LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 5

"What's the verdict?" his sister asked as she looked up from her magazine.

"Nothing broken" Jack shrugged carelessly. "She said I'd have to show 'em this to get out of here" he informed her as he held up the copy of his cleared medical examination report.

"Ready then?" Paige asked.

Jack nodded, and the two Merridew siblings made their way out the exit doors the Langleys had walked through just over an hour earlier.

"You must be Merridew" the uniformed Army soldier standing at the door said as he took in Jack's clothes.

"Guilty" the blond boy said as he handed over his report to the solider. He skimmed it quickly before shoving it into the folder he held in his other hand.

"I'll need to see your ID, ma'am" the soldier addressed Jack's sister.

"No problem" she said as she rummaged through her $749 purse for it.

The solider verified her ID, making Jack's release from military custody official.

Jack followed Paige in silence through the hospital parking lot. She pulled out the keys to a vehicle Jack realized he had never seen before as they approached it and climbed in.

"Who's car is this?" he asked from the passenger seat.

"Rental" Paige answered simply as she started the car. Of course it was. Jack felt stupid for asking. Money was no object to a Merridew.

"Where are you taking me?" Jack asked after they drove in silence for ten minutes.

Paige turned to look at him, a confused glare on her face. "Home. Where else would we go?"

"Dad's okay with that?" Jack wondered.

"Has to be. You're a minor" Paige pointed out.

"Thought maybe foster care" Jack joked. He was only half kidding, and Paige knew it.

"He's not that bad" his sister defended their father.

"Not to you, he isn't" Jack countered. "He's gonna kill me before we even get in the door."

"Why? Did you cause the plane to go down?" she joked. She was only half kidding, and Jack knew it.

"Not this one" Jack chuckled. "But he'll find something to be at me mad about. Always does."

"Just give him a chance" his sister suggested.

Jack didn't say it, but he'd given his father a thousand and one chances. He'd never change. He'd never even be willing to try.

"So what's with all the dirt and blood?" his sister spoke suddenly into the quiet.

"Huh?" Jack turned to look at her.

"Your face, bimbo. Why all the markings?"

"Uh, it was a symbol of some sort, I guess. You wouldn't get it" Jack attempted to dismiss her.

"A symbol of what?" Paige persisted. "Or I guess you aren't really supposed to talk about the island yet, right? Before all the legal kinks are worked out or something the marine guy said" she went on.