AN: Oh, look, fluff

"Miss Pulitzer, we really need to get a proper look at your wounds now."

Katherine shook her head and held onto Jack even more tightly. He rubbed her arm gently.

"C'mon Ace, it'll only take a second, and I'll be right here when you're done, yeah?"

"I don't want them to see."

Jack knew how she felt, when he escaped from The Refuge for the first time, he didn't want to tell or show anybody anything that had happened. "Yeah, but you gotta let them if they're gonna be able to help."

"I know." Katherine frowned slightly. She turned to the nurse. "Can we do it in here?" She gestured to the hospital room she'd been assigned to.

"I don't see why not." The nurse agreed. "Let me just go get some supplies from the other room."

The nurse left, and Jack looked at Katherine. "You know that means you're gonna have to take off your dress? In front of me?"

"Yes." Katherine nodded, understanding what he was getting at. But to be perfectly honest, she felt more comfortable being naked in front of Jack and the nurse, rather than if it was just the nurse.

"And your..." Corset, was the word he wasn't completely sure if it was appropriate for him to say.

"He... he took it."

Jack stared at her, hoping that the thought that had just come into his head wasn't true. "Did he - ?"

"No, no he just... he wanted to be able to get to my back more easily."

He nodded. "And you're okay with me seeing that?"

"I'll lay on the bed. On my stomach."

"Okay." They stood in silence for a moment, looking at each other. "I love you, Katherine."

She gave him a small smile. "I love you, too."

The nurse returned, and the two of them looked away from each other, turning back to her.

"Are you ready?" The nurse asked with a smile. She suddenly seemed much too cheerful.

Katherine nodded, suddenly nervous. Jack turned so he didn't see anything, and when the nurse told him it was okay to turn back around, he held in a gasp.

Katherine's back was covered in so many scars, Jack saw more blood than skin. He recognized the marks, and knew they were from a belt. The nurse had a grim expression on her face, and Jack immediately took notice.

"Is everything okay? You can... you can fix this, right?"

"Yes." She nodded. "It's just going to take longer than I expected."

Katherine held out her hand for Jack to hold, and he knelt down beside her and too it as the nurse began cleaning her wounds. She cringed away from it at first, squeezing Jack's hand. Every once in a while she would let out a pained noise that she had obviously been trying to suppress.

 After what seemed like hours (though in reality it was probably about half of one), Katherine let out a pained gasp, and her hand went limp in Jack's hand. He looked up at the nurse, alarmed.

"Oh dear." The nurse momentarily paused in dressing Katherine's wounds and went up to her face, checking on some things that Jack didn't understand, and let out a sigh of relief. "She's passed out from the pain. She should wake up soon after I'm done."

Jack nodded, but that didn't exactly ease his worries. The nurse finished wrapping her torso with some sort of surgical gauze, carefully slipped a hospital gown over her head so she'd be covered, and gave Jack a kind look.

"I'll leave you alone with her, I'll come back in the morning to do a more thorough inspection, she doesn't need any more stress today." 

Jack nodded again and the nurse left. He kept a strong hold on Katherine's hand as he watched her. He realized it didn't really matter to him what state she was in. She was going to be okay. And she was here. He became so lost in his thoughts, gently rubbing circles on her hand with his thumb, he didn't even notice when Katherine opened her eyes. She smiled at him. 

"Jack." She whispered, and he looked up, grinning.

"Hey."

"C'mere." She said, motioning to the hospital bed. Jack didn't need any more than that, and he immediately kicked off his shoes and climbed into the bed next to her. It was so small, Katherine had to situate herself so that she was practically lying on top of him, but neither of them minded. She let out a sigh of contentment, resting her head on his chest.

They both had so many questions for the other, but neither of them felt like asking at the moment, so they just lay there in silence, Jack gently playing with her tangled hair, and Katherine listening to the reassuring sound of his constant heartbeat. And in that moment, they were both happy.