My eyes searched wildly through the dark tent, a searing pain running across my stomach as I sat up in bed. I immediately knew something wasn't right. As a doctor, I had been trained to know when something wasn't as it seemed with my patients. It was a whole different ballgame when it was actually happening to you.

"Help." My voice came out strained, almost desperate as I struggled to form the words out loud to anyone in the vicinity who may be listening. I knew for a fact there were some night owls in camp, mainly because I was one too. However, many people might have been still off working on the submarine. "Aah." There was only one other time I could place that I felt this much pain when I realized I had dislocated my shoulder for the second time. This time it had only been because I had tried to roll over to take the pressure off my stomach.

"Juliet?" His voice should have been startling especially when he popped into my tent in the middle of the night. As much as I was conflicted with him standing there, I was also grateful because he had been walking by because my agony was winning this round.

"Miles, get Jack?" I seemed to be out of breath as he sensed the urgency of the situation and clambered outside I wanted to scream out but that would surely wake up the whole camp. I opted to pull my pillow in front of my face and tried to focus on taking in slow deep breaths.

"Tell me what's happening." Jack threw back the cover of my tent just as I released the pillow from in front of my face. Miles followed although he opted to stay outside by the entrance to give us some privacy.

"Something's wrong. My stomach feels like it's on fire."

"Lay on your back for me." He instructed, slipping on some gloves and peeling back the gauze. I didn't care to look at what was going on as he pressed around my stitches, a grim look on his face as considered what was going on. "Looks like, despite our best efforts to keep your wound clean, you've developed an infection. The good news is we caught it in time and we can get you on a stronger antibiotic. I also want to give you something for the pain so you can get a good night's rest."

"Jack? Everything okay?" Claire questioned outside the tent, her shadow moving back and forth in the dim light of the torches surrounding the camp. Despite the pain I was in, I recognized this visit was something entirely different than being curious about my situation. Something Jack didn't seem to notice because he was too focused on what was going on.

"It's fine Jack. Tell her."

"Juiet had a slight complication with her surgery. You can go back to sleep." Claire didn't seem to respond, other than by leaning against the tent. "I'm going to grab my bag from the medical tent." He told me before turning toward Daniel. "Keep an eye on her for a few minutes."

"Sure."

"Late night stroll or is there something you wanted to ask me?" Claire entered carefully, giving me a small wave. I was glad she knew my comment was directed to her because I realized that question could have very well made sense to Daniel as well, even though I knew he had trouble sleeping at night.

"Hi. I can come back."

"I'm not going anywhere. What's your question."

"It sounds stupid because I've been wondering all this time why somebody would implant something in me without my knowledge. Again, I know it's been years but that question still kind of haunts me."

"And you think I'm the one that can answer that question because I'm the one who did it." She nodded slowly, hands crossed over her chest. She looked scared and vulnerable just like that day I had first met her, only now she was taking a chance that Jack wouldn't come back quickly while we were having this conversation. "The Others saw you in your most vulnerable state. You had just given birth while trying to figure out how to raise a baby of your own. They knew if anything happened with the implant, they could write it off as stress or some kind of birth complication."

"I guess that kind of makes sense. I know making and delivering babies is sort of your thing, but why they chose you to do it."

"If I was able to heal what was ailing you, I could win the camp over and become one of you. What they didn't expect was me changing sides."

"So, what changed?"

"You have to know I was never on their side." Laying back against my pillow, I did my best to get comfortable again despite the pain I was in. "I have a sister who had cancer. When I realized she was sterile from the chemotherapy, I worked tirelessly to come up with a miracle drug so she could have the baby she always wanted."

"Did it work?"

"It did. I was promised before I came here that if I fixed all the fertility and pregnancy problems on the island, I could leave here before he was born. Of course, that never happened. I'm still here, and she had the baby she named Julian."

"She named her baby after you. That's why Jack has protected you all this time."

"He used to tell me he could tell I wanted to get off this island as much as anyone else." Propping my weight on my elbow to relieve some of the pressure on my stomach, I pressed my other hand against my wound. "Whether we like it or not, the Others used us for who we were."

"I guess I will never understand why someone would put a bunch of people on an island. I do hope you get to see your sister and nephew soon."

"I do too. Is there something else you want to talk about?"

"I'll tell you another time. Right now you should take care of yourself." It was almost as if she could sense Jack walking back into the tent, which he did right after she changed the subject. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. Jack." She gave him a rushed greeting as she quickly exited back to her own tent.

"What was that about?"

"She wanted to know about the implant."

"The one that made her ill? She's still thinking about that." Tearing open the alcohol swab he cleaned my upper arm and flicked the bubbles out of the needles before injecting the needle in.

"I don't blame her. I still don't completely understand why we're on this island. We've killed people to protect ourselves and had people die or almost die, dealt with lying, deception, and smoke monsters."

"I don't blame her. I still don't completely understand why we're on this island. We've killed people to protect ourselves and had people die or almost die, dealt with lies, deception, and smoke monsters of all things. Who does something like that?" Injecting both needles into my arm, he capped and balanced them on the side of the medical bag.

"You should start to feel your eyes growing heavy," Jack mentioned gently, capping the syringes and placing them on the side of his medical bag. "This should get rid of the infection and get you feeling significantly better than you were." It wasn't until I heard someone shifting around me that i realized I had fallen asleep. Through bleary-filled eyes, I realized the light filtering through my tent was the sun. I had made it without waking.

"Please tell me I was dreaming," I told Jack, realizing he was in the tent. "You didn't stay all night, did you?" He pressed his fingers against my wrist while listening intently to my breathing through the bell of the stethoscope.

"You were not dreaming. It all happened." Jack told me, taking the black silicone buds out of his ears. "Your pulse and heart rate have improved since last night. The submarine is close to being fixed, but it's probably going to take an extra day to go over it and make sure we didn't miss anything in the process. How are you feeling?"

A lot better than I was before. My pain level has decreased, which I am grateful for. I will never take my health for granted as long as I live."

"Me either. You'd better if you're still planning on walking when we go."

"I will." Letting my hands rest lightly on my stomach, I did not move other than to stare at the tent ceiling. "Jack?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you." He nodded back at me in understanding and left the tent. As my mind wandered, I began to drift off once again.