Drowning Away. {Open}

[kateausten]

Kate had never really been a heavy drinker – Sure she’d had quite a few drinks in her life, and the odd night she couldn’t remember, but rarely did she sit down and attempt to drink until she couldn’t remember. It had been a week since Jack had posted her bail, and a week since she’d been out. The freedom was much nicer then the jail cell had ever been and this way, she also wasn’t faced with the awkwardness and heartbreak of having to deal with Kevin. The walls of her hotel room were now beginning to feel some what like her cell however, while they weren’t cement and she wasn’t sleeping on a tray of springs and a stained mattress, the uncanny feeling had followed her and she was now at the point where she needed out.

Today wasn’t the type of escape she was wanting however. If anything it felt more like a damnation. Like they’d just done wrong… Like she’d just done wrong. In the past week it seemed like Claire’s sanity had been weakening. Maybe it wasn’t her sanity that was the issue but more so the stress she was under? The point was what she’d been telling Kate was absolutely insane. Claire had sworn up and down that she’d went to the hospital- Seen and talked to Charlie and if that wasn’t enough, she went and had lunch with him.

As anyone could imagine, Kate was speechless, what more could she say to a girl that had been put through the worst? Claire was now the pregnant mother left alone in the world, what more could possibly push her over the edge? Kate questioning her? All she could do was rub her back and tell her everything would be okay, when deep down Kate knew it was impossible for such things to happen. What more could she do to help her? Nothing – and maybe that’s why she could so easily open up to Jack as if searching for some medical answer that would explain it all…

He questioned her sanity. A heavy amount of post-traumatic stress? He didn’t know, but he feared for her too… Kate sighed as she traced her fingers along the napkin on the counter – a damp cup ring laid imprinted in the middle. This was now her fourth , she was drinking to get to the point of no return. Maybe telling Jack was the biggest mistake she had done because now Kate felt more guilty then she ever had in her entire life. In her mind, it was entirely her fault that Claire was now still probably passed out at Santa Rose Mental Institution. It was her fault that Sun was currently up in her room taking care of the sleeping Aaron for her while Kate went down for ‘dinner’ which was now consisting of her fifth cup of vodka and orange juice.

The image still laid heavily in her mind, and no matter how much she tried to get it out, it came back in full force. Kate sighed as her eyes shut, her fingers wrapped around the cool glass as she raised it to her lips. Despite the buzz she was feeling… She still had a long way to go to forget it all.

[Perry Jasper Johnson]

Well that had all been fairly uneventful. When he had gotten to the hotel Joanie had been waiting for him, her flabby jowls practically quivering with excitement. Sometimes he had to concentrate hard to keep himself from physically cringing at her, but he had needed an inside man at the hotel, and she had been an easy target, so eager to please an up and coming star reporter.

The information she had given him had been lacking in details, but interesting nonetheless. Apparently a very loud argument had broken out between Jack Shephard and Claire Littleton in her room. Although she hadn’t been able to hear too much of the actual subject matter, most unfortunately, it seemed that the doctor thought that his sister was a danger to her child and was trying to take the baby away. Security had been called in, tranquilizer darts used, and then Shephard had carried Littleton out to a back exit followed closely by Katherine Austen, the young child in her arms.

Of course Perry had gone straight to Saint Sebastians, assuming this was the most likely place for Dr. Shepard to take a patient, but from what he could find out none of them had set foot in the building that day. So after following a few more leads, all turning out to be dead ends, he had returned to the hotel. Maybe he could bribe the security guards and find out what they knew. Or maybe he could... hello, what was this? Passing by the bar, the journalist stopped and peered in. Watching the beautiful brunette at the bar as she slid away one glass and immediately received another, he grinned. Maybe he could get the info he needed while spending his money in a much more pleasant manner.

Loosening his tie to let it hang sloppily around his neck, and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt, P.J. entered the bar. Reaching on hand into his jacket pocket, he pressed the record button on the small tape recorder before slowly and hesitantly approaching the stool beside where Katherine Austen sat. He was already playing his role to a tee. Sitting down beside her, he fidgeted nervously for a second before finally looking over at her.

“Um, e-excuse me, but are you, uh... are you Katherine Austen?” he stuttered timidly.