Chapter
15
Song: Nobody's Home by Avril Lavigne
"Time to wake up sleepyhead!" a singsong voice called cheerfully.
Kate struggled to open her eyes and sat up groggily, wincing at the pain in her side. She glanced around the room at the blank white walls and at the strange looking woman that had woken her up. "Where," she cleared her throat "where am I?"
"You're in the hospital wing," the woman answered. "You collapsed this morning on the way to class. Don't you remember?"
Kate looked at the woman strangely. "What are you talking about? I never collapsed on the way to class. Where am I?"
"You're at Mother Vittoria's School for Girls," the nurse said, shaking her head. "Earlier today, you were walking to class with a few of your friends, and you collapsed. The poor things have been worried sick. Alice, Mary, Sara, and Shannon were with you when you fell, and they haven't slept a wink all night. I'll go tell them you're awake. I'm sure you want to see them, right?" The nurse's tone of voice suddenly changed to one that demanded absolute obedience.
"Um," Kate stalled, unsure of what to say that would make sense to this strange woman. "Not really. Listen, there's obviously been some sort of misunderstanding. If I could just use a phone so we can get this whole thing straightened out, that would be great." Kate moved to get out of the bed, but suddenly the nurse was at her side holding her down.
"Now Kate, you need to rest."
Kate froze. "How do you know my name?"
"I've known you since you started school here in kindergarten, Kate," the nurse replied, her tone growing more and more exasperated and forceful.
"That's not possible," Kate said, becoming slightly scared at the woman's over familiarity. "I'm just gonna-" Kate felt a sudden prick in her arm, and it was suddenly hard to move. She heard the door open and heavy footsteps stopped by her side.
"Well, Katie," a voice said, penetrating Kate's swimming mind. "I guess we have to do this the hard way." The voice that sent chills of hate and fear up and down Kate's spine gave her a final warning. "Now next time you wake up, I expect a little more cooperation otherwise one of your friends at home might find themselves in an…unfortunate circumstance."
"Mr. Austen!" Libby exclaimed, worry and shock fighting for control of her emotions. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, my squad got sent home a couple of days ago. I just got in and thought I'd come by and surprise my daughter. Imagine my surprise when I show up and see y'all trying to break into her garage." He glanced around the group, nodding to Lindsey and Tom. "I don't believe we've met," he said, turning to Michael and James. "Samuel Austen." He faced Michael. "You must be Michael Dawson, correct?"
Michael nodded and shook his outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, sir."
Sam turned to face James. "And you must be James Ford. Kate's told me a lot about you in her letters."
James grinned faintly and looked down, slightly embarrassed as Libby giggled.
"I believe I knew your mother," Sam continued. The grin vanished from James' face. "Shame what happened to her."
"Yeah," James said darkly, avoiding a sympathetic look from Michael, a knowing smirk from Tom, and confused glances from Libby and Lindsey. "Sure was."
"Anyway," Sam continued. "You all haven't answered my question? Why are you trying to break into Kate's house after dark? Is going in the front door out of style or something?"
"Well, see, the thing is sir…" Tom tried to explain uncomfortably.
"Kate's missing," Lindsey blurted out, her voice beginning to shake again.
"None of us have seen her since Friday night," Libby explained. "She was supposed to be spending the night with me, but I was out with Michael, and she was out with-"
"A friend," James interjected with a meaningful glare at Libby.
"Right," Libby said with a strange look at him. "Anyway, I got home, and she still wasn't back yet, so I was a little worried, because all they were doing was going to a movie. I called her cell phone, and I found it in the floor of my room, but I know she took it with her. So we've been looking for her, and Tom found her tracks that lead us here. We finally got the door open and, we've searched the rest of the house, but she's not here." Libby was nearly sobbing by now. Michael came over and she turned to cry into his shoulder.
Samuel Austen, whose face had gotten harder as the story progressed, knew that there was only one person that could be behind this. After thinking for a moment, he motioned for them to follow and walked back to his Honda Pilot. They gathered around the tail-end, and he opened it up. "Alright," he said, looking each of them in the eyes. "This is what we're going to do."
Kate stirred, and the nurse looked up sympathetically, then turned back to face the four teenage girls standing in from of her. "Alright, now this is what's going on. This girl's father brought her here from Tennessee because she's in some sort of danger from her stepdad. He's an old friend of mine, so I told him I'd take care of her and treat her like she's always lived here. I choose you four to help me because I know I can trust you to trust me and make her feel safe. She's obviously been through a lot, so treat her kindly, but avoid any questions she asks you. Hopefully, she'll adjust soon or her dad will be back. Any questions?"
"Why bring her here?" asked Alice. "I mean, Tallahassee is a long way from Tennessee."
"Well, Wayne, her father that is, said that the farther she could get away from Tennessee, the better. And this was as far as he could drive her and get back and not be missed," the nurse replied.
"But, Danielle," asked Sara, her face troubled. "Why wouldn't he go to the police?"
Danielle shook her head. "Sara, I don't know. Wayne's been in trouble with the law before, but I honestly think he cares about this girl and doesn't want to see her hurt. Before he left earlier, he spent a moment alone with her, and he spoke to her so softly and he looked so gentle. I have a hard time believing that he could be involved in something that would hurt her." Danielle glanced into the room and saw Kate's eyes beginning to flutter open. "You all better get in there. She's waking up." She watched the girls take on smiling faces and begin to chatter as they walked into Kate Austen's room. 'I sure do hope I'm right, or I might be putting this girl in a lot of danger.'
Kate's eyes fluttered open groggily for the second time that day. 'Why is it that, just once, I can't wake up and know where I am,' she thought testily. She glanced around the room and saw four strange faces staring at her nervously.
"Oh Kate! We're so glad you're okay!" a skinny blonde squealed, hugging Kate tightly and making her wince.
The other girls all nodded emphatically and agreed with voices fast and high enough to make Kate's head throb.
"Hate to disappoint, but I don't think I know any of you," Kate replied in what she hoped was a tactful voice.
"Oh, of course you do, silly," said the brunette in an eerily accurate impression of the nurse that was now casually glancing back and forth between Kate's room and the doors that lead outside. "I'm Anna Harper."
"I'm Madi Stewart," said the dark haired girl at the foot of Kate's bed.
"I'm Sarah Van Horen," the shorter of the two brunettes said cheerily.
"And I'm Shannon Rutherford," said the bouncy, bubbly blonde in an uppity tone.
Kate looked at them blankly. "And I'm supposed to know you from where?"
Madi rolled her eyes impatiently. "We've know you since kindergarten. Don't you remember?"
"No," Kate replied, but the girls didn't listen. They started chatting about the school, homework, teachers, and boys while Kate sat and stared, glancing back and forth, trying to figure out what could possibly be going on. She could tell that the girls were close friends; that much was real, even if nothing else was. Not for the first time in her life, Kate felt totally and completely alone.
Suddenly the girls stopped talking as the doors that led outside swung open, and a young man in a doctor's coat strode inside. He talked with the nurse for a moment before she led him into Kate's room.
"Alright now girls, this kind young doctor is going to check and make sure that our friend is okay. I'm afraid you'll have to leave." The nurse smiled regretfully, and the four streamed out of the room without a word, casually glancing back at the doctor as they left. "I don't believe I've ever seen you at the hospital before," the nurse said after the door was shut.
"I'm an intern from New York. Your hospital and the one I work at have an exchange program so interns can get experience with diseases and cases of all types. I'll be here for the next week," the young man replied as he looked at the nurse's report.
"Well, okay then. If you don't need me, I'll be leaving." The intern nodded, and the nurse left with a quick, encouraging smile at Kate.
He watched as the nurse walked down the hall, and after she was out of sight, he turned back to Kate with a somewhat curious look on his face. "Hi there Kate," he said, smiling. "I'm Dr. Jack Shepard."
Kate frowned at the familiar name, but since she couldn't place it she stuck out her good hand. "Kate Austen. What's going on?"
Jack looked at her surprised. "I was hoping you could tell me. When I operate on someone in Tennessee, the last place I expect to see them is in Tallahassee a few weeks later."
Kate's eyes narrowed as she realized who he was. "Oh, so you're the guy that almost killed me."
Jack winced. "Well, I, yeah, but-" he stuttered to find the right words as Kate glared at him with contempt.
Kate glanced at her cast, hiding a grin. When she looked back up, she was smiling. "I'm just kidding. Jeez, Jack, James-" she grimaced "he was right. You doctor types can't take a joke."
Jack breathed a small sigh of relief, but didn't miss her grimace at James' name. His curiosity was sparked, but his doctor duties came first. He looked at the chart the nurse had given him and began his practical examination. "So," he asked while taking her temperature "what are you doing here?"
"I have absolutely no idea," Kate answered so nonchalantly that Jack stopped what he was doing.
"How can you not know?" he asked, confused. "The nurse told me-"
"Forget whatever she told you," Kate cut him off. She proceeded to tell him everything she could remember since the accident. He listened carefully, and Kate was incredibly grateful for someone to vent to. She left out only that her date was with James, but Jack could tell from the grimace earlier and the way she carefully sidestepped any details that it had been with his best friend and something had happened. When she finished, Jack looked at her, amazed at what she could go through and still be this strong.
"Can," Jack cleared his throat to regain his voice and to keep his temper under control. "Can I see the bruises?"
Wordlessly, Kate pushed up the sleeves on her arms to reveal deep, purple, handprint-shaped marks. Then she pushed her hair back to reveal another on her neck and Jack's eyes widened. His hatred for this Wayne character deepened even more.
"Any other major ones?" Jack asked hesitantly. He could tell she was upset, although she hid it well. She slowly pulled up the side of her shirt and Jack saw a glimpse of a flat, toned stomach before his eyes were drawn to the large reddish-purple contusion that covered most of her left side.
"I don't really remember much since late Friday night and just a few minutes ago when I woke up," she said quietly, lowering her shirt and looking back up at him.
Jack looked down and pretended to read the chart to give himself a minute to think and calm down. "You have traces of diazepam in your system. Your father must have drugged you to get you down here."
Kate barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "Oh really? Very acute observation, Sherlock." Her voice dripped with sarcasm and caused Jack to look up sheepishly. "Anything else to say, Captain Obvious?" She was grinning now, and Jack chuckled as he saw that James' knack for nicknames that had clearly rubbed off a little on Kate.
Jack looked back down as Kate leaned back into her pillows gently. "So," she began, making herself comfortable. "What ridiculous story did that freako nurse tell you?"
"Oh," Jack said, startled out of his doctorly reverie. "All she said is that a long-time student collapsed in the hallway, and the school's normal doctor is on vacation. She told me she doesn't have any real training, she's normally just a secretary, so she called the hospital and asked for someone to come check her out." Jack winced internally at his choice of phrasing, but Kate didn't seem to notice.
"What a load of bullpucky," Kate snorted. "What next? Did Wayne tell her that my step-dad beats me, and I'm in hiding?"
"Yes actually," said a voice from the dark bathroom. "That's exactly what she told us."
Both Jack and Kate turned, startled, towards the doorway and the sound. Two of the four girls that had introduced themselves earlier emerged from the darkness with grim looks on their faces. They came to stand by the bed while Kate's eyes followed them, full to the brim with fear, fury, and question.
"Who are you? What's really going on?" Kate demanded, her voice quivering slightly.
"I'm Joanna Harper, but everyone calls me Anna," responded the girl who had spoken.
"And I'm Sarah Van Horen," replied the other girl softly.
"We snuck back into your bathroom through the other door because Sarah wanted another look at the cute doctor," Anna explained while Sarah blushed crimson and Jack looked down. "We heard your story, and it makes a heck of a lot more sense than what Danielle told us."
"Danielle?" Kate asked.
"The freako nurse," Sarah replied, smiling. Kate smiled back, relaxing just a bit.
"Okay, well this is all great," Jack said. "But we have to figure out what we need to do. Obviously Kate can't stay here." Kate shot him a grateful look, and he smiled.
"You're right," Anna replied. "But I'm afraid that she has to for a little while."
"Why?" Kate demanded sharply, desperately.
"The whole school is buzzing with any news of you at all. The four of us are supposed to pretend to have known you forever, and we know about what Wayne told Danielle, and so do the teachers, but everyone else is completely clueless. All they know is that we have a new student that has to stay in the hospital wing for a few days."
Kate nodded. "Okay, so I have to wait until it calms down and everyone kind of forgets about me. But then what? How can I get out of here?"
"I think I know," Jack said as he picked up the phone.
"But what can you tell me?" Libby asked pleadingly.
"All I can tell you is that we all got e-mails that said she had transferred to a private girl's school in Charlotte, North Carolina," Libby's psychology teacher told her gently.
"She transferred?" Libby exclaimed, shocked. Then she shook her head. "Okay, thanks Mr. Locke."
"No problem, Libby," he replied, turning to the board to write down the rest of the questions for the day. "Let me know what you find out."
"I will," she assured him, then raced down the hall, almost colliding with Michael. "I found out where Kate is!" she almost shrieked.
"Whoa, calm down," Michael said guiding her to a bench to sit down. It was still ten minutes before the warning bell, so many people were still outside and the hall was almost completely deserted. "What happened?"
"I went to see Mr. Locke and asked him if the teachers knew anything about Kate being gone. He told me that they had all gotten an e-mail that told them Kate had transferred to a private girls' school in Charlotte, North Carolina," Libby explained breathlessly, eyes wide.
"Okay, let's go. Do you have Mr. Austen's number?" Michael asked as they walked quickly to his car.
"Yeah, 615-816-2348," Libby recited quickly as she climbed into his 1996 300ZX Life-Long AZ car.
Michael called Sam and told him what Libby had found out. He then tried to get through to James, but his line was busy.
"It's probably Sam," Libby said when Michael said he couldn't get through. "I wouldn't worry. Let's get on the road. It's a long drive to North Carolina."
James rolled over as his phone cried out loudly. Glancing at his clock before he picked it up, he saw that he was, once again, late for class. Who cares? He thought.
"Hello?" he grunted in a low voice.
"Hey James," said a familiar, cheery voice.
James groaned. "What is it Jack? You do know that whatever darn city you're in, I'm an hour behind you, right?"
"Yeah," Jack replied, "but I think I found out something you would want to hear."
James sighed and waited for Jack to continue.
Jack finally got through and turned away to talk.
Sarah and Anna stood by Kate's bed silently while she watched Jack with a nervous anticipation. She knew that James was the right person to pull this off, but she was still nervous about what she would say when Jack handed her the phone.
Sadly, she never got the chance. Sarah and Anna turned at a noise at the other end of the hallway and saw Danielle walking slowly towards Kate's room.
Sarah leaned in close and whispered, "We promise to do everything we can to help you, but we have to go now so she doesn't suspect anything." Kate nodded and the two girls ducked back out through the bathroom.
Danielle opened the door with a cheery smile. "How's our favorite patient doing doctor?" she asked, her eyes never leaving Kate.
Jack glanced at her, eyes frantic for a split second, before saying into his cell phone in a businesslike manner, "I'm afraid I'll have to call you back when I get to the office." He hung up and smiled back at Danielle. "She's just fine. Our friend here told me that she didn't eat very much yesterday because she was nervous about a test, so I suspect that's the reason she fainted."
Kate covertly shot him a look of admiration at this quick lie. She then looked sheepish. "I guess I better eat from now on, huh?"
"Yes, you should," Danielle answered, obviously pleased that things were going so smoothly. "Thank you for your time doctor."
"However," Jack continued. "I would like to make a follow-up visit in a few days, just to make sure that everything stays like it is."
"Oh, yes of course," Danielle replied hurriedly.
"I'll call you to set up a time," Jack said briskly, leaning across Kate's bed to hand Danielle a slip of paper with his number at the hospital on it. At the same time, his right hand slid a very small slip of paper under Kate's pillow. "This is my number," Jack said aloud. "Call me if there's anything you need." And with that he walked out the door, Danielle following.
Kate discreetly found the paper as soon as Danielle was out of sight. On it was Jack cell phone number and a note that read:
Don't worry Kate. I'm going to call James back as soon as I get to my car. We'll figure something out, and my second visit will be to tell you the plan to get you out of there. Trust Sarah and Anna, but no one else. You'll be free soon. I promise.
Jack
Kate folded up the paper and slipped it into the inside pocket of her skimpy robe. Sighing, she turned onto her side and pretended to sleep, all the while thinking of her new friends and their promise to escape.
Jack started to say something, but was cut off but a commotion in the background. "Listen James," he whispered urgently. "I'll have to call you back, but swear to me you will be there. It's really important."
"Alright fine," James replied testily. Now that he was awake, he remembered Kate was anxious to see what the plan was for today.
James hung up, and then tried to get through on Sam's line. It was busy. He grumbled under his breath about best friends that called at early hours and people that you couldn't get a hold of while he got dressed. Then he walked into the kitchen and made breakfast, all the while listening for the phone. Jack never called unless it was extremely important, so James wondered what could possibly be up with Jack this time.
Notes: Shannon is meant to be Shannon (obviously), Sarah is meant to be Jack's Sarah, and Anna Harper is meant to be Joanna from the show.
Oh btw, this is a link to what Michael's car looks like (the red one about halfway down the page).
