CHAPTER 6
FLASHBACK
Christian's POV
It had been a busy day for Christian Shepard, but as he sat sipping coffee in the doctor's lounge on the fourth floor of the New York hospital he contemplated his successes of the day. He was a firm believer that the measure of a man could be seen in the extent of his success, and as a result that they should never be overlooked. Failure however should never be dwelt upon for too long, it was something he had always made sure to impress upon his son Jack.
The young man was dozing exhaustedly on the couch in front of him. He had always advised him never to become too personally involved with the patients, it made it easier to walk away at the end of each day knowing you had done the best job you could – whatever the outcome.
Jack's cup began to slip from he's increasingly failing grip and Christian jumped up to grab it before it spilled the last remaining drops of it's hot, brown contents. As he looked up into his son's face he smiled, it was a rare moment of affection that mostly went unexpressed between the two of them.
Suddenly Christian's bleeper went off – loud enough to wake any doctor from even the deepest of sleep – and as if on cue Jack startled awake.
"It's OK, it's mine." Christian reassured his son.
"Dad?"
"I'd better see to this," He said indicating his bleeper, "you go back to sleep." But he needn't have wasted his breath, as he left the peace and quiet of the doctor's lounge he turned back to see that Jack had already returned to what looked like a very deep sleep.
As Christian exited the lift at the ground floor of the hospital he headed in the direction of the emergency room. At first he did not notice anything unusual for a Friday night, there were quite a few patients waiting to be seen – the odd unexplained stomach ache, and varying degrees of cuts and abrasions to as well as the usual pre-weekend drunks – nothing out of the ordinary.
"Doctor!" A frantic voice called out to him. "In here…"
He turned to see that it was a nurse – trying to attract his attention – from one of the small cubicles. He rushed over.
"What do we have?" He asked her.
"Adult male, mid to late forties, gunshot wound to the left shoulder – probably just a flesh wound but there is no obvious exit site." She told him.
"Right… let's take a look at him." Christian said, as he entered the cubicle and made his way over to his patient.
"Ummm doctor there's something else…" The nurse added. "The paramedics were saying that the patient was complaining of severe neck and back pain when they arrived at the scene. Apparently witnesses say that the shooter drove off before turning around and coming at the victim whilst he lying in the road, he didn't stop, not even when he hit him."
"Right." Christian sighed, nodding as he turned to examine the man, who was semi-conscious and groaning upon the bed before him.
"Sir, sir can you hear me?" He asked.
"Helen!"
"Helen?" Christian asked, confused.
"Where is she?" The man asked.
"I don't know." Christian replied. "You're in the hospital. Can you tell me your name sir?"
"Helen!" The man cried out again.
"I'll get someone to find her for you." One of the nurses explained placing a comforting hand on the injured man's shoulder. "Don't worry."
"Can you tell me your name please sir?" Christian repeated.
"John…" The man moaned, weakly.
"John what?"
"…Locke."
Locke's POV
Locke wanted to scream. Every jump of the hospital gurney brought on a new wave of intense pain that surged through his back and neck, like a million razor sharp blades had been inserted into his spine – cutting through not only soft tissue but also bone and nerves. For a while he had been fading in and out of consciousness and when he finally came too he could hear voices, far away at first but they gradually became clearer until finally he was able to hear what they were saying. A man was bending over him.
"Sir, sir can you hear me?" He asked.
A wave of panic washed over him – he couldn't feel his legs.
Helen! Where was she? Had she been with him when it had all happened? Was she alright?
"Can you tell me your name sir?" The man persisted.
His name? What was his name? He couldn't remember. He just kept saying the first name that came into his head.
"Helen!"
He felt a comforting hand placed upon his shoulder as more pain surged through him. The voices were becoming more distant again as he fought to cling on to consciousness.
"Can you tell me your name please sir?" The man repeated. The answer came to Locke painfully slowly, but he continued to try to recall, knowing that the answer was just on the tip of his tongue…
"John…" He murmured.
"John what?"
"…Locke." He groaned, before everything went black.
…
When Locke regained consciousness the first thing he became aware of was of how tired he still was. As he opened his eyes he was struck by the harsh light of the hospital room and he raised a hand instinctively to shield them from the glare. It took them a while to become more accustomed to its fluorescent glow, but as they did he opened them again and noticed the familiar figure of a woman dozing fitfully by his bedside. An arm was stretched across his legs… but Locke began to wonder why he couldn't he feel her weight pressing down upon them?
"Hel…Helen?" He whispered. She stirred. "Helen?" He stroked the back of her hand lovingly as she opened her eyes.
"John?" She mumbled, then as if she'd suddenly realised the significance of his having regained consciousness she jumped to her feet. "JOHN!… nurse, nurse!" She cried.
"Yeah, it's me" He smiled as a nurse rushed in.
"He's awake." Helen grinned at her. "He's awake!"
"I'll page Doctor Shepard" The young woman told her, before exiting.
"What's all the fuss about?" Locke asked.
"You mean you don't remember?" Helen asked him.
"I just remember pain." He shook his head.
"Oh John…" She choked, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" He asked, stroking her hair with a slight frown as she sat back down beside him – her reaction was making him nervous, although he didn't know why.
"There was nothing anyone could do, the doctor's said it was just a case of too little, too late!" She said.
"What is it Helen?" Locke asked. "Come on, you're starting to scare me."
"Everybody did their best." She explained. "Doctor Shepard was great, but in the end they said the nerve damage was just too great… I'm sorry John they're saying you will probably never walk again!" She broke down in his lap.
It took a while for this information to sink in. Locke was silent for a long time, struggling to force back his tears – but he couldn't suppress them forever. The realisation didn't sink in at first - his brain just didn't seem capable of taking in something of such great a magnitude - but when it did finally hit him it's impact was far heavier than the car which had dealt him the damaging blow. Helen was there for him when he finally broke down.
"I'll kill him." Locke growled, his tears staining his cheeks. "I'll kill him for what he's done to me!"
"No John you don't understand, it's nobody's fault, there was nothing…" Helen faltered.
"You don't get it do you?" He asked her.
"Get what?" She frowned.
"My father! He was the one driving the car…" Locke exclaimed.
