First, Jack had gone to the medical department of the cruise ship. There he had explained about Kate, and found out that she hadn't been scheduled for a check at all because she was in custody. Jack had convinced them to let him do the check, and they told him what they were looking out for, and gave him a copy of the sheet to make notes on. Then he had set out getting directions as to where Kate was. After half an hour, he was suddenly at the other end of the boat, on the second to bottom deck, and standing at the end of the corridor from her room.
Standing outside were two of the marshals, and the other two were obviously working as part of a shift to stand guard. Taking a deep breath, Jack approached the two marshals.
"Excuse me, Sir." One of them said, "No further than this. She's dangerous."
"And she may be ill." Jack added. "I'm here to conduct the medical examination on her."
He showed them the sheet that the docters were using, and they confired for a moment. Jack's heart ached to get through that door, to get to Kate.
"What's in the bag?" One asked.
"Clothes." Jack said simply.
"Alright. In you go."
Surprised at how easy that had worked, Jack entered the room, watching the Marshal close the door behind him. He watched it for moment, until it was completely shut, and then he heard a tiny voice behind him.
"Jack...?"
He turned to face her. She looked a complete wreck. Her eyes were still red from crying, her cheeks showing stains of dried tears. She was lying on her side on what appeared to be a lumpy bed, with a flat pillow. Hardly the five star room the rest had been given. Her dark hair was hanging loosely over her shoulder, falling forward as she propped herself up on one arm to face him.
"Kate..." He whispered, and crossed the room, dropping to his knees at the side of the bed, and taking her in his arms.
"Jack, you're here." She said softly, not crying, but holding him tightly, amazed that he was actually there. "How did you get them to let you in?" She asked.
Jack pulled away and kissed her. "I'm doing your medical check." He told her simply.
She nodded. "How long have you got?" She asked, nodding her head in the direction of the door.
"I don't know, they didn't say." Jack answered, stroking his hand down her cheek. "I'm so sorry I didn't stop them." He said with tears in his eyes.
"I asked you to let them take me, Jack. You know they would have hurt you, and taken me anyway." She reminded him. "I couldn't risk you getting hurt, not when the kids..." Her voice choked, and she had to look away, but Jack raised her chin to look at him.
"They're fine." He told her softly. "They're Ok."
"Where are they?" She asked, looking around as if expecting to see them standing in the corner of the room.
"Charlie and Claire are finishing up with the shopping with them." He told her, opening the bag up. "Claire and Shannon picked you out some new stuff." He said, taking out the clothes and laying them on the bed beside her. "Figured you wouldn't want to be stuck in this stuff for long."
Kate nodded. "Thank you."
"Kate, I know that you'll hate me for this, but I need a blood sample." He told her.
She grimaced, but nodded anyway, holding out her arm as Jack prepared to take the sample. She looked up at the ceiling as Jack drew the blood, not wanting to look at the needle.
"So, you did the shopping thing already?" She asked, wanting to ask him anything just to hear his voice for a bit longer.
"Yeah, it was a nightmare." He said, but smiled anyway. "Your daughter is as fussy with clothes as you are with food."
Amazingly, this brought a soft laugh to Kate's lips. "What did they get?"
"Curtis was asleep, we got him some things, but there wasn't much there for his age. Charlie made us get the t-shirt that said Momma's boy on it." Again, Kate smiled, closing her eyes and trying to picture the scene. "Kaia got this gorgeous little set. Skirt and top with a jacket. She even carried it around the shop herself."
"I miss them already." Kate admitted. "It's so quiet in here."
She missed the jungle sounds, and the sound of the crashing waves, which she could not hear from her room. She missed the smell of the forest and campfires. She missed the sounds of the children running and playing, of people talking amongst themselves. She missed everything.
"Kaia said that she loves you, and that your the best mom in the world." Jack told her, bringing a peaceful look to the mothers face. "She said that she's doing what you asked her to." She met his eyes.
"I knew she would."
"What did you ask her to do? She said it was a secret." Jack said with a small laugh. "Or is this one of those mother-daughter things that I don't want to know about?"
"I asked her to look after her Dad and her brother for me, and make sure that you both stay out of trouble, and to make sure that Daddy looks after himself." She revealed, remembering their conversation in the cave yesterday. Had it really been only last night?
"Don't worry. I'm going to try and find a way out of this." He told her. "It's been four hours and I'm nearly dead inside. I'm not going to let them take you away from me." She nodded weakly. "And until then, I'm going to make them let the kids in to see you."
She turned her head sharply. "Jack, they won't allow it." She said softly.
"Yeah they will." He said determindley. "I'll find a way. Just hold on, Ok." She nodded again, returning her head to the pillow weakly, closing her eyes. "Tired?" He asked, leaning over her and stroking her face softly.
"No." She said, "Just...feel a bit weak."
Jack frowned, and conducted the rest of the examination. "Tell me exactly how you feel." He said, noting her pale complexion even more now he was close up.
"A bit...spinny." She said. "Nauseous...and uh...late."
"Late?" He asked, raising his head from where he had been checking her pulse. "As in..."
"Yeah, as in period." She finished, looking up into his eyes.
"Why didn't you say earlier?" He asked, cupping her face yet again as her hand came to rest over his.
"With the rescue going on I didn't notice, but I've had a lot of time to think so far, it kinda dawned on me a few hours ago." She admitted. Jack was silent for a minute. "Jack...please, say something...anything."
Jack smiled softly. "How about that I love you." He leaned down and hugged her, letting their arms entwine and he kissed her hair. "So...round three?" He joked, and she laughed as well, tears on her cheeks. He saw these when they pulled back. "Uh oh, hormones."
She shook her head. "I'm just worried that they'll take it away when it's born." She sniffed.
"They can't. You'll be long out of here by then. I promise." He said, and then one of the marshals came in.
"Will I?" She asked, seeing them,
"Times up." The marshal said, and Jack kissed her before standing to leave.
"Love you." Kate sniffed.
"Love you too."
"I said times up."
Jack left unwillingly, hating to have to walk away from Kate. One thing was for sure now - he was definately getting her out of there. He leaned against the wall outside, not paying any attention to the marshals, and let the news sink in that Kate was pregnant again.
"So, doctor, what do you suggest?" One marshal asked in all seriousness. "Got a way to stop her crying, it's doing our heads in already."
Jack turned to them. "I suggest that you let the mother see her children."
