Chapter 4

The survivors spent two terrible hours at the airport. Fortunately, the reporters had been sent out of the building by some forceful flight attendants. After that they called everybody one after another into a small office where their papers were checked. Finally each survivor had a ticket for the next flight to L.A which was going in the morning. They fought their way through the more insistent reporters towards the waiting bus which should bring them to the hotel where Oceanic had made reservations for all of them. A flight attendant explained that they would be brought to a hotel in Los Angeles right after their flight where they would meet with a representative of Oceanic to talk about their compensation.

The hotel was one of Sydney's best. The walls were painted in a friendly yellow shade and a lot of small lamps flooded the Lobby with an unobtrusive light. Some leather armchairs were placed in front of a large window. The rooms weren't less impressive. The walls were yellow here, too. The cushions, curtains and bedspreads were held in a matching golden color and one wall consisted mainly of a large window with a great view on the harbor. A very polite employee who discretely ignored the fact that the new guests were all dressed in not really clean jeans and t-shirts explained that the hotel disposed of a beauty salon, massage service, a spa (much to the delight of the female survivors), a games room, a gymnasium and a house bar (more to the delight of the male survivors) and a swimming pool. Although there were two restaurants, the survivors would be served dinner in one of the conference rooms to give them some privacy. The employee told that dinner would be ready in an hour, so they would have time to fresh up before.

After the long flight, which had awoken uncomfortable memories, and the hours at the airport everybody was looking forward to take a hot shower, eat a proper meal and sleep in a real bed for the first time in two month.

Even Locke admitted that he had missed having a good steak for dinner.

Only Jack couldn't take pleasure in the comfort of civilization. All he could think about was where Kate would spend the night. Where would she sleep and what would she eat without money?

Kate had never been in Sydney before she had come here in custody of the marshal and she hadn't seen a lot more than the airport at that time. But Sydney was a tourist metropolis. There had to be a billboard with a map anywhere. She didn't need to search long until she found what she was looking for. She decided to go into the direction of the Hyde Park. There had to be many restaurants, motels and museums. Chances were that they needed temporary staff anywhere. And she could probably find a place to spend the night somewhere in the park. When Kate reached her destiny it was already late afternoon, so she decided to make herself familiar with the quarter and wait with looking for a job till morning. Before it darkened she had made a list of locations where she would look for a job and found a quite nice place in the park to spread the airline blanket she had in her backpack. Kate didn't mind sleeping outdoors. In fact it reminded her of the island and she had been more happy there than ever before. Kate lay down and once again thought about Jack. She knew she had done the right thing refusing his offer to stay with her. But that didn't make her miss him less. During these months with Jack Kate had allowed herself to dream of the life she could have with him. At times she had nearly believed they could have a future. Now Kate regretted that she had ever been so stupid. Maybe it would have hurt less to leave Jack, if she hadn't given in to these stupid dreams.

The survivors weren't disappointed by dinner. The hotel had prepared a hot and cold buffet which left nothing to be desired. After nobody could eat anymore, the ladies decided to check out the Spa. Aaron would stay with Charlie. Locke who was glad that he still didn't have any difficulties with his legs decided to visit the gymnasium. A few other guys joined him. A small group of people who surprisingly hadn't gotten enough water on the island went for a swim. Some others decided to go to sleep early, glad to spend the night in a real bed again.

Jack was glad that everybody was occupied and nobody seemed to pay attention to him. All he wanted now was a large drink. He went to the bar and ordered a double scotch, but he didn't stay undisturbed for long.

"I get a beer," Sawyer said and sat down next to Jack who did his best to ignore the newcomer.

"You're missing her, aren't you?" Sawyer asked.

"None of your business," Jack replied.

"Yeah, I thought so. I'll tell you something: I miss Freckles, too. But I'm not going to stop living now that she's gone. One reason is that I'm not the kind of guy to cry over spilt milk. I know, that doesn't really apply to you. But you should think about my other reason: I'm sure Freckles wouldn't want anybody to lose himself in grief because she's gone. And I'm sure you're the last person she wants to see grieving.

She loves you. A blind one would have seen that. And I bet the main reason she went on the run again was that she wanted to give you the chance to start over and be happy again. It sure as hell wasn't easy for her to leave you. I think you owe her at least to try and move on with your life. Good night, doc," Sawyer said and left without waiting for an answer.