A million thanks for the reviews, both signed and anonymous. You guys rock and without further adieu, "Rekindling here continueth…

All she could hear were muffled sounds. Incoherent in light of the pain she felt slowly constricting the life out of her body.

He shot out of his car without thought. Concerned to say the least by the scene he'd just witnessed and nothing could have prepared him for what he saw once he pushed through the gathering crowds.

"Somebody call 911!" one of the people shouted, snapping him out of the shock he still felt despite having a profession that had no time for it.

"I'm a Doctor." The man announced out of instinct and like an invisible rippling push, the crowd cleared to let him through.

Once stood before the person holding the injured victim, he could see that it wasn't just anyone.

It was a person he knew all too well through his best friend. She was also his Boss.

"Kate?"

He didn't know what to say or think, not anymore. A few weeks ago and he may have considered it but things weren't so simple anymore. At least not from his perspective.

"Jack?" Kathy questioned, unsurprised by his reaction but was willing to question it for the spark of hope she still had.

Once again he wanted to tell her. Come clean in giving her a valid reason for his hesitation, though almost as if fate deterred against it, his phone started ringing.

Secretly hoping he wouldn't answer it, Kathy knew better than to think he would ever put his career on the back burner for her, no matter what the situation.

"Jack Shepherd" he spoke into the phone, sneaking a glance in time to see Kathy roll her eyes and focus on her milkshake instead.

"What?" he suddenly exclaimed in a loud tone, startling Kathy in the bargain, but all he could focus on was what he'd just heard.

"Kate? A car accident?"

"I'll be right there." He confirmed without hesitation, immediately getting off the phone and offering Kathy a simple, "I'm sorry I gotta go."

With that he was gone. Not even bothering to kiss Kathy goodbye or ease her suspicions with a simple "I love you."

All he did offer instead was an apology and Kathy was growing tired of it.

Thankfully her injuries weren't fatal but what still worried him was the deep gash on the left side of her head. He'd managed to patch it up as best he could, but what worried him was the internal side of it.

It was a limited chance but the likeliness of brain damage was a worrying possibility. However he wouldn't make any decisions until there was physical proof to back it up.

What he couldn't fathom was what caused this. He knew Kate well enough to know she wouldn't behave so recklessly.

What changed?

He found it hard to focus on the road, but did so at the notion that it would get him to her sooner.

"She has to be alright. She has to be." He assured his worry, hateful and angry at himself for letting it come to this.

"If only I had been honest with her."

"Do I wanna fight for this any longer?" Kathy dared to ask herself. A part of her declaring absurdity for the obvious fact, but at the same time she was forced to also consider what she knew he did last night.

His hesitation to fully invest in their relationship confirming that and despite feeling hurt and betrayed, she was willing to move past it just as long as it never happened again.

And if that newfound investment of hope backfired in her face then she knew what had to be done.

After enduring an agonising 20 minute wait in a traffic pile up due to road closure, he finally reached the Hospital. Double parked but he didn't care. All he did care about was getting to Kate.

Once in there he ran into the one person who would ease his worry.

"How is she Marc?" Jack asked.

He wasn't a big believer in false hope, in fact he felt patronised by it, but with seeing Jack already so visibly upset, he didn't want to cost him a complete breakdown.

"She's gonna be fine." Marc confirmed, patting Jack on the shoulder but as he half expected Jack saw right through it.

"I wanna see her." He simply requested and Marc moved to object but Jack then accommodated his request with a pleaded, "please" and Marc relented.

He spent the entire journey to Kate's room mentally preparing himself for the worst case scenario, but nothing could have prepared him for the real thing.

He wanted to cry. Even more at the knowledge that this was his fault, at least he thought so, but regardless this should not have happened.

"She's gonna be fine Jack." Marc assured. "She ain't the Boss for nothing." He joked rousing the hint of a smile from Jack before dissolving into the misery of his guilt once again.

Feeling there was not much more he could do, Marc wordlessly excused himself giving Jack the chance to be alone with the woman he still loved.

To say all the things he should have said this morning.

He couldn't believe Jack's audacity.

It was one thing to toy with Kate but to put his sister in the middle of it was something he couldn't stand.

Another unanswered call and he was left to assume the obvious yet he saw no one to blame but Jack once again.

"She needs to see him for who he really is." Jimmy suddenly vowed, determined to convince Kate of that and since she wasn't at home there was only one other place she would be, the Hospital.

With each step he took towards her bruised and worryingly pale body, the more he felt like inflicting damage of a similar kind on himself.

"How could this have happened?" he asked himself, knowing how but just not why she would risk her life for what he couldn't truthfully put behind him. That feeling not becoming as evident to him until last night and all he wished for right now was the chance to tell her.

Seating himself beside her bed, he took hold of her hand with both of his. Firmly kissing her hand and keeping it pressed to his lips. His eyes keenly focused on her face, desperately hoping for some trace of life. Something to assure him that she was still in there, yet all he got was the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor.

"I'm sorry." He apologised, breaking off to compose and comfort himself in the faint warmth he still felt on the surface of her hand. His emotions crumbling at sensing just how faint it was and there was only one thing he could plead for at that moment.

"Please Kate. Please don't leave me."

So Jack appears to be coming around but will he go all the way? Can he overcome his worries and concerns to perhaps invest in a rekindling, especially with this wake up call?

Next Chapter: An unpleasant rivalry and Kathy's concern for Kate?