CHAPTER 43: SURVIVORS

Within fifteen minutes, Jack had brought Shannon and Sayid to their room to look after the still-sleeping Curtis, and Jack and Kate were on their way to the hospital in the back of an ambulance. Half an hour later, Kate was taken in for observation, and Jack was forced to become the worried fiancée and parent pacing the corridors, waiting for news. Since they had returned, their lives had been thrown into complete turmoil. First Kate was dragged from them, then she returned, then Kaia was taken, and now it seemed like their unborn children were going to be taken from them as well. Was this the price they had to pay for rescue? If so, he wanted to be returned to the island straight away.

He remembered the terror that they had both felt when Kaia had been born, when she wasn't crying, wasn't breathing, wasn't moving. It was like nothing else he felt, and he was sure that he'd never feel it again, but the past few days, it was all that he'd been able to feel. Even with Kate back where she belonged, his children were in danger, and he was helpless to that feeling, the nagging voice in the back of his head that told him he couldn't fix things this time.

He pressed the balls of his hands into his eyes, wishing that when he opened them again, he wouldn't see the long white corridor which had once felt like home, but that now felt alien to him. Home wasn't here anymore, home was an island, in the middle of no-where. Home is where the heart is, and his heart belonged with Kate. Kate was home. Kate was wild and free, just like the island, nothing slowing her down, nothing preventing her from getting what she wanted, nothing but the natural beauty which the two blended together so well.

Jack didn't know how long he sat there and waited, but Shannon and Claire suddenly were walking up to him. Claire placed a soft hand against his shoulder, and he looked up at them bleakly, his eyes adjusting back to the world after having seen nothing but the inside of his eyelids for over an hour.

"What are you doing here?" He asked them.

"Charlie and Sayid are babysitting." Shannon told him. "We came to see how Kate is."

"You wasted a trip." Jack said sadly, as the two sat down either side of him. "I don't know anything yet. I don't even know if she's Ok, let alone the twins." He rubbed his forehead, trying to think of some way out of this, but failing miserably.

"Twins?" Claire asked quickly.

He looked up at Claire's question, and remembered that neither of them had a chance to spread the news about the twins. "Kate was given a scan two days ago, and it showed two heartbeats." He said, having to smile at the memory, but it was a sad smile because right now, his twins might be fighting for their lives, or have already ended them. He hoped it was the former. Even though he hated the idea of their lives in danger like that, he would rather them be in danger not be there at all. "If they're still there..." He added.

"What happened?" Claire asked softly.

"I woke up and she was in the kitchen, screaming." Jack said, replaying what would become a nightmarish scene for him. "She was holding her stomach, saying that something was wrong, and that she couldn't feel the babies anymore, and she was in pain."

"Things will work out, Jack." Claire assured him. "If you just have faith."

He shook his head a little. He had never really been a firm believer in faith. "My son is confused, my daughter is missing, and the woman I love is waiting to be told whether or not her babies are alive or dead, and then they'll have to tell me as well." He said. "I'm going to need a miracle, not faith."

"Well, Mr Shephard, we might just have the miracle you need."

Jack turned and stood up as a doctor approached them. "How are they?" He asked instantly.

"We've taken your wife up onto a ward; she's resting at the moment. It seems she hasn't had a decent night's sleep in a while, so she fell asleep within the last hour." He revealed.

Jack let out a small sigh. "Things have been a bit crazy at the moment." He said. "Our…our daughter's missing." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," The doctor said, "But your fiancée really needs to be taking things easy, even though she insists that in herself she's fine."

"And the babies?" He asked.

"She wanted to tell you herself." The doctor said.

Jack nodded numbly, immediately thinking that it was going to be bad news. He, Shannon and Claire followed the doctor up to the ward, and the girls waited outside whilst Jack followed the doctor inside. In the far end of the ward lay Kate in a bed, now wearing a white gown instead of the clothes she had been wearing that morning. As they reached the bedside, he saw that her eyes were closed, a peaceful expression on her face whilst she slept.

He took a seat on the edge of the bed, picking up the hand in his that was lying at her side, lifting it to his lips and kissing her knuckles gently. Her other hand was lain across her stomach, in that protective manner he had seen from her so many times. It was strange how the image in his head that came to mind whenever someone mentioned her name was no longer her dangerously high in the trees, but rather relaxing in the sand, caressing a growing bump on her stomach.

Kate didn't stir from his touch, and he knew that she was getting the much-needed rest that her body needed so badly. He let out a heavy sigh. "Oh, Kate." He whispered. "How did we come to this?"

The doctor was standing at the edge of the bed, checking the notes that had been written, and then he replaced them in the folder, telling Jack that a doctor would be around every now and again to check on her. He nodded, but didn't say anything, sitting tight in his space at her side.

Around half an hour later, Kate started to stir. Jack, who had been tracing small circles on the inside of her hand, watching her peaceful face and the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, immediately snapped back to reality.

"Kate?" He asked quietly, his hand coming to her cheek as her eyes fluttered gently. She heard his voice, and looked up at him tiredly.

"Hey." She said softly.

"You okay?" He asked her with that look of concern she had grown so used to.

She looked away for a moment, and then looked back at him. "I'm sorry, Jack." She said with tears in her eyes. "You were right, I should have taken better care of myself." She said sadly.

He shook his head, moving closer to her as she sat up. Now that he was level with her, he combed back her hair behind her ears with his fingers. Tears started to form in Jack's eyes. "Kate, it wasn't your fault." He told her. "What happened-"

"-happened because I wasn't taking care of myself." She finished his sentence, and they locked eyes. "I know that now, and I'm going to fix it." Jack's eyebrows creased together at this. Fix it? How could she fix it? Unless...

"Kate…" He said, with a curious smile.

"We're going to be Okay, Jack." She said with a grin. "They're still alive."

Jack had her in his arms so quickly that Kate couldn't remember him embracing her. All the pressure that had built up that morning suddenly disappeared as the knowledge of their twins being alive filled his mind. They held each other so tightly, as all the worries of the day eased into nothing, and Jack fought back the happy tears that came to him.

"Jesus, Kate, you had me scared for a minute there." He told her as he pulled back to look at her face.

"Just make sure I listen to you from now on when you tell me to look after myself." She said to him.

"I guess we've both been a little distracted lately..." He mused with a nod. "Things are going to be alright though." He told her. "We're survivors, and it's going to stay that way." He smiled again, laughing to himself and placed his hand over her stomach, speaking to it. "Glad you're still here, guys." He said softly in that special talk for children. "You had us worried for a while."

"Like you said, Jack - survivors."

"Don't I know it." He said with a gentle laugh..

Kate nodded, agreeing with him. "Where's Curtis?" She asked.

"He's with Sayid and Charlie back at the hotel." Jack said, "Shannon and Claire are outside."

"Not anymore." Kate said, nodding over to where Claire and Shannon were approaching Kate's bedside. But they weren't alone. Either side of them walked Evans and Colson, Jack stood up as they approached, greeting Evans with a handshake.

"Sorry to catch you in a private moment, Mr Shephard," Evans stated. "Everything is Ok, I hope?"

"It's Ok." Jack said, with a smile to Kate. "It was just a scare." Kate smiled back at him, and Claire and Shannon went over to hug Kate.

"I'm glad to hear that. However, I need you to accompany us someplace else." He said, and Kate frowned.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Preferably we would have both of you come, but in the interest of Ms Austen's health we believe it will be best that you accompany us." He said to Jack.

"What's going on? Jack asked, repeating Kate's question.

"Something bad's happened, hasn't it?" Kate assumed, bringing her hands up to her face. "Oh god, no."

"On the contrary." Colson said. "We've found your daughter."

"You've found her?" Kate asked, grinning, happy tears spilling over her face. "Is she Ok? Where is she?"

"We've located her somewhere with Ms Harrington, as we saw on the CCTV." Evans told them.

"Oh, thank God." Kate sighed.

"She's Ok, though, right?" Jack asked. "Sarah hasn't hurt her?"

"Not as far as we can tell."

"What are we waiting for, let's go." Jack said, kissing Kate.

"Mr Shephard, you should know that this is going to require some persuasion on your part."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain on the way over there, but to put it simply, Ms Harrington refuses to speak to anyone besides you."

"I don't care, as long as I get my daughter back." He said, and then turned to Kate. "Don't worry; I'm going to bring her home."


A/N: Yay! Kaia's coming home and the twins are fine! Lowers shield Maybe no one will want to kill me anymore!