Illusions of the island *A LOST fanfic*

Chapter 9: Cleaning up

Her teeth were chattering and she was shivering. She knew she had a fever. Juliet managed to come out of her and James tent without tripping for some air. She felt like she was suffocating in there. She suddenly felt dizzy. Then the ground came up to meet her and everything went dark.

Jack had seen the whole ordeal and had already been on his way to check on her and the baby. Leaning down in the sand, Jack looked her over and assessed the situation. Carefully turning her onto her back, Jack saw the sheen of sweat covering her forehead and frowned. He called out to her.

"Juliet its Jack. If you can hear me, open your eyes."

In response he heard her give a groan. He ran through all the possible diseases he could think of she may have come down with, but something told him it wasn't any of the things he was thinking. Then he put two and two together and he had his answer. He said his thoughts aloud, more for himself than for Juliet to hear.

"Mastitis. Why didn't I think of that before? You said you were having a little trouble getting Cara to nurse. Where am I going to find antibiotics for that?"

Juliet opened her eyes and squinted up at Jack. She wasn't really seeing clearly.

"Tell Hayley I'm sorry..."

Jack wasn't sure how to respond to her pleading. So he tried reassuring her instead.

"Shh. It's alright Juliet. Just rest now."

He had to get something to bring her fever down. Come to think of it, he had a few things of Acetametaphin in his and Kate's tent. Jack could get her to take those and once her fever broke he could ask Juliet if the medical station had any antibiotics. Carefully lifting her up in his arms, he carried her towards the tent she shared with James. James came out of the tent with Cara and a worried expression was planted on his face.

"Doc, what happened?"

Jack carried her inside the tent and set her on the now semi-dry cot. Her teeth were still chattering and more sweat covered her forehead.

"She passed out just outside your tent. Get her to take these Tylenol and once her fever breaks we need to get her some antibiotics."

James now had a concerned look in his face.

"What's wrong with her? What's she need the antibiotics for?"

Jack took Juliet's pulse and explained the situation.

"She has an infection. She said Cara wasn't nursing as much."

James put a hand up to stop Jack from talking.

"I understand doc. Can you make her better?"

Jack nodded and watched Juliet breathe for a few minutes.

"Labored breathing. Not surprising since her body is fighting an infection. For now, you can give Cara the formula. She's not going to know that much of a difference between that and Juliet. It's just until Juliet's better ok?"

James nodded and set Cara back inside the cradle. Jack started a new thought.

"So how's our newest member of the club?"

Cara had opened up her eyes and was flailing her arms around. Her eyes were kind of a gray color right now, but James knew they would change color later. Jack smiled down at her.

"Still a little congested, but she's three weeks old. Her umbilical stump should fall off in another couple of weeks. Healing nicely. Other than recently, she's been eating and going to the bathroom?"

James made a face and nodded his head.

"Yeah, a lot. Sometimes while she eats."

Jack gave a slight dry chuckle.

"Yeah, well, she's still learning. Besides, babies go through a lot of diapers. Your laundry is twice as much now. Her reflexes look good. You've got a strong girl Sawyer. And you wanted a boy..."

Jack said that last part to see how James would react. He only smirked and gave a chuckle.

"I'm countin' on the next one being a boy doc. Besides, Cara probably will just 'want to be one of the boys.'"

Shaking his head, Jack smirked.

"You're really dead-set on a boy aren't you?"

James held his head high and nodded.

"Course I am doc. Didn't smokey say you were having a boy down the road?"

Jack had thought on what the black smoke monster had told him. But something told him that wasn't going to happen. It was just a feeling.

"Yes, but who believes anything he has to say James?"

James didn't like it when Jack called him by his real name. But it was just him.

"Don't call me that doc. I've got most of our stuff cleaned up in here. How's Kate and Megan?"

Jack let Cara grab ahold of his index finger and let her play for a minute.

"Megan was a little scared. But we were both there with her. So she knew she was ok."

James sat back for a moment and watched as Cara flexed her fingers against Jack's index finger.

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"What's going on?"

James leaned over Juliet and smiled.

"Good blondie, your awake. You gave me a scare earlier when Jack found ya passed out in the sand just outside the tent. Yer gonna be ok though now. The doc fixed ya up. A few days' rest and you'll be as right as rain."

Rain? The last thing Juliet remembered was the storm. Cara.

"James? Where's Cara?"

James only smiled and brought a squirming Cara to Juliet.

"Right here darlin'. The doc said to bottle feed her for a few days. Just until yer better. Ya got a nasty infection."

It dawned on Juliet what was going on.

"Why didn't I think of that? I've had Mastitis before with Hayley at least 3 times. A couple of weeks of antibiotics and I should be ok. Right now I feel like I'm wearing a pair of rocks. Do you need any help cleaning up?"

James shook his head no.

"No blondie. I got it. Most of the stuff dried while you were asleep. Everything's gonna be ok."

Juliet hoped so. But she couldn't help but let her mind wander to Hayley. She thought about her quite often now, and it sometimes haunted
her dreams.

To Be Continued...