LunaAqua: Unfortunately, something happened with my old account and I can no longer access any of my old storied, including baby boom, so I won't be able to continue it, although I would have liked to. But, I have a few new stories in the works and this one to work on for now, so you should be seeing lots of updates very soon. Thanks for the review, and I hope to hear more from you soon.
Lostlorenzo: well hello, biggest whore ever. lol. Nice to hear from you, its been a while. I can't talk, I've been extremely busy. I was a little worried that you'd dropped off the face of the planet, but your back now so its all good. There's a Charlie episode coming up soon, I think its supposed to be the third after the hiatus is over, and the next one has a lot of him in it. I'm very excited. But any way, back to the story. I know, Charlie's life is pretty sad, but as with all my stories, Claire always makes everything better. Well, glad your still alive! Hope to hear more from you soon.
Three weeks later...
"Claire!" Abby called from downstairs. Claire moaned in protest, not wanting to wake up. "What?" She called in a sleepy voice, barely lifting her head from the pillow. "You have company" Abby explained simply. This, got Claire up. Rather she would admit it or not, she had been waiting to hear from Charlie. After he showed up that day, she'd assumed they'd still be in contact. But she hadn't heard from him since and the idea was beginning to worry her.
She quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and ran down stairs, slightly disappointed at first when she saw Sun in the door way. But her expression brightened up a bit when she recognized the friendly face standing next to her.
"Kate!" Claire exclaimed in surprise, a smile across her face. The two shared a quick hug. It took Claire a moment to realize that there was yet another visitor standing behind her. "Hey Jack" She greeted, unable to give him a proper hello in Kate's death lock of a hug. "Hi Claire" Jack replied, seeming a little uncomfortable.
"Wow. What are you guys doing here?" Claire asked, once Kate decided to release her. "Well, we ran into Sun at the office and decided we'd stop by and give you the invitations our selves" Kate explained with a grin. "Invitations to what?" Claire asked curiously, chewing on her lower lip.
"To our wedding" Kate answered with a grin as she held out the little white envelope. By the expression on her face, Claire could tell that the women would never get tired of saying it. "Oh!" Claire exclaimed, feeling stupid for not remembering. She took the envelope and smiled awkwardly.
"When is it?" She asked, curiously looking over the invitation. "Christmas" Kate beamed, glancing up at Jack who had his hand on her shoulder. "Aw, how romantic" Claire noted, teasingly. The couple blushed.
"Well, we thought it would be a nice way to get everyone back together" Jack noted, trying to defend the sappiness of having your wedding on a holiday "Oh, right. That makes sense.." Claire nodded in agreement. For a moment it was awkwardly silent. "Wait, you said you saw Sun at the office?" Claire's mind wondered back to the previous statement.
"Yes, I'm running my own office now" Jack explained. "I'm a secretary" Kate added proudly. Claire smiled. "Why were you at the doctors office?" She then questioned, turning to sun curiously. Sun blushed as a big grin crossed her face.
"I'm pregnant" She explained, bubbling with excitement. Claire's jaw dropped. "Get out!" She exclaimed in the perfect essence of a teenage valley girl. Sun nodded in reply. Claire screamed in excitement and gave her a great big hug. For a moment, the girls all hugged and laughed while Jack supervised from a safe distance.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Abby questioned, walking out from the kitchen. "Sorry mum" Claire apologized, a little embarrassed by her previous out burst. She stood with her hands behind her back, much like a toddler would when being scolded, witch made her laugh even more. Apparently she wasn't the only one who found it amusing, because Kate and Sun soon joined in. Claire's mom stared in confusion.
"Could you explained?" She questioned, addressing Jack for assistance. "Sun's pregnant" Jack answered simply. "Ooooh." Abby nodded, understanding. "Congratulations" she added simply, and headed back into the kitchen.
"Well, the three of us and Jin are going out to celebrate, want to join?" Sun offered, hopefully. "Sure." Claire replied with a shrug. After all, she needed to get out of the house and take her mind off things. Besides, she wanted to catch up. Once she got her coat and kissed Aaron good bye, the group piled into Jacks nice little sports car and headed out.
The restaurant was quiet, all except their little party of five. Jin and Sun on the left, Jack and Kate on the right, and one single Claire stuck in the middle while the two happy couple's celebrated. What ever possessed her to think that this little outing would cheer her up and long been exercised, and now she sat quietly, thinking to herself, trying to at least appear pleasant. Not that anyone noticed...
The sudden sound of beeping from under the table stirred her out of her sulking. "That's my pager" Jack announced to the table, glancing down at the little black box attached to his belt. "By sweetie" Kate murmured with a slightly disappointed pout and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Bye" He replied, giving her a rather half-assed peck on the lips before climbing over her and running out the door.
Kate sighed and laid her head on her knuckles, resting her elbow on the table. He'd been gone for about two seconds and already she looked miserable. Claire had half a mind to slap her in the face. But, instead, she smiled and sat up straight, basking in the company of her miserable friend.
"Why couldn't he be a gynecologist? They never have emergencies" Kate muttered, bitterly. "There, there" Sun comforted teasingly, patting her on the arm. Kate gave her an offended look, but it melted into a smile with in seconds. Claire began to wonder if Kate was bipolar. Suddenly, a cell phone rang. Kate jumped at first, then, realizing it was her own, answered.
"Hello?" She greeted, a mild look of confusion across her face. As who ever was on the other side of the phone replied, her expression slowly shifted. "What's wrong, Kate?" Claire questioned, concerned by the look on her face. "Its Jack" she replied simply, still listening on the phone as she spoke. Claire and Sun exchanged a look.
"What's going on?" Sun questioned, knowing something had to be wrong. Kate waited until after she'd hung up the phone to reply. "There was an emergency at the hospital Jack used to work at, that's why they called him in" Kate explained, after a long pause.
"Ok..." Sun noted, not grasping the volume of the situation. Kate stared at her lap for a long while, as if in shock. Then, after wiping her eyes with the back of her hands, she grabbed her purse. "Its Sawyer" She finished simply, and slid out of the booth.
At the hospital...
"What happened to him?" Claire questioned, as Jack stepped out of the room where Sawyer was being held. Jack shut the door behind him and turned to face her.
"Sawyer was...attacked" Jack explained, sounding a little cautious. Claire's eyes widened. "Attacked? What do you mean?" Sun cut in, a similar look of shock across her face. "We're not exactly sure what happened. He's not well enough to speak" Jack continued, looking a little nervous.
The three stood in silence, not knowing what to think. "From his injuries, we can tell that he was beaten badly. He's bruised in many places. His hand was broken" Jack explained, finally snapping into his medical monotone and putting his emotions aside.
Claire covered her mouth, and Jin put his arms around Sun. No one could believe what they were hearing. "Is he going to be alirght?" Claire questioned, trying to stay calm. "Yes, he should have a full recovery. Kate has agreed to stay with him for the night. I think you guys should probably go home and get some rest" Jack suggested, sounding pretty exhausted himself.
Cliare nodded and walked to the bench to get her purse. As the three walked down the hall to the hospital exit, Claire couldn't help but feel uneasy. Something wasn't right. There was something Jack wasn't telling him. She'd just have to wait to find out what.