A LOST fanfic: Taken care of

Chapter 36: A wrench in the plan

"What is it Jack? What does that white spot on her lung mean?"

Staring at the x-ray Jack knew he had to break this to Kate as gently as possible. He tried removing himself from the situation but it wasn't easy.

"It means that she has a tumor. I won't know if it's malignant or not until I get a good look at it."

Ben had surprisingly left the couple alone. Kate sat on a stool, pale and staring at the sleeping baby in the plastic basinet.

"Jack this is too much. She's barely a year old. In such a short span of time she's been through things no child should have to deal with."

It was almost as if the island were playing a deadly card game and Jack and Kate were bearing the brunt of it with a series of bad hands. Everything was frozen in time and Kate
felt her hands begin to shake.

"Can you take that iv out of her arm with that green stuff? Please?"

Jack nodded and proceeded to gently remove the iv with the unknown substance flowing into his daughter's veins.

"I will do my best to figure out what this substance is. You have my word that I will get that tumor out of her lung."

Kate scooped Megan up and kissed her head. Megan whined and snuggled closer to her mother.

"It's ok baby. Mommy's here. Daddy will get us off this island and you'll get better."

Her voice croaked a little on her last statement. Too many things were happening at once right now. She'd ask for Juliet's help too, but she knew that Juliet had her hands full with her own children. Jack could handle the surgery.

"This island is threatening to destroy us Kate. I don't know how or why, but it's trying. We have to be strong against it. I can fix this."

Kate had been strong through all that had happened to Megan her entire first year. Rocking a fussy Megan, Kate looked into Jack's hazel eyes searching for some sort of
confirmation.

"I know you can do this Jack, but can you ask for Juliet's opinion too?"

Running a hand over his stubble Jack nodded seriously and put a hand on Megan's back. He was still in doctor-mode.

"I'll ask her once she's had a little more rest. She hasn't had a whole lot of it in the last 16 hours."
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"Ok. There we go sweetie."

Jack lent a helping hand when he saw Juliet let out a pained breath.

"Here, I've got him. Just lie back."

Juliet gave him a look of thanks before her eyes landed on the light box against the wall. A frown formed across her lips and worry began to grow inside her.

"Whose x-rays are those Jack?"

Shaking his head his own frown deepened.

"They belong to Megan. Tell me, what do you see in her right lung?"

Her eyes landed on the radiopaque object on the x-ray.

"A tumor, and the size of a grape from the looks of it. How old are these x-rays?"

Looking away Jack thought on Juliet's statement and last question. He turned over her words in his mind before he answered.

"Ben said a couple of days. But you know how Ben is. He lies and is very unreliable. Of course who the hell knows if this is real or not? For all I know he could just be messing with my head. Megan could be completely healthy."