Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

"Jack, please," Kate asked again. He watched as she looked up at him from the corner she sat in and cried. Her eyes were permanently bloodshot and her cheeks were flushed. Sitting on their bed, he shook his head at her.

"Why don't you sit up here?" He asked, patting the bed next to him.

Kate shook her head and took a long breath. "Why are you doing this to me?" She pleaded.

He frowned. Jack rubbed the stubble of his beard and nodded his head. "I'm doing this to you."

Kate heaved a breath and shouted, "You're a doctor. You can do it. You can do it and it'd be over and we can go back to being normal again."

"Nothing is ever going to be normal again, Kate." Jack felt horrible saying it to her, but he was starting to get sick of her whining. He understood it, if he were in her position he'd be doing the same thing, but he knew what was best for her. Jack knew what was safest for her.

She let her hands fall on her growing stomach and flinched, jerking them away. Her face crumpled and she began to cry again. "I don't want this baby, Jack!" She put her hands to her eyes and covered her face as she cried.

Jack knew if he let her, eventually she'd fall into a trance, or she'd fall asleep. It was how the last five months had been. Maggie told everyone her mother was sick; Jack told them she was depressed. He couldn't tell how many times Sawyer had raped her, he'd asked Kate once. She told him ten, twenty, thirty, forever. Kate was delirious then, an infection spreading in her shoulder. Jack gave her the last of the antibiotics, the bottle he'd been saving for a big emergency.

Then he had to remember what Sun taught him about plants and flowers. With Jin's help, they made powder that could be mixed into drinks and they made more ointments to kill the pain. But without the pain to keep her mind occupied, she didn't sleep. Jack thought Maggie being with her would help, but she pushed the child away. Kate curled up in a ball on the ground and slept in a corner.

"I thought it was over when I killed him," she muttered one night just before dozing off. Maggie had heard. Since then she'd become afraid of her mother.

Shannon entered the room with the little girl at her side. "She wants to say good-night," the woman told Jack.

He nodded and put his arms out, watching as the girl looked towards her mother who was sobbing in the corner and then to him with wide eyes. Maggie ran towards him, jumping into his lap and gripping his neck. "Is momma gonna get sick like Sawyer?"

Jack hadn't even thought about it. He didn't want to consider it. He had no clue how the infection traveled. Jack held Maggie tightly. "Momma's just sick."

"Uncle Charlie says momma's gonna have another baby," she whispered.

Nodding his head slowly, Jack licked his lips and looked down at her. What did he tell her about this? He looked up at Shannon, who shook her head, as if prompting him not to say anything. "Don't worry, Maggie, momma's gonna be alright soon enough, you'll see."

The girl kissed his cheek and jumped off his lap, looking in Kate's direction. She took a step towards her, and inhaled deeply, gathering courage to cover the distance and put a hand on her mother's. Maggie bent forward slightly, watching Kate peek out from between her fingers. The girl grinned sheepishly and pulled her mother's hands away. Kate ripped her hands away from her daughter and she wiped at her tears, muttering an apology.

"Don't worry, momma," Maggie told her, "I still love you. And you'll be better soon, daddy says so."

Jack watched Kate's head bob in response and she raised a hand to touch Maggie's nose, making the girl giggle nervously. Maggie stopped suddenly and threw herself at Kate, wrapping her arms around her neck. Kate looked shocked, Jack saw, but closed her eyes and pulled her daughter in for the embrace. Jack felt his eyes welling up, hoping for what he knew wasn't going to happen just yet. The girl pulled away and walked back towards Shannon, who whispered a good-night and left.

"Kate, for her…" Jack started.

She shook her head. "Please, Jack, just kill the baby."