(A/N: Well, I had planned to update yesterday, but I ended up with my family down in Lexington, Kentucky. Woo, fun stuff. I had heard about Matthew Fox being down at the Kentucky Derby last weekend, so I was like "Woo! Lexington!" at first, but then I realized that I would have to ride my bike 54 miles to get there. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen. BUT, I got this chapter done, and I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YA, CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88, so look at your thingamabob in the Reviews, at the end of the story, and you'll figure out what you won. Yes, she was right, it was "The Truman Show", actually, one of the only movies that have ever made me cries.)

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST. Plain and simple as that.

-Searching-

Chapter 6-

Breaking Free-

Jack looked around the room, the monitors beeping, the IV dripping, Kate lying in bed. The curtains were drawn; the TV was off, only sounds of Kate's shallow breathing filled the otherwise seemingly quiet room.

He had seen patients like this. They knew they weren't going to make it, so they fell silent, waiting for the dark to come.

But he couldn't lose Kate.

She was just too important in his life to be thrown away. She was his anchor in life; his best friend. If he lost her, then eventually he'd float away, back into the cruel, harsh world that he had come from.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open, and Kate let out the most horrifying scream that Jack had ever heard. He bolted over to her, trying to intensify his voice so she could hear him.

"Kate!" he repeated. "Kate, it's okay! Everything's okay!" He held her face in his hands, whispering reassuring thoughts into her ear. "Kate, it's going to be okay…"

Her hollow voice, one that Jack hadn't heard before, simply stated, "No. No, it's not." And with that, she fell back onto the pillow, and returned to her comatose state.

Jack ran over what had happened over and over in his mind. Her words, filled with such worry and fear, kept repeating, and Jack doubted they'd ever stop.

A shrill "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep." Filled the air, breaking Jack out from his world.

Swiveling his head quickly, he stared in horror at the line on the heart monitor; it's dark, glowish green filling the room.

Rushing up, he slammed his hand down on the button to alert the nurses that something was up, and didn't halt until a nurse had appeared.

"Dr. Shepard, what's the mat- Oh my God!"

Jack quickly switched from normal-Jack mode to doctor-mode in nothing flat. "Get the doctor!" He screamed at her.

"You ARE a DOCTOR! YOU do something!" she said. The nurse was obviously new, and had never been put in this type of situation before. But Jack took no pity on her.

"Get a fucking doctor! NOW!" He threw the phone at her so she could call in someone.

The nurse's shaky hands pushed the buttons, the beeps filling the air. Jack had to look twice to make sure he was seeing correctly. The beeps weren't coming from dialing the phone; they were coming from Kate's heart monitor. The little humps and molehills rolled across the screen, the green fading to black every 3 seconds.

The nurse dropped the phone, and it clattered to the floor. No one said anything for a minute. They wanted to imprint the moment in their minds forever.

Kate felt herself crash back down to reality, as light blinded her eyes.

Voices wavered into her ears, first a dull sound, then it gout louder and louder, till she could make out Jack's.

She stared at him, tears quickly filling her chocolate brown eyes. "…J-Jack." Her voice was raspy, and broke after a couple seconds, but she had so much to tell him, so much to ask him, so she tried again. "Jack-k…"

But no response came, and soon it hurt too much to speak, falling silent, she stared up at the blank ceiling.

A few minutes later, the nurse had her say, getting cut off by Jack every so often so he could shoot back some remark. A sudden quiet befell the room as she ushered Jack out of the room, saying that the patient needed her rest and he needn't be stirring things up.

His footsteps faded away, and the nurse soon reappeared back in Kate's room, changing out monitors, and that's when Kate heard it. The massive cart with many sorts of oddities, all helping her to live. To this she tried to object, but no words could come to mind, and she was too weak to move around.

Returning to her original position, she let them poke and prod her, all the while pretending to be asleep.

The nurses knew she was awake. They knew she was in pain, that she felt regret and fear. They knew that all she wanted to be was alone.

Of course, she was Katherine Austin, the criminal who had a $23,000 reward if she was caught. Both she and them knew that.

Life was a game to her, and eventually all games must end.

-LOST-

(A/N-No-Not-The-Bottom-One: Ooooo, so now Kate's on life support, Jack had to be taken out of the room, and they know that she's wanted. Makes for an interesting plot, 'eh? Will Kate ever live to see the day she's caught once more? Or will she tragically die in the hospital room, leaving Jack all alone?

There's only one thing to do in this situation. SING. To the radio. Woo!)

Reviews To The Reviews That My Reviewers Left Me:

Scrawn: Nope, it was "The Truman Show." Thanks for playing though. :)

April: I can't promise anything… ((mischievous grin))

Whirlwind-2005: I know! ((gives Jack clean shirt and cup of coffee from Starbucks)) Gosh, you guys are sort of anti-Kate dying, aren't you? Lol.

CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88: (READ THIS, IT'S IMPORTANT!) Yeah, they are. Lots of flashbacks, and stuff. And expect loads more angst to come, for I'm going to put it to the maximum. You guys won't even know what hit you in some chapters, and in others, it'll be just a filler chapter. Err, so this is what you won: You get to choose what happens, sorta, in the next chapter! Woo! So, review me soon, so I can get writing. Ok, your choices are:

A) Have Jack sneak back in the middle of the night, and meet Kate, and they have a love scene (but only words. I doubt Kate can even move with the state she's in)

B) Have Kate "die" again, and have the hospital call Jack, so he can freak out (heads up, she won't actually die, it'll be like in this chapter, only lots more angsty and such),

C) Have Jack try to sneak back in, but get caught and wind up at the police station or something,

D) Have Jack meet Sara (his ex wife) at the supermarket (or some other place) and have her try to get him back,

E) Have Jack lose his job for acting all unorderly in time of need, thus making him look for a new job, and worrying about Kate at the same time, and then ending up having a really bad day of some sorts.

You can combine them if you'd like… (hinthint)

Natalie: I know! This weather is like "end of the world" type weather, (as Charlie said in the first episode). I live up near Dayton, and weather has just been absolutely mad this whole weekend. Thank God there's only 3 more days of school!

(A/N: Ok, here's another one! "J-Jack!" "Jack-k!" What quote is this movie from? Person who answers it gets a surprise, and it could be like this one, or a completely different thing. Hint: It's a movie with a giant boat in it.)