A LOST fanfic: Taken care of

Chapter 26: A life saved

"Jack are you sure you're ready for this? We could wait a couple of more weeks if you don't feel she's ready for the surgery."

Juliet adjusted Megan's iv line and then looked Jack straight in the eye.

"We can do this Juliet. Megan's strong enough now. We can fix her heart."

Although Jack meant what he said he could feel his hands shaking. Taking a breath he counted to five in his head. 1. I'm going to be fine. 2. This is going to work. 3. Get ahold of yourself Shephard. 4. Megan will be fine. 5. You are not dad. Letting out a dry humorless laugh, he noticed Juliet giving him a quizzical stare.

"What?"

Clearing his throat he motioned for the scalpel on the tray next to Juliet.

"Nothing. I'll tell you later. Scalpel please."

Taking a breath of her own Juliet nodded and handed Jack the scalpel. She was just as nervous as he was, but she didn't show it. Jack continued his thought.

"Keep the suction below where I'm working."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Don't worry freckles. The doc and Juliet know what they are doing. She's going to be fine. Would you stop pacing? You're going to wear a hole in the floor."

Kate chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head.

"I don't have any doubt about Jack's ability Sawyer. It's this island. Sometimes it gives you wonderful things, other times it takes them away. It took me away from Jack for a week. I can't explain where I was, but it definitely wasn't here."

Opening his mouth to say something, Sawyer instead let the words die on his lips. Closing his mouth he shook his head. He'd done a lot of growing up over the last 5 years. After all his sins, after all he'd done in the past, sometimes he didn't think he deserved Juliet. But she made him feel normal. She'd been just as hard headed as he was when he first met her. Distrustful of one another. But slowly, distrust turned into eventual trust. Kate broke the silence and changed subject.

"So what do you think you and Juliet are having? A boy or a girl?"

A smirk appeared over his face and he let his mind wander to Juliet.

"Definitely a boy."

Kate snorted and watched for Sawyer's reaction. He threw his hands up and gave a chuckle.

"What if it's a boy and a girl instead?"

At that Sawyer paled but recovered quickly.

"What? Twins? My bets on a boy freckles. Carry on the family name."

Kate snorted again and looked away. Her freckles stood out when she laughed.

"A boy huh?"

Nodding, his smirk stayed put on his face.

"Yup. My money's on a boy."

She laughed and kept shaking her head.

"Ok a boy. Let's see how that one pans out. My money's on a boy and a girl."

Falling into awkward silence the two Oceanic 815 survivors looked towards the door when it opened. At first a serious Jack and Juliet entered with an open plastic crib with Megan inside. Kate held her breath as she saw the overly large bandage surrounding her daughter's chest. She looked to Jack for guidance.

"How is she Jack?"

Jack made sure she was settled before he answered Kate.

"Megan did very well Kate. There were no complications with the surgery. Now it's simply a wait and see approach. Her color is already starting to come back. She's starting to pink up, which is already a good sign. She's going to want to pull at the bandages at her chest, so I've put these coverings over her hands. Their kind of like mittens to keep her hands warm, but not quite. Juliet said to leave the feeding tube in for a few more days. She needs to be lying on her back. We don't want to jostle her around too much right now."

Kate was relieved that Megan had made it through the surgery alright. Running a finger along the infants pink cheek Kate grinned and pulled Jack into a hug. Pulling her closer, he gave her a soft kiss at first. Letting it linger for a moment or two longer, Jack let a smile spread over his lips. Maybe he'd finally done something right for once. His father had definitely been wrong. He hadn't failed. Not this time.

To Be Continued...