Somebody That I Used To Know.
Chapter 11.
Kate made a quick exit from the cabin, Stacey hovered at the door eyeballing Jack.
"She doesn't need any more trouble."
"I'm not trouble, I was just being honest."
She scoffed as she closed the door and ran after Kate. Catching up with her, Stacey pulled on her arm and waited for an explanation for her retreat, Kate remained silent.
"Ah, what was that all about?"
"Nothing."
Kate pulled away, continuing down the hallway, Stacey raced after her not wanting her to bottle up more feelings.
"Ah, that tension in there says otherwise!"
Kate refused to meet Stacey's glare, letting out a huff, Stacey shook her head and shoved her into the senior sailors mess.
"Kate McGregor, tell me, else I'll go get Dutchy and he can drag it out of you!"
Kate exhaled sharply and collapsed on to the bench.
"He just told me he was going to propose."
The harsh expression dropped from Stacey's face as she placed herself next to Kate.
"Wow... and how do you feel about that?"
Kate slumped further into the seat.
"God, now you sound like my shrink."
"Well?!"
"I dunno, I don't want to think about it, I'm engaged to Mike."
"So, are you saying you still have feelings for Jack?"
Kate hesitated, considering her words, she didn't want to give Stacey the wrong idea.
"He was my first love, I guess on some level I'll always have feelings for him, but I never expected to see him again. I know I shouldn't compare, but it's hard not to, we just worked, and I think it's cos Mike and I have these issues, and my dumb memory. I dunno, maybe I'm just overwhelmed, you should probably just ignore me, I don't know what I'm saying."
Stacey shuffled closer, wrapping her arm around Kate.
"Kate, I'm worried about you."
"You shouldn't be, I'm just over thinking things, this is stupid of me, I'm sure if this weekend away went like it was supposed to I wouldn't be like this."
"Maybe it's because you can't remember the good times with Mike, you're just thinking of the struggle. He probably booked you this trip to remind you of the great moments you had."
Kate nodded, wanting it all to be true.
"Yeah, like I said, ignore me."
Dutchy walked past Jack's cabin as he poked his head out.
"You got a minute?"
Dutchy nodded and entered his cabin, closing the door behind him.
"So, you and Kate, you're mates, yeah?"
Dutchy nodded cautiously, wondering where the conversation was heading.
"Is she okay? I don't remember her being this highly strung? I mean, she's always been determined, but something's different."
Dutchy didn't want to over share, he didn't know Jack very well and Kate already had enough concerned people around her.
"You heard me when I said she's lost the past 6 years of her memories, right?"
"Yeah, but…"
"She's lost all memories of her fiancee and, well I dunno, maybe you should talk to her about this."
Jack smiled, appreciative that he was trying to protect her.
"I get it, you're the protective friend, and I should probably be thankful for that. You guys been friends for long?"
"Ah, four years or so…"
"Right, so then how are you two so close if she can't remember you?"
Dutchy shrugged.
"Dunno, lucky I guess…"
Later that afternoon the Hammersley docked, Mike waited impatiently as it came alongside. As soon as the gangway touched the dock he sprinted up the gangway saluting Thor on the way. Kate appeared from below, he rushed over to her giving her the once over.
"Kate! Are you okay?"
She shooed his hands away, already feeling agitated at his fusing.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Aria?"
"Oh, she's with Max, she said she can have her for the night. C'mon let's get you home."
Jack cleared his throat as he appeared behind them.
"Try to keep yourself out of trouble…"
Kate nodded as Mike pulled her towards the gangway.
Driving home, Mike's eyes darted back and forth from Kate to the road.
"You're quiet, you sure you're okay?"
Kate ignored him, her mind was full, trying to decide if she had the energy to bring up the question in her head.
"Tell me about the good times…"
She froze as soon as the words left her mouth, Mike's face wrinkled, the question puzzling him.
"Huh?"
"Us, the good times we've had."
Mike's eyes darted over to her, then back to the road.
"Where's this coming from?"
"I just, I need to hear about them…"
"Kate, you're acting…"
Her head whipped toward him, her eyes wide.
"Acting what? Mike?"
Mike's hands tightened around the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.
"Kate, c'mon…"
He focused on Kate longer than she liked, she pushed his face back to face the road.
"Just watch the road."
Shaking his head, he looked back over to her.
"Kate, tell me what's going on!"
"Watch out!"
She grabbed the steering wheel, swerving them off the road, narrowly missing the merging car. Mike slammed his foot on the break, the car stopped with a sharp jolt. Kate's body flew forward, her head hitting the frame of the window. She winced as she sat back up, a small stream of blood trickled down her temple. Mike undid his seat belt and leaned over to her, panicked by what he saw.
"Oh my god, you're bleeding."
She wiped the blood with the back of her hand, recoiling from her his touch.
"Why can't you just tell me? Why is it so hard? Why does everything have to turn into an argument?"
"Kate, are you having second thoughts? Is this because Jack's back?"
Kate's head tilted, she hadn't told Mike anything about him, how did he know about their history?
"What do you mean?"
"You're seriously going to deny you guys were a thing?"
Kate threw her hands in the air, rolling her head back in frustration.
"I'm not denying anything! I just don't understand why you would bring that up."
"Maybe because it's something you forgot to tell me?"
"Mike, I haven't had a chance, seriously can't you see what is happening here?"
He sighed and restarted the car.
"I'm taking you to the hospital, you could have a concussion."
Kate sat in the hospital bed, her arms folder over her chest
"Mike, I'm fine, you're overreacting as usual."
She didn't mean for it to come out with such a bitter tone, but she was still irritated he couldn't answer a simple question.
"Over reacting? Kate, you've had a brain injury before, excuse me for being your worried fiancee!"
The doctor walked in holding Kate's CT scan.
"Ms McGregor, your scan appears to be clear, but because of your history we would like to keep you in overnight."
Kate rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"Oh for god's sake, is that really necessary?"
Mike placed himself in between Kate and the doctor, cutting her off.
"What ever you recommend, Doctor."
He nodded and placed the scan in her folder and exited the room.
Stacey knocked on the door, poking her head in.
"What have you done now, McGregor?"
As Stacey lowered herself on the edge of the bed, Mike's phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen, Kate could tell from the look on his face it was NAVCOM, she let out a huff.
"Just take it…"
Mike quickly rose from his chair and answered the phone as he left the room. Stacey leaned in closer as the door closed.
"I've arranged for our stuff to be couriered back. Now, what the hell happened? Are you okay?"
Kate shook her head, folding her arms across her chest.
"You had to tell him, didn't you…"
Stacey flinched, startled by her irritated tone.
"What?"
"About Jack."
Kate refused to make eye contact, wiggling to the opposite side of the bed.
"Kate, umm, I didn't do it to cause trouble, and he would have found out, anyway."
"Yeah, he should have heard it from me."
"Kate, I'm sorry, I just…"
"We were arguing in the car about it, we nearly had a car accident."
Stacey held her hands up, stopping the conversation.
"What? You're blaming this on me."
"Why don't you just mind your own business."
"Kate, I'm sorry…"
Kate rolled on to her side, turning her back on Stacey. Stacey didn't know what to say, she ran out of the room on the verge of tears. Mike re entered the room, seeing Stacey run out.
"What happened?"
"Nothing…"
Mike tried to catch her eye, sitting back down next to her.
"What did you say to her?"
"Mike, just leave it okay…"
Kate rolled in the opposite direction, Mike didn't want to make things worse but he was growing tired of their constant bickering .
"Okay, well, I have to go in."
"Yeah, of course you do..."
He didn't have the strength to argue, he ignored the comment and kissed her on the forehead.
"I'll come back tonight with Aria."
She didn't reply.
"Call me if you need anything."
As the door clicked shut, she pulled the sheet over her face, trying to forget the disastrous state of her life.
Later that day, Kate's eyes fluttered open, feeling a presence beside her.
"Kate?"
She blinked a few times, trying to focus.
"Dutchy?"
"Yeah, it's me..."
She rubbed her hands over her face, her head was pounding.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just over everything?"
Holding her hands over her face she burst into tears, Dutchy was startled by her sudden flood of emotions. He hopped on to the side of the bed and held her tight.
"Kate, I'm sorry..."
"You haven't got anything to be sorry for…"
She wiped her tears from her cheeks, Dutchy stayed close and rubbed her back trying to calm her.
"It's okay, I can go if you want to be alone…"
He went to rise from the bed, she grabbed his arm pulling him back
"No, it's fine…"
He smiled and sat back next her, leaning back on the headboard.
"It's okay, I'll always be here to annoy you…"
Jack cleared his throat as he stepped into the room, Dutchy lept up from the bed.
"Oh, Jack… Hi…"
Jack glanced over the Dutchy then back to Kate, suspicious of their close nature.
"Seriously, you can't go five minutes without drama, hey?"
He sat down opposite her and placed the flowers on the beside table.
"Hope Mulholland's conversation isn't making you want to lose more of your memory?"
They both shot him an mortified look.
"Too soon? Okay, so when do we bust you out of here?"
"Not till tomorrow."
"Well, I'm sure the two of us can entertain you in the meantime."
Dutchy felt like the third wheel, he rose from the bed.
"Ah, I'm sure you guys have some catching up to do, I'll leave you to it."
Kate gripped Dutchy's arm, not wanting him to leave.
"You don't have to..."
"Nah, it's okay."
She dropped her hand, cursing his name in her head.
"Thanks a lot."
"Anytime!"
The silence was deafening as Dutchy closed the door. Jack moved his chair closer to the bed.
"Well, you can't run away from me now."
"I wasn't running away."
"Oh, really?"
Kate re-positioned herself, sitting up she shot him a disapproving look.
"Okay, well, what would you do if I told you I was going to propose?"
"Yeah, I know, my bad!"
She playfully whacked him on the arm.
"No shit!"
He moved his hand over to hers.
"So, we okay?"
"Yeah, it's just weird, its like no time has passed, plus I don't have the memories in between so it might as well be."
"I don't know why I told you, I really didn't do it to upset you."
"I know, you rarely did anything to upset me, you were too damn perfect!"
"Well, perfect boyfriends don't abandon you."
"You didn't, I know you were only looking out for me. I wouldn't make you chose between me and your family."
"Speaking of family, now you have one! You're getting married and you're a mum?"
"Yeah, pretty unbelievable, hey?"
"Unbelievable that you hadn't settled down sooner, although, you're pretty stubborn as I recall."
"Yeah, and still is..."
They turned hearing a voice behind them, Mike flashed a smile as he rose his hand to shake Jack's.
"I don't believe we've officially met, Mike Flynn."
"Jack Raymond, good to meet you."
Kate couldn't deal with the situation in front of her, she spotted Aria and reached out for her baby girl.
"There she is! How's my girl?"
Jack could feel the tension in the room and politely excused himself.
"Ah, well, I'd better get going, let you have our rest…"
He squeezed her shoulder and gave her a hug, much to Mike's dismay.
"Dinner soon?"
"You bet."
He gave Mike a nod as he headed to the door.
"Hope you know how lucky you are…"
End Chapter 11.
N.B: Thanks for sticking with me guys, seriously haven't had a lot of time to write and it doesn't help that my inspiration has all but disappeared. I'm heading up to Port Douglas and Mission Beach in a few weeks so hoping the relaxation and the fact i will be on surrounded by Sea Patrol scenery will help! Hope everyone is doing okay and keeping safe! xx