A/N: Thanks to all 20 of you who read...but you know what would be great? If some of you reviewed. nudge, nudge. wink, wink.
I made this one nice and long for y'all (only because a break is easier this way. lol.) Now we pick up with Jack (sexy!) and Nim...
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Jack and Nim Rusoe had their island to themselves once again. Alex Rover had left five months previously when both she and Jack equally realized that there were no romantic feelings between them anymore (they never said the 'L' word, either); Jack was too absorbed in his marine biology and Alex was too absorbed in her writing. Alex left the island with the promise to never tell the coordinates of their island to anyone. After she had left, the three of them still communicated via e-mail and remained friends.
The morning after a particularly bad storm, while Jack was staring down his microscope at a sample of Protozoa Nim, Nim was on the second level of their house, gazing out over the beach and water. Something on the small, sand peninsula caught her eye; a dark mass right along the edge. Pulling out her new telescope (that replaced the broken one), Nim brought it up to her eye to get a better look. It couldn't have been Selkie since she was down below her.
"What do you think, Fred?" She asked the lizard on her shoulder.
Fred opened his mouth and made a short noise.
"Hmm." Nim mumbled.
She then stood up and headed inside the house and down to Jack to tell him of her find. When she walked up behind him, Nim heard him mumbling to himself as he wrote down observations in a notebook that rested next to the microscope.
"Jack." Nim said, trying to get his attention.
When he didn't respond and kept writing, Nim stepped closer and put her hand on his shoulder, at the same time she said: "Dad."
Jack jumped slightly as Nim's hand rested on his shoulder. He then turned around and looked at her.
"Nim, what is it?" He asked, as Nim lowered her hand, and he put his elbow on the back of the chair.
"There's something on the beach." She said.
"There's always something on the beach." Jack replied.
"No, I mean, there's something I haven't seen before. It's big like Selkie, but Selkie's right outside, so it can't be her." Nim explained.
"Maybe it's another sea lion. It could be a friend of Selkie's." Jack rationalized, then turned back to the microscope.
"No, Jack, it wasn't moving." Nim said, her voice rising in volume since she was getting frustrated.
Jack sighed, took off his glasses, setting them on the table, then swiveled the chair around to face Nim.
"I guess you're suggesting we go find out what it is, then." He said eventually.
"Yes. It could be hurt." She sighed, glad he finally gave into her.
Jack looked at her for a few moments and saw the genuine worry in her eyes. She definitely got her love of helping from her mother and her love of living beings from him.
"Alright," he said, standing, "let's go."
The two then walked out of the house and towards the rain forest, in the direction of the stretch of sand. Selkie tried to follow them, but Nim stopped her.
"No, Selk, stay here with Fred. Just to be safe." Nim called back.
Selkie stopped and looked back at the porch to where Fred was sitting on the railing, then looked back to Nim and nodded her head.
"We'll be back soon." Nim called as she ran to catch up with Jack, who was already in the rain forest.
Once she caught up with Jack, she fell into step next to him.
"If we get there and there's nothing on the beach, you're going to bed tonight without reading. I was on the verge of something." Jack said, looking over his shoulder to his daughter as he moved a branch out of his way.
Nim scoffed. "That's so not fair, dad!"
Jack shrugged as they kept walking.
Within minutes, they reached the edge of the forest and paused as they looked out to the dark mass resting right on the edge of the sand. From this distance, it was definitely large, but not a sea lion.
"Looks like I'll get to read after all." Nim muttered with a grin.
Jack, on the other hand, had his eyes trained to the mass. He saw the gray and black and realized it was clothing. His eyes widened.
"It's a person, Nim. Not an animal." He said, then started to run towards the form.
Nim ran after him, her brow furrowed. She didn't want anyone else to be on their island.
As he ran, Jack thought that maybe it was Alex coming back, but then his rational side kicked in. It couldn't have been Alex; she would have sent them a message saying she would come. She wasn't a very spontaneous woman, after all. But then who could this be and why were they here?
Getting closer, Jack could make out the clothing and anything else that was visible from that distance. He could tell the person was female from the build of her body and long, dark hair. She was wearing a gray shirt and black Adidas pants along with one old sneaker, which lead him to believe that it was not her intent to find their island.
When Jack finally reached the woman, he kneeled down next to her. She was on her stomach, her face turned away from him. Jack's eyes scanned over her body quickly to look for any wounds. Not finding any, he gently took hold of her shoulder. By that time, Nim reached him and stood to his left, towards the woman's feet. As Jack slowly pulled the woman's shoulder towards him to turn her on her back, Nim shifted closer to him.
"How did she get here?" She asked more to herself than him.
"I couldn't tell you." Jack muttered.
After Jack turned the woman on her back, he moved some of her hair out of her face so he could get a better look at her. Her lips were dry and cracked and her skin was red from the sun and seawater. Even through all of this, Jack felt like he knew the woman…not personally, but like he had seen her or a picture of her somewhere before. It was then that he noticed the gash of dried blood along her hairline and a purple bruise under and around it, reaching down to her left eye.
"Nim, run back to the house and get warm water and towels ready." Jack said, not looking away from the woman.
"But, Jack…" She started.
"This is one argument you're not going to win. Now go." Jack said sternly, turning his head to look at her. "You wanted to save her, anyway."
"Alright." She said softly, dejectedly, as she turned and ran back towards their house.
Jack turned his attention back to the woman. He saw that her outer, gray shirt was ripped in multiple places, her navy blue shirt was ripped as well, but in fewer places (one rip went from the top of the shirt, down to the top of her breasts). Her pants were in better condition, only having a hole in the right knee and a rip towards the bottom of her left leg. Where her right shoe was, was a mystery to Jack, but the one that remained had the laces undone; she wore no socks, either.
Sighing heavily, Jack put one arm under her knees and the other behind her shoulders. He carefully picked her up and started to walk back to the house, where he and Nim could take care of her until she woke up and was able to tell them where she came from.
By the time Jack walked through the rain forest and into the house again, Nim had warm water in a bowl and some old, extra towels on a small table next to the couch along with a tube of antiseptic. Nim stepped back next to Selkie on the far side of the room when Jack walked in…the movement did not go unnoticed by him.
Jack kneeled next to the couch and gently laid the woman down. He took the light blanket from the other, adjacent couch and put it over her body. Standing, he moved to her feet and took off the lone shoe, placing it next to the end of the couch.
"I found some of that antiseptic stuff. I thought maybe it would help." Nim said from across the room.
"Very good thinking." Jack replied, smiling over at her. "Come over here." He motioned next to him.
Nim cautiously walked over and stood next to her father and looked down at the strange woman.
"Does she look familiar to you?" Jack asked.
"Should she?" Nim asked, looking up to him with a slightly confused face with a touch of malice.
"No, but have we seen her picture or something before? I feel like I've seen her somewhere…" Jack said, letting the rest of his sentence drift off.
"Maybe. I can't remember every picture I've seen." She replied, then left his side to go over to the computer and take Fred from off the top of it. "We're going for a walk." She said before walking towards the door.
Jack watched his daughter. She wasn't being herself. "Nim, are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, Jack, I'm fine." She replied, then continued out the door. "We'll be back by dinner." She said, then went out into the rain forest followed by Selkie.
"What has gotten into her?" Jack asked himself as stared at the spot where Nim went into the forest.
Turning back to the woman, Jack sat on the edge of the couch, near her hip. He pulled the table closer to him, then dipped one of the towels in the water. Wringing it out, he dabbed at the gash on her forehead to get rid of the dried blood. The woman groaned and furrowed her brow momentarily, but did not wake. Jack repeated the process until all of the blood was gone, leaving a red mark where the gash was. Picking up the tube of antiseptic, Jack took the cap off and squeezed a small amount onto his index finger. He gently rubbed the cream onto her gash.
He wiped the rest of her face gently before putting the towel aside and grabbing another. With this towel, he submerged it in the water, then wrung it out. Folding into thirds, Jack placed the towel on her forehead. She sighed, but, again, did not wake. He got up from the couch and went back to his microscope, hoping that she would wake up some time soon.
When the sun was just starting to set, Jack got up from the table where he was working. Before going out to the front of the house to start a fire, he went over to the woman to check on her. She was still not awake, but he took the towel off of her forehead and rewet it before replacing it on her head.
Sighing, he walked out of the house, leaving the door open, and headed to the fire pit. After starting a fire, he waited for Nim to return before they started dinner.
Several minutes later, Nim returned to the house to see Jack staring into the flames of the fire. As she sat next to him, he glanced at her and smiled.
"And where have you been all day?" He asked her.
"Oh, just around." She replied, smirking.
Jack grinned, then put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her close to him, and kissed the top of her head.
"Is that woman awake yet?" Nim asked.
"Nope, not yet." He sighed.
Nim pulled away from her father a little and looked up at him. "Why did she have to come to our island?" She asked. "I'm sure there are others that she could have gone to."
"I don't think she came here by choice, Nim." He answered, looking down at her. "Don't assume that she came here for a reason."
Nim sighed, then looked into the fire and nodded.
"Alright. Let's get dinner ready." Jack said removing his arm from Nim and standing.
Nim also stood and helped get their food ready. When everything was heated up, the two sat by the fire and ate in companionable silence.