwanted attention if they marched in wearing fatigues. The Intern at least did not think it odd that his clothes weren't torn, or bloodied due to the gash underneath the pale blue shirt that Jack now wore. He wished she would hurry up; evidently she was going slowly to avoid making a mistake. Next time maybe, just maybe, he would take Irina up on her offer of help. But that was probably just his impatience talking. The young girl made polite conversation as she continued her work and he replied her question with short answers, making up his story as they went along and committing it to memory should he be asked similar things again later.
He was growing more impatient as the minutes passed by, it wasn't that he did not think Sydney and Vaughn couldn't keep an eye on Irina, it was just that she had a way, despite all of her lies, of making people eventually trust her. Especially now. Despite the fury of her amnesiac self she had had an innocence about her, something he would never normally associate with Irina. It was for that same reason that now she was even more untrustworthy, she would use the so called side-effect to her own gain. She would be watched at all times.
Irina looked about the examination room. That Doctor had ushered Sydney and Vaughn out of the room, telling them politely but firmly to wait on the chairs in the corridor. The Doctor himself had stepped outside a few minutes before; holding in his tanned and wrinkled hand three vials of her blood. The room was the same as any other though in this there was a watercolour on the back wall that brightened the otherwise plain white room, the smell was the same, that distinct hospital odour, and though the voices were different the conversations were much the same as in any other hospital. The door was ajar and she hopped off the bed to look outside, she had long ceased to feel dizzy after having blood taken, and wooziness she did feel was put down to the poison doing it's work. She heard a phone ringing and seconds later instructions were being given to the caller on how to reach the hospital. Irina pushed the door open and watched a dopey looking patient be pushed past her on a gurney. She wasn't planning on escaping but the thought had crossed her mind; she was left all by herself and the coast was clear. Even as she stepped back into her room she was planning how an escape might be possible, knowing Agents were posted at all possible exits. It was so tempting.
No sooner had Irina turned back the bed, leaving the door to swing shut, did she hear it open again and in the wall picture she saw the reflection of her daughter. "I don't know if you're thirsty but I brought a drink anyway" Sydney stood, waiting awkwardly for a response or any sign that she had been heard. When Irina turned and looked at her. She smiled, visibly relieved. Sydney couldn't be sure anymore if it was her mother she was talking to.
Irina took the drink; the orange juice was ice cool. "Come to make sure I haven't escaped?" she asked without anger before taking a sip of her drink. Her mouth and throat were bone dry and the liquid was a welcome relief.
"No" Sydney hurriedly responded. It was obvious from the speed of her answer that she had been checking up on Irina, using the drink as an excuse. She had not expected her mother to still be in the hospital, let alone the room. She had been watching from the corridor, along with Vaughn, to make sure Irina did not slip out. She would find some way Sydney knew, "how are you?"
Irina sat down in the chair this time instead of the bed. She felt so tired and if she lay down she ran the risk of falling asleep, and Irina did not want that. If she woke she had no idea beforehand of knowing who she would be. "Better" it wasn't a complete untruth.
Sydney looked on dubiously, she knew without a doubt that her mother was keeping something from her. "Mom" she said in the same tone that had been used on her as a child when her parents knew she was keeping something from them.
Irina smirked and shook her head; she almost forgot how perceptive Sydney could be. "You remember a time when you were five years old, you were playing in the garden when the tow brothers from three doors down kicked their ball and it hit you in the stomach, knocking you down?" she asked.
Sydney nodded and walked to the bed to sit opposite Irina. She wondered where this trip down memory lane was going. "Yeah I remember, I was aching for about a week afterwards. They kicked that ball hard, it really hurt" she remembered, and then realised why it had been brought up. "You'll get better" she added convincingly, now it was Irina that look disbelieving, but through outward appearances she did not look afraid with what was happening to her. "I remember wondering what happened to the brothers, the next day they just disappeared" Sydney laughed and looked sheepish. "There was this old lady that lived nearby and all the kids thought she hung the naughty children from her washing line in the garden. Some places had the haunted house or the cat lady; we had the woman with the washing line. I thought you'd taken the brothers to her" Irina laughed at that, at the tales that kids could come up with.
"Did you find out what really happened to them?"
"Yes, their sister told me about a week later that they had just gone to camp" Sydney remembered her innocent and younger self being terribly worried for days that the police would take her mother away from her for giving the boys to the scary lady; she had been so relieved upon finding out the truth of the matter.
"I knew her actually and she was a sweet old lady, her name was Sally Wood. She was neither scary nor had bad children hung on her washing line" she chuckled. The Doctor returned then, his face a picture of confusion. He motioned for Sydney to come outside and he followed her out, closing the door behind them.
"I would like to keep your mother here for observation" he told Sydney, "It was very unusualâ€we were talking one minute and the next she had no idea how she came to be in the hospital. I started to explain the situation to her when, all of a sudden, she was herself again. She made no mention of what had occurred" Sydney had never seen a man look so mystified and she couldn't really blame him.
And now she knew what it was that Irina had kept from her in the examination room, though she didn't know why. Her mother had to have known what had happened but chose to keep it to herself. "I don't known what my dad would have to say about that, our flight leaves in a couple of hours" Sydney lied, putting on a worried yet clueless persona. "I'll have to talk to him" she made an excuse to leave and when she looked back the Doctor had trotted off down the corridor to see to his other patients. Sydney debated over whether to confront her mother and weighed up the pros and cons of doing so, in the end she decided to talk to her father first and told a reluctant Vaughn to watch over Irina.
Jack was on the phone when Sydney stopped outside his room, the Intern had left and he was alone. She was getting ready to remind him that mobile phones weren't allowed to be used inside a hospital when she took note of his icy tone as he spoke to whomever was on the line, her first thought was that he was arguing with Kendall over what to do with Irina. And then she actually listened properly to the one sided conversation. She hadn't meant to, it just ended up that way, Sydney did not want to interrupt and the best course of action was to just wait in the corridor to finish speaking, the only way to know when he was done was to listen in on the private conversation. Much like she had done sometimes as a child.
"You are either not listening to me or not understanding me: I will never work with you, I've done that before and it is a mistake I will not repeat" Jack's voice left no argument.
But whomever Jack was talking to was not giving up easily. "I know a part of you still cares about her – it's pathetic really, but it also helps me get what I want. You will help me because it's the only way to save Irina's life" Sloane said, gloating as he sat back in the black chair of the private jet that he had chartered. "She's dying Jack, and I have the means to save her lifeâ€but as you know my help comes with a price."
Jack did not answer straight away and his hand tightened around the small phone. "I'm listening," he said through gritted teeth.
Sloane smirked. He held up his wine glass for a refill and waited until the hired help had left before he continued talking; he didn't mean to keep Jack hanging but it was quite satisfying to know that he had no choice but to wait until Sloane wanted to speak. "Listen carefully because I will only offer this to you once"
Jack's face steadily hardened as his old friend outlined his plan; five minutes passed before he switched off the phone, the conversation ending with Sloane giving Jack a number to reach him with a decision. It was an impossible decision to make. "Dad?" Sydney pushed open the door and went inside, looking at him questioningly.
He spun around, not expecting her to be there, Jack looked like the kid that just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long – who were you talking to?" Sydney asked, she hoped he would tell her something, it was bad enough one parent keeping important secrets.
As it turned out Jack seemed to be in a telling mood. He stepped by Sydney and closed the door to ensure that they had some privacy "that was Sloane. He must be monitoring the hospital because he knows we're here. It is imperative that we leave immediately. What did the Doctor say?"
Sydney wanted to know more but sensed the urgency in his voice and understood his need to leave. "He wants to keep mom here for observation, I told him I would talk to you first" she gave him the quick rundown "Vaughn's watching her now."
Vaughn walked up and down in front of the door to Irina's room, he checked the time on his watch and wondered what was taking Sydney so long. He was quite satisfied to wait outside but if Irina got out somehow then Jack would, probably literally, have his head. It was that which made him push open the door and hesitantly check the room within, the feeling of walking into a Lion's den came to mind; only with a Lion you pretty much knew where you stood. Irina was sat cross-legged on the bed, her eyes closed and back straight. Where usually her posture and face would be the epitome of peacefulness and calm during meditation now, something was different, but as Vaughn took the moment of quiet to study her, he could not put his finger on what he thought was not right with her. Irina broke the silence and made him start, he saw an unmistakeable flicker of amusement pass across her face and he felt frustrated with himself. "It's rude to stare, Agent Vaughn."
Her eyes were still closed and he wondered how she did that, how she knew it was him that was with her without ever seeing him first. "I was just surprised, I didn't expect you to still be here" Vaughn responded.
"In his own unusual way Jack respects you; you won't earn more by trying to act like him in regard to me" Irina answered in reply to his previous remark, a remark that, had Jack said it, would have been cutting.
Vaughn laughed and shook his head. "I don't know where you get your information but Agent Bristow would have more respect for my Dog" was his highly sarcastic reply.
"That isn't true, you just don't see it. I do; even though he rarely shows it he does value your opinion. You even go against him sometimes and because of that he sees you as worthy" she shifted from her current seated position to swing her legs over the side of the bed, she couldn't get comfortable.
"Worthy of what?" Vaughn wanted to know more, to hear what she had to say, he wanted to leave but at the same time played the part of the avid listener perfectly.
"Worthy of Sydney's affections" the comment left him not knowing what to say. She had, even though he had initiated the original conversation, turned it completely around. Irina directed the topic without him realising it. Vaughn was stuck between wanting her to carry on and being annoyed at himself for it.
Luckily for him the decision of what to do next was made for him as Jack and Sydney entered, the both wore similar looks of surprise and relief. "We're leaving" Jack announced in a no nonsense attitude and waited, expecting Irina and Vaughn to jump to attention and get ready to go. They did neither, the two of them wanted answers.
"What happened?" Vaughn voiced the question before Irina, who didn't even seem to be taking much notice of them.
"I will explain once we leave here" Jack replied pointedly. He had spoken briefly with the Doctor and given him a number to call when Irina's results came through in a few days, he had explained that there was no way that they could stay in France any longer and yes, they would keep him updated on his patients status. "Let's go" Vaughn moved to stand by the doorway where Sydney was waiting; Jack stepped in front of Irina.
Her eyes moved upward to meet his. Jack moved back as she stood and came towards him, he inched away and watched her with unease as she lifted her arm to run her hand through his hair. "When did you turn grey?" she paused for a second before smiling and looking at him, amused. "I like itâ€I always did say that your job would take away the brown."
Jack's mouth opened but words failed him. He lifted his own arm to take her hand, his actions were surprisingly gentle; something that Sydney had not seen in him for a long time and Vaughn not at all. At the same time he was guarded still, though a far cry from how he usually was. "Laura?" he finally breathed out.
"You look like you've seen a ghost" she was oblivious to the rooms other two occupants, even to the room she was in. "Sit down" she instructed.
If this were a cruel trick of Irina's, a hoax to gain his trust, he would never ever forgive her. "No, I'm fine" he had spoken to Kendall before Sloane made contact and the Director had ordered him to bring Derevko in. He could not comply with these instructions now – yet he had no choice. He had to betray her to save her. But this woman was no nearer to being Irina than the other person in the cell at the mansion.
"I have the worst headache" Laura rubbed at her temples and sat down on the bed again. She surveyed the room then and her confusion grew "is that why I'm here? In the hospital?"
Jack thought quickly and came up with a half-truth. "You collapsed, what's the last thing you remember?" he needed to get an idea of what year Laura thought this was. Whatever she thought; things were going to get extremely difficult.
"I was sitting on a bed and a Doctor was taking my blood" only Sydney understood how that could be, the Doctor had mentioned how Irina hadâ€changed suddenly, and now she realised why her mother had not said anything. For them to find out that she had become so confused to believe herself to be Laura would have been agonising. To find out this way though was far worse. "Before that I was at home, you were at work and Sydney was playing – is she okay?" Laura demanded, "Did she call you? Is that how you knew to come here?" things just weren't adding up. She took her in her surroundings again and noticed the strange man and woman as the latter left the room, looking disturbed. The man excused himself and followed her. "Are they your colleagues?" Laura rose to her feet again and paced the room to stretch her legs. It was then that she noticed the posters and leaflets on a nearby table were all in French.
"I can't stand this! The woman in there is someone I remember from my childhood, she thinks I'm still a kid" Sydney didn't know how she felt; should she cry, scream or maybe laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation. She opted for a mix of the first and last, Vaughn's arms enveloped her in a hug.
"Your father will figure out what to do" he tried to reassure her.
"I feel like I'm betraying Laura by wanting Irina back, and then I feel selfish for wanting Laura to stay because it'd be easierâ€and they're the same person!" Sydney couldn't deal with this. She could only imagine how her father felt.