Jack startled awake, grunting softly at the pain the movement caused. Kate and Sawyer sat together against a mirrored wall. They both looked his way in a suspended conversation sort of way. He turned away from their attention. He wasn't quite ready to put on a brave front and address the question of how he was feeling. At this point he was actually bemoaning the loss of the sand on the beach or the dirt of the caves. Either would have been easier on his ribcage than sleeping on the hard cement.
Kate frowned watching Jack struggle to his feet. She shifted thinking to offer her help but Sawyer grabbed her hand in restraint. "This ain't goin to work if you rush to play mother Teresa," He hissed.
"I'm not convinced it's going to work at all," She shot back. Sawyer gave her a cocky grin and pulled her hand toward him so he could lock his fingers between hers. "C'mon freckles, have a little trust in ol' St. Jack. Even Jesus had his moments of doubt."
Kate pulled her fingers free from Sawyer. He was just being Sawyer, staying true to those stripes he was so fond of quoting. She was too familiar with his act for it to inspire any true feelings of anger. What did bother her was the feeling that he hadn't filled her in on the whole plan. Something about him playing the roll of Judas seemed too easy. Kate couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't possible for the conman to get conned. Sawyer leaned closer, "C'mon, it's not like the doc ain't above making plans without filling us in. Turn about's fair play."
Kate didn't look convinced, Sawyer shrugged. Fine, as long as she stayed out of the way, what did he care if Kate believed him or not. He pushed himself up and sauntered towards Jack. "So how much longer do we have to sit here playing lab rat? I hope your plan for getting us out is better than the one that landed us in." Jack turned to face Sawyer without a word. "Hey, don't look at me. When I make secret plans they tend to work out," Sawyer baited. Jack still didn't respond. He just stood there, listing to one side, his arm clamped against his battered ribcage. Sawyer swore and stepped right up into his face. "What! Is Ralph starting to figure it out that he ain't got what it takes to lead?" Sawyer hissed.
"Hey!" Kate shoved her way between the two of them. "Cut it out!"
"How about you start tell'n us things," Sawyer demanded over Kate's head. "Tell us something, cause we got a right to know who's side we're on. Tell us cause I'm sick and tired of spending everyday admitting that I don't know anything. Damn it! Tell me something so I can at least pretend that I don't know it." Kate looked back at Jack.
He couldn't meet her eyes. He was responsible for what had happened. He had kept what he knew about Michael and Sayid's plan from them. Jack shook his head. "What Sawyer? Are you really asking to hear one of my childhood memories?" Jack surrendered. "Is that going to help?" Jack's eyes locked with Sawyer's. Jack didn't know how Sawyer had come to his conclusions about his father; at this point all that mattered was that Sawyer knew what was on the table. "Would that make you feel better?" Jack asked.
Sawyer groaned in disgust. "Ugh, listening to stories of mini me overachieving at private school ain't what I had in mind." Sawyer hedged. He glanced at Kate. It didn't matter how curious he was, the last thing he needed at the moment was for her to hear some sad sack story about the doc's abused childhood. For his plan to work he needed to alienate Jack not create sympathy for him. "Fine, Keep your secrets," he muttered.
Meg stormed into Henry's quarters without knocking. She snapped the main light switch on blasting the room with light, but the bed was empty. It didn't look like it had been slept in at all. Crossing Henry's neat bedroom she slammed her clipboard down on the flat of the bathroom door. "Henry," Meg called. "Open up, Henry!" she demanded. Meg waited but only silence answered.
She looked down at her clipboard. What was she going to do? Should she continue her search? He might have slipped past her by going to the cafeteria. Should she go check? She stood there at a complete loss. She shouldn't be interfering with a subject's routine. She wasn't in a position to rock the boat. If Jack had any of his father in him he could well take care of himself without her help. She really couldn't afford anyone noticing her interest in him.
But on the other hand she wouldn't advise this level of physical conditioning for any patient with cracked ribs. The dilemma was in deciding where to stand. Should she disregard her suspicions that Henry had let this become personal, that Henry would put a patient at risk for his own feelings of retribution? In the five years she had worked with Henry he had never let any of his work take on a personal meaning. Was it her own tangled feelings that where making her doubt her co-worker? Didn't Henry deserve her trust? Maybe she should just keep a close eye on those ribs and voice her concerns if Jack's health does begin to deteriorate.
Meg's thoughts were interrupted by the click of a lock. The bathroom door in front of her swung open. Henry took a step forward before seeing her. He gasped and jumped back stumbling in the process. They stared at each other in surprise. "What are you doing" Meg asked.
"Me?" Henry looked at her like she was crazy. "What are you doing standing around outside of my bathroom?"
"I've been looking for you," Meg answered holding up her clipboard as if it were proof.
Henry shook his head and stepped past her, "That was more than five minutes ago. You don't have anything better to do than stand around waiting to be reprogrammed when you don't accomplish something?"
Meg narrowed her eyes at the insult. "Sure, at least I'm not the one hiding. I came to let you know that today's physical conditioning for subject 198 was ill-advised."
Henry massaged his temples, his brow creased in pain. "Why? Isn't it the standard routine we've been using for the past year?"
"Our other patients were in good health," Meg pointed out. She noticed Henry's obvious discomfort.
"Ok," Henry answered. He stood in silence, "There's no time to halt the program so… just monitor the situation." He slipped on a pair of shoes and walked towards the door. "Let me know if you have concerns," he said on his way out.
Meg looked around uncomfortably. Hadn't she just come to him with a concern? It was a little odd that he had just walked out, closing the door, dismissing her to stand alone when these were his private quarters. She glanced around the tidy room. Should she count herself lucky he hadn't turned the lights off on his way out?
Tom pulled Kate into an exam room by the arm. He wasn't supposed to be on duty at the moment but Bea had stopped by the locker room to inform him that the afternoon shift was short. Technically, he wasn't supposed to touch the subjects unless necessary. But she had been dragging her feet all morning long and dawdling is what had landed him a double shift. He didn't want to wait and see what else could catch up with him.
Kate let herself get pulled along until Tom stepped in to her to push the door closed behind them. She waited until he leaned over to swing her leg back, knocking his heel out from under him while shifting his weight backward. Tom landed flat on his back gasping like a fish. Kate darted forward twisting his keys free from his belt. She dashed for the door. Tom hooked his leg sending Kate stumbling, clutching at the door handle to keep her feet. Twisting the knob she yanked open the door but Tom kicked it closed. She kicked at his leg but it didn't budge. She quickly glanced around the room.
Tom struggled to his knees and dove at her as she jumped back. He cursed as he hit a line of cabinets. Kate hit the ground and rolled. Tom looked up at her, "Don't do this girlie. It won't end well for you." Kate spotted the cuff used for taking some one's blood pressure and edged toward it. Tom sighed and pushed against the cabinets to help him up. Kate leapt for the cuff pulling it and the rubber tube attached free from the wall. She faced off Tom. He frowned at the blood pressure cuff; this was rapidly getting out of his control. He hesitated debating whether to sound an alarm. He really didn't want anyone knowing a girl half his weight had given him the slip.
The moment of distraction cost him. Kate jumped forward twisting the rubber tubing around his right arm. She spun under his arm twisting it with her and stepped behind him. Tom growled in frustration. Kate applied pressure and pinned him against the examining table.
Both of them were breathing hard. Kate caught movement of his free arm and wrenched harder on the one twisted behind his back. "Ok!" Tom panted. He held his free arm up in surrender. To his embarrassment he allowed Kate to bind his hands behind his back with the rubber tubing of the blood pressure cuff. It was a gamble, but with both wrists tied together he knew she wouldn't have his arm in the correct position to use as leverage. She was quick. She had him tied faster than he could pull himself up from the exam table. He kicked like a mule and sent her crashing into a trash bin. Someone tried the exam room door. "Why is this door locked?" Kate could hear the muffled voice. Tom looked at the door in confusion. When had she had time to lock it? Kate didn't bother wasting time pulling herself up from the dented trashcan. Quickly she worked at pulling keys off Tom's key ring. The door swung open and two large security officers rushed in with their dart guns. Kate went down with one shot.
Sawyer was alone in the mirrored room they were being held in sleeping off one hell of a pot roast dinner when they dragged Kate in unconscious. Sawyer waited until they were alone to approach. Crouching, he put his palm to her face, studying the rapidly bruising scuff along her cheekbone. "Hey Dorothy, this ain't no time to be napping in the poppies." Sawyer coaxed, "Wake up, come on." He tried giving her a light slap to no effect. She was out cold. He sighed and sat down beside her to wait.
Jack was beginning to lose weight, he moved stiffly having to overcompensate with his left in an attempt to minimize movement along his right. His brow creased in pain but he didn't make a sound. Meg sighed and made a note to have a nurse recheck his weight and take blood for another round of tests. He had been treading water for a little over an hour. Meg, three security orderlies and Henry stood along the edge of the lap pool waiting. Henry had lost interest in the stopwatch ticking away in his hand. His eyes had wandered off into space. The orderlies leaned against their rescue hooks watching for the moment the subject either tried to rest by floating on his back or exhaustion won out.
Meg moved toward Henry. He looked at her with an unfocused gaze. "So far so good." Meg said softly, glancing at Jack. Henry nodded without a word. "He seems to be progressing well, how's the therapy?" She tried. Ever since that morning in Henry's bedroom conversation between the two of them had been minimalistic. Henry didn't answer, he just continued to stare at the ripples in the water caused by Jack's movement. Meg glanced at him from the corner of her eye. It was slight, but Henry seemed to be bobbing. Almost as if he were listening to something. Meg turned her head to look. Henry glanced at her then looked away. "Yep, looks like the guy is going to live," he said without emotion. "Not quite as fragile as they look," he mumbled.
Meg looked back at Jack. Yep, there it was, out of the corner of her eye, he bobbed. Meg frowned. The silence stretched. She tried not to stare. "Um," she floundered, "One of the subjects told me about the sooting when you escaped. Why didn't you tell me Sarah Watros had been shot with Anna Lucia when I asked you about her?"
Henry sighed and dropped his eyes to study the stopwatch, "Sarah knew the dangers of going undercover. It was her choice. I can't afford you or anyone else on the team losing their focus." He finally met her eyes. "Our battle here is also one of life or death." Meg refused to back down. "Who will be sent out to take Sarah's place? Right now those patients are out there with no one to care for them."
Henry shook his head, "One thing at a time. Besides, it won't matter, we're finished if we can't teach this pony a new trick." Meg glanced at Jack. She didn't like the idea of her daughter and grandson out there on their own.