"Jack? Jack can you hear me? I think he's waking up!" Sarah yelled when she saw his brown eyes open. She stroked his face gingerly as the doctor rushed to Jack's side.
Kate rushed to his other side, the tips of her hair brushing against his arm. She held Jack's hand and gave it gentle squeezes. Neither woman acknowledged the other.
"Am I dead?" Jack's eyes went back and forth, studying both women. This couldn't be reality; the two women he had loved both sat at his bedside.
"You had a car accident," the doctor began. Jack didn't hear the rest of it, he was too lost in memories of both women. They were so incredibly different and even their love felt different to him.
Sarah had loved him with an underlying desperation. She needed him. She relied on him to fix her. She was newly single and in a vulnerable place and had needed him. It was easy with Sarah, one glance and she'd smile. She was always happy to see him and always ready to laugh at his jokes.
The first time they made love she told him she needed him; she told him all she wanted was to make him happy. She clung to him desperately and whimpered his name over and over. Sarah had been vocal from the start about wanting to date him; to marry him. She had pursued him; of course he had thought of it but didn't want to be inappropriate.
But not Kate. No, Kate was different. From the start she was guarded and closed off. Kate would never be the type of girl who tells the same story again; if she offered a story or piece of herself she'd never again repeat it. When he thought he knew her it was revealed that she was a fugitive. He had worked past it only to find out the truth behind Wayne's death. And once dating, he learned of her childhood and all the torture she had been through. She spoke of the way he looked at her and the comments he made to her that made her wish she had a lock on her bedroom door. Still, a part of him always wondered if she'd left out the physical abuse she had also received and the pain she carried from it. He wondered about it but was too afraid to ever ask.
He still remembered the first time he made love to Kate. He came to her house to visit Aaron but stayed after the boy fell asleep, encouraged by the way Kate had smiled at him while he ready to Aaron. When the sexual tension boiled over the top she had made an excuse about checking on Aaron and started up the stairs. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a kiss that lead to them laying on the stairs, unable to resist another second. He remembered the way Kate's heels dug into the carpet with each thrust, the soft mewls she made that felt like little secrets. It wasn't until much later that she felt uninhibited and moaned loudly.
He thought he loved Kate on the island but nothing prepared him for when she let him in. Aaron had brought them together; Aaron had allowed Jack to see a different side of Kate. She seemed lighter, happier. Raising the little boy had shown Kate that she was a good person.
The next time Jack opened his eyes, his eyes focused on his mother and Aaron walking into the hospital room, each with a snack from the vending machines. Pretzels for his mom, an Apollo bar for Aaron.
It was only then he realized Kate was curled next to him in bed with jeans, a sweater and a head full of curls.
"Kate?" He whispered, brushing a strand of curls off her face.
"Shhh! she's sleeping," his mother warned. "Poor thing is exhausted. It took all I had to get her to lay down."
He put a hand on the side of Kate's stomach. "What do you mean? Exhausted how?"
"Relax. She's just been running herself into the ground... you, Aaron, getting the house ready..."
"House ready for what?"
"You're going to be going home, dear. Well, to Kate's house."
"Sarah... was... here...?" He scratched his head.
"She wants to take care of you," she shrugged.
"Sarah does?"
"She's still in love with you Jack. And you never changed your paperwork so she's in charge of your decisions right now. You're lucky Kate convinced her—"
"Convinced her what?" He struggled to keep his voice down. The last thing he needed was to upset Aaron or wake Kate.
"She's moving into Kate's house, too."
"What?" Jack gave two slow blinks in an attempt to correct his eyes. He had to be dreaming this.
"Don't be dense. You have two exes in love with you, Jack. And now you'll all be under one roof. Oh and Jack?" She waited until she had her sons attention. "This is probably your last chance with both of them. I'll support you no matter what you do but make the right decision."