Conception - Alternate - Part 6
Jan. 21st, 2013 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
diandrahollmanSince it's been over a year since I last updated this, I figured I'd better post the MINUTE I finished typing the next part. I'm so sorry! I'm such a slow writer... :(
E-Mail: diandrahollman@yahoo.com
Rating: TV-14? This chapter is really tame.
Keywords: Slash, mpreg, labor, Jack/Sawyer
Spoilers: Ha! Yeah, right.
Disclaimer: They don’t belong to me, but I suppose technically they belong to fandom now that Darlton and Bad Robot and ABC are done with them.
Dedication: To everyone who stuck with me through the original epic story. To the Powers That Be and the fandom of the greatest, most ground-breaking and mind-boggling show in recent broadcast television history, possibly ever. Yes, I might be getting nostalgic. *curls in a ball and sobs*
Author's Notes: This started as an alternate scene to Christine’s birth in my story “Conception” that takes place in an alternate universe where A) Jack is able to give birth without a c-section and B) Jack escapes the Others at the same time as Sawyer and Kate or is still pregnant when they go back for him (you decide). It sort of grew into a short story of its own.
Previous chapters here
***************
The fever started that afternoon. By nightfall, Jack was weaving in and out of consciousness. When he was awake and lucid, he would join in Sawyer’s rambling speculations about their daughter’s future – a line of conversation Sawyer hoped would strengthen his will to fight. But then there were times Jack would drift and begin talking to and pleading with people who weren’t there...people like his father and Boone.
Add to all of this afterbirth pains that had Jack whimpering and writhing in discomfort at irregular intervals and Sawyer was just about ready to tear his hair out in frustration.
“She’ll have a big ole’ expensive weddin’,” he murmured, dabbing a cool cloth against Jack’s forehead and cheek. Jack had stopped responding back when they had been discussing Christine’s future as the most brilliant doctor St. Sebastian’s had hired since Jack walked in the door. “She’ll have pretty little white flowers decoratin’ her hair and a dress that costs more than both of us could make in a month. ‘Course you’ll cry when you give her away. Hell, I’ll prob’ly cry too.” He hesitated as Jack mumbled something, voice barely louder than a breath. He leaned closer until he could feel Jack’s breath on his ear. “What was that, darlin’?”
Jack said something that was mostly unintelligible, but Sawyer thought he could just faintly make out two words: “my sister”.
Sawyer sighed and pressed his lips to Jack’s cheek. “I ain’t lettin’ you go, Doc,” he murmured. “Not ‘til you’re old and gray.”
He stilled as a sound came from the jungle on the other side of the clearing and instinctively reached for the pistol tucked in the back of his jeans. Juliet heard the noise too and was already shouldering the rifle.
Sawyer heard a distant voice and saw Juliet relax, lowering her weapon. He didn’t relax himself until Kate emerged from the jungle, Sayid two steps behind her.
Kate and Juliet huddled beside the fire, sorting through various pill bottles Kate had raided from Jack’s medical stash back at camp. Sayid crouched beside Jack.
“Never thought I’d be so glad to see you,” Sawyer greeted.
Sayid nodded in acknowledgment. “How is he?”
“Not so good...”
Jack stirred awake at the sound of their voices and tried to sit up. Sawyer pressed him back down. Jack squinted up at them. “Sayid...”
Sayid caught one of his hands and squeezed. “I am here, my friend.”
“Christine...”
Sayid smiled. “She is safe. You have a beautiful daughter, Jack.”
Jack nodded gratefully. Then his lips pulled back in a grimace as his attempts at movement brought on a fresh bout of pain.
“Easy, darlin’,” Sawyer murmured, pressing a hand to Jack’s forehead, wincing at the heat emanating from the doctor’s skin.
Kate appeared beside Sayid suddenly, a handful of pills in one palm, a bottle of water in the other. Sawyer was moving before she had a chance to open her mouth, pressing the washcloth he had been using to battle Jack’s fever into Sayid’s hands and gently coaxing Jack into an upright position, leaning back against his chest. Soft, pained whimpers escaped Jack’s lips despite his obvious efforts to hold them in. The fact that he took all of the pills Kate handed him without comment – swallowing them almost eagerly – betrayed just how much pain he was in anyway.
“Kate, can you help me here?” Juliet knelt beside Jack’s hip, a couple airline blankets in her hands.
The two women managed to strip Jack from the waist down and slide a blanket beneath his hips with little help from him. Juliet returned to the campfire while Kate arranged a second blanket across Jack’s lap, gently directing him to bend his knees. Juliet returned moments later with a handful of cloth and a bottle of what looked like alcohol. She smiled sympathetically at him as she knelt between his thighs.
“This might sting a little.”
Sawyer couldn’t see what she was doing with the blanket in the way, but he felt Jack flinch and heard the involuntary his as she tended to his torn skin. Kate winced and rubbed his arm in sympathy.
Sayid knelt opposite Kate, handing Sawyer the all-but-forgotten washcloth back and gathered Jack’s hands between his own, digging his thumbs purposefully into the base of the doctor’s palm.
“What’re you doin’,” Sawyer demanded – a little snippier than was probably necessary. It had been nearly forty-eight hours since Jack had gone into labor and the frustration of taking care of him when nothing he did seemed to actually help was taking its toll.
“Pressure points,” Sayid replied calmly, making wider circles, massaging Jack’s wrist.
The hand Sayid wasn’t holding reached for Sawyer’s. “It’s okay,” Jack murmured tiredly.
The fact that *Jack* was the one trying to soothe him sobered Sawyer and he finally understood why Juliet had been so concerned before when they had first learned Jack was in labor. He was no good to Jack if he wasn’t taking care of himself first. Jack had enough problems without having to worry about what this whole thing was doing to Sawyer.
"Freckles, can you take 'im? I gotta take a leak."
It was an obvious lie, but Kate seemed to understand easily and slid over to support Jack's upper body in her lap, soothing his forehead as he made tiny noises of discomfort.
Sawyer let his fingers brush Jack's cheek, nodding as Jack's feverish eyes met his. Jack blinked blearily at him, but seemed to understand.
Sawyer stumbled to his feet and disappeared into the jungle without another word.
*******************
Juliet followed Sawyer once she had Jack settled. She found him in a clearing a couple hundred yards in, sitting up against a tree, folded over himself, his head on his knees. She sat beside him gingerly and waited, eyeing the bloody scrape on the back of his hand and deciding the bones beneath it didn't *look* broken. When he finally looked up at her, her heart ached. He looked exhausted, defeated. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying. His voice, when he spoke, was ragged, as if he had been screaming himself hoarse.
"He's dyin', ain't he?"
"He's fighting," she said simply.
He snorted and let his head drop dejectedly back against the tree.
“I know that doesn’t sound reassuring right now, but it *is* a good thing. We’ve got him on antibiotics for the infection. As long as he keeps fighting, he is strong enough to survive this.”
Sawyer closed his eyes – his face still tilted toward the sky – and breathed deeply.
Juliet reached tentatively for his bloodied hand, gently resting her fingers on his wrist, afraid to go any lower and aggravate the raw looking cuts. Sawyer responded by turning his hand over and gripping her hand so hard she could feel the bones in her fingers rub together uncomfortably. He didn’t move otherwise and he didn’t open his eyes.
Juliet didn’t say anything more. She just sat with him for a long time, squeezing his hand back.
TBC
E-Mail: diandrahollman@yahoo.com
Rating: TV-14? This chapter is really tame.
Keywords: Slash, mpreg, labor, Jack/Sawyer
Spoilers: Ha! Yeah, right.
Disclaimer: They don’t belong to me, but I suppose technically they belong to fandom now that Darlton and Bad Robot and ABC are done with them.
Dedication: To everyone who stuck with me through the original epic story. To the Powers That Be and the fandom of the greatest, most ground-breaking and mind-boggling show in recent broadcast television history, possibly ever. Yes, I might be getting nostalgic. *curls in a ball and sobs*
Author's Notes: This started as an alternate scene to Christine’s birth in my story “Conception” that takes place in an alternate universe where A) Jack is able to give birth without a c-section and B) Jack escapes the Others at the same time as Sawyer and Kate or is still pregnant when they go back for him (you decide). It sort of grew into a short story of its own.
Previous chapters here
***************
The fever started that afternoon. By nightfall, Jack was weaving in and out of consciousness. When he was awake and lucid, he would join in Sawyer’s rambling speculations about their daughter’s future – a line of conversation Sawyer hoped would strengthen his will to fight. But then there were times Jack would drift and begin talking to and pleading with people who weren’t there...people like his father and Boone.
Add to all of this afterbirth pains that had Jack whimpering and writhing in discomfort at irregular intervals and Sawyer was just about ready to tear his hair out in frustration.
“She’ll have a big ole’ expensive weddin’,” he murmured, dabbing a cool cloth against Jack’s forehead and cheek. Jack had stopped responding back when they had been discussing Christine’s future as the most brilliant doctor St. Sebastian’s had hired since Jack walked in the door. “She’ll have pretty little white flowers decoratin’ her hair and a dress that costs more than both of us could make in a month. ‘Course you’ll cry when you give her away. Hell, I’ll prob’ly cry too.” He hesitated as Jack mumbled something, voice barely louder than a breath. He leaned closer until he could feel Jack’s breath on his ear. “What was that, darlin’?”
Jack said something that was mostly unintelligible, but Sawyer thought he could just faintly make out two words: “my sister”.
Sawyer sighed and pressed his lips to Jack’s cheek. “I ain’t lettin’ you go, Doc,” he murmured. “Not ‘til you’re old and gray.”
He stilled as a sound came from the jungle on the other side of the clearing and instinctively reached for the pistol tucked in the back of his jeans. Juliet heard the noise too and was already shouldering the rifle.
Sawyer heard a distant voice and saw Juliet relax, lowering her weapon. He didn’t relax himself until Kate emerged from the jungle, Sayid two steps behind her.
Kate and Juliet huddled beside the fire, sorting through various pill bottles Kate had raided from Jack’s medical stash back at camp. Sayid crouched beside Jack.
“Never thought I’d be so glad to see you,” Sawyer greeted.
Sayid nodded in acknowledgment. “How is he?”
“Not so good...”
Jack stirred awake at the sound of their voices and tried to sit up. Sawyer pressed him back down. Jack squinted up at them. “Sayid...”
Sayid caught one of his hands and squeezed. “I am here, my friend.”
“Christine...”
Sayid smiled. “She is safe. You have a beautiful daughter, Jack.”
Jack nodded gratefully. Then his lips pulled back in a grimace as his attempts at movement brought on a fresh bout of pain.
“Easy, darlin’,” Sawyer murmured, pressing a hand to Jack’s forehead, wincing at the heat emanating from the doctor’s skin.
Kate appeared beside Sayid suddenly, a handful of pills in one palm, a bottle of water in the other. Sawyer was moving before she had a chance to open her mouth, pressing the washcloth he had been using to battle Jack’s fever into Sayid’s hands and gently coaxing Jack into an upright position, leaning back against his chest. Soft, pained whimpers escaped Jack’s lips despite his obvious efforts to hold them in. The fact that he took all of the pills Kate handed him without comment – swallowing them almost eagerly – betrayed just how much pain he was in anyway.
“Kate, can you help me here?” Juliet knelt beside Jack’s hip, a couple airline blankets in her hands.
The two women managed to strip Jack from the waist down and slide a blanket beneath his hips with little help from him. Juliet returned to the campfire while Kate arranged a second blanket across Jack’s lap, gently directing him to bend his knees. Juliet returned moments later with a handful of cloth and a bottle of what looked like alcohol. She smiled sympathetically at him as she knelt between his thighs.
“This might sting a little.”
Sawyer couldn’t see what she was doing with the blanket in the way, but he felt Jack flinch and heard the involuntary his as she tended to his torn skin. Kate winced and rubbed his arm in sympathy.
Sayid knelt opposite Kate, handing Sawyer the all-but-forgotten washcloth back and gathered Jack’s hands between his own, digging his thumbs purposefully into the base of the doctor’s palm.
“What’re you doin’,” Sawyer demanded – a little snippier than was probably necessary. It had been nearly forty-eight hours since Jack had gone into labor and the frustration of taking care of him when nothing he did seemed to actually help was taking its toll.
“Pressure points,” Sayid replied calmly, making wider circles, massaging Jack’s wrist.
The hand Sayid wasn’t holding reached for Sawyer’s. “It’s okay,” Jack murmured tiredly.
The fact that *Jack* was the one trying to soothe him sobered Sawyer and he finally understood why Juliet had been so concerned before when they had first learned Jack was in labor. He was no good to Jack if he wasn’t taking care of himself first. Jack had enough problems without having to worry about what this whole thing was doing to Sawyer.
"Freckles, can you take 'im? I gotta take a leak."
It was an obvious lie, but Kate seemed to understand easily and slid over to support Jack's upper body in her lap, soothing his forehead as he made tiny noises of discomfort.
Sawyer let his fingers brush Jack's cheek, nodding as Jack's feverish eyes met his. Jack blinked blearily at him, but seemed to understand.
Sawyer stumbled to his feet and disappeared into the jungle without another word.
*******************
Juliet followed Sawyer once she had Jack settled. She found him in a clearing a couple hundred yards in, sitting up against a tree, folded over himself, his head on his knees. She sat beside him gingerly and waited, eyeing the bloody scrape on the back of his hand and deciding the bones beneath it didn't *look* broken. When he finally looked up at her, her heart ached. He looked exhausted, defeated. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying. His voice, when he spoke, was ragged, as if he had been screaming himself hoarse.
"He's dyin', ain't he?"
"He's fighting," she said simply.
He snorted and let his head drop dejectedly back against the tree.
“I know that doesn’t sound reassuring right now, but it *is* a good thing. We’ve got him on antibiotics for the infection. As long as he keeps fighting, he is strong enough to survive this.”
Sawyer closed his eyes – his face still tilted toward the sky – and breathed deeply.
Juliet reached tentatively for his bloodied hand, gently resting her fingers on his wrist, afraid to go any lower and aggravate the raw looking cuts. Sawyer responded by turning his hand over and gripping her hand so hard she could feel the bones in her fingers rub together uncomfortably. He didn’t move otherwise and he didn’t open his eyes.
Juliet didn’t say anything more. She just sat with him for a long time, squeezing his hand back.
TBC
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Date: 2013-01-24 10:56 am (UTC)