A LOST fanfic: Taken care of

Chapter 6: Time Restraints

Jack was terrified. Megan was only 10 days old and she was in trouble. Right now, he was a doctor, being a dad came second. Megan was his responsibility. Juliet set Megan down on the exam table and unwrapped the blanket from around her. He could see Kate pacing, her chest heaving with worried breaths. She was holding it together, but by a thread. After about the twelfth time of passing him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into his embrace.

"Hey. Everything's going to be ok. Megan's in good hands Kate. Juliet knows what she's doing. Have faith. Remember?"

Kate tore from Jack's arms and went to her baby's side who was still lying on the exam table. Tears were spilling over her cheeks once more as she placed a hand to stroke her daughter's head.

"Mama's here baby girl. Please tell me what's wrong."

Now Jack was barely holding it together himself. But every time Kate was hurt and cried, his heart shattered into a million pieces. Watching Kate interact with their too-still daughter made him realize how short life was. Kate sat down on a stool and watched as Juliet listened to Megan's chest. A lopsided smile adorned her lips, but Jack could hear the frown in her voice.

"She's breathing. But it's so shallow you wouldn't be able to hear it without the stethoscope."

Jack's eyes lit up as he went towards Juliet. She took the earpieces of the stethoscope and handed them to Jack. As he put the earpieces in his ears and listened, his eyes grew dull and a frown had formed on his lips.

"I don't think I understand. If she's not asleep then why isn't she responding?"

Juliet's eyes saddened a bit more. Jack hated when she pitied him.

"Jack I don't know."

The anger was simmering below the surface again, and Kate braced herself. Jack's temper when not in check got him into trouble. Instead of getting angry, a tear slipped down his cheek, and he swiped it away.

"Why isn't she crying anymore?"

Another question Juliet couldn't answer at the present moment. Something made her look at Megan's feet. Upon inspecting the heel of her right foot, she found a red/brownish insect bite on it. Taking a closer look with a magnifiying glass, her frown disappeared and replaced by a warm smile.

"She was bitten by a Medusa spider. They don't kill you. They just paralyze you. She'll be fine."

Jack felt as if he were going to be sick. This was one of his nightmares; finding out his own child was paralyzed. Swallowing the bile back down into his stomach, he looked Juliet in the eye.

"What part of her spine is affected?"

Juliet was taken aback by Jack's question. He hadn't heard her correctly.

"Jack, the paralytic agent from the spider doesn't attack the spinal column. It affects everything in the body. She'll be fine in about 8 hours. In the meantime, I'm going to start a line, get some fluids into her, and give her some oxygen. I'll put her in the incubator to keep her warm."

Jack turned away from Juliet for a brief moment and walked towards Kate. Taking her hand, they each walked out into the dimly lit hallway. In seconds he was hugging Kate so fiercely, she could scarcely breathe. His breath hitched as sobs wracked his entire body. This was only the second time in 5 years that she'd seen Jack cry like this. When he let go, Kate was breathless. Reaching a hand up to his left cheek, with her right hand she wiped away his tears.

"Megan's going to be ok Jack. She's just sleeping. We should be with her."

Jack's breath hitched once more and he nodded his head. Juliet said nothing as she saw Jack's red-rimmed eyes. She knew he'd been crying. But the thought of losing a child, or even getting a tough to hear diagnosis was sometimes much harder to take. Especially when it was your own child. But in Megan's case, it was neither. She was going to be all right. The couple took a set of stools and sat down in front of the incubator that Juliet had just set Megan. Now all they had to do was wait for the next 8 hours for Megan to take her first breath and let out a healthy cry. Jack had forgotten how many tubes and iv lines went into sick babies. He'd spent four months working in a NICU at Saint Sebastian's. He never set foot in it again after his rotation was done. Sometimes he still had nightmares about it. But he knew his little girl would be ok. She was a fighter.

To Be Continued...