Disclaimer: I own nothing. A few character names and that's it.
A/N: I changed a few things around. Lucy never got on the ambulance and Frank and Jason stayed in Mexico. A few named may be wrong. Read and Review! Thanks.
In Limbo
It had been at least two hours since Jack had tried to radio for help. Everyone was asleep except for Brian, Jack, and Claire. Brian was attempting to construct a stronger antenna with random supplies he found around the office. So far he had tin foil wrapped around several pens. It didn't look too promising.
Claire, the librarian, who had fallen asleep not long after they were all settled into the building was now bundled around the fire, every once in a while pushing with a stick to keep it going and adding more books. This was a custom she was sadly growing used to.
Jack sat with his back against the wall of the lobby where he had taken Sam to fix up his head because there was better light. A small fire burned a few feet away. Next to him, Sam was asleep, as he had not yet woken up from when he had passed out three hours earlier. Jack new that he would not be able to sleep until Sam at least stirred a bit, no matter how exhausted he was.
It wasn't only his son's condition or the group's helplessness that bothered Jack. Sam had said something earlier that was sticking out in Jack's mind. He realized that he really had no way of knowing whether or not his wife was all right. Sure he had told he to get out of the hospital by a certain time but Lucy was first and foremost a pediatrician and he knew that she'd stay behind if anything had gone wrong. Before he had forced himself to believe that everything would go fine and she'd get out and be okay but he was starting to realize now that he didn't need to focus on finding Sam, that it was very possible that she didn't make it to Mexico. How could he have let her stay there?
He knew how. He knew why none of this had occurred to him before and the reason was sleeping right next to him. So all he could do was put his worries about Lucy behind him for a little while and concentrate and getting his son and all of these people home. He knew that wouldn't happen if they didn't fix that radio soon. With everyone malnourished and freezing no one could stay awake long enough to formulate a plan. It was up to Jack and he knew it.
Jack thoughts were interrupted by a slight rustle next to him. He glanced down at Sam and saw that he had woken up. He was squinting, as the snow was bright with the glare of the once sweltering sun. He still shivered. Jack leaned down next to him.
"How are feeling?" he asked.
Sam looked up at him and sighed. "Okay."
Sam's voice was barely audible with hoarseness. He had taken the role of leader while they were in New York; staying up to tend to the fire, shouting orders to people, breaking into a ship, running away from wolves and the eye of the super storm, and nearly drowning/freezing from the cold water that flooded the pay phones. All of it was catching up with him now.
Realizing how cold his son was Jack placed his hands around his son's waist and lifted him so that Sam's back lay against his chest and he sat between his legs. He kept his arms around him and rubbed his arms.
"Sam," Jack pleaded. "I want you to know, I'm going to get us out of here. We're going to be in Mexico before you know it. Now I know that your head hurts and you're cold and hungry but you have to hang in there. No matter how mad you are at me you have to do what I say. I'm only trying to make things better and right now you're just a little too fragile to not allow me to help you. Do you understand?"
Sam shivered a bit, closed his eyes, and nodded. Though Sam's battered brain was drifting from one thing to the next he knew that his father was right. Even though he'd spent the last three years being angry with him it wasn't worth the sacrifice. He rested the back of his head on his father's shoulder and slipped away again.
Laura had woken up and was now helping Brian with the radio. She held a flame it to provide light while Brian finished up on the antenna. Before they hadn't gotten a signal but Brian was sure that they could if he got the angle right.
"Okay Laura. Blow it out," he instructed.
She did as she was told as Brian lifted the device ever so carefully onto the desk. He turned the knob on, lifted the receiver, and pressed the talk button.
"Hello...Can anyone here me?" Brian's voice was filled with desperation.
There was a long silence with only the sound of static, but then, "Yes...This is United 236. Who's there?"
Laura screamed with joy and hugged Brian. "You're a genius!"
Brian smiled, relived the told her, "Go and get Jack."
She did as she was told as Brian told the respondent his situation and his location.
As Laura ran into the lobby she screamed out to Jack, "Jack! Come here! We got a signal...We have a connection...The radio's fixed. Come on Ja-"
She stopped when she saw that Jack was asleep with Sam pressed up against him. For just a moment she took pleasure in the sight. She had assumed from what she could tell for the nine years she went to school with Sam and the eight months that she had been close to him that his father and him hardly had a relationship to speak of, let alone a good one. It was quite tragic that it took such circumstances to bring them together. But her moment was lost as she snapped back into reality. She stepped forward.
"Jack," she spoke softly and his eyed fluttered open. "Someone's on the radio."
It took Jack a few seconds to realize what she had said. When he did, he quickly yet gently laid Sam on the ground and ran to the cubicle where the radio was. Laura explained to him that Brian had fixed it.
"We're in Chicago. I just don't know where," Brian replied then looked up when he saw Jack. "Jack, it's Tony. He's sending a chopper for us."
Jack grabbed the receiver from Brian. "Tony?"
"Yeah, Jack. Hang in there. We're coming," Tony replied.
"Brian, you're a savior. I mean it," Jack told him truthfully. "I'm gonna go get everyone together. Are they leaving right now?"
Brian nodded as he put the receiver away. "They already have a chopper out looking for us. They'll be here in about a half an hour."
"Okay," Jack responded. "I say we all head out to the crash site and wait."
"I'll go let everyone know," Laura glowed with excitement.
Jack patted Brian on the back. "You really did save us."
Brian smiled as Jack went back to the lobby. He found Sam where he left him, shivering more aggressively now. He leaned down and whispered, "Sam, we're going to go home soon."
Sam's eyes fluttered open. He looked up at Jack, confused.
Jack explained, "Brian fixed the radio. A helicopter will be here in a little while. We have to go back out to the crash site, okay?"
Sam nodded. He tried to lift himself up but found himself too dizzy and weak. Jack noticed and without words lifted him over his should and stood. He turned around to see the others waiting for him, all ready to go. Jack noticed the worry on Laura and Brian's faces.
"Don't worry. It's just a bad concussion. We'll be home soon," Jack reassured them as he joined them by the door.
"But what does that mean?" J.D. asked. "Here is much closer to my home than Mexico. Are we just supposed to become refugees now?"
"Yeah," Sylvia added. "I mean, I'm glad to get out of here but what's it going to be like?"
They all started walking to the crash site. Jack still carried Sam.
"Well," Claire piped in. "We won't be refugees forever."
"I bet they'll have this worked out in a few years," Patrick sounded hopeful.
"A few years?" Laura questioned. "I was supposed to be at Columbia in a few years."
Brian sighed. "Now there is no Columbia."
After this the group fell silent, realizing that it was better to wait and be grateful than to fret about a future that they had no control over. They reached the crash site just as the chopper did. Everyone was loaded into the back and they took off headed for home.
The closer they got, the more layers of clothing came off. When they finally touched down in Mexico, everyone was escorted to air-conditioned hospital rooms because the sudden heat on almost completely numb bodies could cause shock. After a while they were almost back to normal body temperature. All had slight fevers from the cold. They were hooked up to I.V.'s to hydrate them and Sam was put in the ICU where his fever of 104.5 could be monitored more closely and the swelling in his brain could be treated with proper care. All of this seemed to happen in a quick, silent, blink of an eye.
After about an hour Jack was released and went to see Sam. He only stayed for a few minutes, as he was asleep, and then went to find Lucy.
He stepped into the tent where he found Frank, Jason, all sitting with cups of coffee. At his presence they all stood.
"Jack," Frank embraced his longtime friend. "Thank god you guys are all okay."
"Yeah me too," Jack pulled away. "Where's Lucy?"
"Jack, you haven't spoken to Tony?" Jason asked while Janet and Frank shared a look.
"No," Jack responded, fearing what would come next. "Why?"
"Frank, we're going to go find Tony and brief him," Jason said as he and Janet left the tent.
"Frank, where's Lucy?" Jack asked, fear evident in his voice.
"Jack," Frank put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "She didn't make it. She stayed behind with a little boy and when an ambulance finally came it was too late. The eye of the storm had already passed over them. I'm so sorry."
Frank's words felt like a different language to Jack as he found himself sitting down on the ground beneath him. All of the relief he had felt was gone now. Sam had been proven right. Jack had failed them both. His Lucy was gone. The woman he had spent so much time away from was the one person he could never see again and the only person he ever needed to. How could he tell Sam?
A/N: Okay, so let me know. Hope you guys don't mind the changes. E-mail me with suggestions. Thanks for reading.
A/N: I changed a few things around. Lucy never got on the ambulance and Frank and Jason stayed in Mexico. A few named may be wrong. Read and Review! Thanks.
In Limbo
It had been at least two hours since Jack had tried to radio for help. Everyone was asleep except for Brian, Jack, and Claire. Brian was attempting to construct a stronger antenna with random supplies he found around the office. So far he had tin foil wrapped around several pens. It didn't look too promising.
Claire, the librarian, who had fallen asleep not long after they were all settled into the building was now bundled around the fire, every once in a while pushing with a stick to keep it going and adding more books. This was a custom she was sadly growing used to.
Jack sat with his back against the wall of the lobby where he had taken Sam to fix up his head because there was better light. A small fire burned a few feet away. Next to him, Sam was asleep, as he had not yet woken up from when he had passed out three hours earlier. Jack new that he would not be able to sleep until Sam at least stirred a bit, no matter how exhausted he was.
It wasn't only his son's condition or the group's helplessness that bothered Jack. Sam had said something earlier that was sticking out in Jack's mind. He realized that he really had no way of knowing whether or not his wife was all right. Sure he had told he to get out of the hospital by a certain time but Lucy was first and foremost a pediatrician and he knew that she'd stay behind if anything had gone wrong. Before he had forced himself to believe that everything would go fine and she'd get out and be okay but he was starting to realize now that he didn't need to focus on finding Sam, that it was very possible that she didn't make it to Mexico. How could he have let her stay there?
He knew how. He knew why none of this had occurred to him before and the reason was sleeping right next to him. So all he could do was put his worries about Lucy behind him for a little while and concentrate and getting his son and all of these people home. He knew that wouldn't happen if they didn't fix that radio soon. With everyone malnourished and freezing no one could stay awake long enough to formulate a plan. It was up to Jack and he knew it.
Jack thoughts were interrupted by a slight rustle next to him. He glanced down at Sam and saw that he had woken up. He was squinting, as the snow was bright with the glare of the once sweltering sun. He still shivered. Jack leaned down next to him.
"How are feeling?" he asked.
Sam looked up at him and sighed. "Okay."
Sam's voice was barely audible with hoarseness. He had taken the role of leader while they were in New York; staying up to tend to the fire, shouting orders to people, breaking into a ship, running away from wolves and the eye of the super storm, and nearly drowning/freezing from the cold water that flooded the pay phones. All of it was catching up with him now.
Realizing how cold his son was Jack placed his hands around his son's waist and lifted him so that Sam's back lay against his chest and he sat between his legs. He kept his arms around him and rubbed his arms.
"Sam," Jack pleaded. "I want you to know, I'm going to get us out of here. We're going to be in Mexico before you know it. Now I know that your head hurts and you're cold and hungry but you have to hang in there. No matter how mad you are at me you have to do what I say. I'm only trying to make things better and right now you're just a little too fragile to not allow me to help you. Do you understand?"
Sam shivered a bit, closed his eyes, and nodded. Though Sam's battered brain was drifting from one thing to the next he knew that his father was right. Even though he'd spent the last three years being angry with him it wasn't worth the sacrifice. He rested the back of his head on his father's shoulder and slipped away again.
Laura had woken up and was now helping Brian with the radio. She held a flame it to provide light while Brian finished up on the antenna. Before they hadn't gotten a signal but Brian was sure that they could if he got the angle right.
"Okay Laura. Blow it out," he instructed.
She did as she was told as Brian lifted the device ever so carefully onto the desk. He turned the knob on, lifted the receiver, and pressed the talk button.
"Hello...Can anyone here me?" Brian's voice was filled with desperation.
There was a long silence with only the sound of static, but then, "Yes...This is United 236. Who's there?"
Laura screamed with joy and hugged Brian. "You're a genius!"
Brian smiled, relived the told her, "Go and get Jack."
She did as she was told as Brian told the respondent his situation and his location.
As Laura ran into the lobby she screamed out to Jack, "Jack! Come here! We got a signal...We have a connection...The radio's fixed. Come on Ja-"
She stopped when she saw that Jack was asleep with Sam pressed up against him. For just a moment she took pleasure in the sight. She had assumed from what she could tell for the nine years she went to school with Sam and the eight months that she had been close to him that his father and him hardly had a relationship to speak of, let alone a good one. It was quite tragic that it took such circumstances to bring them together. But her moment was lost as she snapped back into reality. She stepped forward.
"Jack," she spoke softly and his eyed fluttered open. "Someone's on the radio."
It took Jack a few seconds to realize what she had said. When he did, he quickly yet gently laid Sam on the ground and ran to the cubicle where the radio was. Laura explained to him that Brian had fixed it.
"We're in Chicago. I just don't know where," Brian replied then looked up when he saw Jack. "Jack, it's Tony. He's sending a chopper for us."
Jack grabbed the receiver from Brian. "Tony?"
"Yeah, Jack. Hang in there. We're coming," Tony replied.
"Brian, you're a savior. I mean it," Jack told him truthfully. "I'm gonna go get everyone together. Are they leaving right now?"
Brian nodded as he put the receiver away. "They already have a chopper out looking for us. They'll be here in about a half an hour."
"Okay," Jack responded. "I say we all head out to the crash site and wait."
"I'll go let everyone know," Laura glowed with excitement.
Jack patted Brian on the back. "You really did save us."
Brian smiled as Jack went back to the lobby. He found Sam where he left him, shivering more aggressively now. He leaned down and whispered, "Sam, we're going to go home soon."
Sam's eyes fluttered open. He looked up at Jack, confused.
Jack explained, "Brian fixed the radio. A helicopter will be here in a little while. We have to go back out to the crash site, okay?"
Sam nodded. He tried to lift himself up but found himself too dizzy and weak. Jack noticed and without words lifted him over his should and stood. He turned around to see the others waiting for him, all ready to go. Jack noticed the worry on Laura and Brian's faces.
"Don't worry. It's just a bad concussion. We'll be home soon," Jack reassured them as he joined them by the door.
"But what does that mean?" J.D. asked. "Here is much closer to my home than Mexico. Are we just supposed to become refugees now?"
"Yeah," Sylvia added. "I mean, I'm glad to get out of here but what's it going to be like?"
They all started walking to the crash site. Jack still carried Sam.
"Well," Claire piped in. "We won't be refugees forever."
"I bet they'll have this worked out in a few years," Patrick sounded hopeful.
"A few years?" Laura questioned. "I was supposed to be at Columbia in a few years."
Brian sighed. "Now there is no Columbia."
After this the group fell silent, realizing that it was better to wait and be grateful than to fret about a future that they had no control over. They reached the crash site just as the chopper did. Everyone was loaded into the back and they took off headed for home.
The closer they got, the more layers of clothing came off. When they finally touched down in Mexico, everyone was escorted to air-conditioned hospital rooms because the sudden heat on almost completely numb bodies could cause shock. After a while they were almost back to normal body temperature. All had slight fevers from the cold. They were hooked up to I.V.'s to hydrate them and Sam was put in the ICU where his fever of 104.5 could be monitored more closely and the swelling in his brain could be treated with proper care. All of this seemed to happen in a quick, silent, blink of an eye.
After about an hour Jack was released and went to see Sam. He only stayed for a few minutes, as he was asleep, and then went to find Lucy.
He stepped into the tent where he found Frank, Jason, all sitting with cups of coffee. At his presence they all stood.
"Jack," Frank embraced his longtime friend. "Thank god you guys are all okay."
"Yeah me too," Jack pulled away. "Where's Lucy?"
"Jack, you haven't spoken to Tony?" Jason asked while Janet and Frank shared a look.
"No," Jack responded, fearing what would come next. "Why?"
"Frank, we're going to go find Tony and brief him," Jason said as he and Janet left the tent.
"Frank, where's Lucy?" Jack asked, fear evident in his voice.
"Jack," Frank put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "She didn't make it. She stayed behind with a little boy and when an ambulance finally came it was too late. The eye of the storm had already passed over them. I'm so sorry."
Frank's words felt like a different language to Jack as he found himself sitting down on the ground beneath him. All of the relief he had felt was gone now. Sam had been proven right. Jack had failed them both. His Lucy was gone. The woman he had spent so much time away from was the one person he could never see again and the only person he ever needed to. How could he tell Sam?
A/N: Okay, so let me know. Hope you guys don't mind the changes. E-mail me with suggestions. Thanks for reading.