Please Forgive Me

Summary: AU C&C. Set after Fire and Water but before Live Together, Die Alone. While helping Eko in building his church, and accident leaves Charlie incapable of taking care of himself. When Jack insists Claire look after him, and help keep his spirits up in a hope that it will help him recover from his injuries. At first Claire is upset about the idea, but will her feelings for Charlie resurface, will she be able to not only help him completely overcome his past, but help him overcome his current injuries?

Chapter One

Charlie stared at the intimating makeshift ladder in front of him. Eko had been climbing up and down it all day, making sure that the main bamboo poles were lodged into the ground enough to hold up the roof that he would start putting up soon. Now it was Charlie's turn to climb up and down the ladder, to tie the pieces of vine onto the main structure to insure it's sturdiness. Charlie though, he hadn't had good luck with this ladder. He had almost fallen off of it just the day before. He would have too, if Eko hadn't steadied it. Charlie shook his head, he couldn't think about that now. No, he needed to climb the very intimating ladder, and tie the poles together. That's what he needed to do. Why, he asked himself, because he had nothing else better to do. Besides that, helping Eko build a church, that would help him overcome his past. That had only in recent days, came back to bite him in the ass, hard. He was done with all of it. The drugs, the band, all of it. All he wanted now was to have a family, but now Claire hated him, and didn't want anything to do with him. So what he wanted, and needed wasn't exactly in grasp at the moment. That was why he was helping Eko, to keep his mind off just how shitty his life had become recently.

"Charlie," Eko said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry Eko, just thinkin bout stuff," Charlie gave him a weak smile, before climbing the small ladder.

He took a deep breath before turning around towards Eko, and grabbing for the first piece of vine. He knew what he had to do, where he needed to tie these pieces of vine. He also knew which ones would give him the most trouble. He tied the first one with relative ease, and turned around and grabbed for the second piece. This one, wouldn't be as easy. Eko, he had tried to tie all the more difficult ones for Charlie, but his fingers were to big to fit into the small opening that they needed to be in, to tie the ends together were they needed to be tied. Since Charlie had smaller fingers, he ensured Eko all would be fine. Charlie was now wishing he had not, as he bent forward only slightly, and pulled the vine through the opening. He grabbed hold of each end of it, and tried to get it to tie, but his fingers were even to big, to maneuver the way they needed to.

"Eko, my fingers are too big," Charlie said, without turning back toward Eko.

"That's okay Charlie, just come down," Eko said.

Charlie shook his head. "I think I can get it, I just need to come at it from a different angle is all."

Charlie moved his feet just a bit, and lost his footing. He slipped, and fell backwards, his back landed on an exposed tree root. He cried out in pain, as it zipped up and down his back.

"Eko," was all he could get out before he screamed out in pain again.

"Where does it hurt?" Eko asked, as he stood over top of Charlie.

"My back Eko..." Charlie paused, "Oh god, I can't feel my legs."

Eko stood up, and looked down at him. Eko knew that if he could feel his legs, then chances were that he couldn't move them either. If he couldn't move them, and his back hurt like that, well Eko knew that wasn't good. He bent down beside Charlie again, and saw that he had lost consciousness. Eko carefully grabbed Charlie up, and headed off toward the beach-side settlement.

Jack sat peering out toward the water. It had been a long couple of weeks, and he was exhausted. He rubbed his hand together before slinging them over his knees, and watched as the tide came in and lapped over top of the sand, making a sandy foam in front of his feet. For some reason, watching the open ocean seemed to calm him. Gave him a chance to think, and feel peaceful. His peacefulness didn't last long, when he heard Eko screaming for him.

With that Jack rose to his feet, brushed the sand from his pants, and took off in the direction the voice was coming.

"What's wrong..." Jack said, before he saw a very unconscious Charlie laying in Eko's arms.

"He was helping me. He was tying the vines to the posts to make them sturdy. I tried to catch him, but I couldn't. He hurt his back Jack," Eko stated.

Jack gave him a look of weariness. He knew from experience just how severe spinal injuries can be. Without the right medical equipment, there was no way he could treat Charlie the way that he would need. Even if his injury wasn't bad enough to need surgery, he would still need intensive physical therapy to get back the freedom he had.

"Get him in my tent now," Jack said, as he started to pace a bit. His brain trying to find a way to make everything better. To fix Charlie, but there was nothing. Without an MRI or CAT-Scan, he wouldn't even know just how bad his injuries were. He really couldn't treat his injuries without knowing how bad they were. Especially if his injuries are worse than he might think.

"Jack, what's going on?" Kate asked.

He pulled her closer so no one else could overhear their conversation.

"It's Charlie, there was an accident. He hurt his back. Kate, I cannot fix it without equipment, and we're on this damn island...there is no medical equipment," Jack said a little more loudly than he had intended.

"Are you saying that Charlie could be...paralyzed?" Kate asked.

"It's a high possibility," Jack sighed. "Look I need some help, care to give me a hand?"

"Of course," Kate said, following Jack into his tent.

"Has he woken up yet?" Jack asked Eko, who simply shook his head no.

"Okay, well did he tell you anything before he passed out?" Jack asked.

"He said his back hurt...and that he couldn't feel his legs," Eko sighed.

"DAMMIT!" he screamed.

"Jack, I don't think we should tell the others. Not yet at least, not until we know more," Kate said.

"But I won't know more. All Charlie can do, when he wakes up, is tell me how bad it hurts, and if he still can't feel or move his legs. Just because he can't feel them doesn't mean that it's permanent, doesn't mean that it isn't though either. Like I said, I won't know without equipment, which I don't have. So he's pretty much screwed, because I'm going to have to treat it like it's permanent, which means if it's not, we'll never know. By the time we do, it could be to late to reverse it. The only real way to reverse that, is with aggressive physical therapy, but I can't do that without knowing that it's not permanent because that could end up making it worse. So, pretty much, he's screwed," Jack said, rubbing his temples.

"Is he going to need to be watched?" Kate asked.

"Yes, and as much as I'd want to, I can't keep and eye on him. Neither can you or Locke either. Who else at camp can we get to watch him?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure Hurley would do it," Kate said softly.

"We need him too..." Jack trailed off thinking. "I know someone, but they'd never agree to it."

"Not Claire Jack, not after what he did," Kate said.

"I know they aren't on good terms right now, but he will wake up and he needs to keep hydrated and needs nutrients. He can't get that stuff on his own, he needs someone who can watch him constantly, just in case he gets worse. Claire is our only option, she can't go anywhere, she has to keep an eye on Aaron. Like it or not, she is our only option Kate," Jack explained.

"Let me go talk to her then," Kate sighed, before taking off toward Claire's shelter.

"Hey, how you holding up?" Kate asked, peering inside the small tent.

"Tired, Aaron hasn't been sleeping well lately," Claire explained.

"Oh, that sucks," Kate said softly.

"Yeah, it does I suppose. So what do I owe the visit?" Claire asked.

"Me and Jack, we kind of need your help with something," Kate said.

"Do I have to go somewhere? Cause Aaron's been really fussy lately, I wouldn't want Sun to have to deal with that," Claire explained.

"No, quite the opposite really. What we need your help with, you really don't have to leave your tent for," Kate said, trying to avoid saying what she knew she had to say.

"Well what is it Kate?" Claire asked.

"There's been an accident. Someone was hurt really badly, and can't really take care of themselves, and we need you to look after them for a while," Kate said, hoping Claire wouldn't ask who until she agreed.

"Oh god, who?" Claire asked.

"I figured you'd ask. It was Charlie. It's a long story, but apparently he's been helping Eko build a church. He was trying to tie some vine one on of the posts to keep it sturdy, and lost his footing and fell off the ladder. He landed on a tree root. It's quite possible that he could be paralyzed. Eko said that the last thing Charlie said before he passed out was that his back hurt, and that he couldn't feel his legs," Kate sighed, unable to meet her eyes.

"You want me to help him? After what he did with Aaron?" Claire asked.

"Claire, if you don't, he won't have any chance of getting better, even if there is a chance. There isn't anyone else that...that..."

"That's stuck here all day, is what you want to say. Fine, whatever, does he have to stay here?" Claire asked.

"Yes, that way you can make sure he is eating and drinking. Jack said that he'll be in a lot of pain for a while, and he only has one thing to give him for the pain, and he wants to ask Charlie if he really wants it," Kate said, not wanting to tell Claire what it was.

"What's that?" Claire asked, curious as to what Charlie wouldn't want to take.

"Uh, the ummmmm, heroin," Kate said.

"Oh great, I'll be taking care of a heroin addict," Claire sighed.

"So you'll do it?" Kate asked.

"I can't nessicarly let him die, just because I don't want him around me now can I? Much to everyone's opinion, I don't hate him. I'm just not, real fond of him right now. I don't want to see him suffer, or die just because I'm uncomfortable," Claire said.

"Great, I'll let Jack know," Kate said, as she stood up, and walked out of Claire's shelter.

'It's gonna be a long few months,' Claire thought, 'What have I gotten myself into.'