Over a week had passed since Sarah and Jack had last spoken about his thoughts on his guilt. Sarah didn't want to bring it up as he seemed to be doing better and other than asking Chase a few not so subtle questions it almost seemed as though he had overcome the topic and accepted that he was not at fault for his actions and that they were beyond his control.
Kim wasn't quite convinced though. Although she too had noticed how her fathers mood seemed to have lifted she still didn't trust that he had fully forgiven himself yet. There was so much he hadn't yet spoken about and she worried that the others would deem him "recovered" when he wasn't and then when other issues came to the surface he would hide away from them rather than talk to them about it.
They were waiting in a private hospital room for the results from the tests which had been ran on his foot. Progress had been made and Sarah persuaded Jack to take extra x-rays of his foot to make sure the bones had healed correctly before they started more intensive therapy on it. She was being cautious, and Jack appreciated this, knowing it was his best interests she had in mind so he complied with the tests, hoping this would mean they could start to do more, and he could start walking without the assistance of his crutches.
A young guy stuck his head through the doorway, tossed Sarah a file and then disappeared again. Sarah leafed through the papers and examined the x-rays before finally stacking the documents together neatly and sliding them back into the folder.
"Congratulations," she said, unable to hide her smile, "things are looking great, as good as they could be."
Jack grinned, unable to hide his relief. "That's excellent," he said, "no more crutches? No more tests-"
"Whoa," Sarah interrupted, laughing, "you still need the crutches until you get used to using a cane, and then nothing at all. You aren't getting rid of me that easily," she added, "we still have work to do."
"How'd it go?"
Chase was eager to hear the news, hoping Jack wasn't disappointed whilst trying to hide his own anxiousness in case it wasn't the good news they were all secretly hoping for.
"Good, everything's healing properly," he said, smiling a little again as Chase's face broke out in a relieved smile. "That's great," he said, not wanting to embarrass Jack with attention. Jack simply nodded his head, "you're right, it is."
"Listen," he said, shrugging his jacket from his shoulders as he tried to mask his unease, "Secretary Heller called earlier. He asked me to pass a message on to you, asking you to call him. Apparently he's in town and wants to meet with you."
"Okay," Jack said going a little quiet, "I better go return his call," he added, not knowing if he actually wanted to see the man, but he decided he had to, he owed him that much at least.
Heller wanted to meet with him immediately, but Jack was tired and admitted that he didn't feel up to his invitation for dinner in some swanky restaurant. Jack was slightly uneasy by Heller's determination and he tried to put it off, but the older man was adamant that he speak to Jack soon, and so Jack finally gave in and agreed for Heller to meet him at home the next day.
He was quiet all evening and retreated to his room. Kim tried to make him eat dinner with them, but he wouldn't have it, instead he laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering why he was dreading tomorrows meeting with a man he respected.
After dinner, while Chase was putting Angela to bed Kim entered her fathers room. She didn't bother to knock instead she practically barged in, hoping to get some reaction from him, but he just raised his eyebrows to question what she wanted from him.
"Can we talk?" Kim asked as she watched him sit up in bed with some effort.
"Sure, what about?"
"You."
"Oh," Jack said as his gaze turned to his hands, "what about me?"
"Dad," she said, "I'm worried about you. Everyone is acting like you are fine and I want to believe them but I daren't."
"I'm doing fine Kim."
"No, you're not, you wont even look me in the eyes."
Jack started to say something then stopped when they heard a childish giggle filter from downstairs.
"Let's sit in the garden," Kim said, "it's a nice night. I want to talk to you dad, a real conversation."
Jack shook his head, he was starting to feel irritated. "I thought we did just talk?"
"No dad, when people talk normally both participants contribute to the conversation."
Jack pushed the covers back and grabbed his crutches, not getting changed out of the tee and shorts he wore. "Fine," Jack said, trying not to be moody. "Lets sit in the garden and talk."
"Dad I don't wanna talk to you if you're gonna get angry."
"I'm not angry," Jack snapped, before pausing to try and calm himself down, telling himself that it wasn't Kim's fault he was in a bad mood. "What is it you want to talk about," he said as he made his way through the house to the patio doors which opened onto the green back yard.
Kim opened up the doors and led him outside before closing them again. Jack perched himself on one of the three steps which led down to the grass. Kim stood at the bottom and folded her arms defensively. "I want to talk to you about what happened in China."