Thanks for the reviews. I'm so glad you all liked it! :) My mother is going into hospital on Wednesday, so I can't promise that my updates will be as regular until things settle down again, which should be some time early next week. I can probably only fit in one more before then, so let me know if you have a preference, since I still haven't gotten around to another chapter of "Not Anymore"! ;)

Chapter 12.

The first thing Kate became aware of was something cool and damp resting over her forehead. Everything ached, and her arm felt like it was made of concrete as she tried to bring her hand up to touch it, giving up and letting her eyes flutter open instead.

A blurred figure loomed at the edge of her vision; forcing herself to focus on it, she saw that it was Juliet, her blue eyes wide with excitement.

She was sure that she remembered leaving the medical station for the beach, but she was so tired: she must have blacked out during her exam and dreamed it.

"The baby…?" she asked, trying to sit up when she couldn't hear her heart beating, and it was only then that she noticed that the walls weren't the stark white of the examination room, but blue tarps like the ones from the plane.

"She's fine, Kate. I did a scan, and you'll be happy to know that everything is exactly where it should be," Juliet told her with a warm smile, but this did nothing to stop the panic from setting in.

"I don't understand… Where am I?" she asked, gripping her head when everything started to dim. "What happened?"

"You passed out in the jungle, but it's okay, you're safe now," Juliet assured her, taking hold of her arm and guiding her back down onto the bed. Setting the compress aside, she unscrewed the cap from a bottle of water and lifted it to Kate's lips. "You're in Jack's tent."

Kate was still too weak to fight her so she latched onto it, allowing the cool liquid to trickle down her throat, almost choking on it when the full meaning behind Juliet's words hit her and she sucked in a breath. "Jack…?" she spluttered. "You told him?"

She wouldn't… would she?

"I had to," she agreed. "You had a fever of more than 108 degrees. You've been out for two days, Kate. I was starting to think you were never going to wake up."

Two days.

She'd been unconscious for two days.

Kate swallowed hard, her eyes closing in defeat. He hated her now. Jack. That's why Juliet was there, taking care of her instead of him. He probably didn't want anything more to do with her after the way she'd deceived him.

"Where is he?" she asked, not sure that she wanted the answer. No matter his personal feelings, he was always a doctor first and foremost. It wasn't like him to take off at a time like this.

Juliet seemed to sense her distress, studying her with a sympathetic look as she explained, "He hasn't slept since it happened. I sent him to your tent to rest. If you'd seen him, you would have too."

"He doesn't… He was here?" Kate almost sobbed in her relief at hearing that he hadn't left her side by choice, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears that had already begun to slide down her cheeks. She wasn't sure where she stood with him – what he was going to do – but the fact that he still cared had to mean something…

"I'm going to go get him, okay?" Juliet told her, pushing herself to her feet, looking uncomfortable at witnessing such a private moment. "He'll want to know you're awake."

She disappeared before Kate could recover enough to protest, leaving her to wonder what she was going to say to him when he arrived. Sorry didn't even begin to cover what she'd done to him, and it was a lie, because she wasn't: not when the risk had paid off, and her baby was alive.

Now that she was still, she could feel the same gentle tapping that she had at the medical station. Lifting her shirt, probing the bare skin with her fingertips, she smiled at how much stronger the sensation was: inside and out.

In hindsight, she would have been sorrier if she'd listened to him.

When it seemed like an eternity had passed without any sign of Jack or Juliet, she began to worry that all of the attention he'd given her was due to the fact that he felt responsible for her and their child, but then there he was, fighting back a tide of emotions as he drank her in, and she saw what Juliet had meant. His expression was grave and worn; he looked like he'd aged ten years since the last time she saw him.

"What were you thinking, Kate?" he asked her as he took Juliet's place at her bedside. His voice was soft – free of the accusation she'd braced herself for – but the pain in carried almost made her wish that he'd decided to yell.

Maybe if he did, she wouldn't feel this guilty. Maybe then she could convince herself that he'd deserved it.

"I don't know," she confessed when he recovered himself enough to fix her with an expectant look. She could see the tears in his eyes, and more sprung to her own. "I just knew I couldn't do what you were asking me to. I wanted our baby to at least have a chance."

She wasn't sure if it was because she'd gotten through to him somehow, or because he didn't have the strength to fight her, but he nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't like it," she told him, her own anger returning when she thought of how uncompromising his stance had been at the time. He hadn't wanted to talk about it until afterwards. He just wanted to fix the problem before it got beyond his control.

"Can you blame me?" he asked, still in the same wounded tone, reaching for her hand, and she softened towards him when his voice broke over the next words. "I almost lost you."

"But you didn't," she reminded him, her heart going out to him as she squeezed back with as much force as she could muster. "I'm still here – and so it she."

Keeping their hands joined, she laid them over her belly with hers on top so that his palm was cupping the place where their daughter was enclosed.

The next time she felt her shift, the movement caused a slight ripple close to the surface, and he smiled, getting down on his knees to apply more pressure, first with his hand, then by resting his ear against it.

She wasn't sure what he was listening for – or hearing – but his expression lit up when the baby kicked harder, and he let out a soft chuckle, grazing the area with his lips before replacing her shirt.

"You know, I'm still not sure I understand why you didn't just take my advice for once in your life," he confessed, sitting up, his eyes shining when they met hers this time, "but I'm glad that you didn't."

Next chapter: Juliet deals with her conflicting feelings about Jack and Kate's reconciliation, and it's her turn to justify her actions to Jack!... ;)