Chapter 10
Song: Don't Take the Girl by Tim McGraw
"Kate!" James sat up sharply and swayed as the room spun. When he could focus, he looked around the small room he lay in. In the gray dawn light, he could make out a chair, a small T.V., and numerous pieces of medical equipment. He was just beginning to wonder what he should do when an overset, cheery-eyed nurse bustled into the room.
"Ah, I thought that was you Mr. Ford. It's about time you woke up. That must have been some bump on the head." She began checking the machines and writing down numbers as James glanced down at himself. He was in a normal hospital gown and had an IV in his right arm. His left arm was in a brace and when he tried to shift his feet, a sharp pain shot up his left leg.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. You were pretty banged up in that accident yesterday." The nurse, who was called Betty according to her nametag, had moved on to moving his left arm up, down, and around in circles.
"What exactly happened?" he asked. "Details are a little fuzzy."
"Well you and your friend were in a very severe automobile accident. You have a broken ankle, a sprained wrist, and a very large bump on your head, not to mention numerous scrapes and some first degree burns from the fire." She threw back the sheet to reveal cuts and burns up and down his legs and a large, white plaster cast on his left ankle.
"What about Kate?" The nurse looked at him strangely. "The girl that was in my truck with me," he explained.
"Oh yes, Miss Katherine Austen, correct?" The full name surprised him. He had never even thought about the fact that Kate was just a nickname, but now it seemed perfectly natural, so he just nodded and she continued, a worried shadow passing across her cheerful face.
""Miss Austen suffered much worse injuries. She received severe trauma to the head from hitting it, we believe, on the glove box in front of her. She also has a very large gash for the same reason. Her left arm was shattered on impact and will have to be operated on, but we don't have anyone here capable of doing that. Do you have a special doctor who might be able to do that type of thing?" she asked hopefully.
"Umm, my friend and his dad are both doctors up in NYC. I know that Jacko can handle that type of thing," James answered quietly.
"Oh that's good," she replied. "We will give Misters…"
"Jack and Christian Sheppard," James supplied.
"Yes, we will give them a call. Anyway, back to your friend. Her right foot is broken in three places and the ankle on the same leg is fractured. And of course there are plenty of bumps and bruises and she has a number of second and third degree burns. From what the rescuers tell us; her door was stuck shut so they couldn't get her out as quick as they got you out. A number of them suffered from minor burns and smoke inhalation, but nothing permanent." She took a quick look to make sure his IV was hooked up right and walked towards the door.
"Can I see her?" he asked desperately.
The nurse suddenly became very proper. "Are you family?" she asked. When James reluctantly shook his head, she replied, "Then no sir, I'm afraid not. Only family members are allowed to visit comatose patients." And with that she left to go get the doctor, leaving behind a shocked and grief-stricken James in her wake.
James sat silently in the chair beside Kate's bed two days later. He had been given crutches and pain medication and was released, but she still hadn't woken up. The nurses had finally let him come in and sit with her since her real family had only come once. Diane showed up the first night and filled out all the paperwork, but hadn't come back since. The hospital had relied on Kate's aunt and uncle, two doctors at the hospital, for anything regarding Kate.
Suddenly the door opened and two men in white lab coats walked in. James stood and embraced the younger of the two.
"I was beginnin' to wonder if you two were goin' to show up," James said quietly.
"Med school is kind of hard to just up and leave from, but when I talked to you, I could tell I was needed more here," the younger of the two replied.
"And once they actually realized I was leaving, we had a thousand loose ends to tie up," the older man replied. "They got so used to me being there, they think they can't operate with me gone. I got away for as long as I could. Our flight goes back at 6 tomorrow night." The younger doctor was flipping through charts and frowning.
"You two were in a car crash right?" he asked James.
"Yeah, why? Is there something on that chart telling you different?" James asked worriedly.
"Dad, come look at this," Jack said to his father, oblivious to James' question.
Christian came over and looked at the charts, his eyes widening.
"What's wrong?" James asked, his eyes darting back and forth between Jack and Christian angrily.
"Umm…your friend…" Jack began.
"Kate," James supplied, his eyes still narrowed in anger and fear.
"Yes, Kate. Well, according to these charts, she shouldn't be alive. She received a very severe blow to the head that sliced it open and likely caused brain damage. Her right foot and ankle were crushed and her left arm was shattered from being slammed into something, probably the windshield. Her surface of her skin is 20 covered in second and third degree burns. She's got a few cracked ribs that might have scratched the surface of her lungs, but that's highly unlikely. Her lungs were choked with smoke and her nose was broken. But that's not even the worst part," he added, his face grim and amazed at the same time. "She's 5 foot 4 and she weighs 96 pounds. Her blood pressure is dangerously high and I'm amazed she hasn't been brought in before this. Have you noticed her getting dizzy or having headaches recently?"
James thought for a moment. "I've noticed her being really quiet and sitting down a lot recently. I kinda just figured it was her way of dealing with all the crud she has to deal with at home." James sat back down. 'How could I not have noticed?' he asked himself.
Jack laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, it's not your fault."
Christian flipped the charts closed again. "Everything seems relatively easy to cure. As long as she stays here for a few weeks, everything should be fine."
"James," Jack said after a moment. "We need to prepare her for surgery."
James silently stood up and walked over to Kate. He smoothed back her hair and gently kissed her on the forehead. Jack and his father stared after him as he walked out of the room.
"Have you ever seen him like that before?" Christian asked Jack.
"No," Jack answered. "I don't know what happened to him in the past few months, but whatever it is, she did it. She's good for him."
"Then let's fix her up." Christian paused. "And heaven help anyone who tries to hurt her again.
Jack looked at his father, confused. "What do you mean?"
Christian pointed. "See these scars? She's been through more pain than you can imagine."
Jack's eyes blazed with fury as he understood the meaning of his father's words. "Let's get to work."
The waiting room was completely silent and had been for the last three hours. Michael, Libby, Tom, and Lindsey had come as soon as they received James' phone call, and now they sat, keeping vigil during Kate's operation. Michael sat with his arm around Libby's shoulders while Libby kept glancing nervously at the operating room doors. Lindsey sat beside Tom, her earlier anger with him forgotten, her shoulders wracking in silent sobs. Tom patted her back awkwardly and stared at the floor. James had been completely still for the past three hours. His head in his hands, he hadn't moved or responded since Jack and Christian had wheeled her inside. Michael glanced up and was about to try and console his friend when a voice sounded from the operating room.
"No!" The yell echoed through the silent room and stopped the hearts of all those waiting.
"Come on, stay with me dang it!" The five looked up as the voice James recognized as Christian continued to yell.
"200, Clear!" Silence.
"250, Clear!" Worry was clear on the faces of all as the nurses glanced at one another.
"300, Clear!" The loud drone continued.
"350, Clear." The voice was getting discouraged and horror was creeping into the faces of those listening.
"400, Clear!" The drone was cut off and silence followed. One of the nurses squared her shoulders and rushed though the doors. The five refused to look at each other, thinking maybe, if they didn't think about it, it wouldn't be true.
Jack wiped the beads of sweat and tears off his face and glanced at the clock. Three hours. The surgery had almost been finished when the arrest had happened. Her heart had just flat out stopped. No warning. They had done everything possible, taking the charge all the way to 400, but it hadn't worked.
"Jack, this defibrillator goes all the way to 500," Christian said slowly.
"Forget it dad, she's gone." The tears welled back up in his eyes and he struggled to keep them contained. "I'd better go tell them."
He walked out into the waiting room and Kate's friends surrounded him. None of them spoke, too afraid of what he would say. Their eyes asked, though. He tried to control himself but he couldn't and the tears spilled out.
"I'm sorry guys, she's gone."
Christian glanced at the clock, and then back down at Kate. He reached over to program the defibrillator and the nurse gasped.
"Doctor, you can't do that; it would kill her!"
Christian glared at the nurse scathingly as he reattached the heart monitors. "If your machines are right, she's already dead. What will one last shot of energy hurt?"
When the nurse didn't answer, he picked up the paddles, rubbed them together, and turned around.
"Gone, what do you mean gone?" Lindsey finally choked out.
"Gone as in we lost her," Jack answered, his voice shaking. "She went into cardiac arrest and we couldn't bring her back.
"How could that happen? She was only in there three hours!" Lindsey asked hysterically.
"Three hours is a long time for a heart under that much stress. First the accident, then keeping the body running, and when we tried to bring her off the anesthesia, it just stopped. We did everything we could, but-" Jack was cut off by a loud buzz from the operating room.
"Clear!" Christian called out of habit. A loud buzz sounded as he released the charges and the shock rushed through her body. There was a loud gasp and Christian held his breath as he turned on the heart monitor.
"Wait here," Jack said. And before anyone could protest, he spun around and raced back through the operating room doors. The five refused to look at each other, each imagining that this was just some horrible nightmare and willing themselves to wake up.
Jack stared at his father in shock as Christian stood motionless.
"It worked," Christian said his voice barely above a whisper.
Jack glanced over at the stunned nurse, then at the humming defibrillator, over to the beeping heart monitor, and finally down at the peaceful Kate. "You've got to be kidding me."
While Christian checked her vitals, Jack went back out to the waiting room, feeling the need to revise his previous statement.
"Okay," Jack said as they gathered around him again. "Seems Kate is very, well I guess resilient is the best word for it."
Libby glanced up sharply. "You said 'is.' Does that mean she's okay?" she asked, her hopeful voice rising with every syllable.
They all held their breaths as Jack studied their hopeful faces. "Yes," he replied.
Lindsey burst into tears and sat back down.
"The surgery was successful after all. That brings my survival percentage to ten percent." When nobody laughed, Jack coughed awkwardly and continued. "Her arm should be completely healed in three to four months."
"When can we see her?" Lindsey asked, her tears reduced to red, puffy eyes.
"Unfortunately, the surgery didn't bring her out of her coma. Her body will only do that when it is ready. And after that," he gestured to the operating room. "It could be a while. But she could wake up anytime."
"Or never, right?" a voice asked suddenly.
"Tom! Don't even think that!" Lindsey's tears returned in full force. "She'll wake up right?" she asked pleadingly.
Jack sighed and scowled at Tom. He had hoped to avoid this question entirely. "I'm sorry to say, Tom is right. Everything depends on her. There is nothing left we can do."
Crestfallen, Lindsey ran off down the hallway and Tom, after a glare from Libby, followed her.
Libby glanced at James, then Michael. Michael put a hand on James' shoulder. "Don't worry man; I'm sure she'll be fine." Libby tugged gently on Michael's arm and they left, leaving Jack and James standing there in silence.
"James…" Jack began.
"What's wrong with her Jack?" James asked his face helpless.
"She's in a coma," Jack responded hesitantly.
"I know that much, dang it!" James yelled. "Jack, what's wrong? Why can't she wake up?" James stared James fiercely. "Don't give me the doctor answer; just tell me what I can do to help her!"
Jack looked at his longtime friend. He had never seen James like this, with so much compassion for one person.
"Please Jack…" James whispered hoarsely.
"Her coma is self-induced. Talking to her can help. Other than that, there's really nothing more I can do. Science has only advanced so far." Jack rested a hand on James' shoulder and James looked up. Jack met James' eyes for the first time since that afternoon and had to look away. The pain and fear and depth of feeling that James had for Kate was more than Jack could handle. James stood up silently.
"Do you want to see her?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, but I'll visit her in her room later. There's something I have to do first," James answered, his eyes hard.
"Okay. Try and find me before I have to leave." James nodded and headed towards the elevators.
'There's one thing for sure,' he though as the bell dinged. 'She's never going back to that dung pit she calls home.' His mind churned as he figured out what he would need to fix up the empty room in his house.
"Young man," a voice called out as James headed away from the hospital a few nights later. Kate was still unconscious and James was more worried than ever.
"Excuse me!" the voice called out again. James turned and saw a man in his late twenties hurrying towards him. James stopped and the man caught up. "You wouldn't happen to be James Ford by any chance would you?"
James looked the man over suspiciously. He was wearing khaki slacks ad a white collared shirt. His brown hair was slicked back and he gave off a slightly arrogant air. And he had a broken arm.
"Who wants to know?" James asked.
The man pulled out a card, but dropped it. As he reached over to pick it up and James saw the unmistakable glint of metal in the fading sunlight. A gun. 'Who the heck is this guy?' James wondered, instantly on the alert. The man stood back up and handed James the card. It read:
Edward Mars
Private Investigator
800-569-2370
"My name is Edward Mars. I'm ashamed to admit that I was the person that ran into you the other day. I was visiting a client and realized that I was late for an interview. I left in a hurry and didn't pay attention when I turned the corner." He paused for a moment and looked James in the eye.
James stared down at the man silently, amazed to see the source of all his fear and pain. When James didn't respond, the man went on, slightly unnerved at the emotion in James's eyes.
"Anyway," he continued, a tad flustered. "I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help you out financially. I know your truck was completely destroyed."
"I got insurance," James managed to respond.
"What about medical expenses?" the man asked.
James remembered the conversation Christian had had with the chief of staff at the hospital. "They're covered."
"Wasn't there another person in the car with you? Katherine Austen? Is there anything I can do for her?" Mars looked James in the eyes again and gulped, fearing the worst. He had seen that hollow look in the eyes of his clients before.
"No," James answered softly. "Everything that can be done has been. And just a little FYI," James whispered, leaning in close. "Nobody who cares about her wants to see you anywhere near her again." James turned and stalked off, leaving behind a very confused and irritated man with a broken arm.
James sat on the front row of the little, built-in chapel that was right down the hall from Kate's room. Under any other circumstances, James wouldn't be caught dead in a chapel, but he had run out of options. It had been a week since the crash, and Kate was still in her coma. Jack had done everything he could, but had run out of options and had gone back to New York disappointed. Science, he had said, was out of options.
"Can I help you?" a voice asked, interrupting James' thoughts.
"I don't know," James replied.
"I see. Are you here to visit someone?" the man asked, coming over to James.
"Yeah, Kate Austen, Room 416. I just came from there, but I can't stand to just sit there and watch her like that anymore. There's got to be something I can do to help her." James looked up and saw the man watching him intently.
"Oh yes, Katherine. I have visited her." James looked at the man strangely but didn't say anything. "Are you by any chance James Ford?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" James asked, in what would have been a curious voice if he hadn't been overwhelmed with worry.
"I know many things," the man replied. "I am called Eko."
"Well Eko, what do you normally do for people who come in here?" James asked, almost sarcastically.
"I offer advice," he answered solemnly.
"Got anything for me?" James asked, looking up once more.
Eko paused for a moment, obviously deep in thought, then spoke. "Science is a wonderful thing James. It can fix things and change the world in way we never thought possible. But it is not perfect. Far from it, in fact. Even if science is out of options, that does not mean all hope is lost. You have to have faith that something will happen before it will. Have faith James; you might just be surprised by the results."
James sat for a few minutes. He turned to find Eko, but the older man was gone.
James walked back down the hallway towards Kate's room, Eko's word's still running through his mind. Normally, he would have blown it off as a load of dung, but for some reason, he wanted to believe this strange Eko person. James took a deep breath and walked into Kate's room. Standing beside her bed, he felt different than all the times he had done this in the past week. He reached over and smoothed the hair off her forehead.
"Hey Freckles, time to wake up."
Everything was dark, she knew that much. And her arm was killing her.
"Hey Freckles, time to wake up," a voice called from somewhere beyond the darkness. Kate struggled to focus and her head came became slowly clearer. With each second, it was easier to think and process. Finally, she eased her eyes open and turned her head slowly towards the voice.
"Hey there cowboy," she said weakly.
James' head spun and he had to sit down. "Bout time you woke up sweetheart. I was beginning to think you liked dreamin' of me more than spendin' time in the real world." He grinned for the first time in a week.
She blushed, rolled her eyes, and winced. What a headache she had.
James headed towards the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked quizzically as she tried to sit up, and winced again. Her ribs were sore as well.
"T'get the nurse. They let us stay in here on the condition that if you woke up, we would come get them immediately," he replied.
"Who's we?"
"Me, Michael, Libby, Lindsey, and Tom," he replied.
Kate looked lost. "Who on earth are they?"
Two days later Tom, Lindsey, Michael, Libby, and James sat in Kate's room. At first, Kate had been unnerved at the thought of spending time with a bunch of people she couldn't even remember, but after she met them, she had warmed up immediately. She was lively and happy in away that none of them could remember her being. In a way, they kind of didn't want her to remember because with her memories would come the dark side of her life that made her cautious and closed up. Kate was unaware of any of these feelings and listened eagerly to any story they told about her past.
"…and then Tom was like, 'Do you really think that you are gonna keep us from going to the police?' and the guy was like 'huh?' and we all just laughed at him so he finally left us alone." Lindsey finished her story and Kate laughed appreciatively.
"Man, I wish I could remember," Kate said, unconsciously rubbing her arm. Even in a cast and sling, it ached and rubbing sometimes helped.
Suddenly the door opened and a nurse poked her head in. "All right boys and girls, visiting hours are over. Time to head on home."
They all stood up and stretched. Every afternoon they came by and the hours seemed to fly by so fast. Kate looked disappointed.
James noticed her look. He waited until everyone else had said goodbye and left; then he spoke.
"Well Freckles, remember anything more?"
She sighed. "I know that I know them. I just can't place it. It's all right there, under the surface, but it keeps running away every time I try to capture it again."
"I think it's interesting that you can't remember any of them, who, except for Michael, you've known all your life, but somehow, you can remember me, the guy you met a month ago." James looked at her curiously.
Kate smiled. "I guess it's just because you're so hard to forget."
James grinned and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "You know, sure would be a nice birthday present for me if you suddenly got your memory back."
Kate looked surprised. "You're birthday's tomorrow?"
"Yep, I'll be nineteen."
"Well I'll try my hardest to remember."
James smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye."
James walked out and Kate sighed. Another night by herself. She settled in for a long evening of memory searching.
"James! Guess what!" Kate shouted as soon as he walked in the door the next afternoon.
"You learned to fly," he guessed.
Kate scowled at him playfully. "No, but good try. I remember!"
He looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yep, I remember everything, my dad, my mom, all of the others, even Wayne," She finished, her eyes narrowing.
"Let's not worry about him right now. You really remember everything?" he asked again, trying to change the subject off of Wayne.
"Of course. Last night after you left, I kept trying to think, and when I finally went to sleep, it was like I was reliving my life. It's all there." Kate grinned.
"I'm very happy for you," James replied. "When do you get out of here?"
"They said in a couple more weeks. I have to miss the dance, not that I could dance anyway."
"Well that's okay; we can have our own party up here. And I got a surprise for you. But you got to get better first." James grinned as she lit up.
"A surprise? What is it?"
"Nope, not until you get out of this place," he replied.
She continued to try and wheedle to out of him, but to no avail. He finally gave her a small hint.
"It's not a first class luxury hotel, but I think you'll enjoy it more than this place."
And before she could ask anymore, the nurse came and said time was up. James grinned and her and left and Kate was left to try and work out the mystery on her own.
