Illusions of the island *A LOST fanfic*

Chapter 12: 'It worked'

Flashback:

Miami Medical Research Facility

Miami, Florida

May 2000

Juliet fanned herself as she worked on some numbers on her computer. Why is it so boiling in here? David was a few desks down and noticed. Striding over to her, he whispered in her ear.

"It already feels like the North Pole in here. Do you really need the fan too?"

Chuckling, she got up from her desk and walked with David out of the lab. For the last couple of months, they'd been using their 'coffee' break to administer the injections. Juliet felt butterflies crowd her stomach as they entered an exam room. Rolling up her left sleeve on her sweater once she was sitting on the exam table, Juliet held out her arm.

"Moment of truth. My blood won't lie. My HCG levels will either be where they should be at, or they'll be below average. Let's hope they are within the range we're expecting. We'll go from there."

To be honest, Juliet was nervous. She knew what was coming next. Smiling through her nervousness, Juliet knew she had to follow her gut.

"I'll put a rush on this. I'll have Kelly run this first. I won't put a label on it. I'll tell her it's from a woman who doesn't want to be identified."

Way to be discreet about it David. Thanks.

"Thanks for helping me David. I really appreciate it."

David wheeled himself forward and put a hand on Juliet's.

"If it does turn out that your levels are where they are supposed to be, we'll schedule the procedure. I'll handle everything. I'll make sure everything goes smoothly ok?"

Juliet wanted to laugh, but instead she only smiled.

"Let me guess, you want to do the procedure yourself? You'll have to make sure to cover your tracks David. Ed watches everything like a hawk around here."

Deep down, doing this scared her. But another part of her wanted to get satisfaction that she was actually going through with this. She was doing this for her sister.

"I'll take care of it Jules. You have my word. I'll drop off the results of your blood test on your desk along with the date of your procedure."

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Juliet had been so immersed in her work on the computer screen, she barely noticed David by her left shoulder. Until he whispered in her ear.

"Test results are back. You wanna open it or should I?"

Butterflies once again crowded her stomach and she carefully opened the piece of paper in her hands as if she were unwrapping new china from a set she'd just bought. Her eyes lit up as she read the results.

"HCG levels exceed normal target range. Oh my god. David do you know what this means? It worked!"

She found a few people staring in her direction and lowered her voice.

"May 16th. That's next Thursday. I have some time scheduled off. Will you make sure that everything is set up for the procedure?"

David wanted to roll his eyes at Juliet playfully.

"I said you had my word. Everything will be set up. I will watch everything like a hawk. I promise to watch your heart rate, blood and pressure. Everything. You're in good hands Jules. I promise."

Juliet felt her heart swell. She was never more proud of herself than that moment.

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May 16th, 2000

"You doing ok Jules?"

Juliet nodded. She wasn't nervous anymore. Not with the sedative in her system. David put a mask over her face.

"Just a little something so you can go to sleep. When you wake up, you'll be in your own private room."

David added to his thought.

"Don't worry, wouldn't dream of using anything from Doctor Burke's gene pool. Anonymous donor."

Juliet nodded and darkness was starting to swallow her up. Sleep sounds so nice right now.

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When she woke, the first thing she heard was the beeping of a heart monitor to the left of the bed. The room was dark. The oxygen from the
nasal cannula in her nose felt strange, but she managed. Taking a breath, she averted her eyes towards the chair next to the bed. Smiling, she saw that David had curled up in it and was fast asleep. She decided to wake him up.

"Hey sleepy head, how'd it go?"

She wondered how they'd let him stay with her. She wasn't married to him.

"Everything went well. We should know in a couple of weeks. If not sooner. I kind of had to lie to the nurse to stay with you. I said that you were my wife. I said that you had the procedure done because we were having some trouble. This was our last option. You rest now Jules. You deserve it. With any luck the next nine months will go by without so much as a hiccup."

Juliet wished his words were cement and true. But she knew anything could happen with a baby while still inside its mother. She just had to hope for the best.

To Be Continued...