The Other Patient
Title: The Other Patient
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Ben, Juliet, Karl.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They own me.
Spoilers: all the way through S4
Summary: As Ben prepares to become Henry Gale, he asks Juliet to perform one last X ray. Juliet reflects on all the patients she has seen during her time on the island, and on the patient she has now: Benjamin Linus.
"Okay, Karl, if you could develop these for me as soon as possible, that would be great," said Juliet as she handed over the X rays she had just taken of Ben.
"No problem, Juliet," Karl replied as he took them from her with a smile. "I'll let you know when they're ready."
As soon as Karl was out of earshot, Ben hissed "Do you think he suspected anything?"
Juliet shook her head. "I've asked Karl to develop X rays for me before. He's always been interested in going into surgery. He's used to it, he isn't going to question a thing."
Ben still looked wary, so Juliet continued "And Tom and Danny know what they have to do. He'll think he's delivering the X rays to me, he'll be meeting them instead."
Ben nodded distractedly.
Juliet frowned. "Are you worried, Ben?"
Ben shook his head, rolled his eyes. "Not at all. They'll all think I am Henry Gale, the man who crashed here in the balloon."
"And if they catch you in the lie?" Juliet asked.
Ben snorted. "They won't."
Juliet raised her eyebrows. "Jarrah is a fully trained intelligence officer from the Republican Guard, and Cortez has interrogation skills from her time in the LAPD."
"Cortez?" Ben snorted again. "She never spotted Goodwin for several weeks."
Juliet hid her flinch at the mention of Goodwin's name. "Maybe so, but you read about Basra. Jarrah's the one you need to worry about."
"They won't suspect anything," Ben hastily answered. "I got enough out of Gale to sound convincing."
Juliet nodded. "When I asked if you were worried, I actually meant about the tumour."
Ben hesitated. "How fast do you think the tumour is progressing?"
Juliet pretended to consider the question, knowing that until such time as Shephard was with them, Ben's fate was in her hands. After three years of being subservient to Ben's will, kept there by his threats, Juliet was now the one with the power, and she couldn't deny the rush it gave her as she regarded Ben lying on the table, curiously vulnerable in a way she had never known him before. Part of her had relished the tremor in Ben's voice as he asked the question. it would be so easy to tell him that there was no hope, to make him feel the way she had felt the day he had so blandly and unemotionally told her that Rachel's cancer had returned. And yet Rachel was also the reason why she felt unable to say that to Ben. Juliet had known she hated him long before Karl had given her the X rays which confirmed his cancer. Yet Ben had promised her that Rachel could be cured, and she had so wanted to believe that despite finding it hard to believe in the powers of this Jacob who held everyone else on the island in thrall. If Ben could be cured, then Juliet could feel more confident that Rachel would be cured too, and maybe one day the two sisters could be reunited.
"I'll have a better idea when I get the X rays back," she eventually answered. "But you really need Shephard. I'm a fertility doctor, the spine isn't my area of expertise."
However, based on what knowledge Juliet did have, she knew that Ben needed Shephard there sooner rather than later.
It didn't get any easier with time, telling people the news that they didn't want to hear, and it wouldn't now, even though the patient was Ben. Before Juliet came to the island, she'd been used to being the bearer of good news, used to pregnancy being something to be congratulated upon. Henrietta had been the first patient she had seen on the island, but by the time Juliet had arrived, she was already in the final stages of the sickness, too late for Juliet to do anything more than make her comfortable. When Ethan's wife, Grace, had come to her for a diagnosis, Juliet had still been following the old habits, smile plastered on her face as she merrily broke the news, until she watched the other woman's face slowly crumple and she knew what she had done. Juliet's heart slowly sank as she watched Grace struggle to be brave, gamely saying that maybe she would be the one that was saved, Juliet's false smile of hope matching Grace's own. At the time, Juliet had still genuinely believed she could solve the problem. She had continued to believe this with Sabine, with Stephanie, with Michelle, but then gradually, as the women continued to die, Juliet had begun to realise there was nothing she could do. Faced with Goodwin's unending faith in her and optimism that she would one day do it, and Harper's snide remarks about how Juliet wasn't the best candidate but had only been recruited because she looked like Her, Juliet was no longer sure which was worse.
She had broken the news to nine women now. Nine women coming to her, wanting an answer Juliet had always known deep down she couldn't give. In time, she had begun to learn more appropriate responses to the situation. She tried to detach herself, to feel nothing. But it wasn't easy when she cared about the women.
And now it was Ben, the man she had grown to hate, the man who had put her in this position in the first place. Part of Juliet wanted to watch the fear on his face as he took it in. Yet part of her was scared to break the news to the man she had always seen as perfectly in control, not knowing what he would do when she did.
"You finished reading Shephard's file?" Ben's voice intruded sharply on Juliet's thoughts, She realised he'd been trying to get her attention for a while.
Juliet nodded. "All of it. He was born on April twenty-third, 1967 to Christian and Margo Shephard, married Sarah on August fifteenth, 2001, divorced a year later following his kiss with Gabriella Bussoni and Sarah's affair with - "
Ben cut her off. "Good. You obviously know it well. You know what you have to do?"
Juliet sighed. "We've been through this already."
"So we go through it again," Ben stated flatly.
"You think it will work?" Juliet asked. "You think you can convince him you'll let him go home if he does the surgery."
"Once we've broken him down, yes."
Juliet shook her head. "He doesn't have much to go home to. His marriage broke up, he just lost his father - "
Ben raised his eyebrows. "Has he?"
Juliet stared at him. "What?"
"Have they lost him?"
"It's all in the file, Ben. You read the autopsy report Mikhail got."
Ben nodded. "Of course. But you're forgetting, Juliet. With your resemblance to his ex wife, you can break him. You can make him realise how much he wants to save my life. How much he wants to go home."
Juliet still didn't agree with Ben about this supposed resemblance, but let that pass. "So, when he's done the surgery, will you actually let him go?"
"Are you implying that I'm not a man of my word?" Ben asked blandly.
"You haven't let me go home." Juliet replied.
Ben looked her straight in the eye. "That's because you still have work to do."
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Ben, Juliet, Karl.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They own me.
Spoilers: all the way through S4
Summary: As Ben prepares to become Henry Gale, he asks Juliet to perform one last X ray. Juliet reflects on all the patients she has seen during her time on the island, and on the patient she has now: Benjamin Linus.
"Okay, Karl, if you could develop these for me as soon as possible, that would be great," said Juliet as she handed over the X rays she had just taken of Ben.
"No problem, Juliet," Karl replied as he took them from her with a smile. "I'll let you know when they're ready."
As soon as Karl was out of earshot, Ben hissed "Do you think he suspected anything?"
Juliet shook her head. "I've asked Karl to develop X rays for me before. He's always been interested in going into surgery. He's used to it, he isn't going to question a thing."
Ben still looked wary, so Juliet continued "And Tom and Danny know what they have to do. He'll think he's delivering the X rays to me, he'll be meeting them instead."
Ben nodded distractedly.
Juliet frowned. "Are you worried, Ben?"
Ben shook his head, rolled his eyes. "Not at all. They'll all think I am Henry Gale, the man who crashed here in the balloon."
"And if they catch you in the lie?" Juliet asked.
Ben snorted. "They won't."
Juliet raised her eyebrows. "Jarrah is a fully trained intelligence officer from the Republican Guard, and Cortez has interrogation skills from her time in the LAPD."
"Cortez?" Ben snorted again. "She never spotted Goodwin for several weeks."
Juliet hid her flinch at the mention of Goodwin's name. "Maybe so, but you read about Basra. Jarrah's the one you need to worry about."
"They won't suspect anything," Ben hastily answered. "I got enough out of Gale to sound convincing."
Juliet nodded. "When I asked if you were worried, I actually meant about the tumour."
Ben hesitated. "How fast do you think the tumour is progressing?"
Juliet pretended to consider the question, knowing that until such time as Shephard was with them, Ben's fate was in her hands. After three years of being subservient to Ben's will, kept there by his threats, Juliet was now the one with the power, and she couldn't deny the rush it gave her as she regarded Ben lying on the table, curiously vulnerable in a way she had never known him before. Part of her had relished the tremor in Ben's voice as he asked the question. it would be so easy to tell him that there was no hope, to make him feel the way she had felt the day he had so blandly and unemotionally told her that Rachel's cancer had returned. And yet Rachel was also the reason why she felt unable to say that to Ben. Juliet had known she hated him long before Karl had given her the X rays which confirmed his cancer. Yet Ben had promised her that Rachel could be cured, and she had so wanted to believe that despite finding it hard to believe in the powers of this Jacob who held everyone else on the island in thrall. If Ben could be cured, then Juliet could feel more confident that Rachel would be cured too, and maybe one day the two sisters could be reunited.
"I'll have a better idea when I get the X rays back," she eventually answered. "But you really need Shephard. I'm a fertility doctor, the spine isn't my area of expertise."
However, based on what knowledge Juliet did have, she knew that Ben needed Shephard there sooner rather than later.
It didn't get any easier with time, telling people the news that they didn't want to hear, and it wouldn't now, even though the patient was Ben. Before Juliet came to the island, she'd been used to being the bearer of good news, used to pregnancy being something to be congratulated upon. Henrietta had been the first patient she had seen on the island, but by the time Juliet had arrived, she was already in the final stages of the sickness, too late for Juliet to do anything more than make her comfortable. When Ethan's wife, Grace, had come to her for a diagnosis, Juliet had still been following the old habits, smile plastered on her face as she merrily broke the news, until she watched the other woman's face slowly crumple and she knew what she had done. Juliet's heart slowly sank as she watched Grace struggle to be brave, gamely saying that maybe she would be the one that was saved, Juliet's false smile of hope matching Grace's own. At the time, Juliet had still genuinely believed she could solve the problem. She had continued to believe this with Sabine, with Stephanie, with Michelle, but then gradually, as the women continued to die, Juliet had begun to realise there was nothing she could do. Faced with Goodwin's unending faith in her and optimism that she would one day do it, and Harper's snide remarks about how Juliet wasn't the best candidate but had only been recruited because she looked like Her, Juliet was no longer sure which was worse.
She had broken the news to nine women now. Nine women coming to her, wanting an answer Juliet had always known deep down she couldn't give. In time, she had begun to learn more appropriate responses to the situation. She tried to detach herself, to feel nothing. But it wasn't easy when she cared about the women.
And now it was Ben, the man she had grown to hate, the man who had put her in this position in the first place. Part of Juliet wanted to watch the fear on his face as he took it in. Yet part of her was scared to break the news to the man she had always seen as perfectly in control, not knowing what he would do when she did.
"You finished reading Shephard's file?" Ben's voice intruded sharply on Juliet's thoughts, She realised he'd been trying to get her attention for a while.
Juliet nodded. "All of it. He was born on April twenty-third, 1967 to Christian and Margo Shephard, married Sarah on August fifteenth, 2001, divorced a year later following his kiss with Gabriella Bussoni and Sarah's affair with - "
Ben cut her off. "Good. You obviously know it well. You know what you have to do?"
Juliet sighed. "We've been through this already."
"So we go through it again," Ben stated flatly.
"You think it will work?" Juliet asked. "You think you can convince him you'll let him go home if he does the surgery."
"Once we've broken him down, yes."
Juliet shook her head. "He doesn't have much to go home to. His marriage broke up, he just lost his father - "
Ben raised his eyebrows. "Has he?"
Juliet stared at him. "What?"
"Have they lost him?"
"It's all in the file, Ben. You read the autopsy report Mikhail got."
Ben nodded. "Of course. But you're forgetting, Juliet. With your resemblance to his ex wife, you can break him. You can make him realise how much he wants to save my life. How much he wants to go home."
Juliet still didn't agree with Ben about this supposed resemblance, but let that pass. "So, when he's done the surgery, will you actually let him go?"
"Are you implying that I'm not a man of my word?" Ben asked blandly.
"You haven't let me go home." Juliet replied.
Ben looked her straight in the eye. "That's because you still have work to do."