His world changed on a Tuesday afternoon. Wait. What day was it again? Sawyer wasn't sure if it was Tuesday. Just that the sun was shining and he was still on this rock.


The island flower


His world changed on a Tuesday afternoon. Wait. What day was it again? Sawyer wasn't sure if it was Tuesday. Just that the sun was shining and he was still on this rock. Setting his book down in the sand next to the old airline seat he was sitting in, he stood up and stretched. His muscles screamed at him that he'd been sitting for far too long.

His eyes roved over the stretch of beach to the East. A gaggle of survivors were doing various 'chores' to stay busy and keep their sanity. His eyes soon found the one person he'd been thinking about a whole lot lately: Juliet Burke. He wasn't sure he understood why she was so appealing to him, she just was. She had a different attitude toward how she handled things than Kate did. Kate. For the love of god, why was he comparing Juliet to Kate? They were two separate women.

Sighing, he strode over towards Juliet with the intention of impressing her. Impressin' her with what now exactly? Juliet had her back turned to him and she was hanging her clothes to dry. He watched her for a few moments as she sat down on a smaller rock and placed a yellow shirt on top of the bulging boulder in front of her. Pouring water and soap on it, she scrubbed the shirt against the rock. Standing stock-still, he saw her body stiffen and straighten up.

"Is there something I can help you with James? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

Sawyer never one to show that he was actually in any kind of pain, felt embarrassed that he was going to ask for her help in how to treat his hand.

"I guess I could've gone and asked Doctor giggles over there to help me out, but seeing as your closer I thought I would ask ya first. See, I was going for a sea urchin the other day and screwed up my hand pretty bad."

Turning to face him, Juliet sighed and vacated the rock she was sitting on. Pointing to it she gave him an order.

"You sit down right here. I'll be back with a few things."

Sawyer smirked and watched Juliet's retreating figure. He saw her disappear into her tent and come back out a minute later with the supplies she needed. The smirk still planted on his face, his eyes wandered down to her bare feet. When she reached him, she sat down in the sand and took his hand. He took the opportunity to speak up.

"Don't the sand hurt your feet?"

Juliet became irritated as she examined his right hand and probed his ring finger.

"I believe you mean; 'doesn't the sand hurt your feet?' The answer to that question would be no. I was walking in the shade so I wouldn't burn my feet. What did you do to your hand? Better yet, what did you do to your finger? It's all black and blue! Does it feel broken?"

Sawyer shook his head and let Juliet examine his finger further.

"No. The damn thing is just stuck in the closed position. Like its locked or somethin'. Can you fix it?"

Momentarily, Juliet let her guard down. But just as quickly put it back up.

"Not without an injection of Hydrochlorothiazide. Ice would work just as well to control the swelling, but there is no ice on the island."

Sawyer took the opportunity to pluck a lone purple flower from under the tree Juliet's wash line was tied to. Holding the flower out to her, he smirked once more.

"Here. I know you couldn't fix my hand or nothin' but I thought you might like this."

Juliet frowned but took it anyways.

"What's this for? Is this your way of trying to deliver some cheap pick up line?"

Turning his back towards her he began to walk away. From the corner of his eye, he could see her taking in the flowers scent before returning to her laundry. When had he started having feelings for her? Shrugging, he walked back to his spot just outside his tent and sat back down in his seat. His world changed on a Tuesday afternoon and it was all because of Doctor Juliet Burke.