CHAPTER FIVE: GOODBYES AND REVELATIONS

The group stood quietly around a large hole, which Chase, Foreman, and Gil had dug. Suzette was laid gently inside, the cooler at her feet. It had been decided that the safest thing would be to bury the cooler, along with the broken vials inside, to minimize further risk of exposure. They had managed to salvage the only intact vial of antiviral serum, and Thirteen had buried it safely in a marked spot in case they needed it.

Cuddy had said a Jewish prayer for Taub and the others, and Chase recited some Catholic ones, knowing from the cross around Suzette's neck that she was a Christian.

Ethan and Emily stood together, holding hands. Emily was crying, but Ethan's eyes were dry, and he stared at Suzette's body in the hole. Cameron noticed them standing alone and walked over to them.

"Do you want to say something for your mom?" she asked.

Emily just shook her head, clutching Ethan's hand. Ethan took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll say something." He approached the edge of the hole tentatively and looked up at Cameron, and then to Cuddy, and back. "What am I supposed to say?"

"You can say whatever you want," Cameron said encouragingly. "Just - say goodbye."

"Can I just say 'see you later?'" Ethan asked. "When she would go away on a trip for work, she would always say that."

"Of course," Cuddy said. She wrapped her arm around Ethan's shoulders. "I'm sure you mom would like that very much."

"Can we just get on with it already?" whined House.

Cuddy shot him a dirty look. "Behave," she chastised. Turning back to Ethan, she nodded encouragingly.

Ethan swallowed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He looked at Suzette's body, and then at Emily, then back at the hole. "See you later, Mom."

Emily's lower lip trembled. "See you later, Mommy."

After a moment of silence, Chase gestured awkwardly to the pile of sand that was supposed to fill the hole. "Shall I...?"

Cameron nodded, and they all set to work filling in the hole. Once it was finished, Thirteen, Foreman, and Gil set off in search of food and water, their pockets full of rocks from the beach to mark the way back.

"Why don't we start looking for sticks for a fire?" Cuddy suggested to Ethan and Emily.

Emily wiped her nose on her sleeve and sniffled. "Okay," she said miserably.

"I'll stay here and guard the fort," House announced graciously.

"How generous of you," Cameron said sarcastically.

"At least make yourself a little bit useful while you're sitting on your a -" Cuddy caught herself and eyed the children. "Behind," she finished.

"Chase?" Cameron asked him. "You coming?"

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, concerned.

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly, trying to block the children from the conversation.

"You don't have to go with me if you're still not feeling well," he told her. "You could stay at camp with House – "

"No," she interrupted. "I'm fine."

"Are we going?" Ethan asked impatiently. "Me and Emily are hungry."

"The others are going to find food and water while we collect sticks and Chase and Cam - Robert and Allison - look for anything we can use on the beach," Cuddy assured them. "We can start looking through those trees over there."

Ethan nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

"Bye now," House said with a false wave

Cuddy shot him a look over her shoulder and grasped each child by the hand, leading them away from the overturned earth and towards a cluster of trees about 100 yards from where their lean-to stood.

"Do you have any children?" Ethan asked.

"Yes," Cuddy answered, with a guilty feeling in her stomach that she wasn't home with Rachel right now. "I have a daughter. Her name is Rachel."

"Do you miss her?" he asked.

"Very much," Cuddy told him.

"Is her Daddy taking care of her right now?" Emily asked innocently.

"She doesn't have one," Cuddy told her. It was odd, she never felt guilty about that face, but telling a small child that made her feel strangely inadequate.

"Is he dead?" Ethan asked quietly.

"No," Cuddy answered. "No, he..."

Are you divorced?" he prompted her.

Cuddy forced herself to smile at the innocent curiosity of children. "Rachel's adopted."

"Oh," Ethan nodded wisely.

"We don't have a Daddy either," Emily offered.

"Yes we do," Ethan told her. "Just because he's dead doesn't mean he's not our Daddy."

Cuddy realized with a pang this meant Ethan and Emily were now orphans. It seemed Emily might have realized this too. "Who is going to take care of us now that Mommy is dead?" She sounded close to tears.

"I'll take care of you, Emily," Ethan said valiantly.

Cuddy stopped and crouched down, still grasping both of their hands. "I promise, I will make sure that you both have someone to take care of you when we go home. Okay?"

They both nodded solemnly, and grasped her hands tighter as they began walking again.

oOo oOo

Chase watched the sand form clouds as he kicked it up from the beach. Every now and then, he cast a sideways glance at Cameron, who was walking beside him. He couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that something was wrong with her, that she had been infected by the virus and was the first to show symptoms.

She turned her head and glared at him. "For the last time, Robert, I'm fine."

"Allison," he said, taking her hand, "just because we're not together anymore, that doesn't mean I don't care about you. I'm just trying to make sure you're all right."

She rolled her eyes. "Save your chivalry. You know it's lost on me."

Chase rolled his eyes, but a smile played on his lips. In the distance, he spotted dark shapes. "Hey, I think some more of the luggage might have washed ashore!"

"You want to pick through others' clothes?" Cameron asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Don't you think that's kind of...morbid?"

"We need the supplies," he reminded her. "I'm sure they won't mind it."

"I don't know..." she continued to hesitate.

Chase surveyed her closely. "Something is wrong, isn't it? Something you're not telling me?"

She sighed and twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "I don't...it's complicated, Robert."

"Of course it is," he exclaimed. "We're stranded on an island! What about this isn't complicated!"

"Look," she said. "Maybe you should just go on without me. I don't want to talk about this now."

"I'm not leaving you alone!" he said heatedly. "You could be sick, you could be dying!"

"God, Chase, I'm not dying!" she blurted out. "I'm pregnant!"