Thanks for the reviews. Once I factored in the aftermath of the accident, this chapter ended up longer than I thought it would, so Juliet doesn't come into it until near the end. The good news (no pun intended) is that she'll be in it a lot more next chapter. Oh and some of you asked which crossover I was trying to resist: if you remember, Miami is the home of a certain flashback character I'm known to have a slight obsession with... ;)
Chapter 34. Five Minutes
J.J. was whining again when Jack eased the car into a space outside the hospital.
"We should get him to the ER," he told Kate after checking him over as best as he could with him being so uncooperative, the words setting her already fragile nerves on edge.
"Why? He's fine," she protested, her voice rising in panic as she wondered what he'd found that she missed. She was his mother; she was supposed to know if there was something wrong. "There isn't a scratch on him."
"He's crying a lot, which could be a sign that his injuries are internal," he explained in a clinical tone that made it hard to tell what he was thinking or feeling. "Or it could just mean he's scared," he added when he saw how alarmed she was. "It's hard to tell when we have no way of gauging his pain."
He opened his door and climbed out, careful not to jolt him too much; as she slid out after him, she noticed that the trunk of her car was crumpled like an accordion, the rear bumper twisted and detached so that it scraped the surface of the road. A few more inches, a few more seconds to get that seatbelt open, and they wouldn't be taking him to the hospital.
She was still shaking as she watched Jack vanish into a sea of people, following the nurse he sent through to where the doctor was checking J.J.'s vitals, feeling his abdomen, rattling off words and phrases she didn't understand. She wanted to demand a translation from Jack, but all she could think about was how tiny their son looked sitting in his diaper on that huge bed.
"What's going on? Where're they taking him?" she asked, grabbing Jack's elbow when it looked like they were preparing to move.
"She wants to send him upstairs for a CT, just as a precaution, because he was so close to the point of impact," he told her, those two letters scaring her more than anything else that had happened so far.
"A CT? That's a kind of test, right? Will it hurt him?"
"He'll be under sedation," he assured her in what she figured was supposed to be a soothing tone, but it only made whole thing seem more dramatic.
"Sedation?"
"Propofol. They use it on kids all the time. It's very mild – wears off in a couple of minutes. It's the only way to make sure he holds still," he explained, rubbing her shoulder in absent strokes, distracted when he saw that they were now ready to leave. "I can go with him now, or stay here with you."
"Go," she urged him without realising that she'd made a decision, and he gave her a brief reassuring kiss before racing off alongside them.
When they were gone, she headed up to the paediatric ward where they were taking him for recovery, pacing the waiting room until Jack joined her, his smile one of pure relief.
"How is he?" she asked him, even though she could see that there was nothing to worry about.
"He's great. A little drowsy, but that's normal."
"They didn't find anything?"
"Nothing that shouldn't be there. He's perfect, Kate," he agreed, laughing when, with a broad grin, she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"That's good, because this family's had enough of hospitals," she told him, still holding onto him when they both settled down.
"It's too bad you feel that way," he said, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her, "because I was hoping you'd stay here with J.J. while I take care of a couple of things."
"What kind of things?" she asked, frowning when he stepped back.
"Travel arrangements. I'll put your car in to be fixed while I'm out."
Maybe it was just the accident, but the idea of him leaving without her, even to run errands, worried her. "Just promise me you'll be careful, okay? Remember what I said."
"I'll see you in about an hour," he agreed, kissing her one last time before he headed off in the direction of the lift.
J.J. started fussing again when he spotted her through the bars of the hospital crib, playing up to the attention as she scooped him into her arms, kissing every part of him that she could reach. He seemed no worse for the experience, so as soon as the nurse assured her that it was safe to remove him from the PICU, she took him to her father's room.
"Is everything okay, honey? You're looking a little pale," he said when she handed him over and collapsed into her usual chair, closing her eyes, basking in the moment of peace.
"We just got into a little fender bender on the way over – Jack's putting the car in the shop," she told him, deciding not to worry him with the truth now that there was no permanent harm done. He would only try to talk her out of going to Miami, and that was one trip she couldn't allow Jack to make on his own.
When he returned a while later, she was surprised to see that he had their luggage with him.
"We're going straight to the airport," he told her once they'd finished saying goodbye to her father, and were in a cab, heading in the opposite direction to her house.
"What time is our flight?" she asked him, wishing that he'd at least factored in time for them to go home and unwind first. They needed it after the morning they'd had.
"Whenever we're ready," he confessed, and she realised that she must have given him a strange look when he added, "I booked a private jet."
"Aren't those things ridiculously expensive?" she pointed out, surprised to hear that he'd taken it upon himself to do something so extravagant. It wasn't like him to throw money around.
"They're also discreet," he reminded her, and listening to his reasoning, she decided that it made sense. He wasn't taking any more chances, especially where J.J. was concerned. "We can't afford to keep using commercial airlines with those bastards tracking our every movement, so I paid cash, convinced them not to mention our names in the flight plan…"
"Wow, for someone who hates it as much as you say you do, you're really getting into this spy crap," she teased him, feeling more enthusiastic about the trip by the minute. At the very least, it would be a new experience; it might even be fun.
She was prepared for the interior of the jet to be nice, but she didn't realise how nice until she mounted the steps to the cabin. "It seems like a shame to waste to this on delivery work – you sure we can't just take off to Paris for the weekend?" she joked as she took in the reclining leather seats, the fold out tables, the state of the art entertainment system.
She succeeded in lifting Jack's mood when he laughed, but his wistfulness wasn't lost on her. "I guess you're just gonna have to settle for the beach."
An hour into the flight, lunch was brought out to them, and after they'd eaten, Jack tilted his chair back, and Kate curled against him, watching the countryside drift by while J.J. dozed in his lap. It was all so relaxing; romantic, even; that she stopped wishing she were somewhere else, worrying about what awaited them on the other side.
It was five years since she'd been to Miami; when the plane landed, and they stepped down into the humid air of the runway, she was surprised to see how much it had changed. There were skyscrapers in places she didn't remember, making the city look taller, more like Chicago or New York.
"Do we have an address?" she asked, eager to get the encounter over with, not wanting to linger there too long, but at the same time, she found herself bristling at the thought of Jack keeping in contact with her, especially during their separation. She wanted to be the only one he was prepared to break the rules for.
"Last time I spoke to her she was moving back in with her sister," he told her, and she relaxed. That had to be back at the docks, when she'd last seen her too. "She told me they had an apartment right on the beach."
They couldn't find anything under J. Burke in the phonebook, so Jack suggested they try Carlson, Juliet's maiden name; when he went on to tell her that R could be Juliet's sister, Rachel, Kate couldn't help feeling uncomfortable about how much he seemed to know about her. At some point during their time on the island, he seemed to have gleaned her entire life story, while there was still so much of Kate's he didn't know, including the eight months she'd spent living right here in this very city.
It was early evening by the time they found the right building, which meant that there was little chance of dropping the flash drive off with her sister while she was at work; Kate had spent so much time reminding herself to act civil that she was surprised when a little boy came to the door. For a moment she was sure that he must be Juliet's son; he had the same pale hair, the same blue eyes; until he shot off down the hall singing, "Mommy! Aunt Julie! Visitors!"
"That must be Julian," Jack whispered to Kate as if she should somehow know who that was. "Juliet's nephew," he explained when she raised an eyebrow at him. "Juliet helped her sister get pregnant with him before the Others recruited her."
Hearing what a saint she was in his eyes just made Kate dislike her even more, so she kept her mouth shut, letting him think that she was impressed. What irritated her the most was that she actually was.
"Jack? Kate? I had no idea you were in Miami."
A jarringly familiar voice snapped Kate out of these thoughts; she tore her eyes from Jack in time to see Juliet emerge from somewhere behind her nephew, her words friendly while the thin line of her lips suggested that she would have preferred it stayed that way.
"Can we come in? There's something we need to talk to you about," Jack explained, and her eyes shifted from him, to Kate, down to J.J. and back again, before she replied, "I'm not sure that would be smart, Jack. You might not care that they're watching, but I just got my life back. I have no intention of pissing them off."
Jack looked taken aback, surprised that she didn't seem happier to see him. "Five minutes," he insisted. "Then you really will have your life back."
Juliet glanced over at Kate again and a slow smile crept over her face. "Sure. Why not?" she agreed after a moment. "I think I can spare five minutes for an old friend."
Next chapter: More Juliet (including her reaction to J.J. and their relationship) and more jealous Kate (Gratifying, isn't it! Or it would be if it weren't for those other spoilers!)... ;)