Chapter 6

There were two regular instances during which Kate was allowed to leave her cell, always, of course, hand-cuffed and under the tight supervision of one or more guards.

First, every other day, Kate was accompanied by a surly female guard to a large tile room, given a rough bar of lye soap, and allowed to shower. This was not as bad as it sounded. Given the two months she had spent on the island sans running water, Kate would probably have been thrilled by a weekly shower. The guard usually had the decency to turn around and give Kate the illusion of some privacy. She knew the room was monitored by recording devices, but she tried not to think about that.

Second, twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday between 11 and 12 to be exact, Kate was allowed outside with the other female inmates. The grounds didn't look quite the same as they did in prison movies. There was no track, no area full of large weights, no set of bleachers. There were, however, various criminal types full of back yard tattoos and bad haircuts.

Kate usually did her best to appear invisible to the other inmates. Even as a child, Kate had been a bit of a loner. Growing up on a small farm in Iowa, miles from her nearest neighbors, she had had only two consistent playmates. Her little sister, Liz, and her best friend Tom. But her life over the past few years had cemented her solitary nature. One rarely had chances to build lasting friendships moving from place to place via back alleys and smelly buses.

When Jack had first started to come to see her, the other girls in her cell block had of course noticed the frequency of his visits. Word of her special treatment had spread quickly and Kate had narrowly escaped from some pretty vicious fights by sheer luck and the presence of the mostly uninvolved guards. But if Kate was anything, she was tough. She had known that she would have to prove to the other girls that she was not to be messed with. The next time she was outside, the first comment had come from a muscular bitter looking blond girl. Kate had punched her squarely in the mouth. The girl had been knocked flat on her back, and as she sat up, she spit two teeth out of her mouth.

"That's it, Bitch" she had said to Kate thickly as blood flowed from her mouth down her chin. She struggled to get her feet beneath her. Rather than let her get up though, Kate had kicked her in the gut, causing the woman to double over in pain, then throw up on the pavement. At that point, the guards had seen fit to haul Kate off in one direction and take the other girl to the infirmary.

Aside from a few snide comments and dark looks, the other prisoners had left Kate alone after that.

On her recent voyages out of doors, Kate had stayed mainly by the high fence, staring out through a second fence into the open desert. Anyone who had known her on the island would have noted that her stance and expression were exactly the same as when she stared blankly out to sea.

On the island, she had stared at the surf. The crashing waves were a constant force that created the illusion of movement. It was an illusion that she had latched onto. Here though, there was no movement of the landscape. The sultry heat sometimes caused shimmering heat waves in the distance, but the foreground of saguaro cactus and dry, brittle shrubs was a constant. Here, the only movement was created by the cloud filled sky. Huge thunderheads that would rush over head, changing shape and casting dark shadows over the distant mountains.

Today though, she didn't head toward the fence to stare unblinking into the distance. After the guard released her from the handcuffs, she walked over to a small group of rather severe looking prisoners. They starred at her with raised eyebrows as she approached and for a second, Kate was 13 again. But that blew over momentarily, she had a task that she could focus on, approval was not what she was looking for.

One girl, Kate assumed she was the leader of the group, was built like a linebacker. She thought her name may have been Janine, but she wasn't sure. There was a tattoo on the side of her neck that Kate didn't have a chance to read. Kate took a shallow breath, then she went for it. "Um," she asked the girl rather sweetly, "can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah Honey," the girl answered moving closer, "Anything you want."

"When you went into the Supercuts, did you have to ask special for the Mullet, or did it just sort of happen?"

The girl blinked stupidly for a moment. Then one of her friends said "Hey!" Kate felt a punch land on her cheek, and she swung blindly, making contact with unidentifiable limbs and body parts. Punches landed on her stomach and she felt herself being slammed shoulder first into the ground. She head butted the girl on top of her and tried to roll out of range of swinging fists and kicking feet. The last thing she remembered was strong hands lifting her from under her arms as she saw guards descend on the other girls.

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Jack got the call at about 11:45. He rushed out of the diner leaving much too large a tip, he didn't have time to wait around for change.

He made it to the prison in under ten minutes, a new record for him.

The now familiar guards led him down a different hall, this one white with a number of doors on either side. The frequency of the doors made Jack think that the rooms behind them must be rather small. Stopping at a door labeled 15, one guard unlocked the door as the other one said "She's in there, we'll have to lock you in."

Jack swung the door open slowly, she was on a small bed facing away from him. The room looked uncannily like an exam room at the hospital in LA. Even the bed had the same light green leather covered with a roll of thick paper. At first all she could see was her brown hair and an arm, strapped to the metal rail of the bed with an ancient looking leather strap. He heard the door close and lock behind him and he walked over to her.

He stood by the bed and stared at her for a moment. She was a mess. Her right cheek was a deep purple and had been split. Her nose had dried blood around it. It even looked like she had been hit in the throat.

"Jesus, Kate." He whispered and her eyes flickered open. She tried to smile at him, but only succeeded in grimacing. She absently tried to bring her hand to her face but was stopped by the leather strap. He undid the straps and was surprised when the guards didn't come storming in. He looked around, searching for the cameras. "No surveillance in these rooms." she answered his unasked question. He nodded and touched her swollen cheek gently.

"What happened Kate?" he asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"The other kids don't like me." She again tried to smile, this time managing a sort of half grin.

"Can you sit up?" he said ignoring her joke. It was beginning to dawn on him that she had probably done this on purpose. He should have known.

"I don't know." She answered truthfully. She swung her legs gingerly off the side of the bed and tried to push herself up with her arm. Jack reached under her arms and pulled her gently into a sitting position. When his hand hit her shoulder blade she gasped at the pain and bit her lip.

His eyes looked at her questioning, "I think that's where I hit the ground." She told him. He nodded, his face taking on an even grimmer expression.

"What about your head? Did you hit your head?" He bent down to look at her and put his hands in her hair, his fingertips feeling her scalp for any signs of a concussion. He didn't feel any bumps, and she looked at him and shook her head.

"Why Kate?" he said as he dropped his hands to his side and stood up.

"You know why Jack." She answered. "Where else were we going to talk?"

"You could have gotten really hurt, Kate." He said. "Look at you." The lengths she would go to, it was frightening. For the first time in quite awhile it was brought home to Jack that he really had no idea what she was capable of.

"You should see the other girls." Kate said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Girls? Plural? My God, Kate." He shook his head, still baffled by the whole situation.

"Are we at least going to talk about what were here to talk about?" She asked, suddenly weary of his obvious disappointment in her.

"Take of your shirt first." He said.

"Wow, Jack, I always thought I'd have to make the first move." She answered. Her voice was a little colder than she had intended it to be.

He rolled his eyes as he helped her lift her shirt over her head. She sucked in her breath as her shoulder blade twisted awkwardly. She turned slightly to give him easier access to her shoulder. He moved the strap of her grey cotton bra off her shoulder and traced his fingers along the darkened skin, pressing slightly. He saw her involuntarily shiver as goosebumps formed on the soft flesh just above her hips.

"I don't think it's broken, just badly bruised." he said, his voice slightly pinched.

"Can I have my shirt back?" she asked.

"Not yet," he answered. "Here, lean back." He said positioning his hand at the small of her back. She put her head back down on the bed, laying flat. He placed his hands on her incredibly bruised stomach. "Tell me where it hurts."

"Um, everywhere?" she answered.

"Any sharp pain when I press here?" he said, pushing her stomach in just under her ribs. She shook her head.

"Looks like you lucked out this time, no broken bones." He told her.

"Shirt." She said, holding out her arm. He retrieved it for her. When she struggled with getting it over her arms, he helped her.

"So," he said when she was again sitting comfortably on the bed, "Whats the plan?"

"Okay," she said "I need you to call my sister at this number." She pulled another sheet of paper out from the waist band of her drawstring pants. He reached for it.

"Liz, huh." Was all he said.

"Yeah, call her and tell her you're a friend of mine from high school. She'll know what that means, then she'll call you back from a payphone, or something untraceable." She paused, looking at him.

He nodded, and she continued. "She'll be able to get you some money."

"I have money Kate."

She continued, pretending she hadn't heard him. "I'll need you to buy me some clothes, something a little less conspicuous than this." She pulled at her blue prison garb. "Some other supplies too. And if its possible, I'd like you to get me a car, something common, like a Civic, or a … a Focus. Pay cash and don't sign anything"

Jack nodded, "Then what?"

"Well, we'll have to meet somewhere so I can get the money, and the other stuff." She wasn't looking at him at all. She kept her eyes focused on the wall behind him.

He raised his eyebrows and starred at her, willing her to look back at him. "That's it?"

"Yep," she said, false cheer in her voice. "That's not too bad is it?"

"And what, I hand over the cash and never see you again."

"It has to be this way Jack." She said it firmly, finally meeting his eyes.

"No it doesn't, I said I'm in, that means I'm all in." He said it with just as much conviction that she had.

"Were not on the island Jack, You don't get to make these decisions for people." She said, her voice growing louder. She glanced at the door and continued, struggling to keep her voice down. "This is not your choice."

"Oh, it can be, if you want my help at all it can be."

"Don't do this Jack." She pleaded. "What if you get hurt? Don't make me live with that."

"I won't get hurt." He said plainly.

What about your family, your mother back in LA?"

"My mother," he said, "Is a story for another day." His voice had an edge in it that she had never heard before.

They stood starring at each other for a few moments, both stubbornly unwilling to bend. Jack sighed. "Why do you think I'm here Kate? Why do you think I come see you every damn day." He paused, and she continued to stare. "There's nothing left for me back there."

"Well, way to boost my ego Jack. Im sorry you don't have a lot going on right now, but that's no reason…"

"You know thats not what I mean Kate. You, you're it, you are the single most important person to me. I don't want to go back to what my life was before you. And I'm not letting you do this alone."

She looked down at her feet. "So basically, were just two desperate people clinging to each other because we have nothing else to cling to?"

"I can live with that." He said, smiling for the first time that day.

"Alright," she sighed, "I'll think about it" There was a sadness in her eyes that wouldn't go away.

"I guess that will have to be good enough." He said, "We should probably get you strapped back in now."

She leaned back against the bed, her knees bent. He took her wrists gently and belted them onto the railing. When she was secure he pushed her hair back from her forehead and kissed her there lightly. As he started to move away, he hesitated slightly. She stared up at him and he slid his hand behind her neck, tilting her head up. He kissed her, his tongue pressing gently but insistently into her mouth. She lifted her head and kissed him back.

"How's that for a first move?" He said pulling away. She smiled a little and turned away from him, the sadness momentarily gone from her eyes. He left one brief kiss on her bruised cheek and turned to go.