"What happened out there, Charlie?"
Claire had been so confused by the days events. Hell, when hadn't she been confused since they had landed on this bizarre island. She had been worrying about Charlie all day. Why? She couldn't even answer that herself. She had been so angry at him. So furious. But, she had every right to be. He had lied to her, taken her baby, not to mention he was a drug addict. Or at least she had thought he was a drug addict. She found that as this particular day went by the drug theory was wondering further and further away from her mind.
She had seen Charlie run off with Eko earlier that day and had not thought twice about it. But as the day progressed she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that he wasn't coming back. It had been nagging her. Something had happened. There are some feelings that you get that you know are true, and this was that feeling for Claire.
She found herself watching the jungle for any sign of his return. And as she watched she caught herself thinking about him. About how she had never truly been mad at him just upset, hurt and most of all stubborn. And how she had always somewhere thought or at least hoped that he had never really used the drugs…And that she loved him.
Yes, somewhere in the long hours she had waited she realized she loved Charlie. She had loved him since the beginning. Since he had tried so hard to find her peanut butter. Such a trivial thing. Just to move to the caves, where he thought he could keep her safe.
But she had been so scared. So scared that she would give her heart away just to be thrown into the garbage, and if there was one thing Claire was determined of it was not to make that same mistake again. Her worries had vanished as a new fear approached.
The sky turned violent as a sharp noise pierced through the air. She stood up quickly as a reflex. She swooped the now screaming baby into her arms trying to soften the noise to his sensitive ears. She tried to protect the young infant, but the only thought coming to her mind was I wish Charlie was here… to protect me.
The noise stopped and she relaxed for a moment before feeling two hand on her back pushing her forward. And for a second she thought it was Charlie. She snapped her head around quickly to see Bernard. Why was he pushing her? It didn't take Claire long to notice the huge chuck of metal heading towards her and with a BAM it hit right where she had been standing. She gave a sigh of relief before her worries came back. There was no way Charlie could have survived that. He had to have been right where it happened. She knew without a shadow of a doubt he was gone.
A few hours had passed and everyone had went about trying to get the camp back together, but not Claire. She waited and waited and waited. Staring blankly at the path he had left on earlier that day. She knew she was getting some strange looks from the other castaways wondering why she wasn't helping, but she just stood there. Pacing back and forth with the small infant in her arms.
Until he appeared. He came stumbling out of the jungle without any sign of Eko. She watched him blankly in disbelief. She watched as Bernard ran up to him and she watched as he held his ear in pain. and then he turned to her. Like he knew she was going to be standing there. And then she smiled at him. The 1st time she had smiled at him in a long, long time. And he smiled back, and she felt safe.