Chapter 6
"Police! Don't move. Put your hands over your head and turn around slowly."
The two police men had left the car and were now aiming their guns at Kate.
Kate's heart was racing and she felt like the world was spinning. She swallowed hoping the sickness she suddenly felt would pass. It was over. After more than three years on the run Kate had lost and this time there wouldn't be a plane crash to keep her from going to jail. Taking a deep breath Kate did as she had been told and turned around to face her fate.
The survivors had spent a week in a very nice hotel in L.A. Oceanic had been accommodating and within a month everybody had an amount on their account which was bigger than what most of them would have earned during their whole life.
Nearly everybody had decided to stay in L.A. Charlie had a record contract with a famous producer and he and Claire were looking for houses in L.A. Jin had fulfilled his dream and bought a parcel where he would built a small hotel. Sun would make natural cosmetics and offer them to their guests as a special service. Sayid had been hired by an electronic concern and he was dating Nadia. Only Locke had decided to leave the states. He was going to life in Australia and establish his own Scout agency which organized Walkabouts. Sawyer had soon seen the possibilities the new fame held and was busy writing a book about the time on the island. He was already in negotiation with a movie agency about the rights to film the story.
Jack had accepted the offer of his old hospital to replace his father as chief of surgery. It meant 80 hours weeks what gave him less time to go crazy thinking about Kate. When he came home he usually fell asleep within an hour. He had really tried to take Sawyer's advice to heart. I'm worse off than I thought, if I'm actually taking advice from Sawyer, Jack had thought when he visited the party Hurley had given on New Years Eve. He had really tried to have fun, but had thought about Kate the whole time. He ended up with a few drinks too much and had to be driven home by Sayid.
Kate spend the rest of the day and the night in a small cell at an Australian police office waiting for the US federal agents who would fetch her in the morning. She couldn't eat anything for the whole time because the sick feeling she had thinking about jail wouldn't pass. Two FBI agents arrived early in the morning to take her back to L.A. The older one -Taylor- was a tight-lipped cynic who gave the impression that he was extremely bored by his task. The other agent - Bennet - was very young, probably younger than Kate and seemed to feel pity for the sad beauty he had to escort. The drive to the airport and the check in felt like a déjà vu. Kate spent the whole time in silence. She spoke for the first time when breakfast was served on the plane.
"Thanks, but I'm not hungry," she told the flight attendant.
"You'll eat.", Taylor told her. "I don't want any hack lawyer tell the court that the bad Feds let you starve. Eat!" he ordered not leaving room for discussions.
Bennet shot Kate an apologetic look, but didn't dare to argue with his partner.
Kate started eating reluctantly and soon felt her stomach revolt.
"I'm feeling sick. I have to go to the bathroom, please."
Taylor looked angry, but decided that there was no way Kate could escape from a flying plane.
"Go with her," he told Bennet, just in case she would try to hijack the plane or something like this. Kate ran to the small bathroom and immediately got threw up.
The friendly young agent supported her on her way back to the seat and readjusted Kate's seat into a lying position earning him an angry look of his partner.
But this time he had the courage to stand up against Taylor.
"We have to bring Miss Austen to a hospital when we arrive in L.A. Look at her, she isn't pretending. What if there is something seriously wrong with her?"
Taylor sighed. But he had to admit that Bennet was right. They would have a severe problem if the the press and Austen's lawyer found out that the convict was seriously ill and the FBI had denied her medical treatment. So he simply nodded his agreement. He had known that this job would get on his nerves.
Jack entered the hospital cafeteria. He had just successfully done the first OP of the day and was going to take a short break before he went into his office to do some paper work. When he passed the large window Jack was surprised to see reporters and sound trucks in front of the building.
"Does anybody know what the reason for all the tumult out there is?" he asked joining a group of doctors he had a nodding acquaintance with.
"Didn't you hear? They caught the fugitive who was in the oceanic crash down under. They brought her here a few minutes ago. Weren't you in that plane, too?"
Jack turned pale.
"Do you know why they are taking her here? What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know, sorry. But she is not in the emergency room, so it can't be that bad. She is in the acute day ward."
Jack muttered a "Thank you", left his coffee on the table and hurried to get to Kate.
When he entered the room an assistant doctor had just started examining Kate. Two men, probably federal agents stood next to her bed.
"Who are you?" the older of the two asked.
"Doctor Shephard. I'm taking over from here," Jack told the young doctor, who immediately got ready to leave.
"And why that?", the older agent asked suspiciously.
"I don't need to render an account to you concerning medical questions unless you have a medical degree. And I want you to wait outside. I have to concentrate on my work and I don't want audience here. You can wait in front of the door. There won't be any possibility for her to escape."
The agents reluctantly left the room and Jack sat down on the chair next to Kate's bed.
"Hallo, Kate," he greeted looking at the woman in front of him lovingly.