Chapter 1

"Shannon what do you think you're doing?" Sayid shouted as the small group, consisting of Jack, Kate and himself, ran through the forest and came across her and Locke in a clearing… Shannon – a gun raised purposefully to Locke's head. "Do you honestly think Boone would want this?"

"He killed my brother!"

"No Shannon, there was nothing anybody could have done, in the end Boone wanted to die, he asked me to let him die!" Jack tried to explain. "He was in so much pain Shannon…"

"He would never have been forced to make that choice had he not done what he did to him!"

"And what did he do Shannon? Tell me? How can you condemn a man to death without even hearing his side of the story?" Kate asked.

"He killed my brother!"

"No!" Locke cried.

"You killed my brother!"

"No…"

But whatever Locke was going to say, the words suddenly seemed to catch in his throat as his legs buckled and he had to fight to prevent them from giving way beneath him.

"No!" He implored her.

"Yes!"

"Locke…" Jack fixed the man with a questioning gaze.

"Help me Jack!"

The expression upon Locke's face appeared desperate.

"You will pay for what you did to my brother!"

"No Shannon, come on, put the gun down, drop it, you don't really want to do this." Jack turned to her.

"Yes… I do."

"You're not a murderer Shannon…"

"It doesn't matter anymore." Locke seemed so sad when he next spoke, so unreachable.

"Shannon listen to me, Locke didn't kill your brother! I've seen many murderers in my time, and I'm telling you Locke is no murderer. What happened to your brother, it was just an accident. A tragic, unfortunate accident." Sayid tried reasoning with her.

"Liar! He's nothing but a liar. He killed my brother and now he expects me to forgive him and forget anything ever happened."

"Believe me Shannon, there's nothing there to forgive…"

"No! And now he will pay…"

"No!" Sayid ran at Shannon as the gun went off. Locke fell to the floor as the bullet grazed his forehead but it didn't penetrate his skull. Shannon ran, Kate was immediately after her and Sayid followed with all the speed he could muster, leaving Jack alone with Locke in the clearing. Jack was by Locke's side in an instant.

"Jack…" Locke groaned as he began to come round.

"You're ok." Jack tried to reassure him.

"Jack my back… it hurts." Locke tried to get up but collapsed again almost immediately. He withered with pain as Jack leant over him.

"You'll be alright, it's probably just the shock."

"No Jack, I can't walk…" A desperate wave of helpless panic overwhelmed him.

"Calm down."

"No Jack… you don't understand."

"Understand what?" Jack asked.

"I've been through it all before." Jack's questioning gaze only seemed to add to Locke's distress.

"Before the crash… I was a paraplegic… That's why I couldn't save Boone… my legs gave way and I couldn't get to him, I really tried… It's this island, it gave me my legs back… but now it's taking them away from me again, and I don't know why."

"Slow down Locke you're not making any sense."

"I'm not crazy, I know what I'm talking about!" Locke exclaimed.

"OK Locke, it's ok, I never said you were. I believe you, now just calm down so I can take a look at you."

At that moment Jack heard a rustling in the jungle behind and looked up to see that Kate had returned.

"Did you find her?" He asked.

"No." Kate replied. "She just took off. Maybe she just needs more time."

Jack nodded.

"Do you think you could help me with John?" He asked her.

Kate nodded.

"Sure." She smiled.

Locke lay still for a while quivering in pain whilst Jack took time to examine him. When everything seemed to become too much for him he took to whimpering like a wounded animal and Kate sat down beside him, laying his head in her lap like she might with a sick child. Neither she nor Jack had ever seen Locke so ill-composed before. It was unnerving.

She did her best to clean his head wound, but Locke continually fidgeted in her arms making it very difficult to do it effectively.

Jack removed a small torch from his pocket.

"John I need you to lie very still for me now ok. Try and go with the pain, don't fight against it. Just remember that pain is good alright… at least it means you can feel something".

Locke winced as he nodded.

Jack gently lifted one of Locke's tightly closed eyelids and shone his torch; he then did the same with the other one. Locke's pupils were dilated showing that he was still in shock and that he was obviously in a lot of pain.

Jack tried to talk to Locke as little as possible as it was clear that speech only distressed him and that he preferred silence. He gently rolled up one of the man's trouser legs, and then the other, in the hope of testing for a nerve response. It was then that he saw the large bloody bandage wrapped around Locke's right shin. Gently, he unwrapped it, to reveal the large gash in Locke's leg about 3 inches long.

It was very deep.

"When did this happen?" He asked him.

"A couple of days ago." Locke replied.

"How?"

"We were trying to bust open the hatch… piece of shrapnel pierced my leg."

"Who were? What hatch?" Jack frowned.

Locke hesitated before replying.

"Me and Boone! The hatch we found in the jungle whilst looking for Claire." He explained.

Jack looked at Kate.

"This will need tending to." He whispered. "It's infected, and to tell the truth it's a wonder that he's not got a fever. It looks like he's been trying to treat it himself, but it's far too deep I'm afraid. He needs antibiotics."

"I'll go back to the caves and see if I can't bring something back to help with Locke's pain." Kate said, and Jack nodded.

Kate gently maneuverered Locke's head from her lap and onto the forest floor, using a large pile of leaves and dead foliage to cushion him. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She explained.

Locke took a few deep breaths in an attempt to try stop himself fighting against the pain whilst Jack's fingers fumbled with his wrist, trying to locate a pulse… he found it… slow and shallow but it was going at a steady pace.

"So what's the diagnosis Jack?" Locke shuddered.

"Well I think you should have told me about your condition earlier… I could have helped you…" Jack sighed. "At the very least I would have liked to have known. You could have done yourself some significant permanent damage."

"And what could you have really done for me Jack?" Locke asked. "Even if you'd have known? The doc's at the hospital couldn't do anything when it first happened, so what chance do you think have out here, miles from nowhere, with no medical supplies, no equipment…"

"We could have kept an eye on you, nobody else need ever have known, it didn't have to come to this…"

"Owww!" Locke suddenly doubled over again.

"You have more pain? Where?" Jack asked.

"My stomach…" Locke whimpered.

Jack couldn't hide his confusion when he heard this. Locke's spinal injuries shouldn't have been effecting his stomach. He gently lifted up Locke's t-shirt and pressed down on his abdomen.

Locke cried out.

"Sorry John." Jack sighed.

"What's happening to me?" Locke cried.

"I don't know John." Jack confessed. "I have a feeling that your back pain is due to the infection in your leg. You're nerves are inflamed. The inflammation is spreading to your spine and that's why you're in pain… But I can't explain the stomach pain."

Locke lay where he was in silence for a while, until the pain seemed to subside and he tried to sit up.

"Oh no you don't." Jack said. "Just lay there for a bit longer." He gently laid a hand upon his shoulders and eased him back down again.

They both sat for a while in silence, Locke seemed slightly more relaxed and after a while of no talking between them Jack thought he might have fallen asleep.

"How do you feel now?" He asked.

"A little tired…" To his surprise Locke responded.

"Any dizziness?"

"A little." He confessed.

"You're almost certainly dehydrated." Jack reasoned. "As soon as Kate gets back I want to see you drink something, no matter how bad you feel."

Locke nodded.

They waited a further hour before Kate finally returned. She brought with her water, blanket's, aspirin and anti-biotics for Locke, as well as something to dress his wound with.

"Here take these now." Jack said handing Locke two lots of pills. Kate helped Locke drink from the bottle she had brought with her whilst Jack set about dressing his leg.

"Watch it!" Locke hissed and cried out as Jack began re-bandaging his leg.

"Can you feel that then?" He asked.

"… Yes… yes I can…" Locke replied.

"How about walking? Ready for a try?" Jack asked when he'd finished.

"Might as well." Locke nodded. "But you may need to help me."

Kate helped Locke to sit up, and then Jack wrapped his arms around Locke's waist, taking care not to put too much pressure on his stomach. Locke threw one arm over Jacks shoulders. They took a few cautious steps together, and although Locke stumbled and was still obviously weak he managed to walk with very little aid.

"Well done John!" Jack smiled. "Come on, let's get you back to camp. Kate could you pass me that blanket please?"

Despite the fact that it took them all evening to reach the caves and they had to make many stops along the way so that Locke could rest and Jack could tend to his leg, they finally made it back to camp in the early hours of the morning.