Truths

It was now nightfall. Casey's wound was under control and everything seemed to slow down for the night. Casey sat…leaning to one side as not to hurt herself further. Her eyes were glazed in memory.

"Andy? What do you want for dinner?" Casey yelled from the kitchen to her husband.

She could hear him yell back but she couldn't understand him. She took it upon herself to go to the man and ask him again. She walked through their small but cozy apartment into a small yellow room.

She looked around and smiled just as brightly as the color on the walls. The ceiling was light blue and had painted clouds on it and a white crib on the sidewall. There was a changing table that had been sent by her mother as a gift for her grandchild's arrival. And in the corner sat Andy with their baby.

"I couldn't hear you from the kitchen." Casey walked over and took the child from her husband. "Oh, my boy. My sweet Ian." She whispered in the child's ear.

Andy stood up and wrapped an arm around his wife. He loved being a father and a husband to such extraordinary people. "I said I thought chicken sounded good." Casey nodded. "I'll make dinner tonight." Casey smiled and told him that would be wonderful.

After Andy had made his way to the kitchen, Casey could hear him rummage around in the freezer for the couple's dinner. She sang sweetly to Ian and he was drifting into a peaceful sleep. Casey loved being a mother. It was something she had wanted ever since she could remember and now her dream had come true.

Everything was going swimmingly in the life of Casey Heap. She had recently gotten married had a beautiful child and was now in her first year of interning at a local hospital. Casey couldn't have been happier.

The doorbell rain and someone pounded on the door. "Andy! Can you get it? I've got the baby!" She heard a few exchanged words at the door then a gunshot. Panic hit her. Fear overwhelmed her. "ANDY!"

Jack came and sat beside Casey. He had his serious face on. Casey waited for the question.

"Why did you lie, Casey?" The sides of Casey's mouth turned into a small knowing grin and her eyes were shut lightly. That was what she was waiting for.

"You saw the scars didn't you."

"How could I miss them. You must have at least five."

"Six." Casey corrected. "One on my leg."

"Who shot you? Why did they do it?"

Casey blinked holding back tears. "It's a long story andI don't want to bore you." She looked away from Jack's concerned eyes. She didn't want to tell him of that horrible night.

"Casey…we're stranded on a deserted island. I've got more time then I know what to do with."

Casey shook her head. There was no way of getting out of this. "It was my first year of interning. I was twenty-three. I had just gotten married to the love of my life and had a son, Ian." Tears just barely lined her eyes. "Everything was going perfect. I was establishing a career, I had a family, I had…everything."

Jack couldn't help but suddenly feel bad for her. He didn't even know what the bad part was but she had obviously been very happy before what every happened.

"It was just another night. I had gotten home from work and my husband Andy was there before me, taking care of Ian. He was getting ready to make dinner. I was in the baby's room when I heard the doorbell. I yelled to Andy and told him to get it, which he did and I could hear whomever it was talking to Andy. Then I heard a gunshot." She swallowed hard.

"They shot your husband?" Jack asked to let her know he was listening more than he didn't understand.

She nodded slowly. "I heard footsteps come down the hall way and three men in black jackets just showed up in the room. They screamed at me to put the baby down and I did. I put him down in his crib and two of the men held me back while the other one shot my four month son." Casey was really fighting off tears now. She wasn't going to let herself cry though. She didn't want to.

"Casey…I'm so sorry." Jack laid a comforting hand on her back.

"By then I was hysterical. I was screaming, they were screaming, the baby was screaming. The next thing I knew I was on the floor with six bullet holes in various parts of my body. They left just as quickly as they came and I stood up long enough to get the baby out of the crib. He was still alive. He was crying softly and I knew he was dying. Ian died in my arms, Jack." One tear fell. Only one she let role down her cheek, for her son's sake. "I will never forget what those men did to me."

"How are you still alive then? I mean you must have called the police." Jack wanted more information to feed his new questions.

"No. Our next door neighbor found us and called for me. I was in the hospital for weeks trying to recover. That's when they told me I'd never be able to have another child. That because of all of the scar tissue my uterus wouldn't stretch to hold a baby to term."

"Why did those me do that to you?" Jack was stunned that someone would just walk in off the street and kill an entire family.

"My husband was an engineer. Or at least that's what I thought. Turns out we had money problems that I didn't know about and Andy turned to help from a local mob. When he didn't pay it back, you can guess what happened." Casey turned a head towards Jack. "I wasn't supposed to live. That's why I took back my maiden name. I was Casey Heap. Now I'm Casey Call."

Jack had no idea. He didn't know what to say. What could he say? What amount of consoling was going to give her, her life back? He wanted to cry for her.

"I guess you have to pick and choose who you associate with carefully. You never know when they are being sincere." Casey said in a hushed tone.

Jack understood now. Casey was so quiet because she didn't want to be hurt again. She was just being cautious about what happened to her. Jack suddenly had newfound respect for her. He got it. He got her. He figured now that she had that off of her chest she would be a little more open about other subjects, such as why his father always hung around her.

That was enough for tonight. Jack had had all he could handle information wise and Casey was just beat from the day she had. Being shot isn't fun and telling someone your darkest secret isn't either. But he was still glad to know the truth.

NEXT CHAPTER: Life

Casey is now less afraid of everything and she can start living, with a little help of coarse. And Sawyer meets someone new from the tail section that can speak his language.