Hey guys, I'm already apologizing because I know my english skills are not perfect LOL, so please, feel free to correct me if you see something wrong.

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it. (:

Kate looked around. She was trapped in a cage, in the same cage that had previously been imprisoned. She could not remember how she had stopped there again. Suddenly she heard a voice. It was a man, Danny. She remembered him the last time she had been captured by the others.

Danny opened a cell and one pulled violently by the arm. He tied her in a chair and gagged her. She felt a blow to her face. He was hitting her. It hurt a lot, and she screamed. She made every effort in the world to get out of there and get rid of the pain. She screamed as loud as she could for help. When she realized she was almost out of breath, he began to touch her, to kiss her. She started to lift the shirt Kate was wearing ...

"Kaaate!" She heard a familiar voice that brought her back to reality. It was Jack's voice. - Kate, wake up! The doctor had his hands on her face, still trying to wake her completely.

"Jack ..." she stood up quickly. She had tears streaming down her face. She was terrified.

"Kate, it's okay! You just had a nightmare." He stroked her face with the back of his fingers.

"Jack, he was ... beating me so hard, I could not escape and ..." Kate was confused, frightened. It had all been so real. She was so desperate that she held Jack like he was trying to get away.

"Shhh, Kate." He finally hugged her. "There's no one here to hurt you, it was a nightmare, okay?" He cupped her chin so she focused his attention on him.

Jack knew the next nights would not be easy for Kate. They had escaped within a few hours from the Others, and it was an especially terrifying experience for Kate. For Jack and Sawyer, it had been difficult too, but Kate had suffered much more there. She was forced to do things she did not want, to work and carry a weight much greater than she could bear. They had beaten her several times and her body still had all the bruises of the terrible days she had passed.

He looked at Kate, who was crying inconsolably, all this was still very recent.

"Will you feel better if I stay here with you?" Jack offered. "Would you feel safer?" He was worried, Kate seemed to be having a high fever.

Kate nodded. Jack wiped the tears rolling down her freckled cheeks, and kissed her forehead. "Kate, what happened to you is never going to happen again, I promise you that!

She cried, sobbing, she managed to say, "Thank you"

Jack closed Kate's tent and lay down. With one arm, he wrapped her close to his body. She flinched close to him. She was still crying softly.

"You need to rest, Kate. You have not had a good night's sleep in a long time, have you?" He stroked the Kate's back.

"Please do not make me sleep, Jack," she begged. She was afraid of what she could see in her dreams.

"You have to, Katie. You have a high fever," he said as he placed his hands on her forehead to be sure. "Sleeping will make you feel better."

"I can not, Jack, I'm so scared." She cried louder.

Jack sat down. "Shhh ... Nothing bad will happen to you, I'm here, okay? Come here." He tenderly laid her down and helped Kate turn, with her tummy down. He brushed the hair from around her neck, and blew very softly. Kate was sweating from the agitation she had had. He started to run his hands down Kate's back, massaging her gently. Slowly Kate was calming down, and in about ten minutes, she had already fallen asleep. Jack gently laid a blanket over Kate.

"Jack." He heard a voice coming from outside. It was Juliet. He pushed a piece off the canvas so Juliet could see it. He made a sign of silence with his fingers. "I was looking for you, you disappeared."

"Kate is not very well, she's burning with fever. I'm going to spend the night here to make sure she's okay." He explained. Juliet had not yet had time to set up her own tent and Jack had offered her sleep in his tent. Maybe that's why she missed him.

"Oh, I did not know, I hope she's all right. Good evening, Jack." She said goodbye.

"Good evening, I'll help you finish setting up your tent tomorrow, okay?"

"OK."

Jack turned to Kate. He could see the outline of her face through the gap that had been opened in the tent. "How beautiful she is," he thought. He lay down next to her and took some time to fall asleep.

He woke up with Aaron's crying. Claire was positioning him on her lap so he could suckle. The cry stopped instantly. Jack stared at Kate for a few minutes. He put his hand on the girl's face, still feverish. Jack's touch finally woke her up. Kate's large green eyes opened and found Jack's.

"Good morning, Katie. I'm sorry, I did not want to wake you up." He smiled at her, caressing her cheek. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled back, with a little effort. She did not feel very well. "I'm a little sore, I think I slept badly .."

"Where's it hurting, Kate?"

"My neck, and my back ..." Kate tried to sit down, but felt a twinge in the low back that made her move her hand to the sore spot.

"Let me see that." Jack took her hand away and squeezed it a little. "Do you feel pain when I press?"

She nodded. He searched for some kind of injury, but apparently there was nothing unusual about it, except for the bruises.

"Let's keep an eye on it, Kate, but apparently you've just slept badly." He helped Kate to sit down. "I'll get you something to eat, okay? Stay here."

"I'll go with you". She tried to get up.

"Hey, Kate, no way. Try to rest for at least a couple of hours, besides the back pain, you also have a fever." He explained to the girl.

"I can not stay inside this tent anymore, Jack." She begged.

"Ok, It's all right". He sighed. Jack helped Kate to her feet. He put a hand on her waist to support her as he walked. Kate did not feel so bad that she needed help walking, but she liked Jack's closeness to her, so she did not complain.

"Thank you." She shyly smiled at him.

Jack and Kate entered the forest, picking up some fruit, filling their water bottles and talking. It had been a few days since Kate had felt close to Jack like that. Since they were captured by the Others, he was spending much more time with Juliet. This kills Kate inside, who inadvertently ended up seeking affection for Sawyer.

Then suddenly, they heard a shriek from the side, it was a female voice.

"Kate, wait here, I'll be right back." Jack needed to run there and she could not keep up with him.

"Jack, wait ..." she called.

"I'll be right back, I need you to stay here to take care of the fruit, I'm going to walk a lot faster without the weight. She nodded. Jack helped her down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back."

He ran to where he heard the voice. "Heey" No answer. He glanced around, and saw Juliet on the ground a few feet away. He ran to her.

"Juliet, what happened?" He helped her up.

"Someone ... attacked me." She was still dizzy.

"Who?"

"I do not remember." Juliet seemed to hide something, but Jack did not care.

"Okay, stay calm, let's clean this cut."

Kate was a bit impatient to wait for Jack, she hated being left behind. She heard footsteps, and thought it was Jack. But it was Danny. He put a gun around her neck and grabbed his arm violently. "I need you to come with me, if you make a little noise, I'll kill you."

He held it so tightly that Kate felt an immense pain. He shoved her and laughed at Kate, who was crying.

Locke was teaching Sawyer to hunt boars, when he saw an open backpack, with several fruits out, some trampled, even. All spread out on the floor.

"What is it?" Saywer asked as he saw Locke looking at his pack.

"It looks like Jack's backpack." Locke concluded.

"Has something happened to the doctor?"

"Let's find out." They started following the trail that led to where they found the backpack. Locke and Sawyer were attentive to any sign or sound. They walked fast to try to reach what they thought was Jack's footsteps.

Jack finished wiping Juliet's bleeding face, and helped her walk back to where she'd left Kate.

When she got there, she did not find the girl, only her backpack open and with all the fruit scattered on the floor. "Kaaate! Kaate, where are you?" Jack was screaming, worried about her.

Sawyer and Locke finally caught sight of Danny, pulling Kate by the arm, she was already full of pain and weak. He did not care. He just wanted to get her to his house as soon as possible.

Locke did not think twice, he threw the knife he held on Danny's back, which, with the shock, ended up firing the gun at Kate.

"You're crazy?" Sawyer asked. Kate fell in pain. The bullet had hit her leg at the level of his thigh. She was losing blood.

"What else could I do besides that?" Locke checked Danny's wrist. He looked dead. He removed the knife from Danny's back and wiped it on his own pants. Meanwhile Sawyer ran to see how Kate was.

He came close to her and bent down. "Are you all right, Freckles?" He lifted her face with his hands. She was frightened, icy, pale, and thick tears streamed down her face, she could not speak. Her leg was bleeding badly.

Sawyer bent down, put his fingers lightly around the girl's neck. He saw that her lips, and her fingers began to turn purple. "She's in shock, we need to contain the loss of blood." Locke tore the sleeve from his shirt and tied it to Kate's leg where the wound was.

"It's okay, Freckles. We'll take care of you." He tried to calm her down. He lifted her, taking her under his arms and placing his left arm under her buttocks to support the weight. With his right arm, he helped her to put her legs around him, and her arms as well. He laid Kate's head on his shoulder and held his hand there. She was still crying in pain. "Shh, it's okay."

Locke and Sawyer went back the same way they had done, and there they found Jack and Juliet. He was looking for Kate and Juliet still half a whir of the blow.

"What happened to her?" Jack approached.

"She was shot by Danny." Locke explained.

Jack tried to get Kate, but Sawyer refused. "Let's just get on with it, Doc. She needs help."

Jack helped Juliet to her feet and the group walked as fast as they could until they reached the camp. During the course, Sawyer tried to calm down Kate, speaking in his ear that she would be well, but he did not obtain much success.

They laid Kate in Sawyer's tent, which was the first and furthest from all the others. Jack definitely did not want a bunch of people while Kate was in shock.

"Stay with her, I'll get my bag." Jack asked and ran to his tent. Juliet sat down next to Sawyer while Locke left.

"Where are you going?" Sawyer asked.

"I'll find a way around Danny." And left, determined. Juliet, hearing that, opened her lips as if to say something, but said nothing.

"It was you, right?" Sawyer asked, hatred in his eyes. "You distracted Jack so he could get Kate."

"I ... I do not ..." Juliet was rescued by Jack, who returned to the tent, tired, with everything he needed. He took out the band Locke had put in to stanch the blood. He looked at the wound, the bullet was still there.

"Okay, I'll need some help." Jack asked.

"You can count on me, Doc." Sawyer glared at Juliet.

"I'm going to need to take her pants off so I can take the bullet away, she's going to move a lot because of the pain, I need you to contain the movements so she can be quick so she does not hurt any more."

"OK."

Kate was cold, paler than she had ever been. Tears had already flooded her face and part of her hair. Jack opened Kate's belt and then her pants. She tried to get up, she was shaking. Jack could see in her eyes how frightened she was, not only because of the accident she'd had, but because they were trying to take off her clothes. Jack realized that she had been abused. "Katie, honey, we're going to need to take off your pants to get the bullet out of your leg, okay?" Jack decided to warn her to be at least quiet about it. She cried. To make matters worse, some cloth fibers had penetrated the wound along with the bullet, which made the process much more difficult. Kate screamed and cried in pain. And she moved a lot, trying to keep them from touching the wound. Sawyer tried to restrain the girl's movements.

"Hey, Katie, the less you move, the faster will it be?" He stroked her face. "I know it hurts, but I promise you it will end soon." Jack explained.

"Please make it stop, it hurts so much ... please ..." Kate begged. The Jack's heart broke when he saw Kate suffer like this. He just wanted to take that pain off her. Sawyer, internally, was thinking the same thing. She was still crying and writhing in pain. Sawyer, with tears in his eyes, held Kate so she would not move too much.

Jack had barely touched the tweezers to remove the bullet, and Kate groaned in pain. She could not take it anymore. Juliet could not stand the pain either. There was not much she could do, but she decided to help. She laid Kate's head on her lap and stroked her long curly hair gently to try to reassure her.

"Shhh, just do not think about the pain, okay?" She wiped at Kate's tears that were still flowing. "Jack is taking care of you, you trust him, do not you, dear?" She nodded, still crying.

"Please, make it stop, I can not take it anymore ..." she demanded, her voice almost gone, of so much pain she felt. Deep sobs followed her speech.

"Hey, hey, look at me, Kate. Do not look at anything else." She tried to distract the her. "Can you tell me what Jack instructed you to do when you're afraid of something?"

"Count ... until ... 5 ..!" The pain only increased as Jack worked the bullet out of her thigh. She cried and cried out in pain as she answered Juliet.

"That's right, dear! So let's count together?" She smiled, trying to calm her down. "It'll be over before you know it." She wiped away the new tears that came. "One.."

Kate could not keep up. She only felt pain. Sawyer and Jack marveled at Juliet's attitude, they did not expect it.

"Shh, it's okay! Stay with me, honey. Two.."

Screams ! Jack had now taken the bullet. The worst part was over.

"Three..."

Jack was starting to score the wound. Juliet stroked Kate's face to keep her better.

"Four .. You're doing great, Kate! It's almost over." She looked at Jack, he was finishing the stitches.

"Five! Do you see? It's over!" The pain is over, honey. "She kissed Kate on the forehead. Jack gave a sign of thanks to Juliet and Sawyer.

"I'm very proud of you, Freckles." Sawyer told her. "You showed us how strong you are, pretty."

Jack looked at Kate, she was cold, drenched with sweat and tears. "I'll take her to her tent."

"Are you crazy? Someone needs to be with her."

"I'll do it." Jack said coldly as he took Kate in his arms. "I need to keep her warm."

Sawyer grabbed his blanket and placed it on top of Kate, who was already in Jack's arms, inconsolable. He kissed the Kate's head.

"If you need help, call me," he offered.

"Thank you," Jack thanked him.

He carried Kate to her tent. On the way, he was approached by Hurley, Charles, Claire, Sun and Rose about what had happened to her, but he only gave them a quick explanation and went on his way. Rose, however, walked with the doctor until they reached her tent.

Jack sat with his legs apart, placed Kate between them, and laid her in his arms. He wrapped the blanket around her, who was freezing, to keep her warm.

"I'm so scared, Jack," she cried softly.

"Shhh, I'm here! Try to get some rest, okay?"

Rose, who watched the scene from outside the tent, decided it was time to get in there. She sat facing Jack.

"You look very tired, Doctor," he said.

"I'm just worried about her." He did not take his eyes from the girl.

"She needs to change her clothes, she's flooded." Rose slid her hand down Kate's arm, which was under the blanket.

"You're right. Can you help me with this?" Jack asked. He did not want the girl to startle him by trying to take her clothes off again.

Jack pulled the blanket off Kate. The brunette cringed at the cold.

"It's okay, honey, you'll be warm in a minute." Rose, took off Kate's t-shirt and put a shirt that Jack lent her. It was big enough to look like a dress for her. Jack covered the girl with the blanket, as he had done before. She snuggled into the doctor's arms. He wanted Kate to get better soon. He could not bear to see her like this she was just getting worse.